The standardization approach to comprehensive differential item functioning (Cdif) is described and contrasted with the log-linear approach to differential distractor functioning explicated by Green, Crone, and Folk (1989) and with the IRT-based approach to differential alternative functioning explicated by Thissen, Steinberg, and Wainer (1992). This descriptive approach is used routinely as an adjunct to Mantel-Haenszel differential item functioning (DIP) detection (Dorans & Holland, 1992) in many operational testing programs at the Educational Testing Service. Data from an edition of the SAT are used to illustrate how the standardization approach to Cdif could be used to uncover differential speededness. Speculations about the sources of differential speededness for Black examinees and Hispanic examinees are offered, and some implications of the existence of differential speededness for DIP detection are mentioned.


Annamaria Viterbo's book is a complete and relatively easy to read legal history of post-1944 international law as it pertains to the effective economic policy space of sovereign states. It is, therefore, an excellent guide to the legal-institutional environment of international trade and finance in terms of both the letter and intent (as interpreted by the courts) over the last several decades. As such, the text should reside as a reference on the shelves of all those engaged in economic research on the matter. Having stated what the text is, it is worthwhile to briefly discuss what it is not. It is not a book on either theoretical or empirical economics. It does not discuss historical or ongoing operations of the state within the discussed legal environments. For example, there is no discussion of the various international efforts to save the Bretton Woods system during the 1960s and early 1970s. Similarly, there is no economic (theoretical or empirical) analysis of the added policy space post-Bretton Woods. Finally, there is no discussion of the history or personal motivations behind various international legal arrangements. Instead, the focus is on the case law and the resultant limitations on state action. Viterbo sets out the task relatively early in the text (p. 40):


The infrared spectra of (phenol)(H2O)n+ cluster ions (n = 1−4, 7, 8) have been recorded in the region from 2850 to 3800 cm-1. The method developed for this study (IR-PARI = infrared photodissociation after resonant ionization) allows sensitive IR spectroscopy of cluster ions from size-selected neutral precursors. The three-color laser scheme used for ion selection and dissociation consists of a two-color S0 → S1 → D0 ionization of a mass-selected cluster followed by IR photodissociation of the cluster ion. The IR spectra were taken by monitoring the photodissociation dip of the parent ion signal and by recording the rise of the −H2O fragment signal. The experimentally observed frequencies are compared to the results of ab initio calculations. No proton transfer is observed for the (phenol)(H2O)1,2+ clusters. In contrast to the S0 state, the structure of (phenol)(H2O)2+ turns out to be linear. In the case of the (phenol)(H2O)3,4+ clusters, linear and solvated structures are discussed. Within the solvated s...


Although the pathogenesis of human peptic ulcer is not well understood, one of its important features is its tendency to penetrate or perforate, complications which are particularly common in patients receiving cortisone.' Skoryna, Webster and Kahn2 have reported that in rats receiving cortisone, experimental gastric ulcers increased in size and showed a high incidence of both penetration and perforation. However, in that study the animals were not exmined until the third day after the production of the ulcer; by this time deep penetration had already occurred. The present investigation is concerned with the early effects of cortisone administration on experimental gastric ulcer in the rat.


This study aims to identify the relationship between academic self-efficacy, self-identity of English education major students and psychological environment of their family and school. In order to improve their self-efficacy and self-identity, this study is to see the effect of the family and school psychological environment on self-efficacy and self-identity. In this study, 262 questionnaires completed by the English education major students in teacher training universities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China are used. Reliability, correlation, and regression analysis are performed by the SPSS25.0 program. This study found that there is no significant difference in family and school psychological environment, academic self-efficacy, self-identity by gender and academic year. However, students born in urban areas, students with higher family economic income, and students with better academic performance have higher levels of academic self-efficacy and self-identity, along with better family and school psychological environment. Students with siblings have better family psychological environment than students without siblings, but there is no difference in the academic self-efficacy, self-identity, and school psychological environment by the presence of siblings. This study found that family and school psychological environment are positively related to academic self-efficacy


(69% of households) and paraYn (64% of households) were the most commonly used fuels.Gas and wood were used in only 10% and 4% of households respectively,and then only in combination with electricity or paraYn. No houses had chimneys and all but two houses reported opening of windows or doors to circulate fresh air during the monitoring period. The mean maximum hourly average was 0.015 ppm (range 0.00‐0.24) for NO2, 0.54 ppm (range 0.00‐6.77) for SO2 and 29.64 ppm (range 0.00- 338.98) for CO. The number of households where standards were exceeded by the maximum hourly averages by NO2 and CO was six (9%) and 20 (30%) respectively (WHO standard) and for SO2 the number was 28 (42%) (Californian standard) (no WHO or USEPA standard for maximum hourly average for SO2 exists). TSP measures ranged from a minimum of 7.15 µg/m 3 to a maximum of


We present constructions and results about GDDs with four groups and block size five in which each block has Configuration $(1, 1, 1, 2)$, that is, each block has exactly one point from three of the four groups and two points from the fourth group. We provide the necessary conditions of the existence of a GDD$(n, 4, 5; \lambda_1, \lambda_2)$ with Configuration $(1, 1, 1, 2)$, and show that the necessary conditions are sufficient for a GDD$(n, 4, 5; \lambda_1,$ $\lambda_2)$ with Configuration $(1, 1, 1, 2)$ if $n \not \equiv 0 ($mod $6)$, respectively. We also show that a GDD$(n, 4, 5; 2n, 6(n - 1))$ with Configuration $(1, 1, 1, 2)$ exists, and provide constructions for a GDD$(n = 2t, 4, 5; n, 3(n - 1))$ with Configuration $(1, 1, 1, 2)$ where $n \not= 12$, and a GDD$(n = 6t, 4, 5; 4t, 2(6t - 1))$ with Configuration $(1, 1, 1, 2)$ where $n \not= 6$ and $18$, respectively.


In article researches of filling by deposits of sea channels which have allowed to develop recommendations about their designing for the purpose of use in engineering practice are resulted.


Throughout this note, whenever K is a compact space C(K) denotes the Banach space of continuous functions on K endowed with the sup norm. Though it is well known that every infinite dimensional Banach space contains uncomplemented subspaces, things may be different when only C(K) spaces are considered. For instance, every copy of l8 = C(BN) is complemented wherever it is found. In [5] Pelzcynski found: Theorem 1. Let K be a compact metric space. If a separable Banach space X contains a subspace Y isomorphic to C(K) then Y contains a new subspace Z isomorphic to C(K) and complemented in X. Our aim is to obtain the uncomplemented version of Pelczynski's Theorem 1.


Recent studies suggest that populations of the pest moth Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) may be genetically differentiated over short distances and time periods within Queensland, Australia. To test for genetic structure in another region of Australia, we characterized population differentiation in Victorian samples of H. armigera using eight microsatellite loci. We found no evidence of genetic structure among samples from different locations or among samples collected at different times. Moreover, Victorian samples were not differentiated from other samples of H. armigera from Queensland and New Zealand. All samples showed substantial deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, suggesting a high frequency of null alleles typically found in microsatellites of Lepidoptera. These results indicate that populations of H. armigera are not strongly structured among regions in south‐eastern Australia.


In this paper we present an endogenous growth model with productive public capital and environmental pollution. Emissions result from production and raise the stock of pollution that negatively affects the utility of the household. The government levies an income tax and a tax on emissions and uses its revenues for public investment and for abatement of pollution. This paper studies the structure of the model assuming three different scenarios and analyzes how the latter affects the balanced growth rate of the economy and welfare. The first scenario posits that abatement is set such that the stock of pollution is constant, in the second scenario pollution declines over time, and in the third scenario, pollution grows at the same positive rate as the economic variables. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Along with social, cultural, and technological advancements, the twenty-first century has heralded challenges of a global scale, such as the worldwide economic crisis. These challenges have seen the weakening of global economic powers and emergence of new global players; environmental concerns of global warming and pollution implications; increasing risky health behaviours such as drug-taking, alcohol, and obesity; social injustice; ethnic and religious tensions; and many others. Marketing activities and the ideology of markets and consumption have diffused globally so that living, working, and consuming are prolific, complex, interdependent activities. At the same time, changing economic expectations apply limitations and modifications to the consumption environment. As Schultz (2009) asserts:


The design, operation and improvements of dryers used for coal drying are briefly reviewed. Types of dryers considered are pneumatic nozzle countercurrent dryers, drum dryers and suspended bed dryers. (KAW)


The cloud service model is spreading into the telecommunications industry, forcing the telecommunications providers to adjust their production models. The network service provider cloud platform, also called as Telco Cloud, utilizing a cloud based production model, is a solution to respond to the changing market forces. The cloud based production model is a new concept in the context of telecommunication services and the cost structure of the network service provider cloud platform is poorly understood. Thus, this empirical research uses a single company single case study approach to examine the network service provider cloud cost structures and constructs a cost model to network service provider cloud by using semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that the network service provider cloud improves cost efficiency compared to the traditional platform model due to server virtualization and consolidation. The contributed cost model can be used for analyzing feasibility of an application on-boarding in network service providers that are utilizing cloud platforms for the communications services.


There is a great deal of interest in increasing the energy yield from thin film solar cells by implementing bifacial operation. However, deleterious band bending and high interface recombination at the back transparent electrode can cause problems. Here, we investigate how bifacial thin film devices perform when illuminated through the front, back, and simultaneously through both interfaces using numerical modeling. We show that the downward band bending near the back interface is reduced during illumination when the carrier concentration is low. This effect is not found when the doping is relatively high, but the minority carrier distribution is still modified. Under either condition, the power generated under bifacial illumination exceeds the sum of the power generated when the illumination is solely from the back or the front. We also show that the back illuminated device performance is independent of the angle at which the light enters the back of the device, which provide accommodation for scattered light. Finally, we calculate the power enhancement for bifacial devices relative to front illuminated devices and show that any significant loss in frontside power generation is difficult to overcome with back illumination under real world albedo conditions.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


On basis of limit equilibrium analysis methods for theory of unsaturated soil mechanics, silt subgrade slope stability under the condition of rainfall infiltration is analyzed and the factors affecting the stability of subgrade slope are presented in this article, which provides theoretical basis and technical support for future subgrade construction.


The plane-wave assumption has been used extensively in array signal processing, parameter estimation, and wireless channel modeling to simplify analysis.It is suitable for single-input-single-output (SISO) and single-input-multiple-output (SIMO) systems, because the rank of the channel matrix is one.However, for short-range multiple-input-mul- tiple-output (MIMO) channels with a line-of-straight (LOS) component, the plane wave assumption affects the rank and singular value distribution of the MIMO channel matrix, and results in the underestimation of the channel capacity, especially for element spacings exceeding half a wave- length.The short-range geometry could apply to many indoor wireless local area network (WLAN) applications.To avoid this underestimation problem, the received single phases must depend precisely on the distances between transmit and receive antenna elements.With this correction, the capacity of short-range LOS MIMO channels grows steadily as the element spacing exceeds half a wavelength, as confirmed by measurements at 5.8 GHz.In contrast, the capacity growth with element spacing diminishes significantly under the plane-wave assumption.Using empirical fitting, we provide a threshold distance below which the spherical wave model is required for accurate performance estimation in ray tracing. Abstract—In this paper, a novel MAP estimation approach is employed for error correction of arithmetic codes with a forbidden symbol.The system is founded on the principle of joint source channel coding, which allows one to unify the arithmetic decoding and error correction takes into a single process, with superior performance compared to traditional separated techniques.The proposed system improves the performance in terms of error correction with respect to a separated source and channel coding approach based on convolutional codes, with the additional great advantage of allowing complete flexibility in adjusting the coding rate.The proposed MAP decoder is tested in the case of image transmission across the AWGN channel and compared against standard FEC techniques in terms of performance an complexity.Both hard and soft decodng are taken into account, and excellent result in terms of packet error rate and decoded image quality are obtained.


Remnant radio galaxies represent the dying phase of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN). Large samples of remnant radio galaxies are important for quantifying the radio galaxy life cycle. The remnants of radio-loud AGN can be identified in radio sky surveys based on their spectral index, or, complementary, through visual inspection based on their radio morphology. However, this is extremely time-consuming when applied to the new large and sensitive radio surveys. Here we aim to reduce the amount of visual inspection required to find AGN remnants based on their morphology, through supervised machine learning trained on an existing sample of remnant candidates. For a dataset of 4107 radio sources, with angular sizes larger than 60 arcsec, from the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-Metre Sky Survey second data release (LoTSS-DR2), we started with 151 radio sources that were visually classified as 'AGN remnant candidate'. We derived a wide range of morphological features for all radio sources from their corresponding Stokes-I images: from simple source catalogue-derived properties, to clustered Haralick-features, and self-organising map (SOM) derived morphological features. We trained a random forest classifier to separate the 'AGN remnant candidates' from the not yet inspected sources. The SOM-derived features and the total to peak flux ratio of a source are shown to be most salient to the classifier. We estimate that $31\pm5\%$ of sources with positive predictions from our classifier will be labelled 'AGN remnant candidates' upon visual inspection, while we estimate the upper bound of the $95\%$ confidence interval for 'AGN remnant candidates' in the negative predictions at $8\%$. Visual inspection of just the positive predictions reduces the number of radio sources requiring visual inspection by $73\%$.


Digital Down Conversion(DDC) is one of the key techniques of digital receiver for wideband radar.With the conventional method of implementing DDC,the hardware source of current FPGA can't satisfy the demand of bandwidth and high precision of FIR filter.For this purpose,the optimization of architecture for DDC is presented.Introduce a FIR filter architecture based on distributed algorithm and develop an optimal DDC which needs no mixing.It has been applied to a wideband radar system successfully.


In order to verify the seismic performance of the steel truss bridge retrofitted by BRBs, an experiment was conducted by employing three steel truss specimens, whose configuration is regarded as part of steel truss bridge. These trusses had identical members except that they had the H-shaped diagonal braces, the H-shaped BRBs and the aluminum alloy BRB. Test results showed that the overall buckling of the H-shaped brace led to the failure of the truss and the damage to the bottom corner joints mainly resulted in the failure of the truss with BRBs. Moreover, the specimen with the H-shaped BRBs or the aluminum alloy BRBs exhibited the better ductility performance and dissipated more energy than the truss with the H-shaped diagonal braces. The failure displacement of the HBRB-Cy truss was about three times as large as the H-Cy truss.


Performance, weight, size, and maintenance data for advanced rotary aircraft engines suitable for comparative commuter aircraft system evaluation studies of alternate engine candidates are provided. These are turbocharged, turbocompounded, direct injected, stratified charge rotary engines. Hypothetical engines were defined (an RC4-74 at 895 kW and an RC6-87 at 1490 kW) based on the technologies and design approaches used in the highly advanced engine of a study of advanced general aviation rotary engines. The data covers the size range of shaft power from 597 kW (800 hp) to 1865 kW (2500 hp) and is in the form of drawings, tables, curves and written text. These include data on internal geometry and configuration, installation information, turbocharging and turbocompounding arrangements, design features and technologies, engine cooling, fuels, scaling for weight size BSFC and heat rejection for varying horsepower, engine operating and performance data, and TBO and maintenance requirements. The basic combustion system was developed and demonstrated; however the projected power densities and performance efficiencies require increases in engine internal pressures, thermal loading, and rotative speed.


Deduce an expression for the rate of precession of the spin polarization unit vector P̂ of a relativistic charged particle in laboratory electric and magnetic fields E and B. The polarization vector is to be measured in the so-called comoving rest frame of the particle obtained by boosting from the lab frame along the direction l̂ that is tangent to the particle's laboratory trajectory, and whose axes are defined by the (lab-frame) triad l̂, d̂l/dt and l̂ × d̂l/dt. However, express the time dependence of this polarization vector in terms of lab-frame quantities. Take into account the so-called Thomas precession [2, 3] of vectors in the rest frame of an accelerating particle when the (instantaneous) rest frame is defined by a boost along the instantaneous lab-frame velocity.


The results for in-plant full load testing of a 13.4 MW (18000 HP) gas turbine driven centrifugal compressor are presented and compared to analytical predictions of compressor rotor stability. Unique problems from both oil seals and labyrinth gas seals were encountered during the testing. The successful resolution of these problems are summarized.


Positive announcement-day adjusted returns to target shareholders in the event of a takeover are well documented. Investors who are able to accurately predict firms that will be the subject of a takeover attempt should be able to earn these excess returns. In this paper a series of probabilistic regression models were developed that use financial statement variables suggested by prior research as explanatory variables. The models, applied to in-sample and out-of-sample data, led to predictions of takeover targets that were better than chance in all cases. The economic outcome resulting from holding a portfolio of the predicted targets over the prediction period are also analysed.


A model was proposed for determining the location of neutral-plane in a shaft with a continuous side open-ing or with both a continuous side opening and a upper opening.Based on the Klote model,the new model was sim-plified according to the temperature distribution inside the shaft in fire.A numerical study was also carried out by us-ing a computational fluid dynamics(CFD).The results prove that the new model is in good agreement with the simu-lation results.


China's urbanization level is rising with energy consumption. Short of energy,energy security and carbon emission demand to consider the influence of urbanization on China's energy consumption and economic development.This paper,based on China's input output 2007,uses social audit matrix and static CGE model to simulate the influence that urbanization has a strong positive pull to macroscopic economy,and leads to a rising energy demand influenced by income effect,increasing energy investment from substitution effect,ascending energy price,improving residents' welfares with urban residents better than rural ones.


As a variety of foods and recipes have an impact on our daily lives and our choices, more and more recipes are being served in many restaurants around the world to cater the needs of customers and satisfy their different tastes. In order for customers to be able to decide where to eat, we present the Restaurant Content-based Recommender System. It classifies restaurants, with priority of order, according to their numerous features. We use Content based recommender system because the traditional collaborative filtering algorithms doesn't show satisfying performance as regards data sparsity, and also when having a contextual data. In this article, we will study the impact of feature selection on the performance of content based recommender system and we will use and show the performance of another method for calculation similarity between items in order to move away from classical cosine method.


The study obtains the parameters of the formula of pressure caused by cylindrical charge's explosive shock wave through experiments in a pool firstly. Through testing cylindrical charge exploding in concrete specimen, the study then gets blasting strain wave's propagation law and formula's parameter of exploding cylindrical charge in concrete specimen.


In this paper, we developed a three-step block Method for numerical solution of second order differential equations using Legendre polynomials as the basic function. Interpolation and collocation procedures are used by choosing interpolation points at s=2 steps points using power series, while collocation points at r=k step points, using a combination of power series and perturbation term gotten from the Legendre polynomials, giving rise to a polynomial of degree r+s-2 and r+s equations. All the analysis on the scheme derived shows that it is stable, convergent and has region of Absolute Stability. Numerical examples were provided to test the performance of the method. Results obtained when compared with existing methods in the literature, shows that the method is accurate and efficient.


A microwave plasma cathode (MPC) was developed to replace the thermionic filaments of the cold or hot reflex discharge ion source (CHORDIS) ion source for operation with reactive gases. Experiments with our MPC showed its long lifetime and its capability of high-current electron emission. Two new types of antennae are presented. Different electron extraction apertures were used, but the best results were obtained with an extraction aperture of 6 mm in diameter. Ion beam currents for different oxygen pressures and different discharge voltages are presented and discussed. The gas pressure proved to be a critical parameter in respect to the extracted ion beam densities and beam noise. Total ion current densities of 16.8 mA/cm2 were obtained for oxygen. We are also presenting an experiment where the MPC-CHORDIS system was used as a tool to study the influence of the beam noise on the space charge compensation at the GSI Darmstadt injection beam line.


This paper presents dual scalar controlled drives of induction motors using single voltage source inverter through long feeding cables. As known, when the cable length is long, over-voltages at motor terminal could be doubled from the pulsed output voltage at inverter terminal. In this paper, a half DC-link inverter is implemented to drive two motors simultaneously for different configurations of cable lengths. The implemented inverter drastically reduces the over-voltage at both motor terminals with a proper duration time of Vdc/2 level (beta). Simulation and experimental results are provided to show the effectiveness of over-voltage reduction by using this inverter. According to these results, for two motors with different cable lengths, this beta should be calculated based on the cable length closed to the longer one.


The purpose of this study was to find which spatiotemporal gait parameters gained from stroke patients could be predictive factors for the gait part of Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA-G). Two hundred forty-six stroke patients were recruited for this study. They participated in two assessments, the POMA-G and computerized spatiotemporal gait analysis. To analyze the relationship between the POMA-G and spatiotemporal parameters, we used Pearson's correlation coefficients. In addition, multiple linear regression analyses (stepwise method) were used to predict the spatiotemporal gait parameters that correlated most with the POMA-G. The results show that the gait velocity (r=.67, p


With oil being a non-renewable energy, buyers of aviation fuel are more inclined to purchase Jet-A1 from oil companies that offer the best jet fuel. But the fact of the matter is that, aviation fuel has the same content even when you purchase it from halfway across the world. Although price is an apparent factor that airlines consider when deciding which oil company to choose for as a supplier, there are ambiguous factors that needs to be established so that continuous product development can be made by the aviation fuel organizations. This study used conjoint analysis as a tool to establish the attributes considered by airlines in deciding which oil company will best meet their needs. As a result, the following six attributes of aviation fuel were identified: availability, price, accessibility, manpower, equipment and facilities, and fuel quality and safety. The results indicate that fuel quality has the greatest influence on the respondents' purchasing intentions, followed by price, availability, equipment and facilities, and accessibility. Manpower was the least important attribute with regard to the airlines' buying intention. Based on the results from data analysis, it is concluded that conjoint analysis is an appropriate tool to identify the key attributes of aviation fuel. Using the results presented in this study, aviation fuel companies can better tailor their fuel services to meet the needs of the airlines and thus increase sales.


Aims. We tested the new atomic model using atmospheric models of stars of different spectral types: the Sun (dG2), HD22049 (dK2, Epsilon Eridani), GJ 832 (dM2), and GJ 581 (dM3). Methods. We used new Breit-Pauli distorted-wave (DW) multiconfiguration calculations, which proved to be relevant for many transitions in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. The new atomic model of Mg I includes the following: i) recomputed ECS data through the DW method, including the superlevels. ii) For the nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) population calculations, 5676 theoretical transitions were added (3001 term-to-term). iii) All of these improvements were studied in the Sun and the stars listed above. Results. The Mg distribution between ionization states for stars with different effective temperatures was compared. For the Sun and Epsilon Eridani, Mg II predominates with more than 95 %, while for GJ 832 and GJ 581, Mg I represents more than 72 % of the population. Moreover, in the latter stars, the amount of Mg forming molecules in their atmosphere is at least two orders of magnitude higher. Regarding the NLTE population, a noticeable lower variability in the departure coefficients was found, indicating a better population coupling for the new model. Comparing the synthetic spectrum calculated with the older and new Mg I atomic model, these results show minimal differences in the visible range but they are stronger in the IR for all of the stars. This aspect should be considered when using lines from this region as indicators. Nevertheless, some changes in the spectral type were found, also emphasizing the need to test the atomic models in different atmospheric conditions. The most noticeable changes occurred in the FUV and NUV, obtaining a higher flux for the new atomic model regardless of the spectral type.


Mary recently moved to Washington, D.C. and is looking to rent an apartment near where she is to attend college. As a first step, she consults a local classifieds web application to explore housing listings within her budget. Upon selecting the first listing in her search results she reads the description. What luck! Not only is the posted apartment near her college, but it is also close to a number of D.C.'s attractions, namely the Lincoln Memorial, National Arboretum, Smithsonian Zoological Park and the trendy U-street district. Reading further, the listing states that the property is close to numerous metro stations and three large grocery stores. Surely this is the apartment for her. On examining the other listings, however, she discovers that virtually all of them state that they are near to many of these same attractions, as well as a few others. Can Mary really be this lucky?


Introduction: Natural selection in humans is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. It can be assessed using selected genetic and demographic parameters, namely, vital statistics, the Crow index, or the total selection index and its components. Aim: To study vital statistics and the Crow index among post-menopausal indigenous women in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) living in different economic zones. Methods: The sample consisted of 347 post-menopausal indigenous women from 15 districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The districts were merged into Central, Arctic, and Western regions. The Crow index and its components was calculated. Regional variations in the studied characteristics were assessed using nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: We observed statistically significant differences in the reproductive indicators across the regions. The lowest pressure of natural selection (Itot) was experienced by the ethnic minorities from the Arctic region (0,407) compared to the Yakuts (0,395) from this region and their counterparts from the Central (0,407) and Western (0,457) regions. Conclusions: Despite wide spread of family planning the indigenous ethnic groups of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) demonstrate high fertility. In all studied groups, the component associated with differential fertility exceeds the component associated with differential mortality. Economic, social, and cultural factors significantly influence reproductive patterns.


During the development of an imaging proportional counter suited for observing celestial objects in the XUV waveband (10–250 A), we investigated the feasibility of producing a reliable plastic entrance window having a thickness ⩽ 0.3 μ and good uniformity over an area of several tens of square centimeters. After evaluating several candidate materials and production techniques, we selected film casting of pure Lexan as an appropriate technique for providing strong 65 mm diameter, 0.3‐μ thick windows having low gas diffusion leakage (<3.10 −4 bar cm3/s cm2) and adequate opaqueness for short wavelength UV radiation. A prototype XUV camera equipped with such a window was used to make a picture of a multipinhole mask irradiated by the emission line spectrum of ionized He (243, 256, and 304 A). This gave very satisfactory performance, as is shown at the end of this paper.


The Hotel Restaurant Jade Canton Quevedo has availability of 28 rooms, 1 ballroom and has 20 people to pay attention to customers , is a recognized place with great influx of people but has some internal management problems their organizational processes because it lacks a functional organization to promote the development of their activities knowing each respective roles and levels of authority.

The proposed intervention aims to make a strategic plan that provides an important tool for effective decision making in the Hotel Restaurant Canton jade Quevedo...


R Sapir's recent paper on "The Problem of Noun Incorporation in American Languages"' is such a masterly interpretation of the evidence connected with this subject, even though the essay is avowedly a refutation of the thesis advanced by the present writer a few years before,2 to the effect that such incorporation is a chimacra, that it remains a cause of gratification to have taken the stand which has been productive of so novel and valuable a contribution. One point of primary importance that Dr Sapir brings out clearly is the fact that noun incorporation has no necessary or inherent connection with pronominal incorporation, as i t has been called, or "rather inflection," as he aptly designates it. Dr Sapir has gone farther than the writer in pointing out that there is rather an exclusion between the two processes, in that a pronominally incorporating language should find noun incorporation unnecessary, and vice versa; and even though, as he says, the facts do not entirely bear out this a priori consideration, i t is nevertheless a conception of the greatest importance in the present state of our understanding of linguistic phenomena. The custom heretofore has been to assume that noun incorporation was merely a form or phase of pronoun incorporation, or even the reverse: and, as long as this view prevailed, there was no hope of a correct analysis of such evidence as was accumulating. In fact this assumption has been the cause of a persistent misunderstanding of the subject. That the present writer's argument, which was based on the contention that the assumed connection did not exist, overshot the mark and ended by doubting well-authenticated but unexplained facts that had been called noun incorporations, must perhaps be admitted. But this D


On 11 June 2010 Dr Gerd Weisgerber, long-time vice president of the German Mining Museum in Bochum died. He had extraordinary interpersonal skills in addition to being an outstanding conventional and mining archaeologist.


Thank you very much for reading dictionnaire de la noblesse. As you may know, people have look numerous times for their favorite novels like this dictionnaire de la noblesse, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some harmful virus inside their computer. dictionnaire de la noblesse is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our books collection spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the dictionnaire de la noblesse is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Continuous variable quantum key distribution with discrete modulation has the potential to provide information-theoretic security using widely available optical elements and existing telecom infrastructure. While their implementation is significantly simpler than that for protocols based on Gaussian modulation, proving their finite-size security against coherent attacks poses a challenge. In this work we apply the entropy accumulation theorem, a tool that has previously been used in the setting of discrete variables, to prove finite-size security against coherent attacks for a discrete-modulated quantum key distribution protocol involving four coherent states and heterodyne detection. To do so, and contrary to previous approaches, we consider a protocol in which all the information is discretized. We first bound its asymptotic rate under a realistic photon number cutoff assumption. This bound is then upgraded into a finite-size security proof using entropy accumulation. Our analysis provides asymptotic rates in the range of $0.1-10^{-4}$ bits per round for distances up to hundred kilometres, while in the finite case and for realistic parameters, we get of the order of $10$ Gbits of secret key after $n=10^{12}$ rounds and distances of few tens of kilometres.


Both natural and anthropogenic activities are responsible for water, air and land pollution. In wastewater released from the industries, toxic chemicals and heavy metals are present that pollute the environment and contaminate the soil. Heavy metals are the major problem in soil and have health hazards present in higher amounts. As the heavy metals are non-biodegradable, thus accumulate in the environment and enters the food chain. Heavy metals disturb soil fertility. It has been discovered that plants have the accumulating properties for metals so can be used to remove the metals from the soil. Phytoremediation is an emerging technology, it has many ecological benefits. Plants remove pollutants from the soil that accumulate in the parts of the plant that are harvestable (Phytoextraction). Phytoremediation is a suitable technique as it is easy to implement, easy in maintenance, low cost than other soil remedial techniques, most acceptable technique.


Quantum dot (QD) is one of the attractive materials. In this paper, we focus on advanced photonic devices using QD structure and its applications for the next generation access networks.


This article mainly discusses the question of how to combine Chinese traditional construction with restful environment simply by offering a design to a restful manor, which deeply reflects the powerful penetration,sedateness and simpleness of Chinese traditional construction. At the same time, the design skillfully considers the existence of the nature and it is intended to made sure that the design is also close to and harmony with the nature.


A novel b supported M facilitate intra antitumor effi INTRODUC Multidrug biggest imp chemotherapy of drug delive MDR in can nanocapsules by an endocy from the efflu carriers are consequently reaching the systemic to controlled-rel molecules re temperature, controlled-rel of drug from gated materia and larger sup Herein, biofunctional MSNs (PLBagainst MDR only responsi also block t mediated CP vitro and in uptake efficie extensively e PLB-MSN in EXPERIME MSNs w catalyzed con MSNs were and gently s loaded MSN prepared by d Pluronic P12 desiccated, a 11@MSNs in extruding t d Release


In order to clarify the effect of Mg on recrystallization of heavily cold rolled Al, Al-Mg alloys containing Mg up to 5 % were cold rolled 95 % reduction in thickness, and annealed at temperatures between 200 and 450°C. Their recrystallization behavior was investigated with both optical and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that addition of Mg up to 1 % significantly retarded recrystallization, since solute Mg atoms strongly suppressed recovery, nucleation of recrystallized grains and migration of recrystallized high angle grain boundaries. Recrystallization was most strongly suppressed at 1% Mg, and at Mg content above 1 %, recrystallization was remarkably accelerated with increasing Mg content. Transmission electron microscopy of cold rolled specimens revealed that, although well-recovered subgrain structures were formed in pure Al, ill-defined small cell or subgrain structures with high dislocation densities were developed homogeneously in Al-Mg alloys. It was therefore concluded that, in Al-Mg alloys containing Mg more than 1%, recrystallization was accelerated with increasing Mg content, since dislocation densities and therefore stored energies i.e. driving force for recrystallization was increased with increasing Mg content.


Background and Aim: Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory disorder of the intestine and has a great effect on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Some patients in remission are known to show functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) and mood disorders (MDs), which may also negatively impact HRQOL. The aim of this study was to evaluate predictors of impaired HRQOL in inactive inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Methods: Patients presenting a long-standing remission during the previous year completed questionnaires of EuroQol, Rome III criteria for FGID, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Survey. Demographic data including age, sex, employment status, education, smoking, and location of residence were also collected. Results: Among the 513 patients with IBD, 226 (Crohn's disease 107 and ulcerative colitis 119, age 39.01±15.63, male 141) defined in remission were enrolled. Overall, 147 (65.0%) had at least 1 FGID with irritable bowel syndrome being the most common disorder (36.3%). Anxiety and depression were identified in 27.4% and 33.6%, respectively. Participants with FGID or MD had a significantly lower HRQOL status than those without disorders (P<0.01). Among various demographic and clinical variables, aged 40 or older [odds ratio (OR), 2.342; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.195-4.590; P=0.01], irritable bowel syndrome (OR, 3.932; 95% CI, 1.937-7.982; P<0.01), and anxiety (OR, 2.423; 95% CI, 1.067-5.502; P=0.03) were significant independent predictors of impaired HRQOL in inactive IBD patients. Conclusions: FGID and MD are common in Korean quiescent IBD patients. Appropriate management should be administered according to age of patients and presence of concomitant FGID and MD to improve patients' HRQOL.


Haemoglobin polymorphoism effects on Gastro-intestinal nematode infestation in 20 West Africa Dwarf Sheep (WAD) were studied.
Nematodes egg counts were estimated as dependent variables HbAA and HbAB genotype were determined by using cellulose acetate electrophoresis. HbAA showed higher level of Haemoglobin (Hb) concentration in their blood (P 0.05).
Therefore, there is no significant relationship between genotype detected and nematode infestation in WAD sheep.


Geo-textual data that contain spatial, textual, and temporal information are being generated at a very high rate. These geo-textual data cover a wide range of topics. Users may be interested in receiving local popular topics from geo-textual messages. We study the cluster-based subscription matching (CSM) problem. Given a stream of geo-textual messages, we maintain up-to-date clustering results based on a threshold-based online clustering algorithm. Based on the clustering result, we feed subscribers with their preferred geo-textual message clusters according to their specified keywords and location. Moreover, we summarize each cluster by selecting a set of representative messages. The CSM problem considers spatial proximity, textual relevance, and message freshness during the clustering, cluster feeding, and summarization processes. To solve the CSM problem, we propose a novel solution to cluster, feed, and summarize a stream of geo-textual messages efficiently. We evaluate the efficiency of our solution on two real-world datasets and the experimental results demonstrate that our solution is capable of high efficiency compared with baselines.


EFFECT OF SWIMMING ON PHYSICAL READINESS AND ADAPTABILITY OF STUDENTS The relationship between students' physical readiness and functional state parameters was studied in the course of swim training. Improved dynamic parameters of motor and cognitive functions were noted in the observed group of students by the end of the academic year, but they were accompanied by increased reactive anxiety and were more pronounced in physically "weaker" students. Better speed and power abilities were found to be associated with better cardiovascular system parameters. The best results in the stamina test were shown by students with increased tension of the regulatory systems and sympathetic nervous system tone (according to variation pulsogram).


The present invention is an amorphous (amorphous), microcrystalline (microcrystalline) or partially crystalline (partially crystalline) polyamide or a mixture thereof, one or more impact modifiers, hollow glass balls (hollow glass ball) and relates to a polyamide molding compound comprising the additional additives will be. The invention also relates to a molded article produced from the polyamide molding compound.


Background: Liver is an important organ in the body as it secrets bile, stores fat-soluble vitamins and handles cholesterol hemostasis. Cereal crops such as sorghum seeds serve as a rich source of dietary fiber and nutrients. These seeds may protect against hepatotoxicity. Aim: The purpose of this research was to identify the phytochemical components of sorghum powder and evaluate its protective effects against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Materials and methods: Forty-eight adult male albino rats were distributed into six groups (n=8). Group (1) was control (non-treated) and group (2) was injected subcutaneously by carbon tetrachloride CCl4 (2 ml/kg) twice a week for 2 consecutive weeks to induce hepatic toxicity Groups (3), (4), (5) and (6) were administered CCl4 plus 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% & 10% of sorghum powder , respectively. After 12 hours of fasting, blood samples were taken for biochemical examination from the rats in the experiment. Antioxidant activity, ALT and AST levels, lipid profile (HDL-c, LDL-c & VLDL-c), uric acid, and urea nitrogen were all measured with serum samples from sacrificed rats. Results: Sorghum seeds powder contains a lot of minerals, fatty acids and many bioactive compounds. It has a high antioxidant activity, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective and hypochlosterolemic effects. Sorghum seeds powder ameliorated the histopathological lesion seen in the liver of hepatotoxic male albino rats. Conclusion: The findings indicated that sorghum powder contains carbohydrates, and many bioactive constituents such as phenolic compounds, carotenoids, chlorophyll, tannins, phytates and dilatory fibers. Sorghum powder decreased body weight gain, increased antioxidant activity but decreased liver enzyme ALT and AST, TC, LDL-c & VLDL-c, while increased HDL-c. Sorghum seeds powder is considered a promising ameliorative agent against CCL4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Therefore, sorghum powder may be beneficial for patients suffering from liver toxicity.


one of the greatest merits of this book that it abjures fantasy for fact, and if at times a certain rigidity b@astended to appear, this has derived from the authors' attempt at greater definition of diagnostic boundaries, a matter of prime importance to the psychiatric geneticist. Unfortunately the ineluctable fluidity of clinical phenomena often frustrates this aim. Yet only by close assiduous attention to fact, the replacement as far as possible of opinions by testable and tested hypotheses, will knowledge be advanced, and this attitude this book strongly affirms and illustrates. Yet understanding of mental illness and of the individual patient will always entail some measure of the subjective and intuitive, and, at least in psychiatry, the truth (the very use of the word in this context is naive) will not be found to equal the mere sum of the facts. So much praise has been justly accorded this book that there is little the reviewer can add. This is the most outstanding textbook of psychiatry in English; certainly the reviewer knows of no other English work of the kind to rank with it. The weight of scholarship behind it is in itself impressive. It may be said fairly that the book is an outstanding contribution to British psychiatry. The wide pages of the book do not greatly aid the mechanics of reading; perhaps double columns would have been better. The proof reading has been well done and the number of printer's errors is minimal. There is an excellent photograph of the late Professor Mayer-Gross as frontispiece. E. W. ANDERSON.


The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the emergence of large single-product organisations whose expansion was stimulated by a desire to control a substantial part of a particular product market. An Australian example is the Colonial Sugar Refining Company Ltd (CSR). By 1915, the company accounted for 90 per cent of refined sugar production in Australia. CSR had achieved this control over the Australian refined sugar market by using underselling, strategies that denied its competitors outlets for their refined sugars and amalgamations with rivals. After 1890, however, CSR was interested in sharing the Australian market for refined sugar with its rivals by forming spheres of influence in marketing areas or adopting production quotas, although the Queensland National Bank was the only organisation to successfully negotiate annual market share agreements with CSR in the 1900s. These agreements ensured the survival of its Millaquin Refinery. Other competitors eventually exited the industry. In 1915, the Commonwealth government institutionalised this duopoly in the sugar refining sector by agreements with CSR and the Queensland government, and allowed it to continue until deregulation of the Australian sugar refining sector in the early 1990s.


With the constant occurrence of out of control cases in enterprises internal control in recent years,internal control theory and practice developed continuously,while the study of internal control hypothesis,as a part of theoretical system,currently slightly lags behind.This article modifies the theory of internal control,and the modified version is as follows: assumptions of sustainable control,the main responsibility for controllers,controllable risks and assumptions about human behavior.


Superfine Mg-doped barium titanate powder was prepared by hydrothermal method,and then the ceramic was obtained.The effects of doping Mg on powder and ceramic electric properties were discussed though XRD,AES and SEM.As indicated by results,B site(Ti)is substituted by Mg,which is helpful to get the microstructure with tiny grains and high density.When the atomic ratio of Mg to Ti is 0.06,the density reaches the maximum and dielectric constant reaches 4100 and destroyed electric strength rises up to more than 3.2 MV/m.


ABSTRACT Agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa has, in recent times, remained lower than the rest of the world. Many attribute this to factors inherent to Africa and its people, such as climate, soil quality, slavery and disease. This article traces the role of agriculture through history and argues that these are not the main reasons. Before the arrival of European traders, complex agricultural systems existed, which supported food security, manufacturing and trade. External interference manipulated these systems in pursuit of export crops. Independence has not fundamentally changed this; resource and wealth extraction continue to inhibit economic development for Africans in Africa.


The optical absorption spectrum of binary semiconductors with substitutional impurities is studied in terms of a one-electron theory. A previous tight-binding calculation of the imaginary part e2(ω) of the dielectric constant in a two-independent-band insulator is extended to a general hybridized multiband binary semiconductor as well as to interatomic optical excitations. As in the previous simplified model it is shown that it is still possible to explore the critical points of the host band structure through wave-vector non-conserving transitions due to the presence of the impurity. In order to visualize that, a numerical calculation is performed in the case of a binary linear chain of atoms containing one substitutional impurity.

Nous etudions le spectre d'absorption optique d'un modele de semiconducteur binaire contenant des impuretes substitutionnelles et ceci dans le cadre d'une thorie a un electron. Nous etendons le calcul de la constante dielectrique e2(ω) effectue precedemment pour un isolant a deux bandes independantes, en liaisons fortes, au cas general d'un semiconducteur binaire a plusieurs bandes hybridees donnant lieu a des excitations optiques interatomiques. Comme dans le cas precedent, nous montrons qu'il est encore possible de detecter les singularites de la structure de bandes du systeme pur au moyen des transitions non-verticales en κ qui sont dues a la presence de l'impureta. Pour mettre cela en evidence, nous effectuons un calcul numerique dans le cas d'une chaine d'atomes lineaire et binaire contenant une impurete substitutionnelle.


Zeeman effect of the first excited triplet state in Pt–phthalocyanine single crystal is studied in the magnetic field up to 100 kG by observing the phosphorescence emission at 4.2 K. Phosphorescence peaks are observed at the wave numbers 10 289.1 and 10 297.6 cm−1 in the zero magnetic field at 1.7 K (zero field splitting). The zero field splitting coefficients of the triplet state are estimated from the Zeeman study to be D=−7.8±0.2 cm−1 and ‖E‖=0.7±0.2 cm−1. The decay time of the emission peak of 10 289.1 cm−1 decreases with increasing magnetic field from 7 μsec at 0 G to 3 μsec at 100 kG. Z component of spin level has the largest decay rate of 3.3×105 sec−1 at zero magnetic field. Dependence of the phosphorescence intensity and the energy shift of their peaks on the direction of the magnetic field referred to the crystal axis are also measured and compared with the theoretical calculations.


The use of Moran's I to assess the existence of network autocorrelation in flows over the arcs of real (tangible) and abstract (intangible) networks is examined. Residuals of a migration model developed here reveal the presence of such autocorrelation or dependence. Two approaches for removing the observed dependence are examined.


they trace the history of imaginary money in western Europe through three stages. From the time of Charlemagne to about 1250, there was only one minted coin struck in Europe, the silver denarius, and only one money of account, the pound of 240 denarii. Between about 1250 and 1600, numerous new coins were struck, and most became the basis of new moneys of account. The earliest forms of imaginary money thus appear always linked to a real coin, but the authors show conclusively that the same money of account could shift its base from one minted coin to another; it could also bifurcate, with the new parts each linked to a different coin. A money changer at Venice in the middle fifteenth century had to deal with no fewer than eleven different moneys of account—all based on Venetian issues. From about 1600 through the French Revolution and beyond, moneys of account became entirely divorced from minted coins. They became totally abstract standards of value, by which the worth of many mint issues could be evaluated and compared. At this point they became fully and purely imaginary money. Lane and Mueller discuss these complex subjects with admirable lucidity. To be sure, the complexities are such that even the authors fall into small inconsistencies. They approve, for example, the opinion that governments were unable "to force the market place to value coins above their intrinsic value" (p. 474). But many times in the book they note that the "scarcity value" of the much-debased piccolo kept its worth significantly above what its silver content would have warranted. The great factor missing in their analysis is population movements. As they note, gold coins served one type of economic exchange (long-distance trade in expensive commodities); and debased silver, another (wages, market purchases of cheap necessities). Surely the demand for currency in these two sectors was in part at least a function of population size. The population collapse in the period of their analysis, from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, was horrendous. For every three persons counting coins in the early fourteenth century, only one remained a hundred years later. Perhaps this explains the radical shift in demand for gold and silver across the same period. The factor is admittedly elusive, but can it be ignored? The achievement of Lane and Mueller remains extraordinary. Nothing like this book exists in the bibliography of medieval economic history. In preparing the second volume, Mueller now must labor alone. Godspeed to him; may volume 2 soon cut across the scholarly heavens with equal splendor.


Abstract This investigation involves the comparison of the diver-sity of understorey vegetation of four desert planted for-ests with the adjacent desert areas. Spatial and temporalvariations in species composition and structure werecompared, and alpha and beta diversities were comparedfor the field data collected from sampled sites. The diver-sity of native desert species decreased from 66% in desertareas to 44% of the total recorded plants inside theforests. Meanwhile, the percentage of agricultural weedspecies increased in forests to >twofold more than thatrecorded in desert areas. Plant communities in foreststands shared 340% in some forestscompared with the desert areas. Alpha diversity andb-diversity were significantly higher in forest stands thanin the desert. Spatial and temporal variations in speciesdiversity were correlated with type of tree canopy andirrigation system. Planted forests had significant negativeeffects on the diversity of native desert shrubs and trees.Using flood irrigation and more spacing between treesmight help in conserving the floristic diversity of desertshrubs and trees at the forest floor.Key words: Arid lands, Egypt, planted forests,similarity, species diversity


The purpose of the present study is to present research data on the propagation of the southern spotted channel catfish.


Both clinical and experimental evidence suggest that diabetes mellitus impairs cardiac performance to a greater extent in the presence of hypertension than it does in the absence of hypertension. There is also indirect evidence to suggest that a low thyroid state, which often coincides with experimental and clinical diabetes, may contribute to this impairment. The following study was designed to characterize selected cardiovascular sequelae of diabetes in the hypertensive rat, and to determine whether involvement of attendant hypothyroidism is functionally significant. The hypotheses of this study can be summarized as follows: 1) The marked depression in cardiac performance caused by diabetes in hypertensive rats is associated with impairments in sarcoplasmic reticular (SR) calcium uptake and with prolongations in the duration of ventricular muscle action potentials; and 2) Demonstrated disturbances in cardiac performance, SR calcium uptake, and action potential duration caused by diabetes could then be altered by either thyroid hormone or insulin treatment in vivo. To test these hypotheses, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were made diabetic with a single injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 45 mg/kg). Subgroups of diabetic animals were treated with either thyroid hormone (T 3; 8-10 μg/kg/day) or insulin (10-20 U/kg/day). After 8 weeks of untreated and treated diabetes, the following measurements were taken: 1) Indices of performance (contraction and relaxation) of perfused, working hearts ex vivo; 2) Rate and extent of calcium uptake by microsomal preparations of ventricular homogenates in vitro; and 3) Action potential profiles of papillary muscle in vitro. Control groups for various studies included nonhypertensive Wistar Kyoto (WI<Y) rats, and renovascular hypertensive (RVH) rats, to rule out strain-dependent effects in the SHR model, food-restricted nondiabetic rats to control primarily for reductions in heart size, and rats pretreated with 3-0-methylglucose to protect against the diabetogenic effects of STZ (as a control for nonselective STZ-induced cardiotoxicity). The results showed, first, that indices of left ventricular (LV) performance ex vivo (e.g., LV pressure generation and rates of contraction and relaxation) of SHR, but not WI<Y rats, were depressed by diabetes. Diabetes-induced LV mechanical deficits of SHR were ameliorated by either insulin or T3 treatment. The adverse effects of diabetes on mechanical function of SHR hearts were independent of coronary macrolesions, as evidenced by normal coronary flow rates, myocardial oxygen consumption and coronary vascular resistance in the diabetic SHR group. These data provide additional evidence that a "diabetic cardiomyopathy" at least partially contributes to depressed function in the SHR and that thyroid hormone treatment can prevent at least a portion of the mechanical deficits. Second, the results showed that diabetes impaired LV relaxation and depressed rates of SR calcium uptake in the SHR left ventricle without affecting either measurement in the WKY group. Thyroid hormone treatment completely prevented these mechanical and biochemical changes in the diabetic SHR heart. The third component of the results indicated that diabetes prolonged the ventricular action potential to the same extent in the SHR as it did in the WKY. Either insulin or T3 treatment of diabetic SHR completely prevented the prolongation of the action potential. As it did in the SHR strain, diabetes also caused a marked depression in the performance in hearts of RVH rats. Similarly, T3 treatment of diabetic RVH, like T3 treatment of diabetic SHR, prevented the impairment of cardiac performance. Collectively, these results suggest that left ventricular hypertrophy, as a common element of SHR and RVH models of hypertension, predisposes the myocardium to the adverse effects of diabetes. The thyroid hormone deficit associated with diabetes, in both the SHR and RVH models of hypertension, may contribute to this myocardial dysfunction. Furthermore, since thyroid hormone treatment of diabetic SHR prevents impaired SR calcium uptake and action potential prolongation, attendant hypothyroidism may play a significant role in the etiology of diabetic cardiomyopathy in hypertrophic left ventricle. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank Dr. Robert L. Rodgers for his support, guidance and encouragement throughout my tenure in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. By virtue of example, Dr. Rodgers has helped me mature as a researcher and as an educator. I am grateful to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association for awarding me a two year predoctoral fellowship which expedited the completion of this study. I would also like to express my appreciation to the members of my committee for the critical reading of this dissertation and wish to thank specifically; Dr. Zahir Shaikh, Dr. John Babson and Dr. Jennifer Specker. I wish to acknowledge the work of the following people and extend my deepest thanks to each of them. Francine Pinault provided invaluable technical skills that enabled the completion of the calcium uptake study. Hark Harianni conducted the surgery for the renovascular hypertension study. Christian Vye's expertise in statistics and computer operations were also invaluable. The following work would have been severely compromised if it were not for the support, friendship and technical abilities of these people and particularly of Michael Christe.


Abstract : This survey closely examines the mathematical methods in use for the ill-posed problems invariably confronted at the beginning stage of the automatic/aided target recognition problem, where features relevant to the ultimate recognition goal must be extracted from images of various kinds. These methods include maximum a posteriori estimation, regularization theoretic approaches, multiple deconvolution techniques, and the simulated-annealing method called stochastic relaxation and annealing. Also examined are some of the methodological and philosophical issues relevant to the image recognition task. A relatively detailed theoretical perspective on the overall problem area is conveyed. (Author)


This paper examines the value relevance of accounting information in Selected Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE) for the per-period and post-period of accounting reforms, which could be described the effect of accounting standards reform in these countries. The results obtained from a combination of regression and portfolio approach, show that accounting information is value relevant in selected stock exchanges. Keyword: Value Relevance, IFRS, Accounting Information, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia


Some points presented in the paper by Rowe et al. ([Rowe et al., 2013][1]) require discussion.

Rowe and colleagues presume that multitonne Late Cretaceous high latitude hadrosaurs migrated thousands of straightline kilometers each year to avoid severe arctic winter conditions. However, movements


Now a big problem for an administration of health care is prematurely born children. The assessment of a state of health of the children born with extremely low and very low body weight at the birth is carried out. Among 45 newborns whose body weight at the birth was 1000,0 g and less, whose gestation term at the birth was from 26 to 30 weeks of a gestation 71,1% of the children died; 22,3% of children with body weight from 1000 gram to 1499 gram and 8,2% of newborns with body weight from 1500 gram to 2499 gram died. 75% of mothers had various somatic diseases, existence of urogenital infections is noted at 21,1% of cases. Intrapartum period in 88% of cases proceeded with complications, creating a risk of fetal hypoxia. At discharge from the hospital every child born with extremely low body weight, had 5.3 disease on average. Thus, successful nursing of children with extremely low and low body weight at the birth provides satisfactory quality of life and lack of incidence and disability.


The new information and communications technologies (ICTs) grant people an access to alternative source of information, breaking the state's monopoly over information dissemination in authoritarian regimes. This study concentrates on the impact of the Internet on individual resistance to political indoctrination. Drawing evidence from survey data of more than 1200 college students, this paper finds that the time spent with the Internet and online civic engagement increase the probability of absence in college political education. Hence, the Internet helps free people from political indoctrination.


Abstract The crystal structure of the aluminosilicate, ZSM-10 (T108O216, where T = Si, Al), has been determined from electron diffraction and powder X-ray diffraction data. The material crystallizes in space group P6/mmm, where a = 31.390(2), c = 7.5147(8) Å. The framework [001] projection was determined independently with 300 kV precession electron diffraction amplitudes by direct methods. T-site positions in this projection were consistent with two models proposed in 1996 by Higgins and Schmitt. Subsequent Rietveld refinement favors their model A, comprising stacked cancrinite cages and hexagonal prisms. The framework density is 16.6 T sites/1000 Å3, similar to zeolite framework LTL. However, the refinement against synchrotron data from a dehydrated sample (Rwp = 0.1600, R(F2) = 0.1418) finds no extra-framework species, despite the detection of some K+ in the material.


The construction and operation of a laboratory biofilm generator designed to grow sessile populations of legionellas for biocide efficacy testing is described. Some examples of static biocide testing on both sessile and planktonic populations of Legionella bozemanii are discussed along with other potential applications of the apparatus.


Electrostatic actuated radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF-MEMS) switches and variable capacitors are susceptible to issues related to RF actuation or even RF pull-in under large-signal regime. This phenomenon is strictly related to the average RF voltage more than power, and the impedance environment of the device should be fully accounted for. We perform for the first time large-signal time-domain measurements to characterize the RF actuation effect on the real-time capacitance value of a suspended membrane-based RF-MEMS varactor, while controlling the load impedance presented to the device with an active load-pull. The dependence of RF-actuation on both real impedance and inductive admittance is directly extracted, giving strong insights on how power handling should be carefully scrutinized against each specific circuit design.


Extracting useful information from electronically recorded data measurements often requires the signal to be separated from the noise and the blurring impulse response deconvolved out. In order to denoise LADC-GEMM underwater acoustic data, we apply and compare several techniques from Fourier frequency filtering and wavelet denoising. We also look at methods of estimating the acoustic impulse response (system response, transfer function, etc.) for the northern Gulf of Mexico to be used in implementing several deconvolution methods applied to the same dataset. Deconvolution techniques tested include Fourier deconvolution, Wiener filtering, various blind deconvolution methods, as well as combination algorithms. Comparisons of techniques will be presented, showing that the different methods may yield different results. Metrics for analysis will include both the final quality of results along with computational efficiency. Some recommendations will be made within the framework of marine mammal signal detection; although specifics of denoising and deconvolution will often be data dependent, these ideas can be applied more broadly to a variety of situations.Extracting useful information from electronically recorded data measurements often requires the signal to be separated from the noise and the blurring impulse response deconvolved out. In order to denoise LADC-GEMM underwater acoustic data, we apply and compare several techniques from Fourier frequency filtering and wavelet denoising. We also look at methods of estimating the acoustic impulse response (system response, transfer function, etc.) for the northern Gulf of Mexico to be used in implementing several deconvolution methods applied to the same dataset. Deconvolution techniques tested include Fourier deconvolution, Wiener filtering, various blind deconvolution methods, as well as combination algorithms. Comparisons of techniques will be presented, showing that the different methods may yield different results. Metrics for analysis will include both the final quality of results along with computational efficiency. Some recommendations will be made within the framework of marine mammal signal detectio...


The potential benefits of local food derived from rebon shrimp (Acetes sp.) as a preventive measure for dental caries are described in this study, which focused on Bagan Serdang village. Situated in the coastal area of Pantai Labu subdistrict, Deli Serdang Regency, this village relies mainly on fisheries for income resources, with rebon shrimp being one of the leading marine products. The high abundance of calcium in rebon shrimp is well-known, with 2,306 mg of shrimp paste equivalent to 16 times the calcium content of 100 g of dietary milk. This preliminary study aimed to investigate the potential of rebon shrimp as a preventive measure for dental caries in school children aged 8-12 years from public elementary school 106448 in Bagan Serdang village. The study utilized Cariogram software to assess caries risk factors, including caries experience, pH and saliva secretion, plaque index, diet contents and frequency, fluoride exposure program, and clinical judgment. Atomic Absorbed Spectrophotometer (AAS) method was used to measure salivary calcium ions. In addition, the calcium content in rebon shrimp was measured in the laboratory of the industrial research center in Medan. The concentration of salivary calcium ions was found to be very low, with a mean of 0.75±0.32 mmol/L. The Cariogram assessment revealed a high caries risk of 54.12% among elementary school children. The laboratory results showed that dried rebon shrimp had a calcium content of 1.50% (w/w), while fresh rebon shrimp had a calcium content of 1.54% (w/w). Given the high prevalence and caries risk profile of elementary school children in Bagan Serdang village, the study suggests that the low concentration of salivary calcium ions and the high availability of calcium-enriched rebon shrimp can be used as a preventive strategy against dental caries in this population.


For a locally compact group, property RD gives a control on the convolution norm of any compactly supported measure in terms of the $L^2$-norm of its density and the diameter of its support. We give a complete classification of those Lie groups with property RD.


Chip-loading medium substrate of the present invention to connect the chip and the substrate and the chip pads and the wiring pad having a plurality of wiring pads on the chip is mounted, and can grow a chip pad line having a plurality of chip pads including the bonding wires, and a protective layer having a via hole for exposing the wiring pad, while embedding the chip and the substrate and the via is connected to the wire pads grown through via holes and the via side walls of the via hole, the wiring pads and the It is formed on the surface of the protective layer. And, by using a chip-loading medium substrate of the present invention can constitute a semiconductor package having a chip of various sizes.


The present invention, for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, the use of acceptable salts pidotimod or a physiologically. For the treatment of the present invention, acceptable salts pidotimod or a physiologically it may be administered either orally or rectally.


Massless Dirac particles on the helicoid are theoretically investigated. With its possible application being helical graphene, we explore how the peculiarities of Dirac particles appear on the curved, screw-symmetric surface. Zweibein is used to derive the massless Dirac equation on the helicoid and on general curved surfaces. We show that bound states of massless Dirac electrons on the helicoid are absent, and thus the system is fully characterized by the scattering probabilities and the phase shifts. We obtain these quantities from numerically calculated wave functions. We find the local density of states and the phase shifts behave characteristically around the axis of the helicoid. Bound states of massive Dirac electrons on the surface are also shown to be absent as an extension of the above result on massless Dirac electrons. A comparison with the nonrelativistic case is also made.


The electrostrictive orientational mechanism of optical nonlinearity in the artificial Kerr-like medium with nonspheroidal nanoparticles is analyzed. The thermal contribution to the cubic nonlinearity of transparent nanosuspension takes into account for the first time. The exact solution was obtained for the light induced lens response in a one-beam scheme. It is shown that thermal response reduces the value of electrostrictive nonlinearity for the shot time period and disappears in the stationary state.


Crossbreed Holstein finishing steers (18) of 200±25kg weight were assigned randomly to 1 of the 3 groups of having 6 anImals In each with different, rations of study the effects of different levels of calcium long chain of fatty acids (CaLCFA) on growth, feed converSIon efficIency and dry matter intake. The experiment lasted for 120 days. In each group there were 6 steers and the control group received 0% of Ca-LCFA, first group 30/0 and the second group 60/0 of CaL~ FA., Overall physilogical reaction like respiration rate and body temperature in all the groups were not significant. Likewise on the observation of feeding behaiors lesser time was taken in eating in control groups than other groups. In rumination time none of the experimental steers showed significant effect.


Se−Te alloy nanocrystals (NCs) were synthesized in aqueous micellar phase at 85 °C by using Na2SeO3/Na2TeO3 as Se/Te source in the presence of different amounts of hydrazine (i.e., 0.1−3.6 M) as reducing agent over the entire mole fraction range of Se (xSe) from xSe = 0 to 1. The shape, structure, and composition of alloy NCs were characterized by scanning electron microscopic (SEM), transmission electron microscopic (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic (EDS) measurements. Despite many similar characteristic features of elemental Se and Te, a drastic change in the morphology of NCs was observed from xSe = 0 to 1. Amorphous water-soluble Se nanoparticles were obtained at xSe = 1 in the presence of excess of hydrazine, whereas long nanoribbons of several micrometers of Te were produced at xSe = 0. In the intermediate mole fractions, a smooth transition in the morphology from predominantly rhombohedral in the Se rich-region to long nanoribbons in the Te rich-region of the mixtures was observed. A...


Invited to give a talk alongside Dr Rathna Ramanathan and David Blamey (RCA) to Northumbria University's NPRG and Media Arts Research Group, my contribution: Design advanced practice and Epistemology, explored the challenge and opportunity within Design when articulating individual designers epistemologies which are influenced by educational and professional / creative trajectories.


Cheatgrass is a highly invasive winter annual grass that is most aggressive in the semi-arid steppe region of western North America. In this region, cheatgrass invasion becomes so severe that virtual monocultures can result. Due to its strategy for growth from autumn to spring, cheatgrass remains active during winter months when most native vegetation is dormant. This shift in host activity could be important for beneficial soil microbes, particularly the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), as they are adapted for coincidental growth with host plants. Many native plant species that are utilized for restoring areas invaded by cheatgrass associate with AMF, so any reduction in these symbiotic fungi could reduce the successful establishment of desirable plant species. Although cheatgrass is recognized as a facultative associate of AMF, its associations with AMF across seasons and throughout its lifespan are not known. We measured AMF colonization of cheatgrass roots from soon after germination through senescence. We found that cheatgrass remains colonized throughout its life. Colonization drops dramatically once soil temperatures approach freezing, but was highest late in the growth cycle of cheatgrass during flowering and seed set. Colonization by AMF never attained levels comparable to highly mycorrhizal plant species. This indicates that cheatgrass is a poor host for AMF throughout its life, and long-term dominance by cheatgrass could alter AMF in soils. Restoring highly invaded sites quickly following invasion might reduce the negative effects of cheatgrass on this important soil microbial community.


Two new zinc(II) microporous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), [Zn(dcpy)(bpe)0.5]·3H2O (1) and [Zn(dcpy)(bpe)0.5]·(CH3OH)0.5·(H2O)0.5 (2) constructed from the same initial materials 3-(2',5'-dicarboxylphenyl)pyridine (H2dcpy), 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe) and Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, exhibiting varying architectures from a 2-fold parallel interpenetrated structure to a 4-fold parallel interpenetrated framework were synthesized by changing the reaction solvents. Complexes 1 and 2 are supramolecular isomeric and both show 2-nodal (3,4)-connected networks, which represent rare dmc and coe topology styles, respectively. Interestingly, 1 presents reversible crystal structural transformation upon dehydration and rehydration, whereas 2 transforms into a new crystal phase 2a after desolvated. When dipping 2a into a DMF/CH3OH/H2O mixed solvent, another new crystal phase 2b can be formed, moreover, 2a and 2b could convert to each other through desolvation and solvation. In particular, the dehydrated 1a shows a high selective gas sorption for H2 over N2 at 77 K and high selectivity for CO2 over N2 at 293 K. The photoluminescence behaviors of 1 and 2 are also discussed.


The present study was conducted on degree college libraries of Meerut district, UP to explore the extent of Human Resource Management (HRM) usually practiced by them. This study is an attempt to identify the present status of human resource management pattern along with services provided by college libraries of Meerut district, and some suggestions are recommended regarding the development of the library's human resource structure. The study is based on primary as well as secondary information. Data has been collected through a questionnaire and also on the basis of interview method. The finding of the study shows that the college library personnel are insufficient to maintain a modern library system as needed.


At the Institutes of Transport and Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT), in particular, students develop receptive types of foreign language communication activities. Verbal skills are primarily formed while mastering different types of reading modern science technical texts. Innovative ways of working with authentic texts are supposed to use modern computer information technology and computer training programmes.


The latest results of HERA searches for lepton events with missing transverse momentum are presented. They are based on the full HERA I data sets, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 130 pb−1 (ZEUS) and 116 pb−1 (H1). At low hadronic PT , a good agreement is found with the Standard Model prediction, dominated by W production. At high hadronic PT , H1 observes more events than expected. Several of them are kinematically compatible with a single top quark decay. Complementary searches by both experiments for a top signal in the hadronic channel show no excess compared to Standard Model predictions. Limits on a possible anomalous FCNC coupling of the top quark to the u quark and the photon are derived. 1. Lepton events with missing transverse momentum 1.1 Topologies and selection strategies The events are required to contain at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon) with a high transverse momentum P l T , together with missing transverse momentum P miss T . They may also contain a hadronic system X with transverse momentum P T . The H1 selection[1] is optimised for W -like topologies, whereas ZEUS[2] performed both an inclusive analysis dominated by non-W processes, and a search tuned for W 's at high-P T . The analysed data sets correspond to a factor 3 increase in integrated luminosity compared to published results [3], [4]. ∗Speaker. †On behalf of the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations. h e p 2 0 0 1 HEP2001 Claude Vallée


We give a direct path-integral calculation of the partition function for pure 3+1 dimensional U(N) Yang-Mills theory at large N on a small S{sup 3}, up to two loop order in perturbation theory. From this, we calculate the one loop shift in the Hagedorn/deconfinement temperature for the theory at small volume, finding that it increases (in units of the inverse sphere radius) as we go to larger coupling (larger volume). Our results also allow us to read off the sum of one loop anomalous dimensions for all operators with a given engineering dimension in planar Yang-Mills theory on R{sup 4}. As checks on our calculation, we reproduce both the Hagedorn shift and some of the anomalous dimension sums by independent methods using the results of Beisert et al. [Nucl. Phys. B 717, 137 (2005)] and Spradlin and Volovich [Nucl. Phys. B 711, 199 (2005)]. The success of our calculation provides a significant check of methods used by Aharony et al. [Phys. Rev. D 71, 125018 (2005)] to establish a first-order deconfinement transition for pure Yang-Mills theory on a small S{sup 3}.


AbstractIncreasing coastal populations and storm intensity may lead to more adverse health effects from tropical storms and hurricanes. Exposure during pregnancy can influence birth outcomes through mechanisms related to healthcare, infrastructure disruption, stress, nutrition, and injury. However, accurate estimation of health effects may be limited by nonspecific exposure definitions that create potential misclassification. The two predominant hurricane exposure assignments are (1) the county of a FEMA presidential disaster declaration; and (2) the specified area within a storm track. The authors propose a third method: meteorological severity of wind speed. Based on the Saffir-Simpson categories, wind speed was examined through binary and quartile comparisons. All three methods of exposure classification were compared by examining the associations with county-level preterm birth and low-birth-weight rates among Florida women who were pregnant during the 2004 hurricane season. The county-level environme...


Based on clamp meter method,transmission tower model is established and simulated in this paper.The multi-tower loop resistance and theoretical value of tower grounding resistance are compared and the error factor and its sensitivity are analyzed as well.The result indicates that resistance of conductor such as lighting conduct etc.is the major factor which causes the error in lower earth resistivity,and in high earth resistivity the mutual resistance between the tower grounding grids and tower base is the major factor of error.


Interview with prominent Czech hydrotechnician prof. Ing. Vojtěch Brož, DrSc., about his career in the field of water management, his view on contemporary water works and their creation, etc.


We construct the Hilbert compactification of the universal moduli space of semistable vector bundles over smooth curves. The Hilbert compactification is the GIT quotient of some open part of an appropriate Hilbert scheme of curves in a Grassmannian. It has all the properties asked for by Teixidor.


Mn-doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) nanostructures were prepared by direct reaction of zinc metal and manganese chloride powder under oxygen environment using chemical vapor deposition method. Several kinds of nanostructures including nanorod, bowl, and cage were obtained at different deposition temperature zones. The morphologies and crystal structures of the as-synthesized nanostructures were characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Superconducting quantum interference device measurement shows that the doped nanorods exhibited low-temperature ferromagnetism at 5K with Curie temperature around 37K, whereas the DMS nanocrystalline bowl/cage structures have room-temperature ferromagnetic behavior.


The proteolytic activity of plasmin, total proteolytic activity (plasmin+plasminogen), the range of proteolytic changes measured as the concentration of free amino groups and the profile of low molecular weight nitrogen compounds were determined in UHT milk with 0.5 and 3.2% fat content directly after production and after storage at 4±2 and 22±2°C for 2, 4 and 6 months. The results of the study indicate that plasmin activity in 0.5% UHT milk directly after production was 0.47·10 -3 ΔA/min on average, total proteolytic activity was 0.83x10 -3 ΔA/min and the concentration of free amino groups was 8.58 μmol/ml. The analyzed parameters increased after 6 months of storage at a temperature of 4±2 and 22±2°C. The highest increase was reported in milk 0.5% fat content stored at 22±2°C. The chromatographic separation of milk immediately after production revealed only few peaks which indicates low concentration of low molecular nitrogen compounds. Storage of UHT milk increased their concentration, as demonstrated by a higher number of peaks, while storage conditions affected the quantity of the above compounds. The content of low molecular nitrogen compounds was the highest in milk 0.5% fat content stored at 22±2°C. The viscosity and acidity of stored milk also increased.


Mixing process was investigated as a function of metal element size, external magnetic field magnitude and distance from metal cylinder surface. Investigation results have shown an application of magnetic field is possible instrument for electrolyte flow parameter change. Magnetohydrodynamic mixer of an electrolytes solution was proposed on investigation results base. The advantages of proposed device are simple construction and absence energy consumption. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


A mechanism based on the adsorption of the phosphoric acid on the external surface of the CaCO3 solid phase followed by reaction of surface species with phosphoric acid and further transfer of the formed Ca(H2PO4)2 in the solid−liquid interface for the dissolution of CaCO3 particles in a phosphoric acid solution is assumed. The reaction of surface species with phosphoric acid was found to be the rate-determining step. The dissolution rate of CaCO3 particles is decreased with the increase of the particle size and is affected dramatically by treatment. The dissolution of untreated particles is accompanied by intense breakdown of the particles, and the rate and extent of breakdown depends on the particle size. Adequate pretreatment with steam makes the CaCO3 particle resistant to breakdown, and the dissolution rate becomes very slow.


Hybrid principal nets were accepting lot of reasoning in the contemporary times. Most of routing tariffs indoors merger motile attachs combines cornerstone manual transmission mode in reach grade peripatetic systems concurrently crude but effective information mode past wandering of inferior quality nets. A mule radiotelephone institute includes a responsibility transmission shackle also a changing cheaply made institute. In our work, we describe an assigned three-hop data routing pact for soup peripatetic structures. Proposed assigned three-hop data routing strategy reduces clearness with minor path lengths over eviction of line appear further maintenance.


We prove that the elementary theories of all nonabelian free groups coincide and that the elementary theory of a free group is decidable. These results answer two old questions that were raised by A. Tarski around 1945. The object of this announcement is to sketch proofs of the following two theorems. Theorem 1. The elementary theories of all nonabelian free groups coincide. Theorem 2. The elementary theory of a free group is decidable. These theorems answer two old questions that were raised by A. Tarski around 1945. We recall that the elementary theory Th(G) of a group G is the set of all first order sentences in the language of group theory which are true in G. Notice that in the language of group theory every sentence is equivalent to a sentence of the following type: Φ = ∀X1∃Y1 . . . ∀Xk∃Yk r ∨


Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, ascorbate) promotes immune cell activities by supporting various cellular functions especially, in neutrophils or polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes, which play an important role in bacterial infection and acute inflammation. Little data have been reported in impact of vitamin C on PMN function during bacterial phagocytosis in healthy individuals. Here, we have elucidated the effect of vitamin C on PMN phagocytosis and oxidative burst to Staphylococcus aureus by whole blood assay and flow cytometry after pre-incubation without and with vitamin C in vary concentrations. The results showed that vitamin C concentration at 20 mM induced a significant increase phagocytosis (p-value=0.03) and had trend to significant increase oxidative burst (p-value=0.06) while vitamin C concentration of 30 mM showed significant increase both phagocytosis and oxidative burst (p-value=0.04 and 0.02, respectively) at only 15 min of exposure to the bacteria. As a minimal concentration that can increase phagocytosis, we selected vitamin C at 20 mM as optimal concentration to investigate more data by enrollment of healthy volunteers (n=17). The results revealed significant difference both phagocytosis and oxidative burst after 20 mM vitamin C pre-incubation (p<0.0001). In conclusion, we showed that vitamin C at 20 mM can boost phagocytosis and oxidative burst of neutrophils in healthy adults within 15 min after bacterial exposure. This rapid activation may be applied to fight bacterial infection. Nevertheless, further research in clinical trial and underlying mechanisms await further studies.


Suspension plasma spraying was used to achieve a dense and thin (/spl sim/30 /spl mu/m) yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) coating for the electrolyte of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). A suspension of YSZ powder (d/sub 50//spl sim/1 /spl mu/m) was mechanically injected in direct current (dc) plasma jets. The plasma jet acted as an atomizer and the suspension drops (d/spl sim/200 /spl mu/m) were sheared, long before they started vaporizing, into many droplets (d/spl sim/2 /spl mu/m). The solvent of the latters was then very rapidly (a few microseconds) evaporated and decomposed by the plasma jet. The solid particles enclosed in each droplet were then accelerated and melted before impacting on the substrate where they formed splats. The thermal inertia of particles with sizes below 1 /spl mu/m being low, the standoff distance was much shorter than in conventional plasma spraying (40-60 against 100-120 mm). Thus, the heat flux from the plasma to the coating reached 20 MW/spl middot/m/sup -2/ when spraying YSZ suspensions with Ar-H/sub 2/ or Ar-H/sub 2/-He plasma jets. It allowed keeping the whole pass (about 0.8-/spl mu/m-thick) completely molten resulting after its solidification, for YSZ, in a fully dense coating (20-30-/spl mu/m-thick) with a granular microstructure.


A new half-analytical method is presented for the accurate calculation of the winding ends leakage inductance in rotating electrical machines with wound armatures, based on the integration of Maxwell's magnetic equations in the free space, magnetic images and surface distributions for modelling the effect of the slots and of the air gap. The obtained results agree with those calculated by the traditional methods.


Purpose: We report cancerological and functional outcome in 41 patients who underwent interilioabdominal disarticulation for malignant tumours. Material and methods: This retrospective series included 27 men and 14 women, mean age 49 years, most of whom underwent surgery for chondrosarcoma. In ten patients, the disarticulation followed a resection-reconstruction procedure. In five patients, it followed curettage or contaminated margin resection. For seven patients it was performed after radiotherapy alone. None of the patients had metastatic dissemination prior to surgery. The resection margins were in healthy tissue in 24 cases and contaminated in 17. Mean follow-up was 62 months. Results: Twenty-eight patients died from their disease and one died from pulmonary embolism. At last follow-up, among the 13 living patients, five had local or general relapse. For the 17 patients who had contaminated resection margins, ten developed a recurrent tumour compared with five recurrent tumours among the 25 patients with resection margins in healthy tissue. Mean five-and ten-year survival rates were 30% and 25% respectively. Initial treatment, tumour size and tumour histology did not have any significant effect on prognosis. The only factor with a significant effect on survival was the quality of the resection margins. All patients were able to walk with two crutches. Discussion: Interilioabdominal disarticulation is a very mutilating procedure. Since the development of conservative surgery of the pelvis, indications for interilioabdominal disarticulation are generally limited to very voluminous endopelvic tumours with vessel and nerve invasion. For local recurrence after surgical resection of the pelvis or proximal femur, especially in patients with infection or radiated tissue, interilioabdominal disarticulation may be the only solution providing satisfactory cancerological resection. Careful exploration of the locoregional and general extension is necessary before proposing this mutilating procedure, with its inherent psychological and functional impact, in order to properly select patients free of metastasis who could benefit from the cancerological resection provided by inter-ilioabdominal disarticulation.