The invention relates to wireless real-time screen transfer equipment which is characterized by comprising an emission module and a receiving end, wherein the emission module is installed in a user application terminal; the emission module comprises an emission end control module, an emission end background screen capture module and an emission end coding compression module; the emission module carries out capturing and transferring on data and sends the data to the receiving end through a wireless mode; the receiving end is connected to a large screen display terminal through a data line; the receiving end is used for receiving the data sent by the emission module and decoding and outputting the data. The invention further relates to a wireless real-time screen transfer method. According to the wireless real-time screen transfer equipment and method, through combination of the emission module and the receiving end, a previously traditional wired connection screen transfer technology is changed, real-time wireless screen transfer connection can be achieved, and convenience and rapidity of screen transfer are increased.


We provide the first records of six species of biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the genus Culicoides Latreille from Mexico: C. baueri Hoffman, C. castillae Fox, C. debilipalpis Lutz, C. iriartei Fox, C. leoni Barbosa and C. pusilloides Wirth and Blanton. In addition, C. leopoldoi Ortiz is confirmed from Mexico, and new records are included for 25 other species previously recorded in Mexico: C. arubae Fox and Hoffman, C. blantoni Vargas and Wirth, C. crepuscularis Malloch, C. daedalus Macfie, C. diabolicus Hoffman, C. foxi Ortiz, C. furens (Poey), C. gabaldoni Ortiz, C. haematopotus Malloch, C. hylas Macfie, C. insignis Lutz, C. jamaicensis Edwards, C. luteovenus Root and Hoffman, C. neopulicaris Wirth, C. nigrigenus Wirth and Blanton, C. pampoikilus Macfie, C. panamensis Barbosa, C. paraensis (Goeldi), C. phlebotomus (Williston), C. poikilonotus Macfie, C. pusillus Lutz, C. stigmalis Wirth, and all three species in the C. (Monoculicoides) variipennis complex, C. variipennis (Coquillett), C. occidentalis Wirth and Jones, and C. sonorensis Wirth and Jones.


Review(s) of: A geography of heritage: Power, culture and economy, by Brian Graham, G.J. Ashworth and J.E. Tunbridge, Publisher: Arnold, London, 2000.


Organic.Edunet is a European initiative that aims to facilitate access to digital educational content related to Organic Agriculture and Agroecology. This paper presents the rationale of this effort, the overall architecture of the Web-based environment to be deployed, and a typical usage scenario.


Although central banks possess a similar function across the industrial democracies, their institutional structures—their levels of independence—differ greatly. My explanation of this variation emphasizes the informational asymmetries of monetary policymaking. Government ministers have informational advantages in the policy process, potentially creating conflicts with backbench legislators and, in a multiparty government, coalition partners. An independent central bank can help alleviate these conflicts. Politicians will choose an independent bank (1) if government ministers, party legislators, and coalition partners have different monetary policy incentives and (2) if government ministers fear that party legislators and coalition partners will withdraw their support over a policy dispute. I statistically test the argument against the cross-national variation of central bank institutions. I also use the theoretical framework to examine episodes of institutional choice and reform in Germany, Britain, and Italy.


Red maple is one of the most abundant and wide-ranging tree species in eastern North America and has rapidly increased in abundance over the past century following forest disturbances. This species is both a site- and light-generalist and has the unique ability to regenerate in forms that represent multiple stages of forest succession. However, red maple has modest physiological traits compared to its competitors, including low maximum photosynthetic rate, low photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency, and low foliar nutrient content. Red maple's unremarkable physiology contradicts its competitive success. To untangle this paradox, we examine red maple's two distinct regeneration mechanisms: seedlings and vegetative sprouts. Red maple can regenerate from seed, but can also sprout clonally from a stump following forest disturbance. We compare the morphology, physiology, and plasticity of these two regeneration mechanisms over 24 years of forest succession using a chronosequence of regenerating forest stands. We found that sprout-origin maples grow on average 6.5x taller and 5.5x faster than seed-origin maples. Sprout-origin trees display greater leaf spectral reflectance in the near-infrared range and greater stomatal density than seed-origin trees, demonstrating vegetative sprouts' low water-use efficiency. Sprout-origin trees have more robust light-capture traits, including thicker palisade mesophyll than seed-origin trees. Sprouts also have a high plasticity between upper and lower leaves in many morphological and physiological traits, while seed-origin trees exhibited much less plasticity. The two distinct regeneration mechanisms of seed-origin and sprout-origin give rise to red maple trees with dramatically different leaf traits, allowing red maples to regenerate and thrive in a range of ecological conditions. Seed-origin maples are slow-growing, late successional, and shade-tolerant. Sprout-origin maples are fast-growing, early successional, and shade intolerant. This unique bimodal regeneration strategy may explain the red maple paradox and help predict forest composition and structure following disturbance.


The early stage of aging in Al-1-15at%Ag alloys was investigated by means of electrical resistivity and specific heat measurements and X-ray diffraction method. The η'-zones are formed immediately after quenching and spherical G.P. zones are subsequently formed in the early stage of aging. The spherical G.P. zones formed at lower temperatures consist of an ordered arrangement of Ag atoms (ordered state, η-zone). Those formed at elevated temperatures, on the other hand, consist of a disordered arrangement of Ag atoms (disordered state, e-zone). The η- and e-zones reversibly transform from one state to another at the transition temperature. The experimental transition temperatures are 140° to 160°C for Al-1-3at%Ag alloys and 160° to 180°C for Al-5-15at%Ag alloys.


Macroc~nematographic video recordings showed that Lacuna spp can ploduce a mucous thread and Initiate drifting when exposed to water flows (parhcularly oscillating currents) The gastropods can play an active role in thelr dispersal by raislng the metapodlum regardless of their orientahon to water flow direction until most of the sole s surface no longer contacts the substratum (only the most antenor [propodial] region remalns flued) The mucus produced and accumulated at the posterior of the sole of the foot is then taken away \mth the water current, and stretched up to 160 times the length of the gastropod The mucous thread pulled by water currents then transports the gastropod enabling it to drift in an almost neutrally buoyant fashion In Lacuna spp , the productton of a mucous thread also greatly reduces sinking rates (3to 8-fold), while extension of the foot and antennae during the descent does not Mucous threads also increase the drifting gastropod s ability to obtain rapid contact with, and attach to, nearby substrata


This paper presents an algorithm for rotating a subimage in place without using any extra working array. Due to this constraint, we have to overwrite pixel values by interpolated values. Key ideas are local reliability test which determines whether interpolation at a pixel is carried out correctly without using interpolated values, and lazy interpolation which stores interpolated values in a region which is never used for output images and then fills in interpolated values after safety is guaranteed. It is shown that linear interpolation is always safely implemented. An extension to cubic interpolation is also discussed.


PurposeThe study aims to examine the impacts of management practices on innovation along with the mediating and moderating role of degree of competition, business environment and environmental policies.Design/methodology/approachData were derived from the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2019 for Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan and analyzed by using PLS-SEM to find results.FindingsFindings revealed that management practices have positive significant relationship with the innovation among firms for Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan but surprisingly insignificant relationship in Italy. Further, management practices have positive significant relationship with the environmental policies, business environment and degree of competition among firms in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan. In addition, environmental policies, business environment and degree of competition have positive significant relationship with innovation among firms in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan.Practical implicationsThese useful insights would enable practitioners and policy makers to develop and apply more influential management practices to boost up the level of innovation among firms.Originality/valueAlthough the topics of management practices and innovation have received a great concern of academia, but this is the first study that offers a comprehensive model of the relationship in these domains.


Sprays are used in industrial applications where high heat and mass transfer rates and good mixing are of primary importance. Today, there is no single mathematical framework available to predict the entire spray breakup process at an acceptable computational cost for a typical problem of industrial size. In this work, we develop a volume-of-fluid (VOF) framework that is combined with Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) to take advantage of the respective strengths of these two approaches in the dense and dilute regions of the spray. A statistical model is constructed that makes the transition from the VOF to the LPT formulation possible using input data about the primary breakup process obtained from detailed VOF simulations. A novel void-handling scheme is used to make volume conservation possible for the two approaches combined on a single computational mesh. Some examples of the procedure in which the statistical model is tuned are shown and results from the combined framework are presented.


The paper tries to look into the relationships of the characters in Thunderstorm within the framework of conversational analysis.One selection from the Act One of the play is examined in terms of the notion of speech act,and the complicated relationships are revealed in the light of dominance and balance as well as sympathy and alienation.Some concepts of sociolinguistics and pragmatics are also involved in interpreting the relationships.This indicates that conversation analysis works well in interpreting Chinese dramas in a more objective way.


In the light of the present situation that the economic and rational design target isn't taken seriously and the architectural design caters to the wishes of owners' superiors too much,and through the analysis on the economic efficiency of the structural design,this paper puts forward the technical schemes and optimum measures for optimizing the important technical sections of the brick-concrete residence,and probes into some problems that remain to be settled.


The self-thinning rule for even-aged plant populations (also called the -3/2 power law or Yoda's law) is reviewed. This widely accepted but poorly understood generalization predicts that, through time, growth and mortality in a crowded population trace a straight thinning line of slope -3/2 in a log-log plot of average plant weight versus plant density. The evidence for this rule is examined, then reanalyzed to objectively evaluate the strength of support for the rule. Mathematical models are constructed to produce testable predictions about causal factors. Major problems in the evidence for the thinning rule include inattention to contradictory data, lack of hypothesis testing, inappropriate curve-fitting techniques, and the use of an invalid data transformation. The evidence does not support acceptance of the self-thinning rule as a quantitative biological law. The slopes and intercepts of size-density relationships are variable, and the slopes can be explained by simple geometric arguments. 30 figs., 28 tabs.


The clinical study of human recombinant IL-1beta as a leukopoiesis protector, administered intravenously and subcutaneously, simultaneously with the chemotherapy, confirmed the "protective" effect of this cytokine in patients with grade II leukopenia induced by previous cycles of chemotherapy. The highly protective effect of IL-1beta was proved by the normalization of absolute peripheral blood granulocyte counts over 5 days, from the start of hemostimulation in patients with leukopenia induced by previous cycles of chemotherapy, despite the continuation of cytostatic treatment. Changing the method of IL-1beta administration from the intravenous to the subcutaneous route had no statistically significant effect on the protective influence of IL-1beta. The time taken for complete restoration of leukopoiesis was almost the same for both methods, 5 +/- 1 days and 7 +/- 1 days for s.c. and i.v. methods respectively. This effect of IL-1beta, not seen in other hematopoietic growth factors such as GM-CSF and G-CSF, allows greater flexibility as regards chemotherapy and provides increased effectiveness of anticancer treatments.


Based on the study of the relative assessment reports and statistical data of University and National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) fleet of the United States, coupled with the statistical data of 1,500-ton oceanographic research vessels of China, this paper constructs a linear relationship model between the average daily operating cost of oceanographic research vessels and the number of days of use of such vessels, and proposes concrete methods of applying the research results of the average daily operating cost of oceanographic research vessels to technical and economic validation and fleet management.


The synchronization phenomena of coupled oscillators have been researched widely in the fields of communication systems, robot engineering, biological systems, social networks, and so forth, mainly using the van der Pol oscillator and the Kuramoto model. On the other hand, the brain network and other biological neural networks can also cause synchronization. The oscillation and synchronization phenomena of neural networks arise from neurons. However, coupled oscillator models based on neurons have not been investigated sufficiently. It is important to investigate oscillator models based on neurons in order to reveal various complex synchronization phenomena in the brain. In the cerebral cortex, there are the bursting neurons which cause fast rhythmic burst firing. These neurons affect a synchronization phenomenon in the neural network. In this study, we focus on coupled neural oscillators with bursting. The network topologies of coupled neural oscillator are applied from the one of coupled van der Pol oscillator which has a same principle of oscillation. The coupled neural oscillators are composed by resistive couplings as electrical synapses. Furthermore, transition of oscillatory states when a coupled constant is changed.


With an increasing number of smart devices like internet of things devices deployed in the field, offloading training of neural networks (NNs) to a central server becomes more and more infeasible. Recent efforts to improve users' privacy have led to on-device learning emerging as an alternative. However, a model trained only on a single device, using only local data, is unlikely to reach a high accuracy. Federated learning (FL) has been introduced as a solution, offering a privacy-preserving tradeoff between communication overhead and model accuracy by sharing knowledge between devices but disclosing the devices' private data. The applicability and the benefit of applying baseline FL are, however, limited in many relevant use cases due to the heterogeneity present in such environments. In this survey, we outline the heterogeneity challenges FL has to overcome to be widely applicable in real-world applications. We especially focus on the aspect of computation heterogeneity among the participating devices and provide a comprehensive overview of recent works on heterogeneity-aware FL. We discuss two groups: works that adapt the NN architecture and works that approach heterogeneity on a system level, covering Federated Averaging, distillation, and split learning–based approaches, as well as synchronous and asynchronous aggregation schemes.


Researchers compared 19th century data on the population living in Locknevi Parish with data from Tuna Parish both parishes being in Sweden to examine the effect of environment especially resource availability on population dynamics. Tuna Parishs economy was more diverse than that of Locknevi. It consisted of a mix of forestry ironwork and mixed crop agriculture. Tuna Parish inhabitants also were able to hunt and fish. Population measures including fertility did not fluctuate with economic fluctuations in Tuna Parish but did in Locknevi Parish. No difference in response occurred between wealthy and poor groups or landowners vs. non-landowners in Tuna Parish. Yet landowners did have a larger family size regardless of the economic conditions and had less variance than did non-landowners. On the other hand in Locknevi Parish the environmental resource and economic base affected individual fertility and population dynamics of the large wage-dependent agricultural working class. The ability to purchase staple foods (rye fish and butter) varied more than in Tuna Parish. Completed family sizes declined when the economic conditions worsened and increased when they improved. Overall survivorship of infants and <10-year old children fell somewhat in Locknevi but increased considerable for children of the proletariat whose fertility did not fall. Fertility and survivorship fell for the lower middle class. In Locknevi children of the 3 upper middle class men in the initial cohort tended to leave the parish before age 20 and before marriage which paralleled the dividing up of land parcels in several smaller sized parcels. High fertility was not associated with infant loss in either parish. These results indicated that studies of population/environment interactions in developing countries must evaluate variation in both the physical and social environments.


Background Growing evidence suggests an association between the vitamin D levels and respiratory outcomes of preterm infants. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore whether premature neonates with a vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library up through July 20, 2021. The search terms were 'premature infant', 'vitamin D', and 'respiratory distress syndrome'. We retrieved randomized controlled trials and cohort and case-control studies. For statistical analysis, we employed the random-effects model in Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software ver. 3.3. We employed the Newcastle-Ottawa Scales for quality assessment of the included studies. Results A total of 121 potentially relevant studies were found, of which 15 (12 cohort studies and 3 case-control studies) met the inclusion criteria; the studies included 2,051 preterm infants. We found significant associations between RDS development in such infants and vitamin D deficiency within 24 h of birth based on various criteria, thus vitamin D levels < 30 ng/mL (OR 3.478; 95% CI 1.817–6.659; p < 0.001), < 20 ng/mL (OR 4.549; 95% CI 3.007–6.881; p < 0.001), < 15 ng/mL (OR 17.267; 95% CI 1.084–275.112; p = 0.044), and < 10 ng/ml (OR 1.732; 95% CI 1.031–2.910; p = 0.038), and an even lower level of vitamin D (SMD = –0.656; 95% CI –1.029 to –0.283; p = 0.001). Conclusion Although the vitamin D deficiency definitions varied and different methods were used to measure vitamin D levels, vitamin D deficiency or lower levels of vitamin D within 24 h of birth were always associated with RDS development. Monitoring of neonatal vitamin D levels or the maintenance of adequate levels may reduce the risk of RDS.


Objective To study the pharmacological effects of the Rhizome of Saposhnikovia divaricata.Methods The effect of relieving fever was evaluated by observing change of rat body temperature induced by 2,4-dinitrophenol during 3h,and elucidating analgesic effect by mouse stretching times,and anti-inflammatory effect by swelling extent of mouse ear.Results The Rhizome of Saposhnikovia divaricata was inferior to the root in effects of the analgesic and the anti-inflammatory actions,and similar in the relieve fever effect.Conclusion The pharmacological effects of Rhizome and root of Saposhnikovia divaricata is similar,but curative effect of Rhizome is inferior.


The utility model discloses an automatic normally-closed flexible car stopping device used in an inclined drift. The automatic normally-closed flexible car stopping device comprises a flexible car stopping net, a stay cord and a fixed plate, wherein the fixed plate is fixed on a top plate of the inclined drift; the flexible car stopping net is a steel wire net formed by connecting and fixing the middle parts of a plurality of parallel steel wire ropes through chains or ropes; the tail end of the steel wire rope is fixed on a rope clamp of the fixed plate; a net bag of the flexible car stopping net is fixedly connected with the top plate of the inclined drift through a suspension rope; two pulleys are fixed on the top plate of the inclined drift; and one end of the stay cord rounded on the two pulleys is connected with the flexible car stopping net, and the end of the stay cord is provided with a balancing weight. After the flexible car stopping net is arranged, a mine car slipping to the car stopping device is flexibly blocked by the car stopping device, so that unforeseen circumstances such as unreliable car stopping caused by a rigid car stopping device, road falling and deformation of the mine car and the like are avoided, hidden danger in collision damage to roadways, equipment facilities, pipelines and the like are avoided, and high safety and reliability are achieved; a semicircular buffer can prevent the steel wire rope from being separated from the rope clamp, so that a good buffer protection effect is achieved; and the car stopping device has a simple and flexible structure and a low cost, and is easy and convenient to operate.


Sulfide interferes with the determination of carbonate/bicarbonate in soil solutions by pH-titration methods. Its effect, and that of other weakly acidic but oxidizable anions, can be detected and eliminated by prior treatment of the solution with hydrogen peroxide.


The invention discloses an incision nursing substance for treating post-operation incision sensor discomfort, which is used for solving the problem of treatment of post-operation incision sensory discomfort. The incision nursing substance is characterized by being prepared from the bulk pharmaceuticals of unpleasant swallowwort herb, Chinese buckeye seeds, pine nodular branch, tall gastrodia fruit, fruit of princesplume ladysthumb, ivy glorybind herb root, towel gourd vegetable sponge, petrel asterinidae, aralia chinensis, mustard draft powder, lodestone and charred rice-grain sprout according to a weight ratio. As proved by clinical experiments, the incision nursing substance has the characteristics of good curative effect on post-operation incision sensory discomfort and higher safety, and is worth of being applied and popularized clinically.


In the master thesis, which discusses the suitability analysis and possible utilization of valuation methods of environmental goods, the contingent valuation method is used on the example of the groundwater quality valuation in Krsko polje. This method was valuated as the most suitable for groundwater quality valuation as it is flexible enough and at the same time enables the valuation of both used and non-used values. The result of the research is monetary valuation of improving the quality of groundwater, which is valuated on the basis of "willingness to pay" for the programmes of measures for two scenarios, which provide variously ambitious measures of improving the quality of groundwater, acquired from the survey among the inhabitants. On the basis of statistical analysis it was proven that "willingness to pay" is above all the factor of interest, location and income of inhabitants, and trust in the programmes of measures. The valuated benefits of quality were considered in the framework cost benefit analysis, on the basis of which establishment of less stringent environmental objectives for achieving good water status may be grounded. In the case of programme of measures, which goal is to reach the nitrate concentration value in groundwater below the limit value of 50 mg per l, which is the minimum requirement for drinking water (in accordance to the Rules on Drinking Water), the determination of the exemptions to the environmental objectives, according to the presumption that the costs are disproportionately high when they exceed anticipated benefits twice, is not grounded. Regarding two more ambitious programmes of measures, which provide measures to reduce the concentration of nitrates in groundwater to 22,5 g per ml and 10 g per ml, the distinctive disproportion between costs required to achieve the objective set and anticipated benefits, was found in the cost benefit analysis. If the decision about the performance of such programmes of measures was made on the basis of the cost benefit analysis, these programmes would probably not be performed in this way.


Up to 2010 Sports Production Value of China will arrive at 281.2 hundred million yuan at least, proportion of GDP adds from 0.2% in 1998 to 0.3% .There are thirty thousand professional players and only less than one hundred Sports brokers;The paper has a research on the present situation of Sports brokers of China,puts forward bringing up mode of Sports brokers of China.


The application of bamboo fibre in weaving towel product is studied and discussed,each technical problem was solved to improve quality and efficiency,in the end batch processing techniques have been achieved.It's of great significance for the enterprise to meet with the demands from consumers of green and healthy environment protection,to increase the technology and capacity of towel industry and enhance the competitive ability in the market at home and abroad.


Line intensities of H2CO are analyzed between 1148.4 and 1192.8 cm−1 by taking into account the Coriolis interaction involving the ν4 and ν6 fundamentals. Finally two intensity parameters can be significantly determined: ∂μy/∂q4=0.0592±0.0018 D and ∂μx/∂q6=0.0772±0.0019 D. From these results, the ''deperturbed'' band strenghts can be calculated: S04=20.9±1.3 cm'u−2 atm−1 and S06=38.0±1.9 cm−2 atm−1 at T=297 K.


The stability of the autothermic process governing the autoignition of HCCI engines is analyzed in this paper. We find conditions under which steady-state multiplicity exists with stable, unstable, and limit-cycle equilibria. This analysis is conducted taking into account the internal feedback structure of the thermal autoignition dynamics. Specifically, HCCI autoignition timing determines the combustion heat produced and is determined by the heat provided through high internal exhaust gas recirculation from previous combustion cycle. It is shown that the thermal equilibria are characterized by a simple returning map consisting of two curves, namely the breathing temperature curve and the combustion temperature curve. The returning map and the stability analysis of the multiple steady state equilibria is confirmed with a high order dynamic nonlinear model that includes manifold filling and composition dynamics.


Cerebrovascular diseases are among the most urgent medical and social problems of the modern world. The prevalence of nervous system diseases associated with circulatory insuf iciency is up to 20% of the population and is trending upwards. Many nervous system diseases are characterized by a lingering severe course and persistent functional defects resulting in limited or total disability [1]. One of the most severe cerebrovascular diseases is ischaemic stroke (IS). Mechanisms of brain tissue damage development under conditions of cerebral ischaemia necessitate the introduction of a special type of therapy known as neuroprotection. Neuroprotection is aimed at interrupting the delayed mechanisms of cell death—oxidative stress, cytokine imbalance, local in lammation, trophic dysfunction, and apoptosis. A tight interconnection between all mechanisms of nervous tissue death motivates exploitation of the modulating effect that could be achieved through stimulation of the regulatory systems. Peptides are among the key players in regulatory processes [2]. An optimal scenario of therapy for IS and other cerebral disorders should comprise the application of agents simultaneously affecting several key components in the pathogenesis of the disease. Another important requirement for these compounds is the absence of toxic effects when used for prolonged preventive treatment. Due to Abstract


In order to verify safety,efficiency and high quality of high-speed cutting machining,I'd like to analyze the whole manufacturing process;from drawing up the steps of mould machining;taking rough machining,semi-finish machining and finish machining into account,and designing a reasonable machining scheme through emulation mode to meet the demand of high-speed cutting machining.Compared the available experimental data from machining practice with the traditional technique(wire cut electrical discharge machining),the efficiency and managing of the high-speed cutting machining have been demonstrated by this article.These data can be put into use for enterprises to make the processing technology as perfect as possible.


All over the world, polyethylene wastes has been found littered on the streets of most communities and states. Palm kernel shell (agricultural waste) constitutes dirt and environmental pollution. The aim of this research was to study the potentials of palm kernel shell (PKS) filler as reinforcement for low density polyethylene (LDPE) waste. LDPE-Palm kernel shell composites of varying ratio (100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50) of LDPE to PKS respectively were produced using the compression moulding technique. Mechanical properties such as water absorption, hardness, young's modulus and tensile strength of the composites were found to increase with increasing PKS loading. The results showed that composites containing 40% of PKS gave the highest tensile strength corresponding to 18.42MPa. The results also indicated that the composites with 50% filler loading gave the highest hardness of 84.25A and water absorption rate which stood at 3.1%. The elongation at break was found to decrease with increasing filler content. The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) obtained revealed that the composites with 20% and 50% palm kernel shell had voids and surface cracks.


On initial examination, a male newborn has the finding shown in Fig 1.

Figure 1.
Initial presentation.

### Prenatal and Birth Histories

### Presentation (Day 1)

The infant was placed nil per OS (NPO) and a large-bore nasogastric tube was placed to low-intermittent suction to decompress the stomach. Total parenteral nutrition was initiated for nutritional support. His glucose levels were monitored and found to be normal. The pediatric surgical team was consulted. Vital signs were as follows:

### Physical Examination (Day 1)


The invention relates to a hinge part (1) for the hinge of a door, hood or a trunk lid of a motor vehicle. It is envisaged that the hinge part (1) at least a portion executed in hybrid fashion (2), which is formed as an open profile and its opening (22) at least partially by at least one cover part (6) is closed. The invention further relates to a hinge for a door, hood or a trunk lid of a motor vehicle.


Radar can works on different frequenay bands at different time,which results in increasing-batch based on the present methods of signal sorting.The signal of phase difference is put forward,the local frequency on a ration and nature is computed making use of Kay algorithm and correlation function.As a result,the same and different radiant points are detached.The results indicate the method is helpful for the increasing-batch.


Consider a supplier selling to multiple retailers whose demands exceed the supplier's capacity. The supplier must implement an allocation mechanism to dole out production. We sort these allocation mechanisms into true telling direct mechanisms and inducing inflation mechanisms. And we demonstrate that the bullwhip effect will be expanded in inducing inflation mechanisms. We also analyze and quantify the bullwhip effect in linear allocation mechanism.


Abstract Being one of the four metropolises in India, extending over 174 sq km, Chennai (Madras) has a population of nearly four million and a floating population of nearly one million. In the last ten years the city's population has grown at the rate often percent per year as a large influx of migrants from different districts in Tamil Nadu as well as from different parts of India come to the city mainly in search of employment and also for other social reasons. And in spite of setting up of CM DA (Chennai Metropolitan development Authority's an ad hoc body in 1972 for an integrated development of Chennai 3nd its neighbourhood still the city faces an acute shortage of housing. Taking advantage of the situation many agencies both private and public have gone on a land buying spree to construct multi-story apartments even on a small patch of land where a single house stood. Apart from the above buildings constructed by different agencies, among the migrants who come to the city to earn living a majority of them encroach on government or private lands to put up huts for their dwellings. As a result a large number of residents are compelled to live in substandard housing as the quality of available housing stock is very poor. Over crowding in dwelling units along with lack of minimum basic amenities with the houses built in the close proximity not allowing free air to get in causes health problems. Relative poverty, rapid growth of population, high cost of land and buildings affordability for housing but the changing residential patterns have created ecological problems in the city.


This report discusses air pollutants (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), which account for about two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation. These gases include several pollutants that directly pose risks to human health and welfare. The report also discusses the utilities that are subject to an array of environmental regulations.


OZET Ozgurluk, klasik liberalizm cercevesinde diger dusunce sistemlerinden ayirt edici bir ozellik olarak ortaya cikmis ve birey ile birlikte en onemli "liberal" arguman olarak ortaya konulmustur. Ozgurluk liberalizm icerisinde, Locke basta olmak uzere, gunumuze kadar uzanan silsilede onemli bir tartisma konusu olarak ele alinmistir. Siyasal ozgurluklerin ele alinisinda yerel olan ve kucuk topluluklarin haklari baglaminda onemli bir konu alani olarak gorulen yerel yonetimler bazindaki ozgurluk anlayisi liberalizm icerisinde her donem tartisilmis bir konu olmustur. Yerel demokrasi ve siyasal katilimin, yerel ozgurluklerle birlikte ele alindiginda, anlamli olacagini savunan bircok liberal dusunur, liberalizmin ozgurluk anlayisina iliskin gelistirilen tartismalarin, bu minvalde degerlendirmesi neticesinde "somut" sonuclara ulasilabilecegini belirtmektedirler. Calismada ilk bolumde klasik liberalizmin ozgurluk anlayisi ele alinmaktadir. Bu surecte onemli liberal dusunurlerin gorusleri irdelenmeye calisilmaktadir. Ikinci bolumde ise liberalizmin yerel yonetimlere yonelik bakis acisi analiz edilmeye calisilmaktadir. Ayrica, liberalizmin ozgurluk anlayisi cercevesinde ele alinacak olan yerel yonetimlerin, siyasal katilma, yerel demokrasi ve yerel ozgurluklerin gelisimine iliskin ne tur katkilar yaptigi irdelenmektedir. Bu sekilde ele alinan calisma, konuyla ilgili bir degerlendirme ve sonucla nihayetlendirilmeye calisilmaktadir Calismanin amaci, klasik liberalizmin ozgurluk anlayisinin irdelenip, bu baglamda liberal dusunurlerin goruslerinden yararlanarak liberal teorinin yerel yonetimlere bakis acisinin analiz edilmesidir. Burada elde edilen genel sonuctan, liberalizmin ozgurluk anlayisi icinden "yerel demokrasi"nin temel argumanlarina ulasabilmesi amaclanmaktadir. Calismanin ozgunlugunun saglanmasi acisindan, klasik liberalizm dusuncesinin sekillenmesinde onemli bir yere sahip olan Locke, Bentham ve Faydacilar, J. S. Mill ile Tocqueville'nin gorusleri birincil ve ikincil kaynaklar kullanilarak genis bir perspektiften ele alinmaya calisilmistir. Ozellikle yukarida adi sayilan dusunurlerin bazi eserleri icerik analizi yontemi kullanilarak incelenmis ve konuya katkilari ortaya cikartilmaya calisilmistir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Klasik Liberalizm, Ozgurluk, Yerel Yonetimler, Ozerklik, Yerel Demokrasi, Siyasal Katilma. Calismanin Turu: Arastirma ABSTRACT In a contemporary sense, freedom that is being put forward here within the context of an individual's "autonomy" can be described in classical liberalism as an individual's desire to be free from all manner of intervention and obstacles. Freedom within the framework of classical liberalism appeared as a feature distinct from other school of thoughts and along with the individual has been the most important liberal argument that has been put forward by this school. This concept has been debated ad infinitum starting from Locke to the present as an important area of liberalism. In general, political freedoms considered through the recurrence method is thought of as one of the most important questions in classical liberalism. Evaluating this question is important in reaching "concrete" results within the context of classical liberalism. In considering political freedoms, the question of freedom from the point of local authorities and within the context of the rights of local and small communities has been constantly debated within liberalism. In particular, the classical liberal thinkers known as the Utilitarians, within the "greatest happiness," principle developed important arguments, in particular on activities that took place at the local level. The common point in their view was services provided to individuals by units closest to them because they comprised subjects that are the most "pleasurable" to individuals and therefore are the most important activities that they will seek. However, many liberal thinkers that defend the view that only through this way can local freedoms, local democracy and political participation can be meaningful, consider that "concrete" conclusions can be reached only as a result of evaluating the debates centered around liberalism's view on freedom. At this point Jeremy Bentham and J.S. Mill's thoughts are at the forefront and can be seen to have had a significant impact in the context of various theories of freedom developed during the 20th century. Although most of Tocqueville's views departed from the Utilitarians his findings on the United States of America showed that services and activities in a federal system that are localized has brought to the agenda its importance in terms of liberal emancipation and that the functions of local authorities in terms of freedoms can be debated in the name of expanding "citizenship." Concepts such as freedom, democracy, self-government, activism and participation appear to us where liberalism and local authorities intersect. At this point the subject that liberal thinkers insist upon is that the provision of local political participation, local freedoms and local democracy will take place when authority is transferred to local authorities. At this juncture the concept of "local self-rule" comes into prominence. In this context, when self-rule at the point of locality is provided to local authorities, the importance of also providing financial self-rule to carry out their authority and responsibilities is an important matter that is


The spin projected extended Hartree-Fock equations for successive optimization of the orbitals are derived for the four-electron case and applied to butadiene in the PPP approximation. The method shows an excellent convergence and gives 91.4% of the correlation energy for the given model-Hamiltonian.


In this paper, we characterized the interdiffusion of deuterated polystyrene (PS-D) and hydrogenated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) by 1H dipolar filter solid-state NMR under fast magic angle spinning (MAS). It is observed that the interdiffusion process of PS-D/PPO is composed of two stages, the wetting stage and the diffusion stage. The characteristic time of the transition from the wetting to diffusion stage is independent of the temperature and PS-D molecular weight. On the other hand, the increment of dipolar filtered 1H NMR signal intensity at the wetting stage depends strongly on the temperature. The PS-D chains can be easily mixed with the PPO chains intimately when the temperature is above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PPO. However, when the temperature is below the Tg of PPO, the PPO chains are frozen and it is more difficult for the PS-D chains to approach the PPO at a molecular level.


Since the dawn of agriculture, humankind has constantly strived to improve food availability and food systems. The agricultural revolution which began in the mid-17th century and continued well into the 19th century accelerated this improvement and contributed to a growth in population and improvement in health. Since then the population has continued to rise and with it, the consequent environmental complications.

Global population is now estimated at 7.7 billion people1 with a potential growth to almost 11 billion by 2100,1 underlining the challenge to feed everyone. Research has shown that we are currently not doing this—822 million people are undernourished, a fact linked with almost half of child mortality globally.2 However, the solution to this problem cannot simply be to produce more food, particularly when the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.3 The need for change is reflected in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 2.4 which aims to improve the sustainability of food production, increasing productivity while maintaining ecosystems, by 2030.

While food systems must be examined, it is also worth noting the differing impacts of the types of foods that we produce. Of …


The author reports two cases of vaginal cancer, operated by him in a manner similar to that described by Olshausen (See Journal of Obstetrics and Women's Diseases, January, 1895).


This study investigates the level of teachers" knowledge towards the nature of science (NOS), attitude and belief towards inquiry teaching, and the implementation of inquiry-based learning (IBL); the difference of the implementation of IBL based on teachers" years of experience; and the relationship between teachers" knowledge on NOS, attitude and belief towards inquiry teaching with the implementation of IBL. The quantitative research methodology has been used to complete this study. The sample involved is 728 in-service primary science teachers in China. They are asked to answer a questionnaire which consists of four sections. The items measuring teachers" knowledge on NOS, teachers" attitude towards inquiry teaching and the implementation of IBL are adopted from previous studies with the permission of the respective author; whereas, the items measuring teachers" belief towards inquiry teaching has been adapted from another study to meet with the research objectives. The descriptive and inferential statistics have been used to analyses the data. The findings show that the level of teachers" knowledge on NOS, teachers ́ attitude and belief towards inquiry teaching, and the implementation of IBL are at the medium level; there is no significant difference in the implementation of IBL according to the teachers" years of experience; and, there are significant relationship between teachers" knowledge on NOS, attitude and belief towards inquiry teaching with the implementation of IBL. These findings implicate that teachers" knowledge, attitude and belief are the three main predictors for the implementation of IBL in the teaching of science in primary schools in China.


Following an attempt to connect the theory of archetypes with the theory of primal phantasies, the commentary refers to how moments of complexity may be differentiated in terms of 'now moments' and concludes with an amplification of the 'black woman' in Melanie's dream related to a black woman in an important Austrian fairy tale.


The mechanisms of reproductive physiology are presented although there remain many basic questions yet unanswered due to concern for the dignity and privacy of the individual. Discussion of the biological processes begins with gametogenesis formation of the sex cells the spermacytes and oocytes and reduction by half of their chromosome number. The female menstrual cycle represents hormonal control of the reproductive capacity and reflects complicated changes in the pituitary gland the ovary and the lining of the uterus. Early in the cycle the pituitary gland produces FSH which stimulates the rapid growth of a follicle in the ovary. The follicle produces estrogen which then leads to changes in the lining of the uterus. Both pituitary gonadotrophins FSH and LH are necessary for ovulation after which the follicle cells become organized into the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum then secretes progesterone which stimulates the endometrium to undergo further development in preparation for implantation of a fertilized ovum. The exact moment of ovular release (which is the key event of the reproductive cycle) is difficult to define but its occurrence can be detected in retrospect by several methods including studies of vaginal cells and secretions from the cervix endometrial biopsy and the measurement of various body fluids for the hormones which control the ovulatory process. The steps in fertilization are discussed from ejaculation of the sperm into the vagina through their transport to the oviduct; critical factors are the period of survival of the sperm and the period during which the ovulated egg can be fertilized. The zygote passes down the oviduct to the uterine cavity for implantation. It is pointed out that contraceptive control of the reproductive processes can be exerted at any of several levels.


Nonunion is a common complication of lateral condyle humeral (LCH) fractures in children. In situ fixation with a screw and bone grafting is the classically‐recommended method of treatment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the feasibility of obtaining a vascularized periosteal flap obtained from the lateral humerus and based on the posterior collateral radial vessels (PCRV). Second, to report the results after the application in two pediatric cases.


Guangxi Nandan county is a typical karst geological area, groundwater is rich, rich Tibetan non-ferrous metals. In order to study the risk of groundwater pollution on human health in mining area of Nandan County, base on the investigation and monitoring, The results of groundwater environment risk assessment of mine area of Nandan County show that water environmental health risk of No.5 belong to the minimum level, No.1, No. 2, No.3 and No.7 of four monitoring points is low risk,No.4 and No.6 for medium risk, No.8 as high risk.The health risk average value caused by toxic substances to individual person per year is 4.76×10-5a-1, which is less than the maximum acceptable level5×10-5a-1recommended by ICRP. The groundwater environmental health risks, mainly comes from chemical carcinogens arsenic (As), accounted for the average health risk (Rt) 99.998%,non carcinogenic health risk accounted for only 0.002%, almost negligible, therefore,stricter governing of chemical carcinogens is an effective way to reduce the health risk of groundwater pollution in mining area of Nandan County.


English movie has been proven to be an effective tool to improve English language learning process in classroom. However, very little empirical research has been carried out to determine students' interest in this teaching material, especially in the view of the fact that high level of interest in a teaching and learning material aids motivation which is very essential for language learning. Two groups of students were selected for this study. The first group is a Masters of Art degree student in English who have studied in English medium schools since the beginning of their formal education while the second group has studied in Kannada medium school and they are currently learning spoken English in an English training institute. A survey was administered, this is followed by giving standardize English listening test which is a parameter to measure learners' ability to comprehend English movie. Result presented in this paper shows that Indian English learners and speakers are more interested in local movie than in English movie irrespective of their level of English listening proficiency. This suggests that students' lack of interest in English movie is an indication that English films might not be an effective tool for learning English.


This article explores Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes's position on the relationship between law and morality, discussing some of the mistaken interpretations of that position. Commentators' claims to the contrary notwithstanding, Holmes' predictive theory of law and his discussion of the "bad man" do not illustrate the separation between law and morality but merely that lawful actions need not be performed for morally praiseworthy reasons and that positive law and morality do not always coincide. Holmes suggests that the conflation of law and morality might be reduced by changing legal terminology so that moral and legal terms do not overlap, a proposal with potential drawbacks that Holmes did not seem to appreciate. That said, however, detractors overestimate the extent to which Holmes asserted that law and morality should be distinguished, thereby distorting Holmes' views and the value of his insights.


Implantation of metallic stents is an important method in treatment of airway strictures,and it is applied in increasingly for treating benign tracheobronchial strictures. In this article, we comprehensively introduced the selection of characteristic stents, the current status and progress of stent application in benign tracheobronchial strictures.


The present study aims to understand the applicability of the intimate magazine in labor relations, as this theme brings to light the excessive power of the employer in taking disproportionate attitudes through vexatious behaviors that frontally affect the rights to intimacy and privacy of the employee. The intimate magazine is characterized as a procedure that conflicts with opposing interests such as the right to privacy and privacy of the worker and the directive power of the employer. Thus, because it is a very contemporary issue, it proves that doctrine and jurisprudence very much debate about legality and the limits imposed on the employer to come to conduct the review procedure on its employees. If there is a collision of rights in labor relations between the power of supervision of the employer and the fundamental rights of the employee, the solutions presented in concrete cases should always seek to harmonize constitutional norms, seeking to maintain the unity of the Constitution.


Coffee was brewing and eggs were frying to raise funds for Gippsland Rotary Centenary House, which accommodates cancer patients and their families who are treated at the Gippsland Cancer Care Centre at Latrobe Regional Hospital.


The spread of AIDS in developing countries especially in Africa adds urgency to the search for means of preventing transmission by a seropositive mother to her infant. Interventions for poor countries must be simple safe feasible within the existing health structure socioculturally acceptable effective and inexpensive. Available information suggests that most viral transmissions occur between the 37th week of pregnancy and the 7th day after birth. The viral load in the maternal blood amniotic liquid cervicovaginal secretions and milk is the most important determinant of transmission. Co-infection sexually transmitted diseases prolonged rupture of membranes and other obstetrical factors increase the risk. Vitamin A deficiency may be implicated or it may be simply a marker of advanced HIV disease. In industrialized countries antiretroviral treatment with AZT and avoidance of breast feeding have been effective in reducing perinatal transmission. There are major obstacles to systematic application of these strategies in developing countries including difficulties in implementing the complex regimen of AZT administration and avoiding breast feeding and the prohibitive cost. The efficacy of AZT treatment in developing countries is unproven given the high rates of maternal anemia and the variability of HIV-1 subtypes. Several interventions have been suggested for use in developing countries. The mother could be treated with antiretroviral drugs during the perinatal period. Viricidal antiseptics might be applied for vaginal disinfection during the perinatal period. Vitamin A supplements could be given to pregnant women and infants. Passive immunotherapy could be applied to pregnant women and/or newborns with anti-HIV antibodies. Evaluation of the feasibility safety and efficacy of these interventions should receive highest priority in view of the rapid spread of HIV infection. Trials should be conducted with respect for medical ethics and human rights.


Combining ability for forage yield and yield contributing characters was studied using eight lines in full diallel design. Analysis of variance showed that parents and crosses differed significantly for all the characters under study indicating the presence of sufficient variability in parental lines. The magnitude of variance due to SCA was greater than GCA variance for all the characters indicating the predominance of non-additive gene action. The parents RSSV-9, RSSV-47, NSS-05 and Kellar were good general combiners for majority of the characters. The hybrids RSSV-9 x RSSV-47, RSSV-9 x Kellar, RSSV-47 x Kellar, RSSV-64 x NSS-05 and RSSV-64 x NARISS-41 showed high significant sea effects for most of the forage yield and it's contributing characters. So these cross combinations could be used in forage sorghum improvement programme.


Dental implants are used to retain and support fixed and removable dental prostheses. In many clinical situations, local bone morphology requires dental implants that have a diameter that is significantly smaller than the typical implant diameters. In these cases, the fatigue life of the smaller diameter implants becomes a critical therapeutic parameter. However, this fatigue life depends on the implant itself, on the physical properties of the bone, as well as on other morphological characteristics that are patient dependent. In other words, this fatigue life varies greatly with each newly placed implant, but the capability to predict the fatigue life of dental implants does not exist today. In this paper, we present the first steps towards establishing such a methodology. We develop a finite element based fatigue model for rigidly mounted dental implants, and correlate its results with both analytical predictions as well as physical measurements. This implies that such a model can be used as a valid predictor of fatigue life of dental implants themselves, and can be used as a valuable implant design tool. Furthermore, we present the design of a cost effective device to measure the fatigue life of dental implants that can be either rigidly or bone mounted (in vitro). This device was used to measure the fatigue life of an initial sample of nine dental implants, and we show that the results predicted by the finite element model correlated well with our initial experimental results.


In this paper, a relationship between the optimal growth portfolio and a martingale measure is studied when the underlying asset price processes are modeled by some continuous special semimartingale. It is shown that in this case, the Minimal Martingale Measure also owns minimal relative entropy with respect to P.


SUMMARY Objective. To identify the risk factors for acute respiratory diseases in children below 5 years age. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional epidemiologic study of 588 hospital files of children with acute respiratory diseases. Results. The under the 12 months age children had a significative differences regard pneumonia, acute rhinopharyngitis catarrhal, pharyngitis and acute otitis media in relation to the children of 12 or older age (p < 0.05). The same differences were found in the background of breathing (bronchiolitis, acute otitis media and pharyngitis) [p < 0.05]. When it was compare the children with breast feeding for at least 6 months age according to the presence of bronchiolitis and acute otitis media there was a significant difference (p < 0.05), but the differences were higher in children under 12 months. Conclusion. The risk factors that predispose this population to develop pediatric acute respiratory illness are breastfeeding less than six months, respiratory history and age group.


One of characteristic feature of contemporary data bases is their growing dynamics. The number of registered entities as well as their group structure tends to dynamically grow. In order to effectively determine the rapidly changing number and structure of clusters, appropriate methods of cluster analysis have to be applied. The paper presents the results of simulation research concerning the possibility of applying self-learning GNG neural networks in clustering data from data streams.


To pool observational data on the routine use of perampanel to obtain information on real‐world outcomes and data in populations typically underrepresented in clinical trials.


The preparatin of activated carbon AC-Z from sewage sludge by zinc chloride activation and its adsorption performances toward the organic compounds responsible for the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color form biologically pretreated coking wastewater were studied. The adsorption process was performed under different pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature conditions. The Langmuir isotherm model was employed to describe the equilibrium isotherm and the data fit it very well. Langere pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models were used to find out the kinetic parameters and the latter provied a perfect correlation for kinetic adsorption data. According to the experimental results, sewage sludge based activated carbon AC-Z may be an effective and low-cost adsorbent for the advanced treatment of coking wastewater.


ABSTRACT We introduce a graphical diagnostic called the Torgegram for characterizing spatial dependence among observations of a variable on a stream network. The Torgegram consists of four component empirical semivariograms, each one corresponding to a particular combination of flow-connectedness within the network and model type (tail-up/tail-down). We show how an overall strategy for fluvial variography can be based on a careful examination of the Torgegram. An analysis of water temperature data from a stream network within the Columbia River basin of the northwest United States illustrates the diagnostic value of the Torgegram as well as its limitations. Additional uses and extensions of the Torgegram are discussed.


Up to day, cultivated oil palm species (Elaeis guineensis) of nation plantation either public, although high production, mostly the oil quality still low. Germplasm or genetic materials of palm oil that have highly oil quality belong to E. oleifera. Although, from production side very low compare to oil palm cultivated. Because, oil palm naturally not available that have highly oil quality together with the high production, thus, needed effort to improve oil palm cultivated. Effort to improve via backcross (conventional breeding technique) require a long time. In order more efficient and effective, this backcross technique integrated to marker-assisted selection (MAS) technique. With MAS, the character which link to specific trait can be mapped. Moreover, position and its effect can be identified via quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis. Of the end, if a gene which controlling oil quality and high production can be isolated, thus, an ideal oil palm that interest can yielding via genetic engineering technique.


Typically, environmental noise situations result from a number of spatially distributed sound sources. Each sound source can be described in terms of psychoacoustic parameters; but the annoyance due to a given individual sound source cannot be described only in terms of these psychoacoustic parameters. The annoyance due to a sound source depends on the personal attitude of the listener. Predicting sound quality in a complex sound situation arising from the superpositioning of a number of sound sources is very complicated unless the signal processing involved in human hearing is taken into account. Firstly, with two sound sources, both of which are causing a high degree of annoyance, the superposition of the two sound sources again results in a situation of high annoyance. However, the total of perceived annoyance depends on the location of the two sound sources relative to the listener. Secondly, it is possible for an existing sound source of high annoyance to be masked by a second sound source of good sound quality. For example, the subjectively perceived impulsiveness of individual sound sources can be reduced by adding noise of a comfortable sound quality [1]. Accurate description of an environmental noise situation in terms of noise annoyance requires us to apply our knowledge about binaural signal processing, psychoacoustics and the cognitive aspects of human hearing.


Ultrafine patterning of refractory metals has been studied by the use of focused ion beam (FIB) and oxide resists. Thin amorphous films of MoO3 and WO3 were deposited by electron beam evaporation onto Si wafers, and were exposed to a 50 keV Ga+ FIB. Developed resist patterns were directly reduced to Mo and W by heat treatment in H2 gas atmosphere. The linewidth before and after reduction was measured as a function of the line dose. It is demonstrated that from a bilayer resist MoO3/WO3, a 50 nm refractory metal line can be controllably fabricated without any other complicated processes. Some information about the electrical properties of the reduced patterns is also presented.


An understanding of state transitions is essential in real-time software design. However, satisfactory research has not been performed on methodologies to list the necessary states. A method is needed to systematically identify necessary states in order to meet the given requirements. The two points that must be clarified when identifying necessary states are which states are necessary states and what causes lead to considering a state necessary. We begin this paper by clarifying the necessary states in software design that must be introduced into the software when elements other than state parameters external to the software are required to determine the correct response when multiple responses are obtained from the same input. Next, by focusing on the relationship between the input and the output, we illustrate that the software requirements have a hierarchical structure and selections from alternative realization methods based on the structure cause consideration on states. This requirement structure designates the logical structure of the requirements specified in the design process. Design and specification (implementation) of the requirements make is possible to list necessary states systematically.


__Abstract__

Glioblastoma is the most malignant primary brain tumor. Glioblastoma is originating from the supportive tissue of the brain, the glial cells. Despite increased research, mortality rates have not decreased significantly. Standard therapy consists of surgical resection, temozolomide and radiation therapy. The survival rate is despite maximum treatment 14.6 months. We are currently learning more about markers that correlate to response to treatment, the most important being the MGMT promoter methylation status. One of the issues that prevents treatments from being effective is the multiple escape routes glioblastoma has, to circumvent cell death. We aim to tackle this issue using combination therapies in a representative model, namely the patient-derived glioblastoma stem-like cell (GSC) model. This model reflects the molecular characteristics of the original tumor. This model allows studying novel treatment strategies in the context of heterogeneity in response to therapy, and in the context of analyzing molecular differences underlying response. In this thesis, we apply these concepts in a broad range of treatment modalities including combination therapeutics. We aim at optimizing the treatment with enhancers of radiation and of experimental oncolytic virotherapy. We have also used the approach of clinical drug screening in order to repurpose clinical drugs. We aimed at finding clinically applied drugs that may be candidates for glioblastoma treatment.

Part I of this manuscript describes studies on new therapeutic regimens using HDACi in combination with radiation, and using a large clinical drug screen. In Chapter 3 we show that the histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) SAHA, VPA, MS275, LBH589 and Scriptaid, are radiosensitizers in a significant proportion of GSCs. The observed variations in sensitivity show a relationship with molecular characteristics of the specific cultures. Regarding the clinically most relevant HDACi (SAHA and LBH589), differences in the DNA damage and apoptotic response were found between responsive and resistant cultures. Various identified associated molecules that warrant further exploration as candidate response markers are pChek2 for both SAHA/radiation (RTx) and LBH589/RTx, and in addition Bcl-XL for LBH589/RTx with positive predictive values of 90% and 100%.
In Chapter 4 we emphasize the efficacy of the Bcl-2 family pathway inhibition by Obatoclax to reach sensitization of GSCs to HDACi and HDACi/RTx, circumventing a tumor-related resistance mechanism to treatment. The Bcl-2 family proteins are heterogeneously expressed in glioblastoma and 30% to 60% of tumors shows overexpression. We demonstrate that Obatoclax synergized with HDACi and showed efficacy in a large set of GSCs. This pathway is an adequate target to inhibit, in order to achieve better therapeutic efficacy, also in HDACi/RTx therapy. We identified predictive gene expression profiles for the combination treatments with Obatoclax that are associated with cellular regulatory functions.
In Chapter 5 we screened a large drug collection in order to repurpose clinical drugs for the treatment of glioblastoma. This has led to the identification of three clinical compounds that have potential for treating glioblastoma: amiodarone, clofazimine and triptolide. The drugs were selected based on efficacy in GSCs and lack of toxicity in normal human astrocytes. Twenty GSCs were tested for this purpose. Clofazimine and triptolide have previously been identified as potent inhibitors of immortalized glioma cell lines. Amiodarone is a novel candidate for glioblastoma treatment as a single agent.

Part II of this manuscript describes studies on combination therapeutics for oncolytic virus therapy with Delta24-RGD. Delta24-RGD is a conditionally replicating oncolytic virus that has ended phase I/II testing in patients with glioblastoma. To enhance efficacy of oncolytic virus therapy, combination therapies are needed. First of all we tested whether anti-epileptic drugs interacted with Delta24-RGD efficacy. The three agents valproic acid (a weak HDACi), phenytoin and levetiracetam were studied. HDACi have been reported to alter oncolytic viral activity. In Chapter 6 we illustrate that therapeutic levels of the most frequently prescribed anticonvulsants valproic acid, phenytoin and levetiracetam do not negatively influence the oncolytic activity of Delta24-RGD. In some cells, additive effects between drugs and the virus were observed.
In Chapter 7 we show that the novel pan-HDACi Scriptaid and LBH589, which have stronger HDACi activity than valproic acid, exert enhanced anti-tumor activity in combination with Delta24-RGD in GSCs. These HDACi induced slight up-regulation of cell surface integrins, facilitating adenoviral entry and leading to increased levels of viral gene expression. The HDACi induced cell death pathways in the GSCs, thereby accelerating the virus-induced killing of the infected cells but slightly hampering the viral progeny production. The concerted action of these two treatment modalities leads to improved anti-tumor efficacy and shows limited toxicity in normal human astrocytes. Taken together, Scriptaid and LBH589 offer opportunities as potential candidates for future Delta24-RGD combination studies.
Triggered by the long duration of the process of implementation of novel drugs in clinical practice, we aimed at finding effective viral sensitizers by performing a clinical drug screen. Chapter 8 describes the identification of four effective viral sensitizers for oncolytic virotherapy, including fluphenazine, indirubin, lofepramine and ranolazine. We reveal interaction of the drugs with important viral oncolytic cell death mechanism as shown in silico and in vitro. These drugs, that are known to pass the blood brain barrier, are not only applicable in glioblastoma but show synergy with Delta24-RGD in multiple cancer types. Moreover, all drugs showed synergistic activity with other oncolytic viruses as well.


FIELD: chemistry. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a method of controlling concentration and uniformity of distribution of a dopant in synthetic CVD diamond material used in electronic devices and sensors. The diamond material is obtained in a microwave plasma reactor, having a plasma chamber 102 in which there is one or more substrate regions of a growth surface 105, on top of which the diamond material is deposited, a gas stream system 112 for feeding process gases into the plasma chamber 102 and a system 122 for removing the process gases therefrom. Microwave radiation is transmitted from a microwave generator 106 into the plasma chamber 102 through a microwave link 110 in order to generate plasma above the region of the growth surface 105 or below the region of the growth surface if the microwave plasma reactor is in an inverted configuration with the process gases flowing upwards. The gas stream system 112 includes a gas inlet, having one or more gas inlet pipes 124 located opposite the region of the growth surface 105 and configured to inject process gases towards the region of the growth surface 105, wherein the process gases are injected into the plasma chamber 102 through one or each gas inlet pipe 124 with a Reynolds number in the range of 1-100, integrally formed in the metal wall of the plasma chamber 102 located opposite the region of the growth surface 105. The plasma chamber 102 is configured to support standing microwave modes TM 011 . The configuration of the microwave link 110 comprises a microwave window 119 for transmitting microwave radiation from the microwave generator 106 into the plasma chamber 102, which is located at the opposite end of the plasma chamber 102 relative to the region of the growth surface 105 and made in the form of an annular dielectric window. EFFECT: invention enables to achieve a homogeneous chemical composition of diamond material grown in a single growth cycle while maintaining uniform plasma with a large area with very high growth rates and enables to achieve a high degree of controlling the level and distribution of defects and dopants in a diamond film without impurities and damages to the walls and the microwave window of a plasma chamber which can support compact standing microwave mode TM 011 . 5 cl, 17 dwg


This research uses Markov random fields to model stochastic interactions among classes over space and time, which allows a global Bayesian optimization of the classification result. A maximum likelihood supervised classification method is used to derive initial classification result purely based on the spectral information. Both the spatial and temporal contextual information are derived and represented from modeling the image pixel class labels in predefined spatial and temporal neighborhoods. In this study, we improve the spatial context by introducing the concept of distance decay and dealing with missing data by making the spatial context locally adaptive. For modeling the temporal context, we explore and evaluate a new method called "cubic spatio-temporal neighbor" besides commonly adopted transition probability matrices (TPMs) by considering the temporal correlation length and phonological pattern. The optimization of MRF model parameters (weights) for combining spectral, spatial and temporal information in the classification is an important problem. The possible occurrence of strongly undesirable negative parameters which are neglected in the literature is dealt with in this paper by using the scaled difference in coefficient estimates (DFBETAS) which is normally used in the field of Statistics. We have implemented the method using C# programming language and successfully applied it to the urban land cover classification with Landsat image time series over a decade and to the snow surface melting detection in Antarctic ice sheet with daily satellite observations. Our application examples demonstrate that the proposed algorithms are effective and efficient in modeling contextual information and optimizing parameters, and the incorporation of spatio-temporal information with our MRFs method results in significant improvement as large as 8.9% in classification in comparison with the use of spectral information alone.


With stem segments of one-year seedling as the explants, in vitro culture of Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' were studies. The results showed that the inducing media with MS+BA 2.0 mg/L+NAA 0.1 mg/L and media with White+BA 1 mg/L+NAA 0.05mg/L are most suitable for proliferation. And the out-tube rooting rate are relatively better, which can be used in order to simplify the processes and decrease the production cost.


When calculating the index of a minimal surface, the set of smooth functions on a domain with compact support is the standard setting to describe admissible variations. We show that the set of admissible variations can be widened in a geometrically meaningful manner by considering the difference of area functional, leading to a more general notion of index. This allows us to produce explicit examples of destabilizing perturbations for the fundamental Scherk surface and dihedral Enneper surfaces. In the case of dihedral Enneper surfaces we show that both the classical and our modified index can be explicitly determined.


A novel heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) microdeletion affecting the cytochrome b gene (MT‐CYB) was identified in an Italian female patient with a multisystem disease characterized by sensorineural deafness, cataracts, retinal pigmentary dystrophy, dysphagia, postural and gait instability, and myopathy with prominent exercise intolerance. The deletion is 18‐base pair long and encompasses nucleotide positions 15,649–15,666, causing the loss of six amino acids (Ile‐Leu‐Ala‐Met‐Ile‐Pro) in the protein, but leaving the remaining of the MT‐CYB sequence in frame. The defective complex III function was cotransferred with mutant mtDNA in cybrids, thus unequivocally establishing its pathogenic role. Maternal relatives failed to show detectable levels of the deletion in blood and urinary epithelium, suggesting a de novo mutational event. This is the second report of an in‐frame intragenic deletion in MT‐CYB, which most likely occurred in early stages of embryonic development, associated with a severe multisystem disorder with prominent exercise intolerance.


Lasers with a new type of quantum dot achieve low threshold current and high output power. By supplying a small amount of InAs and GaAs alternately on GaAs substrates, dots with high uniformity and high emission efficiency were self-assembled. The lasers exhibited a threshold current of 5.4 mA, a current density of 160 A/cm/sup 2/, and an output power of 110 mW at room temperature.


The Si (111) surface structures induced by Ag evaporation have been investigated by RHEED. A phase diagram of the surface structures in relation of the deposition thickness and the annealing temperature has been established. When the specimen temperature was elevated after Ag evaporation of 1 Å in mean thickness, the √3×√3 (R 30°) structure appears in the range of temperature between 290 and 660°C, and the 3×1 structure appears between 600 and 700°C. After the specimen showing the 3×1 structure was cooled below 220°C, the 6×1 structure appears. The transformation of the 6×1 structure is perfectly reversible at 220°C. The critical temperatures at which these surface structures appear or disappear depend slightly on the deposition thickness (0–3.0 Å). If the deposition thickness is less then 0.8 Å, the 7×7 structure also appears in addition to these surface structure.


Firstly, a suitable conceptual model was constructed based on the information gained from the drilling investigation and the pumping test, together with topographic and climatic data. This conceptualisation was adapted to the groundwater simulation program MODFLOW (McDonald and Harbaugh 1988) coupled with the preand post-processor PMWIN version 5.0 (Chiang and Kinzelbach 1998) and was calibrated in steady-state against observed groundwater levels. The model was then used to simulate the effects of three different strategies: 'do nothing differently', groundwater abstraction and revegetation.


A patient with an idiopathic bilateral vestibulopathy described two types of oscillopsia, one induced by head movement, the other induced by changing pressure in the right external auditory canal. This is the first report of both types of oscillopsia occurring in the same individual and illustrates their different mechanisms and symptomatology.


One of the first steps to successful invasion of plant species that reproduce sexually is seed germination, which may be highly influenced by climatic conditions. We studied Poa annua, a cosmopolitan species found across all climatic zones and the only alien species that has successfully colonized the Antarctic. Our research questions were: (i) if harsh polar conditions restrict seed germination of P. annua and (ii) if the germination capacity of the Antarctic population of the species is due to high germination aptitude in the source population. We compared germination of seeds collected from eight populations around the world (maritime Antarctica, S Chile, W Argentina and E Argentina, NE USA, SW Croatia, C Poland and S Poland). We followed germination of seeds collected in the field and acquired from plants cultivated under unified optimal conditions. We found significant differences between populations in germination characteristics of seeds collected in the field. These could be associated with seed ripening in different locations. Seeds obtained under favorable conditions differed in stratification requirements. The germination potential of the Antarctic population is lowered by unfavorable polar conditions impacting seed maturation. Thus, the species' invasion in the Antarctic seems highly restricted by the harsh environment. Environmental unsuitability may restrict invasions of other species in the same way potentially. However, this environmental barrier protecting Antarctica from invasions may be broken under a climate warming scenario.


Introduction A follow-up study1 of 770 PBC patients found that their survival was much poorer than an age- and sex-matched population (standardised mortality ratio for PBC patients was 2.87). Excluding deaths from hepatic causes, the standardised mortality ratio for PBC patients was 1.73: the balance of the risk was of a cardiac-related death the mechanism by which the disease could affect cardiac tissue was unclear. 50% of PBC patients suffer systemic fatigue, and in these the risk of cardiac-related death has been shown to be higher than in non-fatigued patients.2 Method 15 proven PBC stage I–II patients were recruited (age: 48±6 y) and 8 age, weight and height- matched female subjects were recruited as controls (age: 52±11 y). MRI short axis cardiac tagging was used to measure circumferential strain and torsion throughout the cardiac cycle.3 Patient and control subject fatigue severity was assessed by means of a validated questionnaire, the Fatigue Impact Score (FIS), where 0 indicates no fatigue to a maximum of 160. Patients were divided into two groups: those without significant fatigue (defined as FIS<25) and those with severe fatigue (FIS>50). All controls had FIS <25. Results In fatigued PBC patients, cardiac torsion was increased and circumferential strain significantly decreased compared to controls and non-fatigued PBC patients, indicating impaired subendocardial myofibre function, which is characteristic of advanced ageing.3 Anatomical MRI showed no morphological or functional alteration in the hearts of either group of PBC patients compared to controls.Abstract P02 Table 1 Results Control PBC non-fatigued PBC fatigued Torsion to endocardial strain ratio 0.46±0.14 0.44±0.12 0.70±0.13* Peak torsion 6.3±1.9 5.6±1.4 7.9±1.4* Peak endocardial circumferential strain 18.9±1.6 19.0±2.0 16.5±2.4** p <0.05 by ANOVA. Conclusion In PBC patients with severe fatigue we have found changes in the relationship between peak torsion and circumferential strain indicating that these patients may have suffered effective ageing of their hearts. This is in alignment with previous findings that PBC patients with substantial fatigue had a greater risk of cardiac-related death.


Development of the drug provision system for patients with rare (orphan) diseases is a topical issue. The conceptual basis of the State policy in this area was developed in the «Strategy for development of a system for assisting patients with rare diseases in Russia on a short-term period 2013-2016», studying foreign experience is also very useful. This paper examines the features of the pharmaceutical care system for patients with rare diseases in Russia and abroad.


A dual-polarized frequency-scanning phased-array antenna based on composite right/left handed (CRLH) feed network is presented. The proposed feed network provides phase advance in addition to phase delay and allows uniform power distribution to each antenna element, thereby delivering high directivity frequency-scanning radiation beams that can scan the full-hemi-sphere. The working mechanism is presented through a broadband microstrip antenna. The orthogonally placed feed networks and coupling slots enable the dual-polarized (horizontal/vertical) operation of the proposed antenna array without compromising the high isolation between two feeding ports. Full space frequency-scanning capability for both polarization states are verified experimentally.


It was shown that anisotropic plates can have unstable postbuckling behavior resulting in potential imperfection sensitivity. The degree of instability for rectangular, simply-supported, cross-ply laminated plates is quantified. The analysis is based on asymptotic Koiter-type expansion of postbuckling response. The degree of postbuckling instability is quantified in terms of the reduction in load carrying capacity in the immediate postbuckling range. For graphite-epoxy plates it is found that this measure of instability is very small. Only a low aspect ratio plate with a high degree of anisotropy can have any significant reduction in its buckling load.


The inspection of minute components with different surface features imposes stringent requirements on the employed test method. A new inspection system demonstrates that errors with the integrated imaging system can be detected reliably and evaluated to a professional standard, even on complex objects: By cutting the incidence of 'pseudo scrap' to below two percent, this 3D technology is vastly superior to conventional vision solutions.


meditation I 572; II 116 Tibetan yoga II 116 Dhyani-bodhisattva(s) (Skt), dhyani-buddhas create I 109; II 116 Dhyani-buddha(s) (Skt). See also Dhyanichohans, Dhyanis aggregate of, as Avalokitesvara/Kwan-shi-yin I 471-2 angel of a star I 573 anupadaka [aupapaduka] or I 52, 109, 571 ascent of soul & I 17 bodhisattvas human aspect of I 42 cannot reach Alaya's essence I 48 create w dhyana II 116 dhyani-bodhisattvas fr I 109; II 116 Dzyu collective wisdom of I 108 five, or panchasya I 213 furnished races w divine kings I 267 human monad part of a I 573 informing intelligences II 34 One becomes many or I 113 one for each round I 42 one w Alaya during life-period I 48 pi, circle & I 114 on primordial matter I 69 prototypes of buddhas on Earth I 108 seven I 571-2 seven, five have manifested I 108 sources of revelation I 10 twin-souls & I 574 two higher groups of I 267 various names for I 114, 571 Dhyani-Chenresi, symbolism of II 178-9 Dhyani-chohan(s). See also Angels, Archangels, Architects, Builders, Dhyanibuddhas, Dhyanis, Elohim, Planetary Spirits Absolute beyond grasp of highest I 51 agents of cosmic law I 274-5 aggregate of, Divine Intelligence I 452, 471-2, 595, 604 Ah-hi (dhyani-buddhic) parinishpanna I 53 Aletae, Lares, Kabiri or II 360-1, 393 Amshaspends II 358, 365-6 angels I 222n, 226, 274, 611 anupadaka [aupapaduka] & I 52 architects of visible world I 16 astral man reflection of II 170 boughs of Hiranyagarbha I 406 builders & watchers I 233 can do better than initiates I 234-5 Chenresi II 178 clothed in souls, atoms I 619 conscious, intelligent powers I 93 cosmic, cause terrestrial phenomena I 604 cosmic, dual host of beings I 604 cosmic mind & law are I 278, 579n, 595 create man & world II 242, 510 Deity's incarnated beams II 584 devas I 288n; II 307 direct causative agents of man I 229-30 do not fully remember former cosmos II 310 do not pass thru lower kingdoms I 188 dual nature of hosts of I 280 elements stand for I 339, 372-3 &n elohim II 37 endow man w self-consciousness II 232-3n esoteric hierarchy of II 465 evolved first races II 307, 365-6 failures among I 188; II 232-3n first group of I 197 forbidden fruit & II 267 form manifested Verbum I 278 four arms of II 179 four classes of II 60, 102 four Maharajas kings of I 122 four primal natures of I 82 four suns of life & II 239 guide elemental forces I 277-8 Hermetic daimones, genii I 288n hierarchy of, & 31415 I 90, 93 higher creative, or Demiurgos I 110 highest, know solar system II 700n Host, Elohim, Jehovah or II 510 incarnate in man I 188, 295n; II 92 invisible deity I 114 karmic agents I 274, 278 Keely under class of I 559 Kwan-shi-yin aggregate of I 471 made worlds fr primary stuff I 598n manifest divine thought & will I 38 manifested theogony I 434 man's seven principles & I 226-7 manus or I 452; II 308-9, 365-6 manvantaric emanations of Logos I 429 man will merge into his I 265 man needs two rounds to become II 257 men fr other manvantaras I 277 minor logoi or elohim II 37 nature's guiding intelligences I 146, 277-8 never-resting breaths I 103 in nirvana during pralaya I 116n not perfect or to be worshiped I 280 objective universe built on I 375 ophanim ['ophannim] or I 92, 337 pass thru Circle of Necessity II 303 planetary spirits I 635 popular description of II 178-9 populations of, in other worlds I 583n preside over constellations I 638 primordial mind or I 52 races, rounds, & I 42, 233, 442, 573 &n reflect universal ideation I 280 refused to create II 246 rupa, arupa I 197; II 318n septenary groups of I 573-4; II 361 seven primordial sages II 267n seven rays fr Logos I 130, 573 seven rupa classes of II 318n sixfold, minus physical I 222n, 235 six hierarchies of, & saktis I 292-3 sources of revelation I 10 substance of I 289-90 three lords or II 212 various names for I 42, 375; II 90, 365-6 wanted man to become a god II 246


Music loops, seamlessly repeating segments of audio, are an important ingredient for remixes and mash-ups. By recombining loops taken from complete tracks or from loop libraries not only professional DJs but even musical laypersons can enjoy the experience of music creation. One key aspect is to identify what sounds good together. To facilitate this selection process, we present a system for exploring collections of music loops through a graphical user interface that allows playful interaction with the content. The system first extracts loop segments from a selection of music tracks. The loops are then visualized as graphical objects in a GUI. Depending on their needs, the users can switch between various criteria for the visualization of the objects which is based on a set of manually or algorithmically provided features. Interaction with the objects triggers playback and simple effects on the loops.


In the presence of nonnormally distributed asset returns, optimal portfolio selection techniques require estimates for variance-covariance parameters, along with estimates for higher-order moments and comoments of the return distribution. This is a formidable challenge that severely exacerbates the dimensionality problem already present with mean-variance analysis. This article extends the existing literature, which has mostly focused on the covariance matrix, by introducing improved estimators for the coskewness and cokurtosis parameters. We find that the use of these enhanced estimates generates a significant improvement in investors' welfare. We also find that it is only when improved estimators are used that portfolio selection with higher-order moments dominates mean-variance analysis from an out-of-sample perspective. The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: email@example.com, Oxford University Press.


In this paper we brief some recent results on the global well‐posedness of semirelativistic Hartree type equations. Then we improve the theories for radial solutions developed in [6] and extend them to nonradial cases. 1 Problems and results We consider the following Cauchy problem: \left\{\begin{array}{l} i\partial_{t}u=\sqrt{1-\triangle}u+F(u) \mathrm{i}\mathrm{n} \mathbb{R}^{n}\times \mathbb{R}, n\geq 1,\\ u(x, 0)= $\varphi$(x) \mathrm{i}\mathrm{n} \mathbb{R}^{n}. \end{array}\right. (1.1) Here F(u) is nonlinear functional of Hartree type such that F(u)=(V_{ $\gamma$}*|u|^{2})u, where V_{ $\gamma$}(x)= $\lambda$|x|^{$\gamma$}, 0< $\gamma$<n, $\lambda$\in \mathbb{R}\backslash \{0\} and * denotes the convolution in \mathbb{R}^{n} . This equation is a generalization of the model case $\gamma$=1 which is derived rigorously via the mean field theory for the quantum many body system of boson *\mathrm{c}_{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{g}} author $\dagger$ Supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government(KRF‐2008‐313‐C00065)


The movement of water and salts in zone of aeration under irrigated conditions is described by the equations of motion and mass conservation of the material. Salt transport processes forecast calculations are performed for the scientific rationale of environmental measures complex. The reliability of the result depends on the applied methods of calculation. A comparative analysis is made for analytical solution of the classical mesh scheme in the explicit and implicit variants and Johnson's method.


The aim is to explore the usefulness of inverting the class analysis problematic, which starts from class structure and then asks under what conditions sociopolitical class formation occurs, and then how this in turn bears upon social cohesion. By contrast, the route followed here starts from the assumption that the institutional unity of citizenship, market and bureaucratic relations is central to social cohesion, and then concentrates on the questions of how inequalities of class and status affect the institutionalization of citizenship and thereby its integrative function. While its practice is heavily influenced by the structure of social inequality, citizenship cart be seen to exert a force-field of its own. Four main types of 'civic stratification' are distinguished by reference to citizens' differing enjoyment of, and abilities to exercise, rights, their social categorization by the rights themselves and by their motivation to extend and enlarge them: namely, civic exclusion, civic gain and deficit, and civic expansion. Their consequences for social integration are then briefly discussed. One advantage of this approach is that it allows inequalities related to age, gender and ethnicity to be incorporated within the same explanatory scheme.


Most established communities aspire for growth and developments demonstrable in the degree of scientific and technological outputs. These outputs are made possible through the function of the human mind, hence, the expedience of the human person as the focus of social development. However, the sustenance of development is made possible through human policies from reformed entities, and this is where the state and its apparatus (social institutions) like the government are inevitable. Less emphasis has been laid on human reform and the role it plays in social reform in Africa through piecemeal engineering. Therefore, this paper investigates the position and primacy of human reform in social reform in Africa. Using Karl Popper's idea of piecemeal social engineering as a theoretical framework, this paper argues that human reform remains pivotal to Africa's social reform. This paper argues that if there is no sufficient human reform, Karl Popper's piecemeal social engineering which has greatly impacted social reforms in some developed nations will be fruitless in Africa. The methods of argumentation will be expository, analytic as well as evaluative.


The Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya has some of the largest concentrations of free-ranging large mammals in the country. National parks depend on the surrounding group ranches for wildlife dispersal.  Mbirikani group ranch [MGR] is a key dispersal area for the Amboseli ecosystem, but it is not known exactly what area remains for wildlife dispersal or where that is. Data was collected using global positioning system (GPS) units to map roads, water points, bomas, institutions and human activities, including herds of livestock and agricultural farms. The distribution of wildlife was then spatially analyzed using geographic information systems (GIS). Eight human settlement clusters of multiple human activities were located mainly along roads and water sources, covering 20.43% of the group ranch. The actual area covered by all human structures and activities was 1.37%, leaving over 98% open for wildlife dispersal. The actual area covered by human structures and activities increased to 22.97% of the group ranch, leaving about 77% available to wildlife dispersal. Even though MGR had a large portion of area remaining for wildlife, the spatial orientation of human settlement was blocking wildlife migration corridors.  In order to mitigate this, a negotiated land use plan in the context of compensation for the land owners is urgently needed.

 Key words:  Amboseli, Dispersal areas, Kenya, Mbirikani group ranch.


Reliable wireless communications in stairwells are crucial to law enforcement and firefighting safety. Understanding the radio propagation in stairwells is necessary to successfully design such communications systems. In this letter, we study the radio propagation in a multifloor stairwell using measurements and simulations. Fundamental propagation mechanisms such as reflection from stairwell walls and transmission through the stair steps are investigated. It is found that the stairwell walls in this studied case do not reflect much of the incoming energy and that the transmitted energy through the stairs has significant contributions to the total received power. An image-based ray tracing scheme is used to identify the various propagation mechanisms. The ray-tracing simulation results match the measurements very well. Furthermore, physics-based explanations were provided for the trends and characteristics in the obtained results.


The 13C NMR spectra of thirteen acyclic and cyclohexenyl π-allyl palladium chloride dimers are examined and their chemical shifts are compared with those of the corresponding olefins. The signals for the central carbons of the π-allyl palladium moiety were displaced upfield by 8.0–25.5 ppm and those for the terminal carbons by 34.9–55.9 ppm compared to the corresponding carbons of the corresponding olefins.


Mercury is a toxic pollutants present in different types of industrial effluents and is responsible for environmental pollution. Removal of Hg(II) ions from synthetic wastewater was studied using the activated biocarbon produced from the leaves of Tridax procumbens (Asteraceae). The particle size of the biocarbon (BC) is in the range of 100 - 120 μm. The effects of initial metal ion concentration, pH, contact time, and amount of biocarbon on the biosorption process were studied at temperature of 28 ± 2˚C. Batch experimental studies showed that an equilibrium time of 160 min was required for the maximum removal of Hg(II) at the optimized biocarbon dose of 2.5 g per 100 mL of synthetic wastewater. The optimum pH required for maximum removal (96.5%) of Hg(II) ions was found to be 5.5. The biosorption of metal ions onto activated biocarbon surface is probably via an ion exchange mechanism. The biocarbon can be regenerated with minimum loss. Further, it can be reused without any chemical activation. The findings of the research suggested that, the biocarbon produced from cost effective renewable resources can be utilized for the treatment of industrial wastewater.