The present invention relates to sidewall impact test equipment of a tire which can be controlled by, and more particularly to a given load and the camber angle of the tire force of impact size of the apparatus for testing the impact resistance of the tire side wall, a support ( 2), the supports (2) at the test target tire 1 a and to connect to the assembly of the rim section (3), the load pressure exerts a load on the tire (1) unit 4, a load pressure element (4 ) binary molecular axis (7 in the load-sensing unit (5), the tire (1 impact portion (6) to impact the side wall (1a) of a), the impact portion (6) for detecting a load applied to the tire 1 in ring), a horizontal support (9) provided with the hinge axis (8) intermediate the, binary molecular axis moving unit 10, and the impact portion (6) for moving the impact portion (6) in the horizontal support (9) ( 11) the opening and closing portion 12 and the tire 1 and the camber angle and the tire for controlling a load state value 3 and the load support to be hung Is connected to the intermediate wires 13 (5) it consists of a control unit 14.


Background and objectives:
Nocardiosis is an acute or chronic infectious disease caused by the soil borne and filamentous bacteria belonging to the genus Nocardia. Approximately 45% of patients with systemic nocardiosis have central nervous system infections. Brain abscess is by far the most common site for nocardial metastasis from pulmonary lesion. Nocardia asteroides is the most common isolates this genus. Nocardia cyriacigeorgica belong to type VI drug pattern. Cerebral abscesses caused by this pathogen account for 2% of all cerebral abscesses. Prognosis is poor and in untreated individuals cause of death is 80 percent. Nocardia cyriacigeorgica is a recently isolated from a brain abscess patient and characterized species within the genus of Nocardia. We describe two cases of cerebral nocardiosis in two immunocompromised women who presented multiple cerebral abscesses.

Material and methods:
The brain biopsy was sent to the laboratory of the Tehran University of Medical Science for bacterial cultures by conventional methods. Portion of the brain biopsy was inoculated onto Sabouraud dextrose agar, blood agar and Lowenstein-Jensen and incubated in 37 and 45Ċ . Biochemical (Casein, tyrosine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, and urease) and antibiogram tests were done. Also to identification confirmation of species by molecular methods, Predicted 998 bp product from Nocardia was cloned in pTZ57R/T vector and then transformed into E.coli Top 10 F´ competent cell for extraction of cloned DNA fragment.

Results:
Nocardia-like organisms grew after 3 days of incubation in all three media. Casein, tyrosine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, and urease tests for bacteria were negative. In antibiogram test, both bacteria were susceptible to amikacin, imipenem, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime and cefamandole but resistance to erythromycin, ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. Nucleotide sequence was identical and shared a high degree of homology to Nocardia cyriacigeorgica sequence (99.8 % identity at the nucleotide level).

Conclusion:
In conclusion, nocardiosis is an uncommon but important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. The ability of Nocardia to mimic other infections results in a delay in promptly diagnosing these organisms and this contributes to the increased mortality seen in many reports. Newer diagnostic tools may provide a solution to this problem.


The occurrence of a snake bite accident in a herd of mixed Bergamascia sheep in the county of Miguel Pereira, State of Rio de Janeiro, is reported. Four adult sheep were bitten in the head by Bothrops jararaca within a short period of time. Their head was severely swollen, but the general state of them was good. One of the sheep was euthanasied. Masssive hemorrhages were found beneath the skin, which extended to the neck. Histologically, the subcutaneous hemorrhages infiltrated the adjacent muscles. In areas where the hemorrhages were more intense they caused separation of muscle fibers, some of which had a hyaline aspect. Differences in the occurrence of edema/hemorraghes and necrosis in snake bite accidents, caused by various snake species in different animal species, are discussed.


Abstract. Iris segmentation is the first and critical step in an iris recognition system. A robust iris segmentation algorithm based on the self-adaptive Chan and Vese (SACV) level set model is proposed. First, the process of constructing the SACV model based on analyses of the corresponding requirements for the CV model is described when it is applied on iris segmentation. Second, the coarse segmentation of pupil and iris, which are localized based on image pixel gray information, is used as the initial contour of the SACV model. Third, the interference factors, such as eyelashes and eyelids, are detected and evaluated simultaneously to generate the interference degree and then the related parameter of SACV is set according to the interference degree. Finally, SACV is used to conduct the final fine segmentation of the pupil and iris. Experiments on four public iris image databases (e.g., CASIA-V1, CASIA-V3 Interval, CASIA-V3 Lamp, and MMU-V1) demonstrate the segmentation accuracy performance of the proposed algorithm, and at the same time, the proposed algorithm also displays robust performance in noisy situations, such as Gaussian, Poisson, salt-and-pepper, and speckle noises. Moreover, comparisons with the well-known methods further show that our algorithm can segment iris images more accurately.


Choerospondias axillaris, a traditional Chinese medicinal and edible fruit, is reported to have strong biological activity and various health benefits. To date, 25 compounds including flavones and organic acids have been reportedpresent in C. axillaris. Biological studies have uncovered its cardiovascular, antioxidant, immuno-enhancing, and antitumor activities. This review is focused on the recent advances in research on chemical constituents, pharmacological and biological activity of C. axillaris, which can provide some guidelines for the development of functional foods, medicinal research and utilization of C. axillari in the future.


This paper draws upon research for my dissertation, which is a history of the general systems movement, focusing specifically on the Society for General Systems Research. In the dissertation I examine the backgrounds of the individual founders of the Society in order to understand the influences that led them to establish the Society and to clarify their intentions in doing so. In this paper I discuss Kenneth Boulding's interdisciplinary social science seminars at the University of Michigan as background for his work at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford during its opening year (1954–55), where the idea for the Society was developed and realized. I also discuss the role of the Ford Foundation in establishing the Center and promoting interdisciplinary work in the behavioral sciences during the postwar era. An understanding of this context may enhance appreciation for the significance of Boulding's contribution to the systems movement.


This release film for green sheet manufacturing has a substrate having a first face and a second face, a smoothing layer provided to the first face, and a release agent layer provided to a face of the smoothing layer on a reverse side thereof from the substrate, and is characterized in that the smoothing layer is formed by heating and curing a smoothing layer formation composition including a thermosetting compound having a mass average molecular weight of 950 or less, the arithmetic mean roughness (Ra1) of an outer surface of the releasing agent layer is 8 nm or less, and the maximum projection height (Rp1) is 50 nm or less. Through the present invention, a release film for green sheet manufacturing can be obtained whereby it is possible to prevent pinholing and the like in the surface of the green sheet, and to manufacture a highly reliable green sheet.


The purpose of this research project was to perform the analysis of the comparative study between IaaS Open Source: Openstack and CloudStack platforms regarding performance in a virtualized environment, for the development of a private cloud at the Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo.

We performed the analysis of each indicator obtained from the FURPS (1987) model (Pereira, Ayaach, Quintero, Granadillo, & Bustamante), with a sample of 35 tests, with a significance level of 0.05%, obtaining the following results: Percentage of the response time of Openstack and Cloudstack is 100%, the average percentage of processing speed for Openstack is 100% and for CloudStack is 92.34%, the average percentage of resource consumption for Openstack is 100% while Which for CloudStack is 98.905%, the average percentage of the efficiency of Openstack and CloudStack is 100%, in the end consolidating the results of each indicator, it was concluded that the Openstack platform offers a better performance with 100% compared to CloudStack. With 97.53%, with a difference of 2.47%.

For the implementation of the solution the steps proposed by (Moreno Mateos, 2016) were used; Three nodes were installed: the controller node, the computing node and a storage node deployed on Proxmox VE. The final product is the private cloud of Infrastructure as Openstack service deployed in the technological infrastructure of the Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo.


We prove that the topological φ-category of a pair (M,N) of topological manifolds is infinite if the algebraic φ-category of the pair of fundamental groups (π1(M), π1(N)) is infinite. Some immediate consequences of this fact are also pointed out.


Immunology
The drug dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is used to treat autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis and multiple sclerosis, and may act by modifying cysteine residues in proteins. A better understanding of how it works is required because its use has led to life-threatening infections in some


Morphology of macro and microstructures of beaked shaft in auxiliary exciter has been studied. The resuts show that fracture of the shaft is mainly caused by inclusions and bending stress acted on it.


Teacher questioning is an important step in classrooms,especially in foreign language classrooms.Effective teacher questioning can improve learner output.But there are some problems in teacher questioning.This paper,based on analyzing the problems in teacher questioning,provides some solutions to these problems.


Two methods of reconstruction of Ito equations on the basis of time series were analysed. The Sequin method appeared to be completely inadequate in cases of considerable noise. The histogram method required some improvements; therefore, the procedure of smoothing of joint distribution function was proposed and verified.Ito equations may constitute some macroscopic models of phenomena in which microscopic interactions are averaged in an adequate way. Analysis of two geophysical phenomena is presented. For these two examples, Ito equations are constructed and some physical causes of resulting forms of the deterministic and stochastic force are deduced.


High genetic variability is a characteristic of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection: infinite virus isolates are classified into six genotypes plus an emerging seventh one, and an indefinite number of subtypes. The variability is directly connected to the environmental adaptation of infective agents or to the change induced by antiviral therapies. During therapy, wild type isolates are substituted by resistant mutants that are able to maintain the infection. The standard therapy (pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin) only partially eradicates HCV infection. However, particularly in genotype 1 infection, the rate of uncured patients remains high (between 50% and 60%). Specifically targeted antiviral therapies for HCV infection (STAT-C) consist of develop- ing new antivirals aimed at blocking the virus proteins involved in different replication steps. Telaprevir is an anti-NS3-NS4 protease in phase III trials and represents a promising therapy, especially when associated with PEG-IFN and ribavirin. In vitro and in vivo research studies describe mutations that confers resistance to telaprevir in NS3-NS4 protease (V36A/M/L/G, F43, T54A, R130K, R155L/K/T/Q, A156T/S/V, V170A and Q195K). The emergence of these mutations describes the adaptation capability of HCV infection.


This paper makes an attempt to test for the effects of financial repressionist poli cies on financial deepening and economic development in the case of Mauritius. Using the method of principal components, direct measures of banking controls are constructed and used in estimating financial depth and economic growth equations. We found no significant evidence that some form of financial repression has con tributed to financial depth and economic growth. Instead, the results confirmed that banking controls have inhibited financial sector development in Mauritius, which is in line with the financial repressionist literature. Moreover, it is found that non-interest factors such as bank branches have promoted the rapid growth in bank deposits even during the period of financial repression. There is also a two-way relationship between banking sector development and economic growth in the economy. The major policy implication is that the pursuit of financial liberalisation and banking sec tor development is no doubt a right strategy to achieve higher economic growth.


Peculiarities of the behaviour of submicron variable thickness bridges caused by the influence of nonequilibrium electrons in the weak link region have been investigated in the presence of dc and microwaves.


A METHOD IS PRESENTED TO ANALYZE THE UNCERTAINTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SETTLEMENT PREDICTION DETERMINED BY USE OF THE CONVENTIONAL DETERMINISTIC APPROACH. PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS, INSTEAD OF INDIVIDUAL VALUES, ARE USED FOR THE VARIABLES IN THE FORMULA TO OBTAIN A PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION FOR THE SETTLEMENT DUE TO PRIMARY CONSOLIDATION. THE DISTRIBUTIONS FOR SOIL PROPERTIES ARE ESTABLISHED FROM A STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF TEST RESULTS, WHILE THOSE FOR THE STRESS PARAMETERS ARE DEDUCED ON A MORE SUBJECTIVE BASIS. THE STUDY IS GENERALIZED BY REPEATING THE PROCESS FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF CASES. VALUES CALCULATED THERE FROM ARE THEN USED IN REGRESSION ANALYSES TO DEVELOP EMPIRICAL EQUATIONS WHICH PROVIDE A MEASURE OF THE UNCERTAINTY ASSOCIATED WITH A WIDE RANGE OF INPUT PARAMETERS FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM. FINALLY, THESE EQUATIONS ARE REPRESENTED IN THE FORM OF NOMOGRAPHS WHICH FACILITATE THEIR USAGE. /AUTHOR/


Using data gathered from blogs, this work seeks to understand the structure and formation of social networks, and the patterns of information propagation through these networks. Blogs have become an important medium of communication and information on the World Wide Web. Due to their accessible and timely nature, they are also an intuitive source for data involving the formation of social networks and the spread of information and ideas. By studying link patterns of existing entities and new arrivals to a blog network, we can infer the way in which social networks are formed. And, by examining linking patterns from one blog post to another, we can infer the way information spreads through a social network over the Web. We seek to discover how information propagates through an existing network. Do trees representing the flow of information maintain certain structural properties? Does traffic in the blog network exhibit bursty and/or periodic behavior? After a topic becomes popular, how does interest die off – linearly, or exponentially? What models best exhibit such behavior? We would also like to gain an understanding of how different entities in the social network function with regard to the propagation of information. Do some blogs act as hubs of information, often starting cascades of information to flow? Do certain subnetworks have different patterns of information propagation?


This paper reviewed literature on the prevalence of diseases and parasites of poultry in Botswana over a five year period i.e., from 2006 to 2010. Coccidiosis was the most prevalent disease in poultry species except for ostriches which were mainly affected by colisepticaemia. The highest prevalence of diseases and parasites was recorded in 2007 with fowl pox, coccidiosis, salmonellosis and helminthiasis being the main contributors. Fowl pox was prevalent in family chickens which are reared under free range. Poultry diseases were mainly prevalent in Gaborone, Mochudi, Francistown and Molepolole districts with 225, 168, 148 and 135 cases, respectively. Newcastle disease was sporadic throughout the study period. In the present study, the common parasites of poultry were mites, fleas, lice, ticks and helminths, and helminths were the most prevalent followed by mites. Of all species, chickens were affected most by parasites followed by guinea fowl. These results suggest inadequacies in health management, indicating that strict biosecurity measures should be put in place in order to reduce mortalities. There is also a need for extension service to train farmers on health management.


The study explored the link of sectoral public spending to development outcomes with the interaction of governance using panel data from nine countries of the ASEAN economic community from 1995 to 2013. Using path analysis, result shows that the total effect of sectoral public spending such as health, and investment spending to human development index is significant but negative and the direct effect of education spending to HDI is having a positive but non-significant path. These imply that sectoral spending does not directly effect to development outcome. Meanwhile, the direct effect paths from the education and investment spending to governance are positive and significant. These show that the interaction of governance result to positive and significant outcome such that increase in unit of governance result to increase in sectoral spending. Therefore, better governance performance is essential to translate spending to positive development outcome.


The spread of the Fintech in trying to graft the finance-related services with mobile and ICT, it is being expanded into more diverse areas such as loan, investment and asset management, but the awareness of the consumers is still very low. Thus, it is time that the need for researches related to diverse Fintech business is demanded. In this study, First, complexity was shown to be statistically non-significant to the attitude. Also, it was shown that innovativeness and perceived danger did not influence satisfaction. the content of the current dissertation will be the opportunity of broadening the perception of the current consumers that perceive Fintech as only a NFC simple payment service.


Brazilian Normative Instruction No. 11 October 2000 recommended standards of identity and quality of honey. This study aimed to evaluate the physical and chemical quality of the honey of wild flowers from different commercial spots in the municipality of Apodi-RN. For this, were collected 24 samples of honey from 12 different commercial spots in the city (two samples by commercial spots). These were transported to the Laboratory of Chemistry, Country Federal University od Semi-Arid (UFERSA), where the honeys were analyzed in duplicate for the levels of humidity (%), total acidity (meq.kg-1), hydroxymethylfurfural (mg.kg -1), sugars (%) and sucrose density (%). Data was statistically analyzed using analysis of variance (F test) and difference between means (Tukey test). It was found that much of the honey produced in the county assessed Apodi-RN, presented one or two physical-chemical parameters above those permitted by Brazilian law. The levels of total acidity and HMF in honey evaluated the parameters that were more varied according to the shop.


General circulation models (GCMs) are being actively used to assess possible climate change due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Because such simulations provide detailed climatic predictions at a wide range of scales, they are of particular interest to those making regional assessments of climatic change. It is especially important that workers using the results of such simulations be aware of some of the limitations of these results. In this study some of the positive results from these model simulations will be shown and some of the deficiencies will also be highlighted. Following an introductory section describing the nature of GCM climate simulations the issue of the spatial scales of such simulations is examined. A comparison of the results of seven GCM simulations of the current climate and the predictions of these models for the changes due to a doubling of CO{sub 2} will be discussed. In these intercomparisons, the spatial scale over which the results are compared varies from global to zonal (longitudinally averaged at a given latitude) to individual slices through the data along specified latitudes or longitudes. Finally, the dangers and pitfalls of relying on simple averages will be highlighted. 19 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.


We analyse the motion of a current of water migrating under gravity into a hot vapour-saturated porous rock accounting for the vaporization which occurs as the water invades the hot rock. We present a series of similarity solutions to describe the rate of advance of both planar and axisymmetric currents when the total mass of water injected after time t is proportional to tγ. Three distinct cases arise. When γ>1/2 (planar) or γ>1 (axisymmetric), the depth of the current increases at all points from the source, and therefore vaporization occurs at all points on its surface. This case is described by a simple extension of the well-known similarity solutions for non-vaporizing currents. When 0<γ<1/2 (planar) or 0<γ<1 (axisymmetric), there is a region near the source where the depth of the current decreases. The depth only increases at the more distant points. Vaporization therefore only occurs in the leading part of the current where it is advancing into the superheated rock. In this case, we develop modified similarity solutions which account for the vaporization in the distal part of the current. The third case involves the finite release of fluid. Owing to the vaporization, the mass of the current decreases with time. Since there is no injection, the rate of advance of the current can no longer be found by comparing the exponents of time in the local and global equations for mass conservation. Instead, the motion is described by a class of similarity solutions of the second kind, analogous to those described by Barenblatt (1997), in which the total mass of the current is proportional tγ, where γ is a function of the mass fraction which vaporizes, [Fscr ], such that γ→0 as [Fscr ]→0 and γ→−1 as [Fscr ]→1. The model is extended to include the effects of capillary retention of fluid in the pore spaces and we discuss the relevance of our results to the process of liquid reinjection in the geothermal power industry.


System identification techniques are used in order to model and predict the behaviors of unknown and very complex systems based on known input-output data. A major difficulty in modeling complex systems is the researcher introducing their own presumptions into the model. Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) algorithm is a self organizing approach and introduced by A. G. Ivakhnenko that allows the researcher to build models of complex systems without making assumptions about the internal workings. In recent years, Application of GMDH algorithm has led to a great success in a broad range of areas such as engineering, science and management. Choosing an appropriate topology has a great impact on the model performance. In addition, it is crucial to calculate the coefficients correctly, which can be rather difficult and time-consuming. Conventional GMDH uses a statistical method called the "linear least squares regression" to calculate the values of the coefficients.


s. On construction sites many challenges and premature failures are being encountered in welded joints of creep strength-enhanced ferritic (CSEF) steels. The primary reason of these premature failures is found to be the dissimilar material joints, having strength mismatch, or improper heat treatment that is mandatorily carried out to achieve the required weld hardness. This study aims at determining the impact of post welding heat treatment (PWHT) on dissimilar alloy steels joints, between ASTM A335 Gr. P-22 and ASTM A335 Gr. P-91 steels, welded by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) using ER 90S-B9 filler wire. The PWHT, at 745°C for 1hr., was applied to attain the required hardness. The effect of PWHT was investigated on the weld metal and the heat affected zones (HAZ) by hardness testing. Due to the martensitic microstructure, the hardness values of HAZ of P91 steel are over 350 HV. However, the hardness value of the P22 HAZ less than 350 HV. P91 HAZ has a higher hardness value than P22 HAZ because of its higher hardenability and due to phase transformation from martensite to ferrite. The interaction between the too high hardness microstructure with hydrogen can result in the hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) initiation in the HAZ. Therefore, the PWHT is needed to reduce this high hardness HAZ.


Paul Anthony Samuelson made wide-ranging contributions to scholarship in the history of economic thought over the course of his long professional career, doing so using a distinctive approach to the subject that was both a source of significant insights into the ideas of the past and the subject of controversy. This article discusses the motivations behind Samuelson's work in the history of economic thought, both in terms of subject-matter and approach, with a view toward enhancing our understanding of his place in this field.


Coordination of biological processes with external cues is necessary for the success and survival of most organisms. Diverse taxa employ sunlight to entrain rhythmic clock gene expression, influencing patterns in activity and other biological outputs. Visual systems play an important role in receiving and transducing photic signals. Damage, malformation or regression of the eyes can reduce or eliminate an organism's capacity to integrate such cues, potentially causing a decoupling of biological outputs from photic cycles and a breakdown in circadian rhythmicity. We aimed to assess the effect of eye regression on coordination of activity patterns with light cycles in Astyanax mexicanus. This model fish system consists of a blind cave‐dwelling morphotype and a surface morphotype with a functional visual system. Our results indicate cave morphs retain the ability to sync activity with photic cues, though responses differ from the surface form in amplitude and polarity. These results suggest that, despite visual system regression, cavefish retain the capacity for extraocular photoreception. Research supported by University of Cincinnati University Research Council and Dept. of Biological Sciences.


FIELD: construction. SUBSTANCE: method includes introduction of non-modified bitumen into a reservoir, equipped with a mixing device, and bitumen heating up to the temperature from 120 to 300°C. Then a blowing additive is added into a reservoir, and the mixture is mixed. Besides, the specified blowing additive has a common formula Ar1-R-Ar2. Invention also relates to a bitumen base of blown type produced by this method. The bitumen base is used to make a bituminous binder, and together with a road filler is used for road surface, asphalt mixtures, a gravel emulsion and a wear layer. The bitumen base is also used to make a sealing membrane, a membrane or impregnation layer. Method makes it possible to produce the bitumen base of required quality without necessity of pre-modification of the initial bitumen. The produced bitumen is more resistant as regards ageing, less brittle, has proper adhesiveness and hot viscosity compared to ordinary blown bitumen. Its workability in hot condition is comparable to workability of the initial bitumen in hot condition. EFFECT: improved properties of the bitumen base. 16 cl, 2 dwg, 4 tbl, 3 ex


Earnings management behaviour lowers the quality of accounting information of private enterprises to a certain extent. Hence, it is necessary to study the relationship between political connection and earnings management of private enterprises. Through the investigation and statistics of the private companies in China's Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Board Market from 2013 to 2017, this paper performs empirical analysis to verify the relationship between political connection and earnings management. It shows that political connection can weaken accrual-based earnings management level, which helps private firms obtain more preferential policies and financing help. Based on the above conclusions, this paper puts forward the corresponding policy recommendations, which provide reference for the governance of private enterprises and the capital market.


Abstract X-ray diffraction was done with molten Fe66,7 Si33,3 and molten Fe33,3 Si66,7 . The coordination numbers versus the concentration lie above the connection line between the coordination numbers of the unalloyed molten elements Fe and Si, respectively, which means a tendency for microsegregation. The pair correlation function of molten Fe66,7 Si33,3 was modeled using the data of crystalline Fe2 Si. At the same time, the pair correlation function of the molten alloy Fe33,3 Si66,7 can be modeled using the data of the corresponding crystalline alloy. Thus for molten Fe33,3 Si66,7 microsegregation into FeSi2 and Si or FeSi and for molten Fe66,7 Si33,3 microsegregation into Fe2 Si and Fe or FeSi exists.


This paper proposes some likely scenarios for future education and training needs from 2010-2020 as demographic cohort changes move through the workforce. It examines the baby boomers demographic as it is expected that older workers will stay in employment longer and will therefore require either new training or retraining. Much depends on the vocational education and training (VET) and higher education sectors anticipating the demand of industry based programs as a function of changing demographics. This paper also takes into account variables such as superannuation and possible future educational policy settings.


In recent years, organizations have a growing concern to continually improve their processes and align them to satisfy clients' expectations, needs and experience. Traditionally, the discipline of Business Process Management (BPM) focuses on 'inside-out' improvement of business processes that do not provide appropriate capabilities and techniques to explore 'outside-in' opportunities. Design Thinking and Organizational Ambidexterity are approaches that allow a balance between improving internal efficiency, as well as supporting the analysis of the external environment in search of innovation. Inspired by these approaches, our study aims to investigate how to exploit internal problems and explore external opportunities of business processes. The main contribution of this paper is the design of a method called A2BP that systematizes the analysis phase of BPM lifecycle by proposing exploitative and exploratory techniques. We evaluated the A2BP method by means of expert opinion survey and observational case study to assess its usefulness and ease-of-use. Overall, the evaluation of the method was positive and constructive feedback was obtained to further refine the method in future studies.


With the rapid development of the e-commerce economy in urban and rural areas, China's logistics industry has entered a stage of transformation and upgrade. First, this paper introduces the Supply-Chain Operations Reference-model as a theoretical reference for index selection. Then, after comparing the BP neural network and linear regression analysis, we chose the BP neural network analysis method, which is more stable and accurate in forecasting e-logistics demand scale in urban and rural areas. Finally, according to the results of the data analysis, this paper divides the development of e-logistics demand in urban and rural areas into two stages and discusses the reasons for the formation of these two stages in detail. This job not only provides a new perspective for the study of rural e-commerce and urban and rural e-logistics demand prediction, but also provides a theoretical reference for the formulation of government policies and farmers' participation in rural e-commerce.


In this chapter, we propose a new shape-based, query-by-example, image database retrieval method that is able to match a query image to one of the images in the database, based on a whole or partial match. The proposed method has two key components: the architecture of the retrieval and the features used. Both play a role in the overall retrieval efficacy. The proposed architecture is based on the analysis of connected components and holes in the query and database images. The features we propose to use are geometric in nature, and are invariant to translation, rotation, and scale. Each of the suggested three features is not new per se, but combining them to produce a compact and efficient feature vector is. We use hand-sketched, rotated, and scaled, query images to test the proposed method using a database of 500 logo images. We compare the performance of the suggested features with the performance of the moments invariants (a set of commonly-used shape features). The suggested features match the moments invariants in rotated and scaled queries and consistently surpass them in handsketched queries. Moreover, results clearly show that the proposed architecture significantly increase the performance of the two feature sets.


Objective To characterize the manifestations in mice infected with a variant strain of the pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus.Methods A variant of H1N1 influenza virus was obtained by continuous passages in embryonated eggs and MDCK cells.The mice were infected intratracheally with different doses of the variant H1N1 influenza A virus.The median lethal dose(MLD50) and median infection dose(MID50) of the high virulent H1N1 variant in BALB/c mice were evaluated.The body weigh change,lung index and lung virus loads in the infected mice were also observed.Results The pathogenicity of the variant H1N1 influenza A virus in mice was significantly higher than that of the wild type.The lower infection dose,higher viral load and severe lesions in lung tissues were observed.Conclusion The characterization of the variant H1N1 virus influenza A infection in mice facilitates the development of a novel murine model of pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus.


Yan Fu was a great thinker in Chinese modern times.He translated Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays,studied Chinese culture and Western culture,and advanced Chinese education thought for modern times.He contributed to the development of Chinese culture in modern times.


In this paper, I argue that the 'social meanings' associated with sociolin-guistic variation put pressure on the standard philosophical conception of language, according to which the foremost thing we do with words is exchange information. Drawing on parallels with the explanatory challenge posed by slurs and pejoratives, I argue that the best way to understand social meanings is to think of them in speech act theoretic terms. I develop a distinctive form of pluralism about the performances realized by means of so-ciolinguistic variants, and I claim that engagement with such performances is an utterly pervasive feature of our linguistic activity.


Ganglioneuroma, which rarely occurs in the neck region, is a well-differentiated benign tumor of the sympathetic nervous system. A 39-year-old man presented with neck swelling for a year. A giant tumor was located on the left side of the neck. Schwannoma was suspected on preoperative cytology and core needle biopsy, and the postoperative diagnosis on pathological examination was ganglioneuroma. The origin of the tumor was considered to be the sympathetic nervous system based on the postoperative appearance of Horner's syndrome. The treatment choice for ganglioneuromas is complete surgical resection, contrary to the nerve-sparing resection of schwannomas. Therefore, making the definitive diagnosis before surgical resection could be important. In this report, we focus on the differential diagnosis obtained with radiological findings and the treatment strategy for the tumor with a literature review.


This paper presents Fault Induced Delayed Voltage Recovery (FIDVR) events captured in Southern California desert areas during the summer of 2012. This effort is part of an integrated program of FIDVR research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy to promote national awareness, improve understanding of potential grid impacts, and identify appropriate steps to ensure reliability of the power system. Southern California Edison (SCE) installed 22 power quality recorders in SCE's Valley Sub transmission network with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These devices recorded both sinusoidal and rms data from events triggered by voltage excursions. The event data can be used to tune and validate load models and to propose voltage ride through parameters for distributed generation (DG) in particular solar PV inverters.


Cybercriminals often register many pornographic or gambling domains (known as abusive domains) with similar character compositions in bulk to reduce their investment in buying domains and make it easier for clients to remember and spread them. Therefore, this study combines the ideas of text similarity and text generation and proposes an abusive domain generation model based on GRU for rapidly generating new abusive domain names from known ones. Additionally, we develop a two-layer detection system for pornography and gambling domains using fastText and CNN models to obtain an abusive domain dataset for model training and validation. In the end, our detection system identifies pornographic and gambling domains with 99% precision while balancing correctness and speed. By inputting 40,000 random keywords into the abusive domain generation model, we obtained 130,220 online domains that served web pages, of which about 66% were pornographic or gambling domains. The results show that by exploiting cybercriminals' behaviors in registering abusive domain names, such as bulk registration of similar domain names, we can prospectively acquire a large number of new abusive domains based on known ones. This study demonstrates that predicting new abusive domains not only expands the domain blacklist but also allows researchers to target the generated suspicious domains and dispose of them in time before they show abusive behavior.


Y. Schirmann's collection of anonymous Hebrew muwaššabät 1 is extremely important for the study of the entire field of strophic poetry in Al-Andalus, and particularly for the understanding of the development of the harga-element, i.e. the final verse-lines of the 17Juwaššaba with common rhymes.2 We know from Arabic sources 3 that the harga is considered a significant part of the muwaš šaba, inasmuch as it constitutes the "essence", literally and metrically, being, in Ibn Sana' al-Mulk's words, the seal, and at the same time the beginning, of the


These lecture notes are intended to serve as an introduction to applied AdS/CFT with numerics for an audience of graduate students and others with little background in the subject. The presentation begins with a poor man's review of current status of quantum gravity, where AdS/CFT correspondence is believed to be the well formulated quantum gravity in the anti-de Sitter space. Then we present the basic ingredients in applied AdS/CFT and introduce the relevant numerics for solving differential equations into which the bulk dynamics collapses. To demonstrate how to apply AdS/CFT with numerics, we take the zero temperature holographic superfluid as a concrete example for case study. In passing, we also present some new results, which include the numerical evidence as well as an elegant analytic proof for the equality between the superfluid density and particle density, namely ρs = ρ , and the saturation to the predicted value 1 2 by conformal field theory for the sound speed in the large chemical potential limit.


In the above paper, due to a programming error, Fig. 7 on page 345 for bend capacitance is incorrect and should appear as shown in the following.


An 83-year-old Japanese woman presented with multiple bluish-black macules and nodules with intense pruritus on the lower back (Fig. 1). She had received acupuncture therapy 20 years previously because of lower back pain. Histology showed a foreign body reaction and brownish pigmented particles in the dermis. Numerous mast cells were found around the pigmented particles. In electron microscopy, mast cells containing electron-dense silver particles in their cytoplasm showed focal or partial loss of granule contents, suggesting piecemeal degranulation (Fig. 2). Mast cells around free silver particles also showed piecemeal degranulation. These activated mast cells probably contributed to the development of pruritus and inflammatory reaction in the present case.


A response to Alon Harel's discussion of the right of return. My main criticism of Harel is that while he insists that the Palestinians -- under certain conditions -- do not have an interest in return, whether or not they have such a "right" doesn't depend on such interests, not even according to an interest theory of rights.


The present study was undertaken to evaluate the cardiopreventive activity of the aqueous extract of sea cucumber body wall against isoproterenol- induced cardiac injury in rats. Isoproterenol a synthetic catecholamine and β-adrenergic agonist, which causes severe oxidative stress-induced myocardial injury. HPLC analysis of the sea cucumber aqueous extract revealed the presence of some active phenolic components with antioxidant activity, such as pyrogallol, rutin, chlorogenic acid, ascorbic acid, catechin, coumaric acid, cinnamic acid and ellagic acid. Subchronic oral administration of sea cucumber extract (14.4mg/Kg b.w.) to normal rats thrice weekly for 8 consecutive weeks did not exert any toxic side effects, whereas enhanced the cardiac reduced glutathione level and catalase activity, and in contrast reduced serum low density lipoprotein-cholesterol level. On the other hand, pretreatment of rats with the sea cucumber extract for 8 weeks before being intoxicated with 2 subcutaneous injections of isoproterenol normalized serum levels of total CK, CK-MB activity, total cholesterol, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, as well as cardiac glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities. In vitro antioxidant studies on the sea cucumber extract have shown a moderate scavenging activity for NO. radical and iron chelating activity, as well as a weak inhibition of lipid peroxidation. In addition, histopathological examination of H&E-stained myocardium sections of the left ventricle showed that pretreatment of isoproterenol-intoxicated rats with sea cucumber extract caused a substantial attenuation in the degenerative cellular changes induced by isoproterenol. Keywords : Holothuria atra extract, HPLC analysis, Isoproterenol, Biochemical studies, In vitro antioxidant studies, Histological studies


We studied the prey consumption rates in Apocyclops royi on neonate and adult rotifers, Brachionus rotundiformis and ciliate, Euplotes sp. in the presence and absence of algae, the smaller Isochrysis galbana and the larger Tetraselmis chui. Both males and females of A. royi were able to successfully ingest neonate and adult rotifers and ciliate. The prey consumption rates were significantly lower in males than in females of A. royi. Regardless of sex and reproductive state of the copepod, prey consumption rates were higher on neonates rotifer than on adults. However, the prey consumption rates were significantly lower on ciliate than rotifer in the female copepods. Further, the prey ingestion rates did not differ statistically between ovigerous and non-ovigerous adults of A. royi females. The ovigerous rotifer was ingested at lower rates than either non-ovigerous or neonates rotifer by both males and females of A. royi. The presence of algae (no matter I. galbana or T. chui) negatively influenced the rotifer and ciliate consumption rates. The present study provides first information on predatory efficiency of A. royi, and attests its omnivory feeding habit. Our results suggest that A. royi can utilize heterotrophic food efficiently and can derive nutrients during periods of low primary production. The present study points to the role of A. royi in forming a link between the microbial loop and classical food chain, which expedites the flow of bacterial carbon to higher trophic levels in estuarine ecosystems.


The importance of the horizontal dimensions or working width (WW) of the root canal system has not been addressed in most of the researches. In long oval or flat canal preparations, the WW is very important as it alters the operator to the possibilities of incomplete root canal preparation. The concepts, techniques, and technologies to measure initial horizontal dimensions and to determine final horizontal dimensions accurately or properly are underdeveloped. As working length , working width in endodontics is often neglected but is very important for successful shaping and cleaning of root canal systems. This book highlights this importance.


The electrical properties of Radio Frequency Sputtered NiFeO and NiO films deposited on n and p-type Silicon is investigated for two different oxygen flows. Rectifying properties for Ni_0.8Fe_0.2O_1+ α on n-Si showed I_forward/I_reverse >10,000 for α>0 and I_forward/I_reverse >50 for α<0. Both types of devices have opposite forward biases. Results suggest that NiFeO sputtered at high oxygen flow is p-type. For NiO and NiFeO on p-Si no strong rectifying properties were observed. The specific contact resistivity of Pt/Ni_0.9Fe_0.1O_1+ α (α>0) was estimated from the difference between the two and four-point probe resistances (0.0007 ± 0.0003 Ω cm^2). Using density functional theory calculations, density of state and charge density plots were obtained for systems modelled after experiment, showing that states introduced by O vacancies in NiFeO are localized and prefer locations near Ni explaining the observed hysteresis effects in the IV curves of devices sputtered at low oxygen flow.


The reaction of 2-(trimethylsiloxy)furan (1) with orthocarboxylic esters, acetals, and acylal in the presence of Lewis acids afforded the corresponding 4-substituted 2-buten-4-olides. The reaction of 5-methyl-2-(trimethyl-siloxy)furan with orthocarboxylic esters gave unstable 2-substituted 3-penten-4-olides as major products; these gave 2,5-alkanediones upon hydrolysis. The furan (1) also reacted with 1,1-diacetoxy-2-butene to give a mixture of 5-acetoxy-2,6-octadien-4-olide and 7-acetoxy-5-methyl-2,6-heptadien-4-olide. From the former compound, nigrosporalactone was synthesized.


Objective To investigate the subhealthy state of the teachers in institution of higher learning. Method 4 109 teachers are investigated on scale of lifestyle, SCL-90 and NPI. To compare with questionnaires on hired faculties and retired teachers. Results The scale of lifestyle of the hired faculties shows that it is better than retired teachers with a significently difference(p0.01). The scale of pressure shows the pressure of hired faculties is more powerful than retired teachers with a significently difference(p0.01). The results of the SCL-90 shows the score of hired faculties is higher than retired teachers on psychology(p0.01) with an also significently difference. Conclusion The subhealthy state of hired faculties is higher than retired teachers. It were relationship on physiology,phychology, social adaptive capability.


Hospital personnel (110), a plurality of patient locations (130), and a hospital monitoring system for monitoring the associated device (10) controls the associated devices, based on the presence or alarm hospital personnel (110) of a patient (100) it is configured to.


Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a type of fluid replacement used as a treatment for dehydration. It involves drinking water mixed with sugar and salt, while continuing to eat. In this paper, density and viscosity of salt sugar solution at 308.15 K, 313.13 K, 318.15 K, 323.15K, 328.15 K and 333.15 K have been determined using Ostwalds viscometer. T h e r e s u l t s s h o w e d t h a t d e n s i t y a n d v i s c o s i t y d e c r e a s e d w i t h i n c r e a s e d i n t e m p e r a t u r e . T h e d e n s i t y - t e m p e r a t u r e a n d v i s c o s i t y - t e m p e r a t u r e c u r v e s o b t a i n e d c a n b e u s e d t o d e t e r m i n e t h e e x t e n t o f t h e a c c u r a c y o f a n y l o c a l l y p r e p a r e d o r a l r e h y d r a t i o n t h e r a p y .


In S49 lymphoma cells, both Ca and phorbol esters enhance the association of protein kinase C (PKC) with membranes. Ca alone (greater than or equal to 100 M) or the combination of Ca and a brief (10 min) exposure to phorbol 12-myristate,13-acetate (PMA) results in the association of approximately 40% of PKC with the membrane fraction. The Ca -induced translocation of PKC to membrane can be reversed by 1 mM EGTA. After the extraction of this EGTA-sensitive component of PKC, an integral compartment remains, which can be removed only by detergent (0.3% Triton X-100) solubilization of membranes. They have studied the effects of PMA on the Ca -dependent association of PKC into these two membrane compartments. If intact S49 cells are treated with PMA and fractionated with 100 M Ca , this EGTA-sensitive membrane compartment of PKC is rapidly decreased (t/sub 1/2/ = 2 minutes), and replaced by an increase in integral PKC. Ten minutes after the addition of 100 nM PMA to intact cells, the EGTA-sensitive membrane compartment of PKC activity is decreased from 1102 +/- 34 to 94 +/- 20 pmoles PO transferred/min/mg protein. During this same time interval, the integral compartment of PKC increases from 480 +/-more » 27 to 1293 +/- 41 pmol/min/mg protein. Their findings are consistent with a PMA-induced conversion of PKC from a loosely-associated (EGTA-sensitive) compartment to an integral membrane compartment.« less


The main goal of IDEA (integrated and dynamic environmental activities) is to use a theme-based science teaching to interest pre-university students in natural science and the possibilities for further study. IDEA is a subproject of Urban II, which is an EU financed project dealing with problems in suburban areas. The case-study area is situated on a landfill in an old gravel pit (Fig. 1). The landfill contains a variety of waste, mostly building materials from construction sites. The Quaternary stratigraphy in SW Sweden has a logical and relatively simple reflection of the glacial and post-glacial processes that are otherwise difficult to explain to younger students. The importance of stratigraphic and soil characteristics are further demonstrated in the field at exposed sections and with simple infiltration experiments. Although the students are already aware of environmental problems, the application of geological information becomes clearer and more tangible in the field. The students themselves perform different types of problem-oriented studies in the area to investigate if there is contaminant leaching and a risk for the surrounding areas. This work normally includes measuring and analyzing water and sediment quality, constructing maps, determining floral and faunal species, calculating a water budget. The main goal of the case study is to give the students an understanding of how pollutants can become spread in ground and water environments, and how this affects living organisms. By choosing case-study sites close to the partner schools, the students are further motivated by the local relevance. The teachers can also connect the case study to other topics that deal with environmental science, such as biology, chemistry, social science and mathematics. Included in the case-study follow-up activities are Internet information retrieval, study visits to environmental consultants, the natural science museum, and the university, where each partner exemplifies their interest and roll in dealing with environmental problems in society.


Constructing an aggregation tree generates a large number of redundant broadcast messages,which leads to the excessive energy dissipation in entire sensor network.This paper analyzed the performance of aggregation tree constructing algorithms and proposed a global energy-efficient aggregation tree constructing algorithm based on greedy incremental tree.This algorithm got the best candidate's information with few packets exchanged in presence tree and avoided mass exploratory messages broadcasted by sources periodically.The global energy consumption of constructing the aggregation tree was affected by node density slightly and maintained at a relatively low level.Since the construction time was no longer restricted by the exploratory messages' periods,the algorithm can improve the speed of constructing a greedy incremental tree.The simulation results show the algorithm decreases the number of packets in entire network effectively and provides low latency.The effect of aggregation is equivalent to the tree constructed by Greedy Incremental Tree(GIT) algorithm.


Delivering high quality healthcare for all requires recognising the legacies of colonialism in driving power asymmetries and producing inequitable health outcomes both within and between countries say Bernice Yanful and colleagues


The utility model discloses a factory seedling growing water body seawater heat pump heat supply system which is characterized in that the system includes a first water pump (2) connected to the water inlet of a fishpond (1), the inlet of the first water pump is successively connected with a first reservoir (3), a condenser (4), a heat exchanger (9), a second water pump (6) and a second reservoir (5), the water outlet of the fishpond (1) is successively connected with a mesh filtering device (18), a biology purifier (16), a third water pump (13), the heat exchanger (9) and an evaporator (14), a compressor (10) is connected to one side between the evaporator (14) and the condenser (4), the other side is connected to a thermal expansion valve (15) and a liquid storage device (20). The system can make use of the heat of waste water discharged from the fishpond while changing water to heat the water adding into the fishpond in the working process, having significant energy saving effect and reducing production cost.


Passing is a phenomenon that occurs when an individual tries to hide a part of their identity, or takes on a new false identity in order to fit in with a certain social context. Passing might be especially important in a college setting, where students are in a stage of emerging adulthood and exploring new identities. This process can occur with all sorts of identity, commonly one that makes the individual a minority. This study focuses specifically on the phenomenon of passing in political views and socioeconomic status identities, as well as how it relates to self-transcendence. Given past research, we hypothesized that individuals with low transcendence scores would be more likely to attempt to pass in a social situation in which their true identity makes them a minority. Results showed that SES is negatively associated with passing via counterfeiting, but had no significant impact on passing via avoidance. Political ideology did not correlate significantly with either passing strategy. Students tended to pass more via avoidance than counterfeiting with both political views and SES. This study also found that students of relatively high SES (upper-middle class and middle-class) tended to have more conservative views on health care than students of lower SES (poor, working class, and lowermiddle class). A trend was found that students with relatively conservative views on health care were more likely to pass via counterfeiting than students with more liberal health care views. Our findings open the doors for more research on various types of passing in different categories of identity.


Service providers give assurance on some aspects of the service but, as of today, security monitoring is not one of them. In our work, we aim to allow providers to provide customers with guarantees on security monitoring of their outsourced information system.


The question of professional preparation of future teacher, development of his creative potential by facilities of introduction of pedagogical technologies rises in the real article.


Objective—Src homology 2–containing phosphotyrosine phosphatase 2 (SHP2) is ubiquitously expressed and believed to function as part of a positive signaling pathway mediating growth factor–induced protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Proliferation of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is an important contributor to atherosclerosis. We examined the effect of SHP2 expression on SMC proliferative activity. Methods and Results—SHP2 was abundant in cultured aortic SMCs, and SHP2 staining was markedly increased in the thickened aortic intima in rats with balloon-induced injury. We obtained several SMC clones by using geneticin screening. Endogenous SHP2 expression varied among individual clones. Significant positive relationships were observed between SHP2 expression and bromodeoxyuridine uptake in SMCs stimulated by FBS, platelet-derived growth factor, or insulin-like growth factor-1. In SMCs transiently transfected with SHP2, FBS stimulation significantly increased bromodeoxyuridine uptake beyond the uptake by control SMCs. Conclusions—Increased SHP2 expression in SMCs may accelerate aortic atherosclerosis by increasing cell growth.


The paper describes how, In an on-board ITS information system friendly to drivers, it is important to detect the states of the driver's consciousness or attention, and change the method or timing for providing information according to the states. The driver's states to be detected include two states. One is the consciousness state such as dozing, and the other is the attention state such as in attention or excessive concentration. The paper developed the detection system of driver's gaze direction for detecting the excessive concentration through cellular phone use or inattention using moving picture processing. In this system, facial images are obtained by projecting an infrared light robust for the change in the surrounding illumination conditions. The eye areas are extracted automatically from the facial images and tracked on real time and the results of these expressions are presented.


In patients with early, otherwise untreated Parkinson's disease, the abilities of selegiline (deprenyl) and tocopherol, antioxidative agents that act through complementary mechanisms, to delay the emergence of more severe disability requiring treatment with levodopa were evaluated. Eight hundred subjects were randomly assigned in a two‐by‐two factorial design to receive selegiline (10 mg per day), tocopherol (2000 IU per day), selegiline and tocopherol, or placebo and were followed up to determine the frequency of development of disability requiring treatment with levodopa, the primary end point.


S oftware Process Assessment (SPA) is an effective method used to understand software organizations' process quality and to identify issues to be resolved to achieve higher maturity. During the past 10 years, various SPA methods have been developed , proposed, and adopted. The first one was proposed Recently, a series of international standards for SPA have been developed by International Organization for Standardization/International Electr-otechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) JTC1 SC7/WG10 and published as technical reports in 1998 [6]. Since 1990 various SPA-related activities have been conducted at NEC. In 1990 the SPA Working Group was organized to study the PMM. Core members studied Managing the Software Process [2] translated into Japanese. Then in 1992, the working group developed a SPA guidebook that contains questions, criteria, and guidelines for a PMM-based assessment [7]. In 1997 the base method was changed from the PMM to the CMM 1.1, and an overall revision was completed. In parallel, the working group members promoted SPA and acted as assessors to gain experience. Our research group members have joined and led the SPA-working group activities. Additionally, to seek a more effective and efficient SPA method suited to NEC's organizational properties, we customized and applied several methods apart from the working group's activities [8, 9]. We also developed and applied original SPA methods, which are called SPICE9000 and Software Lifecycle Processes (SLCP)-based SPA. These incorporate the technical trend of SPA, or continuous model-based assessment, and an in-house opinion, i.e., synchronization of SPA and ISO 9000 internal audit. Also several tools have been developed for analyzing assessment data and enabling remote assessment using the network. To date more than 30 in-house organizations have been assessed using various methods. More than 50 percent have taken multiple assessments periodically, and SPA has been getting diffused. Table 1 shows the history of SPA application that our research group members joined as lead assessors. O Or ri ig gi in na al l M Me et th ho od ds s a an nd d T To oo ol ls s Here we introduce two methods and one tool that we originally developed. S SP PI IC CE E9 90 00 00 0: : The SPICE9000 makes it possible to conduct a SPA and an ISO 9000 internal audit simultaneously. SPICE9000 is an integration of the first version of SPICE and ISO 9001 [10]. The assessment framework, the PMM, and the CMM are succeeded …


The article contains a study of the influence of technological factors on the formation of a film antifriction coating when applied to parts of cars and cars. The article presents a methodology and results of calculating the adhesion strength of a film coating with a steel base. The equipment used to determine the adhesion strength is presented. The technique of using the specified equipment is described. The dependence of the adhesion strength on the modes of film coating is established and described. Recommendations have been developed for the selection and method of applying film antifriction coatings during the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles.


Disclosed and described herein for touch sensing and control operations required for LED number of I / O pins to a minimum the apparatus and method. In one embodiment, a method comprising controlling, via a single pin at least one light emitting diode (LED) element, and controlling at least one sensing element through the single pin. In one embodiment, the touch sensitive light emitting diode (LED) display apparatus comprising: at least one LED element; at least one sensing element; and a controller integrated circuit (IC), and coupled to the pin via a single and at least one element of the at least one sensing element LED. The controller is configured to communicate via the pin member with the at least one LED and the at least one touch sensing element.


Diabetes is the primary metabolic disorder listed among the top 10 death-causing diseases. The complete cure of diabetes is impossible, but the prevention and maintenance of glucose levels can reduce the diabetes severity. Objectives: To utilize the banana peel extracts to evaluate their antioxidant attributes and capability to attenuate diabetes. Methods: The antioxidant properties were assessed by measuring the DPPH, total phenolic contents (TPC), and total flavonoid contents (TFC) in ethanol, methanol, and acetone solutions. Moreover, the renal functional tests (Serum creatinine, serum urea, and BUN) and liver function tests (ALT, ASP, Serum Albumin, and total proteins) were also conducted during the 21 days experimental study in diabetes-induced (via Streptozotocin: 350 mg/kg) male Albino Wister rats. Results: The results indicated that the DPPH, TPC, and TFC contents were higher in methanol solution, i.e., 74.20±0.98%, 54.78±0.69mg GAE/g, and 39.48±0.37mg GAE/g respectively. Moreover, the results indicated that the unripe, ripe, and overripe significantly reduced liver and renal function parameters in diabetic rats. Conclusions: Banana peels have prominent potential to prevent diabetes-linked variables due to their higher antioxidant activity.


The superficial layer of deep cervical fascia represents a valuable material for the reconstruction of defects secondary to partial vertical laryngeal resections. However, there are drawbacks to the use of this flap, which include possible weakness and subsequent instability of the laryngeal wall.


Much work has focused on the interpersonal dynamics of violent relationships, but less is known about the specific turning points that prompt women at least to try to end them. Using a feminist standpoint method and phenomenological-based analysis of in-depth interviews with mothers in a domestic violence shelter, this article focuses on the role of children in women's decisions to leave abusive partners. It discusses arriving at the decision, the logistics involved in leaving and planning for the future, and it presents policy and advocacy-based recommendations that are aimed at addressing the social welfare of women and children.


Introduction: Delirium after acute stroke has been associated with worse outcomes but the effect on domain specific health-related quality of life (QOL) is less well-defined. We hypothesized that post-stroke delirium is associated with worse QOL.

Methods: A prospective cohort of acute ischemic stroke patients was screened for post-stroke delirium. Delirium was diagnosed using the Confusion Assessment Method. Patient variables were prospectively recorded including initial NIHSS score and medical complications. Six QOL domains were assessed at three months post-stroke using Neuro-QOL (a validated patient-reported outcome tool that calculates T scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10): upper and lower extremity function, social roles satisfaction, fatigue, executive function (planning, calculating, and learning), and general cognitive concerns ([GCC] perceived attention, memory, and decision difficulties). Functional outcomes at 3 months were also obtained using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS, a validated outcome measure from 0, no symptoms, to 6, death). Univariate associations between delirium and QOL domains were identified and linear regression models were developed for domains with significant associations.

Results: Over 10 months 246 patients (56% male, mean 65 years) met inclusion criteria. Delirium occurred in 30 (12%) patients. Three month follow up exceeded 90%. Of the Neuro-QOL domains, only GCC was significantly different between those with delirium and those without (T-scores 48.6 vs. 53.4, p=0.03). The mRS outcomes did not differ between those with delirium and those without (median [interquartile range], 1 [0-3] vs 1 [0-2]; p=0.59). Delirium (Beta -3.8, p=0.02) and initial NIHSS (Beta -0.25, p=0.006) were associated with worse GCC after correction for covariates.

Conclusion: Our finding that post-stroke delirium is independently associated with worse measures of cognition at three months suggests that the disordered attention of delirium may persist long term. Delirium may impair recovery after stroke or may represent a separate mechanism of neurologic injury not well characterized by global outcome scales like the mRS.


A gain‐clamped long‐wavelength‐band erbium‐doped fiber amplifier (L‐band EDFA) based on a ring‐laser cavity is demonstrated using two C/L‐band wavelength‐selective couplers. This new design provides improved gain characteristics and high tuneability. The gain is clamped at 11.5 dB with a gain variation of less than 0.1 dB from an input‐signal power of −40 to −6 dBm by setting the variable attenuation setting (VOA) at 8 dB. Also, the clamped‐gain level can be controlled to be in the range from 4.7 to 21.3 dB by varying the VOA settings from 0 to 24 dB. However, the proposed gain‐clamped amplifier suffers from noise‐figure degradation, as compared to the open‐ring amplifier, due to the intense ring‐laser light, which counter‐propagates through the EDF. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 43: 484–486, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20509


Strictly alternating copolyimides containing aliphatic spiro units were prepared via diimide (with five-membered rings)−dianhydrides (with six-membered rings) derived from 2,8-dioxaspiro[4.5]decane-1,3,7,9-tetrone (TCDA) and diamines. The polymerization was conducted by the conventional two-step procedure using the diimide−dianhydrides and diamines. The resulting poly(imide−imide)s have alternating diamine components and also a head-to-head (tail-to-tail) structure in the imide ring sequence. The poly(imide−imide) films exhibited excellent colorlessness (cutoff wavelength) and transparency (UV−visible transmittance). Most of the poly(imide−imide)s were soluble in typical polar aprotic solvents such as N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and also in m-cresol, except for the wholly aliphatic ones. These poly(imide−imide)s had decomposition temperatures between 379 and 419 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere, and the glass transition temperatures were shown to be in the wide range of 197−315 °C depending on the combination...


The upcoming or future wireless communication services will allow the use of heterogeneous wireless networks, so as to provide seamless roaming and better service to the user. To achieve this, vertical handoff mechanism which takes care of user preferences, QoS requirements and reliability is needed. This paper gives a overview of vertical handoff mechanism and proposes a fuzzy rule based decision mechanism considering user preference, available bandwidth, received signal strength, network coverage area and QoS values. With the help of simulation result the handoff between the two network ( WiMaX and 3GPP LTE) has been shown .An UI (user interface) for selecting the network parameters manually, is provided also a automatic network scenario can be generated using random value function. The proposed mechanism avoids unnecessary handoff and assures successful handoff mechanism .


This is an essay about media and communication, especially about the post and its effects on collective poetical production in the seventeenth century. Sigmund von Birken and the "Pegnitz Order of Flowers" take centre stage. As their members were widely scattered, literary societies relied on written communication and postal services. In their texts, Sigmund von Birken and others devised pastoral worlds in which these members may meet virtually and write simultaneously (in particular on trees). These pastoral worlds, the present author argues, fashion a utopian space in which the restrictions of postal communication are suspended.


The Integrated Dust/Soil Experiment Package (IDEP) is a suite of instruments that can detect and quantify the abundances of useful raw materials on Mars. We focus here on its capability for resource characterization in the martian soil; however, it is also capable of detecting and quantifying gases in the atmosphere. This paper describes the scientific rationale and the engineering design behind the IDEP.


Due to the significant advantages of electric vehicles that surpass conventional vehicles in terms of high efficiency and environmental friendliness, the production and use of electric vehicles (EVs) is rapidly advancing. The integration of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic energy (PV) and energy storage system plays an important role for enclave areas where the power grid does not arrive. For example, in the case of a rural area where there is no electricity network and a user of an EV might want to recharge his car with the use of PV energy. However, given the fluctuation of the power production generated by PV, it is important to include the system monitoring factor to keep track at each moment of how much energy is produced. This paper presents a study of a dimensioning of an autonomous charging station for electric vehicles powered by PV energy with a telemetry system that can be used on isolated off-grid areas without electrical network. For the data acquisition part of the project, a LabVIEW program was developed using WiFi technology to receive all the data coming from the energy sources. The study shows that it would be possible to recharge an EV with a photovoltaic energy system and to benefit of the telemetry system implemented.


We analyze the Kitaev model on the triangle-honeycomb lattice whose ground state has recently been shown to be a chiral spin liquid. We consider two perturbative expansions: the isolated-dimer limit containing Abelian anyons and the isolated-triangle limit. In the former case, we derive the low-energy effective theory and discuss the role played by multiplaquette interactions. In this phase, we also compute the spin-spin correlation functions for any vortex configuration. In the isolated-triangle limit, we show that the effective theory is, at lowest nontrivial order, the Kitaev honeycomb model at the isotropic point. We also compute the next-order correction which opens a gap and yields non-Abelian anyons.


The kind and refugia placement are very important in agroecosystem engineering, but research that combines the two in rice field is unknown. Therefore, the study aims to examine; (1) the effect of variations in the kind and refugia placement on the insects abundance in rice cultivation; and (2) the treatment which has most potential in natural pest control based on the natural enemiy diversity. The refugia used were marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) and long bean (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), while variations of the refugia placement were on the edges and in the middle of the rice planting. Each treatment consisted of 3 replicate plots. Observations of insects were carried out every 3 weeks in one planting season. The results showed that variations in the kind and refugia placement had a significant effect on insect abundance. The treatment of marigold refugia in the middle of rice planting has most potential in natural pest control because it has the highest natural enemy diversity index, so it can create a more stable agro-ecosystem.


A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
This thesis is presented as a series of publications and unpublished data.
Johannesburg, 2015


This paper presents the simulation and implementation of three phase inverter fed Permanent Magnet Brushless DC(PMBLDC) Motor drive in the presence of hall sensor . The switching angle for the pulse is selected in such way to reduce the harmonic distortion. This drive system has advantages like reduced total harmonic distortion and higher torque. The module of the Three phase inverter system controlled Permanent magnet Brushless DC motor is simulated and implemented. The experimental results are compared with simulation results.


A radioactive ray shielding apparatus is provided to radiograph a breast accurately by not requiring an additional radioactive ray shielding device. A radioactive ray shielding apparatus includes a holding unit(100) and a shielding unit(200). The holding unit is fixed in one side of a radiography device. The shielding unit is formed in one side of the holding unit. The shielding unit shields the radiation radiated from the radiography device. The holding unit includes a first holding member(110), a second holding member(120), and a connecting member(130). The first holding member has a U shape. The second holding member is coupled to one apex of the first holding member. The connecting member is combined in the end of the second holding member. The shielding unit includes shield fabric(210), a first support member(220), and a second support member(230). The shield fabric shields the radiation radiated from the radiography device. The first support member supports the shield fabric. The second support member is connected to one side of the first support member. The second support member is combined in the end part of the connecting member.


This correlational study was intended to examine the relationship between study guide and students' attitudes, interests, motivation, and achievement. Thirty second-year students of SMUN 9 and 30 of SMUN 14 Makassar were selected at random. The instruments used to collect the data were an achivement test, questionnaires, interviews, and observation. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as regression and qualitative analyses. The findings indicate that the students' attitudes, interests, and learning motivation were of low category and that their achievement was fair. Attitudes, interests, and motivation were found to have positive correlations with students' achievement; study guide was also found to have effects on students' attitudes, interests, motivation, and achievement.


The invention discloses a food throwing device used for a fish tank. The food throwing device used for the fish tank comprises a food throwing device body arranged inside a box body, wherein the food throwing device body is connected with the box body in a rotary mode through a rotary shaft, a turning wheel is fixed on the rotary shaft and stretches out of the box body, a plurality of food storage grooves are evenly formed in the cylindrical surface of the turning wheel, a gear is sleeved on one side of the turning wheel in a freely-rotating mode, a pawl matched with a ratchet wheel is fixed on the lateral side of the gear, and the ratchet wheel is fixedly connected with the rotary shaft. The food throwing device used for the fish tank can be hung inside the fish tank and used for throwing a fixed amount of food to fishes and is convenient to use.


When talking about tonal music, we sometimes tend to take for granted the idea that the tonic should always be clearly established either at the beginning or the end. However, there are composers who sometimes deviate from the normal path by creating different types of riddles or tonal enigmas in their works. Some of these riddles can be solved later on as the piece progresses; yet others may need to bexplained with the help of some external references. This thesis examines three such examples, each of which poses its unique enigma. The second movement of Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 presents a dualism between Ab and F (paralleled by their dominants Eb and C); Brahms's Alto Rhapsody involves an enormous auxiliary cadence spanning 2/3 of the piece and a seemingly plagal cadence which turns out to be authentic with the V suppressed; and eventually, Grieg's setting of Dereinst, dereinst, Gedanke mein provides a paradoxical ending which may be understood as incorporating the composer's attitude towards the text.


Eugenics is widely regarded as a dirty word. The eugenics-inspired activities of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, along with eugenics-inspired compulsory sterilisation programmes in several other countries including the USA, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark have ensured that there is a widespread revulsion at the very idea that the state any state should interfere with people's reproductive choices for themselves, whether for purposes of improving "the gene stock" of its population, or indeed for any other reason. Thus China's policy of one-child-per-couple, enforced in order to control its population explosion, has received widespread condemnation for its interference with people's liberty to reproduce as they choose. But what is wrong with eugenics (the word a sort of polar analogue of the word euthanasia is etymologically derived from Greek words meaning good and birth)? Professor Galton's essay' in this issue of the journal, on Platonic and Aristotelian approaches to eugenics reminds us that answers to this question are illuminated not just by the depravities of Nazi Germany, or oppressive sterilisation laws in recent history, but also by reading the well-intentioned philosophical treatises of two of the ancient world's greatest philosophers. One of the morally objectionable aspects of eugenics is its overriding of liberty and privacy by the state in an area of personal life that is widely perceived as requiring special delicacy and respect for people's choices about such issues as the people they love, those with whom they wish to have children, whether and when they wish to have children; and, in more recent times, for women's choices, once they have become pregnant, about whether or not to continue with their pregnancies. The plucking out from their homes of infants with "good Aryan" characteristics and their transfer to "suitable" Aryan families in Nazi Germany, the selective mating of Nazi SS officers with women selected for their Aryan biological characteristics (especially blond hair and blue eyes) in the Nazi Lebensborn or Spring of Life programme were more vicious in reality than the hypothetical eugenic states envisaged by Plato and Aristotle, but the latter were repugnant enough, as Professor Galton makes clear. The ancient Greek versions were intended to achieve their eugenic objectives by laws and regulations, fines and deception. Thus in Plato's republic reproduction by the ruling guardian class would be organised by the "philosopher king" to ensure optimal numbers and characteristics of offspring, along similar lines to those used by animal breeders. To achieve these objectives there would be no ordinary marriages for members of the guardian class who would instead be allowed to mate, if at all, only at special marriage festivals. The numbers and particulars of such matings would be at the discretion of the ruler, who would pair off those he considered most likely to produce the best offspring, and in numbers that would keep the population of the guardian class stable. To achieve these objectives partners would be selected officially by random ballot though in fact these "ballots" would be rigged to produce the ruler's predetermined selections. Members of the guardian class who were considered inferior would be prevented from mating, again by means of the rigged lottery. While Aristotle thought these ideas of Plato to be impractical, at least for the guardian class, he proposed stringent compulsory birth control, including compulsory abortion, for the lower classes in order to control their numbers. In addition he was an early proponent of what might be regarded as compulsory antenatal care. If we assume without further argument that compulsion, by the state or others is morally unacceptable, are either voluntary birth control or voluntary antenatal care (a) properly to be regarded as eugenics and (b) whether or not they are eugenics, are they morally undesirable? Recalling and rejecting Francis Galton's own definition of eugenics as "the science of improving the inherited stock, not only by judicious matings, but by all other influences", Professor Galton offers as an alternative definition: "the use of science applied to the quantitative and qualitative coright.


Firstly, a short reminder of the Kaluza-Klein programme and a review of the Coset Space Dimensional Reduction of higher dimensional gauge theories will be given. Then, the "fuzzy sphere" will be presented, as a representative example of a non-commutative coset as well as the construction of gauge theories on such spaces. Eventually, examples will be presented of (a) a higher dimensional Unified Theory with fuzzy coset spaces as extra dimensions, (b) gravity as a gauge theory on non-commutative spaces.


The military is a work environment in which the underrepresentation of women and the presence of gender prejudices continue to exist. The present study validated the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) for the Croatian military population. To determine the ASI scale's basic metric characteristics, data were collected from a sample of 895 active-duty military personnel (445 men and 450 women). The study results determined satisfactory measurement characteristics for the ASI scale and confirmed the ambivalent sexism construct with its basic dimensions. Sexism in the military environment was found to a moderately high degree, and gender differences were observed. Three types of sexism endorsement were identified in both subsamples (egalitarian, moderate egalitarian and traditional for women, and moderate egalitarian, traditional and hostile for men), with additional differences detected in their socio–demographic and professional characteristics. The findings support the apparent exposure of women to sexism in the military environment, and suggest the need to raise awareness of the negative impact of gender prejudice on gender relations in the military.


Based on the adaptive control strategy and the Lyapunov stability theorem,this article discusses the problem on the synchronization of the hyperchaotic Qi system and the hyperchaotic Chen system and designs an adaptive controller and a parameter estimation update law which are derived to make the two hyperchaotic systems synchronized with different structures.The method is simple and easy to achieve,and the synchronization approach is proved feasible through theoretical analysis and numerical simulations.This method can be applied to the synchronization of other hyperchaotic systems.


Due to its inherent sensitivity to both subtle changes in crystal structure and the hydrogen bonding network of organic molecular crystals and moisture, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a very promising technique to study physico-chemical changes during stability testing of pharmaceutical dosage forms. Using a variable temperature and humidity chamber the effects of moisture and temperature can be studied in the tablet formulation in situ by terahertz spectroscopy.


The era of biosimilars in oncology has just arrived. In February 2017, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) registered the first biosimilar for rituximab (Truxima®). In April, two additional biosimilars for rituximab (Rixathon® and Riximyo®) received a positive recommendation from the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). This recommendation is a prerequisite for the registration of these drugs by the EMA, which is expected in June this year. Monoclonal antibodies introduced into the oncology armamentarium at the end of the 1990s represent a breakthrough in the treatment of many cancers. However, the cost of therapies based on these drugs has significantly limited their widespread use, especially in countries with low expenditure on oncological treatment. For most anticancer drugs, being simplex chemical compounds (chemotherapeutics, hormonal drugs, small molecule kinase inhibitors), the expiry of patent protection was associated with the immediate emergence of generic drugs. This naturally led in a short time to a significant price reduction of original drugs and improved availability of new methods of systemic treatment. The production of generic drugs that are identical copies of the original ones is relatively easy because it is based on the synthesis of simple molecules with low molecular weight. The condition for marketing authorisation of a generic drug is only to show the same composition, form, bioavailability, and pharmacological properties as the original drug. Compared to generic drugs, the production of biosimilars is a big challenge. The process of producing a biological drug based on living organisms (genetically modified cells) is extremely complex. The final product is a protein that owes its biological functions to a particular spatial structure. Spatial conformation is determined not only by the corresponding aminoacids sequence in the polypeptide chains, but above all by the processes that take place during post-translational protein modification (e.g. proteolytic processing, hydroxylation, glycosylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, or poly-rybosylation). It is then that a variety of sugar residues are attached to polypeptide chains, being responsible for the formation of bonds between polypeptide chains that give the protein an appropriate spatial structure that determines its normal – expected – function. In the case of antibodies, the appropriate spatial structure determines the critical pharmacological properties of these proteins, such as antigenic specificity, immune system affinity, half-life, or immunogenicity. A potentially large number of variables (physical, chemical, and biological factors) can significantly alter the characteristics of the produced biological drug, even as a result of the subtle modifications of the functions of cells cultured in bio-reactors. Accordingly, manufacturing of a biological drug requires the use of highly sophisticated control and validation methods to ensure the expected pharmacologic activity of the end-product. The ideal situation is therefore the production of a biological drug under certain and unaltered conditions that allow exactly the same end-product to be obtained in a long-term perspective. However, taking into consideration the fact that biological drugs are produced in living cells whose functions depend on a large number of variables (e.g. age of cells, composition of the medium, ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure, electromagnetic radiation), it is known that the characteristics of biological drugs from one manufacturer can change over time, and the same biological drugs from different manufacturers may have minor differences. For example, due to the possibility of minor differences between the preparations of Herceptin® produced in Europe and the United States, some clinical trials compared at the same time biosimilars with trastuzumab-US and trastuzumab-EU. Contrary to generic drugs, in case of biosimilars it is not enough to show that the drug is identical to the


It analyzed the function basis,sign significance,aesthetic value of tradition Chinese pattern,and pointed out the relation between pattern's creation and development and the product function and aesthetic,and then it discussed the fundamental methods and feasibility applied to tradition Chinese pattern in product design,then reached two kinds of new application methods.It suggested that the application of pattern must be combined with product's modeling and function,refine and apply the tradition Chinese pattern into product design,and giving product culture connotation was feasible and necessary.


Background: The first attempt success rate of Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) Proseal insertion is still low (82%). Various changes technique of LMA Proseal insertion are done to increase the first attempt insertion success rate. Cuff partially inflated technique (half of the recommended volume) causes the anterior surface of LMA becomes soft so LMA insertion through the curves of the posterior pharynx more easily. The advantages of this technique is practical, easy to do, does not require an assistant and does not need additional tools. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the success rate of LMA Proseal in the first attempt with a cuff partially inflated higher than the cuff fully deflated. Methods: This study was conducted with randomized controlled trials, parallel design involving 84 ASA I or II patients undergoing general anesthesia. Patient was randomly allocated into two groups of 42 patients included in the LMA cuff was fully deflated (group T) and 42 patients in the group partially inflated of the LMA cuff (group D). The time required for successful insertion of the LMA in the first attempt was being investigated Results: The first attempt success rate of LMA Proseal insertion is defined as a successfull LMA Proseal's insertion to maintain airway patency, with no repositioning and effective ventilation with insertion time less than 12 seconds. First attempt success rate were significantly (p<0,05) higher in cuff partially inflated technique (73,8%) than cuff fully deflated (47,6%). The speed of insertion was significantly faster with cuff partially inflated technique 9,72 ± 4,94 seconds than cuff fully deflated 12,74 ± 7,48 seconds. Conclusion: Cuff partially inflated technique is associated with easiness of LMA Proseal insertion on a first attempt, compared with cuff fully deflated.


This research analysis titled  the quality of services in a Clinic Laboratory Gora. The purpose of this research was to know if the quality of service in terms of dimensions consisting of tangible services, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy by Clinic Gora. Type this research, descriptive research in methods of data collection the sampel survey.The sample of the trophy is some 82 respondents to technique purposive sampling. Data collection techniques used are interviews, documentation and question form. Instrument data collection used is the questionnaire. Instrument the analysis used is analysis quality value services and diagrams of the kartesius. Based on the results of data analysis quality value services shows that the quality of services applied when viewed of the dimensions of service exhibited by clinic gora is in the category of less than good. This is shown by the result of reckoning NKJ 0.92 as much as .Where based on the assessment criteria that NKJ < 1, So the quality of services applied is less well. While on a Cartesian Diagram, the quality of service that is considered important by pasen for improved again in this Clinic Gora is on dimensions of service skills and knowledge of employees, cleanliness and comfort of the room, intensifitas information provided companies, companies will need pasien, guarantee an effective service, and courtesy to pasien.


Communication bus is divided into two parts. When the stations connected to one side of exchanging messages at a faster rate than the normal speed through the one part represent a Yes, the bridge station (bridge station) separates the two parts, sends the content of the message to the rest the interrupt that has to replace the dummy message content portion from the other portions.


During the past few years, the usage of network-enabled devices has been climbing rapidly. With the continuous evolution of industrial automation and fabrication, new demands have arisen such as constantly monitoring the state of the devices or being able to immediately intervene in any possible emergencies.In this paper, an IoT device management system using the fog computing paradigm is presented. The system has also been supported by mobile and web applications. There are four main components of this system; edge devices to receive or send data through the local area network, a local fog node to provide data transmission between the cloud server and edge devices as well as storing data, a cloud server to establish the communication between a distant user and local fog nodes, a mobile device that can go online when required to access the mobile application or a computer that can go online when required to access the web application.


There is little research on the tone of local news coverage of the presidency, despite the public's preference for local rather than national news. I use theories of media politics, based primarily on the profit-seeker model of news coverage, to explore the impact of newspaper characteristics, audience preferences, and story characteristics on local newspaper coverage of the presidency. Based on a sample of 288 stories taken from the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, I demonstrate that everyday local newspaper coverage of the presidency is slightly more negative than positive and that audience support for the president, newspaper resources, and corporate ownership affect the tone of local newspaper coverage of the presidency.


A full factorial design with four factors (the ratio of polyphthalamide (PPA) and polyamide 4,10 (PA410) in the polymer matrix, content percent of biocarbon (BioC), the temperature at which it was pyrolyzed and the presence of a chain extender (CE)), each factor with two levels (high and low), was carried out to optimize the mechanical properties of the resulting composites. After applying a linear model, changes in tensile strength, elongation at break and impact energy were not statistically significant within the considered material space, while the ones in the flexural modulus, the tensile modulus, density and heat deflection temperature (HDT) were. The two most influential factors were the content of BioC and its pyrolysis temperature, followed by the content of PPA. The affinity of PPA with a high-temperature biocarbon and the affinity of PA410 with a lower-temperature biocarbon, appear to explain the mechanical properties of the resulting composites. The study also revealed that the addition of CE hindered the mechanical properties. By maximizing the flexural modulus, tensile modulus and HDT, while minimizing the density, the optimal composite predicted is an 80 [PPA:PA410 (25:75)] wt% polymer composite, with 20 wt% of a BioC, pyrolyzed at a calculated 823 °C.