BASIC STUDIES OF CITRATE THERAPY ON UROLITHIASIS -The Effect of Citrate on Solubility of Calcium Oxalate Crystal and on Calcium Deposition of Murine Kidney in Experimental Oxalate StoneShu Yasukawa Department of Urology, Wakayama Medical College (Director: Prof. T. Ohkawa) Some basal examinaitons about the effect of citrate on calcium oxalate were carried out. These studies consisted of following three experiments, the effect on the solubility of calcium oxalate, the inhibitory activity to the ability of calcium oxalate crystal forming and inhibitory effect of citrate on renal tubular deposits of calcium oxalate crystal in the rat. The following results have been obtained: 1) Citrate increased solubility of calcium oxalate within a range of physiological pH and the effect was enhanced in an alkaline condition. Cirtrate also increased solubility of hydroxyapatite in comparison with control, whereas an extreme decrease was confirmed in the alkaline condition. 2) The ability of crystal forming of calcium oxalate was studied using the aggregometer. As concentration of citrate increased, crystal forming of calcium oxalate decreased. 3) Calcium oxalate crystals were developed in the renal tubules of rats that received ethylene glycol (0.4%). Forming of these crystals was markedly suppressed by administration of citrate concomitantly. These results suggested the possibility that citrate might inhibit the formation of calcium oxalate stone and might be useful for actual clinical treatment of calcium oxalate stone.


Abstract The infrared spectrum of the v12 fundamental and its accompanying hot band v12 + v14 - v14 of triazine has been measured by means of a Fourier transform spectrometer with a resolution of about 0.0023 cm-1 . A total of about 2779 rovibrational transitions has been assigned. The ground state constants have been considerably improved whilst the parameters for the excited states v12 = 1, v14 = 1 and v12 = v14 = 1 have been obtained for the first time. The standard deviations were 2.92 • 10-4 cm-1 for the ground state constants and 1.53 • 10-4 cm -1 for the excited state parameters of v12 showing the latter to be unperturbed. The upper state of the hot band v12 + v14 - v14 was found to be perturbed by an accidental resonance.


ABSTRACT Static magnetic field produced by permanent magnets applied to the fuel lines of internal combustion engines reduces viscosity of fuel, leading to better atomisation and improved carburetion, which enhances the combustion of the fuel and performance of the engine. Increased combustion reduces HC (hydrocarbon) and CO (carbon monoxide) % emitted from exhaust. Experiments in present work emphasise the effect of use of multiple pairs of permanent magnets of 3000 gauss intensity each, installed to the fuel line of four-stroke SI engine. It is evident from experiments that with increasing number of pairs of magnet lead to decrease in emissions. Results validate the impact of magnetic field strength on emissions from exhaust. Experimental results show that with application of magnetic flux to the fuel at constant load of 2 kg, there is 17.46% reduction in CO emissions, 18.048% reduction in HC and 1.118% increase in CO2 from the exhaust on the use of 5 pairs of magnets.


in strong emotions that there is something working within him; this he names his (tvfios, or his typeves or his tcpaSiri; and when this idea of carriers of trie emotional life was once to hand, the formation of a corresponding concept for the intellectual life, POOS, can be understood. Herr Bohme claims thus to establish the existence for Homer of a plurality of 'life-souls' under these names. They are not ' soul-parts' nor different names for the same thing; ' the investigation has shown that the several names are applied to distinct spheres of soul-life' (p. 90). In fact, though a bias towards the intellectual sphere can be observed in the uses o{(f>peve<s (and voo<i) and towards the emotional in the uses of 0v/i6<>, the last statement, whose truth is so important for the earlier argument, will not hold, and the general claim does not take us very far. By similar tests of speech the modern Englishman has a multitude of ' life-souls '—heart, brain, mind, spirit, soul, will, etc.—and leaves us no less in doubt as to which ' represents the self.' The term 'soul ' is applied with curious latitude by some anthropologists, but it is surely better to set apart the bodily organs (KpaUrj, <t>peves, etc.) which can themselves be spoken of as decisive factors and, with Otto, for instance, whom Herr Bohme attacks, give the term ' life-soul' more particularly to the 0v/xo? within them, which is concerned alike in feeling and in thought and quits the body in a swoon or at death. There are other major points on which Herr Bohme's judgment might be disputed, and occasional minor flaws: e.g., Kara <rov v'oov tcryave (Od. XIX. 42) is singled out (p.54) as showing the use of the noun voo$ with a preposition parallel to ivl <f>pecrt,v, and with curious perversity it is argued (p. 32 f.) that akK-q in II. XIX. 161 means not ' might for battle' but ' battle' (c/. II. IX. 706). Such mistakes do not destroy the general impression that a very able mind, keenly logical, has been at work. The book fails in part by reason of its formal scheme and accompanying limitations of interest and approach, but it has the merit of being clearly written. For lack of space I have done scant justice to the careful analysis of details and the shrewd observations upon relevant side-issues which are thrown out by the way. There is also an excursus in which the ^u%^ is explained as the breath, the life and the ghost (Totengeist), and an appendix in which, on the basis of the materials collected and discussed by Arbman, beliefs about the soul or souls among various ' primitive ' peoples are outlined for comparison. R. B. ONIANS.


The wide application of modern information technology brings about the unprecedented enormous development of social productivity,while the revolutionary informationization of education also intelligentializes the educational means and instruments.Compared with the developed countries,the informationization of China's higher education is far from satisfactory.Therefore,the educational ideology,the teaching concepts and the mechanism for creation are to be changed.Meanwhile,a diversified educational mode should be constructed and constantly improved according to the features of a specific college.College resources should also be integrated so as to enhance the "soft strength" of a college,to keep up with the development of the times and to boost China's informationization of higher education.


Short Abstract Simulation models coupled with Geographic Information Systems are now applied to several areas and have great potential for demographic studies. Demographic projections can tell us "how much we will be", but when coupled with GIS tools these projections can add the ability to show "where we will be". This paper simulates the growth of urban areas, the resident population, and their households for the Brazilian Metropolitan Regions of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, and Belém for 2020 and 2030. Based on demographic data measured between 2000 and 2010, and the mapping of urban areas through satellite images between 2000 and 2016, we used cellular automata models coupled with GIS to simulate future scenarios of population and urban growth. Our results suggest a decrease in the growth rate of urban areas despite the population and household growth in the coming decades. These trends are indicative of increasing intra-urban density, possibly reflected in the increase in building verticalization. Population is projected to grow at a slower pace than households, reflecting a decrease in the number of inhabitants per household in the study areas. Abstract Simulation models coupled with Geographic Information Systems are now applied to several areas and have great potential for demographic studies. Demographic projections can tell us "how much we will be", but when coupled with GIS tools these projections can add the ability to show "where we will be". This paper simulates the growth of urban areas, the resident population, and their households for the Brazilian Metropolitan Regions of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, and Belém for 2020 and 2030. Based on demographic data measured between 2000 and 2010, and the mapping of urban areas through satellite images between 2000 and 2016, we used cellular automata models coupled with GIS to simulate future scenarios of population and urban growth. Our results suggest a decrease in the growth rate of urban areas despite the population and household growth in the coming decades. These trends are indicative of increasing intra-urban density, possibly reflected in the increase in building verticalization. Population is projected to grow at a slower pace than households, reflecting a decrease in the number of inhabitants per household in the study areas.


Synthesis of a composite inorganic membrane for the separation of nitrogen, tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoropropylene
Composite inorganic membranes were synthesised for gas component separation of N2, CF4 and C3F6. Selectivities lower than Knudsen selectivities were obtained due to membrane defects. A composite ceramic membrane consisting of a ceramic support structure, a MFI intermediate zeolite layer and a Teflon top layer, was developed to improve separation.


In the present work, using the well-known numerical procedure for SAW calculation in arbitrary crystals the gyroscopic effect is investigated. To take into account the medium rotation the Coriolis and centrifugal forces are introduced into the piezoelectric medium equations of motion. As a result of the standard procedure, the SAW velocity is calculated as a function of the medium rotation rate about each coordinate axis. A shift of such velocity due to rotation is determined for isotropic Al, STX-quartz, 128°YX-LiNbO3, YZ-LiNbO3, X112°Y-LiTaO3, and Z-cut of AlN substrates.


Emergency department (ED) visits have risen to more than 60% since 1997, with more than 90% of U.S EDs being over-stretched due to overcrowding which has only been compounded by the recent pandemic. Consequences for ED overcrowding range from less severe effects such as patient inconvenience to more severe outcomes such as patient fatality. Research shows poor crowd management at the ED does not only affect patients but takes a toll on ED staff as well. To attempt to address this issue, our study researches how patient vitals collected and transmitted in real time to ED staff can help manage patients in the ED using a triage system that orders vitals in an urgent priority listing. We gathered data from participants using non-invasive wearable devices (CareTaker4 & Oximeter) to collect vital signs information such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. We aim to use the data to feed a mathematical model that will create a priority algorithm that can sort patients in an ED according to the urgency of their vital signs and transmit the data in real time to health personnel. This way, the patients can be moved automatically in the list as they deteriorate while waiting. We were able to plot the data to show which patients' health are deteriorating quickly and that would require immediate attention. This will be instrumental by helping ED staff attend to pressing cases faster and help control crowds according to medical urgency instead of a first come first serve basis which is not always effective.


Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly lethal malignancy with few effective treatment options. We used computational approaches to identify new drug targets within this heterogeneous patient population, focusing on the G‐protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs transduce extracellular signals from a variety of ligands through the plasma membrane, resulting in the modulation of intracellular signaling pathways and regulation of many physiological processes. This wide array of functions has resulted in the extensive utilization of GPCR targeted therapeutics, accounting for 30–50% of all currently used drugs. However, drugs targeting GPCRs are rarely utilized in cancer treatment, despite evidence that GPCRs mediate many aspects of tumorigenesis. Genomic analyses have uncovered GPCR mutations, copy number alterations and gene expression and methylation changes in a wide variety of cancers. Determining the biological implication of these genomic alterations will allow utilization of GPCR targeted therapeutics in those patients with GPCR‐driven tumors. Our preliminary evidence has uncovered the orphan GPCR GPRC5A as a critical regulator of the progression from early stage PanIN lesions to PDA.


Active learning (AL) is often used in corpus construction (CC) for selecting "informative" documents for annotation. This is ideal for focusing annotation efforts when all documents cannot be annotated, but has the limitation that it is carried out in a closed-loop, selecting points that will improve an existing model. For phenomena-driven and exploratory CC, the lack of existing-models and specific task(s) for using it make traditional AL inapplicable. In this paper we propose a novel method for model-free AL utilising characteristics of phenomena for applying AL to select documents for annotation. The method can also supplement traditional closed-loop AL-based CC to extend the utility of the corpus created beyond a single task. We introduce our tool, MOVE, and show its potential with a real world case-study.


In this paper, we propose a new approach capable of performing continuous identification of users in home and office environments based on hand and arm motion patterns obtained from a wrist-worn inertial measurement unit (IMU). Different from state-of-the-art methods, our approach is not constrained to particular types of movements, gestures, or activities, thus allowing users to perform freely and unconstrained their daily routines while the identification takes place. We evaluate our approach by conducting an in the lab study and two in-situ studies, one in home environment and one in office environment. Our studies involved a total of 29 different participants and the data collected corresponds to approximately 256 hours. The results obtained in the studies indicate that our approach is able to perform continuous user identification with an accuracy of 0.88 for office environments and 0.71 for the average size of a household.


This study contributes to extent value relevance li terature relating to the role of book value and earnings through Brazilian accounting data in asset revaluation and price level accounting context. Moreover, it brings empirical d iscussion on two very important issues related to accounting information: relevance and re liability. It is employed a value relevance methodology, with the dependent variable being the equity market value and the independent variables being book value of equity and earnings. The first hypothesis is that historical cost accounting is less value relevant than fixed asset revaluation accounting practices. For the period 1996-2007, companies had the option to reval ue some long-lived tangible assets. External appraisals in Brazilian revaluation proces s likely bring a degree of reliability without too much imperfection. However, empirical e vid nce shows up that firms that experimented asset revaluations are not more value relevant regarding firms that did not. Further analysis based on an incremental value rele vance specification shows that if the revaluation process had not occurred, then the valu e relevance would be quite the same for those firms. In other words, asset revaluation rese ve was not value relevant, in spite of likely being reliable. One possible explanation for this r esult is the underlying firms' asset revaluation practices lack of relevance. The second hypothesis is that historical cost accounting is less value relevant than price level accounting. In Brazil, price level accounting was the rule until 1995. From 1996, with inflation rates getting lower degrees, Brazilian Government prohibited price level for tax and finan ci l accounting purposes. Even though, some companies disclosed additional information in price level for the period 1996-2007. Empirical evidence shows that this accounting infor mation is not more value relevant in comparison to the information without price level p ublicized by the same companies. One possible explanation for this result is the underly ing reliability of the inflation index used by the firms. Overall empirical evidence shows that hi storical cost accounting is not less value relevant. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasiz e that the results are related to the underlying firms' accounting practices, not the acc ounting models themselves.


This article offers an analysis of two important films – Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers and Sembene Ousmane's Xala – within the context of postcolonial theories. While its focus will be, in the main, on the postcolonial as a historical framework, the essay attempts to transcend this framework through its engagement with the postcolonial as an  awareness of identity, conflict and challenge on personal, communal and national levels. The issues broached range from colonialism, decolonisation, neocolonialism, and violence to Fanonism, mimicry and the neo-bourgeoisie. In the course of this analysis, recourse is made to the Third Cinema, 1 as it "anticipates and touches borders with postcolonial theory" (Wayne 2001, 22), and its master concept of decolonisation. While the article inaugurates the debate with individual close examinations of The Battle of Algiers and Xala , the discussion will be complemented by stringing the two films together on threads that bind them as two "great cinematic documents of the age of empire" (Said 2001, 291).


The main objective of this paper is to analyze the various definitions of knowledge, technology, knowledge transfer and technology transfer by reviewing the available literature and to create a new definition of technology transfer from a different point of view. It also seeks to answer the question whether these definitions could be used as synonyms. It outlines that knowledge is a much wider category than technology, nevertheless from the technology transfer point of view they are equal. The results of an own research conducted amongst Hungarian TTOs are also introduced, confirming that there is no common understanding of technology transfer. Despite all these, this paper concludes that technology transfer means the utilization of research results in businesses.


This article reviews how scanning technique contributes to reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is defined as the process by which a person derives meaning from print. Scanning is a device used to locate details. Scanning means glancing rapidly through the text either to search for a specific piece of information The differences of students reading comprehension after treatment are influenced by treatment given to them. It was proven by the result of previous research statistical data analysis which indicated to the students' progress. teaching reading by using scanning technique can increase students' reading achievement.


The adquisition of elements that contribute to the propagation of antibiotic resistance genes such as plasmids, bacteriophages, integrative conjugative elements, transposons, IS elements or genomic islands by Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT), increases genetic diversity (de la Cruz and Davies 2000) and contribute, in many cases, to bacterial evolution and adaptability to the environment (Michael et al. 2004). Integrons are gene capture elements that contain the elements necessary for incorporating, by a recombination event mediated by an integrase, foreign DNA (gene cassettes) at specific recombination sites (attI) and their expression through a promoter (Pc) (Mazel 2006). They possess two conserved regions separated by a variable region containing one or more genes integrated as cassettes (Stokes et al. 2001). The best studied integrons are those responsible for antibiotic resistance in human pathogens but antibiotics resistance genes are not only restricted to clinical environments, in fact, the origin of these genes is in environmental microorganisms. We also know that pollution produces changes in the biosphere, including the microbiota, and might modify, due to its selective pressure, the prevalence and activity of elements involved in HGT. In this thesis, we investigate, the presence of integrons in natural nonclinical contaminated ecosystems, uncontaminated, away from human activity and intestinal human samples, using bioinformatics and metagenomic techniques.
We found several integron integrases, including type 1 integrases, as well as conserved regions and gene cassettes, distributed in all the environmental samples analyzed, indicating that these elements are widely distributed in natural nonclinical environments. In fact, most sequences obtained are new, which indicates the existence of a variety of integrons in the environment.
Despite being new sequences, most of them have common domains with previously described type 1 integrase. The intestinal human samples investigated showed less variability considering that we only found one integron integrase type 1. We have no clear evidence at present to support the conclusion that contamination increases the presence of certain integrases in natural ecosystems. The analysis of genomic and metagenomic databases searching for integrons showed similar results to those obtained when we investigate integrons in clinical and nonclinical environments. Studying the presence of integrons in different environments is important to understand the function of these elements as a reservoir of genes and their contribution in bacterial evolution, adaptability and antibiotic resistance.


Low concentrations (below 0.00005 m) of colchicine and low intensities (below 2,800 psi) of pressure, applied separately to early prophase eggs (lytechinus variegatus) produced no measurable inhibition of the first cleavage division (at 20°c). in combination, however, these subliminal treatments produced marked inhibition. complete blockage, in fact, was observed: at 2,300 psi for eggs in 0.00004 m colchicine; at 2,500 psi for eggs in 0.00003 m; and at 2,800 psi for eggs in 0.00002 m solutions.


Dated back in 2008, the first blockchain-powered cryptocurrency-Bitcoin was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto. Over the years, the types of cryptocurrencies available in the market amounted to more than 2,000. With the disruptive potential to revolutionize the traditional financial services, cryptocurrencies become a topic of interest among scholars, global regulators, investors, business operators, information technology enthusiasts and consumers. Nevertheless, the negative activities associated with cryptocurrencies such as money laundering and illicit trading, have resulted in the legality of cryptocurrencies remain controversial in the global context.As the worldwide regulators expressed different stance towards cryptocurrency acceptance and adoption, this study sought to gauge the individual's behavioral intention to use cryptocurrency. Recognizing the dearth of study in Asian countries, especially the developing country, this study addresses the literature gap by focusing the case of Malaysian individuals. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of age, education level and income level differences in an individual's behavioral intention to use cryptocurrency.The sample is made up of 176 Malaysian individuals who are equipped with cryptocurrency knowledge. The empirical data were gathered using online survey questionnaire via Google form. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to understand the demographics effect on the intention to adopt cryptocurrency.Finally, the results revealed that the role of age, education and income level are not significant in influencing an individual's behavior towards cryptocurrency adoption


Plastic mechanics theory was applied to carry out stress analysis on the defects existing in the drawing of a rail passenger car top plate.The optimization of supplementary modeling and the control method of wing side reverse drawing were proposed;and then the influence law of different factors on the plate drawing springback and warping was analyzed by using numerical simulation.The result shows that the process supplement of plate and the addition of wing side drawing process can effectively reduce the endwall warping and vault extension;and the enlargement of outside expanding amount of large curvature radius section,the increase of blank holder force and decrease of cavity die fillet radius can effectively reduce the warping springback amount.The drawing springback of plate can be controlled effectively by controlling of the fillet radius of wing side ejector plate in R4~R8 mm,the punch and die clearance in 1.6~2 mm,and the blank holder force of wing side less than 3000 kN.


Abstract : The Computer Center DEC VAXcluster libraries: NSRDC(Subprograms), VLIB/N is a reference manual which describes the subprograms in library VSYS:NSRDC on the DEC VAXcluster at DTNSRDC. These scientific and utility routines are used primarily with Fortran programs and are written in Fortran. VLIB/N lists the on-line helps and includes a list by functional category and an alphabetical list with a descriptive title for each.


The permeability to O2, CO2, C2H4, and water vapor was determined for 19 commercial fruit wax coatings, four ingredients thereof, and one shrink-wrap film. For the commercial coatings, the O 2 permeability at 50% relative humidity and 30C ranged from 470 to 22,000 ml (STP) × mil/(m 2 × day × atm) (1 mil = 0.0254 mm) with CO)2 . permeability two to eight times as high. Permeability to noncondensable gases tended to be higher for coatings made from carnauba wax than for those made from shellac and rosin. Commercial fruit wax had sufficiently low noncon- densable gas permeability to account for large reductions in the respiration rate of coated fruit. Wax coatings could be improved if permeability were controlled: Coatings applied to the surfaces of fruits and vegetables are commonly called 'waxes, whether or not any component thereof is actually a wax. Commodities that are waxed include apples, avocados, citrus, cucumbers, eggplant, peaches, sweet peppers, and tomatoes. Waxing improves appearance, but waxes are often selected with little consideration for other properties. The extensive literature documents various properties that are altered by the waxing of fruits and vegetables. Hardenburg's bibliography (1967) covers 292 papers on waxing. Since then, further studies have described the effects of waxing on diverse crops. Perhaps the most-studied property of waxed fruit is its weight


We have developed a simple composition-based model for predicting the cetane number of diesel fuels with general applicability to any diesel fuel regardless of the refining process it originates from. The cetane number is correlated to a total of 129 different hydrocarbon lumps determined by a combination of supercritical fluid chromatography, gas chromatography, and mass spectroscopic methods. A total of 203 diesel fuels are considered in this study derived from various diesel-range refinery process streams and their commercial blends. Across the multitude of such process streams and blends, the model predicts the cetane number with a standard error of 1.25 numbers, which is well within the experimental error of the measurement.


The objective of this study is to determine the most successful protease domains for use in directed evolution experiments against substrates with novel amino acid sequences. Building on our previous work that created an in vivo expressible fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) system for protease specificity determination, we have initiated a study of protease domain clustering for in vivo protease evolution against a single recognition sequence. Using backbone root‐mean‐square deviation (RMSD), buried active‐site surface area, secondary structure analysis, and hydrophobicity scores, we have clustered protease domains into groups with a likelihood of potential success for in vivo evolution against specific amino acid sequences of maximum length. Our results demonstrate that many protease domains are not amenable to evolution studies due to energetic concerns related to instability of secondary structure interactions around the active site. Additionally, many proteases exhibit active site recognition regions that are relatively small, which eliminate the potential to target these domains against longer, and more specific, amino acid sequences. Encouraging results were obtained for two types of protease domains that have the maximum likelihood for successful evolution studies. These protease domains will be used in fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) experiments and evolved against loop regions of signal transduction receptors using our FRET protease specificity substrates. Antibody conjugates of these domains will then be constructed to target these evolved proteases to specific cell types based on antigen availability on the cell surface.


We study the m = 3 bootstrap percolation model on a cubic lattice, using Monte Carlo simulation and finite-size scaling techniques. In bootstrap percolation, sites on a lattice are considered occupied (present) or vacant (absent) with probability p or 1-p, respectively. Occupied sites with less than m occupied first-neighbors are then rendered unoccupied; this culling process is repeated until a stable configuration is reached. We evaluate the percolation critical probability, pc, and both scaling powers, yp and yh, and, contrary to previous calculations, our results indicate that the model belongs to the same universality class as usual percolation (i.e., m=0). The critical spanning probability, R(pc), is also numerically studied for systems with linear sizes ranging from L=32 up to L=480; the value we found, R(pc)=0.270±0.005, is the same as for usual percolation with free boundary conditions.


Nicotiana tabacum transgenic plants overexpressing manganese (Mn) superoxide dismutase (SOD) targeted to plastids were studied upon 12.5 M cadmium (Cd) application. No differences in tolerance were observed in comparison to wild type plants. Seed germination inhibition, seedling growth, and plant biomass were measured at different developmental stages. Cd analysis revealed the usual distribution of Cd between roots and shoots, 10-times higher in roots. Lipid peroxidation level, a characteristic parameter of oxidative stress, indicated that little protection was gained by overexpressing MnSOD. However, chlorophyll concentration was not affected upon Cd treatment in 35S:MnSOD transgenic plants, suggesting that a possible protection localised at the chloroplast could indeed occur. Three antioxidant enzymes sensitive to metal stress were also analysed after in gel activity staining: SOD, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR). As expected, MnSOD activity was remarkably higher in transgenic N. tabacum plants. Interestingly, Cu/ZnSOD activity decreased upon exposure of plants to 12.5 M Cd. GR and APX activities augmented in metal-treated plants. In particular, APX activity was slightly higher in MnSOD over-expressing plants, which was possibly related with an enhanced generation of H2O2 through higher SOD activity. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


In the last two decades, the failure of multiple engineering projects has highlighted the importance of adopting risk management practices. While risk identification and risk assessment have been widely studied in the literature, only few authors have proposed formal tools for helping project managers to evaluate the effectiveness of their risk response plan. While some risk response measures might be easily validated, overlapping, a commonly used mitigation measure in engineering projects is difficult to evaluate because of the complex interactions between activities and resources. This paper proposes an evaluation model to measure the effectiveness of overlapping strategy as a risk response in terms of additional cost and total maximum time reduction. Results based on a large set of generated projects highlight the importance of three factors in the effectiveness of an overlapping strategy: the number of opportunities of overlapping, the maximum overlapping amount allowed, and the level of resource constraints.


A promising method for the production of complex 3D ceramic parts is Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). The indirect method is used with the dispersion polymerization of polystyrene as a binder, coated upon alumina particles. In this research, it is described how the different process steps starting from the powder production to the debinding of the polystyrene are evaluated by thermal analysis. For this, a correlation has been made between the chemical production process and the temperature behaviour of the polystyrene coating around the alumina particles during SLS. A thermal simulation of the furnace debinding step has been made and the hereby released gases have been studied by combined thermal gravimetric and infrared measurements. It has been found that the polymerization reaction time during synthesis can be shortened. The debinding of the polystyrene strongly depends on the measurement conditions and the degradation can be distinguished in three phases with particular released degradation products.


The article considers the features of functioning and ways of transformation of idiomatic units with the component soul, what is explained by the frequency of their contextual transformations and general importance of the given units for the author's picture of the world. As a result of the analysis carried out it's revealed that the use of transformed idiomatic units which essentially expand potential individual author's idiomatic case and strengthening the effect of the influence of the art product is characteristic of N.V. Gogol's idiostyle.


The Italic languages show a number of cases of vowel reduction and deletion. When working on the actual data, it is crucial to understand the role that accent played in such phonological changes. As for the qualitative nature of Italic accent, recent typological studies suggest that the Italic accent most likely had a dominant stress nature, rather than pitch nature, in the period when vowel reduction and deletion took place. The fact that these changes occurred primarily in non-initial syllables strongly supports the hypothesis that initial syllables were consistently stressed at some point in the history of Italic. Objections to this theory should thus be rejected as groundless. The systematic difference between the initial-stress rule of Pre-Literary Latin and the Penultimate Law of Literary Latin can also be explained within a metrical framework. On the other hand, although it is not immediately clear whether Sabellic acquired an accentual system like that of Literary Latin, the long-vowel notations in Oscan and Umbrian seem to point to the retention of the older system.


Objective To explore the implementation status and adjustment needs of " The Implementation Suggestions of Set- up and Authorized Strength of Shanghai Community Health Services"( ISSAS),to put forward recommendations for improving the set- up and authorized strength of Shanghai community health services. Methods A survey was performed on the implementation status and adjustment needs in 17 heads of personnel branch of health administrative department of districts or counties and 14 director of community health service centers from October to December 2012. The implementation status and the needs for improvement of " ISSAS" in 17 districts or counties of Shanghai. Results Only 7 counties in 17 counties community all according to the document re approved the establishment; there were 5 counties part of the community by file requires re approved the establishment; another 5 counties community were not according to document re approved establishment. 83. 9%( 26 / 31) of the respondents believed that ISSAS needs to further revise and improve the opinion. Adjust the demand a higher rate of mainly focus on the following 5 aspects: combined with the family doctor about policy responsibility to formulate standards( 87. 1%,27/31); according to the resident population as the basis for the preparation of standards( 80. 6%,25/31); Bao, Kobo clear,EPI staff equipped with standard( 74. 2%,23 /31) increased; per million inhabitants GP number( 67. 7%,21 / 31); increase per million residents public health physician( 67. 7%,21 /31). Conclusion The executive force of ISSAS should be strengthened,some contents need to beadjusted,which is of importance to improve its operability.


The structure of quasicrystals can be described by using a statistical approach, which can be either in higher dimensions or in three-dimensional physical space only. In the multidimensional approach, complete statistical information is gathered in a so-called atomic surface. In the case of the physical approach, we use the idea of an average unit cell. These two approaches are linked by an oblique projection. For a full description of a diffraction pattern, two projections are required. Statistical methods have been used for the diffraction analysis of the model structures and the structure of real decagonal quasicrystals.


The prospects for the use of solar power plants in the world of environmental hydraulic engineering are analyzed. Recommendations on the constructive combination of elements of structures of environmental hydro technical complexes with solar photovoltaic installations (SFEU) are presented. The variants of their most rational location on the building of hydroelectric power stations (GES) of different types are considered. It is established that the buildings of small and medium-sized hydroelectric power plants represent significantly more constructive possibilities for combining the GES building with the SFEU. The relationship between the area suitable for placing solar cells and the diameter of the turbine impeller is determined. With a decrease in the diameter of the impeller, the relative surface area suitable for placing solar cells increases. It is noted that it is most appropriate to combine SFEU and small hydroelectric power plants with non-combined buildings with transformers on the downstream side. At medium-sized hydroelectric power plants of various types, the conditions for combining are approximately the same. The results of the work can have an impact on obtaining a reliable power supply system based on renewable energy sources, improving the safety of the GTS (hydro technical structures) of existing hydroelectric facilities in the context of increasing the efficiency of the introduction of "green" technologies in the energy sector while reducing biosphere pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, including in hard-to-reach areas of agricultural areas where there are problems with centralized water supply.


—Vehicle detection is crucial to intelligent transportation system and other applications. Existing studies focus on detecting vehicles without considering the variations in geographic scenes, which have great impacts on the selection of image segmentation scales and detection algorithms. Moreover, they solely take advantage of visual features while ignore spatial distribution features. This paper presents a geoscene-based method to detect vehicles from very-high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing images. The method is implemented in three steps. First, geoscene segmentation and classification are made to obtain three categories of geoscenes so as to adopt different methods to detect vehicles for different categories of geoscenes. Second, the VHR image is segmented into image objects by using different scales based on different categories of scenes. The last step distinguishes vehicles from other types of image objects and optimizes the results by considering spatial distribution rules, which also vary from geoscene to geoscene. Experiments have been performed on Google Earth images and the final results are greatly improved and satisfactory.


This paper examines the various issues concerning knowledge usage and development in both sanctioned and unsanctioned organizational spin-offs. For the spin-off to be economical, the organization needs to decide how resources will be used to create new knowledge and what knowledge should be brought in or adapted from the parent. It is not wise to adapt all of the knowledge from the parent, since in many cases the spin-off arose because the original organization failed to appreciate the knowledge. Blatantly duplicating the cultural, governance, and other attributes of the parent will not lead to the creation of a new and impressive environment for new innovations.


Altered soil solution chemistry and nutrient flux within forests harvested for woody biomass may result from disturbance, slash removals, slash decomposition, and mineralization. Because of the potential adverse effects of woody biomass harvest to soil nutrient pools and overall soil quality, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has developed Best Management Practices (BMPs) to retain coarse woody residues associated with biomass harvesting to retain nutrient capital and sustain forest productivity. However, these BMPs remain untested. To investigate the potential impacts of woody biomass harvest and use of BMPs to mitigate deleterious effects, this study examined soil nutrient concentrations and nutrient flux in Missouri Ozark forest soils immediately following harvest to 1.5 years post-harvest. The eight treatments investigated were Missouri's 1/3 harvest residue retention BMP for thinning and commercial biomass harvests and alternative harvest scenarios. Chemical properties of soils within the harvest treatments were quantified immediately after harvest and one year post-harvest, and analysis of variance results are presented. Total organic carbon (TOC) was the only dependent variable that was affected by harvest treatment (p-value = 0.0467); where TOC content for clearcut A (Missouri's BMP) and clearcut B (removal of all biomass) were significantly greater than for clearcut C (alternative BMP). Changes in nutrient flux were monitored using Plant Root Simulator (PRS) ion exchange membrane probes provided by Western Ag Innovations. Nutrient flux dynamics differed for the nutrients measured within harvest treatments and at two different depths. Results indicate greater nutrient flux in the clearcut treatments compared to the intermediate


Prevalence of infertility gravitates to increase due to different factors. Causes of male infertility could be varicocele, idiopathic infertility, testicular insufficiency, obstruction, ejaculation disorder, medicine-radiation effect, undescended testis, immunological mechanisms, endocrine dysfunction such as diabetes, excessive taking of alcohol, smoking and environmental toxins such as pesticides, mercury and lead. It is furthermore understood that person, obesity, be deficient in of nutrition and habits of utilizing time for example too much use of, laptop, mobile phones, computers and sauna, etc., as for women, age, smoking, too much consumption of alcohol, having a skinny or overweight body and having been exposed to physical or mental stress fruition in amenorrhea might be the causes of infertility. The progress in infertility prevalence draws attention to the effects of factors such as lifestyle, dietetic habits and environmental factors. Male infertility originates from mostly as a result of the association between oxidative stress and antioxidants. A review of these areas will provide researchers with a more noteworthy understanding of the compulsory participation of these nutrients in male reproductive processes. This review also caustic out gaps in recent studies which will require further investigations.


In this work, we created an end-to-end autonomous robotic platform to give emotional support to children in long-term, multi-session interactions. Using a mood estimation algorithm based on visual cues of the user's behaviors through their facial expressions and body posture, a multidimensional model predicts a qualitative measure of the subject's affective state. Using a novel Interactive Reinforcement Learning algorithm, the robot is able to learn over several sessions the social profile of the user, adjusting its behavior to match their preferences. Although the robot is completely autonomous, a third party can optionally provide feedback to the robot through an additional UI to accelerate its learning of the user's preferences. To validate the proposed methodology, we evaluated the impact of the robot on elementary school aged children in a long-term, multi-session interaction setting. Our findings show that using this methodology, the robot is able to learn the social profile of the users over a number of sessions, either with or without external feedback as well as maintain the user in a positive mood, as shown by the consistently positive rewards received by the robot using our proposed learning algorithm.


The article aims at bringing to the debate the polysemy of the concept of formation needs and the relation between the conceptions of teacher education and the instruments used to map or diagnose these needs. Prompted by the following inquiries: what has been provided as theoretical references on formation needs to researchers of the theme? What concepts of formation needs, and based on what conceptions of teacher education, are presented in 10 years of production on the theme in the national scenario? What are the comprehensions of these researchers about the training needs of beginning teachers in basic education? For this, as methodological procedures, first it were conducted studies of theorists who could contribute for the comprehension of the object, followed by the analysis of articles, theses and dissertations available in data bases, selected through the criterions listed in a protocol of systematic review. The results show that the productions of theorists adopted for the comprehension of concepts about training needs contributed for deepening knowledge on the object. The systematic literature review pointed out the absence of the conception of the term formation needs in most of the analyzed productions, as well as the prevalence of an understanding of need as lack of knowledge resulting from the initial teacher education and linked to the challenges and personal tensions of the daily routine of the profession and of the period of initiation. The results also show the pertinence of the constitution of 1 Professor at the Faculty of Education of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), PhD in Education. Leader of the Grupo de Estudo e Pesquisas em Narrativas Formativas (Study and Research Group on Formative Narratives) (Gepenaf). ORCID id: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5965-1954. E-mail: email@example.com 2 Adjunct Professor IV at the Federal University of Rondonópolis (UFR), member of the Graduate Program in Education / PPGEdu. PhD in Education. Leader of the Grupo de Pesquisa Investigação Políticas e Programas de Formação de Professores (Research Investigation Group Teacher Training Policies and Programs). ORCID id: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2217-7531 E-mail: email@example.com 3 Adjunct Professor at the Federal Institute of Southeastern Minas-Barbacena (IFSUDESTE-MG), PhD in Education. Researcher at the Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas sobre Desenvolvimento Profissional Docente (Center for Studies and Research on Professional Development Teacher) at PUCSP, ORCID id: http//0000-0001-6423-6256, E-mail: email@example.com. 4 Associate Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE / CAA), member of the Postgraduate Program in Contemporary Education PPGEduC, PhD in Education. Vice-leader of the Grupo de Pesquisa em Ensino, Aprendizagem e Processos Educativos (Research Group on Teaching, Learning and Educational Processes) (GPENAPE), researcher at the Center for Studies and Research on Professional Development at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC/SP), ORCID id: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6384-1876. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com 2 Dossier "Education and professional insertion of novice teachers: concepts and practices" ISSN 1982-7199|DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271994175|Revista Eletrônica de Educação, v.14, 1-20, e4175116, jan./dez. 2020. collaborative formation environments, as well as of the elaboration, by the school networks, of induction programs.


ion levels of dynamisms Strategy Business process Information system A b stra ct le v e l C o n c re te le v e l


A hanger of a hanging rack with a wire rope for hanging a flat-panel television comprises a bottom case (1), a top case (2), and a wire rope (3). One end of the wire rope (3) is fixed inside the top case (2), and the other end extends outward through an opening (11) on the side of the bottom case (1). The wire rope (3) winds on a central shaft (21) of the top case (2). A sleeve (12) is formed on the center of the bottom case (1). A through hole (22) is formed on the center of the top case (2). A socket (23) corresponding to the sleeve (12) is formed on the top case (2), and the sleeve (12) is installed in the socket (23) rotationally. A stop edge (13) is formed on the inner wall of the sleeve (12) of the bottom case (1), and the sleeve (12) moves in the socket (23) up and down. A stop mechanism (25) corresponding to the stop edge (13) is formed on the top case (2). A concave-convex toothed ring (14) further formed on the bottom case (1) engages with a corresponding concave-convex toothed ring (24) formed on the top case (2). The concave-convex tooth heights of the concave-convex toothed rings (14,24) formed on the top case (2) and the bottom case (1) are less than the moving height of the sleeve (12) moving in the socket (23) up and down. Compared with the wall hanging device of the traditional flat-panel television, the hanger of the hanging rack with a wire rope for hanging the flat-panel television is simpler and more convenient in use, and has a better fixation effect on firmness.


The development of blast tank coats,painting technigue,analysis methods are described.The trend of non-solvent,high mass solids of coatings to satisfy the longevity and environmental friendly targets for blast tanks of the ships is pointed out.


Purpose – The study aimed to relate cognitive styles (CS), self-handicapping (SH) behaviors and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) present in an agroindustry of Santa Catarina. These aspects, within the same perspective, presents alternatives in the human capital management and as something new, in order to create and expand knowledge.Design/methodology/approach – The research was descriptive, quantitative, survey, and had statistical procedures. The respondents were 46 administrative employees of this agroindustry.Findings – The results indicate the predominance of employees with quasi-analytical (31%) and adaptive (28%) cognitive styles. Low SH indexes in the surveyed agroindustry were examined, demonstrating the engagement in the search for the results expected. The EO was moderate, evidencing a conservative stance of the company. No significant differences were observed in the relationship between the constructs of CS, SH and EO. However, the relationship between SH, EO and gender confirmed significant differences. Higher SH indices were observed among males, and a higher EO index in females. This difference disappears, statistically, in the other relationships. The conclusion is that reason prevails in the decision-making process, with a commitment focused on achieving the results, with a more conservative than entrepreneurial attitude.Practical implications – The study of the relationship of Cognitive Style, Self-Handicapping, and Entrepreneurial Orientation, within the understanding of Human Capital Management, constitutes a new perspective, making it possible to broaden the understanding of the theme in terms of administrative practice.Originality/value – Studying Cognitive Style, Self-Handicapping, and Entrepreneurial Orientation, in the context of Human Capital Management, in an agroindustry, presents itself as original and valuable research, contributing to the Administration Theory.


Original scientific paper Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have a long history but unfortunately a very short lifespan. The high degree of their failure opens up old issues and requires new answers. This paper presents an original view on Mergers and Acquisitions applying the scientific method of analogy with soap bubbles, with a special attention devoted to the 'hard' and 'soft' indicators of M&A success. The aim of this paper is to highlight the particular significance of hardly measurable, so-called 'soft' elements of (un)success in M&A and through the analogy with soap bubbles to clarify the reasons of M&A failures. In order to verify the similarities of soap bubbles with real business situations, authors provided relevant analogies strengthened with an analysis of short case studies. Based on the conclusions, decision-makers in this business environment will be able to implement such business strategies in order to create more effective business alliance which will last longer.


In the last few years, African politics have begun to take a dramatic turn from single-party systems to the possibility of multi-party systems. However, there doesn't seem to be a clear pattern of change emerging as governments in various countries are attempting to deal with the increased demand for popular participation. This paper argues that in order to understand the current demands for increased participation and the possibilities of multi-partyism, we need to analyze the origins of single-party systems and their consequence. The approach advocated here is that of political economy.


In Part 1 of this article, I sought to depict performance criticism as an emerging discipline in Second Testament studies. I explained how the first-century Mediterranean area comprised predominantly oral cultures, that writing primarily served orality, that performances were central to early Christian communities, and that the Second Testament writings were basically "remnants" of oral performances. I proposed an outline of the key features of the performance event in an effort to encourage us to interpret Second Testament writings in the context of such performance scenarios. Part 2 comprises two sections. In the first section, I want to lay out the eclectic nature of performance criticism and identify the contributions of many potential partners in the enterprise. These partners include traditional methodologies, recent methodologies, and new approaches to biblical studies related to performance. In the second section, I will lay out the insights and benefits that come from my personal experience of performing biblical materials and of incorporating these experiences into the methods of interpretation that comprise performance criticism. My hope is that performance criticism may not only add to the tools of research in the field but also that the paradigmatic shift in medium from written to oral may bring changes in the way Second Testament disciplines in general pursue their subject matter.


The paper considers the evolution and development of the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster, and how it has helped to support and encourage economic development in the rural forestry sector. Though the major focus of the Cluster has been to secure markets for the increasing volumes of timber being produced by Scotland's forests, it was recognised from the start that there were also opportunities to aid the economic development of rural communities.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is an exploratory study of customers' "lived" experiences of commercial recommendation services to better understand customer expectations for personalization with recommendation agents. Recommendation agents programmed to "learn" customer preferences and make personalized recommendations of products and services are considered a useful tool for targeting customers individually. Some leading service firms have developed proprietary recommender systems in the hope that personalized recommendations could engage customers, increase satisfaction and sharpen their competitive edge. However, personalized recommendations do not always deliver customer satisfaction. More often, they lead to dissatisfaction, annoyance or irritation. Design/methodology/approach – The critical incident technique is used to analyze customer satisfactory or dissatisfactory incidents collected from online group discussion participants and bloggers to develop a classification scheme. Findings – A clas...


Maternal sleep quality worsens during pregnancy, already from the first trimester on and especially in the third trimester.1,2 Nevertheless, the sleep quality is often ignored by both physicians as well as by women themselves as sleep quality is generally assumed to improve after delivery. However, sleep disturbances may continue during postpartum period or even become chronic. The most important sleep disturbances during pregnancy are primary insomnia, sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and restless legs syndrome (RLS).2,3 Sleep disturbances typically cause sleep fragmentation and deterioration of sleep architecture leading to sleep loss and daytime sleepiness, tiredness, fatigue, cognitive difficulties and increase risk for accidents.2,3 The algorithm of the diagnose and treatments of the most important sleep disturbances in pregnancy is illustrated in Figure 1. Primary insomnia includes both initiation insomnia, which shows as difficulties to fall asleep, and maintenance insomnia, which includes nightly awakenings and too early morning awakenings (being unable to fall asleep again). The etiology of primary insomnia during pregnancy is multifactorial, and might be associated with physical (hyperemesis, nocturia, joint and back pain, heartburn, nasal congestion, thermoregulatory problems, contractions, fetal movements, uncomfortable or unusual sleeping positions, dreams and nightmares) and mental (especially depression and anxiety) causes. Poor sleep quality has shown to be associated with the increased risk of complications such as gestational diabetes, preterm delivery, prolonged labor and increased risk of cesarean section.2,3 Constant snoring is a typical feature of SDB, which includes sleep apnea and partial upper airway obstruction. In pregnant women, SDB is often caused by partial upper airway obstruction rather than of episodes of frank obstructive apnea.2 Gestational weight gain and estrogeninduced hyperemia, mucosal edema and mucus hypersecretion lead to the narrowing of upper airways exacerbating the risk for SDB. However, progesteroneinduced stimulation of breathing, sleeping in lateral position, and decrease in the duration of rapid eye movement sleep (during which breathing is more unstable) may protect against SDB. Furthermore, micrognatia and loose throat and larynx are important risk factors for SDB. In addition to snoring, other typical symptoms are headache and dry month in the morning and daytime sleepiness (most typically irresistible falling asleep when inactive). SDB has shown to be in association with increased risk for gestational diabetes, pregnancyinduced hypertension, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation, preterm delivery, cesarean section and neonatal intensive care unit admissions.2,4 RLS is a nocturnal neurosensory movement disorder, which is connected with dopaminergic dysfunction. Although the etiology is still unclear, RLS may be idiopathic, genetic, or linked to various disorders, especially iron deficiency. RLS is characterized by unpleasant irritation, creeping, crawling, burning, pinsandneedles or itching sensations, most commonly in the legs. The sensations occur at rest and worsen towards the evening and night. Also smoking, use of caffeine, some medications or alcohol may initiate or exacerbate the symptoms. Transient RLS in previous pregnancies is associated with an elevated risk of new transient symptoms in future pregnancies, as well as with an increased risk for future development of chronic idiopathic RLS.2,5 An association between RLS and hypertensive pregnancy disorders has been shown.2 Sleep disturbances during pregnancy are known risk factors for anxiety/depression both during pregnancy and postpartum period.1,2,6 Sleep disturbances often herald mood disturbances, and pregnant and postpartum women with mood symptoms typically suffer from sleep disturbances, especially from primary insomnia which may increase recurrence of a preexisting mental illness.6 Detection of the origin of the symptoms is the crucial first step in the management of maternal sleep disturbances. For the diagnosis of primary insomnia, questionnaires are feasible and sufficiently adequate tools in clinical practice. Because of the mismatch between subjective symptoms and objectively measured sleep quality, polysomnography, which measures sleep stages, is rarely needed.2 Of note is, that the patient may express having "worse sleep quality" or "insomnia symptoms", which may not stem from primary insomnia, but are secondary for instance for SDB (maintenance insomnia), RLS (initiation insomnia) or mental symptoms (initiation and maintenance insomnia). If SDB is suspected, ambulatory sleep polygraphy, which measures breathing and blood oxygen level is nessessary.2 In RLS, type and occurrence time of the symptoms and relief of the


The concurrency control problem for multiversion database systems (MVDBSs) with system-imposed upper bounds on the total number of data item versions stored in the database is considered. Concurrency control theory for MVDBSs is reviewed. The inadequacy of this theory for analyzing concurrency control algorithms for k-version database systems (KVDBSs) is demonstrated. A formal concurrency control theory for KVDBS is presented. It is developed in terms of KV schedules. The relationships among mono-multi, and KV schedules are summarized.<<ETX>>


This paper disseminates an extra dimension of substantial analysis demonstrating the trade-offs between the performance of Parametric (P) and Non-Parametric (NP) classification algorithms when applied to classify faults occurring in pneumatic actuators. Owing to the criticality of the actuator failures, classifying faults accurately may lead to robust fault tolerant models. In most cases, when applying machine learning, the choice of existing classifier algorithms for an application is random. This work, addresses the issue and quantitatively supports the selection of appropriate algorithm for non-parametric datasets. For the case study, popular parametric classification algorithms namely: Naïve Bayes (NB), Logistic Regression (LR), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Perceptron (PER) and non-parametric algorithms namely: Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), k Nearest Neighbor (kNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT) and Random Forest (RF) are implemented over a non-parametric, imbalanced synthetic dataset of a benchmark actuator process. Upon using parametric classifiers, severe adultery in results is witnessed which misleads the interpretation towards the accuracy of the model. Experimentally, about 20% improvement in accuracy is obtained on using non-parametric classifiers over the parametric ones. The robustness of the models is evaluated by inducing label noise varying between 5% to 20%. Triptych analysis is applied to discuss the interpretability of each machine learning model. The trade-offs in choice and performance of algorithms and the evaluating metrics for each estimator are analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. For a more cogent reasoning through validation, the results obtained for the synthetic dataset are compared against the industrial dataset of the pneumatic actuator of the sugar refinery, Development and Application of Methods for Actuator Diagnosis in Industrial Control Systems (DAMADICS). The efficiency of non-parametric classifiers for the pneumatic actuator dataset is well proved.


A study presented at an American Heart Association meeting reported that levels of mid-Regional pro-Adrenomedullin more accurately predicted patients' 90-day survival outcomes than did the standard biomarkers now used.


The authors found that, in post-communist economies, the unofficial economy's share of GDP is determined by the extent of control rights held by bureaucrats and politicians. Exploring in detail the role of taxation and bribery, and using data from an expanded data set of 49 Latin American, OECD, and transition economies, the authors find that the unofficial economy accounts for a larger share of GDP where there is great bureaucratic inefficiency and discretion, and where firms experience a greater tax and regulatory burden, as well as more bribery and corruption. The unofficial economy is also much larger where there is less state revenue and where the rule of law is weak. They also find that countries with a larger unofficial economy tend to grow more slowly. Thus, this framework suggests an additional channel whereby corruption and ineffective regulatory and tax administration can result in lower growth: the unofficial economy. Wealthy OECD economies and some Eastern European economies find themselves the"good equilibrium"of relatively low regulatory and tax burden (not necessarily low statutory tax rates), sizable revenue mobilization, good rule of law and control of corruption, and a small unofficial economy. Several countries in Latin America and the former Soviet Union exhibit characteristics consistent with a"bad equilibrium": the discretionary application of heavy regulatory and tax burdens, the weakrule of law, heavy bribery, and an active unofficial economy. In this large country sample (unlike in the earlier framework for transition economies only), the authors find that it is the ineffective and discretionary application of regulatory and tax regimes in many countries -- not higher tax rates by itself -- that increase the size of the unofficial economy. The tax burden reported by firms appears to be more a function of regulatory and bureaucratic inefficiency and discretion rather than of tax rates alone.


Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a rheumatic disease that affects patients in a biopsychosocial framework due to its chronic inflammatory nature. It is known that patients with AS experience negative body judgment and insecurity and anxiety about their bodies [1], high levels of fear of movement, depression [2], low level of physical activity [3].The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of disease activity (DA) on depression, physical activity, pain catastrophizing, fear avoidance, and body awareness in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.Thirty AS patients were included in the study. Socio-demographic informations of patients were collected. The mean age of the patients was 40.27 ± 10.38 years. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), and Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) were used for depression, physical activity, pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia and body awareness levels of the patients, respectively. DA was measured with Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), and a score of four and higher than four was considered active.Patients characteristics were similar between the groups (p>0.05). A statistically significant difference was observed in PCS (p= 0.004), TSK (p=0.007), and BAQ scores (p=0.015) when the groups were compared (Table 1). The patients in the low DA group had mild depression, and the group with high DA had moderate depression. Catastrophizing pain and fear of movement were higher in the group with higher DA; body awareness level was lower (p<0.05). A high kinesiophobia level was detected in both groups.It was observed that high disease activity negatively affected catastrophic thoughts, body awareness, and kinesiophobia in patients with AS. These parameters should be considered in the management of disease activity in AS patients for optimum results.[1]Guenther, V., et al.,Body image in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.Clin Exp Rheumatol, 2010.28(3): p. 341-7.[2]Oskay, D., et al.,Relationship between kinesiophobia and pain, quality of life, functional status, disease activity, mobility, and depression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.Turkish journal of medical sciences, 2017.47(5): p. 1340-1347.[3]O'Dwyer, T., F. O'Shea, and F. Wilson,Physical activity in spondyloarthritis: a systematic review.Rheumatology international, 2015.35(3): p. 393-404.Table 1.Patients characteristics and outcome measuresPatients CharacteristicsTotal n=30High Disease Activity n= 18Low Disease Activity n= 12p-value*Age (year): mean ± SD40.27 ± 10.3839.39 ± 9.4141.58 ± 12.00.518BMI (kg/m2): mean ± SD26.66 ± 5.7827.00 ± 6.9226.16 ± 3.810.790Gender (n, %)Female7 (23.3%)520.632Male23 (76.7%)1310Duration of disease (year): mean ± SD5.91 ± 7.284.77 ± 6.547.56 ± 8.360.556CRP (mg/dl)5.2 (0.60-49.06)5 (0.70-49.06)5.6 (0.60-23.40)0.884ESR (mm/h)9 (3-54)10 (3-54)7.5 (3-21)0.811BASDAI (0-10)5.2 (1.40-8.90)6.75 (4.0-8.90)3.05 (1.40-3.85)0.000Outcome MeasuresBDI (0-63)14 (0-42)18 (6-42)13.5 (0-24)0.107IPAQ-SF1188 (66-5805)1287 (198-5805)1089 (66-4158)0.450PCS (0-52)27 (7-50)35.5 (7-50)17 (10-30)0.004TSK (0-68)42.5 (25-57)44.5 (34-57)39 (25-47)0.007BAQ (18-126)91.5 (49-120)80 (49-118)108 (83-120)0.015Values are medians (minimum-maximum) unless otherwise stated. AS= Ankylosing spondylitis; SD= Standard deviation; BMI= Body mass index; m= meter; kg= kilogram; CRP= C reactive protein; ESR= Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; BDI= Beck Depression Inventory; IPAQ-SF= International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form; PCS= Pain Catastrophizing Scale; TSK= Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia; BAQ= Body Awareness Questionnaire.*= Mann-Whitney U test.NIL.None Declared.


The present invention relates to a tool for removing the sand from the turbine engine, the tool comprising: at least one observation device comprising an endoscope (5) tubes and observation equipment installed therein a light guide and an image transfer device (11), comprising the tube on the suction pipe (11) (16) connected to a suction device (15) of the suction means (9), and means (6) for generating a plasma jet, secured to the observation means (5) generated plasma jet apparatus includes a plasma spray gun, the gun body, etc. examples of the gas supply apparatus and power supply apparatus (13) of the plasma torch can be connected to the power supply, the plasma torch is fixed to said observation means (5, 8) of the tube (11).


Combined with specific engineering example,the dynamic characteristics actual measurement of large span prestressed concrete floor was carried out,the actual measurement planning and test procedure were introduced,the testing result was analyzed.It concluded that the building vertical vibration comfort satisfied requirements,which accumulated large span floor comfort design experience.


BEATTIE, R.G. & AVERY, S., December 2012. Palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of the Jurassic Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed, Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 36, 451–465. ISSN 0311-5518. The Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed has produced a significant number and variety of insect fossils, including the orders Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Plecoptera, Odonata, Neuroptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Mecoptera. Hemiptera are the most common insects. Coleoptera are both common and diverse. Both orders include terrestrial and aquatic species. The other insect orders represented are less common. Many of the insect fossils discovered were previously unknown in the Australian region during the Jurassic, and the new records extend their palaeogeographic range into southeastern Gondwana. A recent collection of insects, fish, coprolites, gastropods, bivalves, bark, leaves, fruiting bodies, burrows and other ichnofossils supports a model of a shallow-water-lake palaeoenvironment at the northern end of the deposit, grading to a shoreline palaeoenvironment towards the southern end of the deposit. The existence of a productive lake supporting a large population of fish and a diverse, aquatic/shoreline and terrestrial woodland fringe palaeoecosystem, dominated by insects and woody plants, is demonstrated. There is no evidence of tetrapods. The Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed has similarities to Type A and B Mesozoic lake deposits reported from Transbaikalia. Culicimorph pupae are numerous and may have filled a significant niche near the base of the aquatic palaeoecosystem. Other immature aquatic insects are rare. The generally articulated nature of the fossil insects is interpreted to have resulted from a sudden but low-energy burial event.


We construct a Green-Schwarz (GS) light-cone closed superstring theory from the type IIB matrix model. A GS light-cone string action is derived from the two-dimensional N=8 U(n) noncommutative Yang-Mills (NCYM) theory by identifying a noncommutative scale with a string scale. The supersymmetry transformation for the light-cone gauge action is also derived from supersymmetry transformation for the IIB matrix model. By identifying the physical states and interaction vertices, string theory is perturbatively reproduced.


High current and stringent restrictions on beam losses, below 1 nA/m, in the designed linac for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) require clean and fast--with the rise time from 2% to 98% less than 2.5 ns--beam chopping in its front end, at the beam energy 2.5 MeV. The development of new traveling-wave deflecting current structures based on meander lines is discussed. Three-dimensional time-domain computer simulations with MAFIA are used to study transient effects in the chopper and to optimize current structure design. Two options for the fast pulsed voltage generator--based on FETs and vacuum tubes--are considered, and their advantages and shortcomings for the SNS chopper are discussed.


Abstract Excited state rate constants have been obtained for complexes of rhodamine B and tetrachloroanions of the group IIIA metals. The results were analyzed by comparison with a heavy atom effect model. Other interaction mechanisms were discussed as well as the suitability of this system for time resolved fluorescence analysis.


The sight distance on horizontal curves could be restricted by a lateral obstruction such as a building or an upward side slope. In current design guides, the minimum horizontal sight offset (HSO) between such an obstruction and the centerline of the inner lane is determined using the analytic geometry of the sector to relate the curve radius to HSO, given a specific arc length (stopping sight distance). In this paper, limitations of the current design approach are highlighted. Furthermore, a new reliability-based methodology was developed to calculate HSO on 3D alignments considering the variations of several design parameters. Two design aids were further prepared as an example to show the applicability of the developed approach. The first one is valid for design purposes using 400 m horizontal curve combined with vertical curves of different curvature values whereas the second is valid for hazard assessment of existing designs using 400 m radius and 2H:1V side slope.


Marine reptiles from the Upper Jurassic of Central Europe are rare and often fragmentary, which hinders their precise taxonomic identification and their placement in a palaeobiogeographic context. Recent fieldwork in the Kimmeridgian of Krzyżanowice, Poland, a locality known from turtle remains originally discovered in the 1960s, has reportedly provided additional fossils thought to indicate the presence of a more diverse marine reptile assemblage, including giant pliosaurids, plesiosauroids, and thalattosuchians. Based on its taxonomic composition, the marine tetrapod fauna from Krzyżanowice was argued to represent part of the "Matyja-Wierzbowski Line"—a newly proposed palaeobiogeographic belt comprising faunal components transitional between those of the Boreal and Mediterranean marine provinces. Here, we provide a detailed re-description of the marine reptile material from Krzyżanowice and reassess its taxonomy. The turtle remains are proposed to represent a "plesiochelyid" thalassochelydian ( Craspedochelys ? sp.) and the plesiosauroid vertebral centrum likely belongs to a cryptoclidid. However, qualitative assessment and quantitative analysis of the jaws originally referred to the colossal pliosaurid Pliosaurus clearly demonstrate a metriorhynchid thalattosuchian affinity. Furthermore, these metriorhynchid jaws were likely found at a different, currently indeterminate, locality. A tooth crown previously identified as belonging to the thalattosuchian Machimosaurus is here considered to represent an indeterminate vertebrate. The revised taxonomy of the marine reptiles from Krzyżanowice, as well as the uncertain provenance of the metriorhynchid specimen reported from the locality, cast doubt on the palaeobiogeographic significance of the assemblage.


The purpose of this column is twofold. First, Dr. Joyce Griffin-Sobel provides detailed information on search strategies for accessing nursing research in cyberspace. Second, material from an earlier column by Dr. Judy Norris, now retired, is reprinted to provide another look at the significant issues she discussed that are still timely some 7 years later. The column concludes with some of the points raised by Dr. Violet Malinski in her original commentary on Norris' column. Readers are encouraged to share their experiences with research in cyberspace.


This symposium bridges macro level institutional analysis with micro level cultural dynamics to explore critical environmental sustainability issues such as water, agriculture, energy, and renewables. The intersection of culture and institutional analysis allows us to develop deeper understanding of the micro dynamics of environmental sustainability, and yield new insights to the role of culture in institutional creation, maintenance and change. Plural Logics and Politics for Innovation in Renewables: Cross-National Patenting 1995 - 2011 Presenter: Manely Sharifian; U. of Alberta Presenter: P. Devereaux Jennings; U. of Alberta When Worlds Collide? Presenter: Lianne Lefsrud; U. of Alberta Multiple Logics in Action: Water Sustainability in the Okanagan Presenter: Grace Hong Fan; U. of British Columbia An Organizational Culture Perspective of Environmental Standards Adoption Presenter: Brooke Lahneman; U. of Oregon


Locomotion in animals as well as in humans is usually a periodic repetition of stereotyped movements. Neural control of locomotion is organized such that autonomous neural networks in the spinal cord generate the basic rhythmic patterns necessary for locomotion [1]. Higher control centers interact with the spinal circuits for posture control and accurate limb movements.

These circuitries, referred to as locomotion or central pattern generators, can be activated by continuous, constant (i.e. 'tonic') pharmacological or electrical stimulation in order to generate coordinated rhythmic outputs that can produce locomotion. In invertebrates and in primitive vertebrates with less complex nervous systems the function and structure of these pattern generators have been extensively researched from molecular to network level. In higher vertebrates, the same methods that led to successful investigation in simpler animals cannot be directly applied. Many properties of these spinal interneural circuitries are not known in mammals (like cats) and in humans. However, spinal cord stimulation in patients with severe spinal cord injuries allowed for new knowledge on the locomotor centers in humans [2]. Further insight can be facilitated by interdisciplinary approaches integrating these electrophysiological studies with novel accomplishments in computational neurosciences.

The proposed research shall utilize computer modeling based on the conceptual knowledge gained from human studies to study locomotor circuit functions of the human spinal cord isolated from higher control levels.

The model proposed builds upon previous computer simulations in animal locomotion research [3]. It consists of different spinal interneurons and motoneurons, modeled in the Hodgkin Huxley style, and is set into action via large-diameter afferent fibers tonically stimulated by epidural spinal cord stimulation. Each functional type of neuron will be represented by a population of neurons, with their parameters being statistically distributed. The main functionality is based on the classical 'half center' concept [1]. This concept shall be extended to incorporate following functionality observed in the human studies: (i) the human spinal pattern generator is set into action only with specific input frequencies (range 25-50 Hz); (ii) the operation of the pattern generator is on a subliminal basis, modulating stimulation-triggered segmental synaptic effects rather than directly driving the motoneuron pools; (iii) the flexor half center of the network model is more complex than the extensor one and produces more delayed segmental outputs.

The model will serve as a testbed for the hypotheses that have emerged from observations in humans and in turn is expected to create new knowledge on structure and function of the neural circuitries involved in human locomotion.

References:

[1] Brown, T. G. (1911) The intrinistic factors in the act of progression in the mammal. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. SeriesB, Containing Papers of a Biological Character, 84, 308-319.
[2] Dimitrijevic, M. R.; Gerasimenko, Y.; Pinter, M. M. (1998) Evidence of a spinal pattern generator in humans. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 860, 360-376.
[3] Rybak, I.; Shevotsova, N.; Lafreniere-Roula, M.; McCrea, D. (2006) Modelling spinal circuitry involved in locomotor pattern generation: insights from deletions during fictive locomotion. Journal of Physiology, 577, 627-639.


We show that the zeros of random sequences of Gaussian systems of polynomials of increasing degree almost surely converge to the expected limit distribution under very general hypotheses. In particular, the normalized distribution of zeros of systems of m polynomials of degree N , orthonormalized on a regular compact set K ⊂ C, almost surely converge to the equilibrium measure on K as N → ∞.


This article includes a discussion of the cellular properties that are used to automatically analyze white blood cells and describes the techniques used to measure these properties. Examples are provided of the implementation of these techniques on commercial hematology analyzers. Finally, there is a brief discussion of the relative merits of the analysis methods in terms of result accuracy and laboratory efficiency.

Keywords:

morphology;
cytochemistry;
immunocytochemistry;
aperture impedance;
optical absorption;
fluorescence


Possibility of description of the process in providing the ergonomical examinations of industrial system "human-techniqueenvironment" for the purpose of preventive inspections of the accidents as the ruled half-marking process is described.


Taking seeds of Echium vulgare as material,the effect of four different constant culture temperatures(10,15,20,25℃)under artificial constant on seed germination of Echium vulgare were studied;and with nearly three-year seeds as material,the germination condition under normal temperature were compared.The results showed that,15℃ was the suitable temperate conditions for Echium vulgare seed germination,there were significant differences of germination between 15℃ and others.Meanwhile,through trailing Echium vulgare seeds of nearly three-year for room germination test.In the room conditions in May,2012,the Echium vulgare seed germination was better and there were significant differences between 2012 and the other years treatment germination index;Echium vulgare seeds of nearly three-year seed germination was 201220112010.This illustrated that 15℃ was the appropriate temperature conditions of Echium vulgare seed sowing time,and should choose the freshest seeds for sowing,in order to obtain better germination conditions and the steady gains at the end of the entire period.


This thesis presents the research on CMOS millimeter-wave (MMW) medium power amplifiers (PAs) and a 94-GHz CMOS sub-harmonic single-mixer RF transceiver (TRx), implemented by standard TSMC 90-nm GUTM CMOS process. In the 94-GHz CMOS medium power amplifier (MPA) design, a four stage class-A common-source (CS) cascode structure with gain-boosting technique is adopted for linearity and power gain enhancement. In the 94-GHz CMOS balanced PA design, a compact 3-dB miniaturized quadrature coupler is employed as a low-insertion-loss power splitter/combiner to improve the output power and provide an area-efficient solution for balance PA design. In the 94-GHz CMOS single-mixer TRx, a high-gain PA is designed for integrating with T/R switches, a low-noise amplifier (LNA), and a sub-harmonic single up/down conversion mixer. The CMOS TRx uses only one up/down conversion mixer and T/R switches to change the modes between transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) path. Compared with the traditional TRx architecture, it can reduce the chip size without the use of additional mixer and filters, and also simplify the complexity of TRx design. The measured performances of the designed MMW CMOS RFICs are all performed by using the on-wafer measurement. Simulation and measurement results are compared and discussed.


Dermatophytes are fungi keratinophilic and keratinolytic that causing dermatophytosis in humans and animal and, even with a variety of available methods, the laboratory diagnosis is still a difficulty in the veterinary clinic routine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the PCR-RFLP technique as an alternative method to the culture (gold standard) for the diagnosis of dermatophytes in dogs and cats. Were analyzed 150 samples from animals with skin disease. Culture and DNA extraction from fur and/or crusts were performed. To the PCR-RLFP positive controls were used colonies of M. canis (URM 6273), M. gypseum (URM 6921) and T. mentagrophytes (URM 6211), from the URM Micoteca – Department of Mycology, Biological Sciences Center of the Universidade Federal do Pernambuco. The primers used were ITS1 and ITS 4. The BseBI endonuclease was selected to obtain fragments pattern. The Kappa coefficient (K) was used to analyze the agreement between culture and PCR-RFLP. There was an almost perfect agreement (K


To reduce the power consumption in scaled CMOS integrated circuits, transistors operating at low supply voltage with steep subthreshold swing (SS) are highly desirable. The negative capacitance (NC) effect in ferroelectric materials has emerged as a possible solution for achieving steep SS in transistors. In order to effectively leverage this effect in device applications, a proper understanding of its time-dependent nature is crucial. Here, we demonstrate that the NC effect occurs within a time window which is bounded by the switching time of ferroelectric domains at the faster time limit and screening charge compensation time of polarization at the slower time limit. We study this temporal dynamics of NC effect both by performing the transient measurements of metal–ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide–insulator–semiconductor capacitor connected in series with a load resistor and by characterizing NC field-effect transistors (NCFETs) at different time scales. Our experimental results provide deeper insight into the understanding of NC effect, reveal the time dependent switching nature of NCFETs, and pave way for the advancement of steep-slope transistors technology.


Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a progressive autoimmune disease affecting the skin as well as internal organs, including the heart. A few studies have identified a subclinical heart involvement in patients with no pulmonary hypertension. Changes in myocardial deformation are consistent with the idea of SSc-related cardiomyopathy as a primary condition affecting the heart globally through microvascular dysfunction and subsequent myocardial fibrosis. Objectives: The aim of the present study is to describe the progression of myocardial deformation in patients with SSc and no overt cardiac disease. Methods: Prospective longitudinal study enrolling consecutive SSc patients referred to the Clinica Medica, University Hospital 'Ospedali Riuniti', Ancona, Italy, from February 2016 to December 2018. All patients fulfilled the 2013 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for SSc. Patients with structural heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation or pulmonary hypertension were excluded. Disease subset, antibodies pattern, cardiovascular risk factors and involvement of other organ systems were recorded for each patient. An echocardiographic exam was performed for all patients at baseline and during their follow-up evaluation. Standard and speckle-tracking derived variables for the systolic and diastolic function of the left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) were acquired. Speckle tracking analysis software (EchoPAC 13.0; GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, USA) was used to assess the GLS of the left and right ventricle, excluding the ventricular septum from right ventricular GLS calculations. Results: Seventy-two patients (68 females, age 56.6±15.4 years) were enrolled. Common echocardiographic parameters of left and right systolic function were within normal range at baseline and did not change during follow-up. Mean GLS, however, worsened for both left (from -19.8±3.5% to -18.7±3.5%, p=.034) and right ventricle (from -20.9±6.1% to -18.7±5.4%, p=.013) during a median follow-up of 20 months (1st-3rd quartile 12-24 months). The increased impairment registered in SSc patients was homogenous across endocardial layers (LV from -22.5±-3.9 to -21.4±3.9, p=.041; RV from -24.2±6.2 to -20.6±5.9, p=.001), mesocardial layers (LV -19.7±3.6 to -18.7±3.5, p=.043; RV from -21.3±5.9 to -18.8±5.7, p=.012) and epicardial layers (LV from -17.1±3.0 to -16.4±3.1, p=.112, RV -18.8±6.3 to -16.0±8.4, p=.035), as well as myocardial segments. No difference in progression rate was observed stratifying patients according to disease subset or other clinical parameters. Conclusion: GLS impairment progressed over a 20-month follow-up period in a cohort of SSc patients without clinically overt cardiac involvement. Further studies are needed to assess the significance of subclinical heart involvement and its progression in patients with SSc. Disclosure of Interests: None declared


Carnitine has been recognized as a growth promoting factor in a number of species. Early studies of Santulli and D'Amelio12) demonstrated that carnitine could pro mote the growth rate of sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax. Later Toreele et al.3) showed that carnitine enhanced Afri can catfish Clarias gariepinus growth. Chatzifotis et al.4) also found recently that carnitine enhanced the growth of red sea bream Pagrus major. Contrary to the above obser vations was the finding of Rodehutscords5) that high-fat diet supplemented with carnitine did not cause any sig nificant effect on the growth and body composition of rain bow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. The present work was undertaken to confirm the effect of carnitine on the growth of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. For this investigation two experiments were con ducted. In the first experiment (Experiment 1), different levels of dietary carnitine were administered to fish while in the second experiment (Experiment 2), a fixed amount of carnitine (4 g/ kg) was supplemented to diets containing three levels of lipids. In Experiment 1, the effect of dietary carnitine on the growth of rainbow trout was examined by feeding them casein diets supplemented with carnitine (98% purity, Sig ma Chemical Co.) at levels of 0, 1, 2, and 4g/kg diet (diets 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Table 1). For this feeding trial eight tanks of fish were used. Twenty fish were stocked in a 60 l tank with duplication for each dietary treatment (4 •~ 2).


Economic globalization is an objective process of world economic development. It is a great historical trend that is independent of man's will. While bringing unprecedented development opportunities, economic globalization also brings serious challenges to every country, especially to the developing countries. Facing opportunities and confronting challenges, we must recognize our own status in the course of economic globalization, conscientiously accept the mechanism governing the performance of world market, and act according to its rules and regulations. We have to abandon the traditional "blind faith in state" and constantly adjust our macro economic policy along with the changes of the world market. Only thus, are we able to catch up with the historical tide and remain invincible.


Interdisciplinarity involves bringing together distinctive components of two or more disciplines. In academic discourse, interdisciplinarity typically applies to four realms: knowledge, research, education, and theory. Interdisciplinary knowledge involves familiarity with distinctive components of two or more disciplines. Interdisciplinary research combines distinctive components of two or more disciplines in the search or creation of new knowledge, operational procedures, or artistic expressions. Interdisciplinary education merges distinctive components of two or more disciplines in a single program of instruction. Interdisciplinary theory takes interdisciplinary knowledge, research, or education as its main objects of study. At any given historical period, the interdisciplinary richness of any two exemplars of knowledge, research, and education can be compared by weighing four variables: number of disciplines, the distance between them, novelty, and integration.


The Pulse Code Modulation is the vital part of Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). The PCM includes the process of sampling and quantization in order to digitize the analog input along the time scale and amplitude scale respectively. This project aims to design the Pulse Code Modulation Multiplexer (PCMM) in which analog inputs with different frequencies are multiplexed and pulse code modulated. The PCMM is developed using Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL). The proposed Pulse Code Modulated Multiplexer is validated by comparing the design parameters like power and area, implemented in the Xilinx Spartan Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).


The action of radioisotope radiation on monomers and polymers is described, as well as the application of radioactive isotopes in rubber vulcanization, polymerization of polyvinyl chloride, studies of the effect of sodium hydroxide on glass, systematic investigation on Ca and Pb silicates, determination of B in glass, and devices used to determine and regulate the charge level in glass furnaces.


This paper describes some characteristics of a unique data set which consists of more than 900 monthly flow records and annual peak instantaneous discharges and about 400 monthly rainfall records. The data set took 1 1/2 person-years to compile and preliminary analysis confirms the earlier observations that variability of annual flow volumes and peak discharges for Australian and South African streams are about twice that observed for streams from the rest of the world. These differences persist even when the data are stratified by catchment size and climatic type.


Peat occurs abundantly in nature in various forms. Its chemical composition varies widely with geographical region, age and within individual deposits due to the chemical reactions resulting in its formation. However, it is now realized that the basic chemical and physical properties of most peats are beneficial to sorption and ion exchange processes. The potential range of environmental uses for peat described in this paper vary from the treatment of oil spills and textile effluents to VOC removal and metalion removal from waste streams.


We present Predictive Sparse Manifold Transform (PSMT), a minimalistic, interpretable and biologically plausible framework for learning and predicting natural dynamics. PSMT incorporates two layers where the first sparse coding layer represents the input sequence as sparse coefficients over an overcomplete dictionary and the second manifold learning layer learns a geometric embedding space that captures topological similarity and dynamic temporal linearity in sparse coefficients. We apply PSMT on a natural video dataset and evaluate the reconstruction performance with respect to contextual variability, the number of sparse coding basis functions and training samples. We then interpret the dynamic topological organization in the embedding space. We next utilize PSMT to predict future frames compared with two baseline methods with a static embedding space. We demonstrate that PSMT with a dynamic embedding space can achieve better prediction performance compared to static baselines. Our work establishes that PSMT is an efficient unsupervised generative framework for prediction of future visual stimuli.


With the establishment of the Air and Space Operations Centre (ASOC), the Bundeswehr is bringing together several capacities in one central facility. What sounds like science fiction at first glance is a necessary response to the growing military importance of space as an operational dimension. Space operations will not become part of everyday life overnight. In the medium to long term, however, the new centre offers opportunities for multidimensional integration that could prove to be a driver of innovation for the armed forces as a whole. In order to exploit this potential, additional personnel and structural adjustments are necessary.


Most of the plays deal with the theme of love, sex and violence. They reveal anger and frustration of the post-1960 generation in the Indian context. The ideas implicit in the themes are revolutionary. They are opposed to the conventional norms and established values. The emphasis here is on human nature and its complexities. In projecting the revolt of the plays' protagonists against conventionality, Tendulkar displays his love of humanity and his commitment to human values. The psychological study explores shifts and changes that have taken place in the modes of human thinking, feeling, and behaving with regard to Tendulkar's characters among which we see highly typified as well as individualized