The invention discloses a mechanical precut slot blasting mining method of slightly inclined thin jade ores. The method specifically comprises the steps that a stope is arranged along the moving direction of the ores, ore pillars are recovered first, then a room is recovered, ore pillar recovery is performed by using a level haulageway (8) and a transportation mountain roadway (9) as initial free surfaces, artificial ore pillars are formed by reinforced concrete after the ore pillar recovery is completed, and the artificial ore pillars are reinforced concrete pillars (7) for replacing the ore pillars; the recovery is pushed to both sides in the room along the moving direction and the inclined direction of the ores, and the following type filling is performed in the rear; the precut slot blasting method is adopted for exploitation, a protective layer is reserved on a base plate of the room, a precut slot (15) is mechanically cut by a saw, a rock layer between the precut slot and the ores is used as the protective layer (14), and millisecond blasting is performed on surrounding rocks on the upper part of the protective layer; the protective layer is manually or mechanically split and stripped, and the ores are cut by a hand-push type cutting machine for ore removal. The mechanical precut slot blasting mining method has the advantage of high efficiency in production, the recovery rate reaches up to 95%, and the cost for transporting and treating barren rocks is reduced.


Using historical data on the size of state-specific Mexican birth cohorts and geographic migration networks between Mexican states and US metropolitan areas, I construct an instrumental variable that predicts decadal migration from Mexico to the United States. The intuition behind this identification strategy is that larger historical birth cohorts in Mexico yield more potential migrants once each birth cohort reaches prime migration age. I report evidence that Mexican immigration is associated with a decline in property crimes and an increase in aggravated assaults. The available evidence suggests that this is not an artifact of reduced crime reporting among immigrants.


The results of the research and design of a novel vacuum photosensor with a planar molybdenum blade structure are presented. The advanced prototype implements the principle of an increasing penetrability of the Schottky barrier for the metal–vacuum interfaces under the action of an external strong electrostatic field. Theoretical and experimental substantiation of the photosensor performance in a wide range of wavelengths (from 430 to 680 nm and from 800 to 1064 nm) beyond the threshold of the classical photoelectric effect is given. The finite element method was applied to calculate distribution of the optical and electrostatic fields inside the photosensor structure. The sensor current-to-light response was studied using the periodic pulsed irradiation with the tunable wavelength. It was shown that the nanoscale localization zones of two types are formed near the surface of the blade tip: the zone of an increased concentration of hot electrons localized inside the molybdenum blade, and the zone with an increased strength of the external electrostatic field localized outside the blade. In general, the mutual positions of these zones may not coincide, whereas the position of the first-type localization zone significantly varies with the changes in the wavelength of the irradiating light. This causes features in the spectrum of the quantum yield of the photosensor such as expressed non-monotonic behavior and occurrence of sharp dips. The design of the photosensor that provides matching of the positions for both types of localization zones was proposed; the manufactured prototypes of the designed device were experimentally studied. In the designed photosensor, the ballistic transport of photoelectrons in the vacuum gap with a strong field provides a possibility for the creation of ultra-fast optoelectronic devices, such as modulators, detectors, and generators.


Abstract The microwave and millimeterwave spectra of chlorofluoroacetylene 35 C1—C = C—F and 37 C1—C = C—F in natural abundance, have been investigated. The molecule has been found to be linear. The rotational constant, the centrifugal distortion constant Do and the chlorine quadrupole coupling constant have been determined. Some ro-structures have been calculated assuming different values for the C = C distance.


Researchers have been interested in investigating the mechanisms of action of propolis and the compounds involved in its biological activity; however, the effect of its isolated constituents on human immune cells still deserves investigation. Thus, this study aimed to verify the action of caffeic acid on human monocytes in an attempt to verify its effects on the innate immunity, and to analyse its participation in propolis activity.


In orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, some subcarriers at the borders of the allocated bandwidth are usually used as guard band. Since these subcarriers, which are often referred to as virtual subcarriers, are not used for transmission, approach of conventional uniformly placed pilot tones is not applicable any more in some situations. Therefore, it is necessary to derive the optimal pilot sequences based on the nonuniform placement of pilot tones. In this paper, we first compute the mean square error (MSE) of the least squares (LS) channel estimate for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) OFDM systems. Then, based on nonuniform pilot tone placement, we derive the optimal pilot sequences with respect to this MSE. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach


This paper analyzes how firms decide where to patent in a heterogeneous firm model of trade with endogenous rival entry. In the model, innovating firms compete with rival firms on price, where rivals force the innovating firm to reduce markups and lower the innovating firm's probability of obtaining monopolistic profits. Patenting allows the innovating firm to reduce the number of rival rms by increasing their fixed overhead costs, thereby providing higher expected profits and increased markups from reduced competition. Countries with higher states of technology, more competition and better patent protection have a greater proportion of entrants who patent. Industries tend to follow a U-shaped pattern of patenting where industries with high heterogeneity in production and low substitution, along with industries with low heterogeneity in production and high substitution patent more frequently. Using a generalized framework of the model, I estimate market-based measures of country-level patent protection, which when compared with other IP indices, suggests that not enough international patenting is taking place. Finally, I test the predictions of the model using a newly available technology-to-industry concordance on bilateral patent flows and show that firms are increasingly sensitive to foreign IP protection. Countries that choose to maximize their IP protection can increase the number of foreign patents by almost 10%.


A class of incomplete three level factorial designs useful for estimating the coefficients in a second degree graduating polynomial are described. The designs either meet, or approximately meet, the criterion of rotatability and for the most part can be orthogonally blocked. A fully worked example is included.


In this paper, forward kinematic derivation of a deployable suspended cable robot (DSCR) is investigated. Since the positions of the cable attachment points in this robot are not accurately available, the forward kinematics of the robot would not provide an accurate estimate for the end effector position. This paper proposes two methods to improve the accuracy of the forward kinematic solutions. First, an analysis on parameter sensitivity is presented and effective parameters are extracted. Then, based on these parameters and by using the redundant equations of the DSCR, a new set of equations for forward kinematic analysis are derived. The second method proposed in this paper is based on a geometrical analysis of kinematic uncertainty bounds. Finally, using the simulation results the effectiveness of the proposed methods is verified by illustrating the significant accuracy improvement in the obtained end effector positions.


This compendium details automated enforcement systems (AES) implemented around the world and characterizes the safety impacts of such deployments, based on available scientific evaluations of the outcome measures. A systematic literature search was conducted. Criteria for selecting key evaluation studies were developed and applied for two AES technologies: speed camera and red light camera (RLC) enforcement systems. For automated speed enforcement, key studies reported significant reductions in estimated crashes following program implementation, but only a few studies were well-controlled. The degree to which reported safety improvements are related to the treatment and desired behavioral change (decrease in speeds) as opposed to regression to the mean (RTM), other confounders, and behavior changes such as choosing alternate routes, cannot be stated with certainty. Most studies attempted to account for unknown and time-related crash trends through the use of comparison groups. Four studies considered RTM, while only one study accounted directly for traffic flow changes and effects on crashes. Speed reductions documented in about half of the studies provided support for a relationship between the treatments and crash reductions. Enforcement intensity of mobile enforcements, site-specific differences (e.g., sample area, roadway characteristics), and statistical anomalies may play a role in AES effects. Recommendations for future studies include the use of empirical Bayes (EB) procedures to control for RTM, careful selection and examination of comparison groups, and consideration of traffic flow effects and possible crash migration due to the treatment, in order to improve the accuracy of treatment safety effect estimates. For red light running enforcement, the key studies support the assertion that RLCs can reduce crash severity at high red light running intersections. Consistent with previous reports, this review attributes a decrease in right-angle crashes with an increase in rear-end crashes to RLC implementations, together with a decrease in red light running violations. Recommendations for future studies of RLC effects include the use of controlled and randomized experiments whenever feasible. Otherwise, adjustments in before- and after- designs with matched control locations (or jurisdictions) to take legal, ethical, and economic barriers to random assignment of RLC installations into account, plus the use of EB procedures to control for RTM and to improve the precision of estimates of treatment safety effects, are strongly recommended.


Bruce Alton is Associate Professor and Associate Chairman of the Department of Religious Studies, University of Toronto. Donald Wiebe's recent methodological essay' on the 'failure of nerve' in the academic study of religion critiques the burgeoning contamination of the field2 by various types of theology. In the wider context of sR's on-going thematic, Philip Boo Riley has nicely shown that 'analysis of the theology/religious studies issue ... is an essential as well as inevitable ingredient in any justification of the academic study of religion.'3 While I disagree with Riley's contention that religious studies can, or even should, achieve a unitary method and rationale, I shall argue that point only indirectly here. One main purpose of this essay is to show that Wiebe is right in insisting on the independence of religious studies from theological reflection, but that he leaves so many loose ends in his argument that its full impact is widely misunderstood. The other goal is to identify a major confusion in Wiebe's (and perhaps others') understanding of 'reductionism' and offer some clarifying remarks. In a verbal response to Wiebe at a cssR/scER panel titled 'Religious Studies: Must We Be Scientific?'4 I charged him (perhaps too playfully in that serious setting) with three counts of poor argumentation which, though individually just troublesome, cumulatively and in increasing order of seriousness distort his analysis: (1) though Wiebe is essentially correct in arguing that the presence of theological reflection in religious studies violates principles of sound Enlightenment scholarship, he does not make clear enough the philosophical reasons for adherence to that standard; (2) in leaving a small opening forwhat he calls 'non-confessional theology' Wiebe reflects his own version of a theological bias or, at least, has not


Case 1 A 16-year-old male complained of short stature and delanged puberty. His height was 149.2 cm (under -2 standard deviation (SD)) and his pubic hair and genital development were Tanner Stage 2. Endocrinological examination revealed hyperprolactinemia and partial hypopituitarism with growth hormone (GH) and gonadotropin deficiency. (Preoperative basal PRL 3,890 ng/mL; basal GH 1.5 ng/mL; peak GH in GH-releasing factor loading test 5.4 ng/mL; insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) 0.5 IU/mL; luteinizing hormone 4.6 mIU/mL; follicle stimulating hormone 2.6 mIU/mL; response of gonadotropin to stimulation test: poor). Computed tomography (CT) showed a mass at the sellar region. The basal PRL level returned to the normal range (8.9 ng/mL) after transsphenoidal surgery (February 1986), and the secondary sex characters developed. The response of GH to the stimulation test remained poor, and the IGF-I level remained low (0.43 IU/mL). GH replacement therapy, 16 IU/week for two years initially and 24 IU/week for two years thereafter was used and his growth curve recovered to the range of mean -2 SD. Eight years after operation he no longer showed signs of GH deficiency. His basal PRL level continued to be normal (13.28 ng/mL), the basal GH level was 0.5 ng/mL and the IGFI level had recovered to 259 ng/mL.


Image shape restoration based on mathematical transformation is a successful approach to nonlinear distortions in computer vision, robot vision and pattern recognition. The key of this process is to find the distortion function and its inverse function. Usually, the distortion function is unknown or unclear. Even in the case where the function is known, it remains difficult to compute or estimate the parameters necessary for the restoration. To overcome this problem, Coons transformation utilizing boundary functions for the distorted images have been used to approximate the exact distortion function. The boundary functions are calculated using B-spline curve interpolation which is coincided with the necessary condition of major elements that constitute a Coons transformation.


Edith Wharton explored not only early twentieth-century dieting and changing weight ideals but also the role visual media played in this cultural shift in several novels from the 1910s and 1920s, including The Custom of the Country, The Glimpses of the Moon, Twilight Sleep, and The Children. Characters as diverse as Undine Spragg and Pauline Manford make fundamental choices about their bodies based on mass media's prescriptions. Wharton anticipated these concerns in the early novel The House of Mirth, wherein she comments on a relatively new social reality: thinness bestows cultural capital.


UV spectrophotometer was used to detect protein-DNA complex from DNA melting profile under constant temperature increase. Melting temperature (Tm) was in copA duplex DNA alone. In the presence of Proteus mirabilis transcription regulator protein (PMTR) protein at 0.2 and 0.4 , Tm`s were and , respectively. According to fluorescence polarization and gel shift assay. PMTR:copA complex was detected by the retarded migration on gel and the dissociation constant () was .


Volume holographic storage has the potential to offer high density, fast data readout, and associative content addressable storage. But in order to make it a general-purpose data storage system, it is very important to attain these desirable goals simultaneously with the acceptable bit error rate (BER)(10 -12). Careful engineering of the optics alone is not generally the most cost-effective solution to reducing the BER to the target value. A properly designed error correcting code and interleaving can alleviate the requirements for the BER,relax the requirements for system design and quality of the components, and correct a 10 -5 raw BER to the 10 -12 level without sacrificing other system goals. Studied in this paper are the noise and error sources in digital volume holographic data storage channel, and the error-correcting codes and the two-dimensional interleaving for volume holographic storage systems.


Simple Summary Aleutian disease (AD) is a chronic disease of mink caused by the Aleutian Mink Disease Virus (AMDV) that results in dysfunction of the immune system. The prevalence of asymptomatic AMDV infections suggests a necessity to explore their effects on the cellular mechanisms of non-specific immunity in farmed mink. In the present study, the phagocytic activity and oxygen metabolism of peripheral blood granulocytes and monocytes in mink with chronic subclinical AMDV infection was assessed. Serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations were investigated to measure the intensity of inflammatory processes. There was a significant decrease in the phagocytic activity and oxygen metabolism of granulocytes and monocytes in the AMDV-infected mink. SAA value was significantly higher in the group of infected minks compared to the control group. The significant decline in the mean values of the phagocytic activity and oxygen metabolism indicators observed in the minks with chronic AMDV infection, compared with the values noted in the healthy animals, may be a result of immunosuppression of non-specific cellular immunity. Monitoring of serum SAA levels in mink with asymptomatic inflammation may help assess the health of mink and detect asymptomatic inflammation caused by AMDV infection. Abstract Aleutian disease (AD) is a chronic disease of mink caused by the Aleutian Mink Disease Virus (AMDV) that results in dysfunction of the immune system. The prevalence of asymptomatic AMDV infections suggests a necessity to explore their effects on the cellular mechanisms of non-specific immunity in farmed mink. The study evaluated the phagocytic activity and oxygen metabolism of peripheral blood granulocytes and monocytes in mink with chronic subclinical AMDV infection. Moreover, the intensity of inflammatory processes was assessed based on the serum amyloid A (SAA) concentration. The analyses involved 24 brown mink females aged 12–24 months. The experimental group (group I) consisted of mink with chronic subclinical AMDV infections, and the control group (group II) included healthy animals. The statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U rank test. Phagocytic activity of granulocytes and monocytes was carried out using flow cytometry, and SAA concentration was determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Compared with the control group, there was a significant decrease in the phagocytic activity and oxygen metabolism of granulocytes and monocytes in the AMDV-infected mink (p < 0.05). Additionally, it was found that the mean SAA value was significantly higher in the group infected with AMDV than in the control group (p < 0.05). The obtained data indicate that monitoring the serum SAA levels in mink with asymptomatic inflammation may help assess the health of mink and detect asymptomatic inflammation caused by AMDV infection.


Paper historic relics are of great value to research and preserve. However, with the change of environment, paper cultural relics are constantly aging and damaged. Therefore, the reinforcement and conservation of the paper is an important topic in the field of cultural relics protection; thus, it is a crucial and arduous task to discover high-performance protective materials. The coating reinforcement method is a kind of commonsense method to strengthen the paper. Additionally, it is key to select appropriate reinforcing resins. Polyurethane has influence on the improvement of paper strength, stability, and appearance. The epoxycyclohexane-epoxychloropropane polyether polyol was prepared with epoxycyclohexane and epoxychloropropane as materials, glycerol as the initiator, boron trifluoride diethyl etherate as the catalyst, and dichloromethane as the solvent. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy as well as proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectroscopy were adopted to characterize the structure of the synthetic copolyether. Then, polyurethane based on epoxycyclohexane-epoxychloropropane was prepared by the synthetic copolyether reacting with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) trimer. The effect of the mass concentration of polyurethane on the tensile strength, elongation, folding endurance, and the tearing strength of paper samples were tested. When 10% polyurethane solution was applied to paper, not only were the mechanical properties greatly improved, but the gloss and brightness also changed slightly, which conformed to the principle of "repair as old". The above results indicate that the synthetic polyurethane combines the advantages of epoxycyclohexane-poxychloropropane polyether polyol along with polyurethane, presenting excellent properties in paper reinforcement or conservation.


A finite-difference scheme widely used in analysis of pile driving is examined, the scheme is shown to yield peculiar results in simple symmetric impact problems and to inherently posses an imprecise definition of energy balance. A modified difference scheme is suggested and comparisons of the two methods are shown.


In this paper,principle of TOC-Vws analyzer is presented.Total organic carbon in standard sample is compared with CODcr and their relationship is primarily studied.TOC in the raw water pretreatment system,desalination system and water-gas system of power plant is determined by TOC-Vws analyzer.


The substrate of an a‐Si:H solar cell with microscale surface roughness generally shows high diffuse transmittance; however, it also has detrimental effects, including low open‐circuit voltage and fill factor (FF). We applied planarization to the rough surface using spin‐coating of ZnO nanoparticles dispersed in an ethanol‐based solution. The resulting conversion efficiency of the solar cell increased by ∼18% owing to the higher open‐circuit voltage and FF, with a small decrease in the diffused transmittance.


A review was given of porous anodic alumina films(PAAF)formation on aluminum by two-step anodization method in acid electrolytes at constant voltage. The surface morphology was researched by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The pore radius was in nanometer with highly uniformity. The analysis between fabrication technics and the surface morphology of PAAF was shown by observation of film structure at different stages. We have studied formational mechanism of pore alumina films in the initial stage of anodizing by measuring current density and observation of film structure at different stages.


This paper presents a perceptual system that exploits human caregivers as catalysts for the humanoid robot Cog to perceive and learn about objects, scenes, people, and the robot itself. A broad spectrum of machine learning problems are addressed for object recognition across several categorization levels. The paper introduces a new complex approach to object recognition based on the integration of multiple percepts. Training data for all learning mechanisms is automatically generated from actions by an embodied agent, so that the robot develops categorization autonomously. Cognitive capabilities of the humanoid robot are developmentally created, starting from infant-like abilities for detecting, segmenting, and recognizing percepts over multiple sensing modalities. Human caregivers provide a helping hand for communicating such information to the robot, by acting on the objects, inducing their compliant perception from these human-robot interactions.


It was May 2012, and we heard rumblings about a Senate vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill long-sponsored by my boss, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), that would end pay secrecy, strengthen workers' ability to challenge discrimination, and bring equal pay law into line with other civil rights laws. As the lead sponsor in the House of Representatives, the congresswoman immediately mobilized her staff and advocates to ensure that we did all we could to highlight the importance of the legislation, secure the strongest Senate support possible, and—assuming it would not pass in the current political climate—protect the integrity of the legislation for future Congresses and eventual passage. That is where I came in.


Abstract Thixoforming involves processing alloys with a spheroidal microstructure in the semisolid state. Commercially it is applied to conventional casting alloys, and one of the scientific challenges is to extend its application to high performance aluminium alloys such as 7075. Aluminium alloy 7075 is readily available in extruded form, and one route to a spheroidal microstructure is to reheat extruded material into the semisolid state to obtain recrystallisation, with the liquid penetrating the recrystallised boundaries. Here this route has been followed, but it has been found that the presence of pinning particles in the microstructure inhibits recrystallisation. To overcome this, a multistep induction heating regime has been developed consisting of a 1 min hold at 475-500 °C, a 1 min hold at 575-600 °C and a shorter 20 s hold for the final step at 620 °C.


Development of a robust system for the detection of self-tuning parameter regulator in automatic control system gas turbine engines (ACS GTE) will benefit both military and civil aviation through improved aircraft reliability and maintainability. Presented is a gas turbine engine stochastic information system that integrates information from various advanced control analysis techniques to achieve robust self-tuning loop awareness. This paper presents the computational techniques for identifying the accurate sequence parameter regulator by using: firstly, the Lyapunov function application with the performance analyzer for ensuring the stability of optimization processes; secondly, the Wiener-Hoph function application with the white noise generator (random processes) for defining the intensity and impulse transition function of the signal, as a result, accurate set up of the aviation engine control unit. The main control loop is represented by a transfer function of the object and the regulator, their self-tuning models, criteria for setting regulator parameters and sensitive function. An important feature of the information system GTE is the presence of heterogenous hardware and software, which is often associated with a long period of taking system into operation, it is necessary to use the portable serving device and request host for satisfying the requirements of the correct engine operation.


MR. WILLIAM J. LONDON: I am an actuary with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), and we also have Richard Swift from Aetna, and Woody McDonald from Tillinghast. We're going to discuss the Medicare physician fee schedule and the Medicare volume performance standards, which are the expenditure targets for Medicare, and alsothe other part of physician payment reform or balance billing limits.


Abstract Pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect is a complex congenital cardiac anomaly. The blood is supplied to the lungs through a patent ductus arteriosus, a major aortopulmonary collateral artery, or in very rare cases from a coronary artery–pulmonary artery fistula. We present two cases with coronary artery–pulmonary artery fistula which underwent surgical intervention. In our first patient, the main pulmonary artery was supplied from the left main coronary artery. In the second patient, the right pulmonary artery originated from the left main coronary artery and continued to the right lung posteriorly to the aorta, while the left pulmonary artery originated from the patent ductus arteriosus. The difference in our cases is that the coronary artery pulmonary artery fistulas behave like major aortopulmonary collateral arteries originating from the coronary arteries. These fistulas were the main source of pulmonary blood flow.


The information received by patients about the severity of their condition, the type of tests to be performed, or the average waiting time in the service are factors that influence their degree of satisfaction and, therefore, their possible anger and/or aggressiveness. Users' discomfort can sometimes lead to violence towards health workers, and this, in turn, can lead to the commonly associated physical and psychological consequences. Our main objective is to explore the relationship between the waiting time, patients' perceived satisfaction with the service, as well as the other variables under study. We used a cross-sectional design was used to evaluate 320 hospital patients in the Region of Murcia (Spain). Our indicate that receiving information about their process, waiting time until the doctor's consultation, the degree of satisfaction with the professional, and the resolution of the doubts are predictors of the degree of overall patient satisfaction with the clinical experience.


A wave propagation circuit having one or more circuit stages. Each circuit stage preferably has the same number of evaluation devices as the number of logic inputs into that circuit stage. The circuit stages alternately precharge and evaluate in a serial, wavelike manner responsive to a clock signal. During the precharge cycle of the clock, a precharge pulse propagates from circuit stage to circuit stage to precharge the output nodes of the circuit stages in a distributed, serial manner. During the evaluation cycle of the clock, a pulsed data signal permits the first stage to evaluate its inputs. Responsive to the output of the first circuit stage, a second circuit stage evaluates its inputs. The circuit further includes forward conduction devices and feedback devices to improve the noise margin and to reduce output errors caused by charge sharing and charge redistribution. Optional power saving circuits precharge an output terminal of a circuit stage during a precharge phase only if that output terminal switches during a previous evaluation phase.


Both cognitive complexity and cognitive differentiation scores calculated using own vs provided constructs were significantly correlated over treatments, but the two indices were independent of each other.


Though the anti-poverty in Dabie Mountain Area obtained stage achievement,it still faced great challenge.On the basis of analyzing the favorable and restriction factors of anti-poverty in Dabie Mountain,it was pointed out that the anti-poverty in Dabie Mountain Area could be carried out by the development strategy of personalized poverty relief,diversified development mode of poverty relief and development cooperation mechanism of regional poverty relief.


Hallyu is a segment of culture that reflects Korean culture and unique Korean features. The cultural richness and distinctiveness of Hallyu have attracted visitors from China and generated feelings of connectedness to Korean culture. This study employed transfer theory to examine how Chinese visitors' feelings of attachment to Hallyu influence their intention to revisit Korea. The findings indicate that the attachment to Hallyu impacts directly and indirectly on visitors' intention to revisit and to recommend. The indirect impact happens with two mediating variables, the attachment to the Korean people and to the country. The findings indicate that visitors' attachment to Hallyu transfers to their attachment to the Korean people and to the country, which leads to Chinese visitors' visiting Korea and recommending visitation to others. In other words, attachment to the Korean people and to Korea play mediating roles. The findings of this study suggest that tourism marketing departments may need to provide more tourist attractions related to Korean people and to Korea to create a better destination image through Hallyu to increase the number of Chinese visitors to Korea.


Wigung Bayu Saputro/A510150091. Mastery Of Primary Grade Teachers In
Multimodal Text-Based Learning In The 21st Century. Thesis. Faculty of teacher
training and education, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta. June, 2019.
The study aims to identify the understanding and skills of top-class teachers
in implementing text-based multimodal learning, identifying the benefits of
multimodal-based learning text, identifying the problems encountered Teachers when
applying multimodal text-based learning, and identifying solutions teachers do to
address problems in implementing text-based multimodal learning. The type of
research used is qualitative research with a descriptive research design. The data
collection techniques used are observations, interviews, documentation, and polls.
Data is analyzed through data reduction, data presentation, and withdrawal of
conclusions. The validity of data inspection techniques uses the triangulation
technique and triangulation source. The results showed that, 1) a high-end teacher's
understanding of text-based multimodal learning was good with a percentage score
of 76.6%. 2) The teacher's skill in implementing multimodal text-based learning has
been good enough with a score percentage of 60.2%. 3) The benefits that teachers
gain when applying multimodal text-based learning add to understanding and
improve teacher skills on multimodal text, learning more efficiently and improving
student literacy and reading interest. 4) The problem that teachers encounter when
applying multimodal text-based learning is the skill of the teacher in the field of
technology is not evenly distributed, teachers in delivering learning materials are
still conventional. 5) The teacher's solution to solve problems when implementing
multimodal text-based learning is the teacher evaluating the learning activities that
have been implemented, looking for the reference model of learning according to the
material to be taught, teachers Seek help and find information to teacher friends who
are experts in technology.


University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. October 2012. Major: Material Science and Engineering. Advisors: C. Daniel Frisbie and Timothy P. Lodge. 1 computer file (PDF); xi, 181 pages, appendices A-B.


The necissity to prepare children for the pubertal years : a potential opportunity for the church
In society sexual aspects are often overemphasised to address the reality of the AIDS pandemic and problems like abortion, homosexuality and multiple-partner sexual relationships. It creates a misconception of normal bodily changes and psychosocial adjustment. The church has a constructive role to play in preparing children for puberty. Preparation can limit confusion and contribute to realistic expectations and successful mastering of developmental tasks. Characteristics of the pubertal period, as well as the danger involved in the dysfunctional mastering of these developmental tasks are highlighted. Furthermore the challenge to congregations in this regard is put forward.


The convergence point of two-strand yarn spinning was determined by the densities and velocities of two strands and the spun yarn, independent of their mechanical properties.


I am glad I introduced Tony to Moodscope. He loves it, and never fails to tell me how his graph is progressing. The only thing is, I never intended it for Tony.


The article examines the possibility of conducting some types of expert examinations in cases of road accidents before the opening of criminal proceedings, discusses the debatable issues related to the violation of the personal interests of the participants at the stage of opening criminal proceedings and the unjustified delay in making a decision to open criminal proceedings or to refuse them. The considered proposal to allow the conduct of certain types of forensic examinations at the stage of the opening of criminal proceedings for the purpose of verifying statements and reports about the commission of a criminal offense based on the current practice of appointing forensic medical examinations in certain categories of cases and conducting an inspection of the scene of the incident. The opinion was expressed regarding the lack of grounds for not granting permission to carry out an examination before the opening of criminal proceedings in view of the creation of a dangerous precedent of violation of the law in terms of the mandatory condition for conducting investigative actions only in open criminal proceedings. The appointment and conducting of an examination prior to the opening of criminal proceedings primarily refers to examinations on the facts of road accidents, when without the use of special knowledge it is practically impossible to establish the signs of the nature of the crime and to resolve the issue of opening criminal proceedings. The article concludes that conducting an examination before the opening of criminal proceedings does not violate the personal interests of the participants who have not yet received their procedural status at this stage. In contrast to the previous study, only the completion of the examination in full meets the legal requirements for the evidentiary resolution of special issues. In order to obtain evidentiary information when solving the question of the validity of opening criminal proceedings at the legislative level, it is proposed to provide for the possibility of conducting some types of examinations, in particular, during events related to fires, explosions, transport and technological accidents, etc.


In the present work techniques such as Bright Field (BF), Stereomicroscopy, Convergent Beam Electron Diffraction (CBED) and X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) were used in order to characterize microstructurally radiation-induced precipitates (RIP) with Ni-i+ ions irradiation in 1.4970 (Ti stabilized) and 1.4981 (Nb stabilized) austenitic stain1ess steels at 600 and 650°C, respectively. The 3.66 MeV Ni++ ions were originally generated in a Tandetron linear accelerator so that the irradiation doses of 360 and 1800 dpa were produced in each steel. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) samples were electrochemically thinned by using the Controlled Depth Preparation technique. For both irradiation doses, a higher number density of RIP was found in the 1.4981 than in the 1.4970. It was also found that most of the RIP correspond with the G cubic phase, fact that was confirmed when computer simulations of dynarnical CBED patterns were performed. Most of the RIP shapes are plate-like and its growing crystallographic direction develops mainly along the [011]. CrystaHographic and morphological alignment was also found between RIP and matrix (yphase).


To practice environmental awareness is to leave a legacy for a better world and this will be achieved with the support of students and society, for this reason the main objective of this research is to describe and analyze the perspectives of environmental awareness in university students, for which the methodology of quantitative approach is used, correlational between its elements and predictive, in which 1324 university students who responded to a survey of 17 questions divided into four dimensions participated.


We consider a novel type of nanostructures, which consists of closely spaced 3D-regimented arrays of semiconductor quantum dots. The analogy with "real" crystals in such structure is reinforced by strong carrier and phonon spectrum modification, which leads to the formation of mini-bands. Thus, we refer to this structure as quantum dot crystal (QDC). Brillouin spectroscopy is expected to provide useful information on the phonon spectrum modification in such nanostructures. In order to help with interpretation of experimental spectra, we develop a theoretical model and carry out simulation of Brillouin spectrum of a regimented array of quantum dots. The phonon spectrum of GexSi1-x/Si QDC is found from the numerical solution of the elasticity equation for the whole structure. It is shown that our approach allows one to include the effect of the matrix, e.g., barrier material, as well as dot regimentation, and lead to solutions different from simple Lamb-type calculations.


Knowledge of the status of development at micro level will help in identifying where a given area stands in relation to others. The spatial distribution of variables and rural development is not uniform in Satara district. The present study deals with the evaluation of socio-economic transformation using geospatial technology for the period of 1991 to 2011. This transformation depends on various indicators like Physical, demographic, social and economic. A composite index of development has been formulated based on various variables. All the selected variables are converted in to a common base indexing and finally they are converted in to a single index of overall development. The lowest composite score indicates less development and highest composite score indicates high development. District villages shows low (Score 28-35) to very low (score 21-28) status of development because rugged topography, lack of transportation facility, health, education, communication, banking facility. The north, east and central plain region lies in Krishna and Nira Basins have better physical conditions. The villages having closeness to NH4, are favoured to growth of infrastructural facilities. This part shows high (score 42-49) to very high (score 49-59) level of development. Socio-economic transformation in Satara district shows most of the villages from 1971 to 1991 are in the low and very low level of development. In 2001 many villages shifts to moderate (418) level of development and in 2011 most villages shifts to high (409) to very high (225) level of development. If the socio-economic development of these villages modelled along human development framework, it can provide better understanding of development and its impact on quality of life of people.


The three substantive sections of this survey deal with the economic consequences of voluntary export restraint agreements (VERs), e.g. the Multi-Fibre Arrangement and VERs on Japanese auto exports. Section 2 focuses on the disposition of quota rents under the assumptions of perfectly competitive markets and the absence of substitute suppliers. Section 3 considers imperfect competition and the role of VERs as cartelization instruments, facilitating collusion. Section 4 analyzes the discriminatory effects of VERs when there are third country suppliers. A broad conclusion is that the economic consequences of VERs are more complex than the standard trade policy analysis based on tariffs because of the issues discussed in Sections 3 and 4. Copyright 1989 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd


Selforganisation is wide used concept of organisation of material, energy and information in space and/or time. In this article the different aspects, definitions and characteristics of the selforganisation in the nature are analysed. The first complex selforganising assembly system, proposed by Professor Katalinic in 1999, and known as Bionic Assembly System is shown. The difference between the selforganisation in the nature and technology is discussed.


The modulation efficiency is an important character in swinging interfernence spectrometer. From the principle of swinging interference spectroscopy, a theoretical analysis about influence of curve error of mirror, performnce change of beam splitter and tilt error of moving mirror on modulation efficiency is presented. Based on analysis results, some expressions of modulation efficiency are provided. Furthermore, the relationship between modulation efficiency and performance parameters is pointed out.


Municipal solid waste is a growing concern in the urban localities across the nations. In recent years, urban local bodies have shown considerable importance to address the issue of solid waste management. The paper attempts to understand the role of Gangtok Municipal Corporation (GMC) in collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste, the nature of its collaboration with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), people's participation in handling waste and its consequent effect on the environment. The study was carried out by using qualitative research design, employing interviews, focus group discussion and in-depth observation methods with all the important stakeholders such as GMC officials, workers, NGOs, and households. The study finds that the primary focus of the corporation remains on collecting and transporting largely unsegregated mixed waste from the main roads, markets, and other visible places. Although the corporation is working in partnership with the NGOs, it is struggling to implement the SWM rules and failed to collect the user fees efficiently. Findings suggest that even though majority of the people are aware of the ills of burning and dumping garbage, yet people's participation in SWM related activities is still limited.


At present, controversy on the issue that whether the proof standard should be objective truth or legal truth exists in the criminal procedure. This thesis discusses this issue from three angles of epistemology, value tropism and actual analysis, and tries to make out the conclusion that the long - terra dominant objective truth is not that reasonable in many aspects while the legal truth accords with not only the fundamental theory of the dialect material epistemology but also the present requirement of dominant procedural value in our country. Thus, the author advocates that legal truth be the proof standard on criminal procedure.


The training target is mainly for the cultivation of practical professionals in the vocational medical college.The reformation and exploration of experimental and practical teaching should be strengthened in the majors of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine integration,nursing,medical imaging technology and medical rehabilitation treatment technology.By the reasonable arrangement for the class,specified choice and emphasis on the content of experimental and practical lessons,and standardization of the teaching means,not only the students' manipulative ability has been trained,but also the students' scientific thinking ability has improved.


First, some studies examining the association between NAS history and infant/child outcomes report significant relationships. However, such relationships cannot be examined in isolation. It is quite likely that such findings are due in large part to prenatal maternal factors that adversely impact the fetus; and/or postnatal social determinants of health that adversely impact infant/child development. For prenatal maternal factors, NAS diagnosis could be a confounding variable or an intervening variable. For postnatal social determinants, NAS can only serve as a confounding variable. The extent to which NAS history serves as an independent causative factor of later child development needs examination controlling for these various maternal and social determinants—presently, this possibility is not established. Second, the position that NAS can serve as a ''flag for other problems that can compound the risk of neurodevelopment'' is concerning. Developmental psychologists have repeatedly found that proximal behaviors are more powerful predictors of outcomes than are distal behaviors. Further, behaviors earlier in childhood are more unstable predictors of outcomes later in life than are behaviors measured later in childhood. Thus, NAS—1 of the earliest postnatal events for a child, and an event measured with error (eg, Jones and Fielder, 2015)—is unlikely to be a powerful predictor of developmental outcomes, given the length of time between the diagnosis of NAS and the number of intervening social determinants of development outcomes that have likely occurred for most children. We note again (Jones et al., p. 91) that the largest F in Oei et al. (2017) Table 2 was 182.1, indicating that differences between the NAS group, a ''control'' group, and a population database explains 0.3% of the variance in writing skills, indicating that any differences in Table 2 lack clinical importance. Third, the use of NAS history as the basis for clinical decision-making lacks an understanding of the nature of prediction to the individual case. As Oei et al. have found, a history of NAS likely explains only a very small proportion of variance in developmental outcomes. Therefore, evaluation of the risk:benefit ratio strongly suggests that using NAS history in clinical decision-making would provide little if any clinical utility, yet would risk stigmatizing such children, in a similar way that children were stigmatized as a result of their mothers having used crack cocaine a generation ago.


This paper presents equations, derived from the new solutions based on the theory of limit equilibrium, to calculate the bearing capacity of ground of homogeneous soil under the action of eccentric and inclined loads. Except that the selected sliding surface is formed by logarithmic helicoidal surface-logarithmic helicoidal surface-plane, no other simplifications or assumptions are made. The equations presented herein are applicable for failure modes of anteversion, retroversion and compression, showing their wide practical applicability.


Assessment is one of the main components of learning and teaching process. It involves any formal or informal activity that is meant to collect information from learners to judge their language performance or language knowledge (Spratt, et al, 2005). In order to collect that information from students, teachers make use of some different tools like paper and pencil tests, role plays and tasks related to real life situations. The most common tool used to gather information is paper and pencil tests. Nevertheless, the information gathered from tests sometimes would not give valid information about students learning due to different factors that affect test design or development such as lack of time resources and the like. Within the educational field tests serve as a tool used to make a decision (Pedhazur et al, 1991). This purpose rules every test, thus teachers are encouraged to determine what students' needs are and depending on those is how the test should be designed. Researchers discovered important elements that aid this process. Answering four important questions will help to design a quality test. For example, who will take the test (students), why is the test made (purpose), how will the test be evaluated (tasks and grades) and what will be tested (objectives or criteria) are all part of the development stages that a teacher should consider (Fleurquin, 2010). The quality of tests depends directly on its design. Consequently, the design of tests should follow some rules called testing principles in order to make it reliable, valid, useful and practical. Therefore, recognizing what elements are involved in the test design process will make teachers highlight, search for specific information and concentrate on priorities. An important source that eases such process is the course syllabus. Not only because it offers the guidelines for the course but also for test content. In fact, tests must prove a bond with what has been shared in class and what is shown on tests (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2008). It is worthless to teach with the test when tests purpose is to measure what has been taught. Along with the syllabus there are some guidelines that become important assets to design a test and that many teachers overlook. In the educational field reliability and validity are the most common testing principles; however, there are others of great importance as well. For instance, within validity: content, construct, criterion, face validity; student-related, teacher-related, administration reliability; authenticity, usefulness, practicality, washback. Applying these, "the cornerstones" (Combee & Hubly, 2007) guarantees better outcomes and an easy way of measuring what students have achieved. Under no circumstance should a test be aimed to flunk students. On the contrary; teachers' task is to design the fairest test not only because it will benefit students but also because teachers will be able to draw conclusions from a valid test. And such will be only achieved if teachers pay close attention to what is placed on it, which in turn sets a proper expectation from students.


This study quantifies feeding behavior of the W-36 White Leghorn laying hen (77-80
weeks old) as influenced by the management practice of beak trimming. The feeding behavior is
characterized by a newly developed measurement system and computational algorithm. Nontrimmed
(NT) and beak trimmed (BT) birds showed similar meal size. BT birds spent longer time at
the feeder, which is compatible to their slower ingestion rate of 0.9 g/min vs. 1.3 g/min of the NT
type. Compared with NT bird, the BT bird had smaller time intervals between meals, 200 vs. 450 s.
By scientifically characterizing the feeding behavior of laying hens, baseline information will result
that may help better quantify the welfare of birds.


There exists a huge amount of quantitative research about organizational commitment, the psychological contract and its relevance for retention. We do, however notice a lack of qualitative research ...


Objective. To evaluate circulating cytokine profiles in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis (AAV), classified by antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) specificity (proteinase 3 ANCA [PR3-ANCA] versus myeloperoxidase ANCA [MPOANCA]) or by clinical diagnosis (granulomatosis with polyangiitis [GPA] versus microscopic polyangiitis [MPA]). Methods. A panel of 29 cytokines was tested in 186 patients with active AAV at inclusion into the Rituximab in AAV trial. Cytokine concentrations were compared between groups within each classification system. Multivariable analyses adjusted for age, sex, and renal insufficiency were performed, with each biomarker as a dependent variable and ANCA specificity and clinical diagnosis as explanatory variables of interest. Results. Levels of 9 circulating cytokines (interleukin-6 [IL-6], granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF], IL-15, IL-18, CXCL8/IL-8, CCL-17/thymus and activation–regulated chemokine [TARC], IL-18 binding protein [IL-18 BP], soluble IL-2 receptor a [sIL-2Ra], and nerve growth factor b [NGFb]) were significantly higher in PR3-AAV than MPO-AAV, 4 cytokines (sIL6R, soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor type II [sTNFRII], neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin [NGAL], and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 [sICAM-1]) were higher in MPO-AAV than in PR3-AAV, 6 cytokines (IL-6, GM-CSF, IL-15, IL-18, sIL-2Ra, and NGFb) were higher in GPA than in MPA, and 3 cytokines (osteopontin, sTNFRII, and NGAL) were higher in MPA than in GPA (all P < 0.05). For nearly all cytokines, the difference between PR3-AAV and MPO-AAV was larger than that between GPA and MPA. The multivariate analysis showed that 8 cytokines (IL-15, IL-8, IL-18 BP, NGF-b, sICAM-1, TARC, osteopontin, and kidney injury molecule 1


Advances on the circulation in the Changjiang Estuary and adjacent East China Sea (ECS) and Yellow Sea (YS) coastal waters in the recent decades (2000–2020) are synthesized in this review. The circulation over the complicated bathymetry in the region is locally driven by winds, tides, as well as riverine discharge, and is remotely influenced by shelf currents between the 50 and 100-m isobaths through the cross-shelf exchanges. The interchange of the momentum and the freshwater pathway inside the Changjiang Estuary are jointly determined by tides and seasonally varying discharge and winds over the shelf. The buoyant waters are trapped inside the bulge that forms and expands over the shelf to the west of the 30-m isobath in the vicinity of Hangzhou Bay and the Changjiang Estuary. These buoyant waters are exported offshore by the shelf current, tidal mixing, and variations of wind patterns, forming the Changjiang River plume, which shows notable seasonality due to the reversal of both winds and shelf currents in the ECS and YS. Extensive spatial irregularities in the form of freshwater patches are present along its pathway to the Tsushima Strait in summer and to the Taiwan Strait in winter, respectively. Tides and the bathymetry irregularity have recently been found to play critical roles in determining the cross-shelf exchanges of water mass and momentum along the pathway of the ECS coastal current, and along this pathway, a year-round upslope intrusion of shelf waters appears in both summer and winter. Tides also play an important role in altering the expansion of the Changjiang River plume, cross-shelf extrusion of waters, and variation in the Yellow Sea Coastal Current over the shallow Subei Shoal.


A CPU of a printing apparatus selects one of a plurality of setting permission information items based on sheet property information in a case in which printing processing is performed employing a specific sheet type. Subsequently, the CPU of the printing apparatus performs a setting regarding each of a plurality of printing setting items so as to obtain a setting permitted in the selected settingpermission information item in a case in which printing processing is performed employing a specific sheet type. Thus, a printing apparatus capable of executing the printing settings of a plurality of printing setting items appropriately is provided.


The aim of this project is to develop an angular speed detection system using a special Infra-Red sensor (IR) where the receiver photodiode can detect black and white
color with a small differences voltage signal when the shaft motor was rotating. Firstly, the black and whjte color sticker must be stacked at the motor shaft before detecting process begins. Then the errutter IR sensor will errut infrared light continuously when the motor shaft is rotating. The receiver photodiode will received the reflected infrared light and convert into voltages. These differences of voltages signals can be used as a counting signal. With a fix duration of time, counting process can be done depend on the rotating shaft. This counting signal process can be achieved by using a microcontroller PIC
(Programmable Interface Controllers). This project used power supply of 5V that coming from 9V battery or step-down 5V from power socket. The 5V voltage is minimum requirement power supply for PIC and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display. The 16F627 A PIC uses C-Compiler software for programrrung. To write the program, an efficiency of C-Language is required. The program starts by set up the 110 hardware and then the counting program. After that, the result of shaft rotation whlch is in rev/min is shown through LCD display.


In the present work, Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) have been fabricated by utilizing a dense layer of photoelctrode cadmium sulfide thin film (CdS) as n-type, which prepared by spray coating, while p-type electrode was multi-wall carbon nanotubes/graphene (MWNT-G) composites. The experimental results showed the higher energy conversion efficiency for CdS/MWNT-G was 0.056% in comparison with the others, which were CdS/MWNT with 0.044% and CdS/G with 0.037% respectively, which referred to improvement in the conductivity by using MWNT-G. The microstructure and nanostructure of CdS, MWNT, G, and MWNT-G nanocomposite were carried out by employing Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) has been used to get crystal size of CdS, Raman scattering, and optical absorption also used for characterizations the samples. This study promised to increase and enhance the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices.


AbstractIn this paper, we investigated selective attention to auditory stimuli as a control mechanism for a Brain–Computer Interface (BCI). For BCIs using visual stimuli, the use of steady state or...


This document is an exploration into the past, present, and emerging future of MIT from the perspective of a participant-in and observer-of Institute life and learning, and seeks to better understand how creative inquiry at the Institute leads to real-world impact. We explore the Institute's history, mission, and creative ethos. We survey MIT's links to industry, highlight the inner-connections between the triad of research, education and extracurriculars, and explore the rich entrepreneurial ecosystem, how the Institute formally and informally educates and inspires new generations of founders, builders, and leaders. We conclude by observing how distributed initiative, inquiry, and leadership enable organizational reinvention and survey a few of MIT's emergent future frontiers. Thesis Supervisor: Alex (Sandy) Pentland Title: Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences


There are much risk in clinic practice,which are restricted by many elements,for example,modern medical technology,vocational level,practical behavior,and moral behavior of professional ,medical equipment,difference between patients condition.Problems occurring among anyone of above elements can effect medical results and can result in medical issue thus carry much difficulty to the adjusting of health administrative office.Medical department and patients both insure the medical risk,and accept of one's risk.Medical risk insurance regulation,made by hospital,patients and insurance company,open a new route for insuring people's health.


The PTAB is pleased to announce its inaugural "Boardside Chat" lunchtime webinar series to be held bi-monthly throughout 2017.  The purpose of the Chats is to update y


1. Flecainide and quinidine exert contrasting pro‐arrhythmic and anti‐arrhythmic effects in mouse hearts containing the loss‐of‐function, Scn5a+/−, and the gain‐of‐function, Scn5a+/ΔKPQ, mutations in their sodium channel α‐subunits.


Green pepper has a great prominence in the cuisine of Pará. This plant is cultivated using a low technological level along its production chain. However, in the last few years, there has been an increase in planted area due to a national and international recognition of this vegetable, because it is a substitute for bell pepper. This study aims to evaluate the effects of different soil water tension on the productivity of green pepper cv. Lupita. The experiment design was randomized blocks with four replications. The treatments consisted of five soil water tensions: 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55 kPa as indicative for the moment of irrigation. It is concluded that, to obtain high yield and large fruit sizes (longitudinal and transversal diameter), irrigation should be carried out at the moment when soil water tension is close to 33 kPa at a depth of 0.20 m. To obtain a better efficiency in water use, the irrigation should be performed at a tension close to 30 kPa.


Many articles have reported that cancer patients are more susceptible to COVID-19 pneumonia and cancer patients with COVID-19 seem to be more often tend to develop severe events. In these studies of infected cancer patients, factors associated with a higher risk of developing severe events included age, baseline fragility, and anti-tumor treatment. However, specific reasons regarding why infected patients with cancer have a higher probability of severe events compared to non-cancer infected patients remain unclear. Thus, we sought to study one particular factor to determine a potential associative effect: differences in Computed tomography (CT) findings. In our study,we found that cancer patients represent a special population which multiple lobes of the lungs were more susceptible to infection by the SARS-CoV-2, and thus were more likely to be transferred from mild illness to severe, should be deserved more intensive attention during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.


Internal short circuit (ISCr) is one of the major safety issues of lithium batteries and would lead to thermal runaway of batteries. Repeating ISCr in laboratory requires to create small-scale short circuit inside integrated batteries, which is very hard for existed safety test methods. In this paper, a novel ISCr trigger method based on shape memory effect of shape memory alloy (SMA) is proposed, which is easy to be implanted into batteries while has minor influences on batteries normal performance. The proposed SMA ISCr trigger method is employed to conduct ISCr experiments, including the severest type of ISCr, the Aluminum-Anode ISCr, and the most common type of ISCr, the Cathode-Anode ISCr. The experiments results show that the Aluminum-Anode ISCr leads to explosion while the Cathode-Anode ISCr only leads to mild self-discharging. Compared with the nail penetration test, the proposed SMA ISCr trigger method in the Aluminum-Anode ISCr experiment has 1) better consistency, given that all of the 4 tested batteries have their maximum temperature in the range of 383 ∼ 393 ◦ C; 2) better reliability in evaluating battery safety properties, given that all of the 4 tested batteries have the repeatable explosion behavior. The relative ease of inserting this controllable SMA ISCr and the repeatability of the produced data can lead to better modeling and detection techniques of battery internal shorts such as plating and dendrite formation.


This review presents the recent applications of some trihalomethyl carbinols, α,α,α-trihalogenated carbonyl compounds and trichloro(bromo)methyl-containing heterocycles, acting as high versatile synthetic precursors in organic chemistry, based on the last 10 years' literature.


The response of marine vessels to steady currents and unsteady wave motions is presented using six degrees-of-freedom CFD simulations. The equations governing the fluid flow are coupled with the rigid-body equations of motion to predict the response of surface ships when driven by high-amplitude waves. In addition, the maneuvering performance of a submarine is analysed for a constant heading and depth. Such fully coupled simulations allow the accurate prediction of the hydrodynamic forces acting on the vessel as well as the corresponding vessel motion and are becoming increasingly important from a design standpoint. In these simulations, a high-resolution interface-capturing scheme is used to efficiently capture the dynamics of breaking and overturning waves and to examine their impact on a surface ship. The dynamics of the vessel are investigated in detail with particular emphasis on its angular response (i.e. pitch, roll and yaw).Copyright © 2008 by ASME


This article explores the transferal of a historic library of books known as the Salzburger Collection, and the collaboration which resulted from this transferal between a library and archives.


Culture methods remain significantly inadequate in duplicating the physiological needs of microorganisms and, in particular, environmental microorganisms. With the advent of sequence-based (molecular) phylogeny has come the ability to detect and analyze the compositions of microbial communities without reliance on in vitro microbial cultivation. Pathogenic microorganisms often elicit host tissue pathology and clinical manifestations as they propagate in privileged anatomic sites. Comparative rRNA analysis depends upon selection of an appropriate group of homologous sequences, rigorous sequence alignment with preservation of conserved secondary structures, and use of appropriate phylogenetic inference methods. Several features make ss rRNA molecules useful and reliable evolutionary clocks. First, they are ubiquitous among living cells, and they do not seem to be transferred horizontally among mixed populations. Second, the function of the molecule is essential, and as a result, its secondary and tertiary structures are highly conserved. Third, these molecules are large enough to contain sufficient information content for comparisons among diverse organisms. The phylogeny of the Whipple's disease bacillus reveals a second theme that may be common to previously uncultivated microbial pathogens. On the basis of a culture-independent analysis of bacterial diversity within soil, it is not surprising that previously unidentified human microbial pathogens would be found in this environment.


Defensins are small, cationic, endogenous antimicrobial pepdites, and they are rich in cysteine and arginine.The six cysteine residues are connected by two disulfide bonds and have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity.They play an important role in the human body′s immune defense mechanism.Among them, more research is focused on the x03B1;-defensins and x03B2;-defensins.In humans, there are mainly six kinds of x03B1;-defensins and up to thirty-one kinds of x03B2;-defensins.In x03B1;-defensins that are classifiled by their expression pattern and gene organization, there are myeloid-defensins(known as Hnp1 to Hnp4)and enterogenous-defensins(HD-5, HD-6). This paper focuses on the molecular biological characteristics of human x03B1;-defensins-5(HD-5). This review also discusses the antibacterial and antiviral activities and the regulation of HD-5.

Key words:
Defensin; Human α-defensin-5; Paneth cell; Antibacterial mechanism; Antiviral mechanism


Use it or lose it - why bosses resist internal promotions when is our quality programme supposed to show results? - why new initiatives fail struck dumb - the inverse proportion of salary and commonsense Alice's tea party - when corporate culture becomes unreal how loyalty may be lost forever - when dumb turns nasty you're no leader even though we call you president - how bosses shoot themselves in the foot payback time - when smart employees become dumb, too breaking loose from the world of smart/dumb.


Presently, the dominant method for calculating rail stresses and rail-tie contact forces is based on the model of a beam on a Winkler base. One shortcoming of this analysis is that it neglects the effect of the moments that the ties exert on the rails when the rails deflect in the vertical plane. The paper presents an improved analysis of this problelm. It also suggests a simple method for the determination of the track parameters that enter the analysis and demonstrates its use on actual track test data. Paper concludes with a comparison of analytical and track test results.


A 21 years old man was admitted to the Emergency Department for throbbing headache and flushing associated with very high blood pressure, as confirmed by the ABPM performed in hospital. These symptoms are usually due to the excess of circulating catecholamines, so the differential diagnosis included pheocromocytoma and street drugs abuse, in particular cocaine. The patient repeatedly denied drugs absumption and the urine toxicological test at the time of the admission was negative.The laboratory and imaging tests excluded a pheocromocytoma. The cocaine use was confirmed by the hair toxicological test. A few number of cases is available in literature where a long duration of symptoms from the last cocaine absumption can be found. In these cases the hair toxicological test is resolutive for diagnosis.


This article presents the results of elastic analyses performed on three types of bridges, monolithic, continuous, and simple-supported, making changes to the regularity of the substructure. Such variations consist of increasing and reducing the height of the center pier, to determine conditions of vulnerability due to irregularity. The structures were subject to a database of 53 accelerograms recorded on the Mexican Pacific Coast. The maximum responses in displacement and standardized differences between the regular and irregular systems are presented. These data can be applied in preliminary evaluation methodologies and then in maintenance programs.


45 The incidence of malignant melanoma, a cancer of the melanocyte cell lineage, has nearly 46 doubled in the past 20 years. Wnt5A, a key driver of melanoma invasiveness, induces Ca 47 signals. To understand how store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) contributes to Wnt5A48 induced malignancy in melanoma models, we examined the expression and function of 49 STIM1 and Orai1 in patient-derived malignant melanoma cells, previously characterized as 50 either highly invasive (metastatic) or non-invasive. Using both fluorescence microscopy and 51 electrophysiological approaches, we show that SOCE is greatly diminished in invasive 52 melanoma as compared to non-invasive cell types. However, no loss of expression of any 53 members of the STIM and Orai families were observed in invasive melanoma cells. 54 Moreover, overexpressed STIM1wt and Orai1wt failed to restore SOCE in invasive melanoma 55 cells and we observed no defects in their localization before or after store depletion in any of 56 the invasive cell lines. Importantly, however, we determined that SOCE was restored by 57 inhibition of protein kinase C, a known downstream target of Wnt5A. Furthermore, co58 expression of STIM1 with an Orai1 mutant insensitive to PKC-mediated phosphorylation fully 59 restored SOCE in invasive melanoma. These findings reveal a level of control for STIM/Orai 60 function in invasive melanoma not previously reported. 61 62


This paper is to establish an existence result (Theorem 3.1) for the
implicit quasivariational inequality without continuity assumptions in infinitedimensional
normed spaces.


In the past 15 years, we have seen a dramatic increase in the prevalence of cluster randomized trials (CRTs) to evaluate the efficacy of interventions across the social sciences (Spybrook, Shi, & Kelcey, 2016). By design, a CRT randomly assigns entire clusters, such as schools, households, or communities to treatment conditions. The nested structure of the data, individuals within clusters, increases the complexity of the study in many ways including the design of the study, power calculations, and statistical analyses.


In this thesis we consider two problems related to additive cyclic codes. In the first part, we obtain a lower bound on the minimum distance of additive cyclic codes via the number of rational points on certain algebraic curves over finite fields. This is an extension of the analogous bound for classical cyclic codes. Our result is the only general bound on such codes aside from Bierbrauer's BCH bound. We compare our bound's performance against the BCH bound for additive cyclic codes in a special case and provide examples where it yields better results. In the second part, we study complementary dual additive cyclic codes. We give a suficient condition for a special class of additive cyclic codes to be complementary dual.


The Second Vatican Council set forth a teaching according to which the women's mission of evangelization and missionary activity is a very speci c one. e teaching nds its realization in the universal church legislation and the legislation of the Church in Poland. e example of the latter are the nal documents of the Second Plenary Council of the Episcopal Con- ference of Poland. Women take their part in the mission of evangelization and sancti cation, as well as, in marriage and family life.


Lamo‰ova D ., M . M aaajova, M . Z eman: Effects of Short-term Fasting on Selected Physiological Functions in Adult Male and Female Japanese Quail. Acta Vet. Brno 2004, 73: 9-16. Effects of a short‐term fasting (0, 12, 24 and 48 h) on plasma leptin and alkaline phosphatase concentrations, selected parameters of lipid metabolism, protein and glucose were studied in both sexes of adult Japanese quail. Fasting caused a reduction of glucose concentration in liver of females (P < 0.05) and males (P < 0.05 - 0.001) as well as reduction of total lipids in plasma of females (P < 0.05 - 0.001) and liver of females ( P < 0.05) and males (P < 0.05‐0.01). Triacylglycerols decreased in plasma of females ( P < 0.05 and 0.01) and in liver of females ( P < 0.05 and 0.001) and males (P < 0.05 and 0.01). Significant effect of sex was proved by a decrease of liver weight (P < 0.05 - 0.01), total lipid concentration in plasma ( P < 0.05 and 0.001) and in liver (P < 0.05). Significant differences between sexes were also observed in concentration of triacylglycerols in plasma and liver ( P < 0.01 - 0.001). The sex differences were found also in the activity of alkaline phosphatase in plasma ( P < 0.05 - 0.001). Whereas no changes were found in males, in females the activity of alkaline phosphatase increased significantly after all fasting period (P < 0.05 - 0.001). Plasma leptin concentrations, egg laying, testes weight and protein content in plasma, liver and breast muscle were not affected by short-term starvation. We can conclude that short-term fasting affected mainly the lipid metabolism of adult birds. Sex differences, alkaline phosphatase, glucose, leptin, lipids metabolism, protein Food intake is influenced by genetic background and the endocrine status of the organism and, in turn, food intake can influence most of its physiological functions. It is known that deprivation of energy supply induces a delay in the development of some vital functions in mammals: puberty starts later, the reproductive age prolonges, ageing starts later and deterioration of immunity and health is delayed ( Banks and L ebel 2002). Changes in these vital functions are induced and accompanied by endocrine changes. Most information about these adaptive mechanisms is derived from studies in mammals ( Saudek and F elig 1976; Goodman and Ruderman 1980). In birds, it has been found that their response to prolonged fasting can be divided into three phases. The first phase, which lasts a few days, is characterized by a rapid decrease in body weight and high fat mobilization. The second phase is longer and characterized by a slow and steady decline in the rate of body weight loss and the third phase is a critical period characterized by an abrupt increase in the rate of body loss and increased protein catabolism (S artori et al. 1995). We focused on the first phase of fasting and analyzed the response of adult males and females of Japanese quail that have different fat stores. Present research of starvation in vertebrates is connected with studying of leptin that serves as a mediator of the adaptation to fasting. In humans, serum leptin concentrations as well as plasma levels of metabolic parameters (glucose, cholesterol, lipids) change rapidly


PURPOSE
To explore the feasibility of administering SH U 508A by using a single-needle procedure at ultrasonography (US) in twin pregnancies to confirm interfetal transfusion in monochorionic twins and delineate placental angioarchitecture in pregnancies with twin-twin transfusion syndrome.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Fourteen twin pregnancies were studied over 12 months: seven with monochorionic twins, including six with twin-twin transfusion syndrome; two of unknown chorionicity; and five with known dichorionic twins discordant for fetal karyotype or anomaly and undergoing selective feticide in the third trimester. Bolus injection of 100 microL/kg of estimated fetoplacental weight of 400 mg/mL of SH U 508A was performed in the intrahepatic vein of one twin, and evidence of interfetal transfusion was sought by means of digital analysis of power Doppler signals in the contralateral twin.

RESULTS
Contralateral twin echo enhancement was seen in four of the nine ultimately histopathologically proved monochorionic twins. As expected, no evidence of echo enhancement in the contralateral twin was seen in any of the five dichorionic twin pregnancies. There was no evidence of fetal compromise associated with the procedure.

CONCLUSION
These pilot results suggest that microbubbles can be used to demonstrate interfetal transfusion but not to delineate placental vascular anatomy.


The author summarized some problems of Miocene geology and largely characterizes the basement of the Miocene formation in native sulphur ore areas (northern, peripheral part of the Carpathian Foredeep) based on materials collected during extensive exploratory field research developed after the Second World War (see also B. Kubica, 1994).


The invention discloses visible light catalyst of one dimension nanometer structure TiO 2 adulterated with non-metal N, which is prepared with the following method: (1) with hydro-thermal method, nanometer TiO 2 powder, TiO 2 colloid or Ti(OH) 4 and alkaline solution is mixed to form mixed suspension for water-thermal reaction; (2) after water-thermal reaction is finished, cooling is adopted, sediment is filtered and cleaned, and then white hydrogen titanium acid is realized; (3) hydrogen titanium acid, doping nitrogen source and water is mixed to form mixed suspension, ultrasound treatment is conducted after stirring, and then uniform mixture of hydrogen titanium acid and doping nitrogen source is realized after drying; (4) uniform mixture of hydrogen titanium acid and doping nitrogen source is calcinated and then visible light catalyst of one dimension nanometer structure TiO 2 adulterated with non-metal N is realized. Catalyst provided by the invention has one dimension structure and lavish active point position and can accelerate mass transfer of pollutant to catalyst, and therefore photocatalysis rate is improved; special one dimension structure and non-nitrogen metal adulteration of the invention lead to good visible-light catalytic activity.


Attack behavior of the predator Podisus rostralis (Stal) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) adults on fourth instar Bombyx mori L. (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) caterpillars was studied in laboratory conditions. Ten 24 hours old adults of this predator were observed during two hours with the following attack behavior: (1) Predator: prey finding; prey observation; touching prey with antenna; attack behavior; prey paralysis; predator retreat after attack; attack cessation; successive attacks; and (2) Prey: defense. The predator P. rostralis found its prey before attacking and it approached it with slow circular movements. The attack was usually made in the posterior part of the prey to reduce defense reaction. Larger size of prey in relation to the predator resulted difficult prey paralysis but it occurred in less than two hours.


Taking the high pressure elevation-stopping problem of ta pressure machine hydraulic system as an example and based on analysis,research and measuring,this paper demonstrates the main reasons causing problem of over-length time when the status change is made from system unlaading into high pressure overflow of the pilot relief valve by remote control.Given the conditions that the structure of the pilot relief valve is unchanged, a solution is proposed to solve the mentioned problem by modification of the return system and the practice has been proved of relatively good effect.


With the goal of re-engaging students in their art class, a participatory action research project was conducted in which an art teacher, his eighth-graders, and the researcher as mentorteacher used democratic practices to negotiate the structure and content of their class over a school year. Starting with an agreed upon concept of art, pedagogical strategies were developed that moved the class from teacher-centered to idea-centered. These strategies included elevating student perspectives, minimizing teacher talk with active listening techniques, and expanding "working in art class" to include idea-development practices.


A -Summary B -Introduction C -Global or International Terrorism D -Mechanism of terrorist activities E -Terrorism and psychological problems F -U.S. perspective on terrorism G -U.S. Policy Tenets H -India's position on cross border terrorism I -Pakistan's position on terrorism J -Sri LankaRegional terrorism K -The role of science and engineering technology in countering terrorism L-The war against Global Terrorism –International coalition M-Concluding Remarks N-Appendix A –Statistical reviews O-Appendix B –Total International Attacks by Region P -Appendix CInternational Terrorist Incidents-2001 Q-Appendix D-References RAppendix E-Dedication


Acetylene (C2H2) and copper foil have been chosen as carbon precursor and catalyst, respectively, for the synthesis of graphene by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. The effects of hydrogen (H2) concentration on graphene growth have been studied by Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Different to methane as a carbon precursor, high-quality bilayer graphene films can be grown rapidly with the ratio of H2 and argon (Ar) flow rates (H2/Ar) range from 0.010 to 0.111. However, with the further increase of H2 concentration (H2/Ar = 0.250 and H2/Ar = 0.429), multilayer graphene domains are dominant on top of the bilayer graphene films. These observations demonstrate that H2 serves as an activator of the surface bound carbon for the bilayer graphene growth, while showing an etching effect that controls the morphology, nucleation density, and nucleation size of the multilayer graphene domains. The results offer useful insights into the understanding of the kinetic effect of H2 on ...


Traditional methods to characterize the moisture in coals have to damage coal samples,and there are many difficulties in the application of BET method to test the pore structure of coals. The moisture occurrence state and pore structure evolution of lignite in low temperature drying process were investigated by means of1H-NMR,specifically including the dynamic development of the transverse relaxation time T2 of lignite moisture during in situ drying process and the varying patterns of pores distribution. The results show that the non-freezing water and bound water account for main part of the moisture in Shengli lignite during natural drying. The binding force of bound water is weak,part of which could be desorbed easily below 50 ℃. After being dried,the binding of moisture in coal samples rises with the increase of temperature. The proportion of mesopores decreases after being low temperature dried and dehydrated at105 ℃,at the same time,the micropore and macropores or cracks increase,and the moisture leaves,mainly non-freezing water stays in the pores of less than 10 nm. At this point,the pores containing moisture only account for 19% of all pores,much less than that of raw coal,58%. The1H-NMR is an efficient tool for continuously monitoring the change of pore size distribution and the moisture of coals. Therefore,the 1H-NMR is especially practical for characterizing the moisture occurrence state and pore structure of coals.


In this paper a nonlinear smoothing algorithm recently proposed by Tukey is described and evaluated for speech processing applications. Simple linear smoothing routines generally fail to provide adequate smoothing for data which exhibit both local roughness and sharp discontinuities. The proposed nonlinear smoothing algorithm can effectively smooth such data by using a combination of median smoothing routines and linear filtering. The concept of double smoothing is introduced as a refinement on the smoothing algorithm. Examples of the application of the nonlinear smoothing methods to typical speech parameters are included in this paper.


In modern society, robots are been designed to play an increasing role in the lives of ordinary people. Among the emerging areas in robotics is the field of service robots. This paper describes a mobile robotic assistant, named 'LUCAS', Limerick University Computerised Assistive System that is currently been developed to assist individuals within a library environment while also socially interacting with them. Human-Robot interaction is initiated through a 3-D animated character displayed on the robots onboard p.c. A continuous localisation process is described which relies on monocular vision and ultrasonic range readings. The process involves dividing the navigable space into localisation variant regions, and employ's methods of landmark feature extraction, vanishing point estimation and ultrasonic pattern detection to localise the robot within each region.


The occurrence species and control efficiency of main weeds in no-tillage direct seeding rape fields with rice stubbles were investigated and tested by the inversion"W"nine sampling method to know weeds occurrence in no-tillage direct seeding rape fields with rice stubbles in Pingba County.The results showed that there were 16 species,10 families in no-tillage direct seeding rape fields with rice stubbles and the important value of Polypogon fugax,Alopecurus aequalis,Poa annua,Lapsana apogonoides,Gnaphalium affine,Galium aparine,Stellaria media Alsine media,Arenaria serpyllifolia.and Oenanthe javanina was 32.24,17.77,13.83,9.99,8.70,4.50,3.61,3.35 and 2.48 respectively,which indicates that these weeds are dominant species.The control efficiency of weed plants and weed fresh weight of Gramineae weeds,broad leaf weeds and weed population were 89.90%,88.37%,89.99% and 88.44%,87.36%,94.04% respectively 60 d after spraying 50% benazolin suspension(50 mL/667m2) + 10.8% haloxfop-R-methyl EC(30 mL/667m2) during rape growth period based on the soil of demonstration plots treated with 50% acetochlor EC(100 mL/667m2) + 200 g/L paraquat solution(150 mL/667m2).


In this work,the relationship between the optical spectra,EPR spectra and the crystal local structure parameters is set up,and the unknown substitutional site of Ni~(2+) impurities and distorted crystal local structure parameters of CsMgBr_3:Ni~(2+) crystals can be determined from the optical spectra and electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR) spectra at 77 K.The Local structure,optical spectra and EPR spectra of CsMgBr_3:Ni~(2+) crystal are interpreted simultaneously based on Zhao's Semi-SCF 3d-orbit Wave Functions model of free Ni~(2+) ions,the point-charge-dipole model and μ-κ-α model of Ni~(2+)-6X~-(X=F,Cl,Br,I) compounds with the complete diagonalization procedure(CDP) method.The resons of distorted crystal local structure are also discussed.The theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental data.


Industrial information, measuring, and controlling systems have a program module designed to convert measurement results into data for display and control signals. A program module interconnected to other modules by program interfaces. In this case, data transformations are necessary when they are sent between modules. Object-oriented design patterns can be used when programming data transformations. When converting measurement results to objects, the Adapter design pattern can be applied. Programming the Command pattern is intended for converting objects into control signals. Data processing should be separated from their representation, storage and transmission. Functions between modules can be divided using the Model–View–Controller pattern. The use of design patterns reduces the development time and subsequent modification of software for both information, measuring, and control systems, as well as systems in other subjects of science and economics.


Abstract The spatial distribution of sharp cutting edges around the active periphery of a grinding wheel has an important effect on the surface finish of ground components. In addition, random protrusion of sharp edges can result in a random distribution of grinding forces acting on the ground surface. A uniformly dressed and accurately trued wheel is essential for successful grinding. Since these conditions will alter during use, monitoring of them during grinding must be a requirement for critical grinding operations. This paper describes a new system for achieving on-line detection of the grinding wheel condition. The system uses a small air flapper nozzle-transducer arrangement which detects in-process changes of the grinding wheel surface topography, where external triggering of the data-acquisition system ensures a highly accurate identification of the wheel's surface topography irrespective of wheel speed. The benefits of this system are illustrated by experimental results that correlate the measurement of wheel topography by two means: flapper nozzle and stylus.


Objective To discuss the effects of apoptosis and invasion of RBE cells caused by miRNA 21 suppression and further investigate the potential role of miRNA-21 plays on target mRNA regulation. Methods The RNAi technology was employed to suppress the expression of RBE cells.The changes in RECK mRNA and protein expressions were detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting respectively. Changes occurred in apoptosis was closely monitored by flow cytometry (FCM). The invasion of RBE cells was analyzed in vitro by invasion assay (transwell). Results The expression of miRNA-21 was clearly suppressed while the RECK mRNA and protein were over-expressed. The rate of apoptosis was significantly accelerated and there was a dramatic decrease in RBE cells' ability to invade after miRNA-21 knockdown. Conclusion Through miRNA-21 suppression, the rate of apoptosis of RBE cells was accelerated whereas their invasion ability was greatly reduced. RECK was found to be the target gene of miRNA-21 which participates in the regulation process of regulation.

Key words:
Cholangiocarcinoma;  miRNA-21;  Apoptosis;  Invasion;  Tumor suppressor gene, RECK


A feasibility study for simultaneous range resolved measurements of minor species concentration by the differential absorption lidar (DIAL) technique and wind velocity using a pulsed carbon-dioxide HCLR is addressed. The LMD heterodyne coherent laser radar (HCLR) is used to investigate the statistical properties of the distributed aerosols backscattered power and Doppler frequency shift estimation as a function of range gate. We derive a trade off between accuracy for wind velocity and species concentration. We determine an optimal pulse bandwidth accounting for pulse duration and frequency chirp to fulfill the requirements on measurement accuracies, range resolution and time resolution. We show that for accurate concentration estimations, an accumulation on a few tens shots is required. We introduce a detector array in order to improve the performances with respect to statistical distribution.


Abstract The wavelength dependence of ultraviolet radiation‐induced cell killing and mutagenicity in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells has been determined from 235 nm to 313 nm. Cells were irradiated in phosphate buffered saline at 20°C. The amount of cell killing was determined by cloning in soft agar medium immediately after irradiation. Mutation frequency was determined, after a 3‐day expression time, by cloning in soft agar medium in the presence and the absence of 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdUrd). The endpoint used to quantitate lethal effects was the exposure necessary to reduce the surviving fraction to 10%, while the endpoint for mutagenesis was the exposure necessary to increase the frequency of BrdUrd‐resistant colonies ten‐fold over the background level. Data were corrected for quantum energy and the action spectra for cell killing and mutagenesis were plotted as relative biological effectiveness per quantum vs wavelength, relative to the effect at 265.2 nm. Both action spectra show broad maxima at 270 nm, and are very similar to the action spectra determined by Rothman and Setlow (1979) for pyrimidine dimer formation and cell killing in V‐79 cells.


If there is a country, which should receive our apologies, that is Greece. We need to apologize for having demonized a small and modest economy (less than 2% of the EU GDP) as the black sheep of the European Union and the challenger to the abstemious efforts that the northern economies have parsimoniously done, over years of sacrifices. Right before the financial crisis of 2008, Greece and a number of smaller EU member states were completely ignored by the larger audience, as the study conducted by MediaTenor indicates. Greece was featured as a great place for vacation, a quite inexplicable winner of the European soccer games of 2004 and a layback country, which was enjoying more than others the newly gained prospects of a novel integrated European market. In the same way, we did not know that Greece was the country with the highest GDP growth in the period 2001-2007 compared to other advanced economies, with peaks of Real GDP growth of 5.9% (2003), and averages around 4.5% in all of those years, well above the countries in western Europe and in par with what we would define today, "syndrome" of an emerging economy. Like this was not enough, the Greeks had systematically been the most hard-working people of the European Union, with over 2000 working hours per person, inferior only to Chile and Korea, when we look at data from the OECD (2012).


Highly disturbed ecosystems may undergo rapid changes due to the interaction between vegetation and soil
that play a pivotal role for the water balance. This is particular true for water-limited ecosystems for which
water availability determines biomass. Based on a review of how vegetation growth affects soil hydraulic
properties, the authors propose a simple conceptual model that captures the feedbacks between soil water
storage in soil and soil hydraulic behaviour and vegetation biomass. The feedbacks that were considered are
(i) vegetation biomass and soil water storage, (ii) root growth and infiltration capacity, (iii) vegetation
biomass and bare soil evaporation, and (iv) root growth and soil water drainage. In water-limited
environments, these feedbacks are responsible for highly organised vegetation patterns in space and may
also lead to oscillating behaviour of soil water storage and vegetation biomass in time. Biomass
overshooting as a result of initially high soil water content is predicted, which is consistent with observations
made in forested catchments after clearing or during revegetation of mine tailings. Implications of these
feedbacks for predicting the early development of rehabilitated sites will be discussed.


Three species of the genus Psathyrella are described and illustrated in the paper. One of them: P. hydrophiloides is new to Poland, while two others: P. conopilus and P. murcida are new to the Polish Carpathians.


Disbonded coatings over pipeline steel can often lead to serious corrosion problems that cannot be controlled by conventional cathodic protection (CP) systems. CP effectiveness is limited by the high resistance electrical path in the crevice between the steel and coating. Polarization experiments were conducted using conventional and pulsed CP. Certain pulsed waveforms increased the distance achieving protective potentials in a crevice.