Designs of next-generation interferometers tend to place most of their emphasis on periodic nonlinearities rather than on thermal drift of the optics, which can contribute more than the well-known periodic errors to the overall error. In this paper, a novel model for analyzing the mechanism of thermal drift in a separated-beam heterodyne interferometer (SBHI) is developed. To verify the proposed model, an SBHI with symmetric optical configuration is constructed, and an asymmetric SBHI is realized by inserting a glass plate into the measuring arm of the symmetric interferometer. Comparison tests are carried out between these two SBHIs. Experimental results show that the symmetric SBHI achieves a thermal stability of 1.2 nm/°C, and the thermal coefficient obtained from experiments, for the asymmetric SBHI, is close to the theoretical value calculated based on the proposed model.


The utility model discloses a pipeline expansion joint comprising a tray joint, a plug board joint movably plugged in the tray joint, a sealing piece arranged at the plug contact face, and a contraction limit piece and an expansion limit piece respectively arranged at the tray joint and the plug board joint. The pipeline expansion joint has excellent corrosion resistant performance and can accord with the temperature resistant property of a plastic pipeline; and meanwhile, for the sealing piece is utilized, the combination of the tray joint and the plug board joint is more compact so that the sealing effect is enhanced; in addition, for a stepped guiding flange and a threaded guiding stud are utilized as adjustable expansion limit pieces, the expansion within a pretty wide range can be achieved without unplugging the plug board joint from the tray joint.


Objective To establish a quality standard for Xiaotangning capsules.Methods TLC methods were used to identify panacis quinque folium,coptidis rhizome,lycii fructus and carthami flos.Metformin hydrochloride in Xiaotangning capsules was determined by HPLC.Results Good linearity was shown at the concentration of 0.2156-0.8624 μg for metformin hydrochloride.The average recovery of metformin hydrochloride was 99.7%.Conclusion This qualitative and quantitative method is specific and repeatable,which can be applied to quality control of Xiaotangning capsules.


Chronic infection with HCV remains a public health problem with approximately 150 million people infected worldwide. HCV intersects with lipid metabolism for replication and entry; and plasma concentrations of apolipoproteins have been identified as predictors for response to therapy. Herein, we conducted a screen of plasma proteins, including all apolipoproteins, to identify correlates of response to pegylated‐interferon/ribavirin (PR) and HCV non‐structural protein 3 (NS3) inhibitors (i.e., telaprevir/boceprevir) therapy in treatment‐experienced cirrhotic patients from the ANRS CUPIC cohort.


Abstract Evidence for competitive deplacement of Panonychus ulmi (ERM) from apple trees via Aculus schlechtendali (ARM) by what is thought to be a foliage conditioning mechanism is presented. Previous feeding of ARMs at high and moderate density levels near or below the economic threshold for this phytophagous mite on apple reduced the build-up of the ERM in 3 years of field experiments on Red Delicious trees and during a single season on McIntosh apple foliage. Comparative tests measuring oviposition rates of the ERM on excised apple leaves which had sustained high and low levels of previous rust mite feeding gave results similar to field experiments. The applied aspect of how this interspecific relationship can be managed in the context of an integrated mite management program for apples is discussed.


Much recent work on mathematical explanation has presupposed that the phenomenon involves explanatory proofs in an essential way. I argue that this view, 'proof chauvinism', is false. I then look in some detail at the explanation of the solvability of polynomial equations provided by Galois theory, which has often been thought to revolve around an explanatory proof. The article concludes with some general worries about the effects of chauvinism on the theory of mathematical explanation. 1. Introduction2. Why I Am Not a Proof Chauvinist 2.1. Proof chauvinism and mathematical practice2.2. Proof chauvinism and philosophy3. An Example: Galois Theory and Explanatory Proof4. Conclusion Introduction Why I Am Not a Proof Chauvinist 2.1. Proof chauvinism and mathematical practice2.2. Proof chauvinism and philosophy Proof chauvinism and mathematical practice Proof chauvinism and philosophy An Example: Galois Theory and Explanatory Proof Conclusion


Semiconductor materials play a central role in the integrated circuits, photovoltaics, information and communication, microelectronic devices, lighting, and so on. However, the performance of semiconductor optoelectronic devices depends critically on the dopability and defect engineering of semiconductor materials. In this paper, firstly, we introduce the doping properties in semiconductors and the theoretical progress of charged defect calculations over the past decades, including the traditional jellium model. To overcome the disadvantages and limitations of the traditional jellium model, recently, we propose a straightforward and universal theory, i.e., transfer real state model (TRSM), which can calculate directly the charged defect properties in both bulk and low-dimensional semiconductors. In the jellium model for a finite supercell size calculation, it suffers a serious problem to determine the defect properties in low-dimensional semiconductors due to charge distribution in the vacuum region. However, our TRSM method by putting the ionized electrons or holes on a real host band edge states naturally keeps the supercell neutral and provides clear physical meaning. For three-dimensional bulk materials, the defect formation energy and transition energy level calculated by our TRSM method are almost the same as the results obtained by using the traditional jellium model. For low dimensional semiconductors, however, the TRSM method cures the divergence issue that occurred in the jellium model due to long-range electrostatic Coulomb interactions. Secondly, we discuss the wide band gap semiconductors. By analyzing the doping limit law, we elucidate the effective methods for defect engineering in oxide wide band gap semiconductors, and then how their p-type conductivity can be improved. Those methods are based on two rules: (1) Reducing the ionization energy of acceptors; (2) suppressing the formation of compensating donors. Further, the physical mechanism of the difference in conductivity between ionic and covalent compounds in the amorphous wide band gap semiconductors is introduced. A band coupling model is employed to clarify the difference between pseudo-hydrogen passivated and real-hydrogen passivated low dimensional wide band gap semiconductors. Thirdly, we discuss the semiconductor alloys with high doping concentration. In the nonisovalent semiconductor alloys, due to strong wave function localization of the band edge states, the physical properties of nonisovalent alloys do not meet the statistical average law, distinct from the isovalent alloys. The band crossing phenomenon in large mismatched isovalent semiconductor alloys is often misinterpreted by a phenomenological two-level band anti-crossing model. Fortunately, this phenomenon has now been properly explained by the band broadening picture. When doping small concentration of Bi or N impurities into GaAs, the defect levels are localized due to the weak interactions between impurities. The band edges of GaAs 1− x Bi x and GaAs 1− x N x consist of the host atoms. The impurity level gradually broadens out with the increase of the impurity concentration, and thus the band edges of defective GaAs are dominated by impurities. Finally, we focus on the diffusion of metal impurities in semiconductors. The fundamental reason for the differences in the diffusion of Ag and Cu atoms between ionic and covalent semiconductors is clarified. The s-d coupling between the d orbitals of the diffusors and the s orbitals of the host materials are responsible for the behavior of diffusive atoms. The deep understanding of metal impurities in semiconductor materials offers effective theoretical guidance for controlling the diffusion properties of impurities in different types of semiconductor materials.


E-learning in Europe has gained a sustainable impulse with the Bologna process, an agreement aiming at making academic degrees and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout European countries. The reorganization from traditional higher education to the bachelor and master studies, in which extensive phases of self-learning are an additional element, created an increasing demand for new e-learning services. Moreover, a reflection on didactics was initiated and additional pedagogical models were discussed leading from teacher to learner centred lessons, promoting the shift from teaching factual knowledge to students' responsibility. These challenges have influenced the development of new, high quality e-learning material. Since content development is cost-intensive, sharing knowledge and enforcing cooperation between institutes, universities in national or international partnerships becomes more relevant. Adopting high specialized module parts or using drawings, animations etc. of high quality will lead to improved e-learning material, but also gives the instructor the flexibility to arrange material which fits to his needs and his individual profile.This paper reports on a training course within the European Organization for Spatial Data Research (EduServ) framework, that takes place in March/Mai 2008, focussing on CityGML. The course is co-hosted by Berlin University of Technology (Prof. Thomas Kolbe) and University of Gävle (Prof. Anders Östman).


Solubility of methane in octane + ethanol was measured at temperatures ranging from 303.15 K to 333.15 K and pressures ranging from 2.60 MPa to 12.01 MPa. Experimental data were analyzed using the Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state with three types of mixing rules, and the estimated average deviation from the experimental solubility data was less than 3.5 %.


Maintaining of the pipeline system in an operational condition can't be achieved without solving the problem of their protection from internal corrosion as the main factor that leads to numerous accidents. In conditions of limited funding, the creation of scientifically based methods that regulate repair work on difficult areas [1] or those that are not repairable using "classical" methods is a very urgent task. In this way, the use of repair methods without stopping product pumping, in terms of justifying the placement of technological equipment, even more increase the importance of the problem being solved. Research methods are experimental and theoretical character and based on the analysis and processing of statistical data received during the experimental studies of field objects. The result of this work was the creation of a methodology that allows determining the order of repair work on pipelines with different degrees of corrosion damage and its speed on different sections of the route [2]. And as a result, reasonable placement of technological equipment along the pipeline route for in-line pipeline repair, without stopping the pumping of the transported product.


Chapter 1 The Core Values of the First Amendment Chapter 2 The Lessons of Content Neutrality in the Area of Symbolic Hate Speech Chapter 3 The First Amendment in the Workplace Chapter 4 Catharine MacKinnon and the Lessons of Indianapolis Chapter 5 The Lessons of Speech Codes on Campus and in the Workplace Chapter 6 Have We Learned Our Lessons? Chapter 7 Bibliography Chapter 8 Index Chapter 9 About the Author


As a leading figure of the Neo-Confucianists in the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi (1130-1200) appears to be chiefly preoccupied with heavenly principles that he identifies with tianli. As he argues, "Whatever the sagely predecessors teach is not but to help people obtain a clear vision of tianli and meanwhile get rid of renyu as human desires. Any form of teaching and education is found needless so long as tianli are clarified in full sense." 1 This shows that tianli are conceived of as both the key content and ultimate objective of teaching and education. Tianli as heavenly principles are opposite to renyu as human desires, thus forming a binary pair as such in Neo-Confucianism. The former are taken as constant virtues to be nourished and cherished whereas the latter as base vices to be reduced and shed away. In Zhu Xi's mind, tianli are distinguished between the one and the many. The one refers to the universal principle, abstract and metaphysical. The many refer to the particular principles embodied in all things, concrete and physical. Analogically, the one is like the moon in the sky while the many are like its multiplied imagery reflected in all the rivers and lakes (yue yin wan chuan). Hence the one is essential and original while the many are extensional and derivative. This line of thought remains dominant and decisive not merely in Zhu's philosophizing, but also in his literary criticism as well.


2-Methyl-2,3-dihydrobenzo[£]furan-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro cycloheptene-5-one (6a) and 2,3dimethyl-3-hydrobenzo[i]furan-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro cycloheptene-5-one (6b) have been synthesized from 6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-2-hydroxybenzocyclohepten-5-one (1) via Claisen rearrangement and PTS, in good yield.


The words "jingchang", "changchang" and "wangwang" have the same meaning when translated into Indonesian, namely "often". This is because language is unique and universal, therefore, this study aims to describe the similarities and differences between the words "jingchang", "changchang" and "wangwang" in Mandarin with the word "often" in Indonesian. The design of this research method is descriptive qualitative research. The data collection technique was carried out with documentation techniques and the data sources of this research were 4 Chinese books, 9 Chinese journals and 4 Indonesian books. The theory used is the theory of the universality of language and the uniqueness of language, as well as the theory of contrastive analysis to examine the similarities and differences of the three words in terms of meaning, use and form. The results of the analysis show that there are 6 similarities and 13 differences in the words "jingchang", "changchang" and "wangwang" in Mandarin with the word "often" in Indonesian. Key words: Jingchang, Changchang, Wangwang, Sering, Comparison


Co-oxides β-Na 0.5 CoO 2 and γ-K 0.5 CoO 2 have been prepared by the Na de-intercalation from α-NaCoO 2 and by the floating-zone method, respectively. It has been found that successive phase transitions take place at temperatures T c1 and T c2 in both systems. The appearance of the internal magnetic field at T c1 with decreasing temperature T indicates that the antiferromagnetic order exists at T ≤ T c1 , as in γ-Na 0.5 CoO 2 . For β-Na 0.5 CoO 2 , the transition temperatures and the NMR parameters determined from the data taken for magnetically ordered state are similar to those of γ-Na 0.5 CoO 2 , indicating that the difference of the stacking ways of the CoO 2 layers between these systems do not significantly affect their physical properties. For γ-K 0.5 CoO 2 , the quantitative difference of the physical quantities are found from those of β- and γ-Na 0.5 CoO 2 . The difference between the values of T c i ( i =1 and 2) of these systems might be explained by considering the distance between CoO 2 layers.


The two-dimensional model, BIOPLUME II, was applied to the closed Becker County Landfill at Detroit township, Minnesota, to study the transport of hydrocarbons occurring at the site. The model was calibrated to September 1992 conditions. The results obtained in the calibration run were first used to simulate the natural biodegradation process and then with a biorestoration scheme. To achieve a 1.5 mg/l concentration of benzene, toulene, xylene (BTX) in groundwater, the model estimated a cleanup time of 2.3 years with an in-situ biorestoration scheme in operation. This modeling study served as a first approximation in a bioremediation project design. The two issues: (1) economic feasibility and (2) actual field biodegradation rates determination leave opportunities for further research.


The causes of over-voltage about NPC three-level medium voltage motor drives are analyzed. To avoiding any kind of over-voltage about motor drives, a method of using ZnO-arrester to be the device of over-voltage protection on NPC three-level medium voltage motor drives is proposed in this paper. The detailed calculation of how to choose ZnO-arrester is given. Comparing the voltage waves before adding the ZnO-arrester and after adding the ZnO-arrester in proper locations by simulating on Matlab Simulink, the result shows that the ZnO-arrester can protect motor drives to over-voltage very well. It is proved that the method of using ZnO-arrester to be the device of over-voltage protection on NPC three-level medium voltage motor drives is valid and the choosing calculation of ZnO-arrester is correct.


In developing countries like Ethiopia, our day-to-day formal and informal discourses are rarely out of poverty issues that can be linked directly or indirectly. Despite the determined effort of government and development agencies to reduce poverty and ensure sustainable development, poverty remains an everlasting challenge in the world. This study aims to examine rural household poverty and its determining factors using alternative poverty measurement approaches, in the case of Gozamin Woreda, East Gojjam Zone of Amhara Region. It used both objective and subjective based poverty analysis approaches, where the survey-based analysis and PPA of the study depend on randomly selected 242 and 42 sample households respectively. Using the cost of basic needs approach (CBN), the poverty line of the study area is estimated as 19.16 Birr per day per adult equivalent. The study engaged Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (FGT) group of poverty measures to assess the incidence, depth, and intensity of poverty, and decomposition was made across sample Kebeles and socio-economic variables. OLS, logit, and censored (Tobit) regression models were also applied to identify determining factors of household consumption expenditure, poverty incidence, depth, and severity. Accordingly, 35.12 % of the population lives under poverty and it is closely estimated as 33.33% using PPA. Poverty becomes sever challenge in the Dega agro-ecological areas of the Woreda, where 57.37% of the population lives under poverty. Family size and agro-ecological location (from Kolla to Dega) have a significant negative effect on consumption expenditure, but positively affect poverty incidence, gap, and severity. Access to credit service, cooperative services, health extension services, and off-farm activities have a significant positive effect on consumption expenditure; while negatively affect the incidence, depth, and severity of poverty. PPA findings revealed that perception of the community towards poverty is beyond the conventional, income/consumption-based definition. Therefore, development policies and poverty reduction strategies should respond to rapid rural population growth. Moreover, Dega agro-ecological areas need particular attention all the way through poverty reduction efforts.


Today's life seems to be too complicated for a person. Every person in the world suffers from mental illness. Today technology has reached every person in the village. As technology has its advantages, there are some disadvantages as well. Due to new technology; we are neglecting our mental health today. Physical exertion is diminishing, sports are also being neglected. Various factors that affect mental health can be explained. For example, Excessive use of (smarts phone) mobile, depression in childhood, negative thinking, ect. Many research articles have shown a close correlation between sports and mental health.


One-hundred-and-forty-one angelates and tiglates were synthesized and their Kovats retention indices and mass spectra are presented. It is anticipated that the publication of these data will aid in the identification of angelates and tiglates from natural sources.


"What can GIS offer World History?" is the second in a series of debates being hosted on The position papers and the original article are freely available there and all readers are encouraged to participate in the debate using the comments feature. Professor Owens is correct in his argument that Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have much to offer to the study of history. " Historical GIS, " as the use of GIS in historical research has become known, has been around for about a decade. In that time large strides have been taken in a number of areas: the development of databases such as the national historical GISs, the development of methodologies suitable for the unique challenges that historical data and historical research imposes on GIS, the growing development of a literature on historical GIS, and most importantly of all, research that uses GIS to provide new insights into historical topics where the interest is not in the use of GIS per se, but instead in the knowledge that it brings to our understanding of a topic within the discipline of history.


I argue against the claim that we should adopt a moral error theory. The intelligibility of our moral practice need offer no questionable metaphysical hostages to fortune. The two most credible policy recommendations that might follow from moral error theory, abolitionism and prescriptive fictionalism, are not very credible.


The cacao (Theobroma cacao, Malvaceae) is a native species to South America, and its plantation is considered to play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity. We studied the birds' selection among five cacao production systems and fallow, using a cafeteria experiment in Alto Beni, Bolivia. The birds were quantified by a modified point count during the dry season. During the study we recorded 239 visits of 43 bird species belonging to 18 families. The number of species and the frequency of birds' visits were positively related to the complexity of vegetation structure and tree diversity, decreasing from fallow, successional agroforestry system (SAFS), agroforestry systems to monoculture plantations (β1 = 0.149 ± 0.046 for the number of species, Ecología en Bolivia 52(2): 100-115. Septiembre 2017. ISSN 1605-2528.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relations between supervisor support (SS), work-life balance (WLB), job attitudes and performance of employees in the Australian financial sector. More specifically, the study explore the impact of SS, WLB and job attitudes on employees' job performance (JP).,Using an online panel, the data comprised 305 employees working in financial organisations to test a model with structural equation modelling. A list of survey items was tested that replicated extensively in work-life research in the past.,The research contributed to the existing literature by identifying a significant mechanism through which SS was linked to WLB that influenced job satisfaction, life satisfaction and organisational commitment and JP given the paucity of such research in the Australian financial sector.,The study would guide employers, employees and managers involved in the financial sector to implement policies which aim to augment JP and promote balance between work, home and life.


Stereotypes may influence the attitudes that individuals have towards others. Stereotypes, therefore, represent biases toward and against others. In this paper, we formalise stereotypical bias within trust evaluations. Then, using the iterated prisoners' dilemma game, we quantitatively analyse how cooperation and mutual trust between self-interested agents are affected by stereotypical bias. We present two key findings: i) stereotypical bias of one player may inhibit cooperation by creating incentives for others to defect, ii) even if only one of the players has a stereotypical bias, convergence of mutual trust between players may be strictly determined by the bias.


The metastable83mKr with short half-life of 1.83 h is intended as a space distri buted source of monoenergetic electrons for energy calibration a nd systematic studies in the Karlsruhe tritium neutrino experiment (KATRIN). The efficient produc tion of the parent radionuclide 83Rb at cyclotron U-120M was implemented. The release of the 83mKr from zeolite (molecular sieve), in which the parent radionuclide 83Rb (T1/2 = 86.2 d) was trapped, was studied under various conditions using the gamma spectroscopy. Residual gas anal ysis of ultra high vacuum over the zeolite was performed as well.


This study aims to gain insight into patient‐perceived communication barriers and facilitators at different stages after the diagnosis of malignant lymphoma. We have detected patterns to explain when these factors influence communication predominantly.


Postharvest holding of apples (Malus domestica Borkh) for processing influenced the texture ("graininess") of the finished sauce in a eultivar-specific but inconsistent manner. Following holding at 0°C and 18°, there was a positive correlation between firmness of 'Cortland' and 'Rome Beauty' apples and average particle size of the finished sauce in that the softest fruit produced the finest grained sauce. There also was a positive correlation between firmness of 'Idared' and sauce texture following holding at 18°, but a negative correlation following holding at 0°. 'Rhode Island Greening' fruit appeared to be intermediate in response, but this observation was complicated by the occurrence of low temperature internal breakdown. Uronide analyses on the largest and the smallest particle size fractions of finished sauce indicate that these variations among cultivars may be related in some manner to differences in pectin degradation. However, such differences do not explain the negative correlation between tissue firmness and particle size in 'Idared' fruit stored at 0°.


The purpose of this project is to examine the relevance of sunk costs in decision-making. A "sunk" cost is an unrecoverable monetary or time commitment made to an endeavor. The prevailing economic paradigm suggests that, in general, rational consumers and producers will ignore sunk costs when making decisions. Thaler (1980) and Arkes and Blumer (1985) are two early and influential attempts to show that decision-makers may not always ignore sunk costs (and, in failing to do so, demonstrate a "sunk cost effect"). Two general approaches have emerged for empirically examining the relevance of sunk costs in decision-making: surveys and experiments. Explicitly or implicitly, surveys and experiments on sunk costs necessarily share (at least) three common elements: (i) the sunk cost, (ii) an initial endowment (or budget), and (iii) the marginal cost and benefit of escalation (i.e. continuing with the sunk cost activity). Within an experimental framework Meyer (1993) finds that the sunk cost effect becomes more pronounced as the size of the sunk cost increases. Experiments have subjects act as decision-makers who face a cost to enter into a risky investment. In our initial experiments in this area we look at two factors that may influence the likelihood that participants will display the sunk cost effect. The first is the size of the incremental, or marginal cost of continuing with a project. It is suggested that as the marginal cost of continuing an investment increases the likelihood that participants will display the sunk cost effect will fall. The second factor is the level of complexity associated with the decision to proceed with a sunk cost project, holding the expected pay out and variance constant. As the complexity of the continuation decision increases, participants are less able to assess the true expected value of continuing, and may instead give more weight to the highest possible pay out promised. Understanding The Sunk Cost Effect: An Experimental Approach


We establish a correspondence between the levels of Verlinde rings and the depths of subfactors. Given the $l$-level Verlinde ring $R_l(G)$ of a simple compact Lie group $G$, the tensor products of fundamental representations give us the inclusion of a pair of $\text{II}_1$ factors $N\subset M$. For the depth $d$ of $N\subset M$, we first prove $d=l$ for type $A_n,C_n$ and $B_2$. More generally, the depth $d$ is shown to satisfy $\beta\cdot l\leq d\leq l$ with $\beta\in (0,1)$, where $\beta$ is uniquely determined by the simple type of $G$. We also show that the simple $N$-$N$-bimodules contained in $L^2(M)$ generate the Verlinde ring $R_l(G)$ as its fusion category.


Scientists at the World Health Organization and around the world are studying a mutated variant of the novel coronavirus that is infecting humans after spreading through mink farms in the north of Denmark.

One strain of mutated SARS-CoV-2, found in 12 humans in Denmark, appeared in laboratory tests to exhibit "decreased susceptibility" to antibodies from previously infected people, the country's State Serum Institute said in a preliminary report.1 This variant, if it spread, might be less easily controlled by covid-19 vaccines currently under development, the report warned.

The only safe option, said Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen, is to cull all 17 million minks kept by the Danish fur industry. Denmark is the world's biggest mink fur exporter, supplying about a third of global …


the multiple free-floating ovarian balls (ovaries) is discussed and the possible egg-sorting role of the uterine bell considered. Short sections deal with the system of envelopes around acanthocephalan eggs, oogenesis and oosorption.


The presence of edge-disjoint Hamiltonian cycles provides an advantage when implementing algorithms that require a ring structure by allowing message traffic to be spread evenly across the network. Edge-disjoint Hamiltonian cycles also provide the edge-fault tolerant Hamiltonicity of an interconnection network. Two node-disjoint cycles in a network are called equal if the number of nodes in the two cycles are the same and every node appears in one cycle exactly once. The presence of two equal node-disjoint cycles provides algorithms that require a ring structure to be preformed in the network simultaneously. The hypercube is one of the most popular interconnection networks since it has simple structure and is easy to implement. Then-dimensional twisted cube, an important variation of the hypercube, possesses some properties superior to the hypercube. In this paper, we present linear time algorithms to construct two edge-disjoint Hamiltonian cycles and two equal node-disjoint cycles in ann-dimensional twisted cube.


Successful digital transformation (DX) requires not only technology, but also an understanding of the importance of business agility. In addition, without careful traceability, software engineering projects can be not based on business and social values. To address these issues, we categorize useful methods, practices, and models in software development and operations that make connections and traceability from business ideas incorporating business agility to software products, services, and user experiences. Then we propose a typical value-driven process stemming from business and social perspectives as new software engineering necessary for the DX era.


The following paper details the results of a study about the motion of an orbiting scroll in a scroll compressor. The orbiting scroll orbital motion is generated and guided by three shafts. One shaft acting as the motion generator and the other two being used to keep and maintain the orbiting motion. The first part of the paper presents the mathematical model used for the kinematic motion and the formulaes to solve it. The impact of the bearings clearances and the bearings locations tolerances are presented in the second part. The results are plotted on charts using the differences between the theoretical orbiting motion and the actual orbiting scroll orbital trajectory completing a full rotation. These charts make it possible to identify and detail the contacts locations history between the orbiting scroll bearings and the crankshafts, hence the motion obtained in this particular case.


Disclosed are a grease composition and a lubricating oil composition which exhibit excellent high-temperature, high-speed durability, can be used over a long time, and can prevent the detachment of rolling bearings or similar from a rolling surface due to hydrogen brittleness. A grease-sealed bearing (1) is provided with an inner ring (2), an outer ring (3) and a plurality of rolling elements (4). A seal member (6) for sealing a grease composition (7) on the periphery of the rolling elements is provided in opening sections (8a, 8b) at both ends in the axial direction of the inner ring (2) and the outer ring (3); the grease composition (7) includes a base oil, a thickening agent, and an additive agent; the additive agent includes carotenoids (astaxanthin, lycopene, β-carotene, capsaicin, capsanthin etcetera), organic sulfur compounds derived from natural materials (allysine, alliin, ajoene, isothiocyanate etcetera), and substances such as saponin, isoflavone, glutathione and coumarin.


Sex and gut microbiota both influence systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) development. We have found that male and lupus-prone female NZBxNZW F1 (BWF1) mice exhibit differences in gut microbiota and metabolomic profiles, and transfer of male microbiota suppresses disease in female mice. Here we determine how sex and microbiota may interact to affect SLE development. Transcriptomic analysis of female and male BWF1 spleens found phagocytosis-promoting genes were upregulated in males. Since defects in macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis) are found in SLE patients, we compared efferocytosis in vitro between male and lupus-prone female BWF1 mice. Macrophage-mediated efferocytosis was decreased in female compared to male BWF1 mice, but could be restored in female mice by transfer of male microbiota in vivo. Further transcriptomic analysis of spleens found that genes regulated by PPARγ and LXR receptor signaling were increased in male BWF1 mice. Our previous metabolomics analyses have found that two metabolites which can activate PPARγ and LXR signaling, phytol and its derivative phytanic acid, are higher in male BWF1 mice. We have also found that feeding phytanic acid to female mice delayed lupus onset. We show here that defective female BWF1 macrophage efferocytosis can be restored by phytanic acid treatment, and this requires both PPARγ and LXR signaling pathways. Furthermore, we found that phytanic acid may restore female BWF1 macrophage efferocytosis by upregulating the pro-efferocytic receptor, CD36. Taken together, our data indicate that BWF1 male microbiota produce metabolites that can enhance macrophage efferocytosis and suppress lupus.


The peculiarities of the land use planning on the territory of the foreign countries are considered in the article. The specific differences connected with the issues of the rational use, the protection and the land use planning abroad are noted.


and their economies have been growing very fast for at least 10 years. Already they account for nearly 5 percent and 2 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP), respectively, at current exchange rates. Arguably, China's expansion since 1978 already has been the largest growth "surprise" ever experienced by the world economy; and if we extrapolated their recent growth rates for half a century, we would find that China and India—the Giants—were among the world's very largest economies. Their vast labor forces and expanding skills bases imply massive productive potential, especially if they continue (China) or start (India) to invest heavily in and welcome technology inflows. Low-income countries ask whether there will be any room for them at the bottom of the industrialization ladder, whereas highand middle-income countries fear the erosion of their current advantages in more sophisticated fields. All recognize that a booming Asia presages strong demands, not only for primary products but also for niche manufactures and services and for industrial inputs and equipment. But, equally, all are eager to know which markets will expand and by how much. Moreover, the growth of these giant economies will affect not only goods markets but also flows of savings, investment, and even people around the world, and will place heavy demands on the global commons, such as the oceans and the atmosphere. This book cannot answer all these questions, but it contains six essays on important aspects of the growth of the Giants that will, at least, aid thinking about them. Its principal aim is to highlight some of the major implications of the Giants' growth for the world economy and hence for other countries, C H A P T E R 1


Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is a mechanobullous genodermatosis characterized by cytoskeleton fragility of basal keratinocytes caused by mutations in the KRT5 and KRT14 genes, encoding the basal epidermal keratins. However, in ~25% of individuals in an EBS case series from the Netherlands (n=65), no mutation was found in either gene. One autosomal dominant mutation in another gene, PLEC1, has been associated with non-syndromic EBS, a phenotype called EBS-Ogna. PLEC1 encodes the cytoskeleton linker protein plectin, which in skin anchors basal keratins to the hemidesmosomal plaque. In this study, PLEC1 mutation analysis was performed in 16 EBS probands in which KRT5 and KRT14 mutations had been excluded. In four of these probands, a heterozygous plectin missense mutation was found (25% of cases analyzed; 6% of total EBS cases). Two probands carried the same plectin mutation as the original EBS-Ogna families: p.Arg2000Trp. The clinical phenotype is characterized by acral blistering, haemorrhagic elements on the hand dorsum, pretibial atrophy, and thickened, discoloured toenails. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed diminished plectin expression. Ultrastructural analysis showed cleavage just above the inner dense plaque of variably hypoplastic hemidesmosomes. This study demonstrates that PLEC1 is the third candidate gene to screen for mutations in EBS.


7226 Background: We previously reported the efficacy and safety of 4 mg zoledronic acid in patients with bone metastases secondary to lung cancer or other solid tumors (Rosen et al. J Clin Oncol. 2003;21:3150-3157). We report here the results of a retrospective exploratory analysis to assess the risk of skeletal-related events (SREs) and the efficacy of 4 mg zoledronic acid compared with placebo based on patients' history of SREs prior to study entry.

METHODS
An SRE was defined as a pathologic fracture, spinal cord compression, radiotherapy or surgery to bone, or hypercalcemia. Patients were stratified based on their history of SREs before study entry, and the occurrence of SREs on study (over 21 months) was analyzed.

RESULTS
A total of 507 patients were randomized to 4 mg zoledronic acid or placebo; 131 completed the 9-month core phase, and 69 entered the 12-month extension phase. Before study entry, 347 (68%) of patients experienced at least 1 SRE, and these patients were at higher risk of developing an SRE on study than patients with no prior SRE (hazard ratio = 1.43). In the placebo group, 52% of patients with a prior SRE had at least 1 SRE on study compared with only 40% of patients with no prior SRE. Among patients with an SRE before study entry, Andersen-Gill multiple event analysis showed that zoledronic acid significantly reduced the risk of developing an SRE on study by 31% compared with placebo (risk ratio = 0.688; P = .009). Zoledronic acid also significantly reduced the mean skeletal morbidity rate (1.96 versus 2.81 SREs/year for placebo; P = .030) and prolonged median time to first on-study SRE by nearly 4 months (215 versus 106 days for placebo; P = .011). Among patients with no SRE before study entry (n = 156), zoledronic acid reduced the risk of SREs by 23% (P = .308), reduced the mean skeletal morbidity rate (1.34 versus 2.53 SREs/year for placebo; P = .332), and prolonged the median time to first SRE by 2.5 months (P = .534).

CONCLUSIONS
This exploratory analysis demonstrates that patients with a history of SREs are at high risk of subsequent SREs, and zoledronic acid reduces skeletal morbidity regardless of a prior history of SREs. [Table: see text].


Summary 1) Young adult mice were infected simultaneously and at various intervals with Coxsackie Group A and B viruses. Under certain circumstances, representatives of both groups interfered significantly with adult-mouse-adapted A14 strain, resulting in fewer mice becoming paralyzed. 2) The grade of interference depended on time interval between injection of interfering and challenging virus, and on route of inoculation. No interference could be observed when both viruses were injected by different routes.


The protein and carbohydrate composition of formula fed infants' diets in the United States (US) has not been described. The aims of this study were to characterize these dietary exposures in infant formula purchased in the US and to estimate the proportion of formula purchased which is hypoallergenic or lactose‐reduced formula.


As it is known, the second-order ordinary linear differential equation with variable coefficients is solvable in case if related Riccati equation can be integrated by quadratures. This paper considers establishment of correspondence between such equations by the authors' method which means the second-order equation representation by a chain of the first-order equations. The algorithm of special Riccati equation solving is demonstrated (coefficients of these Riccati equations satisfy special conditions). One more peculiarity of this paper stands in consideration of exact applicational example – the Riccati equation which describes the magnetotellurics impedance behavior in geological media.


Introduction: Spontaneously occurring ascitic fluid infections {Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP)} are the most common and recurring complications in patients with decompensated cirrhosis with ascitis. Unlike other infections, ascitic fluid infections usually present with non specific symptoms and may be asymptomatic in a large number of patients. They not only accelerate hepatic decompensation, but may also lead to, or exacerbate other complications like hepatic encephalopathy, hematemesis, renal failure and death. The existing protocol of diagnosis of SBP includes ascitic fluid total and differential leukocyte counts, and ascitic fluid cultures, by inoculating the ascitic fluid in blood culture vials, which are not only cumbersome, but also costly, time consuming and cannot be followed in all patients presenting for outpatient treatment for therapeutic peracentesis. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of testing ascitic fluid pH, protein and Leucocyte Esterase (LERS) activity, by using Siemens Multistix 10SG Reagent Strips (SMRS) for early screening of patients for SBP. Materials and Methods: The observational study was conducted at SGRR Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, from January 2018 to March 2019. The study included 329 patients with cirrhosis and ascites presenting in either the Outpatient Department (OPD) or Emergency Room for therapeutic paracentesis or with cirrhotic complications were evaluated for SBP using SMRS for ascitic fluid pH, Leukocyte Esterase (LERS) activity and ascitic fluid protein, for early detection of SBP. The standard diagnostic criteria i.e., ascitic fluid Polymorphonuclear Counts (PNM) more than 250 cells/mm3, by Chamber Counting Method or positive ascitic fluid culture after 48 hours incubation were used as gold standard for diagnosis of SBP. Chi-square test was applied to find out significant association between independent and dependent variables. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Among total 329 patients with cirrhotic ascitic, 81 were diagnosed to have SBP. At a cut-off of 2+, SMRS correctly detected SBP in 77/81 patients, was negative in 4/81 patients and falsely positive in 7/248 NSBP patients, thereby having a sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 95%, 97.33%, 98.96% and 96.69%. At a cut-off of 3+, SMRS was able to detect SBP in 53/81 patients, and was falsely positive in 1/248 patients, thereby, although decreasing the sensitivity to 64%, but improving the specificity and PPV to 99.6% and 98.11%, respectively. Conclusion: During diagnostic paracentesis, ascitic fluid LERS activity using SMRS are highly sensitive markers for early detection of SBP, especially in the presence of fever, vomiting and shock.


This paper draws out the implications of equilibrium in a two-product, two-factor model for elasticity of product supply, which is found to depend upon input supply elasticities, alternative product demand elasticity, elasticity of substitution between production inputs, relative factor intensity of the product, and relative importance of the product in its use of resources. These factors interact in a complex manner to determine supply elasticity. The author discusses related approaches of Buse, Muth, and Powell and Gruen, and considers several simplified examples in an attempt to provide an intuitive grasp of the workings of the model.


-The research included 18 mature male Wistar rats. They were divided into 3 groups: Group I 6 animals (the control group); Group II 6 animals with streptozotocin-induced DM (DM was induced by a single intraperitoneal administration of streptozotocin at a dose of 6 mg/100 g body weight); Group III 6 animals with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus receiving a subcutaneous injection of exenatide at a dose of 0.04 mcg/100 g body weight once a day since the 14 th day of DM development. Diabetic gastroparesis was observed on the 56 th day of the development of streptozotocin-induced DM being morphologically manifested as destructive changes in neurons of the myenteric plexus (vacuolar degeneration, apoptosis), axonal degeneration of unmyelinated nerve fibers, apoptosis of the interstitial cells of Cajal, vacuolar degeneration of myocytes and the development of diabetic microangiopathy. The use of exenatide in the early stages of DM development (up to 28 th day) led to the normalization of glycemic profile and the restoration of structural elements of the myenteric plexus and smooth myocytes of the muscular membrane of the stomach indicating the adequacy of the proposed therapy. However, the use of exenatide as a monotherapy for 1.5 month resulted in elevated blood glucose and HbА1c levels as well as destructive changes in neurons and the interstitial cells of Cajal of the myenteric plexus and smooth myocytes of the muscular membrane of the stomach. Considering the conducted research, we can conclude that the use ofexenatide as a monotherapy in diabetic gastroparesis is advisable in the early stages of disease development only, in the late stages – only combinations with other hypoglycemic agents should be used.


Integration in the world trading system fundamentally depends on whether policies and institutions are established in a country and its trading partners which are conducive to the mutually beneficial exchange of goods and services based on specialization and comparative advantage. Trade integration processes became more active after 1950s in all over the world. Today the separate country is not more able to control the competitive struggle between enterprises and countries, new spheres of competitiveness on the traditional markets. Effective integration of the economies in transition thus, involves not only their own trade policies and institutions but also those of their trading partners which affect market access and the terms of trade.


Visual Basic. NET is a core curriculum for computer speciality.Reseaching the IT industry market in detail,according to the college's specific conditions,and exploring the application of Visual Basic. NET curriculum based on working process in practical teaching application we put forward teaching reform strategy in four aspects.


Mutual funds sold via brokers offer fund portfolios that investors can purchase in one of three classes: A, B or C. These classes are distinguished only by their fee schedules and thus have different net performance results. An analysis of relative class performances for a set of U.S. mutual funds between 1992 and 2008 reveals a striking fact about class B: while classes A and C provide the best performance results at long and short holding periods, respectively, class B is dominated by either class A or C at any holding period. The inferiority yet popularity of class B at first suggests that naïve investors who do not understand the fee schedule of this class are being exploited. However, I propose two hypothetical clienteles which might rationally demand class B shares: one (a) with uncertain holding periods, or one (b) that desires to have long holding periods but is unable to commit to them. I identify whether investors rationally or naïvely purchase class B by examining the flow-fee sensitivity and estimating investor holding periods. My results support the naïve investor explanation.


Abstract:  In the course of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, the postmitotic maturation and survival phase is associated with dendrite maturation. Melatonin modulates the survival of new neurons with relative specificity. During this phase, the new neurons express microtubule‐associated protein doublecortin (DCX). Here, we show that the entire population of cells expressing DCX is increased after 14 days of treatment with melatonin. As melatonin also affects microtubule polymerization which is important for neuritogenesis and dendritogenesis, we studied the consequences of chronic melatonin administration on dendrite maturation of DCX‐positive cells. Treatment with melatonin increased the number of DCX‐positive immature neurons with more complex dendrites. Sholl analysis revealed that melatonin treatment lead to greater complexity of the dendritic tree. In addition, melatonin increased the total volume of the granular cell layer. Besides its survival‐promoting effect, melatonin thus also increases dendritic maturation in adult neurogenesis. This might open the opportunity of using melatonin as an adjuvant in attempts to extrinsically stimulate adult hippocampal neurogenesis in neuropsychiatric disease, dementia or cognitive ageing.


This volume of studies presents the papers given at the second workhop of the European Ayurvedic society. The volume is a sequel to "Proceedings of the international workshop on priorities in the study of Indian medicine". The studies collected here present an unusally wide variety of approaches to the study of the healing arts in India.


S1. Translational motion of 1D sulfur chains inside SWCNT Fig. S1 shows the observed translational motion of encapsulated sulfur chains during the HRTEM measurements. In the initial stage of the HRTEM observation, we find two lines inside the nanotube that extend across the entire SWCNT length (Fig. S1A). In subsequent observations taken several tens of seconds later (Fig. S1B), the length of the two lines has decreased. Owing to the fact that electron irradiation is unable to displace axially the entire inner wall of a DWCNT, we conclude that those two lines can be ascribed to the enclosed sulfur chains, not to the inner SWCNT. Since the two lines move simultaneously, we have reason to believe that the two 1D sulfur chains interact.


This paper considers the approximate controllability for a class of neutral control systems governed by semilinear neutral delayed equations.Sufficient conditions for approximate controllability are established by constructing fundamental solutions and using resolvent condition, Banach contraction mapping principle and techniques on fractional power operators. The obtained results improve some existing analogous ones on this topic to some extent. An example is presented finally to illustrate the applications of the obtained results.


The separation of lactic acid from fermentation broth by using molecular distillation was studied.The experimental results showed that the product purity was 96% under the conditions:pH 2,vacuum 20~80 Pa,temperature 80 ℃.The lactic acid product was analyzed and the quality met the specifications of GB 2023—80,and the mass spectrum of was identical with standard lactic acid.


The United States spends substantially more per person on health care than any other country, and yet US health outcomes are the same as or worse than those in other coutries. In 2005, the last year for which comparative statistics are available, the United States spent $6401 per person, whereas the next highest spending was in Norway and Switzerland, $4364 and $4177, respectively (TABLE). Overall, US health care expenditures are 2.4 times the average of those of all developed countries ($2759 per person), yet health outcomes for US patients, whether measured by life expectancy, disease-specific mortality rates, or other variables, are unimpressive (Table). There are many explanations for the higher costs of US health care. Because health insurance must be underwritten and sold to individual employers and self-insured individuals, administrative costs exceed $145 billion. This does not include employers' costs for purchasing and managing employees' health insurance. One estimate suggests that the private employer insurance market wastes more than $50 billion in administrative costs. A second factor is higher prices in the United States for important inputs to health care, such as physicians' services, prescription drugs, and diagnostic testing. US physicians earn double the income of their peers in other industrialized countries (Table). Similarly, prices to the public for drugs in the United States are 10% to 30% higher than in other developed countries. Disparities in prices of inputs to health care account for at least $100 billion annually of higher spending in the United States. A third contributor to US costs is the abundance of amenities. Hospital rooms in the United States offer more privacy, comfort, and auxiliary services than do hospital rooms in most other countries. US physicians' offices are typically more conveniently located and have parking nearby and more attractive waiting rooms. Overutilization of Health Care The most important contributor to the high cost of US health care, however, is overutilization. Overutilization can take 2 forms: higher volumes, such as more office visits, hospitalizations, tests, procedures, and prescriptions than are appropriate or more costly specialists, tests, procedures, and prescriptions than are appropriate. It ismorecostly care, rather thanhighvolume, that accounts for higher expenditures in the United States. The volume of services is not extreme. A hospitalization rate of 121 per 1000 US patients is higher than that of Japan (106) but considerably lower than the rate in Switzerland (157), Norway (173), and France (268) and lower than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average (163) (Table). TheUShospitalizationrate is21stof30OECDcountries. Similarly, US patients have 3.8 physician visits annually per capita, fewer than the OECD average of 6.8. In contrast with volume, in which the United States is not the leader, there are almost 3 times as many magnetic resonance imaging scanners in the United States as the OECD average, higher only in Japan. US patients receive considerably more cardiac revascularization procedures (579 per 100 000 population)—coronary artery bypass grafts, angioplasties, and stents—45% more than patients in Norway, the country with the next highest number (Table). The United States has the fourth highest per capita consumption of pharmaceuticals. US patients utilize many more "new drugs"— those on the market 5 years or fewer—than patients in other countries. For instance, ezetimibe, which decreases lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol level and was approved in October 2002, is not recommended by major guidelines as first-line therapy. Nevertheless, the use of ezetimibe in the United States is about 5 times higher than it is in Canada, constituting more than 15% of prescriptions for lipidlowering agents. Greater use of new, more expensive pharmaceuticals, as well as higher prices both for older and newer drugs, helps explain why the United States spent $752 per capita (2005) on drugs, whereas France, with the next highest expenditure, spent $559 and Japan just $425.


The combined influences of AC-DC interference and stress on the corrosion and delamination behavior of X70 steel in the neutral environment was studied using COMSOL Multiphysics software, electrochemical tests, weight loss experiments, and surface analysis techniques. Results showed that, under the stress of 364 MPa, as the stray current density increased, the corrosion potential shifted towards the negative side, with no passive region on polarization curves, but only an active dissolution region. Under the influence of DC interference, the anodic polarization curves showed a significant inflection point, due to the accumulation of a large number of corrosion products on the surface of X70 steel, which hindered the anodic polarization. At the same time, the corrosion rate and the maximum depth of the corrosion pits increased with increase in DC density. The corrosion reaction followed Faraday's law of electrolysis. Under the influence of combined AC and DC interferences, the corrosion rate and the depth of the corrosion pits were in the following order: combined AC and DC interferences > DC interference > AC interference. The influence of AC interference on the delamination was less than that of DC interference. The delamination area of the anticorrosive coating under DC interference with a current density of 300 A/m 2 was about 5 times that under AC interference. Also, under the combined influence of AC and DC interference, the delamination area of the coating was larger than that under the influence of either AC or DC interference. In this paper, a model for delamination process under the influence of stray current was proposed, in which, the corrosion reaction occurred first at the sample defects. When the amount of corrosion product accumulated to a certain extent, separate cathode and anode regions were formed on the sample surface, which resulted in delamination of the coating.


We report a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator, driven by a femtosecond erbium-doped fiber laser. The idler is tunable from 3.96–4.71 µm, with a maximum power of 22 mW at 3.96 µm.


TO HAVE visited a foreign country for three days, Harold dark once said in effect, usually emboldens one to assume the role of educational expert.1 To have visited a foreign country for a week, however, is to have been there long enough to wonder, and perhaps to worry. After three days one begins to be less sure that one has learned much. The easy generalizations that one is so prone to formulate under the impact of first impressions begin to look less certain. People no longer all look tall or stocky, fair or swarthy, prosperous or poor. Their language ceases to be an incomprehensible, pauseless chatter; their views and opinions conflict and thus confuse; their educational philosophy and school organization, consistent and original at first, now reveal themselves to be as diverse and as contradictory as any in the world. Whereas three days bring security of conviction, six days are long enough to implant bewildering doubts.


It provides novel chemiluminescent compounds. In one embodiment, the novel compounds are used in assays to detect the analyte. The analyte detection assay, coupled with the analyte to the novel compounds, and comprises the steps of detecting the novel compounds.


During the atmosphere of "laying more stress on the past than on the present" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasty,Badashanren(Zhu Da,1626-1705),though familiar with Buddhism and Taoism,pursued an art road of respecting and surpassing the traditions,taking in everything,not like Shi Tao who "want to be unique way of painting" to subvert the traditions.His artistic style is a harmonious blend of the past and nature by learning others,that is to say,it is changes.His art showed so good workmanship that nobody knows he inherited whose painter's style and he created his own——"his unique style.


Climatic extreme events are expected to occur more frequently and potentially be stronger in the future, increasing the likelihood of unprecedented climate extremes (UCEs), or record-breaking events such as prolonged droughts, to occur. To prepare for UCEs and their impacts, we need to develop a better understanding of terrestrial ecosystem responses to events such as extreme drought. We know that intense, extreme droughts can substantially affect ecosystem stability and carbon cycling through increased plant mortality and delaying ecosystem recovery. Our ability to predict such effects is limited due to the lack of experiments focusing on climatic excursions beyond the range of historical experience.

We explore the response of forest ecosystems to UCEs using two dynamic vegetation demographic models (VDMs), ED2 and LPJ-GUESS, in which the abundances of different plant functional types, as well as tree size- and age-class structure, are emergent properties of resource competition. We investigate the hypothesis that ecosystem responses to UCEs (e.g., unprecedented droughts) cannot be extrapolated from ecosystem responses to milder extremes, as a result of non-linear ecosystem responses (e.g. due to plant plasticity, functional diversity, and trait combinations). We evaluate each model’s mechanisms and state variables prior, during, and after a continuum of drought intensities ultimately reaching very extreme drought scenarios (i.e., 0% to 100% reduction in precipitation for drought durations of 1-year, 2-year, and 4-year scenarios) at two dry forested sites: Palo Verde, Costa Rica (i.e. tropical) and EucFACE, Australia (i.e. temperate). Both models produce nonlinear responses to these UCEs. Due to differences in model structure and process representation, the model’s sensitivity of biomass loss diverged based on either duration or intensity of droughts, as well as different model responses at each site. Biomass losses in ED2 are sensitive to drought duration, while in LPJ-GUESS they are mainly driven by drought intensity. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations alone did not buffer the ecosystems from carbon losses during UCEs in the majority of our simulations. Our findings highlight discrepancies in process formulations and uncertainties in models, notably related to availability in plant carbohydrate storage and the diversity of plant hydraulic schemes. This shows that different hypotheses of plant responses to UCEs exist in two similar models, reflecting knowledge gaps, which should be tested with gap-informed field experiments. This iterative modeling-experiment framework would help improve predictions of terrestrial ecosystem responses and climate feedbacks.


The title compound 2-(((6-chloropyridin-3-yl)methyl)thio)-5-(pyridin-4-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole 5(C26H18Cl2N8S4) was synthesized, and its structure was confirmed by 1H NMR, MS and elemental analyses and X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P1 with a = 9.452(4), b = 12.335(4), c = 13.017(5) A, α = 90.624(5), β = 110.541(5), γ =104.879(4)°, Dc = 1.561 g/cm3, Z = 2, V = 1364.9(9) A3, F(000) = 656, the final R = 0.0300 and w R = 0.0635 for 4206 observed reflections with I > 2σ(I). The preliminary biological test showed that the title compound has activities against Stemphylium lycopersici(Enjoji) Yamamoto, Fusarium oxysporum. sp. cucumebrium, and Botrytis cinerea with inhibitory activities to be 9.82%, 44.44% and 20.00%, respectively.


Two new preamble-less feedforward non-decision-aided (NDA) techniques for carrier phase correction and amplitude gain control for TDMA 16-QAM transmission are proposed. The preamble-less feature allows minimum burst length and hence, minimum bandwidth transmission. The NDA techniques isolate the detection process from the synchronization, resulting in a robust and reduced complexity system.<<ETX>>


Purpose - This research aimed to determine the effect of family structure on the cash flow sensitivity of cash (CFSC) in the manufacturing sector. It also investigates the indirect impact of busy directors as a moderating effect on this relation. Design/Methodology/Approach – Based on a sample of Indonesia's manufacturing listed companies from 2013 to 2017, the authors use GLS regression models on panel data estimated with robust standard errors, clustered at the firm level. Research Findings –  The results show that family structure has a positive impact on cash flow sensitivity of cash and statistically significant. Meanwhile, the indirect impact of busy directors  found to have a negative effect and weakened on the relationship of family structure and cash flow sensitivity of cash, suggesting that the quality of busy directors is an efficient corporate governance tool that is likely to monitor the corporate family decisions. Theoretical contribution/Originality – This paper extends previous research by investigating the moderating effect of busy directors on the relation between family control and CFSC. The research provides a metric for agency problems that is the sensitivity of cash to cash flows and offers theoretical support for the agency argument of hoarding cash. Practitioner/Policy Implication – Based on POJK regulations, the context of busy directors in this research refers to the roles and duties of the Board of Commissioners (BOC) which concurrently hold positions for other public companies. Research Limitation/Implication – These findings suggest that Indonesia family firms are likely to expropriate minority by extracting rents through their cash flow sensitivity of cash behavior.


Abstract Most teacher educators who work at institutes for higher vocational education have faced a new role since the European Community aimed to upgrade the general quality of education. Research tasks have been added as a new important core business for institutes that used to be mainly focused on education. Teacher educators therefore have to become familiar with research knowledge and skills, and with the skills to supervise student teachers in conducting research. Professional development activities have been set up to prepare them for it. In this explorative study, we investigated the extent to which four different professional development activities within three Dutch institutes for teacher education contributed to the knowledge and skills needed for these new tasks. We gathered data by interviewing 12 teacher educators. In addition to some striking differences, we found corresponding positive experiences in all four activities. Exchanging experiences and discussing issues with colleagues was perceived to be the most outstanding part of each activity. This research has yielded necessary insights into constructing professional development activities. It is clear that any professional development activity about research should be consistent with teacher educators' daily practices and concerns.


Objective:Arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events in diabetic patients,and it may be as- sessed by measuring of pulse wave velocity(PWV).We investigated the degrees of arterial stiffness in diabetic patients with coro- nary artery disease and assessed the effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ(PPAR-γ)agonist rosiglitazone on arteri- al stiffness levels and its potential mechanism in type 2 diabetes with coronary artery disease patients. Methods:All 46 patients underwent coronary angiography.The patients were randomly divided into two groups:the control (n = 20)and rosiglitazone treatment(n = 26).They received 4 mg rosiglitazone daily for 12 weeks.All patients received meas- urement of PWV before and 12 weeks after treatment.The levels of metabolism parameters including fasting insulin,and high sen- sitivity C-reactive protein(hsCRP)were determined.The statistieal data were analyzed. Results:The value of PWV in the rosiglitazone group was significantly reduced(from 1624±251.9 cm/s to 1438± 217.3 cm/s)(t =2.851,P0.01),compared with the controls 1.2 week after treatment(1 438±217.3 cm/s vs 1 696± 184.1 cm/s,t=4.26,P0.01).PWV levels in the control group showed no difference from baseline levels 12 weeks after treatment.Plasma high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels were significantly decreased in the rosiglitazone group compared with controls 12 week after treatment(0.71±0.10 mg/1 vs 1.25±0.24 rag/L,P0.05).The decrease of hsCRP was correlated linearly with the improvement of HOMA-IR after treatment with PPAR-γ,agonist(r = 0.48,P0.05). Conclusion:Rosiglitazone treatment may significantly decrease arterial stiffness.These results indicate that PPAR-γ agonist may play an important role in preventing arteriosclerosis by normalizing metabolic disorders and depressing chronic inflammation in type 2 diabetic patients with serious vascular damage.


Seismic inversion has become almost routine in quantitative 3D seismic interpretation. To ensure the quality of the seismic inversion, the input seismic data need to have a high signal-to-noise ratio. With the current low oil price environment, seismic reprocessing is often preferred over reacquisition to improve the data quality. Forward and inverse migration (i.e. migration and demigration) are a more recently introduced transform pair that, when used together in an iterative workflow, result in a least-squares migration algorithm. Least-squares migration compensates for surface variation in data density and, when combined with a filter applied to the prestack migrated images, suppresses both operator and data aliasing. We apply a leastsquares migration workflow to a fractured-basement dataset from Texas Panhandle to demonstrate the enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio, the reduction in acquisition footprint and migration artifacts, and the improvement in the P-impedance inversion result.


Objective To explore the effective measure of quantification of personal income in department of emergency.Method The income per person per day was checked and the distribution of wages based on the method that more pay for more work and paralleled with file wages.Results The total income of the department increased 24.38% per year,the personal income increased 23.72% and the staff's wages increased 24.00% per year.(Conclusion Application) of the method of quantification of personal income reasonably and effectively could improve both economic and social profit.


Journal: Canadian Journal of Plant Science Manuscript ID CJPS-2017-0036.R2 Manuscript Type: Article Date Submitted by the Author: 28-Apr-2017 Complete List of Authors: Ganie, Zahoor; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Agronomy Jugulam, Mithila; Kansas State University, Agronomy Varanasi, Vijay; Kansas State University, Department of Agronomy Jhala, Amit; University of Nebraska,


Hospitals in North America are operating at near full or full capacity. Ageing populations are further increasing patients' inflows. These trends manifest themselves in continuously increasing patients wait time that can reach 20 hours at emergency departments [1]. Excessive wait time is both costly to patients and hospitals, increases risks to patients, and in many cases, is in conflict with medical guidelines standards.


to undermine slavery. Nevertheless, because slaveholders could reconcile libertarianism with slavery only by recourse to the expediency of racism, racial stereotypes of black inferiority were reinforced. All of these points are dealt with in this useful collection of essays. The ten papers are divided into four sections, the first of which deals with the ways in which the social and working lives of black Americans were transformed during the era of the Revolution. Gary Nash focuses on the growing black populations of New York, Boston and Philadelphia, showing how black people came to these cities to find new opportunities and to escape from isolation and intimidation. Richard S. Dunn examines the complex developments in slavery and the lives of slaves in Virginia and Maryland during the period. Philip Morgan explains how the plantation system in South Carolina and Georgia gained strength as a result of American independence, while favourable conditions in the low Country simultaneously allowed bondspeople to develop a degree of autonomy unique on the North American mainland. Finally, Allan Kulikoff examines the nature and effects of black migration in the Early National period. Section Two comprises two essays on changes in Afro-American institutions, looking respectively at the slave family and at the black church. A third section examines the ideological implications of the revolution for slave societies in the new republic and elsewhere. The volume concludes with an overview of its subject by Benjamin Quarles. These essays have in common an imaginative use of the often difficult sources involved and a stimulating, thoughtful analysis of the various aspects of the question with which they deal. The book is a very readable and welcome addition to our understanding of the lives of the enslaved people of Revolutionary America.


The book of Lun Heng by Wang Chong of Eastern Han Dynasty is a work of atheism;it makes a great contribution to divination of Zhou Yi,and has an immeasurable value to Yi-ology."The chapter of atmosphere life span","the chapter of foreordination","the chapter of invisible","the chapter of first vitality" of Wang Cong's Lun Heng discuss the fate of people,and also state that the "vitality " is related to the fate of people,which establish a groundwork for ancient people to explore their own laws of "fortune-telling".Wang Chong's Lun Heng enriched the "physiognomy" doctrine;and the "blame technique of chapter" enriched the "geomantic theory" of that time.


: Phenylazo derivatives of three 13-diketones in which the diketo function attached directly to olefinic linkages {dicinnamoyl methane, acetyl cinnamoyl methane and benzoyl cinnamoyl methane) have been synthesized and characterised. Analytical, IR, 1 H NMR and mass spectral data indicate that the compounds exist in the intramolecu larly hydrogen bonded keto-hydrazone form. In the [ML 2] complexes [M = Ni 11, Cu 11, Zn 11] the compounds function as monobasic bidentate in which one of the hydrazone nitrogen and keto oxygen are involved in bonding with the metal ion.


Endothelin-1 (ET-1) secretion from bovine parathyroid cells (bPTCs) responds to the changes in extracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca 2+ ] e ) and ET-1 inhibits parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion. However, the effect from the interaction between [Ca 2+ ] e and ET-1 on PTH secretion is unknown. To clarify these issues, a bPTC suspension was used to study the regulation of ET-1 secretion by subtle changes in [Ca 2+ ] e and PTH secretion by the interaction between [Ca 2+ ] e and ET-1. We added [Ca 2+ ] e at varying concentrations, 0.5-2.0 mM, to the bPTC medium to define the relationship between [Ca 2+ ] e and ET-1 secretion and found that the ET-1 secretion was inversely regulated by [Ca 2+ ] e with a low [Ca 2+ ] e stimulating, and a high [Ca 2+ ] e inhibiting ET-1 secretion. It is even suppressed to an undetectable level at a [Ca 2+ ] e of >1.5 mM. Further, we worked to determine how the interaction between ET-1 and [Ca 2+ ] e influences PTH secretion. ET-1, ≥ 10 -10 M, inhibited PTH secretion in a dose-dependent manner and significantly inhibited PTH secretion at a low or normal [Ca 2+ ] e . At an ET-1 concentration of ≥10 -10 M, the 'calcium-PTH' relation showed significant changes in physiological responses. The effect of ET-1 on intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca 2+ ] i ) of bPTCs was studied using the fura 2 fluorescence method. We found that increasing doses of ET-1 induced a progressive increase in [Ca 2+ ] i of bPTCs. Our results suggest that ET-1 secretion is inversely regulated by [Ca 2+ ] e . ET-1 can inhibit PTH secretion and alter the parathyroid secretion pattern to various calcium stimuli. ET-1 also elevates [Ca 2+ ] i and this may be a part of the intracellular signaling mechanisms involved in the inhibition of PTH secretion from bPTCs.


Purpose – The aim of this paper is to review 73 survey articles relating to information technology outsourcing (ITO) published by 17 information technology journals over the 20‐year period 1991‐2010. The review focuses on seven attributes of survey methodology (i.e. information on research questions, pilot testing of the survey instrument, sampling method employed, sample size, response rate, nonresponse bias and internal validity) and ascertains the extent to which those attributes have been addressed. The main purpose of this study is to provide insights for researchers to help improve the data quality, and reliability of survey results.Design/methodology/approach – Review of literature over the past 20 years (1991‐2010).Findings – There is strong evidence that deficiencies in the administration of survey methods in ITO persist and that such shortcomings compromise rigour, and therefore need to be redressed.Practical implications – Although this review is performed in an ITO context, findings are of int...


Attitudes towards restraint in the management of the mentally ill during the late 19th century are discussed, based primarily on the writings of two doctors, one a British mental hospital superintendent, and the other an Australian psychiatrist of the time. The view-points expressed are noted to be on the whole very advanced for this period, and compare favourably with current practices in psychiatric hospital care. Some discussion follows on various forms of restraint and on mental hospital management in that era.


The late Professor Na Zhong is a famous translator and the leading scholar of Islamic culture in China.Professor Na Zhong has devoted all his life to the cultural exchanges between China and Arabic countries and made great contribution to the Arabic education in China and trained a new generation of scholars,whose academic contribution and wisdom will always be remembered.


Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a widespread phenomenon in different animal taxa, including the subfamily of goats and sheep (Caprinae), which belongs to the most dimorphic mammalian groups. Rensch's rule describes the pattern of SSD, claiming that larger species generally exhibits higher male to female body size ratio. Agreement with Rensch's rule is manifested by slope of the allometric relationship between male and female body size exceeding one. To test this rule, we analysed the data available in the literature on adult body mass of males and females in domestic goat and sheep breeds (169 and 303, respectively) and 37 wild species/subspecies of the subfamily Caprinae. According to the current phylogenetical hypotheses, there are six distinct monophyletic groups with different levels of SSD (expressed as M/F): (1) wild goats (1.83); (2) wild sheep (1.67); (3) non-European chamoises, including Ovibos moschatus (1.18); (4) European chamoises (1.27); (5) Budorcas taxicolor (1.01); and (6) Pantholops hodgsonii (1.65). Domestication has led to a remarkable decline in SSD of both domestic goats (1.36) and sheep (1.41). The highest regression slope of the relationship between male and female body size is that estimated for wild goats (1.32), followed by wild sheep (1.24), non-European chamoises (1.14), domestic sheep (1.13), and domestic goats (1.10). Nevertheless, only the last two values are statistically different from one and thus corroborate Rensch's rule. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 98, 872–883.


Footnote: PCT level expenditure between 2003/04 and 2010/11 were extracted from the 'Programme Budgeting' pages of the Department of Health website (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/Financeandplanning/Programmebudgeting/DH_075743#_1). Growthadjusted year-to-year volatility in expenditure was calculated as a percentage: [Year (n+1) – Year (n) – Slope]/Year (n). The slope of the trend over time for each PCT was determined by linear regression. 0.1% 1.0% 10.0%


In this work we show the relationship between three types of tasks -- classification, fault diagnosis and combinatorial testing. We show that these tasks have common idea to find the minimal test sets, which are sufficient for their goals. The first task is classification on the base of terminal tests voting. The second task is to identify the category with minimal, but unique vector of values. The third task is to find minimal number of configurations of parameters for testing, which include all pair (or t-way) interactions for fault-triggering. All they have application for product evaluation. We show a practical way to approach these tasks by converting them to a SAT problem and using a SAT solver to effectively find solutions.


[Objective]This study aimed to investigate the widespread epidemic of bluetongue virus (BTV) in ruminants of Guangxi in order to provide theoretical references for the prevention and control of bluetongue disease (BT). [Method]The AGID test was used to detect the antibodies of BTV in 2535 goat sera and 496 buffalo sera, of which both groups were collections from Guangxi province. The correlation between the climate, geography factors, and seroprevalence distribution were also analyzed. [Result]The seroprevalence in goats and buffaloes were 36.53% and 43.55%, respectively; furthermore, the goats and buffaloes of Nanning City exhibited the highest seroprevalence, which accounted for 78.13% and 85.71%, respectively. The seroprevalence of BTV antibody in ruminants of Southern Guangxi was higher than that of Northern Guangxi; consequently, the seroprevalence in low latitude areas was higher than high latitude areas, the seroprevalence in south subtropical areas and north tropical areas with high temperature was higher than that in the central subtropical areas with low temperature, and the seroprevalence in east areas with plentiful rainfall was higher than that in the central areas and west areas with less rainfall. [Conclusion]BTV epidemic prevailed in Guangxi's domestic ruminants. The distribution of BTV in Guangxi was heavily influenced by geographic conditions and climate factors viz., latitudes, altitudes, temperatures, rainfall volumes, etc.


The response of the sandy beach to the 2011 Great Earthquake and Tsunami was investigated through the comparison of the shoreline changes between Oarai and Kashima Ports using satellite images before and after the earthquake, taking the Kashimanada coast as an example. Although a large amount of sand was deposited inside Kashima Port during the tsunami, dredged material was used for the offshore nourishment in 2011 and 2012 to maintain the coastal environment. The effectiveness of offshore nourishment to maintain the offshore seabed was revealed.


Although researchers have made great progresses on music genre classification in recent years, the need for more accurate system is still not satisfied. In this paper, we propose a method for further reducing the classification error rate based on multiple classifier fusion. First of all, MFCCs and four features from MPEG-7 audio descriptor are extracted in every short time frame, and then a group of frames are gathered into a longer segment, in which mean and variance of these short time frames features are calculated. The segment is considered as the basic unit for training and testing module. Then random forest (RF) and multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP) are executed on such segment independently. Finally, a weighted voting fusion strategy is employed to fusion the result of the two classifiers on each segment, and the whole file decision is made by selecting the most frequently labeled genre over all the segments. Experiments showed that the approach is effective. The fusion result gets 12.4% relative reduction in error rate compared to our baseline system.


Background; Cervical cancer is a highly preventable disease that disproportionally affects women in developing countries with an estimated incidence rate of 33 cases per 100,000 women in Nigeria.. Over the year's awareness and uptake of cervical cancer screening services have remained poor in developing countries. Lack of knowledge and poor attitude towards the disease and risk factors can affect screening practice and development of preventive behavior for cervical cancer Objective; This study assessed the level of knowledge and barriers towards cervical cancer screening among female university students. Method; We conducted a cross-sectional study of 234 female students at Ebonyi State University Abakaliki Nigeria from March to July 2017 using multistage sampling technique. Apretested questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, and screening history. Data were analysed with Epi info version 7.1.4. Results; Participants' mean age was 22 years (sd=3).Of the respondents 79.5% were not aware of cervical cancer screening while 58.9% and 78.5% had poor knowledge on cervical cancer and Human papilomavirus vaccination respectively. Major sources of information were health workers 70% and 35% Radio while only 4.0% have had Pap smear test. Common barriers include lack of centres where such services are obtainable 88% and fear of cancer being discovered 9%. Reported risk factors were multiple sexual partners 24.2% and early onset of sexual intercourse 19.8%. A significant association was found between institutional and personal barriers and having a Pap smear test. Conclusion Comprehensive education on cervical cancer screening in universities is critical in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with cervical cancer. Few screening centres contributed to poor cervical screening uptake. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Joseph Agboeze, Matthew Igwe Nwali, Nkiru Ezeani. Cervical cancer screening knowledge and behavior among female undergraduates [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1619.


Introduction: Disability resulting from joint pathology is a significant health problem in the United States, resulting in associated costs of over $90 billion annually. Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common degenerative joint disease of the knee, results in pain, dysfunction, and disability. It is now recognized that inflammation plays a significant role in the development and progression of OA. Another factor important to the development of OA is the degradation of the articular cartilage and menisci through mechanical disruptions and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). Because inflammation has been shown to increase MMP production, we investigated the levels of specific cytokines and MMPs within synovial fluid of normal and osteoarthritic patients so as to understand the dynamics of the inflammatory processes driving OA, and identify potential disease mechanism, diagnostic, and prognostic biomarkers. Identification of viable biomarkers will assist with the establishment of earlier diagnoses, which in turn allow for earlier therapeutic interventions in the setting of clinical OA. In theory, this improves the prognosis for patients.


Steel structures design codes with load and resistance factors (or 'partial factors') which are based on first-order probabilistic concepts are now in use in many parts of the world. This paper will look first at the current design codes and their level of reliability and economy. Special emphasis will be on codes used in the USA. Following this, the current and planned code-development activity is discussed and the impact on the future methods of structural design is explored. Finally, some needed research for a better rationalization of the steel design codes is presented.


In recent years area for cultivation of Melissa officinalis is ranged around 40 ha. Low production could be also caused by less intensive use of machinery. Aerial parts could be fully harvested by mechanisation, but in case of small growers using of special machinery is not economic. The majority of growers harvest manually and this type of harvest represents up to 80% of the costs associated with the cultivation. The less expensive alternative of harvest by a hedge trimmer is evaluated in this article. The goal is to compare two ways of harvest (manual harvest and hedge trimmer harvest) of lemon balm aerial parts in production practise. According to results of experiments were calculated and determined boundaries of effective use of hedge trimmer in production of lemon balm in comparision to manual harvest and fully mechanised harvest. Obtained data shown an increase of harvest performance in case of hedge trimmer (0.0425–0.0525 ha.hr−1) compared to manual harvest (0.0185–0.0216 ha.hr−1). According to calculations, we can say that effective use of hedge trimmer (including purchase price) is from 0.37 ha at planting surface and 0.48 ha at planting rows. Results could also be used for other MAP crops with similar harvest technology as for lemon balm (for example Mentha spp., Origanum spp., Achillea spp.).


The Kalaquha Cu deposit is an altered type deposit controlled by the faulted structure in the west Dongkunlun Guerga Au, Cu metallogenic belt. The geochemical characteristics and geologic features of the Kalaquha Cu deposit are emphatically introduced in this paper.


The apparently unrelenting building of walls meant to protect the geopolitical borders of sovereign states from undesirable foreign nationals is undoubtedly source of discomfort and embarrassment for the democratic states observing the rule of law. A democratic state surely needs political borders and therefore a demos can establish itself as sovereign of a well-defined area only if the representative system is expected to stand on its own feet. But nevertheless, the thesis of the present article is that the will to defend a spatially limited "we" by lines of division defended by cement flows and barbed wire fences may perhaps foster fantasies of containment policies or recreate fictional image of national self-sufficiency, but it is indeed empirically ineffective and illegitimate in legal terms.


On behalf of the Federal Government the German Space Administration (DLR RFM) commissioned the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR) in 2015 to design and develop a phased–array based radar for monitoring the low Earth orbit. This so-called German Experimental Space Surveillance and Tracking Radar (GESTRA) will support the German Space Situational Awareness Centre to generate a catalogue of orbital data for all objects with a minimum radar cross section (RCS) at altitudes of less than 3000 km.


This paper examines the types, intensity, and impact of collaboration and learning in Nigeria. Two separate studies are used to examine on the one hand, the way universities collaborate with other actors within a national system of innovation (NSI) framework and how firms collaborate with universities and other actors on the other. Descriptive statistics and Probit regression confirm some of what we know from the literature about collaborative learning. The size of organizations and firms, infrastructure, and human capability proxied by number of PhDs all tend to influence the types and intensity of collaboration that result in innovation.


Biomass is seen as one of the key renewable energy options to displace fossil fuels and contribute to mitigation of GHG emissions on a large scale (Woods et al., 2015). Many scenario's that describe how a low carbon future in 2050 can be achieved, project substantial shares of biomass in the future global energy supply, ranging between 10% to over a third, adding up to a contribution of 300 EJ (7200 Mtoe) in many scenarios in the second half of this century [IPCC, 2014] versus a projected total global energy use between 800 EJ (19200 Mtoe) to over 1500 EJ (35900 Mtoe). Among the reasons why biomass is so important in many mitigation scenarios is its versatility. It can deliver dispatchable power, high temperature heat, liquid and gaseous (transportation) fuels and renewable feedstock for material (chemicals, construction materials). Furthermore, many biomass conversion pathways are commercially attractive today (e.g. combined heat and power generation from biomass, organic waste conversion to e.g. biogas, ethanol production from sugar beet, etc, while biorefinery concepts and further advancements in value chains can make advanced biofuels (e.g produced from lignocellulosic material) and platform chemical in a competitive range in the medium term. Another key point is that state-of-the-art mitigation scenarios point out that Bioenergy combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) can and should deliver negative emissions (carbon taken up during plant growth is released as CO2 during conversion and subsequently captured for geological storage) which is required to meet the 1.5°C GMT target agreed in Paris. Negative emission on the desired scale can only be achieved by using (sustainable) biomass.


The normalization process used to predict large-scale velocities is examined. In this study, a standard model is assumed, and the quasi-linear evolution of the rms value of density perturbation is calculated. The calculation of the quasi-linear growth of density perturbations using the Zel'dovich (1970) approximation is described. The data reveal that, when the rms value of the density perturbations equals 1, the standard normalization overestimates the normalization constant, the amplitude of the velocity field, and the microwave background anisotropies. The quasi-linear calculations are applied to cold and hot dark matter models. 30 references.


Community policing was introduced in April 2005 with the aim of improving relations between community and the Police Service and help in fighting increasing crime and terrorism in Nairobi City County. The use of "NyumbaKumi" initiative was adopted after its successful implementation in the neighboring country of Tanzania. Monitoring and evaluation techniques have been used to improve the success rate in project management and their application in community policing programs hold a promising future for the sustainability of such projects. The main purpose of the study was to assess the impact of technical expertise on the implementation of community policing programs in Nairobi City County.The target population comprised community leaders, National Police Service, citizens, religious leaders, business community and households that have been impacted by the community policing programs. The study made use of a descriptive survey research design. The study made use of both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire. The data was then analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical measures and frequencies were utilized to provide insights about the data. A regression model was also run to be able to provide information about the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. The study established that technical expertise had a positive and significant effect on implementing community policing programs in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study concluded that enables the employees gain self-confidence that they have the knowledge and competence to perform their daily tasks to the best of their ability for effective implementation of projects. The study recommended that the project managers involved in the implementation of community policing must be highly organized and able to keep meticulous track of every aspect of every project.


Selective neural network ensemble is at present a heated research issue in the field of neural network, aimed at improving classification results accompanied by boosting generalization ability. Based on existing techniques, a neural network selection algorithm of constructing ensemble named CSEN is presented, which, to some extent, tackles the problem of selecting component neural networks. Experiments were conducted to test the validity of CSEN on several datasets and results show strong stability and high running efficiency of the algorithm. Moreover, its misclassification rate turns out to be relatively lower compared with its counterparts and leads to a much better performance.


Abstract We studied the effects of human superoxide dismutase (h-SOD) in splanchnic artery occlusion (SAO) shock. Pentobarbital anesthetized rats subjected to total occlusion of the superior mesenteric and the celiac arteries for 40 min developed a severe shock state usually resulting in a fatal outcome within 20 min after the release of the occlusion. h-SOD (10 mg/kg) was infused intravenously starting at reperfusion and lasting for 10 min. SAO shock rats treated with h-SOD maintained postreperfusion MABP at significantly higher values compared to rats receiving the vehicle (final MABP 84 ± 6 vs 46 ± 1 mm Hg, P < 0.01, respectively). Treatment with h-SOD attenuated the plasma accumulation of free amino-nitrogen compounds (P < 0.01 from vehicle) as well as the activity of the lysosomal protease cathepsin D (P < 0.05 from vehicle). Furthermore, the plasma activity of a myocardial depressant factor was significantly lower in h-SOD-treated rats than in SAO rats receiving only the vehicle (27 ± 1 vs 64 ± 3 U/ml, P < 0.01). SAO shock rats treated with h-SOD also exhibited a significantly higher survival rate than the SAO shock ± vehicle group (88% vs 11%, P < 0.01, respectively). These results support the role of oxygen-derived radicals in the pathophysiology of SAO shock, and indicate that h-SOD effectively ameliorates the deleterious effects of oxygen radicals in this severe model of ischemia and reperfusion.