In this paper we use findings from an empirical study of the meaning of tranquilliser prescribing and use to examine the contention that these drugs are a means of social control, and to assess the explanatory value of the concept of social control when applied to the doctor-patient relationship. We first outline the historical application of the concept to the health field, specify the cultural mechanisms by which social control is said to be achieved and look at the ways in which the mechanisms are thought to operate through the prescribing of the most widely used kind of tranquilliser/hypnotic–benzodiazepines (e.g. Valium, Mogadon). We then draw on our data to see how far they substantiate the arguments which have been developed. In the final section of the paper we suggest some alternative explanations regarding the nature of doctors' power and of patient dependence. We also discuss problems involved in conceptualizing gender and class ideologies, note an inherent tendency towards an over-socialized view of the person and assess the usefulness of functionalist explanations stemming from the application of the social control concept to the doctor–patient relationship.


This study was designed to clarify the psychological backgrounds influenced to listner's judgement hearing a speech sound, with respect to familiarity of Japanese monosyllables.The familiarity is defined as the frequency of usage in conversation and letters, say, as a degree in whether a monosyllable is more or less frequently used.Familiarity of Japanese monosyllables can be classified to four kinds of group due to the frequency of usage of Japanese monosyllables.Discrimination scores of four groups were compared with each other. Next, the problem, say, whether Japanese monosyllables are meaningfull or meaningless, was studied and time needed for its judgment was measured.The results mentioned above were as follows. 1) A monosyllable was the more familiar the more discriminable. 2) Under various condition of acoustic distortion due to low-pass or high-pass filtering, it will be clear that high familiar monosyllables will be more remarkablly discriminated.3) Most of all Japanese monsyllables are considered to be meaningfull.4) Mechanism of familiarity of Japanese monosyllables acted on auditory discimination was discussed from the view of information theory. It is theoretically seemed that familiarity will act on mechanism of auditory information production in cortex.


Objective The objective of this study was to clarify consumer providers (CPs) subjective experiences as members of a psychiatric multidisciplinary outreach team that provided services to individuals with a mental illness living in the community. Methods A qualitative descriptive study was conducted through semi-structured interviews. Participants were clients hired as CPs in the Japanese Outreach Model Project from September 2011 until March 2014. Of the seventeen CPs, nine participated in this study. We looked at the CPs' subjective experiences of fulfillment and difficulty. Results In the process of providing services, CPs experienced both achievements and concerns. They had a sense of achievement by caring for their clients and they experienced that they themselves were recovering. They were also concerned about having inadequate knowledge and skills to provide psychiatric services to their clients. Further, there were concerns about their dual role on the multidisciplinary team and being support staff while they were still using mental health services themselves. Conclusion The results show that the activities of CPs included fulfillment, recovery, and dilemmas. Clarifications will likely contribute to an increase in understanding and cooperation between CPs and other professionals with whom they work. Further studies are needed to investigate policies related to mental health consumers who are also providers of mental health services.


This report concerns our experience with a sutureless myocardial lead which we have used in 103 patients for establishment of permanent cardiac pacing. The electrode was inserted through a subxiphoid approach in all patients. Results to date indicate that this technique compares favorably with the presently popular transvenous technique as far as immediate or long‐term morbidity is concerned. Complications were related entirely to pericardiotomy; no lead failure was seen during a maximum follow‐up period of four years.


Mobile devices have great potential to increase the efficiency, productivity and satisfaction of plant personnel in industrial settings: People could work more independently; there could be feer errors as personnel access information on their mobile devices rather than relying on other people or one's own memory; systems could be updated on the spot; and decision makers could be contacted directly anytime.


For many, the notion of 'measuring urban form' will sound disturbing. Urban form is about visual images of cities, experiences, feelings, memories of place, thoughts and intellectual constructs anchored in the realm of the arts and the humanities. Anne Vernez Moudon however gives in the paper Urbanism by numbers (2009) a good argument to study the urban environment quantitatively as it offers urban designers the opportunity to practice their art with its due precision. Urban density is one of the measures that is used frequently in urban design practice, but is also questioned by many as it relates poorly to urban form (Alexander 1993, Forsyth 2003). The use of a concept with such a large "warning disclaimer" is disturbing. The Spacematrix method has contributed to a clarification of the existing Babel-like confusion in the terminology currently being used by urban planners working with urban density. The most important contribution of the Spacematrix method is, besides a clear definition of density, that density can be related to urban form and other performances and that urban form is thus measurable.


This study identifies some management implications from Surah Āli-'Imrān, the third surah of the Qur'an by reviewing the explanations of Khaled (n.d.) and Khan (2012). The general theme of this surah is developing discipline in the Muslim community. A particular emphasis is placed on the process of consultation (shūrā) as a means of rebuilding trust after the battle of Uḥud. Allah emphasises that He loves the believers and that He has forgiven them for their mistakes but that they need to follow the Prophet (peace be upon him). To better understand the wisdom of this surah, a case study of Ford Motor is reviewed. Trust and consultation were essential to save the company from bankruptcy. Further insights from the literature on decision making and building trust are reviewed. Particular emphasis is put on the work of Collins (2001). The implications for the management education of Muslim managers are discussed.


The C. yacare placed in breeding conditions have a preserved genetic pool, which requires the enhancement of its zootechnical characteristics to solve some obstacles. Among them is the natural occurrence of Salmonella spp. in wild C. yacare. To address this problem, some breeders have adopted the use of probiotics to reduce Salmonella spp. in the digestive tube of crocodilians. The purpose of this study was to verify whether the addition of probiotics in animal feed reduces the isolation frequency of Salmonella spp. in cloacal swabs and to assess whether the additive interferes with the hematology and the complement system. During an 18-month period, four groups of caimans received 0% (control group), 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% of probiotic supplement. The probiotics did not reduce the isolation frequency of Salmonella spp. We have identified directly proportional relation between probiotic concentration and Hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) and inversely proportional relation to the total concentration of Eosinophils and Heterophils. Finally, we verify that the prolonged use of probiotics at 0.25% concentration is safe and increase the activity of the complement system.


The human dopamine transporter was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes following injection of mRNA isolated from human brain substantia nigra. The specific accumulation of [3H]dopamine into these oocytes was time and Na+ dependent. Furthermore, [3H]dopamine accumulation was prevented by coincubation of oocytes with dopamine (100 μM) or with the dopamine uptake inhibitors GBR 12909 (1 μM) or cocaine (3 μM). In contrast, oocyte injection of mRNA isolated from human globus pallidus, an area devoid of dopamine neuron perikarya, did not elicit expression of the dopamine transporter. Oocyte expression of the human dopamine transporter can be used for the further characterization and cloning of this low‐abundance membrane protein.


To intensify the oversight and restraint on power abuse,as the report of the 16th CPC National Congress has pointed out,We must try to bring into full play the functions of some institutions like legislature,executive and auditing.Slthough there has been an increasing promotion of a clean government and party,it is far from what the general public expect,especially in the fiedl of executive and law enforcement:violation of laws,neglect of law enforcement,no punishment for violators and even the abuse of power,violations in the exercise of laws and the twisting of laws for one's own purpose are frequently found.All these has done great harm to the image of the CVommunist Party and our government in the heart of the publics and deteriorated the party conduct.One of the major reasons for which lies in the fact that the oversight from government is fragile,the relationship among all kinds of supervisions is not clearly delimited and there has been the lack of effective restraints.Therefore,as the paper maintains,the oversight and restraint upon the power should been strengthened so as to promote the building of a clean party image in the new times.


Note: Please note that the information given in this form will only be used for processing this application. A typical PhD proposal will be somewhere between three and four thousand words (excluding references and appendices). While we do not insist on a definite layout, applicants are encouraged to keep the following in mind: i.e. about 13 pages with 1.5 spacing and leaving enough margin for comments. The theory of consumer demand has been a central topic in Economics for many years (Edgerton et al., 1996). Much effort has been exerted in bridging the gap between the pure theory of consumer behaviour and its empirical implementations. The formalised theory of consumer demand has stimulated the developments and applications of econometric methodologies. Not only has the rapid expansion of international tourism led to increasing contribution to national and global economies, it has also motivated growing interests in tourism demand analysis among academics and business practitioners. Tourism demand studies are of particularly importance for the countries/regions where tourism plays a key role, such as Hong Kong. However, those latest developments in econometric methodologies have been rarely applied to the tourism context. The limitations of the traditional methodologies employed in previous tourism demand analyses may have biased the empirical results, and more seriously, led to misleading policies. This study, therefore, aims to overcome this problem by introducing a theoretically sound and technically effective framework in tourism demand analysis.


Four normal dogs, previously accustomed to the procedure, were used in this work. The normal emptying time of the stomach of each dog was determined by repeated fluoroscopic examinations, using a standard opaque meal. The effects of six anesthetic agents on gastric emptying time were studied. All were found to prolong gastric emptying time: chloroform by 64 per cent; ether by 40 per cent; nitrous oxide by 15 per cent; ethylene, cyclopropane and divinyl oxide each by about 7 per cent. It is felt that the severe anoxemia (5 per cent oxygen) accompanying the nitrous oxide anesthesia probably explains the longer delay with nitrous oxide than with the other gases.

It is suggested that the data presented may be correlated with previous work quoted in this paper to throw some light on the reason why chloroform and ether are more prone than the other agents to be followed by paralytic ileus.

Finally, it is suggested that the general results obtained raise the question as to whether gastric motility may not be used as a criterion of general bodily response to certain external or environmental agencies.


The invention relates to indole derivatives having the general formula I wherein:> - R represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group of C to C linear or branched alkyl or aryl and in particular phenyl , or an arylalkyl group of C to C - R represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group of C to C linear or branched, hydroxy, alkoxy group of C -C, a group aryl, alkylaryloxy, arylalkyloxy, aryloxy, in particular benzyloxy, or an NO group; - n = 1, 2 or 3; - Ar represents a mono- or polycyclic aryl radical optionally substituted by one or more atom (s) halogen, or grouped (s) C-C, or by alkoxy groups at C or an aryl group such as phenyl, in particular radicals chosen from phenyl, naphthyl and phenanthrenyl; > - RR independently of one another a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group of C to C linear branched, or an alkoxy group of C -C; and their salts with pharmaceutically acceptable acids as a racemic mixture, mixtures of optical isomers in which the R-isomer is predominant, or its isomer optically pure R, with the exception however of the compound of formula I in racemic form wherein: - R = R = R = H - R = F and Ar = naphthyl and also except the compound of formula I in all their enantiomeric forms wherein: - R = R = R = R = H and - Ar = naphthyl.


This paper summarizes several teaching methods in economic mathematics, and explains their effects on the classroom teaching and the students' responses to them.


Abstract Coagulation optimization using coagulants of ferric chloride (FeCl3), polyaluminum chloride (PACl), and their combinations (FeCl3/PACl) were evaluated through jar tests, by treating source water with high algal content (10–40 million cells/L) and high alkalinity (80–110 mg/L). The results indicated that when compared to single coagulants, the combined coagulants showed a superior coagulation performance in terms of turbidity, UV254, and algal removal. The optimal dosage was determined as 30–35 mg/L by using the combined PACl/FeCl3 (1:2 by mass) and dosing PACl followed by FeCl3. By adding the coagulant aids of polymerized diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (HCA) and polyacrylamide (FO4190), the floc sizes may enlarge up to 1.75–2.0 mm. Scanning electron micrographs showed that the coagulant combination can form a more compact reticular aluminum-ferric structure, and thus increased the settleability of the flocs. The combined coagulation was further evaluated in full-scale water treatment plants, ...


The new maintenance system of armored vehicle is designed based on neural network. It has solved the knowledge acquisition problem of the existing maintenance system,and can acquire knowledge automatically. This System also has online study abitity,which enhance the system adaptive ability,and greatly improve the applicability of the system.


X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of some indium compounds was studied. Chemical shifts were found among the InM4 or M5 electrons emitted from metallic indium, indium oxide, indium EDTA·OH and indium EDTA. It was shown that the simple charge-binding energy relationship did not always hold good for the complex compounds studied.


The demand for food and energy is increasing at a fast rate and their security has become the prime issue in especially developing countries like Sri Lanka. Conventional fossil fuel-based electricity generation has become a challenging task for the economy as well as for the environment. Therefore, moving to renewable energy has currently grown in the world than ever before as a result of the Paris agreement launched in 2015 and in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7. Photovoltaic based electricity generation is one of the best options for the country as it blessed with an ample amount of solar radiation. Rooftops of houses, buildings, and other suitable infrastructures would be the best places to establish the PV panels. Nevertheless, it needs to expand up to a considerable area of land of photo-voltaic panels to cater to the increasing demand for energy which is available to feed the ever-increasing population. Agri-voltaic system has been proposed as a mixed system, combining photovoltaic with agriculture at the same time on the same land to capture solar energy, for both energy generation and food production while maximizing the solar efficiency on the land. The main eco-physiological constraint for the crop production under the Photovoltaic is the light reduction. Since the inadequate information about most of the crops under the shade conditions, it is extremely difficult to recommend some crop species for their ability to shade tolerance. The use of shading (PV panels) requires more crop-specific research to determine the optimum percentage of panels and their arrangement that do not reduce agricultural production. Crop yield variation with panel shading and practicalities to maximize the system need to be studied extensively. This paper reviews the potential of the Agri-voltaic system and identifies the research gaps in selecting suitable crops under the PV panels.


The reaction of the cyclopenta[b]thiophene derivative 3 with phenylisothiocyanate4 gave thiourea derivative 5. The latter was reacted with the active methylene reagents 2a, b and 7 to give pyrimidine derivatives 6a, b and 8. N-Acylation of compound 3 was achieved via its reaction with acetic anhydride 9 to give the acetyl derivative 10. Compound 10 was utilized as a key for the synthesis of different heterocyclic compounds, where arylidene derivative 12 was obtained via its reaction with benzaldehyde11 and thienopyridone derivative 13 was obtained via its intramolecular cyclization using basic catalysis. Finally treatment of 10 with different activated carbonitriles2a, b or with hydrazine derivatives 15a, b afforded thienopyridone derivatives 14a,b and thienopyrimidine derivatives 17a,b, respectively. The newly synthesized compounds were tested for anticonvulsant, behavioral and CNS antidepressant activities.


- The present invention relates to a horizontal storage device spiral (5) for a metal strip (1), wherein the strip to be stored is guided to a plurality of windings, the edges of the windings resting on rollers (8) arranged transversely to the edge of the strip. - According to the invention, at least some rollers (8) are arranged being inclined inwardly and other rollers are arranged being inclined outwardly.


The purpose of this study is to investigate beginning secondary science teachers' teaching practices in terms of motivating and understanding students. Six first-year teachers participated in this study. Data were collected by classroom observations and structured interviews. Instructional materials used during the class were also collected to understand teaching practice. Lessons observed were video-tape recorded and the teachers were interviewed. Video- and audio-tape recording were transcribed. The framework, developed by Knowles Project Team of Michigan State University, was adopted and revised according to Korean classroom context and employed as an analytical tool for teaching practices. The beginning secondary science teachers intention ranged from 'Managing Work' to 'School Science.' No teachers revealed 'Reform Science Teaching' orientation. For the execution of science lessons, one teacher with 'Managing Work' orientation showed 'expert' level of execution, but the others executed at a 'novice' level. Beginning science teachers need to be guided and informed about 'Reform Science Teaching' for motivating and understanding students to develop professionally.


The extent of oxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphate in the plumes of oil and coal fired power plants have been studied by sampling with a single engine aircraft. A new technique employing isotopic ratio measurements was employed in conjunction with simultaneous concentration measurements of sulphur dioxide and sulphate. The method is based on measuring the isotopic ratio of the $sup 32$S/$sup 34$S naturally occurring in the fuel sulphur. Changes were experienced in these ratios due to chemical reactions in the atmosphere. These changes were measured and interpreted as to an implied reaction. A mechanism is postulated whereby the sulphur dioxide is in equilibrium with water on particulates originating from the fuel. The sulphur dioxide is immediately catalytically oxidized by constituents of the particulates. In the oil fired instance a pseudo second order mechanism depending on sulphur dioxide and particulate concentrations is indicated and no dependency on relative humidity observed. The rate of reaction is 1 ppm$sup -1$. h$sup -1$. In the coal fired instance the particulate level is a factor of 3 less than in the oil fired plume and the extent of reaction is reduced by about that amount. (auth)


This work deals with the use of selected (starch, soy, hydrocolloids) vodovazných additives in the meat industry. For these selected additives are discussed legislative requirements for their license in the manufacture of food restrictions in certain applications or the maximum allowable amount in the final products. For each aditiviv are then described their properties and their potential use in the manufacture of meat products. Part of this work are photographs of selected meat products.


Field experiment was conducted in the department of crop physiology at TNAU during 2006 to 2007 to study the effect of basal application of nitrogen in combination with foliar spray of urea and plant growth regulators. Among the treatments, the basal application of nitrogen 25kg ha-1 with foliar spray of urea 2% and 0.1 ppm brassinolide


Temporal Concept Analysis (TCA) is an extension of Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) aiming at a conceptual description of temporal phenomena. We present the latest version of the TCA tool in the program SIENA, a part of the ToscanaJ Suite. This TCA tool allows for animations of trajectories of temporal objects in line diagrams of concept lattices. Such concept lattices represent views of the given temporal data, as for example a map of a landscape.For generating views of suitable granularity the many-valued temporal data have to be scaled using conceptual scaling tools as for example CERNATO. In the TCA tool in SIENA the temporal database has to satisfy the condition that the manyvalued attributes for temporal objects and time together form a key. Then the state (of a temporal object o at a time t in a view Q) is defined as a certain object concept of a formal object of the formal context generated by the view Q. The general case of temporal data bases with an arbitrary key leads to the notion of distributed objects which are at each time at possibly many places, as for example a high pressure zone on a weather map. A state of a distributed object is defined as a certain set of object concepts. In this workshop we give a demonstration of SIENA presenting animations of trajectories of temporal objects. In ToscanaJ we visualize changing distributed objects.


An expanded method for constructing nonlinear differential-difference equation is presented. With this method and computer algebra system Maple, many exact soluions of a modified Volterra lattice have been obtained. The method can also be used for other nonlinear differential-difference equations.


This case study in the Philippines explores the potential and limitations of one model of decentralisation - devolution of powers to local bodies - in strengthening accountability to communities with regards to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. The Philippines government embarked on devolution of health and social services after the passing of the Local Government Code of 1991. As part of the devolution in health services 95 per cent of its facilities 60 per cent of its personnel and 45 per cent of the budget was transferred from the Department of Health to local government units (LGUs) at provincial city and municipality levels. To oversee the functioning of health services in decentralised units local health boards were set up in each unit comprising the Governor or Mayor as its chairperson Municipal Health Officer as vice chairperson the local councillor for health a representative of the Department of Health and a representative of a health NGO. (excerpt)


The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the entire world economy, including Indonesia. During the 1998 financial crisis in Indonesia, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were able to survive and support the economy. Digital marketing and digital payments are one of the renewals of today's technological advances. The existence of a breakthrough like this forces MSME actors to transform into the digital era. At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic that had hit Indonesia, and the government's policies that limited the mobility of the community, digital marketing and digital payments were the right solution for MSME players to stay afloat and help improve the Indonesian economy. Based on the results of activities in the Bekasi Jati village about digitizing marketing and digitizing payments for MSME actors by conducting registration training to shopee application platform in the area, there are still many things that need to be improved, starting from having a bank account and replacing their mobile phones that support them to market their products on the internet. E-commerce in order to make their business advanced in technology-based business competition. The impact of the program that the author has given to MSME actors who have registered in e-commerce is very helpful for them in terms of product marketing and increasing their income during the covid-19 pandemic that is hitting the surrounding environment.


Author: Ebba Hedstrom
Title: "You feel useful" – A studie about counsellers work in the school for children with intellectual disabilities [translated title]

This study concerns the councellors work with children in special programs for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The purpose was to se how counceller work with the children in special programs for pupils with intellectual disibilities. As the study focus on the councellors opinions of their work and the children's needs the data was collected through qualitative interviews. Personal interviews have been made with four different councellors. The collected data was to answer the issue based on the following questions; what typical support by the
councellor does the children need; in what way does the councellor work and finally what type of competence is important in the councellors work with intellectully disabled children. Important in the study was the fact that children's needs do affect the councellors work. The children has different needs. Some of them were similar to the needs of any other teenager such as finding their identity in the borderland between adolescence and adult. Others were more typical for the diagnosis like thoughts about their identity in relation to their diagnosis.
Help with financial aid as well as relationship issues are typical questions as well. The councellors points out that the children sometimes have difficulties feeling affinities to the diagnosis. Complications arise because the children want to be like any teenager but are relegated to a special school. Due to this problem the councellors put much attention on the children's self-esteem. Other than this the work consists of, for example, individual
conversations with the pupils as well as with their parents. In this section of councellary work important competence to possess is a degree in social work which all interviewed councellors have pointed out. The study shows that the diversity of the children's needs implies fexibility in the councellors work.


This study showed that the association between grandmother-mother relationship and grandmother-grandchildren ties is mediated by the coparenting. Participants consisted of 329 grandmothers who were rearing preschool aged grandchildren in the Seoul and Gyeonggido area. SPSS 23.0 performed descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis. The structural equation model was estimated with AMOS 23.0. Parameters were estimated using the maximum likelihood method. Model fit index used the chi-square statistic, the goodness of fit index (GFI), the Turker-Lewis index (TLI), the comparative fit index (CFI), the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The mediation effect analysis followed a two-step verification process; direct and indirect effect. In addition, statistical significance of the indirect effect was examined using a bootstrapping procedure. The results are as follows. First, a positive correlation was found between the grandmother-mother relationship, grandmother-grandchildren ties, and coparenting. Second, the association between grandmother-mother relationship and grandmother-grandchildren ties is mediated by coparenting. The results of this study suggest that the quality of the grandmother's relationship with mothers and cooperative coparenting is important to building relationships with grandchildren. In addition, coparenting can be an important mechanism for grandmother-mother relationships and grandmother-grandchild ties. Based on the results of this study, we discussed ways to improve the grandmothers' relationship quality with the mother and strengthen parenting ability.


Abstract The goal of this study was to examine individuals' emergency shelter stay records to gain insight into cycles of homelessness and strategies to end homelessness. We examined over 46 000 records of 4332 unique individuals from six of Victoria, Canada's adult emergency shelters from May 2010–May 2014. Individuals' stay records were clustered using the k-means cluster analysis, based on total days stayed and total number of episodes of homelessness over the four-year period. Consistent with other Canadian cities, three significant clusters emerged from the analysis: temporary, episodic and long stay. The episodic and long-stay cluster accounted for more than 50 percent of shelter bed nights. Age and gender were analyzed, with seniors more likely to be represented in the long-stay cluster. These findings highlight the need for prevention and rapid re-housing initiatives for those experiencing temporary shelter use, and housing with intensive supports for those in the episodic and long-stay clusters.


One economic factor that has shown a consistent trend over the last 30 years, despite varying economic policy, is Britain's lack of competitiveness in industry. This lack of competition is reflected not only in the production aspect of industry but also in the marketing performance. This paper discusses the issue of the competitiveness of British marketing and uses the example of the motor car industry as a case in point. Within this industry it seems that British marketing aggression has been lacking. Can other industries learn from this example?


In this research, aspects of sustainability and efficiency were evaluated to provide information to decision makers. First, 39 rainbow trout farms were characterized, sustainability indices were determined for 36 production units using Sarandon's methodology, and technical efficiency was evaluated using input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The production units studied were grouped into three clusters, and the most determining variables were associated with total annual production. In addition, a medium-level general index was obtained with a total of 60 sub-indicators, divided into four social indicators (with 10 sub-indicators), four economic indicators (with 34 sub-indicators) and three environmental indicators (totaling 16 sub-indicators). Of 33 production units evaluated, 14 were identified as efficient; the Amazonas region's trout farmers were found to operate at 83.87% technical efficiency on average. All resources showed room for improvement and thus can be further adjusted. The most underutilized resources were land (area), feed and seed (fry), which could be reduced to increase technical efficiency. In conclusion, the trout farming units in northeastern Peru are differentiated into three groups by production volume and operate at a medium level of sustainability, with most at levels of technical inefficiency.


The invention discloses a connecting structure of an intake manifold and a vacuum boosting pipe of a gasoline engine, comprising the intake manifold and the vacuum boosting pipe, wherein the vacuum boosting pipe is connected with the intake manifold in a matching way. The connecting structure is characterized in that a tapered intake pipe is arranged between a resonant cavity of the intake manifold and the fitting surface of a throttle valve body; one end of the tapered intake pipe, which is connected with the resonant cavity, is smaller than one end of the tapered intake pipe, which is connected with the fitting surface of the throttle valve body, in diameter; the middle left part of the tapered intake pipe is provided with a vertical channel with a rightwards bent upper part; and one end of the vacuum boosting pipe is connected with the inner wall of the upper part of the channel in the matching way. The invention ensures that the vacuum boosting pipe can boost vacuum without being blocked under any working conditions and any weather conditions, thereby enhancing the reliability of a vacuum braking boosting system.


We give new characterizations of the analytic Besov spaces \(B_p\) on the unit ball \(\mathbb{B}\) of \(\mathbb{C}^n\) in terms of oscillations and integral means over some Euclidian balls contained in \(\mathbb{B}\).


This research uses a case study method to interview women from the west coast of Newfoundland, Canada whose male partners work away in the oil sands of northern Alberta. They are engaged in what is usually referred to as long distance commuting (LDC). Using a semi-structured interview guide, responses are analysed using thematic analysis. Seven themes emerge from the interview data: challenges; partners role; parenting; informal support; benefits; coping mechanisms; and future plans. Unlike previous research with this population, it is clear male partners participate and make significant contributions to household management when they are at home. Modern communication also ensures men are able to keep in touch with their female partners and children on a regular basis. Although the women interviewed do not prefer this type of family arrangement, the challenges are not as immense as they were prior to the development of modern communication methods.


The study of perovskite manganites La 0.7 Sr 0.3 Mn 1-x Cr x O 3 has been carried out. The structure, magnetic and electrical properties of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 Mn 1-x Cr x O 3 manganites are strongly dependent on the doping level x. The little difference between the ionic radii of Cr 3+ and Mn 3+ causes no change in the structure, the structure remains rhombohedral. A considerable change occurs in magnetic and transport properties with respect to the sample without Cr. All the samples present a single magnetic transition from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase with the decrease of the Curie temperature T C when x increases (x ≤ 0.5). The introduction of a different metal. Cr, in Mn-O layer causes a decrease in the value of T C . The Cr-doped manganites exhibit a large variation in resistivity values. The resistivity increases when the level of Cr increases, and we observe that the temperature T M-SC , indicating the metal-semiconductor transition, decreases.


In recent years, plenty of object tracking methods have been put forward for better tracking accuracies. However, few of them can be applied to the real-time applications due to high computational cost. In this paper, aiming at achieving better real-time tracking performance, we propose an adaptive robust framework for object tracking based on the CamShift approach, which is notable for its simplicity and high efficiency. An adaptive local search method, which is composed of two key steps, i.e. iterative extension and iterative split search, is put forward to search for the optimal object candidate to avoid that the CamShift tracker may get confused by the distracters from the surrounding background and hence erroneously incorporate them into the object region. A Kalman filter is also incorporated into our framework for prediction of the object's movement, so as to reduce the search effort and possible tracking failure caused by fast object motion. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed tracking framework is robust and computationally effective.


ABSTRACT Capsule: Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus avoid nesting close to small woodland patches but nest predation rates do not vary with distance to woodland patches, either because risky areas are avoided or perceived nest predation risk does not reflect actual risk. Aims: To explore the effects of woodland patches in wet grassland landscapes on nest distribution and success of Lapwings. Methods: We quantified the effect of woodland patches on the distribution and outcome of Lapwing nests across four wet grassland sites by mapping nest distribution and monitoring nest outcomes. Results: Lapwing nested significantly further from woods than expected by chance. Neither nest predation rates nor the probability of predation occurring at night (thus primarily mammalian predators) or day (primarily avian predators) varied in relation to distance from woodland patches. Conclusions: High levels of nest and chick predation in wet grassland landscapes limit the capacity for breeding wader populations to be self-sustaining. Consequently, identifying manageable landscape features that influence predation rates is an important focus of conservation research. Lapwing avoid breeding close to woodland but, as nest predation rates do not vary with distance from woodland patches, their removal may increase the area of suitable nesting habitat but is unlikely to substantially influence productivity.


Many co-simulation techniques either suuer from poor performance when simulating communications intensive systems, or represent communications with uniformly low detail. This paper presents a technique which represents communication at multiple detail levels and gives a designer the ability to dynamically choose the appropriate level for diierent parts of the system. This paper also presents a tool which uses this technique and experiments which show simulation speedups.


Online learning has several challenges such as the internet connection as well as convoluted explanations of math problems which oftentimes affect the capability of teacher to deliver the material optimally. For teachers, weaknesses and potential threats that have been mentioned then become a problem in finding solutions to maintain strengths and opportunities. Thus, the utilization of SWOT analysis was intended to identify all aspects of the application of courageous learning carried out by SMA Negeri 1 Tomohon. The research was conducted to achieve specific objectives, to describe SWOT aspects in the implementation of online learning on math subject in the 11th science class of SMA Negeri 1 Tomohon. The qualitative descriptive method was adapted in this study. The results showed that the implementation of online learning in a SWOT perspective had a correlation with time, costs and economic conditions, unconducive situations, learning resources, and learning motivation as well


Dr Kallner states that enzymatic and kinetic Jaffe type assays measure different quantities and consequently it seems acceptable that the results are different. We want to emphasize that all assays measure creatinine and therefore we believe it should be the goal of these assays to come to the same results. We used Deming regression to estimate the constant and proportional deviation between assays. Deming regression accounts for errors in both assays and so there is no independent variable. The variance ratio of the errors in the X/Y variable is assumed to be constant across the measuring interval. However, this is a theoretical requirement that is never fulfi lled in practice. It is unclear how much the variance ratio may vary across the range of interest before the Deming regression results should be considered invalid. Moreover, the variance ratios of 2.4 and 3.2 are obtained from %CVs reported by the External Quality Evaluation of the Scientifi c Institute of Public Health in Brussels and not from our data. The impact of variance ratio differences in our data on the regression functions is limited. Therefore, the regression lines we presented are reliable and both slope and intercept can be used (within the margin of error) for estimating the effect of the differences between assays on creatinine clearance (CrCl) results. To present the results we followed the methodology of Bland and Altman [1]. Both the editors and reviewers of our article did not object to our way of presenting the data. Our plots clearly show constant and proportional bias. The limits of agreement could have been calculated taking into account the presence of both forms of bias. We agree that the analysis of the data could have been done in a more appropriate (and more complex) way, but this does not change the overall conclusion that Jaffe assay results differ from enzymatic assay results. This clear difference has an important impact on CrCl results. The CrCl presented in the fi gures were calculated using the measured serum and urine creatinine values of the patients in our study. We also presented a theoretical calculation of CrCl using the enzymatic method as the reference, and making use of the slopes and intercepts of the Deming regressions mentioned above. Our intention was to illustrate that the intercept in the Jaffe versus enzymatic serum creatinine regression, which cannot be ignored, is responsible for the difference in CrCl when obtained from Jaffe results. A weakness of our study is that we had no direct GFR measurements of our patient population available and therefore we used the CKD-EPI eGFR as the reference method [2]. We corrected creatinine clearances for BSA to express them in the same units (mL/min/1.73m 2 ) as the CKD-EPI eGFR results. We agree that the CKD-EPI estimation is imprecise as well, but it is considered to be the most unbiased eGFR equation and was therefore useful to make general conclusions [3]. Random error was equivalent for all CrCl results, whether they were obtained from enzymatic, compensated Jaffe or Jaffe type assays, but bias was the smallest in case of the Jaffe type assay. Finally, we could also have used Deming regression instead of ordinary least squares regression to compare CrCl with CKD-EPI eGFR, but we can assure you that the slope and intercept are not really different and thus, the fi nal conclusion does not change at all. We also agree that there is absolutely no better way to determine the kidney function of an individual patient than by performing a direct GFR measurement.


The reactions of (R)-(+)-2,2′-bis(cyclopentylamino)-1,1′-binaphthyldiamine with [Li(THF)n]3[LnMe6] (Ln = La, Sm) in THF at 0 °C depending on the metal ion size result in the formation of trinuclear [(R)-C20H12(NC5H9)2]Sm[(μ-Me)2Li(THF)2(μ-Me)Li(THF)] (1) or tetranuclear [(R)-C20H12(NC5H9)2]La{(μ-Me)2Li(THF)[(μ-Me)Li(THF)]2} (2) complexes with methyl ligands μ-bridging lanthanide and lithium atoms. The structures of complexes 1 and 2 were established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and solution NMR studies. These new complexes were evaluated as catalysts to promote the enantioselective hydroamination of amino-1,3-dienes.


Many people die of heart disease every year, as the hard tissue tightens and tightens the arteries, which can block the flow of blood through the arteries to the limbs and muscles, without causing complications. Heart disease is the leading cause of death. There are some medications that reduce heart rate and prevent fear of heart attacks such as Nitroglycerin, Beta-blockers, and immediate injections into a patient's body. If an adult is sleeping at home and a sudden heart attack occurs it will be a dangerous condition, if the doctor is not at home to help and provide immediate medical attention. As this project progresses, place more nerves to monitor the patient's environment and health, if the patient develops a heart attack and then the first stage of the heart is a sudden change in heart rate. As it gets too high or too low during this time, we get a heart attack using a pulse sensor and microcontroller, with the help of a microcontroller and a car the drug will be injected into the patient's body by controlling the amount of drug flow then the controlling a heart attack is quicker, easier, and more predictable.


Objective
The rate of early rebleeding was evaluated due to early cyanoacrylate extrusion after pre-injection of lauromacrogol before cyanoacrylate injection for treating gastric varices.

Method
A total of 274 patients admitted to the digestive endoscopic center of PLA Rocket Force General Hospital for gastric varices between January 2014 and March 2018 were enrolled into two treatment groups: lauromacrogol-cyanoacrylate group and cyanoacrylate group. Patients were followed up to observe early rebleeding due to cyanoacrylate extrusion.

Results
In the cyanoacylate group, 9 of 133 patients developed rebleeding due to cyanoacrylate extrusion, the rebleeding rate was 6.8%.While in the lauromacrogol- cyanoacrylate group, only 2 of 144 patients developed rebleeding due to cyanoacrylate extrusion, the rebleeding rate was 1.4%, lower than that of cyanoacrylate group (P=0.031).

Conclusion
In this study, it was demonstrated that pretreated with lauromacrogol before cyanoacrylate injection can significantly decrease the rebleeding rate due to cyanoacrylate extrusion.

Key words:
Gastric varices; Endoscopic cyanoacrylate injection; Early rebleeding due to cyanoacrylate extrusion; Pre-injection of lauromacrogol


The researches established a considerable improvement of agrochemical indicators of the soddy and podzolic sandy loam soil when using high-siliceous rocks (diatomite, zeolite and bentonite clay) as a fertilizer. In cultivating winter wheat the application of diatomite in a dose of 6 t/hectare into the soil is the most effective way that made it possible to increase the grain yield by 0,59 t/hectare (in control - 2,5 t/hectare).


This application is continuation-in-part of our applica tion Serial No. 23,915 filed April 22, 1960, now abandoned. This invention relates to manganese catalysts. More particularly, the invention relates to catalysts comprising manganese oxide and optionally a promoter metal Sup ported on a specific transitional alumina. The invention also relates to a method of substantially oxidizing the hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide constituents which are present in the exhaust gas of internal combustion engines. In recent years extensive research has been devoted to the alleviation of air pollution in many metropolitan areas. Part of this effort has been directed to methods of reducing the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon mon oxide emitted with the exhaust gas of internal combustion engines. Various catalytic converter systems have been proposed to accomplish this purpose. With such systems the exhaust gases are passed through a catalytic bed where in the noxious materials are converted to an inactive form. In our earlier filed application Serial No. 23,915 we have described and claimed catalysts which are especial ly effective for the oxidation of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide constituents of exhaust gases. These catalysts consist of transitional activated alumina having a surface area of at least 75 square meters per gram and a silica content of not more than 5 percent on which is impreg nated or with which is mixed, manganese oxide Such that the catalyst system contains between 0.5 and 25 percent of manganese in an oxide form. It was also found that under certain conditions, the inclusion of a small amount of another metal or metals further enhanced the proper ties of those catalysts. As described therein, those cata lysts promote the oxidation of a great percentage of hy drocarbon and carbon monoxide emitted with the exhaust gas stream. Moreover, those catalysts are extremely re sistant to the many catalyst poisons contained in the ex haust gas stream of current internal combustion engines. Among the catalysts disclosed in the aforementioned application, a certain group has outstanding catalytic prop erties. The purpose of the present application is to spe cifically claim this highly preferred embodiment. The catalysts of the present invention comprise manganese oxide and optionally a promoter metal supported on a specific type of transitional alumina. When this partic ular type of transitional alumina is used, superior man ganese catalysts are obtained, even more efficient than manganese catalysts wherein other seemingly similar tran sitional aluminas are used. It is an object of this invention to provide novel oxida tion catalysts. Another object is to provide oxidation catalysts which are active and which retain their high degree of efficient during long periods of use. Another object is to provide a method to substantially oxidize the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide found in the exhaust gas stream of internal combustion engines. 0.


new garden should be, especially in light of the repression of indigenous people across the Americas by Spanish colonialists, who had 'conflated the indigenous body with the body of nature' (123). This attitude is reflected in The Tempest, as Prospero's treatment of Caliban begs the question of who the real monster is. The director of La Otra Tempestad, a modern adaptation of The Tempest that Day watched in Madrid, responds to the same question about man's relationship with nature, which remains just as urgent today. The drama serves as a lesson to us all to celebrate and embrace chaotic nature and regard it not as 'frighteningly other, but as the stuff of our genes, our dreams, and our stories' (116).


Paper has been used as the substrate of choice for information storage and transmission for over 2000 years in the form of writing. In the past decade, there has been a large amount of research focused on using paper as a substrate for the technology age. Whitesides has developed a variety of paper-based bioanalytical devices and the Rogers group have developed a variety of electronics that can rest on paper substrates. 1,2 These paper-based devices are extremely flexible, inexpensive, and have potential applications in clinical diagnostics, bendable displays, and biosensing. Flexible electronics such as these require a power source, but currently have to resort to rigid lithium-ion batteries, which limits them in terms of portability and biocompatibility. Recently, paper has been explored as a matrix for the storage of electrical energy to provide solutions to these difficulties. To understand why paper is being sought as a substrate for both electronics and power sources, it is important to understand the properties that paper possesses that make it so useful, viz. low cost, high strength, and high porosity. Paper is composed of cellulose fibers, typically derived from living organisms. Since cellulose is the most abundant organic substance on the planet, paper can be purchased for ca. $0.10 per square meter – an extraordinarily low cost. 3 In large scale applications or for products used in impoverished areas of the world, cheap materials are a key factor for practical use. The high strength of cellulosic paper is derived, on a fundamental level, from both its chemical structure and its larger nanostructure. Cellulose is a linear polymer of D-glucose and is synthesized by a wide variety of land plants and algae as well as some bacteria. Depending on the source and processing method, the polymer chains can be aggregated into larger fibrils of a variety of sizes. The cellulose molecules organize into crystalline regions, which then aggregate into nanofibrils. In land plants, these nanofibrils then form larger bundles, which further combine into wood fibers (Figure 1). 4 Paper is obtained by mechanically shearing the wood fibers to


With the advancement in technology, the electricity demand is increasing day by day. Power supply utilities are facing the problem to expand their network owing to the problems like availability of land in urban areas and Right of Way (ROW). Due to these problems, many of the existing lines are operating nearer to their thermal stability limit. Maintaining the voltage within the limits will be a challenging task for the utilities. Increased loading of the lines is making the power system to the verge of voltage stability. Many indices are proposed in the literature for predicting the voltage stability of the system. In this paper, L-Index is used for voltage stability analysis of the radial distribution system. L-Index sensitivity method is used to the locate and size the reactive power compensation devices. The effectiveness of L-Index sensitivity method on the larger power system like IEEE-33 bus system is presented in this paper and simulation studies are performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK.


: Extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) is a geometric magnetoresistance effect occurring in hybrid devices consisting of a high-mobility material joined by a metal. The change in resistance can exceed 10 7 % at room temperature when a magnetic field of 5 T is applied. Magnetic field sensors based on EMR hold the potential formeasuring weak magnetic fields with an unprecedented sensitivity, yet, to date this potential is largely unmet. In this work, we provide an extensive review of the current state-of-the-art in EMR sensors with a focus on the hybrid device geometries, the constituent material properties and applications of EMR. We present a direct comparison of the best devices in literature across magnetoresistance, sensitivity and noise equivalent field for different materials and geometric designs. The compilation of studies collected in this review illustrates the extremely rich possibilities for tuning the magnetoresistive behavior varying the device geometry and material properties. In addition, we aim to improve the understanding of the EMR effect and its interplay with geometry and material properties. Finally, we discuss recent trends in the field and future perspectives for EMR.


0-3-year-old childcare is an important way to solve the current problem of nobody caring for 0-3 year-old children and imbalance between work and family in urban family, especially the "two-child" family, which has paid attention by the scholars and government leaders. However, at present, there is a serious shortage of 0-3-year-old childcare services in China. The demand for 0-3-year-old childcare can't be satisfied, which seriously affects the fertility desire for a "second child" and the work-family balance of family composed by working couple. It has become a very urgent task to construct a public service system for 0-3-years-old children. Based on the requirements of 0-3-year-old childcare in urban areas and the survey of childcare service supply, this research explores the fundamental problems of 0-3-year-old childcare and the research results provide intellectual support for the public service system of 0-3-year-old childcare in China. Keywords—0-3-year-old children; childcare services; major issues; policy suggestion


The measurements of in situ samplers, the ENEA Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) Fluorosensor (ELF) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on‐board the Terra satellite (MODIS‐Terra), carried out in the Southern Ocean during the Austral summer 2002–2003, were used to provide the first algorithm for chlorophyll‐a (Chl‐a) retrieval from MODIS‐Terra imagery of Sun‐induced fluorescence in the Southern Ocean. The results of the algorithm indicate that the standard MODIS‐Terra algorithm underestimated Chl‐a. The discrepancy (20%) is below the expected error of MODIS (35%).


correctly perceives, most people's uiiderstandii\g of theology is premodem, which is why otherwise accept able, even conservative, conclusions of modem theology sometimes appear as a shock. The book is valuable in that it brings together in one concise volume the significant changes that have occurred in science, philosophy, psychology, and bibhcal studies. In addition, he has combined a fmitful format with remarkably lucid exposi tion. The material is not new, but it may be newly imderstood because of his gifts of exposition. The book ntight have been more helpful if he had moved beyond Freud, Adler, and Jung in psychology and included a chapter on sociology. It is also odd in hght of the title that he has no extended discussion of theology, which must be entirely reserved for the second volume. In any case, 1 look forward to reading the promised volume. Hopper has developed the plot in a stirring way; let us hope him more success than many of us in resolving it.


The present invention is a method for producing a polycarbonate, comprising the steps of introducing a plurality of reaction components comprising (i) an extruder through a feed port, polycarbonate oligomer, an activated carbonate residue, and a transesterification reaction catalyst, extrusion machine supply port comprises a first back vent port and the polycarbonate outlet port, the supply port is located between the first back vent port and the polycarbonate outlet port, a reaction from the supply port to the first back vent port a step flow resistance component is less resistance to flow of the reaction components from the feed port to the polycarbonate outlet ports, comprising the steps of: extruding at one or more temperatures in the range of 100 to 400 ° C. the (ii) the reaction components, reaction activated carbonate residue is removed is through the first back vent port during the extrusion of the components That comprises a step, to a method for thereby manufacturing a polycarbonate. .FIELD 1


Background: A database (DB) to store indexed information about drug delivery, test, and their temporal behavior is paramount in new Biomedical Cyber-Physical Systems (BCPSs). The term Database as a Service (DBaaS) means that a corporation delivers the hardware, software, and other infrastructure required by companies to operate their databases according to their demands instead of keeping an internal data warehouse.
Methods: BCPSs attributes are presented and discussed.  One needs to retrieve detailed knowledge reliably to make adequate healthcare treatment decisions. Furthermore, these DBs store, organize, manipulate, and retrieve the necessary data from an ocean of Big Data (BD) associated processes. There are Search Query Language (SQL), and NoSQL DBs.
Results: This work investigates how to retrieve biomedical-related knowledge reliably to make adequate healthcare treatment decisions. Furthermore, Biomedical DBaaSs store, organize, manipulate, and retrieve the necessary data from an ocean of Big Data (BD) associated processes.
Conclusion: A NoSQL DB allows more flexibility with changes while the BCPSs are running, which allows for queries and data handling according to the context and situation. A DBaaS must be adaptive and permit the DB management within an extensive variety of distinctive sources, modalities, dimensionalities, and data handling according to conventional ways.


The estimation of the degree of polarization of backscattered light and target light is the key to realize scattering removal in underwater polarimetric imaging. In this paper, a new polarization scattering removal method is proposed by realizing polarimetric calculation of the target light with each pixel of the scene automatically, which is conducive to the restoration of the details of underwater scene. The global model of pixel level is established by utilizing the gradient prior of the polarization information of the total radiance image. Different from the previous study that the degree of polarization of the target light is a constant, the global calculation method can solve the global variable image of the degree of polarization of the target light and it is used for reconstruction experiments of underwater real-world scene to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that the global pixel calculation method has obvious effect on image detail recovery of the underwater scene to realize the clear underwater vision. The influence of the backscattered light on underwater imaging is well suppressed and image contrast has been significantly improved, which provides a new method for enhancing performance of underwater polarimetric imaging with better vision.


In hypotonic disease, the leading complaints are headaches, dizziness, increased physical and mental fatigue, increased irritability and rapid emotional exhaustion, shortness of breath even with slight physical exertion.


It is necessary to prepare many prototypes in order to obtain a suitable form in the development and design of new products in the ceramic industry. Numerous trials have led to increased cost and labor loss due to deformation in the production process. In this study is aimed to develop an artificial intelligence model by using software to reduce these losses in the ceramic industry. In order to investigate deformation of ceramic cylindrical objects, ceramic objects were produced in different chemical compositions, sintering temperature and sintering time. Initially, the cylindrical ceramic objects were poured into a hollow form. After evaporation of the water of these samples, this samples were scanned by using the geometric measurements (in the base, side and mouth regions) were made using classical method. Later, these samples were fired at different sintering times and temperatures in ceramic kiln. The deformations in the base, side and mouth regions of the cylindrical ceramic samples are then re-measured by using classical method. By using the data obtained from these experimental results, ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System) model was developed by using MatLab Toolbox. While the temperature, sintering time and composition of ceramic specimens are determined as input parameters in the developed ANFIS model, the amount of deformation is determined as output parameters. While the results of the Fifty-eight experiments were used for the training of the developing model, while the results of twenty-two experiments were used for the test of the developed model.   We compared relation between ANFIS model results and experimental results with X2 test and founded a significant correlation (p<0.001 and for base and side κ=0.3, 0.3, respectively).  But it is not found significant relationship between ANFIS model results and experimental results for mouth deformation (κ=0.06).


The aim of the current study is to determine the total flavonoids, phenolics and antioxidant activities of methanol extracts from aerial parts of four endemic Haplophyllum species to Türkiye (H. myrtifolium, H. vulcanicum, H. pumiliforme, and H. sahinii). There are two populations collected from different regions belonging to H. myrtifolium and H. pumiliforme. Antioxidant activities were measured by radical scavenging activity such as the 2, 2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and compared with synthetic standards such as trolox, ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The highest total bioactive contents were recorded as H. sahinii for total phenolic content (66.4 mg GAE/g extract) and H. myrtifolium for total flavonoid content (40.8 mg QE/g extract), but H. vulcanicum displayed the lowest amount for both contents (38.0 mg GAE/g extract and 34.5 mg QE/g extract, respectively). Among the species, H. myrtifolium exhibited the strongest DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity followed by H. pumiliforme, H. sahinii and H. vulcanicum. All Haplophyllum species showed higher antioxidant activity for these two radical scavenging activities than trolox and BHT. The phytochemicals and antioxidant activities in methanol extracts from these endemic Haplophyllum species is reported for the first time. The diversity of the findings is to be discussed as likely consequence of the different species and regions.


We report the results of a study designed to examine whether the spatial scale of experimentation in artificial ponds (cattle watering tanks) influences the results of manipulative studies of competitive and predatory interactions. The experiment consisted of two initial densities of Rana utricularia (Ranidae) tadpoles (0.035 and 0.14 animals/L) and the absence or presence (0.005 animals/L) of predatory Tramea lacerata (Odonata, Libellulidae) naiads in each of two water depths in cattle tanks of equal dimensions. Depth of tank did not significantly affect survival rate of tadpoles either as a main effect or as part of any interactive effect. At low tadpole densities the addition of predators decreased tadpole survival rates significantly, but at high tadpole densities they increased them sig- nificantly. Length of larval period increased significantly with increases in the density of surviving tadpoles at similar rates at both water depths, but deeper tanks produced sig- nificantly longer larval periods for the same tadpole density. Size at metamorphosis de- creased significantly with increases in the density of surviving tadpoles, but it decreased at a significantly faster rate in the shallower tanks. The results indicate that experiments at smaller spatial scales do not necessarily distort the numerical dynamics in this system but that they can overestimate the importance of density variation in producing variation in some phenotypic characters.


The book presents recent advances in the synthesis of bioinspired nanomaterials and their applications in areas such as photocatalysis, electrocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, supercapacitors and solar cells. Specific topics include photocatalytic disinfection, degradation of toxic chemicals, energy conversion and energy storage.


We experimentally demonstrated an intra-cavity HOM mode-locked laser with 3-dB bandwidth of 15.2 nm, which is based on the broadband long period fiber grating (LPFG) working around turn-around point. © 2020 The Author(s)


An odd perfect number, N, is shown to have at least nine distinct prime factors. If 3 l N then N must have at least twelve distinct prime divisors. The proof ultimately avoids previous computational results for odd perfect numbers.


The Y4MgSi3O13:Tb3+,Ce3+green phosphors are synthesized by sol-gel method, the preparation temperature, reduction atmosphere and luminescence characteristics of Y4MgSi3O13 doped with single Ce3+ ions and Ce3+,Tb3+ ions have been studied. The excitation and emission spectra of phosphors is determined by fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results show that: luminous intensity of Y4MgSi3O13:Tb3+phosphors increased after doped with Ce3+ ions and the optimal doping concentration of Ce3+ is 0.04. Y3.94MgSi3O13: 0.02Tb3+,0.04Ce3+ green phosphor has the best luminescence characteristics under reduction atmosphere(H2:N2=1:3) at 1000°C, the phosphor gives intense green emission at 550nm originating from the 5D4→7F5 transition of Tb3+ ions.


OBJECTIVES: Family caregiving is an integral part of the care system for persons with dementing disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. This study tested role‐training intervention as a way to help family caregivers appreciate and assume a more clinical belief set about caregiving and thereby ameliorate the adverse outcomes associated with caregiving.


Using linear approximations of nonlinear systems has long been a practice to design control laws In this paper an analysis is given involving linear approxima tion of the nonlinear control system and small time reachable sets in IR A useful concept the swing out which is a measure of nonlinearity is de ned This is used to examine the relationship between the small time reachable sets of the nonlinear control system and its linear approximation Behaviour of the nonlinear system under a con trol law is examined within this context More facts are given about the swing out for some special cases


The level-crossing rate (LCR) and average duration of fades (ADF) are important statistical quantities describing the fading behaviour of mobile radio channels. To date, these quantities have only been analysed under the assumption that the mobile radio channel is wide-sense stationary, which is generally not the case in practice. In this paper, we propose a concept for the analysis of the LCR and ADF of non-stationary channels. Rice's standard formula for the derivation of the LCR of wide-sense stationary processes is extended to a more general formula enabling the computation of the instantaneous LCR of non-stationary processes. The application of the new concept results in closed-form expressions for the instantaneous LCR and ADF of non-stationary multipath flat fading channels. The contribution of this paper is of central importance for the statistical characterization of non-stationary mobile radio channels.


The optimization of process economics within the model predictive control (MPC) formulation has given rise to a new control paradigm known as economic MPC (EMPC). Several authors have discussed the closed-loop properties of EMPC-controlled deterministic systems, however, little have uncertain systems been studied. In this paper we propose EMPC formulations for nonlinear Markovian switching systems which guarantee recursive feasibility, asymptotic performance bounds a d constrained mean square (MS) stability.


This study investigated the development of Dichelops melacanthus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) at different temperatures (19±1°C, 25±1°C and 31±1°C) reared on 2B688Hx (expressing Cry1F insectice protein to control lepidopterans target) immature corn grains. The temperature of 19±1°C impaired the development of D. melacanthus and recorded the highest mortality of nymphs, lower weight and adult females laid no eggs. Moreover, the length of the nymphal biology, adult weight, fecundity and viability of eggs did not differ between temperatures 25±1°C and 31±1°C. It was also shown that the biological aspects of green belly stink bugs fed with 2B688Hx immature grains of corn do not differ from that develop with 2B688 isoline. This study showed that the biological cycle of D. melacanthus is favored at warmer temperature (until 31±1°C), and the consume of immature corn grain 2B688Hx does not affect its development.


A stretchable sensor was successfully fabricated by suturing multilayer elastic knitted fabrics using conductive yarn coated with silver in this manuscript. A liner relationship between the resistance of the sensor and the elongation of knitted fabrics in a certain range were introduced. There were no significant wrecks on the surface of silver-coated yarns before and after stitching. Repeated tensile cycle tests showed that the sensor had high repeatability and good stability. The fabricated processes of the sensor were only using the sewing processes of manufacture cloth, so that the sensor could be a partial of our daily garments, which could monitor body movements of sports and other stretch actions of human body, The sensors could be designed as a part of smart garments which could monitor our healthy and movements.


Free convection was experimented with two kinds of vertical cylinders (the one was about 12 cm in height and the other was about 35 cm in height) submerged in water or ethylene-glycol. For laminar heat transfer, it was proved that the Ostrach's theoretical solution was right within the equal accuracy of measuring instruments, and that the authors's and Yamagata-Kawano's theoretical treatments were right on selections of physical constants, and of effective values of surface temperature and fluid temperature. For the turbulent heat-transfer, especially the relation between local Nusselt number and local Grashof number could be measured through improvement of the heating device. The following relations were found for ethylene-glycol ; [numerical formula] Similar relations to the above would be obtainable for other fluids. Heat-transfer coefficients of a vortex street zone are little different from these of laminar flow. Boundary layer temperature distributions measured with a thermocouple showed only the characteristics of flow pattern, that is laminar, vortex street, or turbulent.


PURPOSE: To provide a sensor for watching the flow state of the liquid of a positive displacement pump. CONSTITUTION: A positive displacement pump 3 is provided with an inlet cracking valve 46 and an outlet cracking valve 52 disposed on opposite sides of a plunger 48 used to displace fluid by compressing flexible tube 34. The outlet cracking valve is closed by a cracking pressure compressing the flexible tube until the pressure of the liquid displaced by the plunger exceeds a cracking pressure and the outlet cracking valve is opened and the liquid can be streamed out from the positive displacement pump when the pressure of the liquid exceeds the cracking pressure. Meantime, a flow detector consisting of a strain gauge installed on the elastic body for cracking responds to the stress generated in the elastic body and the signal indicative of liquid flow from the pump is produced. COPYRIGHT: (C)1992,JPO


X-ray crystallographic structures of two polymorphs (α- and β-forms) of 1,5-dimethylsemibullvalene-2,6-dicarbonitrile, in which the molecules undergo rapid, nondegenerate Cope rearrangement, have been obtained over the temperature range 20−295 K. CP-MAS carbon-13 NMR spectra of the β-form have been observed over the temperature range 140−340 K. A generalized treatment for the perturbation of degeneracy has been developed and it is shown that the results of the X-ray and NMR methods are in excellent agreement. The thermodynamic parameters, ΔHP and ΔSP, for the perturbation of degeneracy in the β-form are reported. A possible explanation for the difference in the magnitudes of the perturbation of degeneracy in the two crystalline forms is suggested. It is noted that for equilibrating systems, for which the barriers for interconversion are of the order of 1−10 kJ mol-1, the transition between rapid and extremely slow equilibration occurs over a very narrow range at cryogenic temperatures, thus precluding dir...


In the present study, MHD boundary layer flow with heat and mass transfer of a nanofluid with viscous dissipation over a non-linear stretching sheet embedded in a porous medium is studied. The governing non-linear partial differential equations are converted into coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations which are solved by hybrid technique consisting of finite element method with symbolic computation. The effect of Viscous dissipation, magnetic influence parameter, permeability parameter, Brownian motion, Eckert number, Thermophoresis parameter, Prandtl number parameter, Dufour Lewis number and nanofluid Lewis number are studied for velocity $(f'(\eta))$, temperature $(\theta(\eta))$, concentration of salt ($S(\eta)$) and concentration of nanoparticles $(\gamma(\eta))$ and results are shown graphically. Applications of such type of problems are found in the electromagnetic control of complex magnetic nanofluid materials relevant to energy and biomedical systems.


Areas under a thick Permian glacial cover in Western Australia formed as glaciers gouged fresh bedrock and deposited diamictites in disconnected valleys and basins. These areas now present the greatest challenge for mineral exploration in the northeast Yilgarn Craton. At the Lancefield North gold prospect, in the southern part of the Duketon Greenstone Belt, Permian diamictites on average 40 m thick cover unweathered basalt hosting gold mineralization. The basal Permian diamictites consist of fresh, very poorly sorted, angular to rounded, pebble- to boulder-sized, polymictic clasts supported by a matrix of coarse-grained sand and mud. The framework and matrix are cemented by calcite, dolomite, chlorite, and pyrite. These diamictites are stable under alkaline and reducing conditions below the water table. Detrital; fresh sulfides; gold; and opaque oxides, such as pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, arsenopyrite, gersdorffite, cobaltite, pentlandite, scheelite and galena, chromite, ilmenite, and magnetite, are identified in the framework and matrix of the fresh diamictites, and these are identical to those in the primary gold mineralization. Weathering of diamictites and oxidation of detrital and diagenetic sulfides above the water table produced several Fe- and Mn-rich redox fronts and secondary chalcocite and bornite. Interface sampling across the Archean–Permian unconformity shows Au, As, Zn, Ni, Co, and Cd anomalism over the mineralization compared to the background. However, these elements are low in concentration in the redox fronts, where Fe is correlated with As, Cu, Mo, and Sb and Mn is correlated with Co, Ni, and Ba. Gold shows elevated levels in the fresh basal diamictites and decreases in the weathered diamictites over the mineralization. A sampling at or near the Archean–Permian unconformity (interface sampling) only delineates gold mineralization, with no hydromorphic dispersion halo beyond the peripheries. At the Lancefield North prospect, the detrital indicator sulfides are mechanically dispersed up to 500 m to the east of the mineralization in the direction of ice flow. This dispersal distance is controlled by the rough topography of the Archean–Permian unconformity, and it may be greater, but the estimation of the actual distance of transport is limited by the distribution of drill hole locations.


In order to eliminate the filler in the extraction process of asphalt cement,the sedimentation rule of filler in the asphalt solution was analyzed with the sedimentation principle of particles in heterogeneous system.The critical particle size of filler was estimated according to the displacement of the particles due to Brownian diffusion and centrifugal sedimentation,then the sedimentation time of particles with different diameters were calculated.Computation result shows that(1) the sedimentation time increases with the decrease of particle size,and the sedimentation time and critical particle size of filler decrease with the increase of centrifugal acceleration;(2) the centrifugal acceleration and sedimentation time stated in the specification cannot achieve the sedimentation purpose;(3) when the centrifugal acceleration of centrifugal machine reaches up to 7 000 g,the critical particle size of the filler is 0.03 μm,and the filler can completely subside in 30 min.The extracting experiment of asphalt indicates that the sedimentation effect of filler using the propositional method is excellent.


The present invention combines the radioisotopes reactive precursors performed in a microfluidic environment reaction to form a positron emission molecular imaging probe, to provide a method and apparatus for the preparation of radioactive chemicals.


Objective To investigate the relationship of lymphatic vessel density (LVD)and lymphatic metastasis in gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma.Methods The intratumor lymphatic vessel deusity(iLVD) and peritumor lymphatic vessel density(pLVD) of 55 surgical gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma tissue samples were detected by immunohistochemistry(with monoclona1 antibody D2-40).The relationship of lymphatic metastasis and pLVD,iLVD was analyzed.Results The value of pLVD and iLVD was 31.02 ± 1.22 vs 5.29 ± 0.76 for gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma with lymph node metastasis,while it was 20.43 ± 1.39 vs 5.64 ± 1.01 for gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma without lymph node metastasis,showing pLVD was significantly higher than iLVD in both groups.pLVD of gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma was closely related to lymph node metastasis (P =0.001,r =0.872),the differentiation of carcinoma,and lymphatic involvement while iLVD of gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma had no relation with lymph node metastasis(P =0.293).Conclusion Compared to iLVD detection,pLVD detection is more valuable in gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma since it can help to predict lymph node metastasis status and the prognosis.

Key words:
Gastroduodenal neuroendocrine carcinoma; D2-40; Lymphatic vessel density; Lymphatic metastasis


The purpose of this research was to determine the composition of the material and practice questions in the mathematics curriculum guide 2013 junior class VIII Semester 1 in terms of content and cognitive domain taxonomy based on TIMSS. This study was a content analysis study (content analysis). The results showed that the analysis of the presentation of the material in terms of the proportion of each content domain, domain algebra occupied the highest proportion with a percentage of 50%, the domain geometry with 33.33% while the percentage of domain data and opportunities with a percentage of 16.67% and there are no material including in the domain of numbers. Judging from the cognitive dimensions, applying knowing domain is (68.42%) and knowing is (21.05%) while the reasoning domain has the 10.53% (the lowest). For analytical presentation of questions in terms of the proportion of each dimension of the content, the material has a percentage of 60.64% algebra, geometry material has persetase 32.13% while the material data and the opportunity have a percentage of 7.23%. From the cognitive dimension to training issues were gained 36 reached the level of cognitive domain knowing 16.98%, 114 reached the level of cognitive domain applying with 53.77% and 62 about already reached a level of cognitive reasoning domain with  29.25%


Abstract In this work, the influence of carbon fiber surface treatment on mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester was investigated. Two approaches have been used in the surface treatment; the first is the desizing of the carbon fiber by the release of the epoxy layer. The second is with the release of epoxy layer and etching the fibers. It was concluded that both methods give good results on adhesion between the matrix and the fibers. It is found that the treatment of carbon fibers is efficient and greatly improves the CFRP handress. The tensile strength of composite materials increases by 30% for etched carbon fibers compared to untreated carbon fibers.SEM images confirm the results obtained.


Concrete is the main ingredient in the construction world, because the concrete is easy to work and economical in terms of cost, but the concrete is considered to have low tensile strength compared with the compressive strength, so the need for effort in improving the mechanical properties of the concrete mixing fiber in concrete mixture is wrong One attempt to improve the mechanical properties of concrete one of them by using fiber wire bedrators formed into "U" with a total length of 9 cm. The specimen consists of a cylindrical specimen with a diameter of 150 mm and a height of 300 mm and a beam with a length of 600 mm, a width of 150 mm, and a height of 150 mm. The fiber length used is 9 cm with 0.0%, 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% 1.0% of the fiber mass variation from the aggregate fraction. Non-fiber concrete is made for comparison. The method of mixing fiber into the concrete mixture is randomly after the concrete is evenly mixed. The results showed compressive strength, splitng tensile strength and maximum bending strength at 0.5% fiber variation. According to the results of the study, the addition of wire fiber to concrete mixture can improve the mechanical properties of concrete and in the optimal fiber variation can be at 0.5%.


For the purpose of discrimination between cloud area and earth object in satellite remote sensing image,a pattern recognition approach comprising multi-feature extraction and minimum distance classification is proposed.For fundamental image block,its distinguishing rate is more than 90% with low computational complexity.The deletion rule in frame-partition is determined to remove large volumes of cloud area from the image data.Combining parallel DSP architecture,the proposed algorithm can fulfill the tasks of cloud detection and removal in real-time.The equipment utilizing above approach has been installed in a satellite ground station.Its performance is satisfied with the technical requirements.The information processing capacity and the level of automation of the satellite ground station are improved dramatically.


Here is an examination of current water-depth limitations on drilling and production as well as the possibility of extending current technology into even deeper water.


Trajectory planning is the core technology in the field of mobile robot research. However, the traditional trajectory planning algorithm has the problems of low accuracy and high complexity. Therefore, we propose a trajectory planning algorithm for target search mobile robot using transfer learning (TL) and wireless sensor network. First, the mobile robot motion model is constructed and converted into a linear motion model; Second, the robot kinematic constraints such as velocity, acceleration and position are analyzed; Then, the ultrasonic sensor is constructed to sense the robot's self and environmental information, and the path planning is performed by the combination of global planning and local planning. Finally, a combination of global planning and local planning is used for path planning, and the knowledge is learned from global planning based on TL, and the relevant factors of the global planning model are applied to local planning as the initial motion state factors of the robot to realize the trajectory planning of the target-search mobile robot. The results show that the fitting of the proposed algorithm and the optimal trajectory planning results is high, the reward value of robot training is higher, the trajectory planning velocity curve is smoother, and the space complexity of the proposed algorithm is much lower than other algorithms, the highest is only 23%, and the accuracy of trajectory planning is as high as 95.6%, which has practical applicability.


For decades 5-fluorouracil(5-FU)has been the standard first-line chemotherapeutic agent with low but consistent activity against colorectal adenocarcinoma.In combination with lecuovorin (LV),the response rate increases from 10%~20% to 20%~30%.Also,5-FU has been the conven- tional chemotherapeutic agent against some solid tumors,such as head and neck tumor,mammary canc- er.But sometimes drug resistance leads to failure of chemotherapy.This review focuses on investigating mechanisms of resistance to 5-FU,and putting forward reasonable methods to overcome the drug resist- ance.


Novel ladderlike polysilsesquioxanes that contain phosphorus were suc- cessfully synthesized by the sol- gel method. The polysilsesquioxanes were character- ized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 29 Si NMR, and X-ray diffraction. The characterizations demonstrated that the polymer possesses a typical ladderlike struc- ture. The thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric data revealed that the polysilsesquioxanes possess excellent thermal stability. A kinetic analysis of ther- mal degradation showed that the activation energy of thermal degradation is 187 kJ/mol, according to Kissinger's method. The activation energy of thermal degradation normally increases with conversion (from 171 to 309 kJ/mol) according to Ozawa's method. The average activation energy, calculated by Ozawa's method, was 209 kJ/mol. The scanning electron microscopic photograph and Si and P mappings of ladderlike polysilsesquioxanes showed that the particles were uniformly dispersed at the molec- ular level and that the sizes of the polysilsesquioxane particles were less than 100 nm. The ultraviolet-visible spectra of the ladderlike polysilsesquioxanes revealed no absor- bance in the range of 400 - 800 nm. Ladderlike polysilsesquioxanes possess excellent optical transparency and excellent flame retardance. This transmittance may be used as a criterion for identifying the formation of a homogeneous phase. These polymers have great potential in waveguide applications. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci


ABSTRACT This study is an excerpt from a larger work that explores changes in the purchase process for consumer goods (automobiles, electronics, and groceries) brought about by digital and social media. Commissioned by the Advertising Research Foundation; conducted by Communispace, comScore, Converseon, and Firefly Millward Brown; sponsored by General Motors, Google, Kraft, Motorola, and Young & Rubicam; and with guidance from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, the qualitative, quantitative, and social-listening research was conducted in 2011. Findings indicate that digital and social media have empowered consumers and that brands have an important role in facilitating conversations among consumers and themselves, openly sharing the values that will help consumers connect with them and with one another.


This project investigated the fundamental principles of the Theory of Island Biogeography. How biodiversity is influenced by habitat age, size, isolation and quality was studied in two little-known ecosystems; pumice-rafted marine communities that travel through the Pacific Ocean and strand on shorelines, and Queensland's critically endangered Melaleuca irbyana forests. This research found that while habitat age, size and isolation were important for species richness; habitat quality, defined by resource availability and climate, was more influential for predicting biodiversity levels. Small pumice stones and small remnant forests can provide the conditions species need to prosper. Therefore, small and isolated habitats are also important to conserve.


Plastic materials have wide commercial applicability. However, they are made from non-renewable resources and are characterised by resistance to degradation. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) provides one example of a polymer biodegradable, biocompatible and produced from renewable raw materials. With respect to other bioplastics the share of PHAs in the market is very limited because of their commercial costs. To develop more cost effective processes for PHAs production, a multilevel approach is usually undertaken combining innovative, cheaper and more effective cultivation with safe and cheap extraction and purification methodologies. This study assesses the potential environmental impacts related to a production processes based on the novel protocol to extract PHAs comparing them to the impacts of extraction process based on the use of halogenated hydrocarbons. to assess the potential environmental impacts related to a production processes based on the novel protocol to extract PHAs of single strain and mixed microbial consortia, comparing them to the impacts of extraction process and based on the use of halogenated hydrocarbons. Up to now, the novel protocols have been developed only on laboratory scale and this preliminary analysis of potential environmental impacts of industrial scale production can provide useful information to better orient the development and scale-up phases. The study applies an attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) adopting a 'gate -to- gate'


Taylor and Francis Ltd CDIE_A_165457.sgm 10.1080/0 587910600654833 Distance Education 0158-7919 (pri t)/1475-0198 (online) Book R view 2 06 & Francis 7 000May 2006 AlistairI glis al i .i @vu edu.au Practitioner Research and Evaluation Skills Training (PREST) Charlotte Creed, Richard Freeman, Bernadette Robinson, and Alan Woodley (Eds.), 2004 The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and the International Research Foundation in Open Learning (IRFOL) 1,098 pp., 66 units, and readings in downloadable PDF file format (online) http://www.col.org/resources/startupguides/prest.htm


In this paper we describe the design of a QoS driven communications stack in a microkernel operating system environment. The paper focuses on resource management aspects of the design and in particular we deal with CPU scheduling, network resource management and memory management issues. We describe an API at which QoS parameters are supplied by users and present an architecture able to guarantee these QoS requirements with varying degrees of commitment. The architecture includes modules to translate user level QoS parameters into representations usable by the scheduling, network and memory management subsystem. It also incorporates admission tests which determine whether or not a new connection can be accepted given a particular QoS requirement and resource availability. In addition to predictable resource allocation the architecture also incorporates dynamic QoS management which ensures that ongoing commitments continue to be met in the face of variable loading.


© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Enviro Research Publishers. This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons license: Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY). Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.15.2.01 Dear Readers I am pleased to present before you this issue of Current World Environment. I thank all the contributors of this issue. It is timely completed with the all support from the reviewers, authors and the office staff. This issue has a variety of papers covering atmospheric ammonia, water quality, zero waste method of sustainability, remote sensing use in environmental monitoring and air quality etc.


Abstract : Monocrystalline thin films of A1N and GaN have been deposited on vicinal alpha(6H)-SiC(0001) wafers via gas-source MBE and cold-wall metalorganic (MO) CVD and extensively investigated via high-resolution TEM. Elemental metal sources combined with activated nitrogen generated using an ECR plasma were employed in the MBE system; triethylgallium, triethylaluminum and ammonia were used in the MOCVD system. The MBE research has also included n-(Si) and p- TYPE(Mg) doping and the creation of p-n junctions. The effects on growth of T, P and MO flux have been investigated in the MOCVD work. Below the critical thickness, A1N only contains threading dislocations emanating from the misfit dislocations; above this thickness, defects parallel to the growth surface greatly increase. The defect density of A1N grown on SiC at 1100 deg C is much lower than that contained in materials deposited at 700 deg C. Deposition of GaN on an A1N buffer layer previously deposited on sapphire or SiC results in a larger number of dislocations parallel to the growth surface. A system for the deposition of InN and its solid solutions which addresses the problems of the low decomposition pressure has also been designed. The feasibility of designing an ammonia cracker cell for the MBE system to provide an alternative source of activated nitrogen is being investigated. microelectronic and optoelctronic device designs have been produced and device related activities including contact studies involving Zn/au and Cr/Au and Au, reactive ion etching and optical characterization have been inundated.


Background and purpose: We present long-term results of percutaneous transarterial coil occlusion in 13 patients with large patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), measuring 3.5mm to 5mm.
Methods: From July 1997 to June 2003, a total of 13 consecutive pediatric patients underwent occlusion of large PDA with Gianturco coils via the femoral artery. Chest examination, plain chest films, and echocardiography with color Doppler were performed on all patients within 24 hours, and at 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after coil occlusion.
Results: Eleven patients had type A PDA and two had type C PDA. Six patients (46%) underwent single coil occlusion and seven (54%) underwent multiple coil occlusion. The median ratio of pulmonary to systemic blood flow was 3.0 (range 2.3 to 5.6; mean ± SD, 3.3±0.9) before the procedure, and 1.0 (range 1.0 to 1.2; mean ± SD, 1.1±0.1) after the procedure (P=0.001). Nine patients (69%) had immediate closure of the ductus at 15 minutes after the procedure. Closure rates within 24 hours and at 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after the procedure were 77%, 92%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively. There were no complications during long-term follow-up.
Conclusions: Percutaneous transarterial coil occlusion for large PDA can he safely achieved with simple standard Gianturco coils.


Extracting coal from underground mines generally leads to subsidence of the overlaying land within a period of days to years. Underground mines are by their nature hidden from casual view. Land subsidence can give important clues as to the extent of a mine and its impact on the land.1, 2 Local governments can use this information to ensure miners are staying within permitted areas and to monitor environmental effects. Regulators and geologists conventionally monitor land subsidence with in situ field techniques that require expensive, time-consuming measurements on the ground that can be difficult or impossible to perform in steep mountain ranges and other inhospitable terrain. Here we show the feasibility of monitoring land subsidence caused by coal mining with multi-band differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR).3 In synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry, airborne or spaceborne detectors scan Earth's surface with radio waves to create a topographical map of the ground. DInSAR compares SAR interferometry data taken hours, days, or years apart and can show subtle topographical changes. We use DInSAR techniques to compare scans of land over coal mines on different dates to reveal land subsidence on scales as small as a few centimeters.4 We mapped land subsidence that occurred from 1993 to 1997 in the Fengfeng coal mine area in Hebei province in China using spaceborne SAR data. We used C band data from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) and L band data from the Japanese Earth Research Satellite (JERS) and Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array L type Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS PALSAR). JERS does not have a precise orbit. We set up a dynamical coordinate system using the radial, cross-track, and along-track directions for JERS SAR interferometric processing5 to adjust the spatial baseline and obtain an accurate DInSAR result. We also Figure 1. Distribution of lithic benchmarks in Dashucun coal mine and a contour map of land subsidence derived from the leveling data.