for an Invited Paper for the DNP11 Meeting of The American Physical Society Pulse-Shape Discrimination for Low-Background Proportional Counting CRAIG AALSETH, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Digital pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) is used to improve measurement sensitivity for internal-source gas proportional counters. Because the design of these detectors can be physically simple, they are well-suited for low-background applications where the radiopurity of detector materials must be stringently controlled. After mitigating dominant backgrounds (cosmic rays, external gamma-rays, radioactivity in materials), remaining background events frequently do not arise from ionization of the proportional counter gas. Various PSD methods have exploited the resulting pulse-shape differences. More sophisticated methods can offer better discrimination but may lead to more difficult calibration between model and detector. Variations between modeled and experimental shapes can limit the discriminating power achieved. This work addresses this difficulty by generating a template shape from each individual sample measurement of interest, a "self-calibrating" template. Differences in event topology can also cause differences in pulse shape. In this work the temporal region analyzed is limited to maximize background discrimination while avoiding unwanted sensitivity to event topology. Low-background measurements of tritium, carbon-14, argon-37, and argon-39 are currently being developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with detectors employing radiopure materials developed for neutrinoless double-beta decay and dark matter searches. The application of self-calibrating template PSD to measurement of these radioisotopes, along with initial measurement results, is described. Applications such as nuclear treaty verification, elucidating the environmental carbon cycle, and the assay of low-background materials for next-generation nuclear physics experiments are presented.


Abstract This paper will show how discussing video clips with a mother as part of the 'Watch, Wait and Wonder' technique (N. J. Cohen, E. Muir, M. Lojkasek, R. Muir, C. J. Parker, M. Barwick, M. Brown (1999) WWW: Testing the effectiveness of a new approach to mother infant psychotherapy. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20, 429–451) proved central to bringing about change in the mother's representations of herself and her infant, and led to a significant reduction in her infant's aggressive behaviour, and incipient insecure ambivalent attachment to its mother. Reference will be made particularly to the improved reflective capacity (P. Fonagy, H. Steele, G. Moran, M. Steele and A. Higgitt, (1991) The capacity for understanding mental states: the reflective self in parent and child and its significance for security of attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal, 13, 200–217.) in the mother which resulted from the application of the Watch Wait and Wonder technique.


Abstract The aim of this article is the modeling and simulation of the batch bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA). Simple dependencies between the propagation and termination rate constants and monomer conversion for the gel and glass effects are proposed. The empirical parameters in these relations are determined from conversion and molecular-weight experimental data obtained under various reaction conditions (initiator concentration and temperature). Sometimes, different relations were necessary to express the variation of the kinetic constants on conversion subintervals. Thus, these models have been used continuously or discontinuously, as a function of their results. An algorithm for using this model was also established. The analysis of this model has two aims: (1) to get a good agreement between simulation and experiment; (2) to provide a simple model to be used under different reactor conditions (batch, semibatch, or continuous) or which can be easily handled in polymer engineering stud...


Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology has been rapidly growing up these days and is expected to be supported widely in wireless network. There are several issues in VoIP; the Quality of Service (QOS) is the most important one. There are many factors that affect QOS such as throughput, echo, delay, jitter, packet loss, bandwidth and delay variation. The effect of delay on speech quality in VOIP will be improved. The source of the delay is the buffer that already exists in the multiplexing node and also the process that can be done on the packets before sending them to the multicast node. This problem can be solved by using the proposed multiplexer –multicast algorithm that combine the data which come from several streams into a single large packet, where the packet that comes first is send over multiplexer for multicast. The result will be compared with original multiplexer-multicast algorithm that combine multiple channels into one channel, then multiplexer send all packets at the same time for multicast. We used OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition simulation for network performance analysis.


Open Space Technology is a cumbersome name for a participative conference model that enables dynamic inclusive engagement and challenges traditional highly structured hierarchical conference formats. Based on self-organising systems (Wenger, 1998) Open Space Technology conferences have an open process, start with no agenda and empower the most equitable outcome determined by those attending. This article describes the author's participation in an Open Space Technology conference, discusses the principles underpinning Open Space Technology methodology and considers its application in adult learning engagement settings.


The best travel and tourism policies and enabling conditions play a significant role in promoting tourism competitiveness. Africa's weak global tourism competitive position emanates from its inability to develop appropriate tourism policies and its failure in providing enabling structures to support competitive tourism among others. The aim of this article is thus to investigate the best travel and tourism practices used by high-ranking African countries (Egypt and Mauritius) in the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index (TTCI) to suggest suitable travel and tourism policies and create enabling conditions to promote tourism elsewhere in Africa. The study analyses secondary data about the best practices applied to prioritise the tourism sector, international openness, price competitiveness and environmental sustainability. It is established that the two selected countries utilise strategies such as the establishment of promotion bodies, diversify their markets, search for investment, pursue the expansion of air transport, practice international openness through embassies and bilateral agreements, and develop and enforce environmental laws. The study identified that collaborative efforts between all tourism stakeholders were an essential component in establishing a healthy tourism industry. This article contributes towards the body of knowledge by highlighting how African countries can model tourism policies and supportive structures to enhance their competitiveness.


— Nozzle is the most essential component of the pressure vessel. The main objective of this work is to design nozzle for pressure vessel according to ASME code. The design methodology of components of the nozzle like neck, reinforcement, and flange has been explained through this work. Design of 32"nozzle has been carried out according to required flow rate of hydrocarbon fluid based on internal pressure and temperature and external loading. This work gives the analytical result for all the component of pressure vessel. It also shows effect of thickness of Gasket and effect of no of bolt of weld neck flange on seating pressure.


Olshausen's hypothesis that sudden death on turn, in the case of presentation after, may be, depending on air embolism, was confirmed by Kramer and Krukenberg. The same case was observed at the Berlin University Hospital and Heuck.


GNSS signals may arrive at the receiving antenna not only through the direct path, i.e. the lineof-sight (LOS) path, but also on multiple indirect paths, due to different electromagnetic effects as signal reflection or diffraction. These signal components arrive with a certain delay, phase, and amplitude difference relative to the LOS component. We will call these signal components multipath components (MPCs) and the phenomena multipath propagation.


In order to develop village-level ecological security policy,this paper presents the village-level ecological footprint model for Dongyao Village,Huludao City,Liaoning Province,to calculate ecological footprint and biocapacity in 2008.The results show that the village per capita ecological footprint 1.546 4 hm2.in 2008,per capita biocapacity 1.041 0 hm2.and ecological deficit per capita 0.505 4 hm2.Six land use types of supply and demand comparative study reveals the current village has the issue of ecological security,and advise to adjust the ways of land use,rational built-up land planning,improve energy efficiency,increase the ecological land and so on four Dongyao Village ecological security policy.


Little is known about the differences between patients diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by a physician who meet the Rome IV criteria for IBS and those who do not. We conducted a longitudinal follow‐up study examining this.


The invention discloses a visual sensor driving method based on wireless sensor network nodes, and provides a method for adding the visual sensor on the current wireless sensor network nodes to establish a state machine for the visual sensor to collect the data; a multi-frame circular buffer area is exploited in memory; the data collected by the visual sensor is copied into the memory in a transmission manner of direct memory access DMA to adjust the visual sensor in real time for adaption to changes of practical environment; a memory buffer area address comprising effective collection data is returned, a microprocessor of the wireless sensor network nodes can access the address to acquire the collected data. The invention dramatically improves performances of image collection and utilization rate thereof, efficiently settles the conflict between image data collection and user reading data and intensifies applicability thereof.


We aim to compose algorithmic music in an interactive way with multiple participants. To this end we develop an interpreter for a sub-language of the non-strict functional programming language Haskell that allows to modify the program during its execution. Our system can be used both for musical live-coding and for demonstration and education of functional programming.


This paper takes a "state-in society" approach to understand the evolution of Pakistan's COVID-19 response, which was laid claim to and contested by multiple agencies within and adjacent to the state, and by multiple levels of government. The capacity of the health system of Pakistan
 was already overstretched by the needs of its population but in recent years it has been hamstrung by ongoing protests by the medical community concerning the privatisation of public sector hospitals, to which were added protests over the lack of PPE in the public sector. These resulted in
 frequent closures of out-patient departments at major hospitals. When the government announced a relief package to mitigate effects of COVID, traders and big businesses lobbied the government to obtain the lion's share in the form of concessions such as loan deferments and tax refunds. The
 unconditional cash grants programme was hyped about by the government but the cash for the poor could not be disbursed effectively due to the absence of local governments at the grass-root level. As an appropriate response to the pandemic, especially in relation to the lockdown policies, was
 contested and negotiated among multiple actors in the Pakistani state and society, the Pakistan military emerged as a dominant force in this "field of power". In this paper, I present an account of Pakistan's response to COVID-19 as it evolved in 2020 and discuss the implications of this response
 for democratic culture in Pakistan.


The validation efforts reviewed here examine the capability of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children to differentiate previously clinically described visual and auditory perceptually classified learning disabled children and the predictive power of SEARCH, a preschool and early school-age screening device. The material reviewed highlights a treatment program that attempts to teach relaxation. — DAS.


To obtain the design criterion of ventilation rate,a series of experiments of supervavitating vehicle with disc cavitator in different conditions were carried out in NWPU high speed water tunnel(HSWT) for the research on the effect of ventilation rate on generation and maintenance of supercavity.According to the experimental result,the distinction of critical ventilation rate between generating supercavity and maintaining the corresponding supercavity is very obvious.However,the changing patterns caused by natural cavitation number are alike.With the increase of ventilation rate,the variation trends of relative speed and time of supercavity generation are opposite on the condition that the steady supercavity generate.The speed of supercavity generation is much slower than the vehicle's speed,and according to the experimental data the supercavitation generation speed is 0.015~0.28 times the vehicle's speed.The research in this paper will contribute to further study of free-flying supercavitation vehicle.


Single‐shot line scan imaging (LSI) was adapted to diffusion‐weighted (DW) MRI by replacing the initial 90° radiofrequency pulse of the underlying high‐speed stimulated echo sequence by a DW spin‐echo preparation period. Implementation on a 2.0 T whole‐body MRI system yielded DW images of the human brain with b factors of 750 s mm‐2 and total imaging times of about 500 ms either for a single slice at 1.5 × 3.0 × 6 mm3 resolution or simultaneously for up to seven slices at 3.75 × 3.75 × 8 mm3 resolution. Isotropic DW images and maps of the trace of the diffusion tensor were calculated from four scans with different combinations of three orthogonal diffusion gradients. DW LSI combines high speed with robustness against image artifacts caused by motion (no phase ghosting) and tissue susceptibility differences (no signal losses, no geometric distortions). Because the latter is an important advantage over echo‐planar imaging, DW LSI may find useful applications despite a limited signal‐to‐noise ratio. Magn Reson Med 42:772–778, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This work was supported by Samsung Electronics and the projects of System IC 2010 and National Research Laboratory.
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology assisted in meeting the publication costs of this article.


The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined counterfeit drugs as those which are "deliberately mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source". Packaging materials are ubiquitous and manufacturers are able to obtain them from multiples of supplier. That is the reason for the unfeasible confiscation. There are a few methods used to detect counterfeit products through its packaging: visual inspection (visible light) and other optical methods such as infrared and ultraviolet analysis as well as pattern recognition. The objective of this study is to differentiate the features on the packaging material found from the original and the counterfeit of the same fast-moving pharmaceutical products. There are four different product packaging investigated obtained through over-the-counter purchase, from the complainant or seized by the authority. Firstly, examination is carried out on the direct paperboard packaging by comparison; physical examination on the basic properties (viz. dimension, thickness and prints), microscopic, optical character recognition (OCR) and near infrared analysis. Then, further investigation on the information printed and hologram serial number was done. Determination of the originality of the products upon procurement was done through authenticating the hologram. Microscopic examination on the printed paperboard exhibited consistent printing effect for all of the counterfeit and the genuine ones. Results on OCR for certain parts of the prints show constant difference between the original and counterfeit. However, the IR results indicated that such differences may prove inconsistent and hence unreliable to be used for comparison. In conclusion, the counterfeit pharmaceutical packaging may be distinguished from the genuine ones through physical examination of its basic properties, microscopic observation and OCR.


Ayurveda is one of the oldest System of Indian Medicine which provides remedies for many Chronic Diseases on which even to this day Modern Medicine has not satisfactory solutions. Kamala Vyadhi is a one grave disease and is described in details in Ayurvedic Compedia with its effective management.Kamala Vyadhi is described of two Types i.e. Bahupitta and Ruddhapatha Kamala. Bahupitta Kamala resembles Hepato cellular Jaundice in which whole body becomes Yellow discolored and Hyperbilirubinemia. Modern Medicine has described Jaundice as a symptom complex, but according to Ayurveda, Kamala is a disease as it has its own Nidanpanchak and specific Treatment. Lot of remedies is described in Ayurveda for Bahupitta Kamala . Among all these remedies, Triphala Kwath is one remedy which will stand effective solution. Because Triphala Kwath with Madhu (Honey) is Tridosha shamak, Mrudu Virechak and has Rasayan Properties. Madhu (Honey) is Kamalahara.Taking into consideration, Triphala Kwath with Madhu…


India Abstract This paper explores the contribution of car dealerships in Electric Vehicle (EV) market up-take. Car dealerships play a significant role in EV market penetration where the most critical moments of the EV's life happens, the actual sale process. The recent yet limited literature from the US shows certain issues during the sale process of EVs. The literature also indicates that the car dealers are not always qualified enough, lack knowledge to sell EVs, or in other cases they might even discourage potential customers from purchasing an EV. Furthermore, the paper presents statistical EV sales data from the Greek market and explores the literature findings through interviews that have been carried out on the only two existing EV distributors in India. The aim is to identify the validity of the literature review findings as well as to present the current state of the EV market in the country. Finally, policies and suggestions are made that can improve EV market penetration in


The invention provides an antenna structure which comprises a carrier, a first radiating body, a second radiating body and a third radiating body. The carrier comprises a first surface and a second surface which is arranged opposite to the first surface, the first radiating body and the second radiating body are both arranged on the first surface, the third radiating body is arranged on the second surface, a groove is formed between the first radiating body and the second radiating body, an electric current of the first radiating body is coupled to the second radiating body through the groove, and an electric current of the second radiating body is coupled to the third radiating body. A wireless communication device provided with the antenna structure is further provided. The antenna structure is operated on different communication frequency bands, and it is facilitated to reduce the size of the wireless communication device.


This study concerns the radiative effect of anthropogenic aerosols on the optical properties of stratiform boundary-layer clouds. Specifically, we analysed the influence of the partitioning of aerosol absorbers between interstitial air and cloud drops and the effect of different internal distributions of this absorber in the drops on cloud albedo. These effects were investigated with a radiative transfer model. Instead of the highly unrealistic size-independent volume ratios of absorbers in earlier studies, constant-size absorber in each drop (corresponding to a monodisperse absorber size distribution) with realistic total amounts caused significant albedo reductions for the modelled clouds. Atmospheric dilution and deposition will decrease aerosol concentrations with increasing distance from the pollution sources. The model calculations showed that the ensuing reduction in anthropogenic albedo change can be compensated by an expected concurrent change in absorber partitioning in the clouds. Thus, the aera of significant (2 to 5 %) reduction of cloud albedo will be extended on the order of a thousand kilometres about the centres of anthropogenic combustion sources.


In the existing soybean breeding and planting machinery, the power source of the metering device adopts the ground wheel transmission method mostly. However, this power transmission method is likely to cause slippage during the planting operation, which will cause problems such as the increase of the missed seeding index and the increase of the coefficient of plant spacing. It is not conducive for scientific researchers to carry out breeding operations. Aiming at this problem, an electronically controlled soybean seeding system is designed, and the power of the seed metering device is derived from the motor. In order to improve the control accuracy of the electronically controlled seeding system, the precise control of the soybean seeding rate is finally realized. The electric drive soybean seeding system adopts closed-loop control, the motor model of the electric drive seeding system is established, and the transfer function of the motor is obtained. PID control based on a genetic algorithm is adopted, and the corresponding parameters are substituted into the control system simulation model established in MATLAB/SIMULINK. Field verification tests have been carried out on the conventional fuzzy PID control system and the electric drive soybean planter of the fuzzy PID control system based on a genetic algorithm. The result showed that the average of the repeat-seeding parameter is 1.30% better than the average of conventional seeding system (1.40%), the average of the miss-seeding parameter is 1.08% better than the average of conventional seeding system (2.09%) and the average of row-spacing variation parameter is 2.79% better than the average of conventional seeding system (2.34%). In conclusion, the new seeding system is robust obviously. Field trial results show that seeding with Genetic Algorithm Fuzzy control is better.


The prospects for the Soviet energy sector are analyzed and the following questions discussed: How will the continued reformation of the society affect the energy sector, how will production and ...


In recent years,along with the incessant expansion of the enrollment scale of the undergraduates,the number of college English teachers apparently can not meet the demand of college English teaching.To solve this problem,and to enhance the level and quality of college English teaching,in the year 2001,our university initiated the reform of college English teaching.Through these several years,with the help and support from the university,the Office of Undergraduate Education,relative departments and offices,and all levels of leaders of the School of Foreign Languages,through the great efforts of all the college English teachers,the reform of college English teaching has produced brilliant achievements.This paper aims to retrospect the reform in the past few years,and to look forward to the future of the reform of college English education in this university.


A nonlinear predictive control framework is presented, in which nonlinear plant are modeled using neural networks. The predictive control law is derived by a new stochastic search optimization algorithm. A simulation example is taken to demonstrate the proposed approach.


This report attempts to indicate the current status of Space Shuttle cargo handling analysis. It is intended for use by the various organizations operating in support of the Space Shuttle effort who are investigating problems not necessarily affected by the frequent configuration and approach changes imposed on the primary task team and contractor personnel. The various studies have been analyzed and the results interwoven with the results of in-house efforts. The problems involved in orbital docking, payload extraction and transfer, cargo handling, and special-purpose missions are discussed and some tentative conclusions and recommendations are presented. This report has been reviewed and approved for release by the MSFC Shuttle Task Team. However, no statements made herein should be interpreted as position statements with respect to the Space Shuttle, the direction of future efforts, or intended methods of operation. This document reflects the view of the author, following analysis of the data available, and should not be construed as an official recommendation.


Mattisson, J. & Brøseth, H. 2020. Monitoring of active wolverine dens in Norway in 2020. NINA Report 1874. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. A total of 63 wolverine reproductions was found in Norway in 2020. This is an increase of one reproduction (1.6%) compared to the previous year. The population estimate, based on the number of reproductions over the last three years, indicates a population around 382 adult individuals. This is higher than in 2019. The most pronounced changes in the number of reproductions, compared to last year, were found in management unit (region) 5 and 8. Management unit 8 had an increase of five reproductions compared to the previous year while management unit 5 had a decrease of four reproductions. Management unit 7 had one more reproduction, while management unit 6 had one less. Management unit 3 registered the same number of reproductions as last year. All carnivore regions with national population goals for wolverine reproductions have reached or exceeded these goals. Jenny Mattisson Henrik Brøseth, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, P.O.Box 5685 Torgarden, NO-7485 Trondheim. email@example.com


The laboratory photolysis of chlorine nitrate (ClONO2) with 302.5 nm ultraviolet light leads to the destruction per quantum of 4 molecules of ClONO2 and the formation of 1 molecule of O2, 2 of Cl2 and 2 of N2O5. These quantum yields are not consistent with the current assumption that the primary photolysis step for ClONO2 in the stratosphere leads to the formation of ClO plus NO2. A consistent mechanism exists in which the photolytic step involves the decomposition of ClONO2 to ClONO + O(³P). The onset of observed absorption of radiation by ClONO2 corresponds approximately to the thermodynamic accessibility of this simple splitting away of an O atom.

The photolysis of ClONO occurs very rapidly in the stratosphere, either to Cl + NO2 or ClO + NO. The substitution of either Cl + NO2 + O or ClO + NO + O for ClO + NO2 as the eventual photolysis products from ClONO2 is not expected to cause appreciable alteration in predictions from stratospheric modeling.


The purpose of this article is to introduce the Gerber statistic, a robust co-movement measure for covariance matrix estimation for the purpose of portfolio construction. The Gerber statistic extends Kendall's Tau by counting the proportion of simultaneous co-movements in series when their amplitudes exceed data-dependent thresholds. Because the statistic is not affected by extremely large or extremely small movements, it is especially well suited for financial time series, which often exhibit extreme movements and a great amount of noise. Operating within the mean–variance portfolio optimization framework of Markowitz, we consider the performance of the Gerber statistic against two other commonly used methods for estimating the covariance matrix of stock returns: the sample covariance matrix (also called the historical covariance matrix) and shrinkage of the sample covariance matrix given by Ledoit and Wolf. Using a well-diversified portfolio of nine assets over a 30-year period (January 1990–December 2020), we find, empirically, that for almost all investment scenarios considered, the Gerber statistic's returns dominate those achieved by both historical covariance and by the shrinkage method of Ledoit and Wolf.


A fundamental principle of nature is as follows concerning stars ability to provide activation energy requirements for chemical reactions to take place during stellar evolution according to the general theory of stellar metamorphosis.


Long-lived plasma cells (PCs) are responsible for maintaining antibody titers and are believed to populate unique survival niches in the bone marrow (BM). Current models predict that BM PCs consist chiefly of long-lived, slowly renewing cells. However, we find that more than 50% of BM PCs exhibit characteristics of recently formed PCs. These characteristics include surface expression of the canonical naïve B cell surface proteins B220 and CD19, and a 50% renewal rate of less than 3 days. Surprisingly, despite the rapid turnover rate exhibited by B220+ BM PCs, antigen-induced antibody secreting cells are found within this population for more than 100 days post-immunization. Together these data offer new insights into the cellular basis of antibody titer maintenance, and suggest that BM niches are continuously repopulated by newly generated plasma cells well after antigenic exposure.


How the three best performers did it. The answers may surprise you As we have been chronicling for years, the industry has grown increasingly diverse. While at one time this may have characterized mainly the larger end of the bank spectrum, the range of strategies among community banks now gives little away to the big players. Nowhere is this more apparent than among the three companies that head our Top Performing Community Bank tables on the preceding pages. Each of the three has a different approach to banking. It's tempting to say that they don't necessarily represent the mainstream of the industry, but that's not really true. All three have many of the traditional features of community banks, but each has something unique as well. But typical or atypical, these three highly successful banking institutions are worth a closer look. Steams Financial Services Who wants to be a millionaire? About 200 people, that's who. They all work for Stearns Financial Services, Inc., and the way things are going, quite a few of them could be millionaires by the time they retire. Employee stock ownership plans are not a new or unusual benefit among community banks, but for an ESOP to own 30% of the parent company is unusual. That's the case with Stearns, a six-bank holding company, where the ESOP has been in place since 1985. Stearns Bank, N.A., the lead bank, has several times made our list of top 50 performers among non S-corporation banks with assets between $100 million and $1 billion, but this year, with companies ranked by consolidated data, Stearns Financial, based in St. Cloud, Minn., moved to the top with a five-year average return on equity of 25.90%. The real benefit from the ESOP, says Stearns' Controller, John Halvorson, is that employees think and act as owners, which they are. That attitude affects how they treat customers, how they control costs, and even how they make loans and leases. "They realize a loan that is shaky could end up hurting them," says Halvorson. Searching for the underbanked The ESOP is only part of the Stearns story. Chairman and CEO Norman Skalicky attributes the company's success to concentrating on its strategic plan, which is to look for areas that are underbanked. While the six banks in the company operate locally, they also are able to bring the expertise and capacity of a $924 million-assets company with nationwide lending and leasing operations to small markets. So Stearns is positioned to handle the larger and more complex deals that smaller banks can't handle and that the bigger banks ignore. When the big banks are interested, Stearns is more nimble than they are, Skalicky maintains. "I'm the major owner of the company, along with the ESOP," he says, "so our decision-making is very fast." Stearns is primarily a business bank with several specialties. It is a large Small Business Administration lender, for example, and does a lot of lending under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's business and industry program. Stearns also works with several major finance companies, providing construction loans for commercial properties while the finance companies handle the permanent financing. And then there's leasing. In business for decades, Stearns' leasing company began expanding rapidly in 1990. It is run by 75 people operating out of the Stearns Bank in Albany, Minn., "We lease hard assets, mostly," says Skalicky, meaning farm and construction equipment, street sweepers, and air-planes (for crop spraying). The leasing business accounts for about one-quarter of the company's assets and about the same proportion of earnings, says Skalicky. He notes that leasing has a higher risk of fraud than lending because the company doesn't have a history with the borrower the way banks often do with loan customers. On the other hand, adds Halvorson, leasing and lending offer a nice complement in terms of earnings--as one declines, the other often will go up. …


Racial threat hypothesis argues that members of the racial majority perceive growing proportions of a minority population as threatening, and in response, take actions to reduce the perceived threat. It has been hypothesized that perceived racial threat may explain the disparate racial demographics of the United States prison population. To test this claim, I utilize census data to establish racial and economic demography changes within U.S. counties between 2000 and 2010, county crime rates, and police expenditure data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. By combining these data over the course of ten years, I evaluate the relationship between minority population growth and police expenditures in urban U.S. counties. The findings in this paper provide evidence in favor of the racial threat hypothesis as an explanation of the disproportionate minority prison population by way of increased police spending in areas with minority population growth.


This paper explores the changes of interdependence in retail business pattern to illustrate its positive effects to far rural development. A possible agglomeration for a far rural development is tested from the perspectives of both decision making theory and firm location theory. Although a difference-in-difference model weaken statistical demerits of overdispersion, it is still a challenge to reach a moderate scale caused by discrete consumption demand of sectorial heterogeneity in a far rural county. Contrary to eliminate correlation of both observed and unobserved factors, empirical results based on an assumption of continuous demand for large regional development indicate that interdependence with unobserved factors is statistically significant among all retail firm establishments in far rural county through 12 sectors, and became stronger from year 1998 to 2008, particularly, to those rural counties where income per capita is higher than national level. Thus, policy implication of this research indicates potential feasibility of community-programs for far rural development.


The XXIst International Conference on Integrable Systems and Quantum symmetries (ISQS-21), organized by the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University Prague and the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, belongs to the successful series of conferences held at the Czech Technical University which began in 1992 and is devoted to problems of mathematical physics related to the theory of integrable systems, quantum groups and quantum symmetries. During the last 20 years, each of the conferences gathered around 60 scientists from all over the world. 36 of plenary lectures and contributions presented at ISQS-21 are published in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Cestmir Burdik, Ondrej Navratil, Severin Posta Editors


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the online localization of mobile (service) robots in real world dynamic environments. Most of the techniques developed so far have been designed for static environments. What is presented here is a novel technique for mobile robot localization in quasi‐dynamic environments.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed approach employs a probability grid map and Baye's filtering techniques. The former is used for representing the possible changes in the surrounding environment which a robot might have to face.Findings – Simulation and experimental results show that this approach has a high degree of robustness by taking into account both sensor and world uncertainty. The methodology has been tested under different environment scenarios where diverse complex objects having different sizes and shapes were used to represent movable and non‐movable entities.Practical implications – The results can be applied to diverse robotic systems that need to move in changin...


The present invention relates to a circuit element for preparing a polyurethane coated process, wherein (a) an aliphatic polyisocyanate compound ester with (b) containing at least two isocyanate-reactive hydrogen atoms, (c) catalysts and (d) optionally , other aids or mixing and / or additives, to obtain a first reaction mixture, and the reaction mixture is directly or indirectly applied to the tube and allowed to complete the reaction to obtain a polyurethane layer, comprising at least two isocyanate-reactive hydrogen atom based compounds include compounds alkoxylation product of aromatic starter molecule. The present invention further relates to a circuit element obtainable by this method.


Trap spectroscopy by charge injection and sensing method was applied to the In0.53Ga0.47As-Al2O3 system, yielding the spatial and energetic distribution of the traps inside the Al2O3 layer. The trap density inside the atomic-layer-deposited (ALD) Al2O3 layer was found to be significantly reduced by (NH4)2S treatment of the InGaAs surface prior to the Al2O3 deposition. Indium concentration inside the Al2O3 layer was found to be reduced once the InGaAs surface is (NH4)2S treated prior to the Al2O3 deposition as measured by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, indicating indium as a possible origin of the oxide traps. The results suggest a new mechanism for the sulfur action at the InGaAs surface, which might be responsible for the transistor performance improvements observed after ( NH4)2S passivation. This mechanism involves sulfur as an indium diffusion/segregation barrier stabilizing the InGaAs surface during the ALD Al2O3 deposition, lowering the oxide trap density. This, in turn, improves the electron mobility through a reduction in the Coulomb scattering of the carriers due to border traps and improves the device drive current.


Background: Colorectal diseases specially colorectal carcinoma is one of the major health problems throughout the world. Therefore, early diagnosis of these diseases is mandatory. There are various screening methods are used for early diagnosis of colorectal diseases. Among them fecal occult blood test is the most widely used screening test. Objectives: The objectives of the present study were to find out the role of immunological method of fecal occult blood test for screening colorectal diseases. Methods : This was a prospective study consisted of 110 patients suspected to have colorectal diseases of both sexes attending in Gastroenterology and Clinical Pathology department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. Stool samples of all the patients were examined by immunological method of fecal occult blood test and then advised for colonoscopy and histopathology for confirmatory diagnosis. The results of immunological method of fecal occult blood test and the colonoscopic findings were compared. Results . Of 110 patients, 87 (79%) cases were positive and 23 (20.9%)cases were negative by immunological method of fecal occult blood test. According to colonoscopy and histopathology, 65(32.5%) cases were found to have colorectal diseases and 45(22.5%) cases had no pathology. Diseases detected by colonoscopy in occult blood test positive patients, 18(16.4%) colorectal polyp, 24(21.8%) colonic ulcer, 8(7.3%) colorectal cancer, 5(3.5%) inflammatory bowel disease, 7(6.4%) haemorrhoids and fissure, 2(1.8%) colonic diverticulum and 1(0.9%) proctitis. Among the 65(32.5%) lesions detected by colonoscopy,62(95.3%) cases were positive by immunological method of fecal occult blood test where as only three(3) lesions were found in occult blood test negative cases. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of immunological method of fecal occult blood test (IFOBT) for detection of occult bleeding were 95.4%, 44.4%, 71.3% and 87.0% respectively. Conclusion: It can apparently be concluded from this study that the role of immunological method of fecal occult blood test for colorectal diseases is promising in Bangladesh. Key words: Colorectal diseases; Fecal occult blood test; Immunological method DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bsmmuj.v4i2.8634 BSMMU J 2011; 4(2):76-80


Aim: This paper aims to analyze, prepare, and review the general guidelines and rules that govern the development of key factors influencing the enhancement of emotionally supportive networks and selection models using fuzzy logic theory. The researchers have identified eight important components of the information society (IS), representing the computerized economy's growth to explain a realistic framework for medium-term gauges and proposals. Materials and methods: A discrete-nonstop opportunity paradigm portrays the creation of the general framework, in which the mutual effects of each of the components are spoken to models within the state-space. The software's mechanical quality offers improvement displayed along these lines that may indicate future interest to programing suppliers. The researchers have given supposed to the developments and interests of information technology (IT) professionals in R&D to provide insightful foundations. For example, this study will demonstrate the development of emotionally supportive networks and recommendations of choices for 3D-web-based businesses and their impact on mechanical advancement, examples of use and social behavior. Results: During an IS/IT foreknowledge undertaking completed in Poland in 2019 and sponsored by the Education Research and Development Foundation ERDF, the results were obtained.


Abstract It has been claimed that Australian and New Zealand voters have followed parallel paths since the Second World War. A comparison of the patterns of net vote movement at contemporaneous Australian and New Zealand elections since 1965 reveals that most have not been alike, although there were some remarkably similar patterns in the 1970s. Most Australian elections have been dominated by movement to the Opposition, but this is not true of New Zealand elections. At New Zealand elections, movements to minor parties have been as common.


Microwave switches are widely used to control the on-off or conversion of microwave signal transmission paths. In this paper, a SPDT (Single-Pole-Double-Throw) switch based on the X-band is designed, whose main function is to switch the input signal to two channels through the switch. The built-in limiter and low-noise amplifiers provide a certain channel gain for the system link, and realize the control of microwave signal outputs with different channels.


To build the harmonious-mentality education mode of university students,we must base it on the system analysis model of VTP as its logic frame.This education model constructs the core value orientation"harmony",with the theory basis of positive psychology thinking and the practical basis of the development characteristics from students' happiness sense.We want to be based on VTP model,and research the basic indexes of the harmony mentality educa-tion mode down to up,so as to build objectively and scientifically the theoretical mode and practical system of the harmonious-mentality education.


A drive circuit, an illumination light source and a lighting apparatus are provided. The drive circuit (1) is a drive circuit (1) for turning on an LED (2) and includes a self-excited inverter (20) supplying power to the LED (2), wherein the self-excited inverter (20) includes thermistors (PTC1, PTC2), and supplies, depending on temperature dependency of the thermistors (PTC1, PTC2), the first power value to the LED (2) when a temperature is the first temperature, and the second power value to the LED (2) when a temperature is the second temperature higher than the first temperature, and the second power value is smaller than the third power value that a circuit which is not provided with the thermistors (PTC1, PTC2) and supplies the first power value to the LED (2) when the temperature is a first temperature supplies to the LED (2) when a temperature is the second temperature.


Brunet raises the difficult subject of "undiagnosis." Scotland, long before England, had a financially incentivised target for "early diagnosis" of dementia. This was HEAT target 4, which was set for all 12 NHS boards deployed at secondary rather than primary care level. The Scottish government, having reached this target, has not shied away from stating that it did "quite well" in reaching the target. As a specialist doctor in dementia I am now facing the return of elderly people who were diagnosed with "early Alzheimer's disease," but who many years on show no signs of dementia (they do not fulfil clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia and have shown no signs of progression). These people thought that they had dementia or "Alzheimer's." Some have lived with this for seven years or more. They have generally had post-diagnostic counselling, and families and friends have also adapted to the diagnosis. Driving, autonomy, and insurance may all have been affected. In many cases this was the direct result of an approach based on "early diagnosis" set as an incentivised target. If we must have a target based approach (which I very much doubt), ethics must be considered from the outset.


1. As mentioned in the preceding paper (3), hybrid sterility among rice varieties seems to be due to that genes necessary for the development of gamete are duplicated and a hybrid between varieties having different recessive genes produces double recessive or sterile game tes in a deflnite ratio. When a gene (A or a ) controlling a character was linked with such a gamete-developnlentgene, the segregation ratio of A : a would be modified aild it should be expected that sterile plants be higher in frequency among heterozygotes Aa than among homozygotes AA or aa. 2. The relation between the gene above mentioned and the gamete-development-genes is inferrable from a certain method of calculation based on the phenotypic ratio of A : a and the differences in the mean as well as in the variance of fertility between phenotypically dominant plants and recessive ones in the F2 or back cross of a sterile hybrid. This was verifledin dealing with the change. of segregation ratios of grain tip pigmentatioh gene and glutinous gene in some varietal crosses.


Bis(pentafluorophenyl)boron fluoride (C6F5)2BF·OEt2 (1), readily accessible from BF3·OEt2 and 2 equiv of C6F5MgBr, reacts with fluorenyllithium to give (Flu)B(C6F5)2 (4), while the reaction with indenyllithium leads to the regioisomers 1- and 2-IndB(C6F5)2 5 and 6, which are separated by fractional crystallization. 4 and 5 form crystalline adducts with tert-butylamine. The trimethylsilyl derivatives Flu(SiMe3)B(C6F5)2 (9) and Ind(SiMe3)B(C6F5)2 (10) are similarly prepared. Heating (C6F5)2BF·OEt2 leads to ether cleavage and formation of (C6F5)2BOEt. Treatment of 5 and 6 with Zr(NMe2)4 at room temperature gives indenylzirconium amido half-sandwich complexes; however, the reaction is accompanied by the unexpected exchange of one boron-C6F5 substituent by NMe2, to form 1- and 2-{C9H6B(C6F5)(NMe2)}Zr(NMe2)3. Reaction with SiClMe3 affords the trichlorides 1- and 2-{C9H6B(C6F5)(NMe2)}ZrCl3. The NMe2 substituent reduces the Lewis acidity of boron, so that donor ligands such as THF or DME coordinate exclusively to...


This paper attempts to unravel the consistencies and inconsistencies in the Congolese public's conceptions of truth in politics. In pursuing this approach, the author also employs his personal experiences as a major player in the national conference of Congo in order to reveal the problems related to the invention of pluralist democracy in a polity as complicated as CongoBrazzaville.


Abstract Background The substitution of nurses for doctors is a strategy used in primary care to improve access to, and efficiency and quality of, care. Many of these nurses prescribe medicines including antibiotics. Objectives To identify nurse-independent prescriber (NIP) and GP numbers in England, the proportions and types of NIPs and GP antibiotic prescriptions dispensed in the community, and the impact of COVID-19 on the volume, rate and types of antibiotic prescriptions dispensed. Methods A descriptive population-based retrospective cohort study using data obtained from the National Health Service Business Service Authority (under a Freedom of Information request) on GP and nurse-independent prescriber prescriptions for antibiotics dispensed in the community in England between January 2014 and October 2021. Results Between 2014 and 2021, the number of NIPs (headcount) in England almost doubled from 24 457 to 41 649. Of the 41 649 NIPs in 2021, the prescriptions of 34 997 (84%) were dispensed in the community, i.e. a rise of 146% over this 6-year period. By contrast, GP numbers (headcount) rose by 10% to 44 681. Of the 25.373 million antibiotic prescriptions dispensed between 2014 and 2021, NIPs were responsible for 8.6%. The rate of dispensed antibiotic prescriptions decreased (NIPs by 50% and GPs by 21%) between 2014 and 2020 (where data across the full year were available). This decreasing trend continued following the onset of the pandemic across both groups. In line with guidance for the treatment of minor infections, narrow-spectrum antibiotics (penicillins, macrolides and tetracyclines) were the most frequently dispensed across both NIPs and GPs. Trends in prescription of antibiotics during the pandemic were reflected in the use of individual classes of antibiotics prescribed for RTIs. Conclusions Given the rising numbers of nurse prescribers and their increasing contributory influence on total antibiotic prescribing, it is important that this group is included in antimicrobial stewardship efforts. NIPs prescribe fewer antibiotics than GPs but work under different conditions (e.g. longer consultations and less complex patients), and so, interventions should also be tailored to this group and the population and context in which they are delivered.


A novel approximation method is presented for approximating the value function and selecting good actions for Markov decision processes with large state and action spaces. The method approximates state-action values as negative free energies in an undirected graphical model called a product of experts. The model parameters can be learned efficiently because values and derivatives can be efficiently computed for a product of experts. Actions can be found even in large factored action spaces by the use of Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. Simulation results show that the product of experts approximation can be used to solve large problems. In one simulation it is used to find actions in action spaces of size 240.


AbstrcatUsing the method of questionnaire,the author probed into the current research situation and (development) of exercise and free-radicals. It also analyzed the functions and possible mechanism that the free-radicals had during the process of caducity,and the influences that free-radicals possessed on the organism anti-oxidize ability in exercise.


This paper presents the didactic problem based learning method in general use at Aalborg University as applied to Electric Mobility. Advantage is taken of this method to link student learning to current research projects. This offers advantages to the students and the researchers. The paper introduces the subject, presents the research of the Department of Energy Technology and describes the relevant syllabus. It continues to present a range of titles of previous research linked student project projects, and to fill in some of the detail, an example of such a student project. The paper discusses some advantages and drawbacks of this method, and concludes on the usefulness of applying the method.


A frequency-domain theory which is applicable to all linear systems and a class of non-linear systems is formulated in a Hilbert resolution space setting. Our approach is predicated on an 'analytic' characterization of certain non-selfadjoint operator algebras due to Arveson. Although originally used as an analytic tool, Arveson, in fact, formulated an operator-valued frequency response function for the elements of these algebras which, in particular, include the causal operators defined on a Hilbert resolution space. The resultant Arveson frequency response (AFR) is well defined for all linear and non-linear systems on a Hilbert resolution space and in the linear case it is characterized by an analyticity theory which is identical to that of the classical time-invariant frequency response concept. Moreover, it yields computationally viable formulae for the most widely studied classes of linear systems including the time-varying ABCD systems. Finally, the classical frequency response concepts and their ti...


Abstract A turbidimetric test and two wet sieving tests were used to measure aggregate stabilities of soils from five neighbouring fields with different cropping histories. Turbidimetry more clearly reflected differences in cropping history than either wet sieving procedure, and was also more rapid and reproducible. Wet sieving with slow wetting was a more sensitive indicator of small differences in stability of unstable soils than sieving after rapid wetting. The tests involving rapid wetting revealed differences among fields related to cropping history and organic carbon content. The small differences in clay and plastic limit moisture contents of the fields were not clearly reflected by the results of all the tests. Clay content correlated significantly only with the slow wetting test, moisture content at the plastic limit only with turbidimetry, although this latter relationship is probably not causal, but may reflect control of both variables by organic carbon.


The rheological properties of different generations of hyperbranched polyesters in 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone solvent and their blends with a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) are examined in this study. All the hyperbranched polyester solutions exhibit Newtonian behavior, with steady shear viscosities independent of shear rate. This indicates the absence of physical entanglements in these systems. In addition, solution viscosities are found to be only slightly affected by the different generations of the hyperbranched polymer. The polyesters have very small intrinsic viscosities, and their hydrodynamic radius scales as Rh ∼ M0.39, suggesting a less packed structure than dendrimers. All generations of the hyperbranched polyesters also show comparable apparent activation energies of flow over the temperature range studied. Replacing linear polymers with hyperbranched polymers causes large reductions in the blend viscosities. This behavior can be attributed to the decrease in both the number of physical entan...


The goal of the thesis was to prototype a recommendation system which would advise the user when purchasing immovable property based on vicinity of points of interest. The data used for determining POI's was provided by Monolit d.o.o. while the data for immovable property were obtained from the website nepremicnine.net. The data is then stored in an PostGIS extended PostGreSQL database, which is used for geographical work. The data is then presented using web services with REST technology in a client-server architecture. For the purpose of client we developed a simple web client based on HTML5, JQuery and CSS3 standards. The user can then filter real estate, set the desired type of points of interest, even set weighted parameters determining the final score for each real estate. The system then presents the best scoring real estates on a map together with the points of interest.


The paper introduce the breeding course and fine characteristics of the strain of Jinzhou black mink. The importance of this new strain on promoting the development of Chinese mink industry are also expounded.


In mobile telecommunication, radio frequency waves that are used to carry the intelligence of cellular telephone calls is actually the electromagnetic energy transmitted through space. A radio amateur that is located near to the mobile telephone base station receives much more electromagnetic energy that can adversely affect signal reception hence causing interference. This paper presents a case study in China (Wuhan) that investigates the effect of electromagnetic radiation on a radio amateur due to base stations built on top of or near residential buildings. The path from the base station transmitter through the air was examined and later linked to the electromagnetic field theory to build models of different paths for interfering signals which were sustained by simulation. The conditions determining the risk of interference were considered. The main purpose of this paper is to study the existing standards such as EMC-directive with regard to radio amateurs and to disseminate EMC education about the mobile base stations.


Abstract : My goal is to understand how mechanisms that regulate normal hematopoietic development can also influence the mutation spectra of pediatric and adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Genetic differences between pediatric and adult AML may underlie differences in outcomes and necessitate different treatment strategies, yet we have few insights into why these differences occur. To address this problem, we are testing whether one mutation, FLT3-ITD, differentially regulates fetal and adult progenitors. FLT3-ITD mutations are more common in adult AML than in childhood AML, and our studies to date have shown that it has age-specific phenotypes. In adult mice, FLT3-ITD depleted the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) pool and expanded myeloid progenitor populations. These phenotypes were not evident in fetal mice, even in the presence of a collaborating Runx1 mutation. To understand why fetal and adult progenitors responded differently to FLT3-ITD, we characterized signal transduction (e.g. STAT5 and MAPK pathways) in fetal, neonatal and adult progenitors. STAT5 was activated by FLT3-ITD at all stages of development, but MAPK was activated only in post-natal progenitors. Furthermore, STAT5 target gene regulation changed through the course of development. We are now testing whether reactivation of fetal gene products can suppress leukemogenesis. Reprogramming therapies may offer a novel approach for treating AML.


Genus Thymus L. or thyme ( Labiatae Juss.) is critical for systematic group of plants. Representatives of this species are characterised by high level of polymorphism, female dioecy (gynodioecy), ability of interspecific hybridisation. Manifestation of the mentioned phenomena and insufficient number of reliable features for differentiation of species cause difficulties for taxonomic processing of the said species. Small quantity of diagnostic features and their parallel variability even in unrelated groups of species complicate also understanding of main directions of evolution within the genus. Therefore, taking into account presence of differences in interpretation of the volume of certain taxons and their ranks, appearance of new factual information, the aim of the work was to carry out critical survey of the systems of genus Thymus . It was found that in spite of the long period of the studies of the genus representatives, at present there is no complete system which would clearly reflect directions of evolution within genus Thymus . Clear understanding of directions of evolution within genus Thymus and creation of its complete system might be achieved by application of molecular-genetic methods of research, which have become considerably spread for the past decades. As to genus Thymus there is only small quantity of studies in this direction, that is why it is early to make any final conclusions. However, already today molecular-genetic methods confirm clear isolation of species T. capitatus from the remaining representatives of genus Thymus and justification of referring it to genus Thymbra .


Importance sampling-based inference algorithms have shown excellent performance on reasoning tasks in Bayesian networks (Cheng & Druzdzel 2000; Moral & Salmeron 2003; Yuan & Druzdzel 2005). In this paper, we argue that all the improvements of these algorithms come from the same source, the improvement on the quality of the importance function. We also explain the requirements that a good importance function should satisfy, namely, it should concentrate its mass on the important parts of the target density and it should possess heavy tails. While the first requirement is subject of a theorem due to Rubinstein (1981), the second requirement is much less understood. We attempt to illustrate why heavy tails are desirable by studying the properties of importance sampling and examining a specific example. The study also leads to a theoretical insight into the desirability of heavy tails for importance sampling in the context of Bayesian networks, which provides a common theoretical basis for several successful heuristic methods. Introduction Importance sampling is used in several areas of modern statistics and econometrics to approximate unsolvable integrals. It has become the basis for several successful Monte Carlo sampling-based inference algorithms for Bayesian networks (Cheng & Druzdzel 2000; Moral & Salmeron 2003; Yuan & Druzdzel 2005), for which inference is known to be NP-hard (Cooper 1990; Dagum & Luby 1993). This paper argues that all the improvements of these algorithms come from the same source, the improvement on the quality of the importance function. A good importance function can lead importance sampling to yield excellent results in a reasonable time. It is well understood that we should focus on sampling in the areas where the value of the target function is relatively large (Rubinstein 1981). Thus, the importance function should concentrate its mass on the important parts of the target density. However, unimportant areas should by no means be neglected. Several authors pointed out that a good importance function should possess heavy tails (Geweke 1989; MacKay 1998). In other Copyright c © 2005, American Association for Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. words, we should increase the sampling density in those unimportant areas. These two requirements seem to contradict one another. Why heavy tails are important and how heavy they should be are not well understood. This paper addresses these questions by studying the properties of importance sampling and discussing what conditions an admissible importance function should satisfy. We also try to illustrate why heavy tails are important by examining an example in which the conditions can be verified analytically. When analytical verification is impossible, we recommend to use two techniques to estimate how good an importance function is. The study also leads to a theoretical insight into the desirability of heavy tails for importance sampling in the context of Bayesian networks, which provides a common theoretical basis for several successful heuristic methods in Bayesian networks, including -cutoff (Cheng & Druzdzel 2000; Ortiz & Kaelbling 2000; Yuan & Druzdzel 2005), if-tempering (Yuan & Druzdzel 2004), rejection control (Liu 2001), and dynamic tuning (Shachter & Peot 1989; Ortiz & Kaelbling 2000; Moral & Salmeron 2003). Importance Sampling In our notation, a regular upper case letter, such as X , denotes a single variable, and x denotes its state. A bold upper case letter, such as X, denotes a set of variables. Their states are denoted by x. Now, let p(X) be a probability density of n variables X = (X1, ..., Xn) over domain Ω ⊂ R. Consider the problem of estimating the multiple integral


The U.S. air transportation system is the most productive in the world, moving far more people and goods than any other. It is also the safest system in the world, thanks in part to its venerable air traffic control system. But as demand for air travel continues to grow, the air traffic control systems aging infrastructure and labor-intensive procedures are impinging on its ability to keep pace with demand. And that impinges on the growth of our economy. Part of NASA's current mission in aeronautics research is to invent new technologies and procedures for ATC that will enable our national airspace system to accommodate the increasing demand for air transportation well into the next generation while still maintaining its excellent record for safety. It is a challenging mission, as efforts to modernize have, for decades, been hamstrung by the inability to assure safety to the satisfaction of system operators, system regulators, and/or the traveling public. In this talk, we'll provide a brief history of air traffic control, focusing on the tension between efficiency and safety assurance, and we'll highlight some new NASA technologies coming down the pike.


Inhibition of nuclear factor (NF)-κB has emerged as an important strategy for design of anti-inflammatory therapies. In neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease, inflammatory reactions mediated by glial cells are believed to promote disease progression. Here, we report that uptake of a double-stranded oligonucleotide NF-κB decoy in rat primary glial cells is clearly facilitated by noncovalent binding to a cell-penetrating peptide, transportan 10, via a complementary peptide nucleic acid (PNA) sequence. Fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide decoy was detected in the cells within 1 h only when cells were incubated with the decoy in the presence of cell-penetrating peptide. Cellular delivery of the decoy also inhibited effects induced by a neurotoxic fragment of the Alzheimer β amyloid peptide in the presence of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL) 1β. Pretreatment of the cells with the complex formed by the decoy and the cell-penetrating peptide-PNA resulted in 80% and 50% inhibition of the NF-κB binding activity and IL-6 mRNA expression, respectively.


Taking the Dagu drainage river for example,for COD and NH3-N,the random intercept growth model,the random intercept/slope growth model and the random intercept/slope growth model with time-varying covariates were established using the multilevel statistical analysis method.The random intercept/slope growth model for NH3-N and the random intercept/slope growth model with time-varying covariates for COD can better reflect the longitudinal change rule of water quality during low flow period,average flow period and high flow period as well as the temporal-spatial change rule of pollutants concentrations at sampling points.The successful application of these models can provide scientific foundation for general regulation and scientific management of rivers.


Direct sulfonation and styrene-mediated sulfonation were carried out onto metallocene-based poly(ethylene-co-octene) (POE) and poly(ethylene-co-butene) (PBE) elastomers to impart polarity on the completely nonpolar rubbery matrices and to prepare a new class of elastomer. The influence of styrene-grafting and pendant chain length on the degree of sulfonation was also studied. The effects of sulfonation, styrene grafting and styrene-mediated sulfonation at their optimized levels on various physicomechanical properties were thoroughly investigated, and the resultant properties were correlated with structures of the modified elastomers. Higher extent of sulfonic acid groups were introduced through direct sulfonation in comparison with the styrene-mediated sulfonation, whereas better thermal and mechanical properties were obtained through styrene-mediated sulfonation in comparison with the direct sulfonation process. PBE had shown higher degree of sulfonation and percentage grafting than POE. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 8023–8040, 2008


In an attempt to determine whether or not a place‐type mechanism for frequency discrimination exists in the ears of bony fishes, an experimental investigation of three species was conducted. Goldfish, Oscars, and Kissing Gouramis were exposed to intense single‐frequency sound fields for 2 h and then sacrificed. During the exposure, the fish were constrained inside a waveguide at a point of maximal acoustic pressure and minimal particle velocity. The saccular maculae were examined under a scanning electron microscope to determine the location of hair cell damage as a function of frequency. Preliminary results indicate that the location of the damage may not depend on frequency. [Work supported in part by ONR and NIH.]


Innovation of technologies for communication systems, specifically in satellite domain, cloud technologies and 5G terrestrial systems is reaching a point of convergence, which promises a new communication paradigm. It enables a new range of features such as agile service provisioning, multi-tenancy, software controlled and dynamic management, on-demand service-oriented resource allocation, universal multi-access, and ubiquitous connectivity. Standardization bodies as 3GPP and ETSI recognize and promote terrestrial and satellite interworking. The complete integration can be achieved with the combination of radio networks, including core and access, and the satellite systems, with computational resources expanded from the core to the network's edge. In this novel ecosystem, a coordination framework is an essential enabler to realize 5G vision. Combined management of different resources will be performed through a MANO-like framework, which is the focus of this paper. The proposed solution provides a user-friendly single point of interaction for all stakeholders in the ecosystem, i.e. terrestrial and satellite operators as well as 5G vertical providers, where they can launch and manage end-to-end 5G services. The system allows easy integration of multiple applications as well as solutions provided by radio and satellite vendors.


UNIQUAC equations in calculating the activity coefficient Acetone Butanol Ethanol (ABE) ternary system using the Mat-lab programming language, then verified with a homologous series of alcohol Methanol Ethanol Propanol (MEP) ternary system, to see if the mixture is an ideal or non-ideal solution. If the activity coefficient is close to one, then the solution is the ideal solution, whereas if the activity coefficient is more or less one, then the solution is a non-ideal solution so that in the separation of the solution, the activity coefficient should not be assumed to be the same as one, the activity coefficient should be calculated the actual value. The fixed variable consists of the temperature and Antoine parameter, the change variable consists of the liquid composition and dimensionless time, then obtained the activity coefficient profile function dimensionless time from the ABE and MEP ternary systems. With UNIQUAC equations obtained activity coefficients of the ABE ternary system more than once, while MEP ternary system shows the activity coefficient close to one, it can be concluded that the ABE ternary system is an a-zeotropic ternary system.


The cardioprotective role of α-calcitonin gene related peptide (α-CGRP), a 37-amino acid neuropeptide and potent vasodilator, in cardiac diseases has been established by our laboratory and others. Systemic delivery of α-CGRP decreases blood pressure in hypertensive humans, and improves hemodynamic variables in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. However, the short half-life of the peptide (t
 1/2
 = ~5.5 min in serum) limits α-CGRP use in any long-term treatment regime. The present study utilized alginate-α-CGRP microcapsules for long-term continuous delivery of α-CGRP in a mouse CHF model. We used an electrospray method to prepare α-CGRP encapsulated alginate microcapsules approximately 200μm in size. The α-CGRP encapsulated microcapsules showed no cytotoxicity when incubated with the cardiac cell lines, HL-1 and H9c2 cells, for 7 days. Subcutaneous administration of microcapsules containing 150, 250, or 500μg α-CGRP lowered the systolic pressure up to 18 h, 3 days, and 7 days, respectively, in wild-type mice (measured by tail-cuff method), indicating that released α-CGRP remains biologically active. The cardioprotective effect of microcapsules released α-CGRP was examined using a transverse aortic constriction (TAC) induced pressure-overload mouse model of CHF. After two days of TAC, 500μl of alginate-α-CGRP microcapsules (containing 150μg α-CGRP) was administered in nine weeks old C57/BL6 mice on alternate days up to 28 days. Echocardiography data showed that microcapsule treatment of α-CGRP significantly preserved left ventricular fraction shortening (FS) and ejection fraction in the TAC mice (FS±SD: sham 47.2±1.5%, sham-alginate-α-CGRP 48.4±1.8%, TAC 29.5±1.4%, and TAC-alginate-α-CGRP 43.2±1.2%). α-CGRP delivery attenuated cardiac hypertrophy in TAC mice when reported as heart wt/tibia length (mg/mm±SD): sham 6.3±0.1, sham-alginate-α-CGRP 6.3±0.2, TAC 8.6±0.3, and TAC-alginate-α-CGRP 6.6±0.2. Alginate-only microcapsules did not affect these cardiac parameters. Our results show that α-CGRP delivery through alginate microcapsules protect hearts from cardiac failure. As alginate is immunologically inactive, the alginate microcapsules offer a new potential delivery paradigm for patients with heart failure.


The assessment of standard energy metabolism has been measured in rats after per os introduction of a new antihypoxic metal-complex substance πQ1983 with a dose 100 mg/kg. The well-known antihypoxant amthizole was used as a substance for comparison in the same dose. It had been established that 90 min after using πQ1983, activity of body energy processes decreased from 194.4 ± 0.7 kcal/day/kg (the control group) to 74.5 ± 0.5 kcal/day/kg (πQ1983), but the effect of amthizole was not reliable. It has also been revealed that both substances (πQ1983 significantly, amthizole slightly) decreased the rats' oxygen consumption rate during rising acute exogenous hypoxia that could increase the animals' resistance to the oxygen deficit. Probably, the decreased oxygen consumption was caused by the inhibitory effects of the studied substances, especially that of substance πQ1983, on body energy-intensive processes.


ABSTRACT Background: Global health research partnerships, which promote the exchange of ideas, knowledge and expertise across countries, are considered key to addressing complex challenges facing health systems. Yet, many studies report inequalities in these partnerships, particularly in those between high and low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). Objective: This paper examines global research collaborations on community health worker (CHW) programmes, specifically analysing the structures of authorship teams and networks in publications reporting research on CHW programmes in low-income countries (LICs). Methods: A sub-set of 206 indexed journal articles reporting on CHW programmes in LICs was purposefully selected from a prior review of research authorship on CHW programmes in all LMICs over a five year period (2012–2016). Data on country and primary organisational affiliation and number of publications for all individual authors, programme area (e.g. maternal child health) and total citations per paper were extracted and coded in excel spreadsheets. Data were then exported and analysed in Stata/ICV.14 and Gephi. Results: The 206 papers were authored by 1045 authors from 299 institutions, based in 43 countries. Half (50.1%) the authors came from LIC-based institutions, 43.8% from high-income country (HIC) institutions, 2.9% from middle-income country (MIC) institutions and 3.2% had different first affiliations in different publications. Authors based in the USA (302) and UK (68) accounted for just over a third (35.4%) of all authors. Partnership patterns revealed a primary mode of North–South collaboration with authors from the US, and to a lesser extent the UK, playing central bridging roles between institutions. Strong network clusters of multiple-affiliated authors were evident in research on MCH and HIV/TB aspects of CHW programmes. Conclusion: Knowledge production on CHW programmes in LICs flows predominantly through a pool of connected HIC authors and North–South collaborations. There is a need for strategies harnessing more diverse, including South–South, forms of partnership.


Electron-microscopic examination of aortas of rat treated orally and chronically with β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) has shown progressive lesions in the elastic framework. This is associated with modifications of cells in the media which dedifferentiate into histiocytes and fibrocytes and also multiply. These changes begin in the 5th week of treatment, and are responsible for the hyperplasia of the intima as well as its thickening and collagenization. They support observations made in man during aortic aging, namely with regard to the intima and the intima-media junction. A high lipid diet given at various times during intoxication causes lipid deposition in the intima and a substantial penetration into the media when the lesions are developing. This also corroborates some hypotheses on the development of human atheroma. The addition of pyridinol carbamate (PDC) to BAPN prevents the formation of elastic tissue lesions. When given after the cessation of lathyrism treatment, PDC arrests and causes regression of lesions in the aortic media. It has no effects on lipid deposits, but the deposits are confined to the intima only.


Summary A method is described whereby starch level in wood of Coffea arabica L. was estimated by means of visual scoring. The correlation between the amount of starch thus found and the quantity established by chemical analysis proved to be + 0.925, +0.932 and 0.819 in young, semimature and mature wood respectively. No satisfactory way was found for making a similar estimate of the amount of starch in the leaves.


The condition of the protective barrier of the stomach in patients with duodenal ulcer associated and non-associated with H. pylori infection has been studied. The state of gastric mucosal barrier was studied in 72 patients with peptic ulcer disease association with H. pylori and 26 patients without H. pylori by determining the content of insoluble glycoproteins and its fractions in the basal portion of the gastric juice. In a comparative perspective the state of these indicators were studied depending on the association with H. pylori and the severity of the disease. In patients with H. pylori, damages of protective mucus barrier are characterized by the significant shortage of fucose, which is considered to be the main component of the insoluble glycoproteins.  In patients without H. pylori, status of mucosal barrier is characterized by uniform and less significant reduction in the content of fractions of insoluble glycoproteins. In this patients the reduction of insoluble glycoproteins is not dependent on the frequency of exacerbation. The content of fucose in the mucous gel of gastric juice is a diagnostic criterion for determining the frequency of recurrence of the disease in patients with H. pylori infection.


The alterations in gaseous exchange and in carbohydrate and fat content of the organism during metamorphosis are described. The nitrogen metabolism of this period is considered, the various fractions, protein nitrogen, basic nitrogen, water‐soluble nitrogen, chitin nitrogen, uric acid nitrogen, etc., being followed as far as possible. The formation of the silk is considered, and the differences in metabolism between insects forming large and those forming insignificant cocoons.


Neutron coincidence counting (NCC) is used routinely around the world for nondestructive mass assay of uranium and plutonium in many forms, including waste. Compared with other methods, NCC is generally the most flexible, economic, and rapid. Many applications of NCC would benefit from a reduction in counting time required for a fixed random error. We have developed and tested the first prototype of a dual- gated, shift-register-based electronics unit that offers the potential of decreased measurement time for all passive and active NCC applications.


In this paper we perform a network based analysis of scientific collaboration networks. The analysis of the collaboration networks provides an insight into the quality of the relations among participants in the collaboration network. It may identify leaders and crucial participants in the network, domains of interest, closely related communities and future links. This is all of great importance for studying knowledge sharing among participants. We describe a set of network measures and algorithms chosen from the standard complex networks methodology, which are suitable for the research of scientific collaboration networks. The focus of this study has been placed on the scientific communities and linking. Communities can provide information about how collaboration is evolving over time. More precisely, the analysis of collaboration communities tells us about how well the participants are connected and how well they communicate. Next, the paper describes a case study in which the selected measures are applied to the collaboration networks that have emerged from STSMs (short-term scientific missions) on the KEYSTONE COST Action (semanticKEYword-based Search on sTructured data sOurcEs).


The objective of this experimental research was to know if primary closure is more effective than tertiary closure to reduce the incidence of incisional surgical site infection by complicated acute appendicitis (gangrenous or perforated). This study was carried out at the Hospital Provincial Docente Belen of Lambayeque, in patients operated since 01/09/2007 until 31/05/09, with these characteristics: Patients 10-40 years old, gangrenous or perforated cecal appendix, pre and postoperative antibiotic therapy with amikacin and metronidazole, transverse incision on right lower quadrant of abdomen, irrigation of the wound with pressure, intraoperatively with NaCl 9°/oo (500 to 1000 cc), it was used for fascia and skin closure, the monofilament nylon. Patients were divided in two groups, the first was treated with primary wound closure, and the second group with tertiary wound closure from 5th postoperative day. The sample consisted of 36 patients in each group, randomly chosen, and the team of surgeons was the same for both groups. For data analysis was applied the Z test for the difference of proportions in patients with incisional surgical site infection in each treatment, it was also used the X2 test for categorical variables and the Fisher's exact test; if p 0,05). The study didn't determine that primary closure is more effective than tertiary closure to reduce the incidence of incisional surgical site infection by complicated acute appendicitis.


This paper introduces the test project, course, effect of deep applying technology for chemical fertilizer in rice producing in Changshan County, puts forward suggestion to perfect it.


BV(Bacillus thuringiensis and Spodoptera litur nucleopolyhedroviru) agent is a new biological pesticide which was developed to control several kinds of Lepidoptera insects by the biological pesticide research laboratory of Jinling institute of technology. In the research the insecticidal activity of BV had been studied, the results indicated that the storage period can attain 3 years. The indoor effect of BV on the different instars of the cabbage caterpillar in the lab showed that it has higher insecticidal activity than beta-cypermethrin and B.t. preparation(Qingchongling). The BV at different dilution ratio all showed evidently insecticidal activity. The BV concentrations at 5 IU/μL+50 PIB/μL and 3.33 IU/μL+33.3 PIB/μL had the higher insecticidal activity and longer persistent period compared with the other concentrations. The field efficacy of spraying BV at different time also showed that the efficacy of BV being sprayed at evening was better than it in the morning.


SYNOPSIS. A pure strain of Eimeria debliecki isolated from a single oocyst in parasite free pigs was used thruout the study. Oocysts were allowed to sporulate at 3 constant temperatures, 20, 25, and 30 C, and the sporulation process was examined at 12-hour intervals. A detailed description of the anatomic sequence of sporulation at 20 C is given and illustrated with photomicrographs and line drawings. The sporocysts and sporozoites are also described.


Warthin tumor is the second most common salivary gland tumor affecting male in 6 th to 7 th decade of life. It can grow in peri- parotid or cervical lymph nodes too. Preoperative FNAC procedure can induce partial to near total infarction and metaplastic changes in tumor masquerading with malignancy, mainly squamous cell carcinoma or low grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Here, I present a case in which FNAC procedure was performed. Later on histopathology, metaplastic changes in epithelium of Warthin tumor and extensive infarction were noted. Such lesion could have been mistaken as Squamous cell carcinoma or low grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Thus acquaintance with morphological alteration caused by FNAC procedure is very important to avoid misdiagnosis. Journal of Pathology of Nepal (2015) Vol. 5, 778-780


The paper presents the research regarding the rotational movement of the engine valve and engine tappet for a direct acting valve train.The first part of the paper describes the necessity of the rotational movement of the engine valve and tappet, its advantages as well as its disadvantages. It also shows for which engine valve this motion is more necessary: intake valve or exhaust valve.The paper's main part presents the virtual model used in the analysis. The valve train model was created using LMS Virtual Lab. In the first stage of the CAE analysis, the bodies were considered as being rigid. Flexible bodies will be used in future stages in order to include the component deformation into the calculations. The analysis was performed considering: engine speed, eccentricity value of the cam in relative position to the tappet and the value of the friction coefficient. The simulations were done at the following engine speeds: 600RPM, 2500RPM, 3200RPM and 7200RPM (maximum engine speed). Three values for cam eccentricity were used: 1.5mm, 2mm and 3mm.The rotation direction and speed were considered as performance parameters for the analysis.The simulation results revealed that the eccentric position of the cam, the engine speed and the friction coefficient are the main factors that influence the rotational movement of valve and tappet. This study is an outcome of collaboration between the Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania and an automotive parts manufacturer. The results of the project will be used to improve the design of valve train components.


In-field to transloading zone transportation with agricultural tractor-trailer units may incur costs of up to nine times those of long-distance truck-tractor units. This necessitates the implementation of an optimal cane extraction road network. In this paper formulas are derived to evaluate whether the construction of additional roads and transloading zones may enhance a sugarcane farm's profitability. The formulas were applied in a case study typical for a 250 ha commercial sugarcane farm in South Africa to quantify the technique's economic value and to demonstrate additional practical constraints. Transport savings were calculated at US$3,700 per annum and costs incurred on capital expansion was recovered after six crop cycles (ratoons). The results suggest that significant reductions in transport costs could be achieved, especially by increasing the number of transloading zones on existing roads. The case study did, however, also identify several other factors, such as topography, cash flow requirements and vehicle utilisation issues that may alter road upgrading decisions.


Parkson tower is A Office building which is located in Bintaro Jaya, Tangerang Selatan. Singer Building on the design of reinforced concrete structures, which consists of 11 Floors, High with + 45m, plus 4 Floor basement, which functioned as a regional Parking, with depth of 12 m below the ground surface. The new building is planned to Parkson Tower will be built in the city of Padang, West Sumatra. As we know that the area is a with Padang earthquake zone High The need to review the design spesial Building. The building will be modified with Adding Period Of Building Floor 11 Floor 15 Floor And Being The previous basement Being Land Parking The function will be eliminated, because the land will be transferred Into Parking area beside the building, with Parking Broad availability of land. In the Thesis singer made repeated using a steel structure Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBF), Type wear bresing inverted V. Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBF) is a System Frame with stiffener beams and columns, where at any Edge Of stiffener connected to the review isolated Part of the beam so-called Link. on EBF, the weakest link is a part. So Failure on each on or collapse Structural damage to Happen  works of human son on Link. Concept design EBF  Link is established as part of Yang would Damaged, elements while lying elastic Conditions Remain hearts. Final Destination Of The singer is generating Planning Structural steel building includes Planning beam, beam Son, concrete filled steel tube column, Profile Link EBF, Profile bresing And Foundations That meets the requirements of Security Structures based SNI 03-2847-2013, SNI 03-1729 -2002, SNI 03-1726-2012, Dan PPIUG 1987


In this research, we have prepared epoxy/graphene nanocomposites (graphene content: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 wt%) to investigate some mechanical (impact strength, hardness, and Brazilian tests) and thermal properties (thermal conductivity and thermogravimetric analysis). Our results show that the impact strength, hardness, and compression strength values increased to 5.04 kJ/m2, 79.8, and 27.85 MPa, respectively, as increasing graphene content up to 5 wt% and then decreased for further increasing of the graphene content. The observed reduction in the hardness could be attributed to the samples brittleness. On the other hand, the thermal conductivity increased with increasing the graphene content because of the high thermal conductivity of graphene and thus the efficiency increase with increasing of graphene content. In addition, the thermal stability of epoxy/graphene composite increase compared with pure epoxy resin, while the activation energy for samples consists of 9 wt% graphene greater than those containing 1 wt% graphene.


The clans of the Gaos accumulated good deeds into Moral,filial piety and righteousness and other moral values as the core of family culture during the Ming and Qing dynasties in Zichuan Shandong. They not only interpretated in the works of Gaoshijiamo,but also internalized in the heart on the line of suits,which made Gao's culture spread in the different families and regines,thus contributing to heritage about excellent traditional culture.


Epitaxial Co/Cr bilayered films have been successfully grown on the MgO(100) and MgO(110) substrates by molecular‐beam epitaxy. According to the reflection high‐energy electron‐diffraction and x‐ray‐diffraction measurements the crystal structure of the film depends on orientation of the buffer and substrate. Epitaxial growth of biaxial Co(1120)/Cr(100) on MgO(100) substrate and of uniaxial Co(1100)/Cr(211) on MgO(110) substrate has been confirmed. The anisotropy magnetoresistance (AMR) is strongly influenced by the orientation of the Cr buffer. In Co(1120)/Cr(100) on MgO(100) AMR is isotropic for all in‐plane fields. However, for Co(1100)/Cr(211) on MgO(110) we observed enhancement of AMR along the easy axis for temperatures below 150 K, while along the hard axis AMR has a local maximum at about 150 K. The easy axis data suggest that the longitudinal spin density wave of Cr and the crystal anisotropy of Co on Cr(211) plane dominate the enhancement of the AMR.


Change of redoks-potentials of modeling system Fe (III, II) depending on the maintenance fulvo - and humus the acids evolved from coal of the Oh-Karagaj deposit is investigated.


A simple method is given for estimating the continuous PQ disturbance level at a site. It is based on determining a "Voltage Distortion Increment" (VDI) for each segment of the network and then adding the VDIs from a given site back to an upstream site where levels are taken to be zero. The VDI is conveniently expressible in the form of S(MVA) times length (km), where "length" correspond to the physical length in the case of MV overhead lines and an equivalent length for other components. The method is verified by a comparison with field survey data. The voltage distortion figures assist in the choice of PQ monitor placement and for estimating levels at unmonitored sites.


This paper examines the effects of participatory budgeting on local government service delivery in the district of Sumedang, West Java, using synthetic control methods. I use four indicators to measure the local government's service delivery performance: household access to safe sanitation and water, and the net junior and senior secondary school enrolment rates. The findings indicate that participatory budgeting improved the net junior secondary enrolment rate for the overall population compared to the counterfactual, but not that it improved the access of the poor to any of the areas investigated. I argue that this is due to the dominance of local elites in agenda setting, a lack of strategies to target poverty and the low levels of participation of the poor in participatory budgeting processes.


Under the circumstances of financial crisis and expanding college recruitment,the employment of college is becoming more and more difficult.Thus,it is a good way for college students to start their business after graduation.Accordingly,colleges should pay more attention to students' education in this regard.


A handcuff for preventing double locking is provided to prevent stopper movement even when impact is transferred from a side surface direction of a fixing ring body by allowing a stopper to be elastically contacted with the fixing ring body and locked. A handcuff for preventing double locking having a fixing ring, a rotating ring(20), a stopper(50), a detent(40) and a spring(44) comprises a double locking prevention unit and a stopper movement unit. The double locking prevention unit allows the stopper to be elastically contacted with a fixing ring body and locked inside a separation member(30) of the fixing ring body. The stopper movement unit releases the double locking prevention unit forcibly, and moves the stopper to one side.


IN ORDER TO DISCUSS social services to blind children and their parents, it is necessary to think in terms of the various community agencies and local and state institutions which employ social workers. Probably the most familiar are the social work agencies, such as the Department of Public Welfare, the Family and Children's Service, and Travelers Aid Society, each with its own policies and functions. The Red Cross should be included, although it is in a different category and renders, in the case of the blind child, service to special groups, i.e., the families of veterans and service men. Among the· local and state institutions where the social worker is, or should be, a member of the staff are: private clinics and hospitals, health department programs, such as post-natal clinics, crippled children's programs, state and local crippled children's hospitals, rehabilitation centers, mental health clinics, mental hospitals, and various other hospitals for the handicapped. School social work is a growing specialization and one now finds social workers in public, private and special schools at the state and local levels. The various Lighthouses for the Blind also employ social workers. With regard to the social work agencies, I should point out that, except in specific instances, social work serves the blind child by helping the parents. This assistance


This paper introduces the develepment on hot delivery and hot charging of continuously cast billet at home and abroad so that the developing condition can be seen.


The application of high density SNP maps in genetic studies has introduced problems of prohibitive genotyping costs and inflated false discovery rates. To attenuate this effect, specific SNPs are often pre-selected for genotyping. In general, there are two ways to reduce the dimensionality of data and facilitate selection. The first is to focus on the biological property inherent to each SNP (Zhao et Human Mutation and select those that are likely to bear functionality relevant to the disease of interest. The second approach focuses on the underlying data structure of linkage disequilibrium (LD) among SNPs and selects by factor analysis a representative subset of SNPs et American Journal of Human Genetics The first method ignores the data structure between SNPs, whereas the second method neglects the biological significance of the SNPs in question. The information considered and neglected by these two methods makes them complimentary. Therefore, in an attempt to enhance the selection of we propose a method combining the information obtained from each of these methods in a weighted factor analysis model. By considering both the functional-and information-based approaches, it is possible to design an amalgamated procedure that can more efficiently and accurately select a subgroup of for use in genetic studies.