Two theories relating the translational and rotational diffusion coefficients Dt and Dr of a rod‐like macromolecule to its length and diameter, proposed by Broersma [J. Chem. Phys. 74, 6989 (1981)], and Tirado and Garcia de la Torre [J. Chem. Phys. 71, 2581 (1979); 73, 1986 (1980)] are shown to predict different values of the coefficients for a particle of given dimensions. Next, we use the two theories to analyze existing experimental data of sedimentation coefficients s and translational and rotational diffusion coefficients of short DNA fragments, and obtain values of the hydrated diameter of DNA d which is treated as an adjustable parameter. The results are compared with the expected value, d≂26A. This comparison favors clearly the Tirado–Garcia de la Torre theory in the case of Dt and s. For Dr, and using a rise per base pair r=3.4 A, this theory gives best agreement for all the data examined, while when r=3.3 A, the agreement depends on the source of data.


Intercourse is a life style of contemporary persons.We should value the problems of intercourse when we carry on ideological and political education under the condition of globalization,competition and cooperation.We regard that intercourse is the premise and foundation of ideological and political education,which has the adverse effect on intercourse.Globalization and market economy are providing opportunities and putting forward rigorous challenge to ideological and political education.Therefore,we should seek after innovation of ideological and political education from manifold outlets.Thus we can make the development of intercourse smooth,healthy and civilized.


coastal Kenya, from the completion of the Uganda railway and the choice of Nairobi as the territorial capital. But those developments lie beyond the time limits of this book, although the author warns that ' the youth of the coast envied the material advantages which Western culture and technology offered. Therefore they aspired for the very changes which their elders dreaded ' (p. 208). The Harrow-educated Sultan Abdu'l-Hamid in Zanzibar was to show the possible combination of Islamic and ' modern elements' in his government school, but education remains a battleground in Swahili society again down to the present day. This book may be marred by its title, but it is thoroughly researched and winds together the past and present of the Swahili in challenging ways.


The invention comprises a system for processing seismic data to estimate time shift resulting from velocity anisotropy in the earth's subsurface. A gather of seismic data traces is formed and selected seismic data traces included in said gather within selected time windows are cross-correlated 56 to estimate the time 58 shift in the seismic data traces included in said gather resulting from velocity anisotropy in the earth's subsurface. The time shift data can then be used to correctly align gather traces for improved AVO analysis, or to highlight geological features such as vertically aligned fractures.


This chapter surveys the evolution of Computer-Aided systems in terms of support to the earliest stages of design and more specifically to the embodiment design phase, when functional requirements and related structural and manufacturing constraints must be translated into a working solution, i.e. the generation of topology and shape of a mechanical part. After an introductory discussion about the context and the limitations of current systems, the chapter summarizes the research outcomes of two projects: the first, namely PROSIT (From Systematic Innovation to Integrated Product Development), aimed at bridging systematic innovation practices and Computer-Aided Innovation (CAI) tools with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems, by means of Design Optimization tools. The second, coordinated by the authors, is a prosecution of PROSIT and proposes the hybriDizAtion of Mono Objective optimizations (DAeMON) as a strategy for automatic topology and shape generation. The latter is clarified by means of two exemplary applications, one related to a literature example about Genetic Algorithms applied to multi-objective optimization, the second to an industrial case study from the motor scooter sector.


The media has been used as an important source of power by political powers in many periods of history. Media organizations that play a direct role in many policies that countries produce have often been viewed as a threat by other countries, and as a result various sanctions have become applicable. Many Arab League countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have taken great caution against Qatar-based El Cezire's decision to block Qatar's embargo against Qatar in June. In this study, requests for the closure of the Al Jazeera media group financed by Qatar and known for its objective success in the field of publishing are handled by Arab League countries headed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. In the study evaluated by using Document Analysis and Content Analysis method; Examples of Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN International, Deutsche Welle, Ahram Online, TRT World, Jerusalem Post, Tehran Times and Al Arabia; "Texts Criticizing Closure Decision", "Texts Supporting Closure Decision" and "Neutral / Informative Texts". The scope of this review covers the issue of how this news, which is included in the sample of international media, is made in the specified time period and how these media institutions evaluate the situation. At the end of the study; Supporting the decision to close the pro-Saudi Arabian Al Arabia and Ahram Online; Criticizing the decision to close TRT World and Al Jazeera; while the other remaining organs have implemented a neutral understanding of publishing.


The invention discloses a radiation-proof plant fermentation beverage and a manufacturing method applied in the technical field of food. The formula of the beverage consists of algae, grape skin and seeds, concentrated black tea juice, blueberry, edible alcohol, high fructose syrup, xylitol, honey and water. The manufacturing method produces the beverage with radiation-proof function and special application by extracting the algae, the grape skin and seeds, the concentrated black tea juice and the blueberry juice through alcohol and implementing acetic acid fermentation. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps of: soaking and cleaning the algae by using warm water to remove impurities such as sand and the like and salt, and preparing algae size for later use; mixing the grape skin and seeds, the concentrated black tea juice and the blueberry juice in the algae size, adding the edible alcohol, and performing normal temperature extraction; inoculating acetic acid bacteria to the regulated solution, and performing deodorization, curing and precipitation treatment; and filtering the fermented solution, adding a proper amount of the high fructose syrup, the xylitol, the honey and the water to prepare the radiation-proof plant fermentation beverage, and filling the beverage. The beverage has very high iodine supplementing efficiency and safety, is rich in proanthocyanidin and tea polyphenol, is easily absorbed by the human body, and can relieve the social problem caused by nuclear radiation after being frequently drunk.


trend in foraminiferal strategies indicates a thermal stratification of water columndue to input of cold and oxygenated polar waters into oceanic depths. The major turn in red marl microfauna in the Tissalo section links with the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary when the rotaliporids disappeared in the planktonic foraminifer spectrum (Fig. 1). The decline of this fauna was caused by general reorganization of the latest Cenomanian oceanic regime, when the thermocline became unstable due to climate warming and subsequent water column homogenization. The rotaliporids settled in deeper part of the water column were exposed to larger ecological stress accompanying the expansion of oxygen minimum zone up to thermocline. Advancing warming at the end of Cenomanian produced general anoxy. This horizon has been determined in the Tissalo section, where three decimeter-scale intervals of black shales like the Bonarelli Beds (OAM 2) occur in the top of the Rotalipora cushmani Zone (Fig. 1). Lower Turonian foraminifer association from red marls above extinction horizon of rotaliporids is characterized by helvetotruncanid opportunistic fauna. Higher up in the Tissalo section, the first representatives of marginotruncanids became to appear in greater amount, which indicates return of mesoto oligotrophic conditions.


In two-sided matching markets, the concept of stability proposed by Gale and Shapley is one of the most important solution concepts. In this paper, we consider a problem related to stability of a matching in a two-sided matching market with indifferences. It is known that stability does not guarantee Pareto efficiency in a two-sided matching market with indifferences. However, Erdil and Ergin proved that there always exists a stable and Pareto efficient matching in a many-to-one matching market with indifferences and gave a polynomial-time algorithm for finding it. Later on, Chen proved that there always exists a stable and Pareto efficient matching in a many-to-many matching market with indifferences and gave a polynomial-time algorithm for finding it. In this paper, we propose a new approach to the problem of finding a stable and Pareto efficient matching in a many-to-many matching market with indifferences. Our algorithm is an alternative proof of the existence of a stable and Pareto efficient matching in a many-to-many matching market with indifferences.


ABSTRACT The concept of a safety culture is crucial to improving organisational risk management in several sectors, including health and aviation. However, social and welfare services are also sectors where organisations should be aware of the risk in their daily practice. The aim of the present article is to confirm the usability of a modified Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) in the Norwegian child protection services CPS by checking a number of its psychometric properties. The SAQ is an instrument that has been widely applied and understood as valid and trustworthy for mapping employees' views of their organisation's safety culture. A confirmative factor analysis of data from a national survey of Norwegian CPSs demonstrated that the modified questionnaire has a factor structure which is internally consistent and matches the structure of the widely used SAQ health care questionnaire. The results indicate that the CPS-modified SAQ questionnaire could help understanding and mapping safety culture in the child protection services.


Conventional polyester/rayon elastic fabric has three categories of warp-stretch, weft-stretch and two-stretch. This paper covers the basic characteristics, weaving machine, raw material, fundamental processing and key points in manufacturing of conventional polyester/rayon elastic fabric. Influences of different dyeing processes and heat setting conditions on elasticity of polyurethane are analyzed. Open width scouring, shrinking and presetting are the key factors exerting influence on fabric quality. Controlled shrinkage of grey fabric is very important for evenness of fabric and elastic retention of polyurethane fiber.


The paper is a conceptual one and reflects the result of one of the stages of the research of regional university development, in particular is structure as the system for knowledge generation and broadcasting. This paper is devoted to the university as the integration of formal and informal associations, which equally affects changes in the higher education and science system. The academic school is viewed not only as a social group united by scientific ties, but also as an economic phenomenon in the system of generating the intellectual capital of the university. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the academic school, what role, in addition to its traditional, it begins to play (or should play) in the changing scientific world. The paper deals with the role of the academic school in the formation of reputational mechanisms in the sphere of higher education, thus, its function as a form of coercion to conscientious publishing activity, in comparison with imperative orders of the university administration, is indicated. Comparative characteristics of academic schools with other scientific communities (single researcher, department, laboratory, research groups) are given. The role of the academic school in the socialization of the scientist is investigated, while both its positive and negative influences are indicated. Some other problems connected with the hypothesis that the scientific structure of the university should be viewed as an integrative form of formal and informal associations (as an academic school) which perform the task not only of a conscientious social elevator but reputation mechanism also because of its objective characteristics. The role of the leader of the academic school is discussed. The conclusion is concerned with an integrated approach to managing the scientific potential of a university.


We propose a high-linearity refractive index (RI) sensor based on an analyte-filled defect hollow core Bragg fiber (DHCBF) for large dynamic ranges. A resonant wavelength induced by the transverse coupling between core modes and defect modes is used as the characteristic wavelength for realizing a high-linearity RI sensor. The numerical results show that the linear correlation between characteristic wavelength and analyte RI can be significantly improved by optimizing structural parameters of a defect layer, which would be beneficial to the enlargement of dynamic measurement range. Furthermore, we numerically demonstrated an RI sensor with the sensitivity of 2062 nm/RIU and the adjusted R-Square value of 0.99967 in the measurement range of 1.324–1.432, by using an analyte-filled DHCBF with a low RI-contrast cladding. Compared with that based on a standard HCBF, our proposed high-linearity RI sensor can achieve high sensitivity in a larger dynamic range.


This thesis is devoted to the study of quantum mechanical effects that arise in systems of reduced dimensionality. Specifically, we investigate coherence and correlation effects in quantum transport models. In the first part, we present a theory of Markovian and non- Markovian current correlations in nanoscopic conductors. The theory is applied to obtain the spectrum of quantum noise and high-order current correlations at finite frequencies in quantum-dot systems. One of the main conclusions is that only the non-Markovian approach contains the physics of vacuum fluctuations. In the second part, we study the coupling of superconducting qubits to optical atomic systems and to cavity resonators. We propose a hybrid quantum system consisting of a flux qubit coupled to NV centers in diamond. We also demonstrate the existence of the so-called Bloch-Siegert shift in the ultra-strong coupling regime between a flux qubit and a LC resonator. Throughout the thesis, we make special emphasis on the study of decoherence effects produced by the distinct dissipative baths to which the various types of qubits presented in this thesis are inevitably coupled.


Objective To explore the protective effect of L-arginin(L-Arg) on liver ischemia-reperfusion(I/R) injury and its possible mechanism in rats.Methods Eighteen healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups.Group 1 was served as the sham operated control.Rats in group 2 and group 3 were pretreated with saline(1 ml) and L-Arg(300 mg/kg) via the dorsal penis vein respectively,and then,they were subjected to 45 min lobar,rather than total hepatic ischemia and 60 min reperfusion.Blood samples(2 ml) were drawn from inferior vena cava for biochemistry tests,such as ALT,AST and LDH.Lesion liver lobes were excised for histological examination and test of SOD,MDA,XOD,NO and NOS.Results Rats in group 2 showed significantly higher ALT,AST,LDH,MDA,XOD,iNOS levels and lower SOD,NO levels than group 1.ALT,AST,LDH,MDA and XOD were decreaed while SOD,NO and eNOS increased in group 3 compared with those in group 2(P0.05).The L-Arg administration significantly reduced the hepatic lesions.Conclusion L-Arg has a protective effect on liver I/R injury in rats.NO and different isoforms of NOS may be involved in this process.


Anaemia, a deficiency of hemoglobin content in blood is spreading worldwide. Hemoglobinometry is a regular test performed on practically every patient. Non-invasive hemoglobin measurement techniques do not require blood sample, reducing patient discomfort, infections and helps in faster diagnosis. Presently there is a need for a universally accepted non-invasive hemoglobin measurement device. An electro-optical in vivo approach for hemoglobin concentration measurement is presented in this paper. Two inputs are required, Impedance Plethysmography (IPG) which determines segmental blood volume and optical sensor Photoplethysmography (PPG) which determines the absorbance of light depending upon mass of blood constituents. This paper shows work on PPG. Two optical sensors photodiode (OPT-101) and phototransistor (SFH 3310) have been used with for a wavelength of 530nm, green light and their graphs have been obtained on LABVIEW. Both these sensors give voltage as output. Ratio of these two measurements can be related with Hemoglobin concentration.


Values of cell yield collected over a period of eight years for heterogeneous populations of sewage origin acclimated to glucose in both batch and continuous culture were subjected to statistical analysis. The cell yield for this sole source of carbon (glucose) ranged from 36 to 88 per cent in batch culture, and 32 to 69 per cent in continuous culture. Because experimental conditions were known and well defined, the variability in cell yield is attributable to the ecological variation inherent in a heterogeneous population. The data presented demonstrate the futility of attempts to define Y for such populations as a precise theoretical constant dependent upon thermodynamic properties of the substrate.


is central to the remaining chapters in the volume. In their respective essays, Susan Berridge and Hannah Hamad discuss how their case studies (Jennifer Aniston and Elizabeth Sladen) are positioned in response to the 'postfeminist lifecycle' (Negra 2009), albeit in different ways. For Berridge, Aniston's supposed transition from 'woman who had it all' to 'victim' of spinsterhood is cemented in popular imagination via a mainstream media that equates childless womanhood with failed femininity. Hannah Hamad's exploration of Sladen's public visibility in later life examines the ways in which her return to television fame in The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011) was often framed within postfeminist discourses of 'rejuventation' and age denial. A frame that proved difficult to square with her sudden death in 2011. To be sure, the majority of case studies are US/UK centric, and the whiteness of the volume is apparent. While this of course limits our understanding of the intersection of age and gender within celebrity culture, it does suggest that the whiteness of popular culture's obsession with female ageing requires critical attention. That is to say, we must call attention to the visibility of whiteness in order to trouble its position as the 'human norm' (for example, Dyer 1997).Women, Celebrity and Cultures of Ageing contributes to this project and begins to unpack the visibility (and the simultaneous invisibility) of female ageing celebrity in meaningful ways.


In this paper we have proved the following results. Let R be a prime ring,U be (σ,τ)-left Joradan ideal of R where σ,τ: R→R be two automorphisms of R and d be a nonzero derivation of R . (1) If (R,a)σ,τ=0, then aZ(R). (2) If aU=0(or Ua=0) and aR , then a=0 or UZ(R). (3) If characteristic of R not equal 2 and U Cσ,τ, then σ(u)+τ(u)Z(R) for all uU.(4) If d(U)=0, dτ=τd and dσ=σd , then σ(u)+τ(u)Z(R) for all uU.


Due to the mechanical nature of motion picture film, inaccuracies in positioning a single image can occur at the moment of exposure, projection, or scanning and are the reason for steadiness errors that are evidenced in jitter of the whole image. This jitter is not limited to translations but may also include rotational and shearing motion components. The extent of these erroneous movements lies in the area of modern film scanner resolution and becomes a problem when scanning motion picture film, especially in realtime. An algorithm is proposed that estimates motion parameters for every image, including the steadiness error component. On the basis of the sequence of these motion parameters, a correction signal can be calculated to suppress the subjective jitter of the motion picture.


Educational scholars often describe a research/practice divide. Similarly, students in teacher education programs often struggle to navigate the differences between university coursework and expectations they face in field-based placements. This self-study analyzes one researcher's attempt to address the research/practice divide from the position of a teacher educator. Teaching in a university-based mathematics methods course during the academic year and an elementary classroom during the summer recess provided opportunities to make connections between research and practice. This article examines the effects this study had on the researcher's instruction at the university level. Specifically, the article suggests ways for teacher educators to reconnect with classroom practice in an effort to remain relevant in the quickly changing world of P–12 education. In addition, the study suggests ways for teacher education programs to connect methods courses to authentic field-based experiences to help future teachers make connections between research and practice.


INTRODUCTION
Hallux valgus is a frequent cause of pain, mainly in female population, characterized by deformity of the foot and important functional consequences. Open surgical techniques require relatively extensive incisions. Recently we see a tendency to use less invasive techniques with shorter hospitalization periods and better recovery.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate postsurgical clinical results in hallux valgus with minimally invasive surgery techniques according to the AOFAS scale.

DESIGN
Longitudinal, prospective, descriptive and homodemic study.

LOCATION
Hospital of Orthopedics and Traumatology, UMAE Puebla of the Mexican Institute of Social Security.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Twenty-nine patients with diagnosis of Hallux valgus treated between September 2004 and March 2008 were included. According to the AOFAS scale, we collected data from before the surgery, at one month and at 6 months postoperatively. We used univariate analysis of frequencies, measures of central tendency for demographic variables and the Wilcoxon test to evaluate pre and postoperative results with support from the SPSS version 12 program.

RESULTS
The global evaluation of minimally invasive surgical technique according to AOFAS showed an average in the preoperative period of 60.37 (95% CI, between 53.87-66.38), at one month of 89 (95% CI, between 85.18-90.81) and at 6 months of 96.62 (95% CI, between 94.63-98.70). Mean age was 42 years (20-65), 22 women (75.86%) and 7 men (24.13%). We observed differences in the preoperative period, at one month and at 6 months with a p < 0.05 in global evaluation of AOFAS measurement scale for pain and function.

DISCUSSION
Our results show that minimally invasive surgical technique is a good option for treatment of this pathology; they reveal the need to continue the study and to compare it with open surgical technique. Minimally invasive surgical technique, if properly done, reports good results and is an adequate therapeutic alternative for treatment of symptomatic hallux valgus.


This paper discusses factors emerging from the health care reform movement that will shape health care service delivery in general and nursing practice and education in particular. First, cost concerns will increase moves toward managed competition which will, in turn, create changes in service use patterns. These patterns seem overall to tend toward decreased demand for professional nursing staff. These patterns will also eventually see nurses emerge with markedly different employment roles. One such role is likely to be a reshaped clinical nurse specialist role with nurses sometimes substituting for physicians. The current discontinuity between nurse practitioners' education and hospitals' desires to employ advanced practice nursing clinicians has seen a growing trend toward on-the-job training for acute care practice or toward development of acute care nurse practitioner training programs. One of the most important effects of health reform on nursing may be the need to define workforce supply in very different ways resulting in different workforce management and planning. Finally the paper argues that current and future medical research in genetic engineering will dramatically change health care decision-making, a change which nurses must be educated to handle. (JB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Health Care Reform LIJ Implications of the President's Plan for Nursing Education Geraldine Bednash, Ph.D., FAAN U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ni1doca.,heal Research and Improvement EDU ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changos have tzs t made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


The COVID-19 lockdown has had a psychological and social impact on dental students globally. To determine the psychosocial effect on students enrolled in dentistry and oral hygiene courses at UWC. To determine the psychosocial effects (living conditions, levels of anxiety, fear of COVID-19, and food security levels) experienced by students during the lockdown. A descriptive, cross-sectional study using a quantitative approach was used. Methods: A randomised sample (n=250), stratified by sex and academic year group, comprising undergraduate oral hygiene BOH total students = 90 and dentistry BDS total students = 450 (UWC, 2020) was used. Data was gathered via an online survey, (Google Forms). Survey questions included the GAD-7, FCV-19S questionnaire, and Food Security scales. The data were analysed using Epi Info 7. The response rate was 36% (n=90); 69.67% were female; the mean age was 22.34 (SD = 2.66); 91% lived with their parents during lockdown. Students' main sources of funding were parents (47%), NSFAS or bursary (42%) and self-funded (11%). Substantial psychosocial effects with high anxiety (33%), fear of COVID-19 (47.3 %), and a lesser effect for food insecurity (FI) (5.49%) was reported. The study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to psychosocial effects in a discipline that under 'normal" conditions is experienced as stressful. This requires educational institutions to develop a targeted approach through relevant support systems that would identify vulnerable students at critical times.


Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on the near field intensity of a two-dimensional (2-D) periodic arrays of bowtie-shape metal nanoparticle (MNP) pairs using the 3-D finite element method (FEM) for biosensor applications are investigated. The peak resonance wavelength can be shifted to red as the filling core media in bowtie-shape MNP pairs have been changed. The tunable and highly sensitive SPR modes are observed due to the hybridization SPR effects. Simulation results show that the peak resonance wavelength (λres) can be spread in the full wavelength range of 300-1600 nm when the tip edges and different filling media in structure are taken into account. The highly sensitive optical performances give us a qualitative idea of the geometrical and material properties of the periodic array of bowtie-shape MNP pairs on SPRs that can be as a promising candidate for plasmonic biosensor applications.


Polyimide/silicon dioxide nanocomposites were synthesized and tested dielectrically at both room and cryogenic temperatures. The dielectric strength of the nanocomposites showed significant increase from about 150 kV/mm at room temperature to roughly 300 kV/mm at the cryogenic temperature. This increase in dielectric strength is a result of the contraction of the host polymer around the embedded nanoparticles, which shortens the mean free path of electrons as well as the distance needed for electrons to accelerate to induce avalanche breakdown. The contraction of the host polymer also reduces the overlapping of the transition region, the outermost layer of the multi-core model, between individual nanoparticles. The findings from our experimental results and multi-core model can potentially advance the field of cryogenic dielectrics.


The present paper is a condensed version of a recent comprehensive review in which the present knowledge about the behaviour of the different endocrine systems during exercise and about the role of hormonal changes for substrate metabolism during exercise is discussed in detail (10). In addition, the present paper contains a section about the influence of physical training on glucose tolerance. Only original studies that were not cited in the mentioned review (10) will be quoted here. The reader who wants more than superficial insight into the literature about endocrinology and metabolism in exercise is referred to the comprehensive review (10).


This study aims to produce inquiry-oriented general physics learning material to improve student learning outcome. Development steps of learning materials were adapted from the design model of Dick and Carey. Stages of development consists of three phases: planning, development, and formative evaluation and revision. Implementation of formative evaluation involves three expert reviewers, they are subject matter experts, general physics lecturer, and media experts; one-to-one evaluation involved three students, evaluation of small groups involve 15 students, and a field test (effectiveness test) involve 30 students. The structure of the contents of the learning material refers to the concept of scientific investigations which generally consists of: stating the problem in a question form, formulating the hypothesis, literature, testing the hypothesis, analyzing the result and writing the conclusion. The result obtained from subject experts, general physics lecturer and media expert are in a good categories with their respective ideals for each are 80.2%, 82.7% and 84.5%, an increase competency achievement of pretest and postest on field tests in the medium category , and the results of student responses to the instructional materials belonging to the positive response with a score of 73.5%. These results illustrate that the inquiry-oriented general physics learning material has a good criteria and suitable used as learning materials. Keywords: learning materials, inquiry , general physics and dynamics


Abstract It is shown that numerical integration of the equation of polarisation transfer for generalised Faraday rotation provides an alternative to mode-coupling theory for treating propagation through a quasi-transverse (QT) region. At a QT region, where the sign of the component of the magnetic field along the ray path reverses, the sense of circular polarisation reverses below a frequency ωt , and is unchanged above ωt . There is a long-standing difficulty in the interpretation of the polarisation of radio emission from bipolar regions on the Sun: observational and theoretical estimates of ωt appear inconsistent. The alternative approach may help resolve this difficulty.


Examination of the effect of toluene and carbon dioxide, accompanying acid gases (mainly H2S) in the sulfur recovery process is very critical to determining optimum operating conditions for enhanced sulfur recovery. Experimental and simulation results presented here with the addition of different amounts of toluene or carbon dioxide/toluene mixtures to the H2S gas stream provided direct quantification on the conversion efficiency. The results showed similar trends between the calculated and experimental data, which revealed a decrease in conversion efficiency with increase in toluene and carbon dioxide/toluene addition to the H2S gas stream. The role of reactor operating temperature was also examined. The toluene addition increased the optimum reactor temperature for enhanced sulfur recovery, whereas presence of CO2 reduced the optimum operating temperature. The presence of toluene and CO2 in the acid gas stream directly affects the sulfur recovery efficiency by altering the optimum temperature of the reactor. These results reveal the importance of temperature and its excursion for enhanced sulfur recovery in a Claus process. Detailed results and analysis are presented in the paper.


Mobile SMS Application system based on J2EE has been a design focus. The relative protocols to SMS and J2EE technology wert introduced, and the design and implementation technology of a SMS application system based on J2EE were discussed. Then a detailed SMS application system implementation, including SMS system basic framework, design platform of interface and implementation business function, were presented, which is based on J2EE framework and CMPP protocol. Finally, the weakness of domestic SMS service and the ways of correction were analyzed. The SMS application system was tested by two business systems, and the results show that it sends 4 to 7 s to finish a SMS process! the platform of SMS interface response speed is 13 message items pre second. The JavaBean function is upgraded by EJB in the platform, which to provided distributed computing and response time.


In the twentieth century metropolitan snobbery cast the same slur over Anglo-Indian art that it cast over every expatriate community. Only failures—confident home-stayers persuaded themselves—-were forced to go abroad to earn a living; those with the ability to succeed in the struggle for life stayed at home. Expatriates were an inferior kind of people; and expatriate artists were by definition second-rate. They were men devoid of talent, or they would have made the grade in London; and once they left the great metropolis, they entered an environment profoundly hostile to artistic achievement. How could an expatriate society like Anglo-India—thousands of miles from the obvious centres of creativity, without a cultivated leisure class, populated by money-grubbing philistines of dubious social origins—maintain high artistic standards? The ablest artist, set down in such a milieu, must degenerate into a hack. Or so too many art historians seem to have assumed. The result is that Anglo-Indian art has suffered from a failure of appreciation which Dr Mildred Archer had done more than any other scholar to correct. India and British Portraiture and Early Views of India merely set the keystone on the arch of a lifetime's research; while Sikh Portraits by European Artists and Prints of Southeast Asia owe a great deal to her encouragement and example. What the 'Archer School' triumphantly demonstrates is the high quality of the artists they chronicle. Zoffany's scintillating conversation pieces could hang alongside Reynolds or Gainsborough without reproach; John Smart's miniatures were as


In order to improve the performance of obstacle avoidance for mobile robots in continuous obstacle environment, a fuzzy algorithm of obstacle avoidance with speed feedback was proposed. Ultrasonic sensors were utilized to perceive the surroundings, and based on fuzzy control, the mobile robot adjusted its speed according to the distribution of obstacles. Then the graceful degradation was introduced combined with the improved fuzzy obstacle avoidance to enhance the robustness of the mobile robot. The experimental results show that the method can adjust the speed through interaction with the environment, control the robot in a collision-free way and optimize the obstacle avoidance path. Simultaneously, the method shows good effectiveness.


"Four Storey Nurses Home" details the announcement by hospital Secretary Mr. Neville Boyce that the Hospitals Commission has approved the establishment a four storey building to house 30 nurses and a nurses' training school at Gosford District Hospital. In addition, the Board has accepted the tender of Mr. J. W. Elms to construct a medical superintendent's residence on the hospital property. Mr. Boyce said approval has been received in the renovation of the old section of the hospital to include two essential services, pathology and physiotherapy, however the dental clinic has been deferred. The renovations will include a complete electrical re-wire of the hospital in include overbed lighting, ward lighting, night lighting and a three station radio system to each bed. The Children's Ward is to be doubled in size and nursed as a ward unit to accommodate 16 children.


The election of Jacob Zuma as ANC president at the organisation's fifty-second national conference in Polokwane in 2007 has been described, by sections of the media especially, as a triumph of ordinary members over a leadership that had grown distant, aloof and arrogant under Thabo Mbeki. It has been said that branch members, who made up ninety per cent of the delegates at the conference as per the dictates of the ANC constitution, reclaimed the ANC from a technocratic and self-serving elite and thus reconnected the organisation to its popular base. This article (based on research I undertook as one of the 2009 recipients of a Ruth First fellowship) uses a microscopic study of an ANC branch in Katlehong, a township twenty kilometres east of Johannesburg, to examine the way a branch operates. Using the 'extended case study' method plus 'ethnographic thick description' adopted by Andrea Cornwall in her work on Brazil's health councils, the study examines episodes in the life of the branch in question. It calls into question the valorisation of ANC branches post-Polokwane. It concludes by calling for a more critical appreciation of the gap between assumptions about the democratic and rooted nature of ANC branches, and 'the understandings and practices of the actors' that inhabit those branches.


In this article, the author, analyzing scientific articles of domestic and foreign scientists, summarizes the concepts of project, collective management of a general education organization. The complexity of management issues determines the nature of transformations in the education system, requires a deep and detailed understanding, the development of new ideas and approaches that would reveal ways to improve the effectiveness of development management in a general education organization. Formulates the concept of project-collective management, identifies the preferred properties and features of this form of management. Defines the stages of project and collective management. Project-collective management of a general education organization is considered as a synthesis of collective planning and organization of approaches to combining educational resources in order to develop leadership of all participants in the educational process. In this regard, it is important to take into account the peculiarities of Russian society that require the choice of flexible and adaptive management systems, as well as the design features in foreign education systems, which is the subject of managerial thinking and analysis presented in the article.


X-linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is a rare primary immunodeficiency disorder which impairs the bodies ability to fight infections. It is caused by a mutation on the X chromosome, which inhibits the production of antibodies. Antibodies are essential in fighting bacterial pathogens and therefore patients with XLA are prone to infections. This review outlines how genetic mutation can pass through the sex chromosomes and then goes on to explain the role B cells in our immunity. In XLA the production of B cells is interrupted, here we address how this happens, starting at the genetic level and working up to the signalling pathways.


In the current work, multi-function beam control arrays have been fabricated and have successfully demonstrated amplitude control of transmitted beams in the W and D bands (75-170 GHz). While these arrays are designed to provide beam control under DC bias operation, new designs for high-speed electronic and optical control are under development. These arrays will fill a need for high-speed watt-level beam switches in pulsed reflectometer systems under development for magnetic fusion plasma diagnostics. A second experimental accomplishment of the current work is the demonstration in the 100-170 GHz (D band) frequency range of a new technique for the measurement of the transmission phase as well as amplitude. Transmission data can serve as a means to extract ('de-embed') the grid parameters; phase information provides more complete data to assist in this process. Additional functions of the array beam controller yet to be tested include electronically controlled steering and focusing of a reflected beam. These have application in the areas of millimeter-wave electronic scanning radar and reflectometry, respectively.


Reaction of 5-O-tosyl-3-benzyloxycarbonylamido-3-deoxy-1, 2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribofuranose (21) or 5-O-tosyl-3-acetamido-3-deoxy-1, 2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribofuranose (30) with the sodium salt of adenine afforded the corresponding isomeric "reversed nucleosides" in good yields. Hydrolysis of the masked compound (22) followed by hydrogenolysis afforded 5-(6-aminopurin-9H-9-yl)-3-amino-3, 5-dideoxy-D-ribofuranose (26) hydrochloride in a good yield. After removal of the protective group, oxidation of 5-(6-aminopurin-9H-9-yl)-3-acetamido-3, 5-dideoxy-D-ribofuranose (33) by oxygen in a dilute alkaline solution afforded sodium 4-(6-aminopurin-9H-9-yl)-3(R)-hydroxy-2(R)-acetamidobutyrate (34). To evaluate the biological activities, amino ester (35) and amino acid (38) were also synthesized.


A case‐control study was undertaken to investigate the influence of reproductive factors on the risk of developing endometrial carcinoma. The study comprised 254 women with newly diagnosed endometrial carcinoma, resident in a defined geographical area, and 254 age‐matched population controls. Nulliparity and late menopause were positively associated with endometrial carcinoma. Each additional full‐term pregnancy resulted in a decrease in the risk by 16%. The importance of parity and menopausal age decreased with increasing life span, and in women older than 69 years these two variables did not discriminate significantly between cases and controls. The calculated number of years of menstruation (the "menstruation span") was used as a combined measure of the impact of parity, age at menarche and age at menopause on the risk of developing endometrial carcinoma. The patients had a significantly longer mean menstruation span than the controls (33.6 versus 31.2 years; p<0.001) and a longer span than 39 years gave a 4.2 times higher risk than one shorter than 25 years. It is suggested that the total length of time for which a woman is exposed to unopposed estrogen is important and that the effect of this hormonal influence is time‐limited.


An electronic circuit is designed, built and tested. The circuit acts as a control circuit to regulate the process of photovoltaic solar panel battery charging process. The circuit is cheep and can be easily constructed from discrete electronic components. The circuit operation is based on matching the solar cell terminal load voltage to the appropriate number of battery cell units to be charged depending on the solar light intensity condition. Experimental results indicate that there is an increase of the overall charging current using the circuit over that using direct charging. Increase in the charge collection efficiency of the about of 10% is experimentally established.


Ice lens is a pure ice layer formed by the migration of unfrozen water. Its existence is indicated in Mars. However, there exist unsettled issues about the mechanism of ice lens formation even on Earth. We performed unidirectional freezing experiment using glass beads. As a result of experiments, we have obtained clear and systematic relation ships between the ice lens and particle size and cooling temperature. In this presentation we report experimental results and discuss the martian case.


The story type of Liaozhaizhiyi has the traits of the times when the Qing dynasty was replacing the Ming dynasty and the author's favorites.The narrative style of "separation in turbulence and reunion by chance" involving father and son,husband and wife,lovers and brothers is closely related to the social problems and the author's criticism."Reunion by chance" in Liaozhaizhiyi usually results from the kindness of the character and is regarded as a "social reward" for the kind-hearted.The theme of Liaozhaizhiyi is different from that of the lyrical literature because this book emphasizes the people's sufferings due to social changes and their emotions rather than a retelling of personal misery and encourages the people to bear the suffering for a happy future.


According to one embodiment, a constant velocity (CV) joint comprising a first yoke, the second yoke portion, and a control mechanism. The first yoke portion is configured to rotate about a first axis and is coupled with an input device configured to receive input apparatus through the first opening. The second axis of the second yoke portion is rotatably coupled around a portion of the first yoke about a third axis and rotatably coupled to the output device with. Control means adapted to restrain a portion of the first yoke and the second yoke portion, in order to achieve substantially CV (constant velocity) characteristic between the input device and an output device.


Aim: From 2005 to 2009, increased support for restrictive alcohol policy measures was observed in the Norwegian population. This article addresses whether this increase was mediated by changes in belief about the effectiveness of restrictive measures and belief about the harm caused by drinking. Method: The data were derived from five surveys conducted during the period 2005–2009 (N = 7244). In each survey, we used identical measures of attitudes towards regulation of price and availability, belief in the effectiveness of such measures and belief in the association between overall consumption and harm. Results: During the period, there was an increase in support for restrictive policy measures; in belief in the effectiveness of these measures and in belief in the harm caused by drinking. Increased support for restrictive measures was partly mediated by changes in beliefs in terms of statistically significant indirect effects from both belief in the effectiveness of such measures and belief in the harm caused by drinking. Half of the increased support for restrictive measures could be attributed to changes in beliefs. Conclusion: Strengthening people's belief in the effectiveness of restrictive measures and in the harm caused by drinking may increase public support for restrictive alcohol policy measures.


We have investigated the changes of ripple morphology of an atomically flat cleaved Si surface due to Ar+ ion bombardment. The cleaved atomically flat and smooth plane of Si wafer was obtained by cutting vertically against the orientation flat of a Si (100) wafer. Then, the cleaved surface was bombarded by 1 keV Ar+ ion beam at ion incidence angle of 0°, 50°, 60°, 70°, and 80°. The ripples structure were depends on ion dose and angle formed on atomically flat surface at ion incidence angle of 50°, 60°, 70°, and 80°. Ripples were unclear and small at ion doses of 1.0 × 1018 ions/cm2 but pronounced at ion dose of 8.0 × 1018 ions/cm2. The wave lengths of ripples were measured and the maximum wave length is 425 nm at ion incidence angle of 70° and ion dose of 8.0 × 1018 ions/cm2. Results show that the wave length of ripple depends on ion doses and angle of ion incidence. It was also observed that the wave vector of ripple changes with changing the angle of ion incidence. This research is concluded by discussing the wave vector changing mechanism with the help of BH model.


The paper,based on the theory of tourism image both at home and abroad in the past thirty years,takes Shangri-la,Sichuan area as a study case,with the focus on tourism resources and tourism market.It tries to study the competition of tourism image and give strategic implications for the government,enterprises and community so as to form the key competitiveness of tourism image with a sustainable chain.


A joint source-channel coding scheme using residual redundancy and MMSE estimation is proposed. Firstly,the bit likelihood value of the modified soft output Viterbi algorithm using residual redundancy is obtained. Then, it is used to estimate the symbol value of the source predictor passed by channel before source decoding with MMSE. This algorithm can reduce the distortion by the hard output of the symbol. Simulations demonstrate the suggested algorithm can obtain at most 2dB gains in performance.


The application of robotic solutions to small-batch production is challenging: economical constraints tend to dramatically limit the time for setting up new batches. Organizing robot tasks into modular software components, called skills, and allowing the assignment of multiple concurrent tasks to a single robot is potentially game-changing. However, due to cycle time constraints, it may be necessary for a skill to take over without waiting on another to terminate, and the available literature lacks a systematic approach in this case. In the present article, we fill the gap by (a) establishing the specifications of skills that can be sequenced with partial executions, (b) proposing an implementation based on the combination of finite-state machines and behavior trees, and (c) demonstrating the benefits of such skills through extensive trials in the environment of ARIAC (Agile Robotics for Industrial Automation Competition).


A novel compact wideband circularly-polarized (CP) helix antenna is presented in this paper. Unlike conventional helical geometry, our design adopts a tapered metal strip which is rolled into a conical shape and is simply fed by attaching to a 50Ω coaxial cable. All the configuration parameters are optimized by using modified multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D) for broad operation bandwidth. The proposed helix antenna provides a -10 dB impedance bandwidth of more than 81% from 2.1GHz to above 5GHz, a 3-dB axialratio bandwidth of 58% (2.4GHz~4.36GHz), and a 8dBi axial gain bandwidth of 72.5% (2.18GHz~4.66GHz), which leads to an effective CP operation bandwidth of 58%. The overall size of the design is 40mm×40mm× 40mm, i.e., 0.45λ×0.45λ×0.45λ at the centre frequency of 3.38GHz. The compact size and wideband CP performance of this antenna make it promising for high speed wireless communication systems today. Keywordscircular polarization; helical antenna; conical helix; wideband antenna


To determine the impact on sonographers of converting an ultrasound facility from one that uses film to one that uses a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Method. This study was conducted in two parts, part 1 to assess sonographer acceptance of PACS and part 2 to measure how much time was spent dealing with film before and after PACS installation. Results. PACS was well received by the sonographers prior to turning off film, and even better received after cessation of printing film. Significant time savings were gained. Four weeks after conversion, the results of the questionnaire were similar to that after cessation of film printing, indicating that the gains as a result of PACS were realized immediately at the time film printing was stopped. Conclusion. Transition to a filmless PACS was well received by sonographers and improved department efficiency. Significant time savings are realized once film printing stopped.


High quality solvent cleaning is indispensable for human progress especially in applications for peoples' safety and security. Effective Risk Management enables the sustainable use of chlorinated solvents. SAFECHEM has implemented innovative business models like Chemical Leasing which enable industry to maintain the required surface cleaning quality. By combining best practice Risk Management with continuous process optimization, Chemical Leasing leads to a significant increase of customer satisfaction and solvent efficiency with virtually no emissions.


The invention aims at providing a device and method for acquiring and requesting object information relevant to an object. The method comprises the steps of: obtaining an access request based on an object image corresponding to a request object of a user by a network device, wherein the access request is sent by user equipment; according to subject information corresponding to the object image, carrying out matching inquiry in a target object base to obtain a target object corresponding to the subject information; according to the target object, carrying out matching inquiry in an object information base to obtain one or more pieces of object information corresponding to the target object; and providing the one or more pieces of object information to the user equipment. Compared with the prior art, the invention has the advantage of providing the object information relevant to the request object through carrying out matching inquiry according to the subject information of the object image corresponding to the request image, thus the efficiency of acquiring the information by the user is increased, and the use experience of the user is enhanced.


On 27 August 2016, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF) were presented and published in the current issue of the European Heart Journal. Extensive new evidence underpinning the major components of AF management required a complete re-write of the existing guidelines, including concomitant cardiovascular conditions, anticoagulation, rate control, and rhythm control (Figure 1). Written in collaboration with the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), and endorsed by the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), here we highlight some of the new aspects of the 2016 guidelines. These new guidelines reflect the increasing need to integrate and coordinate care of AF patients, reflected by the multidisciplinary input into the task force that included expert cardiologists and electrophysiologists, stroke neurologists, AF nurses, and cardiac surgeons. Integration ranges from screening and initial management, which can be done in many different healthcare settings, to complex decisions in patients needing advanced anticoagulation or rhythm control therapy. Knowledge about the epidemiology of AF has progressed substantially, and the enormous impact of this rapidly growing group of patients (over 2% of typical European populations) highlights the need for both opportunistic and targeted intensive ECG screening for AF (for example, in patients over the age of 65 or those with stroke or transient ischemic attack; I B recommendations). Although classification into first diagnosed AF, paroxysmal, persistent, longstanding persistent and permanent AF has not changed, advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of this condition mean that in the future, mechanistic and treatment-specific types of AF may supersede the current classification to enable personalized cardiovascular medicine for AF patients. Diagnosis of AF continues to require formal ECG documentation (I B), and in addition to clinical evaluation, this Task Force now recommends the use of transthoracic echocardiography in all AF patients to guide management (I C), assessing concomitant cardiovascular diseases (such as hypertension, valvular disease, and heart failure), but also to guide the use of anticoagulants, the choice of rate controlling agent, and rhythm control therapy. This recommendation also reflects the common co-existence of heart failure and AF. Oral anticoagulation remains a major treatment component in AF patients, and apart from patients at the lowest risk of stroke (women and men without any clinical risk factors), most others will receive a net clinical benefit from anticoagulation (I A). The issue of anticoagulation in patients with a single risk factor (CHA2DS2-VASc score of 2 for women and 1 for men) is less well supported by data, but again many patients are likely to benefit, considering individual characteristics and patient preferences (IIa B). Importantly, stroke prevention should be considered irrespective of current heart rhythm; in


The linear MT orbital method was used in the atomic sphere approximation to carry out self-consistent calculations of the electronic structure of NiTi in the low-temperature B19' phase. Calculations were made of the total and partial densities of electronic states and also of the partial charges. The approximation of a constant matrix element was used to calculate the frequency dependence of the optical conductivity


Reviewed by Agnes Hooper Gottlieb Seton Hall University Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006, 226 pp. Front-Page Girls: Women Journalists in American Culture and Fiction, 1880-1930 were icons of American culture. Lutes uses the force-feeding escapade to demonstrate how some twentieth century women journalists scorned objectivity and personal detachment in favorof"intimate,deeply subjectiverealities of physical experience" (p. II). From Nellie Bly's sensational stay in a mental institution through Bames's jarring description of milk traveling through the In 1914,when the British govrubber tubing stuffed in her mouth, emment forcibly fed the suffragwomen journalists abandoned the ists who were on hunger strikes in evolving model of journalistic dejail by forcing tubes and steel gags tachmentin mainstreamnewspapers. into their mouths, journalist Djuna WhileLutes payshomageto the Bames decided to, ., "usual suspects"take action. She al~ :--=.-:0: '= :.: names like Bly, Ida lowed herself to be ' ==--:-.::.:' =B. Wells, Winifred ..... ""-.. .. similarly fed and --.._~ Black and others\ DN J I ." her account of the ~ __ -= f::. who are bandied trauma, "How It Feels To Be ForciR~ words women and bly Fed," was promjournalists appear in inently featured in the same sentence ~::~::~h~~~~ ftaGE ~ ~:,.::=:,,: trations that showed r-J . -'_'IX known journalists ~~~~:e::~gd~~ ~IRLs ~:~;j,rat~~eres~::~ being threaded into II in literature). In her mouth. In FrontJEAN MARIE LUTES her most important Page Girls, author chapter in this slim Jean Marie Lutes, an assistant provolume, "From News to Novels," fessor of English at Villanova UniLutes describes how Bames, along versity, describes Bames's forays with Willa Cather and Edna Ferber, into the Stunt Journalism that was belong in the canon. She argues that first popularized by New York rethe trio "make visible a distinctly porter Nellie Bly in the 1880s and different reporter-novelist tradition, furthersher argument that the Amerone that evolved not from masculine ican newswomen she describes performancesof neutral observation


In this article we present five ink inscriptions (ostraca and jar inscriptions) found by the Joint Expedition to Samaria (1931–1935). Some of these inscriptions were already published (nos. 3 and 4) and are presented here with new photographs and readings; others (nos. 1, 2 and 5) are published here for the first time. The inscriptions are in the possession of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, being part of the University's share in the excavation's finds, received by Professor E. L. Sukenik.1 They are now housed at the collections of the Institute of Archaeology.2 The reading of some of these inscriptions is difficult, and their interpretation sometimes conjectural, due to the problems of stratigraphic attribution.3


As networks become more and more pervasive and broadband access technologies evolve to provide affordable broadband solutions for both homes and offices, one needs to rethink the architecture design for next generation routers in order to be able to deliver multiple services over high-speed interfaces and perform fast switching capabilities (e.g., multipetabit). The size and complexity of next generation networks requires a protocol transition from its classical centralized approach to a fully distributed and scalable paradigm. In this paper, we propose a new control plane architecture that is resilient and scalable where we distribute the OSPF/IS-IS, MPLS and BGP protocols using IETF-approved inter-protocol interfaces. In such architecture, forwarding tables will be updated by OSPF, IS-IS, RTM, BGP and MPLS routing protocols distributed onto multiple processors, in the interface cards themselves. We therefore revisit each of these protocols and redraw their implementation within an efficient, scalable, distributed, resilient, and fault tolerant scheme. As a proof of concept, we present the hyperchip router (PBR1280) that has been built on these grounds and discuss the performance of the proposed distributed architecture. Although some features (e.g., resiliency) still need further development, it is shown that the proposed distributed routing protocol scheme already offers a new generation of routers with significant higher switching capacity


Spasticity after spinal cord injury has considerable quality of life implications, impacts on rehabilitation efforts and requires long-term multidisciplinary pharmacological and non-pharmacological management. The potassium chloride co-transporter (KCC2) plays a central role in intracellular chloride homeostasis and the inhibitory function of mature neurons. Animal studies have consistently demonstrated a down-regulation of KCC2 activity following spinal cord transection, causing a shift from the inhibitory action of gamma-aminobutyric acid and glycine to an excitatory effect. Furosemide, a recognised KCC2 antagonist in animals, blocks the formation of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in spinal motoneurons without affecting excitatory postsynaptic potentials. Based on observations in animals studies, we hypothesized that furosemide may be used to unmask KCC2 down-regulation following spinal cord injury in humans which contributes to reflex hyperexcitability. We have previously shown that furosemide reduces both presynaptic and postsynaptic inhibition in healthy subjects without altering monosynaptic excitatory transmission. These findings provide evidence that furosemide may be used in humans to evaluate inhibitory synapses in the spinal cord. In this present study, we show that furosemide fails to modulate both pre- and postsynaptic inhibitions relayed to soleus spinal motor neurons in people with spinal cord injury. The lack of furosemide effect following spinal cord injury, suggests KCC2 dysfunction in humans, resulting in reduced inhibitory synaptic transmission in spinal neurons. Our findings suggest that KCC2 dysfunction may be an important aetiological factor in hyperreflexia following spinal cord injury. These observations may pave the way to novel therapeutic strategies against spasticity centred on chloride homeostasis.


The personality and the ethics of academicians play relevant and Pivotal influence on performamnce and success of academic institutions as well as their students. The present paper attempts to study empirically the five traits of personality and the impact of each on ethical behavior based on the sample collected from 250 academicians working in different management colleges in Faridabad region. It also studies the impact of different demographic factors on ethical behavior and finally establishes the fact, using different statistical tools like correlation, regression that the predictor five traits of personality viz Extraversion, agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Openness play significant roles in determining the ethical behavior of the faculty members. It has also been established that different traits play different role according as age, income group, gender and work experience. The study helps in developing an insight among faculty members to assess the impact and role of these traits in their work behavior, learning, teaching and other skills. The study also provides guidelines how each of these traits can help them effectively contributing towards growth of students, institutions and society at large.


Student engagement is widely explored, but there is no specific measure of student engagement in group projects. This paper presents a Student Group Project Engagement Questionnaire (SGPEQ) instrument and discussed its reliability analysis, validity exploration, and further validity verification. Explanatory factor analysis revealed four dimensions of student engagement in group projects that were distinct and reliable: effort, teamwork, motivation, and organization. Relationships were found between these factors and self-reported engagement and endorsement of self-theories.


On May 11, 2015, in Nantes, as a guest of honor at a ceremony commemorating the abolition of slavery, Angela Davis gave a lecture in which she stressed "the incessant repetition of history" and expounded on the methods that – since the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment of the US Constitution in 1865 bringing about the legal end of slavery – have helped perpetuate racial discrimination and violence in the context of the prison-industrial complex in the United States. After five decades ...


Numerous dermatoses can be treated (at least in certain phases of the disease) exclusively with local therapy. Although there is a large number of dermatological diseases, therapeutic options for local therapy are not numerous. However, adequate and timely application of available topical preparations and their combination, enables a large number of different dermatoses to be treated with a relatively small number of topical preparations. The framework of local dermatological therapy and the most commonly prescribed preparations are corticosteroids. Topical corticosteroids are used to treat inflammatory dermatoses, while they are not recommended for use in acne vulgaris, fungal and bacterial skin infections. Designing preparations that contain a topical corticosteroid and antimycotic, corticosteroid and antibiotic, and sometimes all three substances, enables the use of corticosteroids in the above-mentioned infectious skin diseases. Topically applied antibiotics play a significant role in the treatment of mild forms of acne vulgares, while in localized bacterial skin infections, their importance is such that they often make general antibiotic therapy-unnecessary. Topical corticosteroids are most often combined with oxytetracycline, bacitracin and aminoglycosides - gentamicin and neomycin. The combination of betamethasone and gentamicin in a topical preparation is often used in everyday medical practice. It is recommended for many skin diseases in which betamethasone acts anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, vasoconstrictive, reducing erythema, edema and skin inflammation, while gentamicin acts on gram-positive and negative bacteria that are sensitive to it and are present on the surface of affected lesions due to superinfection. Since betamethasone is a potent corticosteroid with a good effect on a large number of dermatoses and gentamicin has antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties and effect, the combined preparation of betamethasone - gentamicin is an excellent and rational solution in local therapy of many dermatoses.


TALL 1(tumor necrosis factor and apoptosis ligand related leukocyte expressed ligand 1), a member of the TNF family, is a novel cytokine identified recently. The human and mice TALL 1 consist of 285 and 309 amino acids, respectively. It was shown that TALL 1 is a type Ⅱ transmembrane protein which is produced in monocytes and macrophages. A soluble form of human TALL 1(sTALL 1) has a extracellular domain composed of 152 amino acids which corresponds to C terminal 134~285 site of amino acids. The recombinant human sTALL 1 is functionally involved in stimulating B cell growth, activating NF κB(nuclear factor kappa B) and JNK(c Jun NH 2 terminal kinase), and inhibiting tumor cell growth. Moreover, the overexpression of TALL 1 in transgenic mice can result in severe B cell hyperplasia and autoimmune lupus like disease. Therefore, TALL 1 functions as a potent regulatory factor in vivo and in vitro .


Study on the recovery of eutrophic lakes is carried on in Dianchi lake by using a series of bacterial agents. During 133 days, the bacterial agents are bestrewed into the Lake, then the distribution and the fate of the bacteria in the agents are investigated, and the changes of bacteria group, total-P, total-N and chemical factor are measured. The function ofthe bacterial agents used in natural waters is estimated. Those results are very useful for microbial cleaning pollutant in natural waters.


Two main data models are currently used for representing knowledge and information in computer systems. A data model is a plan for building a database and is comparable to an architect's building plans. There are two major methodologies used to create a data model: the Entity Relationship (ER) approach and the Object Model. This paper will be discussed only the object model approach. The goal of the data model is to certify that all data objects required by the database are completely and accurately represented. Ontologies are objects of interest (Universal of discourse). The objective of this paper is to simplify object models compare with ontologies models.. On the other hand, ontologies have appeared as an alternative to databases in applications that require a more 'enriched' meaning. However, there is controversy regarding the best information modeling technique, as both models present similar characteristics. In this paper, we present a review of how ontology modeling and databases modeling are related, of what their main differences are and of the mechanisms used to communicate with each other.


absorption enhancement within slow-light modes is then used to illustrate an increase in absorption over the bulk value: the effective absorption coefficient is shown to increase by more than 22% over a broad spectral region and by more than 400% over a narrow region. Erbium-doped porous silicon photonic crystals are fabricated with the photonic band edge coincident with the 4 I15/2! 4 I13/2 Er 3+ transition. Challenges in fabrication are discussed. An angular-dependent photoluminescence measurement demonstrates emission intensity that varies non-monotonically with the position of the photonic band edge. A maximum of 26.6× enhancement of Er 3+ emission intensity is observed for the 550-nm transition, with lower enhancement factors seen for longer wavelengths.


In this experiment, we investigated the effect of 'green odour' products typical of those released from fresh forage postabiotic and biotic stresses on the rumen microbiota and lipid metabolism.


With this paper, we intend to present some considerations about the atypical behavior of the verb 'poder' in European Portuguese, when considered within the frame of legal language. Having in mind the analysis of two dominant textual typologies in the juridical field – law itself and the judicial sentence – we aim to describe the potential of interpretation concerning some occurrences which may be of interest when the objective is to reflect on the operative variations of this modal in discursive production, translation studies and other related fields.


Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. — Niels Bohr More than 20 years ago, 246 risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) had already been identified, and the number continues to grow.1 Advances in genomics and proteomics will provide even more candidate markers to consider for routine assessment in practice. Risk stratification is important because information about the probability of a cardiovascular event in the future can help target therapy and resources to those most likely to benefit. Of the several hundred known correlates of CHD, only a handful have had the staying power to be recommended for . . .


H2 evolution by photocatalytic water splitting has attracted a lot of attention due to the global depletion of oil resources. Therefore, much effort is devoted to develop low-cost, highly active photocatalysts. Here, a facile strategy is proposed for the synthesis of low Pt content Sn2+-doped double-shelled Pt/TiO2 hollow nanocatalyst (DHS–PtSn2+) with excellent solar H2 production properties. After calcination in N2, DHS–PtSn2+ showed highest photocatalytic H2 production rate of 28 502 μmol h–1 g–1, nearly threefold higher than the Sn4+-doped counterpart, thereby demonstrating better synergistic effect of Sn2+ than Sn4+ in H2 evolution. The influences of calcination atmosphere, Sn2+ content, and Sn/Pt atomic ratio on H2 production have been investigated with a series of contrast experiments. Besides, the proposed Sn2+-doping strategy could also be applied in other light-sensitive materials (e.g., homemade TiO2 nanoparticles, commercial P25, and g-C3N4), suggesting its extensive applications in H2 product...


Aim of this study was to determine the concentration of gross energy in sow's colostrum. Samples of colostrum were taken from 8 sows (White improved), which were at different farrow (1 to 4). Sows were fed with feed mixture for lactating sows. Colostrum samples were taken per hand without injection of oxytocin from different mammary glands and in different time periods (0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 12 and 18 hour). Than were the colostrum samples lyophilized. The concentration of gross energy (GE) in colostrum samples was performed by Automatic Calorimeter AC500. Values of GE in samples of sows colostrum were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, the differences in average GE concentration of colostrum between different sampling times were tested with T-test (P<0.05) using a SAS system. We found statistically significance (P<0.05) in dry matter concentration and GE concentration in kg of dry matter between first sample (0.hour took at time of birth of first piglet) and samples took at 12 hour from birth of first piglet. Concentration of GE in colostrum during parturition to 6 hour of lactation was in range from 5.14 to 5.51 MJ.kg. After 6 hour to 18 hour (4.46 MJ.kg) we detected decrease in gross energy concentration in colostrum.


Lithium carbonate doped 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride(Li2CO3∶PTCDA) was fabricated as electron injection layer in NPB/Alq3 heterojunction based organic light emitting diodes(OLEDs).It was found that the current of OLED using Li2CO3∶PTCDA was strongly dependent on the Li2CO3 doping concentration.The OLED using Li2CO3∶PTCDA(1∶1) with Al as the cathode exhibits an improved power efficiency and significantly increased luminance,comparing with the one using Li2CO3∶BCP(1∶4) with Al as the cathode and the one using the regular LiF/Al cathode.It is because the electron conductivity for Li2CO3∶PTCDA/(1∶1) is much higher than that Li2CO3∶BCP(1∶4) and neat Alq3.In addition,it is found that there exist a Schottky barrier at the intrinsic interface of Alq3 and Li2CO3∶PTCDA(1∶1),which suppress the electron transfer from Li2CO3∶PTCDA(1∶1) into Alq3.However,the release of Li atoms upon the Al deposition onto 1∶1 Li2CO3∶PTCDA could turn the interface into an ohmic contact,thereby delivering efficient electron injection from Li2CO3∶PTCDA(1∶1) into Alq3.We provided a class of high-function,low-cost,and easily fabricated n-doped material for the performance enhancement of OLEDs.


Lecturer performance is influential in increasing student learning motivation. Each lecturer has a different character, nature and way of teaching. This causes students to choose and determine the best lecturer according to the students themselves. One of the Decision Support Systems (DSS) in assessing the best lecturers is using the ANP and TOPSIS methods. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) method is used to determine the weight of the criteria according to decision making, then the TOPSIS method is used to determine the rank / achievement of lecturers. This decision support system is expected to help and provide an alternative in assessing lecturer achievement. The results of this study will be in the form of an information system which is expected to assist in processing data by designing the best lecturer assessment information system using the ANP and TOPSIS methods.


The relative zinc (Zn) efficiencies of 20 wheat genotypes were determined by growing them in chelate-buffered hydroponic culture solutions. Zinc efficiency of the test genotypes were determined by comparing their growth in a Zn-deficient solution (2 pM Zn 2+ ) relative to that in a medium containing an adequate concentration of Zn (40 pM Zn 2+ ) and varied between 41to 84%. The results depicted that eight genotypes proved Zn-efficient, 4 medium and 8 inefficient ones. The SD-8006, SD-8012 and SD-669 were the most efficient wheat genotypes with the efficiency of 84, 83, and 76%, respectively; whereas, T21 and T11 were the least efficient genotypes with 41 and 42% efficiency, respectively. All the cultivars accumulated higher concentrations of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and phosphorus (P) at deficient levels of Zn, compared with adequate Zn concentrations. The Zn-inefficient cultivars accumulated higher concentrations of these elements compared to efficient cultivars. Zinc efficiency of these genotypes under field conditions varied between 57 to 96%, which was quite higher than determined in hydroponics study. Zn-efficient genotypes produced 23% higher grain yield and more extracted Zn (38%) compared to Zn-inefficient genotypes.


Exploring Australian school text censorship has a long pedigree in English in Australia. This article aims to contribute by observing attempts by parents to censor English texts in religious schools. A brief summary of EIA's previous approaches is followed by an explanation of the method of my research with NSW Protestant and NSW state school teachers. A review of the published history of Australian parental school text 'complaints' (also termed 'challenges') then precedes a quantification of the impacts of parental challenges. Challenge reasons are then collated for both sectors. The higher prevalence of complaints about sexual content and depictions of the supernatural in Protestant schools is examined, and some inferences made about the perceptions of parents: their views about text, reading mechanics, spirituality and educational power.


Comparative Medicine is not new. Like every other branch of learning it has evolved slowly from long-forgotten first beginnings and it has been used knowingly or unknowingly, by every real investigator in the medical sciences. However, one of the first to give practical expression to the idea was Sir William Osler in this city, when, as the youthful Professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill, he simultaneously undertook the teaching of the same subjects at the Veterinary School and, with Duncan McEachran, established in McGill the Faculty of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Science. The "Institutes of Medicine" was an old Edinburgh term for Physiology, and Pathology. This, of course, included Parasitology, but as the protozoa and bacteria were unknown then, the parasites were all macroscopic and were mostly parasitic worms. Osler signed some of his papers as Lecturer in Helminthology enabling me to claim him as the first of my distinguished predecessors at McGill University.


The Sino-Romanian relations after 1989 have experienced three stages:the development and deepening of friendly and cooperative relations (1989~2003), the establishment and development of a comprehensive friendly cooperative partnership (2004~2011), the deepening of a comprehensive friendly cooperative partnership (2012~ ). The bilateral relations have been developing steadily and have played an exemplary and leading role in the development of relations between China and CEECs. The development of Sino-Romanian relations has benefited from the traditional friendship between the two countries, the respect for each other, the consensus on major regional and international issues, the complementary economic advantages and the decision-making of the two governments. But the level of bilateral relations, as well as the economic and trade cooperation has yet to be improved. The problems that need to be solved are how to promote the economic and trade cooperation at a higher level, how to deal with the challenges of stakeholders and how to reduce the negative impact of the frequent changes of the Romanian government.


A simplified approach to the design of impounded estuarine tidal power schemes is described, based on the mean tidal amplitude and the surface area of the enclosed basin. Power outputs of 0·27 and 0·37 of the available energy can be realised for one-way and two-way operations, respectively. Generally good agreement is found between these theoretical designs and engineering schemes constructed at La Rance and proposed in the Bay of Fundy and Bristol Channel. The dimensionless approach described here allows designs to be readily scaled down to the much smaller-scale schemes presently under consideration. The additional energy output, for the same installed capacity, in the two-way operation combined with a flushing regime closer to the undisturbed state appears, on environmental grounds, to recommend this operational mode.


Objectives:To investigate the levels of serum As Ab in recurrent spontaneous abortion couples and explore its clinical significance.Methods:Levels of serum As Ab in 530 people were detected by ELISA.Results:The rates of elevated serum As Ab in RSA period men and women were 7.26% and 10.39% respectively.The rates of elevated serum As Ab in ordinary fertile period women were 1.54%.Conclusion:As Ab might be associated with the recurrent spontaneous abortion.


The spectacular images of the M 87 black hole taken by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have opened a new era of black hole research. One of the next issues is to take polarization images around the central black hole (BH). Since radio emission is produced by synchrotron process, polarization properties should vividly reflect the magnetic field structures at the jet base and thus provide good information regarding the magnetic mechanism of jet formation. With this kept in mind we perform general relativistic (GR) radiative transfer calculations of polarized light based on the GR magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation data of accretion flow and outflow in M 87, to obtain their linear and circular polarization images in the BH horizon-scale. We found that the linear polarization components originating from the jet base and inner accretion flow should experience Faraday rotation and depolarization when passing through magnetized plasmas around the BH, thus sensitively depending on the BH spin. Through the comparison with total intensity image at $1.3\:$mm by EHT and the polarization degree and the rotation measure (RM) measured at $1.3\:$mm with the Submillimeter Array, the model with the spin parameter of $a=0.9\, M_{\,\mathrm{BH}}$ (with $M_{\,\mathrm{BH}}$ being the BH mass) is favored over other models with $a = 0.5\, M_{\,\mathrm{BH}}$ or $0.99\, M_{\,\mathrm{BH}}$, though we need further systematic studies for confirmation. We also find in low-temperature models a clear ring-like image in the circular polarization map, which arises because of Faraday conversion of the linearly polarized synchrotron emission and is thus indicative of magnetic field direction. This occurs only when the emission region is threaded with well-ordered magnetic fields and hence no clear images are expected in high-temperature disk models, in which disk emission is appreciable. We will be able to elucidate the field configuration through the comparison between the simulated polarization images and future polarimetry with EHT and other VLBI observations.


This study was conducted in Ruhul Beel, Pabna, northern area of Bangladesh to know the availability of different fish species. Samples were collected fortnightly from the fishermen catch captured in different points of the Beel during January to December, 2013. During this study a total of 37 fish species under 9 orders and 19 families were recorded from the study area. Cypriniformes was the most dominant order constituting 32.43% of the total fish populations followed by the Siluriformes (27.02%), Perciformes (21.62%), Channiformes (5.4%) and Clupeiformes (2.7%). On the contrary, Beloniformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Osteoglossiformes and Tetraodontiformes were the least numerous orders constituting only 2.71% each of the total fish populations. Among the available fish species, 37.84% were very rare, 35.14% were rare, and 21.61% were found throughout the year in a small amount while only 5.41% were available throughout the year in a large amount. About half of the fish species available in the Ruhul Beel is threatened to extinct according to IUCN Bangladesh. The results of this study will provide important baseline data on availability of fish species, which will be helpful for the sustainable management and conservation of fisheries diversity in the Ruhul Beel as well as in the open water- bodies of Bangladesh.J. bio-sci. 25: 39-44, 2017


The present research had as general problem: What is the relationship between cognitive skills and Perception of Teaching Performance in fifth grade students from five public secondary educational institutions of Network 7 of Callao 2015? the overall is to determine the relationship between cognitive skills and Perception of Teaching Performance in fifth grade students from five public secondary educational institutions of Network 7 of Callao – 2015. The research was descriptive basic, non-experimental design: transversal, descriptive and correlational. The sample consisted of 214 students. Technical survey with questionnaires polytomous variable variable 01 and 02. In the study, was applied to the construction work was done with the constructivist approach to learning where the conception of the teaching-learning transmission is shifted know Knowledge (Beltran, 1998). When we refer to the skills, theories derived from cognitive psychology and cognitive science, where the cognitive ability, the subject not only acquires the contents themselves but also learn the process you used to do. In addition we conceive perception of teaching performance from a constructivist perspective, perception is a cognitive mental process that allows us to form concepts, opinions, impressions, feelings, about an individual, object or phenomenon according to past experience, the context social, knowledge of reality according to our needs, interests, aspirations and desires. In research, it has been found that there is a low relationship between cognitive skills and perception of teaching performance in rs = 0.470 and the results indicated, with a significance level of ± = 0.05 and p = 0.000.


Orange peel was used as reductant for reductive leaching of manganese anode slag,which was featured by intractable treatment and lead-rich,and sulfuric acid was used as leaching solvent.By using manganese anode slag from electrolytic manganese plant as raw materials,the effects of dosage of orange peel and sulfuric acid,leaching time and temperature on the leaching ratio were studied.The results show that the leaching recovery of Mn reaches 96%,while the leaching recovery of Pb is only 0.2% under the conditions of leaching temperature 80 ℃,leaching time 2h,the ratio of solid to liquid 1:4,the mass ratio of orange peel to slag 1:5 and the mass ratio of acid to material 1.2:1.The experiment proves that extracting manganese from anode slag in sulfuric acid using the orange peel as reductant is highly effective.


Unrevealed aspects of the photoinduced phase transition are discussed with a special emphasis placed on domains and domain boundaries. The CN− vibration spectroscopy, which is sensitive to the phase changes and boundaries, is applied to photomagnetic phase transition material, RbMn[Fe(CN)6]. From time‐resolved IR measurements for photoinduced low temperature to high temperature phase transition, the transient appearance of the boundaries as well as the new phase within 1 ps is observed. The growth processes of the low temperature phase and boundaries during UV irradiation on the sample in high temperature phase are investigated by Raman spectroscopy at room temperature. The result suggests that the new phase appears preferably in the fresh area and a lot of unpaired fragments of high temperature phase are left behind after a prolonged irradiation.


As to the status quo of the textile industry material and the labor employment and the constant increase of the quality of textiles,starting with the analysis of both the advantages and the disadvantages of the draft in planar wise and V-shaped wise,the limitation is found of the process of the two bigness with two smallness and the draft process of high efficiency with big ration.A new draft concept is introduced.Highlight is given to the contradictions including that of friction couple of draft,that of the draft force with the control force,that of high speed with the application accessories,that of high speed spinning and high power consumption and that of high speed with the count.The requirement of high speed spinning is particularized on the accessories performance.Conclusion is made that high speed spinning is an important approach into the improvement of production rate as times of sci-tech advances.The main jobs including reduction of spinning breakage,and power consumption,prolong the service life of the machinery and accessories and the maintenance cyc of the same are the premise to high speed spinning.


The stress distribution in cortical bone and dental implant has been modeled by finite element method (FEM) using linear static analysis in the case of monocortical and bicortical fixation of a real dental implant for three cortical bone thicknesses: 2 mm, 2.5 mm, 4 mm. The analysis revealed that the highest stresses in the cortical bone and in the implant after three-axial loading are localized at the edge of the cortical bone near the implant neck where bending moment is the highest. An increase of the maximum stresses has been observed with the decrease of the intraosseal length of the implant and cortical bone thickness.


Wondering how you can more easily predict stock market performance? Unfortunately, no one knows what the future of the stock market will bring. Get hints on how to positively deal with this ambiguity.


This paper reviewed the use of RCT in medical education research. The review showed the RCT had been used in a few educational research programs. In the context of medical education, it has been argued that RCT should not be considered because students are given no choice over their learning methods. But in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the various teaching methods, the medical educationalists recommend that the RCT must be used widely, and indicate failing to undertake an RCT of teaching methods in medical education is unethical.


To expatiate on the reality demands to the "psychological support" ecological path by universities' Ideological and political theory(here is abbreviated as "Ideological and political course" )teaching effectiveness,to explore on the academic significance of the "psychological support" ecological path for the "Ideological and political course" ,and put forward that the "psychological support" is the constructive idea of ecological path for universities' Ideological and political theory teaching effectiveness.


This paper presents a new method for modeling rarefied gas flows based on hybridization of direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and discrete velocity method (DVM)-based quasi-particle representatio...


Ethereum is a type of cryptocurrency that exhibits an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract functionality. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency whose blockchain is generated by the Ethereum platform. Ethereum can be transferred between accounts and used to compensate participant mining nodes for computations performed. Ethereum attracts the attention of investors when the price of ether is increased sharply in the year of 2017. Therefore, the objective of this study is to forecast the value of the exchange rate of Ethereum using high-frequency data. The findings of this study will help investors to evaluate the appropriateness of Ethereum to be selected as one profile in the investment portfolio. This study developed the forecasting method using the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA). The forecasting model investigated in this study is ARIMA (1,1,1) and ARIMA(1,1,2). ARIMA (1,1,2) shows a higher value of R-squared and lower the value of Akaike info criterion. Therefore, ARIMA(1,1,2) is a better model to estimate the likelihood of a model to estimate the future values of the Ethereum exchange rate. The ex-ante forecasting calculation indicates the mean absolute percentage error is 0.54 percentages. Therefore, the ARIMA (1,1,2) is a reliable model for forecasting. In conclusion, the Ethereum exchange rate can be forecast using high-frequency data with the implementation of reliable ARIMA model namely ARIMA (1,1,2).


In this article, we investigate how the prior knowledge based on examples of physical spectra can be exploited in sparse Blind Source Separation (sBSS), based on the projection onto the barycentric span of these examples. For that purpose, we investigate different metrics to build such projections, and further introduce a novel machine learning approach to build physically relevant reconstruction. In this context, multi/hyperspectral data are formed of $m$ observations $\mathbf{X}_{i}$, each of which is made of $t$ samples. The standard mixture model defines each observation as a linear combination of $n$ sources $\mathbf{S}_{j}$ to which Gaussian noise is added: $\mathbf{X}=\mathbf{AS}+\mathbf{N}$, where $\mathbf{X}\in \mathbb{R}^{m\times t}$ is the data matrix, $\mathbf{S}\in \mathbb{R}^{n\times t}$ the source matrix, $\mathbf{A}\in \mathbb{R}^{m\times n}$ the mixing matrix and $\mathbf{N}\in \mathbb{R}^{m\times t}$ for the noise contribution. BSS aims at recovering both the mixing matrix $\mathbf{A}$ and the sources $\mathbf{S}$ from the data $\mathbf{X}$. only, which is an unsupervised matrix factorization. Since it is ill-posed, it requires additional assumptions about the sources and/or the mixing matrix, such as statistical independence [1], nonnegativity [2] or sparsity [3] to only name three.


Objectives A comparison of appraisals made by general practitioners (GPs) in France and occupational physicians (OPs) and insurance physicians (IPs) in the Netherlands with those made by Scandinavian GPs on work capacity in patients with severe subjective health complaints (SHCs). Setting GPs in France and OPs/IPs in the Netherlands gathered to watch nine authentic video recordings from a Norwegian general practice. Participants 46 GPs in France and 93 OPs/IPs in the Netherlands were invited to a 1-day course on SHC. Outcomes Recommendation of sick leave (full or partial) or no sick leave for each of the patients. Results Compared with Norwegian GPs, sick leave was less likely to be granted by Swedish GPs (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.86) and by Dutch OPs/IPs (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.78). The differences between Swedish and Norwegian GPs were maintained in the adjusted analyses (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.79). This was also true for the differences between Dutch and Norwegian physicians (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.86). Overall, compared with the GPs, the Dutch OPs/IPs were less likely to grant sick leave (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.87). Conclusions Swedish GPs and Dutch OPs/IPs were less likely to grant sick leave to patients with severe SHC compared with GPs from Norway, while GPs from Denmark and France were just as likely to grant sick leave as the Norwegian GPs. We suggest that these findings may be due to the guidelines on sick-listing and on patients with severe SHC which exist in Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. Differences in the working conditions, relationships with patients and training of specialists in occupational medicine may also have affected the results. However, a pattern was observed in which of the patients the physicians in all countries thought should be sick-listed, suggesting that the physicians share tacit knowledge regarding sick leave decision-making in patients with severe SHC.


This letter proposes a feedback-feedforward control scheme that combines the benefits of an online active sensing control strategy (the feedforward control component) to maximize the information needed for correctly executing the desired task, with a Lyapunov-based control strategy (the feedback control component) that guarantees an asymptotic convergence towards the task itself. To quantify the amount of the collected information along the planned trajectories, the smallest eigenvalue of the Constructability Gramian is adopted as a metric and optimized, for generating the feedforward control component, within a Lyapunov-based Model Predictive Control framework (LMPC). The latter indeed allows to systematically handle the closed-loop stability and robustness properties of a Lyapunov-based nonlinear control law, and, at the same time, to reduce the estimation uncertainty and, thus, increase the task execution performance. To show the effectiveness of our method, we consider three case studies where a unicycle equipped with suitable onboard sensors has to perform three classical tasks in mobile robotics: path following, point-to-point motion, and trajectory tracking.