Background: Deficits in inferring mental states, (theory of mind: ToM) and executive function (EF) are frequently found in Asperger's Syndrome (AS) and are common after traumatic brain Injury (TBI). Although there are commonalities between ToM and EF, there are few studies examining them by comparing these two clinical groups. Aim: To compare ToM and EF in individuals with a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome (AS) to those with TBI relative to a control group. Methods: A between groups design compared three groups of 15 participants with TBI or AS and healthy controls. Measures included the Faces Test, Eyes Test and Cartoon Test, Hayling Sentence Completion and Delis Kaplan Executive Function Subtests. Control measures for mood and general intellect were also administered. esults: The TBI and AS groups performed more poorly on ToM measures than controls F (2, 40) = 16.39, p = 0.001. The TBI group performed more poorly than the AS group on ToM measures F (1, 28) = 8.17, p = 0.01; however this effect became non
significant upon covarying for anxiety. The TBI group performed significantly more poorly than controls on all measures of EF. No significant differences in EF were found between TBI and AS groups. Scores on EF and ToM measures were correlated in the AS group but not the TBI group. Conclusions: Although individuals with TBI and AS have similar levels of impairment in EF and ToM, findings suggest that different mechanisms may underpin between group differences. Applications: Existing interventions for ToM deficits in AS may have clinical utility with individuals with TBI, however further research is needed
in this area.


The purpose of this study is to examine and explain how the role of human resource management in the career development of employees at PT. Atlas Resources Tbk South Jakarta. The research method used is to use a qualitative design with data collection techniques in the form of observation, interviews and documentation. This research is a field research where the problem posed in this study is determined by the current problem, so for this research is a qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. This study uses a phenomenological approach where the author will see a reality related to the role of human resource management in the career development of employees at PT Atlas Resources Tbk, South Jakarta. To determine the role of human resource management in employee career development indicators are used, the indicators used include fair treatment in a career, concern for direct superiors, information about various promotion opportunities, interest in being promoted, and level of satisfaction. Role can be defined as a distinctive behavior that characterizes each person in a work group or social context that has a large influence on an event, while career development is a formal effort to improve and add abilities that are expected to have an impact on the development and expansion of knowledge, thereby opening up the opportunity to get a position or title that satisfies the life of an employee. From the research results it is known that the role of human resource management in employee career development at PT. Atlas Resources Tbk is in accordance with their respective functions, that each line, each department has its own role and function in accordance with the existing organizational structure in the company. Therefore, employees must be managed properly, namely by helping employees plan their future careers in the company so that employees and the company can develop themselves to the maximum so that they can assist the organization in achieving predetermined organizational goals.


This report presents a pressure-induced permanent metallization for MoS2 under non-hydrostatic conditions. Impedance and Raman spectra were measured to study the pressure-induced structural and electronic transformations of MoS2 at up to ∼25 GPa in diamond anvil cells under both non-hydrostatic and hydrostatic conditions. The results show evidence for isostructural hexagonal distortion from 2Hc to 2Ha and metallization at ∼17 GPa and ∼20 GPa under non-hydrostatic and hydrostatic conditions, respectively. Interestingly, the metallization is irreversible only under non-hydrostatic compression. We attribute this phenomenon to the incorporation of molecules of pressure medium between layers, which mitigate compressed stress and reduce interlayer interaction.


The diagnosis of the Healthcare systems are playing prominent role with the advancement of latest technologies. Decision support systems may generate fruitful outcomes for better diagnosis for Breast cancer. The present context of the paper describes about BCD-NFIS that merely reduces usage of featured datasets using Fuzzy networks and produces enhanced accuracy of 98.24% much better results than the older approaches. The BCD-NFIS uses the methodology of Inference systems, Neural Fuzzy logic and BCD to overcome the problems. This would be very much helpful for rising physicians to simplify the diagnosis patterns through exploiting Information technology for Breast cancer.


The measurement of the composition of a formation fluid can provide great insight for petrophysical, geochemical, and phase behavior interpretation. Laboratory analyses of bottomhole samples have historically provided much of this required compositional data. The delay in providing this critical information for decision making can range from weeks to months. By the time evaluation occurs, the opportunity to collect additional samples is lost, and any ambiguities regarding the sampled fluids may not be resolved. Providing formation fluid characterization in situ and in real time by means of wireline formation testers can enhance formation characterization and sampling programs. However, direct single station fluid compositional analysis measurements by wireline formation testers have historically been limited to gas components C1-C5 and bulk oil C6+. Although some multistation extrapolation can provide information regarding asphaltene content, no direct assay of bulk oil C6+ into measured components has been available. New measurement technology based on a multivariate optical computing technique has provided evidence of saturate and aromatics content. The bulk residual of a single-phase oil with respect to the directly measured gas, saturates, and aromatic fraction represents the non-polar resins and asphaltene fraction of the oil. A comparison of tool response to laboratory values for eight formation fluids validates the measurements of gas/oil ratio (GOR), C1, saturates, and aromatics concentration. The bulk difference with measured density corresponds well with resin and asphaltene content. Because of the high associated aromatic character of fluids in and near tar mat zones, the measurement of aromatic content can be useful for pinpointing the locations of such zones. SATURATES AROMATICS RESINS


Trichomonas vaginalis is transmitted sexually in humans affecting both male and female genital tracts. A cross sectional study to determine the prevalence of T. vaginalis infection among women attending Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) Awka, Anambra State was conducted between November 2021 and January 2022.  A total of 200 apparently healthy women between the ages of 19 – 42 years volunteered and participated in the study. The study participants included pregnant and non-pregnant women, married, singles and widows from various occupations. Their urine samples were collected, centrifuged and examined under the microscope within 2 hours of collection. Diagnosis was made by detection of T. vaginalis in the wet preparation of urine deposits. An overall prevalence of 3.0% was observed among the study participants.  Prevalence of T. vaginalis was highest (5.9%) among the age group 25-30 years and no infection was observed among the age group 37-42 years. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of infection among the age groups (P>0.05).  Highest prevalence of 3.2% was observed among pregnant women while the least (2.7%) was observed in non-pregnant women. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of infection between pregnant and non-pregnant groups (P>0.05). The highest prevalence (7.5%) was observed among the students while no infection was observed among the civil servants. There was also no significant difference in the prevalence of infection among the occupational groups (P>0.05).  Married women recorded the highest prevalence (3.3%) and no infection was observed among the widows. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of infection in different marital status (P>0.05).  Asymptomatic T. vaginalis infection is common in pregnant women. Routine screening for this infection during pregnancy is recommended in order to reduce potential adverse pregnancy outcomes.


Energy harvesting technologies have being developed swiftly in the last couple of years owing to the recent developments of low power consuming features of portable and wearable electronic devices. For operating these devices and systems, eco-friendly and low frequency vibration based nanogenerators have been researched and developed. The major reason behind this rapid growth of such nanogenerators is the abundance of low frequence vibrations, which exist almost everywhere and have the potential to be easily harvested by many different transduction mechanisms. This paper reviews the key ideas and performances of these reported nanogenerators for scavenging energy from low frequency vibrations. In addition, various types of vibration sources, approaches, device architectures, materials, fabrications and practical applications of these energy scavenging devices are also reviewed.


A device including a drain, a channel, and a gate. The channel surrounds the drain and has a channel length to width ratio. The gate is situated over the channel to provide an active channel region that has an active channel region length to width ratio that is greater than the channel length to width ratio.


Zhengzhou is the first metro in the world to adopt a fourth generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE). It is initially being used to host onboard passenger information and closed circuit television (CCTV) services, alongside separate systems for its ground-based information technology (IT) networks, Tetra voice systems, and communication-based train control (CBTC) signalling. In 2014 tests will begin to host the metro's CBTC signalling on LTE, as well, with a complete switchover planned for the end of the year, if successful. With passengers increasingly demanding access to heavy data applications while on the move, LTE solutions are increasingly appealing.


Pulses of the steroid hormone ecdysone are turned off periodically through nucleo-cytoplasmic oscillations of a nuclear receptor that counteracts the neuropeptide signaling pathway responsible for activating hormone pulses in Drosophila melanogaster.


All molecular clouds are observed to be turbulent, but the origin, means of sustenance, and evolution of the turbulence remain debated. One possibility is that stellar feedback injects enough energy into the cloud to drive observed motions on parsec scales. Recent numerical studies of molecular clouds have found that feedback from stars, such as protostellar outflows and winds, injects energy and impacts turbulence. We expand upon these studies by analyzing magnetohydrodynamic simulations of molecular clouds, including stellar winds, with a range of stellar mass-loss rates and magnetic field strengths. We generate synthetic 12CO(1–0) maps assuming that the simulations are at the distance of the nearby Perseus molecular cloud. By comparing the outputs from different initial conditions and evolutionary times, we identify differences in the synthetic observations and characterize these using common astrostatistics. We quantify the different statistical responses using a variety of metrics proposed in the literature. We find that multiple astrostatistics, including the principal component analysis, the spectral correlation function, and the velocity coordinate spectrum (VCS), are sensitive to changes in stellar mass-loss rates and/or time evolution. A few statistics, including the Cramer statistic and VCS, are sensitive to the magnetic field strength. These findings demonstrate that stellar feedback influences molecular cloud turbulence and can be identified and quantified observationally using such statistics.


Although waste continues to be produced in large quantities—the rate of increase in waste production being more or less in line with the rate of growth in the economy—society is still grappling with the problem of sustainable waste management. One of the best ways to assess sustainability is in terms of mass and energy balance. A project at the University of Southampton looked at the 'energy footprint' for waste management. The project brought together data from existing work on waste quantities, materials flow and mass balance studies for a range of materials including paper, glass, plastics, metals and organics. These data have been combined with information on the energy requirements for different types of collection and processing systems for reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal of such materials. Taking into account energy benefits from any of these options, the information has been used to produce an energy and materials balance, and the results show the energy footprint and materials output of t...


Every practice needs a theory that can both enrich each other. Therefore, when I drafted the workshop "Putting Limits" (TPL) aimed at parent`s early education, the first thing I posted was a conceptual framework to guide the practice, and at the same time, parameters to evaluate the results. The TPL originated because teachers identified the main problem to work in classroom to be that students have "no limits" (don`t wait for their turn, bother, ignore, rise without permission, etc.), and their parents have some difficulty in getting their children to obey them. Being a member of GPS / ENSRP, I delved on the subject and reflections I have made based on contributions from other authors. Also, I employed Transactional Analysis which allowed me to develop conceptual assumptions that may enrich dialectically with lines of action and research on this problem by similar workshops in different contexts. However, this paper identifies and evaluates these fundamental concepts.


The subject of this study is the Aljamiado-Morisco narrative, the Alḥadix đe Musā kon Yako el-karniçero, found in Madrid, BNE, MS 5305; an adaptation of the popular "Companion in Paradise" folktale type. Through a comparative reading of this and similar renderings of this tale, I will demonstrate that the Aljamiado narrative develops a detailed exemplification of ritual-like domestic practices that, within a Morisco context of use, served as a model for the proper care of one's parents. For his fulfillment of these practices, the protagonist Jacob, condemned by the members of his community identified collectively as Banī Isrāʾīl, is promised a privileged place in Paradise alongside the prophet Moses. Contextualized within an Aljamiado-Morisco manuscript, Jacob's reward is reframed as a polemical victory for Islam over other monotheistic traditions; a recurrent theme linking several of the texts contained in this manuscript.


Context. Data-driven, time-dependent magnetofrictional modeling has proved to be an e ffi cient tool for studying the pre-eruptive build-up of energy for solar eruptions, and sometimes even the ejection of coronal flux ropes during eruptions. However, previous modeling works have illustrated the sensitivity of the results on the data-driven boundary condition, as well as the di ffi culty in modeling the ejections with proper time scales. Aims. We aim to study the pre- and post-eruptive evolution of a weak coronal mass ejection producing eruption at the periphery of isolated NOAA active region (AR) 11726 using a data-driven, time-dependent magnetofrictional simulation, and aim to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of our simulation approach. Methods. We used state-of-the-art data processing and electric field inversion methods to provide the data-driven boundary condition for the simulation. We analyzed the field-line evolution, magnetic connectivity, twist, as well as the energy and helicity budgets in the simulation to study the pre- and post-eruptive magnetic field evolution of the observed eruption from AR11726. Results. We find the simulation to produce a pre-eruptive flux rope system consistent with several features in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray observations of the eruption, but the simulation largely fails to reproduce the ejection of the flux rope. We find the flux rope formation to be likely driven by the photospheric vorticity at one of the footpoints, although reconnection at a coronal null-point may also feed poloidal flux to the flux rope. The accurate determination of the non-inductive (curl-free) component of the photospheric electric field boundary condition is found to be essential for producing the flux rope in the simulation. Conclusions. Our results illustrate the applicability of the data-driven, time-dependent magnetofrictional simulations in modeling the pre-eruptive evolution and formation process of a flux rope system, but they indicate that the modeling output becomes problematic for the post-eruptive times. For the studied event, the flux rope also constituted only a small part of the related active region.


The biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was reported using Hydnocarpus alpina leaf extracts as reducing agent. Metallic nanoparticles are traditionally synthesized by wet chemical techniques, where the chemicals used are quite often toxic and flammable. In this research article, a simple and eco-friendly biosynthesis of AgNPs was prepared using Hydnocarpus alpina leaf extract as reducing agent. The AgNPs were characterized by UV-vis, FT-IR, XRD and SEM techniques. The UV-Vis spectrum of AgNPs in aqueous solution showed absorbance peak around 414 nm due to Surface Plasmon resonance. AgNPs were confirmed with XRD which exhibited intense peak. Besides the above, the FTIR analysis showed that C-O, -C-N-, -C=C-, -CC-, N-H, O-H and C-H are the functional groups are present, which may involved in the AgNPs synthesis. Again, AgNPs size was confirmed by SEM analysis which showed that particles were in the range of 43 to 52 nm in size. Further, the biosynthesized AgNPs are to analyze antimicrobial activity and in vitro antioxidant activity has been evaluated.


Based on the non-parametric DEA method and provincial panel data,total factor energy efficiency(TTFE) of 28 provincial units in China' steel sector during 1992-2008 was estimated.In order to measure regional divergence of Chinese steel energy efficiency,7 major economic regions is constructed and efficiency characteristics are analyzed.The results indicate that:(1) China's steel sector has great potential to raise energy efficiency.(2) Adjusted mount of energy mainly concentrates in three major economic regions including central region,southwest region and northwest region.(3)U shape relationship exists between TTFE and regionally economic level for china's steel sector,scale return promoting TTFE can be showed in the period of intensive expansion;(4)Discrepancy of technological progress in major economic regions is a main factor to affect TTFE.


Until recently, most American Catholic histories and anthologies treated the role of women as an afterthought. New narratives have recovered this role with respect to institutional and social facts. Few, however, give voice to fiction, and most overlook the literary imagination of Flannery O'Connor. O'Donnell addresses this lacuna with a succinct yet stunning account of O'Connor as both a brilliant storyteller and an incomparable intellectual. O'D.'s work nuances the biographies of Paul Elie and Brad Gooch through her own theological commentary, delving deeper into the faith behind O'Connor's fiction. The book leaves one wondering whether the self-described "hillbilly Thomist" merits the title theologian. To be sure, Wise Blood is no Summa or Method in Theology. Nevertheless, O'D.'s study crafts a compelling case for the theological acumen behind O'Connor's pen. The book traces the development of O'Connor's theological worldview with a sympathetic yet critical eye. For instance, O'D. adeptly handles the ambiguities of O'Connor's relationship with Southern racism. Overall, the study charts two theological trajectories in O'Connor's development. The first focuses on her life as a quasimonastic. After the storyteller's reluctant return to rural Georgia, O'D. highlights how O'Connor lived an informal "vow of stability," such that as she "was growing less capable of going out into the world, it seemed to be coming to her" (75–76). Her regimented observance of mass and her breviary framed her writing at the same time that her fame grew among her contemporaries. Her prayer became her means of an honest pilgrimage that wrestled with light and darkness in the church she loved. In a similar vein, O'D.'s second trajectory details how O'Connor's theology of the Mystical Body undergirds her works. The storyteller's employment of "freaks" and "folks" in her writing reflects what O'D. terms her "literary credo," a worldview embracing the flaws of humanity to unveil the invisible hand of grace and its transformation of evil into good (73). The book's brevity is appropriate for a figure whose short stories have left a lasting mark on American Catholic consciousness. A helpful index is included.


Projects are applied as a work-form in several organisations. Both public and private sectors widely adopt the project concept to create the product or service that they aim at. Projects are goal-oriented, one-time activities that have time and resource limitations. Even though projects are widely applied in modern organisations, project management is recognised as one of the more challenging tasks in business and one that requires multiple skills to master. The skills encompass technical project management skills such as resource planning and managing a budget; but also a complex mixture of soft skills such as communication, trust building and managing the stakeholders of a project. Current methods for training project managers have received criticisms that call for new approaches to support learning. One such approach is experiential learning for fresh project managers to gain a variety of project experiences in a virtual environment through serious games. This paper discusses the aspects of learning that are important for project manager; in particular, the diverse set of soft skills that are important to managing stakeholder, which are of vital importance for successful projects. The aim of this paper is to examine how specific affordances of serious games can support learning for project managers in construction projects. The main research question that we aim to answer in this paper is: How can serious games support competence development for project managers? This is a conceptual paper and the discussions have been by our work in understanding the diverse technical and soft skills in project management and stakeholder management. This paper aims to contribute to an increased understanding of the competences and how they can be supported by serious games.


In one set of topics providing a multicast host for communicating information published about any topic to the one or more authorized subscribers to those topics, the set of the topics being partitioned into one or more partition elements, each partition element the at least one partition element having a partition element encryption key associated therewith, is a disjoint proper subset of the set of topics, respectively, it means that the multicast host receives information related to the topic; It means for determining a partition element for the topic; It means for retrieving a partition element encryption key associated with the partition element; It means for encrypting the partition element encryption key and the retrieved information; The information comprises means for communicating to the one or more authorized subscribers.


BACKGROUND
Since the late 1980s, resident physicians have spent increasing amounts of time on electronic health record (EHR) data entry and retrieval. Objective longitudinal data measuring time spent on the EHR are lacking.

OBJECTIVE
We sought to quantify the time actually spent using the EHR by all first-year internal medicine residents in a single program (N = 41).

METHODS
Active EHR usage data were collected from the audit logs for May, July, and October 2014 and January 2015. Per recommendations from our EHR vendor (Cerner Corporation), active EHR usage time was defined as more than 15 keystrokes, or 3 mouse clicks, or 1700 "mouse miles" per minute. Active EHR usage time was tallied for each patient chart viewed each day and termed an electronic patient record encounter (EPRE).

RESULTS
In 4 months, 41 interns accumulated 18,322 hours of active EHR usage in more than 33,733 EPREs. Each intern spent on average 112 hours per month on 206 EPREs. Interns spent more time in July compared to January (41 minutes versus 30 minutes per EPRE, P < .001). Time spent on the EHR in January echoed that of the previous May (30 minutes versus 29 minutes, P = .40).

CONCLUSIONS
First-year residents spent a significant amount of time actively using the EHR, achieving maximal proficiency on or before January of the academic year. Decreased time spent on the EHR may reflect greater familiarity with the EHR, growing EHR efficiencies, or other factors.


The structure of ethylene copolymers modified by α-olefins has become an area of intense investigation since the successful commercialization of so-called linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) resins. The molecular structure of a series of typical commercial LLDPE copolymers was investigated and compared to LDPE and HDPE. The commercial LLDPE resins studied contained about 7% by weight of butene-1. The resins were fractionated according to short-chain branching content by a technique called temperature rising elution fractionation. Size exclusion chromatography, x-ray diffraction, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, intrinsic viscosity, and differential scanning calorimetry were used to fully characterize the whole polymers as well as fractions of a selected LLDPE resin. A broad set of data was assembled in this work to investigate the short-chain branching, long-chain branching, and the molecular-weight distribution of these commercial resins. The melting behavior of the LLDPE resins was found to be strikingly different from that of LDPE and HDPE. The broad and multimodal melting envelope of the LLDPE resins was found to be due to a broad and multimodal short-chain branching distribution. No significant long-chain branching was found in the LLDPE resins. The short-chain branching was found to decrease with the increase of molecular weight in a typical commercial LLDPE resin. The unique physical properties of these resins are certainly strongly controlled by the expression of the distinctive heterogeneous comonomer incorporation in the solid-state morphological structure. The physical and mechanical properties of these materials should be ultimately understandable on the basis of the unique morphology which results from the extremely heterogeneous incorporation of modifying α-olefin in these commercial LLDPE resins.


Purpose - This study focuses on an empirical analysis of the factors affecting the behaviors of consumers who are extremely attached to branded...


Tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells (TRM) confer rapid protection and immunity against viral infections. Many viruses have evolved mechanisms to inhibit MHCI presentation in order to evade effector CD8+ T cells, suggesting that these mechanisms may also apply to TRM-mediated protection. However, the effects of viral MHCI inhibition on the function and generation of TRM is unknown. We show that viral MHCI inhibition dampens immunodominance within the lung TRM pool, indicating an effect on the TRM repertoire, but this effect was not observed in the skin. In the presence of viral MHCI inhibition, the overall development of TRM is unaffected, yet is unexpectedly enhanced with local cognate antigen, while local cognate antigen is not required for TRM maintenance. Moreover, viral MHCI inhibition efficiently evades TRM effector functions. These findings suggest that vaccine strategies involving pure T-cell approaches may provide poor efficacy against viruses that target the MHCI pathway.


This chapter contains sections titled: Anatomical Plan of Information Flow, Potential For Pattern Recognition By Striatal Spiny Neurons, Corticothalamic Loops and Working Memory, Use of Registered Contexts in the Control Of Behavior, References


Objectives: The present study aimed at investigating the potential of using 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid against the cariogenic characteristics of Streptococcus mutans UA159.
Methods: The effects of 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid on biofilm formation and acid production were evaluated; the latter are indicators of cariogenicity of S. mutans. Biofilm architecture was also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and changes in gene expression related to biofilm formation were studied by quantitative RT-PCR.
Results: Treatment with 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid at a concentration of 20 mg/ml inhibited biofilm formation by 95% in the absence of sucrose and 60% in its presence, reduced acid production by 88.8%, and significantly suppressed the gene expression of comDE, gbpB, gtfC and vicR, which are thought to be involved in the virulence of S. mutans.
Conclusions: These results suggest that 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid could be used as a complementary or alternative agent for preventing dental caries by interfering with the virulence properties of S. mutans without affecting the viability of the bacterial population.


We simulated tensor-train decomposed neural networks realized by Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based scalable photonic neuromorphic devices. The simulation results demonstrate that under practical hardware imprecisions, the TT-decomposed neural networks can achieve >90% test accuracy with 33.6× fewer MZIs than conventional photonic neural network implementations.


Abstract This paper is focused on the reliability analysis of an existing reinforced concrete bridge from 1908. The load bearing capacity is assessed in accordance with valid standards using updated partial factors and the partial factors for structural design. Load bearing capacities obtained by these methods are critically compared. The application of the updated partial factors leads to 15% higher load bearing capacity than the ordinary partial factor method used for structural design.


The contemporary interpersonal theory of personality is a robust, interdisciplinary, and integrative nomological framework that continues to evolve both conceptually and methodologically, incorporating advances that keep pace with psychological science. In this chapter, we present the fundamental assumptions, descriptive meta-structure, and developmental, motivational, and regulatory processes of the contemporary integrative interpersonal theory of personality. Interpersonal theory provides a nomological net that facilitates interdisciplinary conceptualizations of normal and pathological personality development and functioning by emphasizing the interpersonal situation as a prominent unit of analysis. Organized by the metaconstructs of agency and communion, the empirically validated interpersonal circumplex model provides a key descriptive map of interpersonal constructs. Conceptualizing personality in terms of interpersonal themes and dynamics linked to agency and communion at multiple levels, and elaborating these through consideration of pathoplastic relationships, patterns of interpersonal intraindividual variability, and socially contextualized interpersonal signatures provides a framework for integration of personality dispositions and personality processes within a common metric that is directly tied to psychological theory. This comprehensive paradigm provides clear propositions for research on personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy and their interpenetrating relationships.

Keywords:

personality;
interpersonal;
interpersonal circumplex;
agency;
communion


With the deep study of swarm intelligence, biologists found that fish swarm changes in formation gradually in time during their movement. This formation change leads to a better and more effective access to evade predator and opportunity to capture food, so that the group's overall performance is improved. The architecture of artificial fish formation is established based on the behavioral model of artificial fish swarm. The mechanism of formation change is analyzed. A self-adaptive control algorithm of formation is proposed in this paper. The parameters optimized PSO algorithm is used to simulate the process of keeping its balance during the formation change. Thus, the problem on relative bad adaptability and large systematic traffic in existing algorithms of formation is resolved.


As a rule there is little scope for the critic in an introductory lecture. Still a short notice of Professor Greenfield's address, on such a comprehensive title, may be useful. Having referred to his predecessors in the Chair, defined pathology, and traced the history of morbid anatomy from the time of Hippocrates until the foundation of his Chair in 1831, by mentioning the names of the leading authors on the Continent and in this country, he gives


Considering the factors of geometrical nonlinearity and material nonlinearity, a long span CFST arch bridge is analyzed in this paper. The results show that the influence of nonlinearity is remarkable for long span(exceed 300m) and lesser ratio of width to span (about 1/20). Nonlinearity must be considered in calculating structural internal forces of long span CFST arch bridge.


In this contribution, an implicative variant of the conjunctive normal form will be recalled and further studied. This normal form is an alternative to the Perfilieva's conjunctive normal form. It will be shown that it is a suitable model for a particular case of graded fuzzy rules introduced as a generalization of classical fuzzy rules. Moreover, approximation properties of the implicative variant of the conjunctive normal form provide a view on a class of fuzzy relations that can be "efficiently" approximated using this normal form. Newly, a suitable inference rule the graded rules formalized using the implicative variant of the conjunctive normal form will be introduced and analyzed. Results in this field extend the theory of approximate reasoning as well as the theory of fuzzy functions. Keywords-Graded fuzzy rules; Normal forms; Approximate reasoning; Fuzzy functions; Fuzzy control;


THE estimation of structural coefficients is of great importance in econometric research, as Haavelmo (1943, 1944) has shown. We will treat this problem here under the assumption that there are errors in the variables (similar to errors of observation) but no errors in the equations (Tintner, 1946a). In econometrics we desire also sometimes a test for the existence of linear relationships between structural coefficients. An example is the problem of the Douglas-type production function (Douglas, 1934; Davis, 1941, pp. 153 ff). This function is linear in the logarithms. It is desired to know if the product is a homogeneous function of degree one in the factors of production (Stigler, 1941, pp. 320 ff). This involves in our case the sum of certain weighted regression coefficients. These can be estimated if errors in the variables and not errors in the equations are assumed to be present. A statistical test may give us an idea about the problem of increasing, decreasing or constant returns to scale. The last case corresponds to homogeneity of degree one of the production function. We observe p variables at N points in time: Xit (i = 1, 2, . . . p; t = 1, 2, . . . N). Let us assume that each observation Xit consists of two parts; the systematic part M,t, and a disturbance or error Yit (Anderson, 1948; Geary, 1948; Koopmans, 1937; Tintner, 1944b, 1945, 1946 a, b). Xit = Mit Jr Yit (i = 1, 2, . p; t = 1, 2, . N) . . (1)


Students with low vision who participate in inclusive programs in primary, secondary, or tertiary education can use optical devices for near and short-term distant tasks. Sustained use of these devices, however, can be physically difficult and tiring, especially for reading all the information on blackboards or whiteboards or displayed around the room. In many inclusive settings, a teacher aide or student peer supports these students by sitting beside them and copying, reading, or describing information. Although beneficial, this support can cause embarrassment and facilitate dependence. This paper describes development of a system that enables students with vision impairments to view easily text, people, or objects in a classroom. Software was designed for a personal computer, rotating web camera, and a joystick or mouse. Students at a desk can scan, zoom and focus on near or far information within a 7 metre radius. As writing and reading areas are accessed simultaneously through a split screen, students can record notes or complete written tasks while viewing text or images. They can interact immediately as the text or image is added and be less isolated from regular class activities. This technology has potential for the enhancement of literacy, social interaction and independence.


1. Introduction. To determine cohomology groups of holomorphic vector bundles or more general coherent analytic sheaves on complex manifolds is very important in several complex variables and complex geometry. For example, Cartan-Serre's theorem B and Kodaira's vanishing theorem are fundamental respectively in the studies of two classes of complex manifolds: Stein manifolds and projective algebraic manifolds. Deformation and moduli space of complex structures are also closely related to the determination of the cohomology groups of the bundles according to Kodaira-Spencer's theory. Some concrete calculations of cohomology groups on some well-known manifolds have been given. For example, cohomology groups of holomorphic line bundles (and more general holomorphic vector bundles with trivial pull back) on primary Hopf manifolds were calculated, where the Douady sequence (a short exact sequence of complexes, cf. [1,4,10,11,14]) plays a key role in the calculation. The purpose of the present note is to generalize the Douady sequence to the case of non-primary Hopf manifolds, so that the cohomology groups of a holomorphic line bundles (and more general holomorphic vector bundles with trivial pull back) over arbitrary Hopf manifolds could be calculated. This could be used to obtain a criterion for a continuous complex vector bundle over any Hopf manifold admitting a holomorphic structure and to study the filtrability of the holomorphic vector bundles over any Hopf manifold and the moduli space of any Hopf manifold.


-Drug abuse and trafficking constitute two problems face by nation across the globe. The two problems have negative effects on socio-economic development, national and international security. While government at various level are applying control measures, the problem continue to exist especially in developing countries with weak rule of law. Drug baron and cartels continue to threaten countries with weak governance and corrupt officials which easily become victims of the machinations and trick of traffickers. The paper addresses the problem of drug abuse and trafficking as impediment to socio-economic development and national security. Based on the findings of the paper, the paper recommends among others; enhance intelligence and information sharing; protect financial system and strategic markets against trafficking and other transnational organized crime; strength interdiction, investigations and prosecutions; disrupt drug Trafficking and its facilitation of other transnational threats; and build international capacity, cooperation, and partnerships.


Providing a structured graphics model and a constraint system makes the programming of graphical applications significantly easier. In a structured graphics model, each graphic element on the screen is represented by a real object in the object system, while a constraint system automatically maintains relationships among the objects. Although many research systems and a few commercial environments provide structured graphics and constraints, none scale up to large interfaces with thousands of objects and thousands of constraints. This paper presents four techniques to overcome this problem: automatic elimination of constraints that depend only on values that do not change, layout hints to help with refresh and hit detection, "virtual aggregates" that only pretend to allocate objects for their components, and compiling composite aggregates into a single object with a complex draw method. These have been implemented as part of the Garnet environment, and we have demonstrated that together they allow structured graphics and constraints to scale up to applications with tens of thousands of objects and constraints without compromising the ease-of-use.


Traditionally,organizations operated in a steady-going environment. But now,the development of technology,cut of industry cycles,uncertainty of factors will generate a complex and changeable environment. Based on the importance of HRM,the paper reviewed the conception of ″fit″ among environment,strategy and HRM,pointed out that different strategy in different environment needs different HRM to improve firm performance.


As part of a programme of research into urban traffic congestion, its causes and possible cures, the Department of Transport has commissioned research into ways of using parking control to reduce traffic demand in congested urban areas. The first stage of the project, which will be completed in March 1993, will review the key issues, the range of policy tools that might be available, and the adequacy of current modelling and evaluation techniques. Four case studies will be selected for detailed study in Stage 2. During Stage 2, research to bridge gaps in knowledge will be undertaken, along with the development of analytical tools. Through the case studies, a range of scenarios, including appropriate complementary measures, will be studied to assess the effectiveness of parking control measures in reducing traffic demand. This research is expected to be completed in early 1995. (A) This abstract only is published in the seminar proceedings. For the covering abstract see IRRD 863439.


To validate structural Finite Element models, test data, e. g. from an experimental modal analysis, may be utilized in order to update mass and stiffness parameters. For frequency response calculations, however, proper modeling of structural damping mechanisms must be achieved as well to obtain acceptable estimates of the overall response levels. Going even further towards fluid-structure-analyses, the absorption behavior of the cavity boundary and of interior components (seats etc.) need to be respected.


Application of an efficient flow control system on helicopter rotor blades may lead to improved aerodynamic performance. Recently, the own invention of a passive vortex generator (Rod Vortex Generator RVG) has been analysed for channel and wing flows proving its capability to reduce flow separation. The application of this passive flow control device on helicopter rotor blades is described in the present paper. The basic flow mechanism is based on the intensification of exchange of momentum in the direction normal to the wall by a streamwise vortex. High momentum air is transferred to the low momentum region close to the surface and therefore the separation bubble is reduced. The present CFD investigation was carried out with the FLOWer code from DLR which solves the Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations using the chimera overlapping grids technique and LEA (Linear Explicit Algebraic Stress) k-ω turbulence model. The validation of the numerical setup for high-speed transonic hover conditions is based on a comparison with experimental data obtained by Caradonna and Tung (1981). For forward flight regime, the validation is based on a comparison with flight test data gathered by Cross and Watts for the AH-1G helicopter (1988). It has been proven that the application of the proposed flow control system reduces the size of the separation bubble increasing the aerodynamic performance in both states of flight. Nomenclature Symbols c blade chord (m) d rod diameter (m) h rod height (m) L spacing between vortex generators (m) M Mach number (-) MT tip Mach number (-) M∞ forward flight Mach number (-) ReT tip Reynolds number (-) r rod radius (m) V∞ forward flight velocity (km/h) Cf skin friction coefficient (-) CP blade pressure coefficient (-) CPo rotor power coefficient (-) CQ rotor torque coefficient (-) CT rotor thrust coefficient (-) α rod skew angle ( ̊) β c backward disk tilt ( ̊) β s sideways disk tilt ( ̊) δ boundary layer thickness (m) μ rotor advance ratio (-) θ 0 blade collective angle ( ̊) θ c lateral cyclic coefficient ( ̊) θ s longitudinal cyclic coefficient ( ̊) Θ rod pitch angle ( ̊) ψ blade azimuthal position ( ̊) Abbreviations C-T Caradonna and Tung FC Flow Control RVGs Rod Vortex Generators VGs Vortex Generators


The study was conducted to determine sexual dimorphism in body shapes of S. fuscescens in five selected bays in Mindanao Island, Philippines. Likewise, shape and size relationship was assessed within species and between populations of the fish. The method of landmark-based geometric morphometrics was used to describe the body shapes and size of the fish. Twenty-five landmark points were digitized from images of 194 individuals and relative warp analysis was done. Thin-plate spline and Manova/CVA were used in presenting shape variations, where in this study body shape characteristics of the fish from different populations were observed. Discriminant function analysis and Hotelling's tests however showed no sexual dimorphism in body shape for all the populations. Shape variations were observed to be size-dependent. Both sexes of S. fuscescens were different from all other populations for having small sizes.


Thailand is an important country on the maritime Silk Road. Chaozhou Opera has a long history in Thailand. At present, it plays an important role in the transmission of national spirit, but it also faces new opportunities and challenges. Therefore, this paper analyzes the current situation of Chaozhou Opera in Thailand from the perspective of cultural communication, and puts forward corresponding solutions and innovative paths for the shortcomings in the communication process.


This paper describes the transformations in the modes of health care financing and delivery that occurred during the last decade in Argentina. The hypothesis alludes to a new "lost decade" for health care in the country. Emphasis is placed on the political analysis of the main relations between social actors and state actors during the implementation of health care reform. The focus on history attempts to provide a vision of historic legacy on the processes involved, taking into account the particular conditions in the Health Sector that limit the ability of the State to regulate it.


The high frequency asymptotic method of sound pressure calculation at the beginning of convergence zones and at the end of shadow zones is described. The authors find a family of rays that transfer acoustic energy from the source to the receiver without actually joining them. The influence of such rays will be significant in the shadow zone at the beginning of the convergence zone. It starts nearer to the source, and it does not begin with a peak, but gradually. To investigate the influence of the emanating area of the internal tidal waves on the sound field structure, a program calculating the disturbance of the sound speed field in a range-dependent ocean and bathymetry was developed. The results of numerical investigation of the influence of intrathermocline lenses and semi-diurnal tidal waves on the sound field structure within the first kilometers of the convergence zone are observed.<<ETX>>


Objective: To study the effects of compoun Dcordyceps militaris(CCM) on immune function in C57BL/6 tumor bearing mice.Method: Transplanted Lewis tumor mice were established using subcutaneous injection of Lewis cells into C57BL/6 mice.C57BL/6 tumor bearing mice were randomly divided into five groups,namely,control group and positive group(cyclophosphamide ip 20 mg·kg-1),the low,middle and high dosage groups(ig 1.2,2.5,7.5 g·kg-1) for 14 constitutive days.The tumor inhibition rate,CD4+/CD8+ ratio,contents of interleukin(IL)-2,IL-12 and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in tumor bearing mice serum,antibody-producing cells and forced swimming time were respectively determined.Result: CCM(7.5 g·kg-1),orally administered,had a significant inhibitory action on the growth of tumor,with the inhibition rate as 40.3%(P0.05).CCM(7.5 g·kg-1) also improved CD3+,CD4+,CD4+/CD8+ ratio compared with the control group.Meanwhile,CCM(2.5,7.5 g·kg-1) enhanced the content of IL-2,IL-12 and TNF-α level,forced swimming time and antibody-producing cells(P0.05).Conclusion: These findings suggested that CCM could promote the function of immunity in C57BL/6 tumor bearing mice.


Abstract Why do some people make extreme sacrifices for their group? We propose that the identity fusion theory helps to understand extreme pro-group behaviour. Identity fusion entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. Since the borders between the personal and social self are highly permeable for fused persons, they care about the outcomes of the group as much as their own outcomes. In this article we start by introducing what identity fusion is and the four principles that conceptually capture its essence. After presenting the three alternative methods for measuring identity fusion, we review empirical evidence demonstrating what identity fusion predicts, and the underlying mechanisms that moderate and mediate its consequences. The next sections focus on the possible causes of identity fusion, and we introduce suggestions for diminishing undesirable extreme behaviours by decreasing fusion (i.e., 'de-fusion'). In a final section, we briefly discuss alternative theories of the causes of extreme behaviours and their relation to identity fusion theory.


Previously, a weak phenotype Am or Bm was assumed to be caused by a reduction of A or B gene expression in bone marrow cells, but not in mucus‐secreting cells. However, ABO expression has not been examined in erythroid progenitor cells of Am or Bm individuals.


The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of compensation systems on the work performance of employees (junior staff) of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The sample size for the study was 346. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the junior staff. Also, 24 administrators were selected purposively to help collect data from the respondents. Questionnaire and an annual assessment form were the instruments used in collecting data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing the data. Findings from the study show that junior staff have positive view on the University's compensation packages as a whole. However, junior staff view on the University's compensation packages do not influence employees' work performance directly. It does so only if it boosts their level of satisfaction which in turn boost their commitment to the University and in the long run increase their work performance. It was recommended to management of the University to ensure a congenial environment and improved its compensation packages, especially non-financial, to encourage and motivate staff to be committed to the University which will leads to a significant increase in the work performance of the staff.


The cultivation of "bi-musicality" to be implemented in school musical education needs to be based on the rational idea of educators about the essence of the musical educators as a premise."Bi-musicality" teaching in China's musical education needs to be focused on the recapture of traditional music cultural resource for ethnic groups in China(including multiple "musicality",followed by the capture of "non-Europe music" beyond Europe and north America in content.The focus should be set in methodology on teaching curriculum design and localized textbook construction with characteristics,field work for cultural(musical)anthropology and learners'multiple musical practice.


The Lendak Pieta is an outstanding 14th-century Slovakian -- perhaps Hungarian -- woodcarving. Examination, however, revealed that only parts of the present object can be considered original. Previous restorations added much to the image. Recently, this examination influenced the restoration principles and caused conflict between restorers and the owner/employer. -- AATA


Just as Internet connectivity has enabled intuitive information sharing and interaction through the Web, so the Internet of Things might be the basis for the Web of Things, enabling equally simple interaction among devices, systems, users, and applications.


Protein kinase B (cid:1) (PKB (cid:1) /Akt1) is implicated in the regulation of metabolism, transcription, cell survival, angiogenesis, cell migration, growth, and tumorigene-sis. Previously, it was reported that PKB (cid:1) -deficient mice are small with increased neonatal mortality (Cho, H., J. L., Chu, Q., F., and Birnbaum, M. J. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 38349–38352 and Chen, W. S., Xu, P. Z., Gottlob, K., Chen, M. L., Sokol, K., Shiy-anova, T., Roninson, I., Wenig, W., Suzuki, R., Tobe, K., Kadowaki, T., and Hay, N. (2001) Genes Dev. 15, 2203– 2208). Here we show that PKB (cid:1) is widely expressed in placenta including all types of trophoblast and vascular endothelial cells. Pkb (cid:1) (cid:2) / (cid:2) phosphorylation neonatal These data represent the first evidence for the role of PKB (cid:1) and endothelial nitric-oxide synthase in regulating placental development and provide an animal model for intrauterine growth retardation. nitric-oxide synthase;


The problems of Internet services security are becoming particularly important due to intricacy structure and dynamic nature of distributed environment, especially in a cloud and virtualized systems. The complexity of distributed platforms demands more functionality to be provided by security devices. Among these required functions is the ability to configure these devices online in accordance with the current state of the network environment through which users can gain an access to information services. The performance of security services is a major issue. This paper proposes a firewall-based solution for implementing access control using multiple cores in virtualized and pure hardware environments, and describes dynamic access control based on virtual connections management with the mechanism of traffic filtering in a transparent (also called "stealth") mode. In this mode, the firewall is not visible to other participants (components) of network interactions, and, thus, it allows implementing the access policy, but remains invulnerable for


Monte Carlo is the only choice for a physically correct method to do global illumination in the field of realistic image rendering. Adaptive sampling is an appealing means to reduce noise, which is resulted from the general Monte Carlo global illumination algorithms. In this paper, we take advantage of fuzzy rule-based reasoning to achieve different refinement thresholds for different pixels in the synthesized image. The developed technique can do adaptive sampling elaborately and effectively. Extensive implementation results indicate that our novel method can achieve significantly better than classic ones. To our knowledge, this is the first application of the fuzzy inference to global illumination.


In current economic systems, the nonprofit and voluntary world plays an important role; several studies analyse the reason for the emergence and development of these organizations and suggest reasons related to the dissemination (in particular after the Great Depression of the Thirties) of policies that, with a view to safeguarding the weaker social groups, first consider public intervention and then the third way of the economy, ways to increase wealth and support economic development. The characteristic of modern nonprofit concerns is their organization in the form of enterprises; this encourages the development of capabilities to satisfy human needs in terms of production of goods and utilities. For the survival and development of nonprofit organizations, systematic cooperation with the local context, especially with enterprises, is becoming increasingly more important. Of course, excellent opportunities for economic and social growth and for mutual development can develop from this type of cooperation. Starting from these considerations, the purpose of our research is to offer a series of reflections on the cooperation between for-profit and nonprofit enterprises (as proposed in the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate) considering a number of collaboration experiences between the two types of organization developed in our local territory. From a methodological point of view, after a theoretical analysis of the nonprofit concept, this work analyses the Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate focusing particular attention on the topic of nonprofit organizations and their relations with the world of enterprise. In this sense, a description of the initiative promoted by Forum Solidarieta and an analysis of the empirical results are of interest; the paper proposes some final considerations and further discussions.


The present invention describes a high temperature resistant coating for a substrate made of a transparent material having a metal oxide layer formed on the substrate made of titanium oxide (TiO


In Hungary, alternative water resources utilization should take priority over the conventional irrigation water resources (surface and subsurface waters) in the future, similarly to the global trends because of the global warming and water scarcity. To preserve our most important renewable natural resource (soil), farmers and researchers are responsible for development of soil management practices and irrigation principles. Adaptation by farmers of this new, sustainable technologies soil degradation can be avoided, and the natural soil processes can be improved. Usage of different quality irrigation water was evaluated in our experiment measuring the variation of the soil exchangeable cations after one season of irrigations using wastewater in an energy willow plantation. The thermal water based wastewater, originated from an intensive catfish farm, was applied for micro-sprinkler irrigation in the Lysimeter Station of National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (NAIK), Research Department of Irrigation and Water Management (OVKI) in Szarvas, Hungary. According to our results the exchangeable sodium percentage (NaS%) increased significantly in all wastewater treatments with +1.164.4% after one year, and the sodium decreased significantly in the treatment with Körös River water irrigation with -0.26-1.1%. There were no significant changes in the NaS% when a diluted and improved (gypsum-added) wastewater was applied, and the soil's sodium content did not increase above 200 mg/kg. In addition, the willow yields depended on the available irrigation water amount and there was no significant impact of the irrigation water quality on it. The highest biomass yields (4480.8±435.8 g/m) were achieved in treatments with 60 mm water per two weeks. The accumulated sodium in the willow stem was less than 1% of the irrigation water sodium content, making the removal of this harmful element by willow harvest unsuitable. The results suggest that further wastewater irrigation usage might be sustainable with the diluted and improved quality water.


China has entered a period of the simultaneous development of industrialization,urbanization and agricultural modernization,and how to realize the modernization of agriculture has become the key problem.To this problem,the citizenization of the peasants is critical.Fristly,citizenization of farmers can fundamentally relieve the contradiction between agricultural population and land,and then,agricultural operations can shift from decentralized operation to scale operation.Secondly,the citizenization of peasants will promote the continually development of urbanization and industrialization.At the same time,it will also play an important role in breaking the middle income trap.So it is very important for our government to actively deepen the system reforms so as to accelerate the process of farmers' transformation into urban inhabitants.


James Krapfl's translation of "The Power of the Powerless and further Havelian Paradoxes in the Stream of Time" familiarizes the Anglophone audience with the work of an eminent Czech historian, Jiří Suk, who in this project was joined by his junior colleague, Kristina Andělová. Suk and Andělová present an analysis of Václav Havel's oeuvre that refines the understanding of his philosophy, his politics, and, perhaps most importantly, his personality in ways particularly important for scholars who are unable to read Czech. In his work on the translation, Krapfl encountered some disparities between Suk's and Andělová's interpretation of the Czech original and the linguistic choices in certain phrases made by Paul Wilson in his renowned rendition of Havel's most famous essay, The Power of the Powerless. Prompted by Krapfl's discoveries, Wilson has added footnotes that refine his translation of this essay, in what will surely become the canonical version in English and lead scholars to a new appreciation of Havelian thought. Krapfl thus demonstrates the way a collegial translation can transcend its narrowly understood task, rising to a level of accomplishment virtually out of reach for someone well trained linguistically but not cognizant with the disciplinary issues involved.


A long standing conjecture states that the ropelength of any alternating knot is at least proportional to its crossing number. In this paper we prove that this conjecture is true. That is, there exists a constant $b_0>0$ such that $R(K)\ge b_0Cr(K)$ for any alternating knot $K$, where $R(K)$ is the ropelength of $K$ and $Cr(K)$ is the crossing number of $K$. In this paper, we prove that this conjecture is true.


Memory bandwidth is a bottleneck in current 3D graphics systems. Traditional hidden surface removal Z-Buffer algorithm will result in memory bandwidth bottleneck in complex scenes. Its efficiency is low. Thus the hierarchical Z-Buffer, which is a reduced resolution Z-Buffer, is proposed to remove hidden surface more efficiently. Here we present a two-level hierarchical Z-Buffer algorithm, which is suitable for 3D graphics hardware implementation. It is not application visible and can be integrated with the rendering pipelines smoothly. A bit-mask cache is added to solve the hierarchical Z-Buffer update problem. Performance under different hierarchical block sizes, bit-mask cache sizes and hierarchical Z-Buffer accuracy are analyzed. The simulation results show that the overall Z-Buffer access bandwidth can be reduced from 10 to 35 percent.


The purpose of this study is to understand the volume of generic competitive actions initiated or executed by the three major mobile telecommunications operators in Turkey, as well as the nature of these actions and the observable patterns with which they were carried out within a 10-year period. The study is the third in a series of studies aimed at completely mapping the competitive dynamics of the mobile telecommunications network operating industry. It adopts a mixed method approach leaning more towards the qualitative than quantitative method of social science research inquiry, as it builds upon findings from the second study in the series in a bid to shed more light into the very nature of competitive actions carried out by each of the firms under study, the resources they depended upon to carry them out and most importantly, the volume of generic competitive action each of the firms accounted for in their interaction with rivals during the time period under study. The findings revealed that all three companies were more likely to carry out generic action types of the 'Bring about' category than any other generic action type. Also financial resources accounted for the major resource upon which the firms observed depended for the initiation and execution of these actions. These and much more observations were found to be of immense value to the present body of literature and to both industry and non-industry stakeholders.


【Objective】To investigate the diagnostic value of bronchial reactivity index(BRI)to bronchial asthma.【Methods】 A total of 101 cases with positive bronchial provocation test have been enrolled into our study.Two years following up,4 patients were lost,the remaining 97 patients were divided into two groups(asthma group and non-asthmatic group)according to clinical diagnose criterion;asthma group had 56 cases and non-asthmatic group 41 cases.All BRI were calculated,logistic regression was applied to assess the interaction between BRI and asthma,the sensitivity and specificity of BRI in the diagnosis of asthma were assessed according to ROC curve.【Results】BRI for asthma group and non-asthmatic group were 1.37±0.17 and 1.19±0.11,respectively(P0.05).By logistic regression,BRI was the only independent variable identified as a predictor in the diagnosis of bronchial asthma.Area beneath the ROC curve was 81.6%.The optimal cut-off of BRI differentiate asthmatic and non-asthmatic subjects,which was bigger than or equal to 1.30,was selected according to the ROC curve.This point reached 69.6%sensitivity and 85.4%specificity in the diagnosis of bronchial asthma.【Conclusion】The diagnosis of bronchial asthma specificity can be improved greatly association positive bronchial provocation test with BRI.


Although flip-chip solder bump technology has been practiced for over 30 years, it is only now on the verge of making its way into mainstream packaging. Array packages are becoming very popular due to their inherent advantages in interconnect density, electrical performance, speeds and chip size. The number of pin counts for advanced microprocessors, controllers and ASICs is outgrowing the limitations of wirebonding, and future I/O (Input/Output) counts of up to 3000 or even 5000 will only be realized by using array type bonding. The traditional solder bump technology requires a shadow mask for the evaporation process. The drawbacks of this technology include inefficiency of evaporating thick metal, inferior critical dimension (CD) control and issues related to disposal of the shadow mask. Newer technologies employ electroplating, which uses an imaging step into thick resist or Riston. This step opens bump areas over the pads where the resist acts as a blocking layer. The step is also used as a means to control bump height in the subsequent plating process. This paper presents a low cost thick resist manufacturing process that meets bump bonding technology requirements. SEM cross-section micrographs show a greater than 1:2.8 aspect ratio in thick resists (greater than 25 μ m). This paper also shows that key lithography tool success factors are high throughput, high wafer plane illumination intensity, low cost reticle technology and a pattern recognition based alignment methodology.


Epidemiological studies have shown that elevated plasma homocysteine increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, stroke and coronary artery dis-ease. At the molecular level, high homocysteine promotes the generation of reactive oxygen species, decreases nitric oxide bioavailability, alters lipid metabolism and initiates inflamma-tory responses. These alterations cause physiological dysfunction of the endothelium, which leads to atherosclerosis. Deposition of lipids within the arterial wall is a major characteristic of atherosclerosis, as such we hypothesized that elevated homocysteine affects the regula-tion of hepatic lipid metabolism. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate the dys-function of the endothelium are not well defined. Advances in sequencing technology now allow us to perform high resolution profiling of gene expression using a technique called RNA-seq. Here we apply RNA-seq to understand hepatocyte (Hep G2) and endothelial cell (HMEC-1) responses to 200 μM homocysteine for 3 days. We observed increased strength of responses in Hep G2 cells which can be attributed to its higher metabolic nature. Our data demonstrates that homocysteine alters cholesterol biosynthesis in Hep G2 cells through the activation of SREBP, which other studies have found to be caused by ER stress. Homocysteine up-regulates haemostasis and down-regulates the formation of fibrin clot in Hep G2 cells. Homocysteine up-regulates the IL-6 receptor and components of JAK/STAT sig-nalling pathway in Hep G2 cells. Homocysteine enhances the cytotoxic damage potential of ROS by down-regulating the expression of antioxidant enzymes thioredoxin, glutathione pe-roxidase, superoxide dismutase, peroxiredoxin and catalase. Multiple pathways of NF-κB ac-tivation and signalling were down-regulated through the down-regulation of genes encoding ubiquitin and proteasomal subunits. In summary, we have identified novel alterations in the cellular responses due to elevated homocysteine, which provide more insight into the mo-lecular mechanisms that mediate homocysteine-induced endothelial dysfunction. This work will enable future studies into these novel mechanisms, such as investigations into the al-tered haemostasis or lipid profiles. Furthermore, these studies will allow us to better under-stand the pathogenesis of elevated homocysteine.


SAS released Enterprise Miner 5.3 in late 2007 with a veritable plethora of cool new features for data miners everywhere. Nearly every module of the software has been updated. New interactive data preparation tools make it easier to manipulate data and construct a sample for mining. For data exploration, Enterprise Miner now supports hierarchical market baskets to isolate interesting rules at different product category levels, multivariate graphical data exploration that persists a user's interactive selections, a new scalable variable clustering node for dimension reduction, and more interactive user control over feature selection. Variable creation has been enhanced with a new interactive binning tool, an interactive rule building tool, and new transformation options. There are three new core predictive modeling techniques in Gradient Boosting, Support Vector Machines, and Partial Least Squares, along with a tool to make it easier to import models previously produced with SAS/STAT ® code. For model assessment, a new Cutoff node examines posterior probability distributions where users can enter cutoff values, and a new Reporter tool uses SAS ODS to produce reports spanning the entire analysis for printing and editing. The user interface is revised with more navigation controls, smarter property sheets, better graphics, and improved code editors. Users should see significant productivity gains from the software, and have even more fun data mining. INTRODUCTION SAS Enterprise Miner has been an industry-leading tool in the data mining field for nearly 10 years. This might lead you to believe that data mining products are in maintenance mode; however, that is most definitely not the case. On the contrary, the field of data mining is rapidly evolving to include new transactional and Web-based data sources; new applications such as social network analysis, rate making, and time series classification; and new modeling algorithms to detect global and local features. The latest release of Enterprise Miner contains a host of new productivity, statistical, interactive, and graphical tools designed to improve the productivity of the SAS data miner. This paper will focus on the new features in Enterprise Miner 5.3 with analytical examples.


The rocking of a relatively rigid footing on soil c an be visualized as a moving contact problem, with a contact area moving from one side of the footing to the other as the footing rocks. Thus the partial se paration of footing (uplift) and the resulting moment capacity can be more closely relat ed to the critical contact area ratio, A/Ac (ratio between the actual footing area (A) and the area required to support the vertical and shear loads (Ac)). This paper compares th moment capacities calculated by using A/Ac with those obtained from centrifuge a nd 1-g experiments conducted on rocking shallow footings for a range of A/Ac values . It is shown that the moment capacity of a rocking footing is well defined and, unlike bearing capacity, moment capacity is less sensitive to the uncertainty in so l pr perties as A/Ac increases.


Vocational and technical education developed vigourously after the end of Middle Ages, school-based vocational and technical education is towards regular and established in the end. The vocational and technical tranfer of education relies on the conditions of the disintegration of scholasticism, the birth of new theory of method and the development of production, especially the great demands on technical workers caused by technological and industrial revolution.


Increasing spectral and energy efficiency in future networks requires flexible and timely allocation of radio resources along multiple dimensions including frequency, time and space. Although this multi-dimensionality offers additional degrees of freedom, it however comes at the cost of higher complexity. To this end, it is envisaged that spatial information associated with user resource allocation will provide a means for an efficient utilization of a dense radio access network (RAN) infrastructure in a proactive and self-optimized manner. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that aims at the utilization of multi-dimensional (MD) radio service maps (RSM) for storing and exploiting position-based information. Requirements, key concepts and functions are described. The potential gains in energy consumption and efficiency of the radio service maps are shown by means of numerical results for an ultra-dense network deployment scenario.


Poor implementation of evidence based practices (1, 2) and its toll on program outcomes are a critical concern for mental health services (3, 4). One accepted strategy to improve implementation is to verify program fidelity (5, 6). However, with the increasing number of evidence based practices, the need to conduct fidelity measurement has begun to place a very high burden on agencies charged with ensuring service quality. For example, the current standard fidelity instrument for ACT, the Dartmouth Assertive Community Treatment Scale (DACTS; 7), requires one day for the onsite visit and another day to score and write the report for quality improvement feedback.

In response to these and related problems, a 2007 national task force met to identify alternative approaches for ensuring quality (8). Among the strategies discussed was alternative fidelity methods such as phone-administered assessments. Although phone-administered fidelity has been used successfully in predicting outcomes (9), no research has validated phone-administered assessment compared to onsite assessment. We examined the interrater reliability and concurrent validity of phone-administered fidelity as applied to Assertive Community Treatment. A secondary question asked whether validity and reliability are higher when using raters with prior experience with fidelity assessment or experience with the site.


The problem Business and government services are increasingly being migrated online to improve convenience and reduce the cost of conducting these services in person. Migrating high-value transactions online require, however, high-level of identity assurance. The challenge is to create a system offering the richness of real-world credentials we carry in our pockets, while preserving the same level of security and privacy we enjoy when using them.


IT IT HAS been shown that ultra-violet radiation and also other stimulating agents cause a release of calcium in protoplasm (Heilbrunn and Daugherty, 1933; Heilbrunn and Mazia, 1936; Mazia and Clark, 1936). This is doubtless not the only effect of such agents. Nadson (1925) found that radium caused a production of fat droplets in the protoplasm of yeast cells and that the same effect was also produced by ultraviolet radiation. In general, it appears that various types of irradiation may release fat or lipoid from protoplasmic combination (for references to literature see Heilbrunn and Mazia, 1936). The evidence on which this statement is based is perhaps not too clear. By centrifuging cells, it is possible to estimate the amount of free fat in them (Heilbrunn, 1936). In this study we have attempted to discover whether radiation from a mercury arc lamp can cause an increase in the amount of fat which can be centrifuged to one side of a cell.


Point defects in GaN were studied with time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). The effects of temperature and excitation intensity on defect-related PL have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. A phenomenological model, based on rate equations, explains the dependence of the PL intensity on excitation intensity, as well as the PL lifetime and its temperature dependence. We demonstrate that time-resolved PL measurements can be used to find the concentrations of free electrons and acceptors contributing to PL in n-type semiconductors.


Introduction Nigeria ranks third among the 22 high-burden TB countries in the world. With the availability of effective treatment strategies, and more patients surviving the disease, assessment of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) has become imperative to assist with patient evaluation of measured outcomes and thus improve morbidity. Literature is scarce on assessment and impact of chemotherapy on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) for patients with tuberculosis. Aim This study evaluates the variation in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in pulmonary TB patients during the intensive phase of treatment. Methods We recruited patients with pulmonary TB (PTB), from 3 different TB clinics across Ife Ijesha Zone, Osun State, Nigeria. Consenting patients were administered Short Form-36 HRQoL questionnaire at recruitment and at the end of intensive phase of treatment. HRQoL scores were compared at these two-time points, the degrees of changes were calculated and relationships with some. Directly Observed Therapy-Short (DOTS) course outcome measures were obtained. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with greatest change in HRQoL scores. Results Of the 130 recruited patients, we analysed data for 126 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Mean age was 36.7(SD15.5). The overall mean HRQoL score obtained at enrolment was 43.18 (SD 17.2) and 60.22 (SD19.83) at end of 2 months; mean change =17.04 p<0.001). The least change was on the emotional well-being domain (mean change = 4.24, p=0.05). Predictor of significant change in HRQoL scores were previous history of TB, HIV status and TB severity, p<0.05 each. High physical functioning score was a strong predictor of defaulters (OR = 5.3; 95%CI: 2.11–9.05, p = 0.01). Conclusion Emotional domain is least affected by PTB while younger patients with no physical impairment are more likely to default treatment. Various aspects of HRQoL can be a useful tool for patient's evaluation and outcome prediction.


Biometric systems are used for identifying and recognizing individual characteristics on the basis of biological or behavioral features. In the research work, a biometric fusion system based on fingerprint and face using the artificial intelligence technique is proposed. To achieve better accuracy of the biometric fusion system, the uniqueness of feature is significant. To find out the unique feature set from the data, we have used different feature extraction algorithm in the proposed biometric fusion system. Initially, pre-processing has been applied on the test images which is used to remove the unwanted data from the uploaded image and return an appropriate data for further process. In the fingerprint part, minutia extraction is used as a feature of fingerprint whereas Extended Local Binary pattern (ELBP) is used for extracting features of face and creates a pattern of face features. To create a unique feature set, optimization algorithm is needed and we have used genetic algorithm as a feature optimization technique. In the proposed fusion system, ANN is used to classify the test data according to the trained ANN structure with optimized feature data of fingerprint and face. To check the efficiency of proposed fusion system, we have calculated the performance parameters like FAR, FRR and Accuracy. From the analysis of proposed fusion system, we have observed that the accuracy of the proposed work is better than the previous ones and it is more than the 94%. To design a proposed biometric fusion system, image processing toolbox is used under the MATLAB environment.


Introduction Voluntary dropouts before completion of inpatient psychiatric treatment are common in patients with dual disorders. However, the socioeconomic profile and family structure of patients who undergo a therapeutic program may correlate with their motivation and participation in the treatment received, as well as with their subsequent recovery. Objectives To evaluate the family typology of patients with dual diagnosis according to the degree of intrafamily cohesion and adaptability correlated with the prediction of therapeutic success and the risk of voluntary abandonment of hospital detoxification treatment. Methods A total of 211 patients admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit with substance use disorders were studied. Data were obtained from two sources: (1) interview of participants, (2) review of participants' medical records using the Maudsley Addiction Profile (MAP) and the Family Cohesion and Adaptability Assessment Scale (FACES III). Results The 127 subjects who completed the hospital detoxification program had significantly lower MAP and FACES III scores at baseline than the 84 subjects who did not complete the study. Those who did not complete the admission reported greater addictive severity and poorer family functioning. Family cohesion and adaptability measured with FACES III and addictive severity assessed with MAP positively correlated with successful compliance with the hospital treatment program for dual diagnosis patients. Conclusions These findings reveal the association of psychosocial and family determinants and addictive severity with treatment completion and subsequent prognostic evolution. Recognizing these predictive characteristics may allow early identification of patients at higher risk of early dropout and prevent it by increasing the intensity of treatment.


One of the newest emerging areas of research in supply chain management is ReverseLogistics. It involves all activities related to the flow of products from the customerback to the supplier. In the ...


We have fully integrated a nonvolatile random access memory by successfully incorporating a reversibly phase-changeable chalcogenide memory element with MOS transistor. As well as basic characteristics of the memory operation, we have also observed reliable performances of the device on hot temperature operation, endurance against repetitive phase transition, writing imprint, reading disturbance and data retention.


A novel experiment, coordinated by the University of Newcastle and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of measuring relative height differences using transponder altimetry. This technique used the radar altimeter onboard the first European Remote-sensing Satellite, ERS-1, in conjunction with active ground-based microwave transponders. Two transponders were placed 127 km apart, one in the foothills close to Venice and the second, 1000 m higher in the Austrian Alps. The sites were chosen to coincide with the ground track of ERS-1 and also to be within the altimeter calibration zone which provided reliable ERS-1 orbits. Coincident observations at both transponder sites were made for a total of five overpasses. These measurements were subsequently compared with a height difference determined using the Global Positioning System (GPS). The experiment has estimated the precision of the transponder derived height difference by differencing the observed and computed transponder ranges at both transponder sites. The precision of one transponder-derived height difference, based on four of the recorded passes, is estimated as ±3.5 cm and the standard deviation of the mean is ±1.7 cm. This implies that the standard deviation of one transponder range at a single site is ±2.5 cm. The precision of the height difference derived from the GPS network was ±3.1 cm and thus the ground-based transponders have performed, as a height difference measurement system, to a comparable accuracy to that of GPS. Ground-based transponders do, however, have the significant practical advantage of being able to be operated in a simpler, automatic, and possibly more economical mode of operation. Data collection takes place onboard the space vehicle and power requirements can be made such that the equipment could be left unattended for many months. This makes the equipment especially suitable for hostile environments, for example, measuring the vertical precursory motion of volcanoes and for situations where long-period observations are needed such as the monitoring of subsidence or sea level changes.


In this paper, the problem of spectrum sensing for cognitive radios is investigated when the decision statistic is computed using Welch Overlapped Segmented Averaging (WOSA). A novel analysis is presented using the performance measures which are the probability of false alarm and the probability of detection. First, we present a novel investigation of the hermitian form of Welch's estimate. Using the theory of quadratic forms, we investigate the hermitian matrix of the hermitian form and exploit its characteristics to obtain the eigenvalues of the diagonalized representation of the hermitian form. Second, the obtained results are used to derive mathematical expressions for the probabilities of false alarm and detection over Rayleigh fading. The numerical results have revealed the high accuracy of the obtained mathematical models.


Al23C010.14Si8.72, orthorhombic, Pnma (no. 62), a = 13.852(3) A, b = 23.055(5) A, c = 7.340(2) A, V= 2344.1 A, Ζ = 4, R#(F) = 0.035, wR^F) = 0.081, Γ=293Κ. * Correspondence author (e-mail: email@example.com) Source of material The title compound was identified in several Al-rich samples during an investigation of the Co-Al-Si phase diagram [1]. Samples were prepared from the pure elements by arc melting and subsequent heat treatment in alumina crucibles placed into evacuated silica ampules. After slow cooling from 1050 °C to 800 °C (5 K/h) in order to promote crystal growth from the melt the samples were Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/21/17 7:59 PM Coio«Al23Si9-2* (x = 0.14) 113 annealed for 4 weeks at 800 °C. Single crystals suitable for X-ray structure analysis were isolated from a crushed sample with the nominal compositions C022AI58S120 which also contained small amounts of liquid phase at the annealing temperature. Experimental details Samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (Huber Image Plate Guinier camera G670, Co/Cai radiation, λ = 1.788965 A, 5° < 20 < 100°, LaB6 as internal standard, a = 4.1569 A).


Objective To guide fluid management and evaluate the clinical index through monitoring extravascular lung water index(EVLWI) of patients with pulmonary contusion.Methods Thirtyone severe chest trauma patients with pulmonary contusion were selected,performed with central venous catheterization or femoral artery catheterization,and connected to pulse index continuous cardiac output (PICCO).EVLWI after pulmonary contusion were measured by using thermal dilution.The intake and output of patients were recorded in detail,fluid intake was controlled,furosemide was prescribed,and the changes and correlations of oxygenation index,EVLWI and liquid balance difference at different time points were evaluated.Results EVLWI after pulmonary contusion at 1st to 7th d after hospitalization was respectively (9.25 ±0.71),(8.98 ±0.61),(8.61 ±0.59),(7.75±0.53),(6.64 ±0.49),(6.22±0.36),(5.59 ±0.39) ml/kg.Comparing with 1st d after hospitalization,EVLWI declined from 3rd d (P < 0.05).Oxygenation index at Ist to 7th d after hospitallzation was respectively( 145.76±23.61 ),( 144.19±20.24),( 146.67±19.25 ),(159.33±15.42),(177.38±14.25),(199.33±19.04),(213.71±18.51) mm Hg(1 mm Hg =0.133 kPa).Comparing with 1st d,oxygenation index from 4th to 7th d had significant difference (P < 0.05 ).The fluid volume at 1st d to 7th d were all negative balance,that of 3rd d to 6th d had significant difference comparing with 1st d [(-431.43±121.17),(-601.43±127.09),(-629.52±140.69),(-320.01 ±93.71) ml vs.(-213.81±63.91 ) ml](P < 0.05 ).Oxygenation index and EVLWI had negative correlation(r =-0.824,P<0.01).Liquid balance difference and the changes of oxygenation index and EVLWI had no correlation.Conclusion EVLWI effectively monitoring after pulmonary contusion can not only evaluate the changes of pulmonary vascular permeability of patients with pulmonary contusion,but also have important significance to guide fluid management.

Key words:
Extravascular lung water; Cardiac output; Pulmonary contusion; Fluid management


The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a 6.5 m diameter deployable telescope that will orbit the L2 Earth–Sun point beginning in 2018. NASA is leading the development of the JWST mission with their partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The Canadian contribution to the mission is the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS). Originally, the FGS incorporated a flexible narrow spectral band science imaging capability in the form of the Tunable Filter Imaging Module –TFI, based on a scanning Fabry–Perot etalon. In the course of building and testing of the TFI flight model, numerous technical issues arose with unforeseeable length of required mitigation effort. In addition to that, emerging new science priorities caused that in summer of 2011 a decision was taken to replace TFI with a new instrument called Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). NIRISS preserves most of the TFI opto-mechanical design: focusing mirror, collimator and camera TMA telescopes, dual filter and pupil wheel and detectors but, instead of a tunable etalon, uses set of filters and grisms for wavelength selection and dispersion. The FGS-Guider and NIRISS have completed their instrument-level cryogenic testing and were delivered to NASA Goddard in late July 2012 for incorporation into the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).


A construction scheme and principle of operation of a fibrous material cleaner with saw cylinders on elastic bearing support are given in the article. The results of theoretical research of oscillations of the saw cylinder of the fiber cleaner are presented. The parameters of the system are substantiated based on the analysis of the law of oscillations of the cylinder and graphic dependencies.


One of the challenges of robotic‐assisted surgery is related to positioning of the patient on the operating table. Technological developments place increased demands on operating room nurses' competence to prevent positioning injuries and ensuring care quality. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to describe operating room nurses' experiences when positioning the patients for robotic‐assisted surgery.


The Cattle Egret has expanded its breeding range worldwide since the 19th century, although the explosive phase occurred principally between 1950 and 1970. The species is not a new colonist to Europe and was a common breeder in Andalucía (southern Spain) during the last century. It is known to have colonized later in other areas of Spain (Alicante-Murcia, later Extremadura and after that Cataluña) and the south of France (Voisin 1991). Although Extremadura has only recently been colonized by Cattle Egrets, the similarity and proximity between Andalucía and Extremadura suggests that they have not needed to adapt their breeding to completely new environmental conditions there. The breeding biology of this species is welldocumented for most of its traditional range in Africa and Asia (Hellebrekers & Hoogerwerf 1967, Siegfried 1972), as well as in its extended range in America (Lowe-McConnell 1967, Jenni 1969) and Australia (McKilligan 1997). However, in the western Palearctic, only data from the Camargue (H. Hafner unpubl. data), the Ebro Delta (Ruiz et al. 1981) and the Valencia Albufera (Prósper & Hafner 1996) are available. Factors affecting the breeding success of the species have been widely studied in these recently colonized areas (Baxter 1994, McKilligan 1997). However, few data exist from those areas with well-established colonies (see however Ruiz et al. (1981) and Maddock & Baxter (1991)). Here we describe the breeding biology of Cattle Egrets in mixed colonies in southwest Spain (Extremadura) and we analyse the implications of nest location within the colony (nest height and density) on breeding success. Because nest height is essential for success in temporal marshes, where it confers more protection from terrestrial predators (Perennou et al. 1996), we expected a higher breeding success in these sites. For many colonial birds, density-dependent effects on reproduction have been detected (see review in Wittenberger & Hunt 1985). Here we test for breeding success in relation to nest density and we compare breeding parameters in southwest Spain with others from the western Palearctic to test for any latitudinal patterns. The study was carried out in three mixed colonies of Extremadura (southwest Spain): Montijo (38°55′N–6°23′W), Badajoz (38°53′N– 6°58′W) and Morante (39°03′N–6°41′E). The Badajoz and Montijo colonies are in highly modified habitats, while the Morante colony has more traditional habitats with Holm-oak Quercus rotundifolia dehesas and pasturelands. The Badajoz and Montijo colonies are on islands on the Guadiana river covered with Tamarix sp., Phragmites sp., Populus sp. and Eucalyptus sp. Both colonies contained Cattle Egrets, Little Egrets Egretta garzetta and Blackcrowned Night-herons Nycticorax nycticorax. The trees found in the Morante colony were mainly Fraxinus sp. and Quercus rotundifolia, and only Cattle and Little Egrets nested there. Data were collected during the 1996 and 1997 breeding seasons (March–August). Before birds began nesting, we installed wooden stakes of known height within the colonies as reference points for measurements of length and height. Large-scale photographs of the colony sites Bird Study (2001) 48, 367–372


The object of this research is the analysis of the personal archives of Russian historians. The subject of this research is the examination of the personal archive of Professor Valery Ivanovich Bovykin, preserved in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library since 1998. Leaning on the aforementioned sources, the article explores the history of the project "The Fate of Russia's Debt", which was among unaccomplished plans of the scholar. The author attempted to assess the role of V. I. Bovykin in project organization on studying Russia's debts in the early XX century. The article touches upon the topic of discovery of the scholar's laboratory, his archive for finding new scientific historical knowledge. The author analyzes how the Professor's personal archive allows following the process of creating the project infrastructure, since all the materials on the project were accumulated by the scholar, which defines the novelty of this work. It is revealed that the project of V. I. Bovykin was against the foreign policy conducted by the Russian Federation in the 1990s. The conclusion is made that the key components of the scientific method, followed by Valery Ivanovich Bovykin in his research, imply a solid empirical base, as well as advancing the topic to the international level.


This paper presents a novel approach based on probability data association (PDA) filtering for estimating a vehicle's trajectory in complex urban environments. We consider feature pairs acquired from consecutive frames as the measurements for the PDA filter to update the ego-motion vector of the camera. Compared to other feature based approaches, our approach presents a recursive filtering algorithm that provides dynamic estimation of ego-motion vector in the presence of falsely feature pairs. Experimental results show that this method provides good robustness under real traffic scenarios.


Glucose and cholesterol in human fluids are clinically important analytes and their sensitive detection is significant in diagnosis. In this study, Au@Ag core–shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs) prepared by in situ growth of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the surface of thiol-PEG-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs, 13 nm) have been successfully applied to fabricate a colorimetric biosensing platform for glucose and cholesterol. Au@Ag NPs showed an obvious absorbance peak at 375 nm due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption of AgNPs. In the presence of cholesterol and glucose, H2O2 was produced under the catalytic action of their corresponding enzymes such as glucose oxidase (GOx) or cholesterol oxidase (ChOx), which etched the AgNPs shell of Au@Ag NPs. As a result, their characteristic absorbance at 375 nm decreased, accompanied with a perceptible color change from orange to red, which could be used to detect glucose and cholesterol by the naked eye. Under optimum conditions, the linear ranges for the detection of glucose and cholesterol by UV-vis spectroscopy were from 0.5 to 400 μM and 0.3 to 300 μM, respectively. The detection limit of the biosensors for glucose and cholesterol were 0.24 μM and 0.15 μM, respectively. The practical applications of this method in urine or human serum have been realized with satisfactory results. This work provides a simple and sensitive approach for glucose and cholesterol detection, which has broad application prospects in clinical diagnosis.