Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causal relationship between extent of diversification and performance among Indian companies. The key issue is to find out whether diversification provides irresistible opportunities to increase firm performance or is it the superior profitability that motivates management to diversify.

Design/methodology/approach

Product diversification is calculated by using Entropy index measure. To measure joint endogeneity of corporate diversification and firm performance, both variables are treated as endogenous in a simultaneous equation model.

Findings

The results report that the association between diversification and performance turn strongly significant and positive after controlling the issue of endogeneity. The study finds a strong two-way relationship between extent of diversification and firm performance. As indicated by the results, the extent of diversification is positively related to performance, thereby implying that diversified firms experience a significant diversification premium. The study also demonstrates a positive relation of performance and total diversification indicating that good performance leads to greater diversification.

Research limitations/implications

Certain variables such as R&D intensity, export intensity and risk could not be included in the analysis for want of data. Inclusion of these independent variables could have strengthened the model and its implications.

Practical implications

The results strongly implicate/recommend the managers of developing countries to adopt the strategy of diversification to overcome institutional inefficiencies prevailing in their domicile environment. Corporate heads must also capture the correct timings/dynamism in environment before pursuing diversification as a strategy of growth. There exists causality between diversification and performance; hence, profitable firms should capitalize synergetic effects of diversification strategy and use it as a medium of growth.

Originality/value

There was hardly any literature available on causal relationship between diversification and performance with respect to emerging countries. There was even a wider gap specifically in relation to India where none of the researchers has so far studied causality between diversification and performance controlling endogeneity.


The size and number of wind turbines are due to rise dramatically. Increasing dependence on wind generation requires suitable dynamic models of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) that can be easily deployed in power system studies. This paper presents the multi time-scale dynamic models of DFIG implemented in the power system simulation tool DIgSILENT. The response characteristics of the detailed DFIG models during normal operation of the wind turbine and during transient grid fault events are simulated and analyzed. The simulation results show that the established model is correct and DFIG possesses good dynamic characteristics.


Territorial development faces lack capacities. Formation is often used to improve these capacities. This communication proposes a reflexion how to reinforce the capacities necessary to territorial development. These capacities are diverse, and reinforcing simultaneously the human capital, social capital and institutional capital of the actors constitutes a real challenge for a training process. Using different learning theories, we will suggest hypotheses concerning training for sustainable development: the diversity of actors, problematic and the insertion of the process in the territory. We will stress in particular the importance of linking the training devices to the devices of territorial governance, to enable the actors to fully apply the new competencies acquired to the benefit of territorial development. (Resume d'auteur)


Edge delamination in composite laminates subjected to combined in-plane, bending and hygrothermal loading is analyzed using a crack tip element approach. Classical laminated plate theory is utilized for the crack tip element formulation. Individual energy release rate components are found using a set of closed form equations derived from plate theory, plus the results from a single continuum analysis. For those cases where a linear elastic solution predicts a near-field oscillatory singularity, a new approach is used which allows a unique, physically meaningful value of fracture mode ratio to be defined.


The Laplacian plays a major role in the mathematical analysis of partial differential equations. Recently, the work of J. Kigami, taken up by R. S. Strichartz, allowed the construction of an operator of the same nature, defined locally, on graphs having a fractal character: the triangle of Sierpinski, the carpet of Sierpinski, the diamond fractal, the Julia sets, the fern of Barnsley.
Strangely, the case of the graph of the Weierstrass function, introduced in 1872 by K. Weierstrass, which presents self similarity properties, does not seem to have been considered anywhere. It is yet an obligatory passage, in the perspective of studying diffusion phenomena in irregular structures.
We have asked ourselves the following question: given a continuous function u on the graph of the Weierstrass function, under which conditions is it possible to associate to u a function Delta u which is, in the weak sense, its Laplacian ?
We present, in the following, the results obtained by following the approach of J. Kigami and R. S. Strichartz. Ours is made in a completely renewed framework, as regards, the one, affine, of the Sierpinski gasket. First, we concentrate on Dirichlet forms, on the graph of the Weierstrass function, which enable us the, subject to its existence, to define the Laplacian of a continuous function on this graph. This Laplacian appears as the renormalized limit of a sequence of discrete Laplacians on a sequence of graphs which converge to the one of the Weierstrass function. The normalization constants related to each graph Laplacian are obtained thanks Dirichlet forms. The spectrum of the Laplacian thus built is obtained through spectral decimation.


Migrations have occurred throughout human history. Human migration generally refers to the movement of people from one place or state in the world to another for taking up permanent or semi-permanent residence, usually across a political boundary. This can occur at a variety of measures, i.e. intercontinental (between continents), intracontinental (between countries on a given continent), and interregional (within countries). Either migration of people from one place to another can be voluntarily or they may be forced to move. Accompanied with migration are many challenges that migrants experience; these may be physical, financial, psychological or emotional. Human migration affects population patterns and characteristics, social and cultural arrangements and processes, economies, and the physical environment. As people move, their cultural personalities and ideas diffuse with them, creating and changing traditional landscapes. CONTEXTUALISATION OF RESEARCH The movement of people within the country and outside of its borders has historically been a major feature of most societies. A wide range of factors has been responsible for why people choose to migrate. Broadly there are push and pull factors that underlie reasons for migration. The push factor being reasons why people want to leave their country whilst pull factors are reasons why people want to go to a new country. Some of these migrants are escaping from poverty, armed conflict, social strife, political turmoil and economic hardships. This will invariably have an impact on the political, cultural, economic and social dimensions of the host country. Although push-pull factors provide a framework for understanding the motives for movements, a need exists to understand the dynamics of globalisation affecting migration. Globalisation since the midtwentieth century and in the 21 century has also been a cause of migration due to the advancement in transport and communication technology as travel time and Nordic Journal of African Studies 80 distances between countries no longer pose a challenge. Hence, the movement of people across borders not only reshapes the political, cultural, economic and social spheres of nations it creates new transnational communities and interdependencies between people and states. In this special edition on migration five diverse papers are presented, all of which focus on the African context. Four research papers focus on South Africa whilst one focuses on West Africa. In the African context, South Africa presents an interesting context as it brings new insight on the different facets of migration considering its long isolation due to apartheid and its colonial history. It is the most recent democracy in the continent since its liberation in 1994. Being such, it has become a popular destination for migrants from all over Africa and the globe due to it being perceived as the regional powerhouse in the continent. Post-apartheid South Africa embraced being a Rainbow Nation, accommodating its diverse racial and ethnic population groups living in the country. It also tolerated the massive migration of African foreign nationals from different parts of the continent and provided political asylum to those that fled their home country due to the ravishes of war, political upheavals and famine. In addition, it held a soft approach towards undocumented migrants who escaped the scrutiny of migration policy. Migrants in South Africa, in the early phases of democracy and in the past integrated within local communities and eked out a living in a diverse number of economic sectors. They even set up families by marrying locals and introduced new business and entrepreneurial skills to the country. The peace and sense of security enjoyed by migrants was short-lived after fourteen years of democracy with the outbreak of xenophobic violence in 2008, which shocked the world. At the centre of this violence were Mozambicans, Malawians and Zimbabweans who were violently attacked. At least 60 foreign nationals were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced. A variety of reasons was found contributing to this xenophobic violence. High unemployment rates amongst locals, porous borders, escalating crime rates, poverty, police and government corruption, ineffective service delivery and an inept foreign policy featured as primary causes of this violence. Despite the various explanations for the xenophobic violence, there is reason to believe that migrants were caught in the wave of nationalism that began permeating the different facets of South African life after democracy. Post liberation the emphasis was on racial inclusivity, building a Rainbow Nation and embracing the African Renaissance. A new set of patriotism took precedence in constructing a post-apartheid political conscience (Murray 2003: 443) to the extent that even local consumer goods were branded "proudly South African". Dodson (2010: 6) asserts that the spirit of nation building meant the creation of a new oppositional "other," and that this "other" was essentially defined as "nonSouth African". The manifestation of this "other" is projected onto foreign Africans living in South Africa, described as strangers or aliens. Migration Dynamics in Western and Southern Africa 81 A second outbreak occurred in 2015, which went contrary to the former President Thabo Mbeki's vow during the 2008 xenophobic violence that South Africa "would never see again" such violence (Westcott, 2015). This time round, the xenophobic violence was spurned by the comments made by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini at a moral regeneration event held in KwaZulu-Natal. He stated that foreigners should go back to their home countries because they were changing the nature of South African society with their goods and enjoying wealth that should have been set aside for local people (South African History on Line, 2016). This became the catalyst for xenophobic violence once again in the country with Durban experiencing the most internecine as compared to other provinces. The violence took the form of setting alight foreign migrant owned shops, looting of shops, evicting migrants from their homes, assaulting and murdering them. The government repatriated amongst others over 5,500 people, primarily from Malawi and Zimbabwe (Tejas 2015). The socioeconomic impact of the high numbers of particularly low-skilled foreigners living in the country was one reason for repatriation. Despite prevalence of xenophobia amongst a section of South African population, the vast majority of South Africans condemn such actions and welcome migrants to be part of South African society and it's Rainbow Nation. The actions and overwhelming goodwill expressed by South African civil society through humanitarian assistance and places of safety at the time of the violence provides a contrary view. It suggests that not all South Africans are xenophobic. The goodwill of South Africans is exemplified by the ongoing support from NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) and a number of Humanitarian Aid Organisations that provide a variety of services to migrants. These organisations are patronised by South Africans who originate from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Mention needs to be made of sections of the private sector that provide employment and the patronage of South Africans who support the informal economic activities initiated by migrants. Like South Africa, West African states have a colonial history, which ended from the 1960s onwards. West Africa is a politically and culturally complex region. It has a diversity of religions, dialects, languages and continues to be challenged by vestiges of colonialism even in the 21 century. The region is endowed with human, land, energy and mineral resources. Nigeria has the largest population in the region and concomitantly generates the largest GDP. The region is politically unstable and is characterised by high levels of poverty and inequality. Notwithstanding the social, political, cultural and economic dynamics characterising the region, the movement of people is less restrictive as compared to other parts of the African continent. The formation of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West Africa) made the movement of people in the region much easier. ECOWAS was formed in 1975 comprising fifteen nation states in the West African region. It affirmed the right of member states with respect to entry, residence and settlement of people in the Nordic Journal of African Studies 82 region. Although there was a lot of migration and mobility in and across West Africa, the issuance of an ECOWAS passport was the political attempt at supporting the movement of people between different parts of the region. Notwithstanding the permissiveness with which people can move in between countries in the region an important challenge is the paucity in the enforcement of ECOWAS protocols on entry, residence and settlement of people. Settling in any part of the ECOWAS region poses a major challenge, as the regularisation of documents is very difficult to secure. Harassment at border posts and discrimination against migrants is widely prevalent in the region. The economic and social ills of member states in the region are projected on to migrants instead of the causes of corruption, mismanagement and global forces. Such blame translates into xenophobic behaviour, which makes migrants the target of attacks and abuse. Migrants in the region are confronted with a major challenge in respect of easy and risk-free transfer of remittances to their home country. This is due to inter-country restrictions on money transfer and costly transactions. It would appear from the synopsis on migration in both South Africa and West Africa certain similarities and challenges exist. The papers that are presented in this volume although diverse in nature, but given the context, history and


The paper investigates how to design an integrated routing architecture for IP and ATM meeting the requirements for a large scale internet based on IP and ATM. Integration of IP and ATM at the routing level leads us to consider two separate aspects: using a common routing architecture for IP and ATM on one hand (layer integration) and, on the other hand, integrating best-effort and QoS traffic support in the same routing architecture (service integration). The first level of integration is, for obvious reasons, highly recommended. In contrast, we show that the second level of integration is not desirable because best-effort and QoS traffic flows have, in terms of routing, contradictory requirements. To conduct this analysis, we feel that, because of the inherent complexity of the problem, confronting the existing proposals is too restrictive. Instead, we propose to go one step back in the design process and identify the basic design options to be considered when designing a routing architecture. We identify three options. Namely, route updating vs. route pinning, hop by hop vs. explicit routing, and pre-computed routes vs. on-demand route computation. Using this framework, we conclude that best-effort traffic flows are well served by a combination of route updating, hop by hop routing and pre-computed routes, while QoS flow routing is built on route pinning, explicit routing and on-demand route computation.


The present disclosure, non-amine catalyst is substituted with an isocyanate-reactive group - cyclic amides, guanidines substituted with an isocyanate-reactive group, polyetheramines urea compound or a guanidine compound is added, free radical scavengers and by treatment with a treating agent selected from a mixture thereof, it provides a method for reducing the aldehydes content in the amine catalyst. Is then treated amine catalysts can be used in the production of polyurethane materials exhibiting a reduction in aldehyde emissions.


NHS trusts continue to face "significant" shortages of trainees and consultants in some specialties, a report by NHS Improvement has warned.

The report said that there were "significant" shortages in some specialties "despite expansion in the consultant workforce more than keeping pace with activity."1 It said there were difficulties in recruiting consultants as well as increased spending on temporary locums in emergency medicine, acute general medicine, diagnostic services, and …


This paper treats the Brazilian species of three genera of the Lycopodiaceae: Lycopodiella with four species (one endemic), Palhinhaea with six (two endemics), and Pseudolycopodiella with seven (one endemic). The species are described, and keys and illustrations, or references to illustrations for their identification are provided. The nomenclature is reviewed. Representative specimens are cited, and the general distribution and habitats are indicated. Pseudolycopodiella squamata is described as new to science.


1. Introduction 2. The Rise of the Change Agent 3. Change Leaders 4. The Manager as Change Agent 5. Management Consultants as Change Agents 6. The Emergence of Change Teams 7. The Learning Organization and Change Agency 8. Four Models of Change Agency 9. The Future of Change Agency 10. Conclusions


The impacts of El Nino and La Nina on the U.S. climate during northern summer are analyzed separately. Composite analyses reveal that a continental-scale anomalous high dominates over most of North America during La Nina events and leads to hot and dry summers over the central United States. However, the impacts of El Nino over North America are weaker and more variable. A linear barotropic model is used to explore the maintenance of the anomalous patterns. Various forcing terms derived from observations via a single-level vorticity budget analysis are used to drive the model. When the barotropic model is driven by the total forcing (Rossby wave source plus transient eddy forcing plus nonlinear interactions), the model simulations resemble the observed patterns, and a strong and extensive anticyclone is reproduced in the La Nina simulation. The model responses to the individual forcing terms suggested that the vorticity stretching term ( fD) and the transient eddy forcing contribute most to the responses over North America. The stretching term ( fD) excites a low in the El Nino simulation and a high in the La Nina simulation over North America. However, the transient eddy forcing favors an anomalous high over North America in both El Nino and La Nina simulations, such that it weakens the El Nino pattern and strengthens the La Nina pattern.


Vibration problems in rotors can be extremely frustrating and may lead to greatly reduced reliability. By utilizing the proper data collection and analysis techniques, the faults because of vibration can be discovered and predicted. The signal analysis is important in extracting fault characteristics in fault diagnosis of machinery. The traditional signal analysis can not settle for non-stationary vibration signal whose statistic properties are variant. To deal with non-stationary signal, time-frequency analysis techniques are widely used. The experiment data of oil whip vibration fault signal were analyzed by different methods, such as short time Fourier transform (STFT), Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD), Wavelet transform (WT) and Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT). The experiment data of rubbing vibration faults signal were also analyzed by the HHT. Compared with these methods, it is demonstrated that the time-frequency resolutions of STFT and WVD were inconsistent, which were easy to cross or make signal lower. WT had distinct time-frequency distribution, but it brought redundant component. HHT time-frequency analysis can detect components of low energy, and displayed true and distinct time-frequency distribution. Therefore, HHT is a very effective tool to diagnose the faults of rotating machiner y.


In this paper, we suggest a utility learning algorithm for tuning fuzzy rules by using input-output training data, based on the gradient descent method. The major advantage of this method is that the fuzzy rules or membership functions can be learned without changing the form of the fuzzy rule table used in usual fuzzy controls, so that the case of weak-firing can be avoided, which is different from the conventional learning algorithm. Furthermore, we illustrated the efficiency of the suggested learning algorithm by means of several numerical examples.


A new kind of piezoelectric harvester based on curved beam type was proposed.The curved cantilever increased the surface area of the piezoelectric layer with small space occupation and go without saying to improve the scavenging performance of the harvester.At the same time the curved shape also acclimatized the piezoelectric harvester to the severe dimension restriction in the MEMS/NEMS.Based on the inplane vibration assumption the displacements of the curved beam were firstly defined.The variational theory was implemented to derive the curved harvester control equations.The finite element analysis method was used to solve the dynamic equations.The simulation results showed the open circuit voltage increased with the rise of the harvester curvature radius.The matrix material of the piezoelectric harvester was PDMS with very small elastic constants and density.This curved beam piezoelectric harvester could work at low resonance frequencies even without the concentrated mass at the end of the curved beam.


One of the main problems relating RANSAC estimation is to determine the inlier threshold adaptively depending on the variance of inliers. In this paper, we propose a novel method that estimates the inlier threshold adaptively from the observations, giving a threshold-free RANSAC. A minimum assumption of our method is that the lower bound of inlier ratio is known in advance and the variance of inliers follows Gaussian. We also describe a simple motion flow tracker as an application of the proposed method. In the experiment we show the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing tracking performance with and without adaptive estimation of inlier threshold.


Thirty‐eight cases of diffuse poorly differentiated lymphoma with an anterior mediastinal mass were reviewed. Nine patients had stage I disease, 11 stage 11, one stage 111 and 17 stage IV. Survival was prolonged in those stage III and IV cases whose treatment had commenced with chemotherapy rather than with radiotherapy. Survival and relapse‐free interval were prolonged in all cases when chemotherapy had begun within a week of diagnosis and had continued with intervals of not more than 21 d between courses.


In this paper the relationship between of the crystal_growth and phase diagram is gave,especially the relationship of raw material and phase diagram is analysed overall.


Overview: Over the years, many privacy and security attacks, such as model inversion attacks and membership inference attacks, have been targeting Artificial Intelligence (AI) models [1]. In addition, many AI-caused bias/fairness issues have been identified. These practical challenges suggest an urgent need of a framework that can assess a spectrum of AI risks throughout the AI development pipeline. We propose an AI risk-assessment framework that concerns three broad issues: a.) feasible threat modeling; b.) data pre-processing (e.g., removing the sensitive information from data before it is used by the AI model) and model post-processing (e.g, providing a wrapper for a given classifier to reduce model inversion attacks); and c.) AI model parameter selection (e.g. for differential private AI models, or robustness parameters for adversarial training) to get good utility and adequate protection against realistic risks. Threat modeling-based risk assessment is in common use in several security domains. For example, to measure door lock security, the American National Standards Institute defines a series of tests that simulate real life attacks against door locks. These attacks range from the application of force (e.g., kicking down the door) to a battery of lock picking tests. The lock is assigned a grade based on its success against these types of likely attacks. The above threat modeling-based approach implies that we can first pre-process the data using a technique Q to get a sanitized copy Q(D) where certain biases and/or privacy sensitive information could be removed. For example, we can replace the sensitive information such as a credit card number with a realistic random card number before an AI model is built so that a text generation algorithm will not accidentally memorize them. Once the sanitized data is created, a private, robust and transparent learning algorithm L with appropriate parameters p is chosen to learn a model M . Later on this model is post-processed using a post-processing technique P to make sure that the concerned risks are addressed. For example, for a deep learning model M , a few layers could be added to M using publicly available data (hence no privacy risk) to reduce the effectiveness of specific attacks and improve fairness. This approach leads to an optimization problem (See Equation 1) where we find an optimal combination of p, P, Q such that we maximize the model utility U (e.g., accuracy) while making sure that risk (e.g., sensitive attribute prediction accuracy) due to a threat i, denoted as RTi, is less than the desired risk limit γi.


Using a semiempirical tight-binding approach modified through introduction of a deformation potential, we have calculated the effects of uniaxial stress on the electronic density of states of carbon tubules. For zigzag tubules (n,0) the gap varies linearly with stress and independently of diameter: |${\mathrm{dE}}_{\mathrm{gap}}$/d\ensuremath{\sigma}|=10.7 meV/GPa for |\ensuremath{\sigma}| \ensuremath{\prec}10 GPa, and a semiconductor to metal transition is predicted. The behavior is strongly dependent on whether n=3q,3q-1,3q+1. The armchair tubules remain metallic under all conditions studied.


Accumulating evidence suggests that hepatitis B virus (HBV) biological features may influence the course and clinical manifestations of infection and possibly the development of fulminant hepatitis (FH). Since HBV is not a cytocidal virus, virus-induced liver damage results from an interplay between the virus replication and the host's defense. Therefore, viral factors contributing to enhanced replication, induction of a stronger immune attack or apoptosis of hepatocytes could be crucial in development of FH. Numerous mutations in basal core promoter, pre-C, C and S regions of the HBV genome contribute to development of FH by different mechanisms, including enhanced viral replication, the loss of a decoy for immune response, unbalanced expression of viral proteins and retention of unprocessed cytotoxic proteins in hepatocytes.


Hydrogen atoms generated by γ-radiolysis of aqueous sulphuric acid matrices at 77 K add to Pt(CN)4,2– ions to give [H–Pt(CN)4]2– ions, the unpaired electron being in a σ* orbital confined to hydrogen (ca. 35%) and platinum; electron addition followed by proton addition in methanol matrices gave the same complex.


A 58-year-old woman was admitted for Stanford A acute aortic dissection. We performed ascending aorta and aortic arch replacement for aortic dissection. Since the 10th postoperative days (POD), she had a high fever (more than 38°C) and showed an increase of inflammatory reaction. She compained of chest discomfort and back pain on the 20th POD. At the 70th POD, she developed lower limb paraplegia. Magnetic resonance imaging and X-ray indicated pyogenic sponylditis. Therefore, we consulted orthopedic surgeons and performed an operation. We consider pyogenic spondylitis as a complication of aorta and aortic arch replacement for aortic dissection.


In the context of Informationand Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development (ICT4D), several efforts have been carried out over the last decades to help developing countries address their challenges. In times of a pandemic, such as the COVID-19, several of these challenges gain higher priority in development as they may become unmanageable with the developing world's resources. Blockchain is a disruptive technology that could potentially enable the sustainable addressing of some of them, and COVID-19 offers a unique and timely opportunity to operationalize it. Driven by the research question "In what areas can Blockchain help address development challenges during a pandemic?" we aim to understand its applicability in addressing crucial social problems in developing countries. While the literature analysis points towards several promising areas, there are also significant concerns that need to be understood and carefully addressed when considering Blockchain in the context of developing countries. The critical discourse in this work is expected to benefit a wide variety of technology, policy, and research stakeholders.


Abstract : Damaged airbase facilities critical to restoring aircraft operations must be repaired quickly after an attack to provide the needed support. Repair technologies have been developed in earthquake damage research which have potential application to bomb damage repair. This report describes the repair techniques developed for earthquake damage and their potential application to bomb damage repair. Although the damage mechanisms from earthquake loads are quite different-from damage mechanisms of blast loads, the damage resulting to structural elements can be quite similar. Typical damages and failure mechanisms are categorized and compared for earthquake and conventional weapon loadings. Typical structures are selected based upon design guidelines. Damages expected to the typical structures from conventional weapon attack are described. Functional damages are defined and methods for accomplishing facility repairs are then recommended depending upon the facility function and the degree of damage. Materials, equipment, and procedures developed for repairing earthquake damage are described along with their potential use in repairing bomb damages.


The fruit of Capsicum plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. This research was focused at studying the exchange of genes amongst members of the genus Capsicum in Nigeria. The process of interspecific and intervarietal hybridization of two (2) species of the genus Capsicum; C. annuum and C. frutasense were carried out and the results show that most of the studied attributes like arrangement of leaves, shape of leaves, leaf density were undetermined while majority with distinct changes follow maternal inheritance. There were less successes among the interspecific crosses and high successes between varietal crosses ranging from 19.5% to 2.4% for the inter-varietal cross and 9.3% to 2.4% for interspecific crosses. This indicates that there are more hybridization barriers among interspecific hybridization than inter-varietal hybridization. The closely related species and varieties had higher percentage success of hybridization and vice versa. Characters such as Hypocotyl colour had partial dominance. Erect flower position is dominant in W and hybrid T*W while pendant is recessive. Red fruit colour at maturity, green fruit stalk colour was dominant while yellow was recessive. A good knowledge of how related species of the genus Capsicum are, the easier it will enable researchers to hybridize and improve the genus.


Jurisdictions are the defining characteristics of committee systems, and they are central in any discussions about the U. S. Congress; yet we know little about them. Where do committee property rights come from? Are they rigid? Are they flexible? I introduce a distinction between statutory jurisdictions (which are written in the House and Senate Rules) and common law jurisdictions (which emerge through bill referral precedents). Turf is gained through common law advances, not through formal rules changes (like the "reforms" passed by the House in 1946, 1974, and 1980). Jurisdictional change is ongoing and incremental. The analysis draws on an examination of hearings held by the House Commerce Committee from 1947 through 1990.


"This is not a work of intellectual history in the conventional sense," writes Maurice Samuels in the introduction to this sophisticated, intricately argued book on French intellectuals' ruminations about the place of Jews in France since the 18th century. A specialist in French literature at Yale, Samuels presents "a series of close readings of texts" about this issue (p. 15). What are these texts about? Part of a continuing discourse on French citizenship, they are ruminations on whether French society should define rights and obligations for individuals irrespective of their religious, ethnic, or cultural origins, or whether those particularities should govern how individuals identify and order themselves within French society. Suggesting that this Manichean view is too simple, Samuels identifies a countertradition within French universalism that embodies a more malleable approach to universal commitments....


WHEREAS TWENTY YEARS AGO the use of diagnostic exfoliative cytology was exceptional, today in North America it is commonplace. This branch of pathology finds its most widespread application in investigation of the respiratory and female genital systems; utilization of the method in the diagnosis of lesions of the central nervous svstem has received relatively scant attention. However, a perusal of the literature shows that, since the beginning of this century, there have been about 60 publications which mention specific instances of finding tumor cells in either intracranial or intraspinal fluids. This does not take into account tumors of the malignant lvmphoma and leukemia groups. The great majority of authors have reported finding tumor cells in cerebrospinal fluid obtained by lumbar puncture; fewer mention finding tumor cells in fluids obtained directly from the cranial cavity. The impression given in many instances is that the identification of tumor cells in a fluid derived from the central nervous system has been a unique or most uncommon experience for the authors concerned. But one is also left with the impression that tumor cells would be found more frequently in these fluids if suitable technics were used to demonstrate them and if persons seeing them could, with assurance, recognize them for what they are. Intracranial fluids (usually ventricular fluids) are often withdrawn from patients who are obscure diagnostic problems, who are suspected of having brain tumor, or who are undergoing craniotomy. In many instances, the cerebrospinal fluid withdrawn from a lateral ventricle is the first specimen of such fluid obtained; this applies particularly to brain tumor suspects. In view of these facts and of the relatively few reports of finding tumor cells in intracranial fluid, a series of such fluids has been


GPS is one of most innovation techniques in recent years. Because of the characteristics of global,omnipotent and whole-day navigation,timing,measuring speed,GPS must be applied wider and wider in many areas.


Abstract 17 18 Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can play a key role in many environmental 19 processes, including carbon cycling, nutrient transport and the fates of contaminants 20 and of agrochemicals. Hydrophobic acids (Ho) , the major components of the DOM, 21 were recovered from the drainage waters from a well drained (WDS) and a poorly 22 drained (PDS) Irish grassland soils in lysimeters and amended with N fertiliser (F) 23 and with bovine urine (U) and were studied using 1D and 2D solution state Nuclear 24 Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The Diffusion Edited (DE) 1 H NMR 25 spectra indicated that the Ho consisted largely of larger molecules, or of molecules 26 that formed rigid aggregates, and the 1D and the 2D (Heteronuclear Multiple 27 Quantum Coherence – HMQC, the Total Correlation Spectroscopy –TOCSY, and the 28 Nuclear Overhauser Effect –NOESY) spectra indicated that the samples were 29 composed of lignin residues, carbohydrates, protein/peptides, and aliphatic 30 components derived from plant waxes/cuticular materials and from microbial lipids. 31 The F amendments increased the concentrations of Ho in the waters by 1.5 and 2.5 32 times those in the controls in the cases of WDS and PDS, respectively. The lignin-33 derived components were increased by 50% and by 300% in the cases of the Ho from 34 the WDS and PDS, respectively. Applications of F + U decreased the losses of Ho, 35 (compared to the F amendments alone) and very significantly decreased those of the 36 lignin derived materials, indicating that enhanced microbial activity from U gave rise 37 to enhanced metabolism of the Ho components, and especially of lignin. In contrast 38 the less biodegradable aliphatic components containing cuticular materials increased 39 as the result of applications of F + U. This study helps our understanding of how 40 management practices influence the movement of C between terrestrial and aquatic 41 environments. 42 43


Aim To study the protective effect of fructose-1,6-diphosphate(FDP) on adriamycin(ADR)-induced myocardial damage. Methods 30 SD rats were divided into three groups randomly: control group,ADR group and ADR+FDP group.The changes of heart rate and dry and wet ratio of pulmonary and liver were observed,and the level of creative kinase isoenzyme MB(CK-MB) were measured.The active level of CuZn SOD was examined and its protein level was measured by immunohistochemistry,its gene level expression was measured by half-quantitatire polymerase chain reaction. Result Compared with ADR group,the heart rate change of ADR+FDP group was decreased(P0.05),the dry and wet ratio was increased(P0.05),and CK-MB was decreased(P0.01) obviously.The active level of Cn-Zn SOD was up(P0.05),the gene and protein expression of Cu-Zn SOD was down(P0.05). Conclusion FDP has a protective effect on adriamycin-induced myocardial damage.Its mechanism is possibly related with inhibiting oxidation.


Numerical studies have been conducted in order to investigate the linear stability of thermocapillary flow in a liquid bridge suspended between two coaxial, solid rods of different temperatures. We address the full two‐phase flow problem in which both the rods and the liquid bridge are placed in a concentric cylinder and exposed to a nominally axial flow field. Two features distinguish our linear stability analysis from earlier investigations. Firstly, our computational model allows the liquid–gas interface of the basic flow to be dynamically deformable, being affected by the basic temperature and velocity fields. Beyond that, our model accounts for the full temperature dependence of all thermophysical properties of the fluids. Since the problem involves many parameters, we consider a liquid bridge of 5 cSt silicone oil (Pr = 68) and focus on the effect of the ambient gas (Argon) on the flow instability that leads to the onset of three‐dimensional flow. Critical modes are analyzed for a length‐to‐radius aspect ratio of Γ = 1.


Plants are among the richest sources of bioactive compounds throughout the world for thousands of years and continue to provide new remedies to mankind. Roots of Hemidesmus indicus R. Br. is an important plant drug which is used to cure leprosy, leucoderma, itching, skin disease, asthma, bronchitis, leucorrhoea, dysentery, piles, syphilis, paralysis, urinary disorders and diabetes mellitus. As per Acharya Charaka has mentioned suitable season for collection of Moola i.e. Greeshma and Shishira Rutu. Here an attempt to study to check the potency of root collected as per classical reference. The present study focused on the pharmacognostical, phytochemical investigation as well as HPLC study were performed by taking different solvent extracts of Hemidesmus indicus root. This study highlights the detailed HPLC study on Hemidesmus indicus root by taking different solvent extracts with their increasing polarity which is a referential information for identification parameters and improves our confidence level of acceptability of herbal drugs.


Monitoring of mangrove damage in Java requires special attention because the mangrove vegetation has been under pressure from various other land uses which are considered more productive. This paper applied quick-mangrove-damage-detection technique using Landsat 8. The purpose of this study is to develop mangrove damage identification algorithm using Landsat 8. The findings from field survey in Segara Anakan-Cilacap show that major mangrove logging generates the growth of minor mangrove, specifically Derris and Acanthus type; the minor mangrove cover area is categorized as high density based on NDVI value. The index use does not meet the actual condition in the field. This study proposes a new index as mangrove quality indicator. The new proposed mangrove index is derived from 2 bands that could differentiate mangrove vegetation where different digital number of two bands is higher from mangrove forest than non-mangrove forest. That phenomenon is caused the low of SWIR spectral on mangrove forest due to absorption by wet soil below the mangrove forest where flooded in high tide.  The new mangrove index is formulated as (NIR – SWIR / NIR x SWIR) x 10000. The new mangrove index has good correlation with density of major mangrove in the field, and also good correlation with mangrove degradation map. Mangrove index has been functioning properly and can be applied in Segara Anakan, Cilacap and potentially can be applied in other locations.


While in the face of the disorder of collective violence the state seems to absent itself so that we cannot guess how the judicial discourse would have constructed pathological sexuality, we have evidence of how 'individual pathology' is constructed in the rape trial during normal periods. Further, in the dense discursivity of the state as it engages in separating the normal from the pathological, we get a production of bodies (male and female) that normalises sexual violence at least for the purpose of the law.


The purpose : This study evaluated the amount of peri-implant bone height change and patient satisfaction with two attachments (OT equator with smart box and Ball and socket) for retaining mandibular implant overdenture. Material and methods : From the outpatient clinic of the prosthodontic department, Faculty of Dentistry, October 6 University, fourteen male patients with edentulous mandibular and maxillary ridges aged between 50 to 65 years were selected to participate in this study. Each patient received two implants placed bilaterally in the canine regions with a divergence angle of 10 degrees. According to the type of attachment, the patients were divided into two groups, Group I: an OT equator with a smart box attachment (OT) was used. Group II, ball and socket attachments (BS) were used. The parallel technique (Digora software) was used to assess the amount of vertical bone height changes throughout the follow–up period (0, 3, 6, and 12 months). The patient's subjective evaluation of satisfaction using a questionnaire based on the VAS includes speech, chewing, comfort, aesthetics, oral hygiene, and general satisfaction was recorded. The data were collected and statistically analyzed. Results: Comparison between different groups was performed by using the Independent t-test. In contrast, a comparison between different intervals was performed using the One-Way ANOVA test followed by Tukey`s Post Hoc test for multiple comparisons. Regarding qualitative data, all comparisons were performed by using the Chi-square test. Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study, an OT equator with smart box attachment is preferable to ball and socket attachment systems in rehabilitating nonparallel implants up to 10 degrees inter-implant divergence angle. Recommendation


ABSTRACT Fish odor induces predator avoidance behaviors in zooplankton, like vertical migration, by making zooplankton more responsive to light. Odor cues that alter behavior in marine crustacean zooplankton in the laboratory include sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAGs) derived from fish body mucus. Few studies quantify these cues in estuarine/marine environments or assess whether laboratory studies reflect natural scenarios. We collected fish and water samples weekly in Broadkill River, Delaware, USA. We used field-collected water in colorimetric assays to determine the concentration of sGAG-equivalent molecules and in behavioral assays with a zooplankton model, brine shrimp (Artemia spp.) nauplii, which only descend in response to downwelling light after fish odor exposure. Fish quantity was positively related to sGAG-equivalents and zooplankton photosensitivity, indicated by descent responses at lower light levels and across a broad intensity range. Our results support that fish odor concentrations used in previous laboratory assays are consistent with levels found in an estuary.


e14582 Background: Patients enrollment in cancer clinical trials has traditionally been limited to an equal distribution between cases and controls. Some clinical trials have an unequal distribution between the case and control arm. Although such unequal allocation is uncommon it has certain advantages and disadvantages to it. The trend and proportion of cancer clinical trials that have an unequal allocation has not been studied. Methods: Data about cancer clinical trials was extracted from clinical trials.gov. The query included phase 3 trials which included adults and were conducted between 2010 to 2017. Only clinical trials that were either completed or active – but not recruiting were included. T test was used to determine statistical difference between different subgroups. Results: 601 clinical trials were identified of which 356 trials with two arms and 47 trials with 3+ arms were identified. Amongst the eligible 298 trials with two arms, there were 216 trials with equal allocation (1:1) and 82 trials with unequal allocation. Amongst the eligible 29 trials with 3+ arms; there were 21 trials with equal allocation (1:1:1) and 8 trials with unequal allocation. There was no significant difference in the proportion of trials with unequal allocation over the time period from 2010 to 2017. The categories of cancer which had the highest number of two arm clinical trials with unequal allotment were: genitourinary, breast and hematological malignancies (Table). Conclusions: Cancer clinical trials with unequal allocation between case and control arms have been common in the past decade. This may represent a new trend in clinical trial design to help enhance closer monitoring of adverse events despite higher costs attached to this method.[Table: see text]


We describe a new method of estimating the systematic spatial variation across wafers. Current methods for this task share some common deficiencies. For example, few of these techniques are able to decompose the systematic variation into components that can be assigned to different types of tools. Most of these methods are also sensitive to outliers and require that the outliers be manually removed before the model can be estimated. Almost none of the previous methods can account for high-frequency effects caused by reticle non-uniformity. Our method is based on a linear regression model with various components to account for the systematic variation that occurs in practice. Polynomial components model the smooth variation caused by tools that cannot process the wafer uniformly. Reticle components model the variation that occurs due to non-uniformities in the microlithography and etch tools. To generate distinct patterns, we apply QR orthogonalization to the systematic patterns prior to regression. To limit the effects of outliers, we employ robust regression. We demonstrate the performance of our technique with an example on data collected from production wafers.


One of the methods of the vertical reflux elimination at treatment of chronic venous diseases is the radio-frequency obliteration. In 2007, significant constructive changes influencing the mechanism of obliteration of the target vein in the most spreading technology of radio-frequency obliteration (VNUS Closure) occurred. The review of history of radio-frequency obliteration method development and literature publications on experimental and clinical trials with new generation radio-frequency obliteration catheters is present in the article.


The tendency to increase the role of radiation therapy in complex treatment of cancer patients is observed in the world nowadays. Taking into account today's wear of the equipment and the needs of its modernization, not less than 50 accelerators have to be installed in Russia annually. The method of calculation of the protection set forth in the current regulations, does not take into account a number of important conditions that can significantly affect the parameters of necessary protection. This article suggests a new approach to the calculation of radiation protection and standardization of accelerator parameters used for the calculation. The concept of a standardized weekly workload at the isocenter is proposed as well as the values of the directivity factor, the shift index, the occupancy rate. When carrying out dosimetric control, it is required to move from the dose rate measurement to the measurement of the dose at the point for the faction. These measures will allow to simplify the calculation of radiation protection from accelerator that would eliminate abuses by design and oversight organizations when developing and reviewing projects. If the measurement of the dose at the point is introduced as a dosimetric criteria, it will allow to avoid significant errors, as in the measurements and in their interpretation.


With the development of the Internet, email has become a part of our life to communicate with each other. While bringing convenience for users, it also threats the users' network security. For example, if the user clicks on a malicious URL link in the email, the user's host is likely to be injected by virus, resulting in subsequent network security problems. We call the Internet users' operations on email "users' email behaviors". Through simulating the user's behavior on email, we can find the hidden dangers and threats of network security caused by user's operation on email. In this paper, BP-BDI model is proposed to simulate the user's behavior on email. The behavior learning module with BP neural network is constructed on the basis of BDI (Belief Desire Intention) model to learn the user's past behavior of email. As a result, the accuracy of simulating the user's email behavior will be improved. Finally, the experiment proves that the BP-BDI model can simulate the user's email behavior accurately and effectively.


mRNA differential display technique is an effective method to separate and clone new genes which express specially in many situations in recent years.It is mainly determined to search and clone the different genes in plants which are related to the mechanism of resistance to adverse and disease in plants.This paper reviews the disadvantages and improvements of the technique in recent years.


Ultrafine powders of calcium substituted lanthanum chromite has been synthesized by a simple process of autoignition of citrate-nitrate gel followed by calcination of the ash in the temperature range 600--650 C. Average particle size can be varied between 0.38 to 1.2 {micro}m through changes in the experimental parameters. These powders can be sintered at relatively low temperatures (1,250--1,300 C) compared to those normally reported. In addition, Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3} is found to act as an effective sintering aid for this material. Sintered samples have been characterized in terms of their microstructure and electrical conductivity.


This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact email@example.com. Recommended Citation Bordner, Barbara; Green, Wendy; and Milberg, Susie, "A descriptive study of the pragmatic issues in obtaining an abortion among sixty-five women at Lovejoy Specialty Hospital, Portland, Oregon" (1977). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2582.


Ordinarily, having an n-dimensional operator relation implies operator relations for all dimensions less than n as well. However, for Fourier transforms this is not so. Only the effect of one-dimensional Fourier transforms in two-dimensional first order systems has been solved previously.1 A partial Fourier transform applied to a nonsingular linear transformation produces a Ohio' transformation, i.e., a matrix pivot. This implies a new definition of the symplectic group SP(n, C) for n ≥ 4 as the group generated by n-dimensional nonsingular linear transformations and the n one-dimensional Fourier transforms. This also provides an alternative method for generalizing low-dimensional results to higher dimensions. Several apparently new determinantal identities generalizing Chio's theorem are immediate consequences.


Abstract:  In view of evidence of in utero glucocorticoid programming, and our prior observation of lower cortisol levels in 9‐month‐old infants of mothers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to mothers without PTSD, we undertook an examination of the effect of in utero maternal stress, as determined by PTSD symptom severity, and maternal cortisol levels on behavioral outcomes in the infant. Methods: Ninety‐eight pregnant women directly exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse on 9/11 provided salivary cortisol samples and completed a PTSD symptom questionnaire and a behavior rating scale to measure infant temperament, including distress to limitations, and response to novelty. Results: Mothers who developed PTSD in response to 9/11 had lower morning and evening salivary cortisol levels, compared to mothers who did not develop PTSD. Maternal morning cortisol levels were inversely related to their rating of infant distress and response to novelty (i.e., loud noises, new foods, unfamiliar people). Also, mothers who had PTSD rated their infants as having greater distress to novelty than did mothers without PTSD (t= 2.77, df= 61, P= 0.007). Conclusion: Longitudinal studies are needed to determine how the association between maternal PTSD symptoms and cortisol levels and infant temperament reflect genetic and/or epigenetic mechanisms of intergenerational transmission.


Objective To compare knowledge,attitude and practice of cigarette smoking among junior and senior middle school students in Hefei,and to provide evidence for intervention measures.Methods With cluster sampling method,726 junior middle school students and 2 091 senior middle school students from 6 middle schools in Hefei were investigated with questionnaire.Results The proportion in senior students was higher than in junior students for the students who knew that there was hazard substance in cigarette.Significant differences of the ways to get the knowledge were found between 2 groups.The proportion of students who didn't think smoking was incorrect habits in senior group(20.49%) was higher than in junior group(4.97%).The proportion of students hoping to launch the cigarette cessation program in junior group(84.83%) was higher in the senior group(76.58%).The rate of attempting smoking in senior group(20.49%) was higher than junior group(15.72%).Conclusion Health education on smoking should be enforced among middle school students based on their different characteristics,so as to explore more efficient ways for health education.


Objective To study relation between bcl 2 and tumor cell, a retroviral vector encoding antisense bcl 2 gene was transfected into tumor cell to cause apoptosis efficiently presented of antigen by human dentritic cells (DCs) from peripheral blood.Methods Using granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM CSF) and interleukin 4 (IL 4), DCs were obtained from peripheral blood monocyte cells that maintained the antigen capturing and processing capacity characteristic in vitro. GM CSF 50 μg/L and IL 4 1?000 U/ml were added once two days for 4 times. On the 3rd day of culture, the immature DCs and apoptotic hepatochlangioma cells caused by antisense bcl 2 expression were cultured for other 4 days.Results These cells had typical dendritic morphology, expressed high levels of CD1a, B7 and acquired antigen from apoptotic cells caused by antisense bcl 2 expression and obviously induced an T cell stimulatory capacity in MLR.Conclusion DCs were obtained from blood monocytes with GM CSF and IL 4, and DCs can efficiently present antigen derived from apoptotic cells caused by antisense bcl 2 expression and induce T cells increasing obviously. It probably become an effective approach of DCs transduced with antigen.


of this engagement serves to emphasise the dynamic nature of this contact. Manifesting itself as not only an excursus of the art of the Hellenistic east, a task taken up by numerous other volumes, this book achieves in drawing together apparently disparate sources of evidence, from sailing techniques to philosophy, to encapsulate the complexity and scope of this area and its civilizations during the Hellenistic period and beyond.


In this research, it was aimed to determine the adsorption, saturation reaching and desorption effects of ammonium, which is one of the parameters that should be kept in control for aquarium life, by clinoptilolite type zeolite which is a natural filtration material. In the aquarium water, Z1: 20 mg/l TAN and Z2: 40 mg/l TAN concentrations were determined to have adsorption up to Z1: 10 mg/l TAN and Z2: 24 mg/l TAN concentration at the end of the experiment period. After this phase, where zeolites had reached saturation, desorption system was created, and 2 groups were formed with 5-liter research aquariums and 3 repetitions. During the five-days test, water parameters were determined daily and at the same time of day (10.00). At the beginning of the experiment, mean values of 0.4 ± 0.00 mg / l TAN in Z1 and Z2 groups were determined at the end of the experiment as 1.55 ± 0.176 mg/l (15.5%) and 2.153 ± 0.27 mg/l (13.5%) TAN in Z1 and Z2 groups, respectively. When the data obtained in this study were evaluated, zeolite was determined to make desorption periodically in proportion with the amount of retained ammonium, when it reached the saturation. In intensive aquaculture systems or aquarium conditions, recondition of zeolite for necessary periods is recommended to be performed by considering these data.


During lifetime of the operating elite the elitology meets difficulties on the way of the defining its quality as the tactical factor of time has a huge impact on it. Many erroneous judgements of the elitology in the estimation of ruling elite are the result of the impossibility to carry out all-round monitoring and the adequate analysis of its nature. Only throughout the time the more adequate estimations appear they aren"t dependent on lifetime of either of elite. The eschatological principle suggests to investigate elite during the moments of their occurrence in «boundary situations» when existence of their lives becomes bared for the scientific analysis and there are no those masking conventions, which hide its real face from our look.


We present techniques for bridging the Internet of Things air gap using device speakers to communicate with voice assistants and propose methods to protect critical applications from such attacks. Approaches include two-factor authentication, contextual monitoring, and source metadata embedding.


The CPC attached great importance to theoretical construction during its 80 years of history. In the new century,it's vital to look back the course of the theoretical construction, and to sum up the basic experiences for the better undertaking of the CPC.


This was a small study to improve knowledge and build capacity among the youths of the selected four secondary schools on the impacts of climate change and its adaptation and mitigation in drinking water management, as well as its use perspectives inside the Chitra-Nabaganga Area Water Partnership at Narail District in Bangladesh. The study was implemented by the Environment and Population Research Centre, Bangladesh, in financial collaboration with Bangladesh Water Partnership and the Global Applied Research Network - South Asia. The study included classroom training focusing on climate change and its impacts, water safety and its management, and knowledge about water disinfection methods during floods. This study found that knowledge about water disinfection methods during floods, such as "boiling arsenic-free water" and "using chlorine solution," improved significantly p <.01) in the end-line from the baseline survey. The level of knowledge about flood preparedness, causes, and potential consequences of climate change also increased significantly p <.01). According to the findings of this study, training can increase the skills of young students and turn them into active learners who are interested in gaining more knowledge about contemporary issues.

https://universepg.com/public/storage/journal-pdf/Enhancing youth capacities on climate change adaptation and drinking water management.pdf


A fully automated far-infrared (FIR) laser prototype was instated in May 1984 on an extrusion line at Essex Power Conductor, a division of United Technologies Corp. This laser prototype was designed for on-line inspection and quality control of high-voltage cable insulation in real time during manufacturing. By means of high-speed rotating mirrors, a 300-mW Gaussian FIR laser beam scans the polyethylene insulation just after it has been extruded and cross-linked in a steam curing catenary chamber.


We investigate the electronic structure of the monolayer black phosphorus (BP) using density-functional methods both with and without an applied electric field. We find that a simple one-band tight-binding Hamiltonian based on the ${p}_{z}$ orbitals and nearest-neighbor hopping is sufficient to describe the band structure in the gap region rather well and justification for this is given from symmetry arguments. The anisotropic nature of the band structure leads in turn to an anisotropic Rashba effect, where the magnitude of the spin splitting caused by an applied electric field is not only momentum dependent, but also depends on the direction of $\stackrel{P\vec}{k}$. The Rashba Hamiltonian is generalized for the anisotropic case, which reads: ${H}_{R}={\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{R}(\stackrel{P\vec}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{\stackrel{P\vec}{k}}^{\ensuremath{'}})\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{z}$, where the scaled momentum ${\stackrel{P\vec}{k}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ contains the anisotropy effect. The Rashba effect is studied quantitatively for BP from ab initio density-functional calculations in the presence of an applied electric field. A byproduct of this work is the demonstration that the strength of the spin-orbit coupling for the outermost electrons in the atoms, which are relevant for the solids, increases only as the Landau-Lifshitz ${Z}^{2}$ scaling with the atomic number $Z$, rather than the higher power ${Z}^{4}$ scaling, as sometimes thought.


Our association with Prof. Kita started in 1996 when Onishi and Raghavan joined the Media Center at Osaka City University. In 1996, the newly open Media Center started out as a state-of-the-art center combining functionality of Library, Computer Center and modern educational facility for Information Technology. Prof. Kita was heading the Library Science Division and Onishi and Raghavan were placed at the Networking and Database and Multimedia Division respectively. The research staff at the Media Center consisted of a multi-disciplinary group encompassing arts, science and technology backgrounds. At that stage of our research career, our main experience was that of in algorithms (Onishi) and computer oriented geologist (Raghavan) and it took us a while to get into the grove and equip ourselves with necessary skills and knowledge to work with a research team of such diversity. Prof. Kita went out of his way to make young researchers like us feel comfortable and advised us to think beyond our narrow fields of specialization. The initial conversations would take place over the hot cups of coffee prepared by Kita-sensei. We recall that his single worded "Coffee" e-mail which used to arrive around 11:00am daily. Towards the end of most of these coffee sessions, Kita-sensei would pull out a book from the vast collection lining his bookshelf and advise us to read in order to broaden my knowledge horizon. Soon the coffee sessions were inadequate to conclude our conversation and discussions would continue after office hours on almost any topic that one could imagine. Prof. Kita, not only amazed us with the broad spectrum of his knowledge but we were flabbergasted by his ability to instantly grasp new topics and analyze them threadbare. His conversation would be dotted with anecdotes and quotations for books and spiced with sharp wit that we have seen in very few. We used to find myself frantically taking notes, lest we miss the opportunity of learning from his immense wisdom and deep knowledge.


Fashion has merged and become one of the main interests for each individual and has a personal meaning according to the personality and taste preferences of each. This holds true for fashionable shoes as well, especially for ladies. Considering how it has evolved, footwear is one of the elements of fashion that reveals the social standing of its wearers. Shoes are no longer merely a basic necessity for human existence, but they are also now inextricably linked to the demands of fashion for the ideal image. Women's shoes are created in a variety of styles that are characterized by model, color, and shape, whose purpose varies depending on the style they wish to exhibit, along with the evolution of fashion trends. Many women are on the lookout for new shoe improvements that are feminine but also straightforward and comfortable to wear. Privet is thus active as a company involved in fashion, specifically women's shoes, to meet the demands of the market. The company, which has been operating legally under the name CV. Privet Dwi Sentosa since October 23 2020, are produce the product made by local artisans with a variety of feminine models, however they still seem stylish and comfortable. Each Privet product is embellished with handmade features to give it a special, one-of-a-kind touch. Considering the large opportunity in the market potential and the ability of local craftsmen to produce high-quality products, Privet wants to try to expand sales distribution by offering products directly to consumers by exploring direct-to-consumer promotion strategies based on the customer preferences like many other big brands do to attract the maximum market potential.


Inverse and forward kinematic models were derived to analyze the performance of a parallel-chain hexapod machine in this paper. Analytical models were constructed for both ideal and real structures. Performance assessment and enhancement algorithms were developed to determine the strut lengths for both ideal and real structures. The strut lengths determined from both cases can be used to analyze the effect of structural imperfections on machine performance. In an open-architecture control environment, strut length errors can be fed back to the controller to compensate for the displacement errors and thus improve the machine's accuracy in production.


Water logging has been disrupting livelihoods of about one million people in Bangladesh during past two decades. South-west Bangladesh is prone to water logging due to the vulnerable geographical setting and climate change. The worst hydro-geophysical vulnerability has been found in Keshabpur Thana of Jessore District where most of the land is waterlogged for over seven years. The researchers tried to identify people's unique coping strategies under such adverse environmental condition. Necessary data were collected through questionnaire survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Participatory Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) tools. About 270 households of the study area were surveyed. Major findings revealed the constraints towards reducing people's vulnerability such as climate change, poor coordination among stakeholders, limited institutional initiative of coping etc. Accordingly researchers tried to put some necessary recommendation such as promoting agricultural and institutional coping immediately in the study area.


We have developed a simulation method based on magnetic flux conservation between two filaments of adjacent layers to estimate current distribution in coaxial multi-layer HTS conductor. Using this method, we have demonstrated homogeneous current distribution and verified that current distribution was controllable directly by the conductor parameters of layer radius, twisting pitch and twisting direction. Although it has been considered that homogeneous current distribution is effective for reducing AC loss, the most suitable conductor parameters and operating condition have not been investigated sufficiently yet. Therefore, we improved our developing method to estimate current distribution more rigorously considering the nonlinear voltage-current characteristic of HTS tape. To verify the validity of the simulation method, we measured current distribution using coaxial two-layer conductors. Agreement of current distribution between the experiment and the analysis was good.


The object of this paper is to present asymmetric rotor and shaft models in rotating machinery systems. Using these models it is possible to analyze the electrical motors or generators which have different lateral stiffness or the moments of inertia in two orthogonal directions. The asymmetry causes unstable vibrations in some rotating speed ranges. A cracked shaft model is presented as the extension of the asymmetric shaft model. These models are implemented in our original rotating machinery library.


Objective To explore the value of sealing of the femoral canal in of total knee arthroplasty.Methods A randomized prospective study that included 60 TKA from Jun.2008 to Mar.2014 divided into two groups(30 in each one,experimental group and control group) was carried out.In the experimental group sealed bone graft sealing was used,while in thecontrol group sealed bone graft sealing was not used.All groups were compared in operation time,number of cases receiving blood transfusion,intraoperative blood loss(IBL),postoperative wound blood loss(PWB),dominant blood loss(DBL) and total red blood cell volume loss(TBVL),knee joint activity,VAS scores.Results In experimental group,7 patients received transfusion therapy and in control group 10 cases.The number of patients receiving transfusion in experimental group was less than the control group,but the difference was not statistically significant(χ2=0.02,P =0.90).The difference between two groups in operation time,IBL,TBVL was not statistically significant(P 0.05).The PWB and DBL onthe first day after operation of experimental group was less than control group,the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05).There were no statistically significant differences between these two groups in the knee joint activity of admission,on the third day,sixth day,ninth day after operation and before discharge(P 0.05).There were no statistically significant between these two groups in the VAS score on the third day,sixth day,ninth day after operation.Conclusion The femoral intramedullary guide hole should be plugged with autologous bone because this technique results in a reduction in early blood loss.It can be use in TKA surgery carefully.


On-line advertising is less than 15 years old but it has already become a major contributor to the global economy. We are all exposed to it every day and it has been adopted as one of the main sources of revenue for the burgeoning on-line services worldwide. This presentation provides a technology overview of how different types of on-line advertising systems work followed by a discussion about the emerging trends for making these systems more effective across all media and electronic devices. Speaker bio: Kiumarse Zamanian received his PhD degree in engineering from CMU with a focus on applying formal methods and object-oriented techniques to model, share and reason about information in distributed systems. Since 2004 he has led a variety of on-line advertising products at Yahoo!, Glam Media and small start-ups and is the co-inventor on six US patent applications in this domain. He has been a consulting and adjunct professor at CMU Silicon Valley since 2006 and enjoys working with entrepreneurial teams in transforming innovative ideas into useful software products.


Objectives: Loop diuretics are recommended-diureticsfor hypertension in renal failure.Theantihypertensive effect ofthiazide diuretics (TZ) was unknown in advanced renal failure, who treated withrenin-angiotensin system inhibitor (RAS-I).We examinedthe effectofadding TZ to RAS-Iin the patients with advance stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: We retrospectively examined antihypertensive and renoprotective effects of adding TZ to RAS-I in 105 hypertensive patients (62% male), whose estimated GFR (eGFR, ml/min/1.73 m2) was ≦60. We compared those effects in the group of eGFR 30-60 (group A) with those in less than 30 (group B). Results: Mean age, blood pressure (BP, mmHg) and eGFR were 61.9y.o, 145/76 and 37.4at just before adding TZ respectively. In the group A, BP is significantly decreasing from 146 to 126, 128, 126at 2, 6 and 12 months after adding TZ and from 148 to 132, 131, 126 in the groupB, respectively. In the group B, eGFRwas reduced from 23.7 to 21.5 at 2 months, but had been remained stable thereafter. On the other hand, urinary protein was reduced from 3.9 to 2.3 at 2 months and had been still suppressed at 12 months. Conclusion: These findings suggested that additional use of TZ to RAS-I could be effective for lowering BP even in advanced stage of CKD and it might retard the progression of CKD by reducing proteinuria. The improvement of glomerular hypertension might be involved in itsantiproteinuric effect.


This book offers a unique look behind the scenes of anthropological fieldwork amongst the Mende in Sierra Leone in the mid-1930s. The Dutch anthropologist and sociologist Sjoerd Hofstra (1898-1983), Rockefeller research fellow of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures and one of Bronislaw Malinowski's three 'Mandarins' (as were also Meyer Fortes and S. Frederick Nadel), reports in long, bi-weekly letters to his adoptive mother about his experiences with the Mende. During his first stay in Sierra Leone (January 1934 - March 1935), Hofstra got blackwater fever, a complication of malaria tropica. His second stay (May - September 1936) came to an untimely end because he again developed symptoms of blackwater fever and was advised to return to Europe. Because of this his fieldwork remained unfinished, and Hofstra never got round to publishing the planned book on the Mende. However, Hofstra published four articles on the Mende in English, photocopies of which are included in this book. Next to these articles Hofstra's letters to his adoptive mother contain valuable first-hand information about his fieldwork. His daughter, cultural and social historian Marijke Gijswijt-Hofstra, has edited and translated these letters, while also including contextual information.


Gift-giving was an important feature of cross-cultural diplomacy in the complex political landscape of the early modern Gold and Slave coasts. The article examines gift-giving practices that European trading companies used toward African rulers and elites, relating them to European courtly diplomacy. Tracing the repertoire of gift objects, it argues that the very function ascribed to gifts required learning about another's rules, values, habits, or tastes. In consequence, a repertoire of gifts peculiar to the contact zone was established, consisting not least of objects adapted into local practices and production. These processes of adaptation were influenced by the materiality of the objects.


Generations of individuals of the XXI century who live in conditions of contemporary complex global oriented world are exposed to the traditional, well-developed research-based model of psycho-social job stress but also to novel guidelines, dimensions, scheme and characteristics of occupational stress. Psycho-social characteristics are bound and linked with human value system and human nature. Human values are intransient and in different generations can be retained and maintained, but the process of historical and social development change the nature of human value system in today's complex global oriented world. The major psychological risk factors, guidelines, dimensions, and patterns of the XXI century are dependent on recent stress-induced social and political process, and are dictated by the new imperatives of our modernity. Sociopolitical processs affect and shape lives and behavior of modern generations in normal conditions and particularly under exposure to life and occupational stress. Then why individuals should think about the arising and occurring changes in worldly existence and working life today and their future consequences? Is there anything special that takes place today compared to what previous generations have suffered and experienced? Do we need to learn from the experience, knowledge and complicated process of historical development and related mistakes of previous generations? Are we to believe in the eternal human values? Yes, I think that there are and that we have to Advance in science, information technology, automation and all spheres of Abstract


This paper describes a novel architecture for an optical position sensor which has been implemented on a single chip using standard digital CMOS technology. The prototype device consists of 20/spl times/20 active pixels and two row and column parallel processing units with corresponding digital decoding logic. The image contour is extracted by means of distributed peak-detection, implemented at pixel level, followed by a digital extraction of the beam centroid position executed at row and column level. The sensor chip achieves up to 3000 frames/s with a position accuracy of 0.013 pixel and a total power consumption of 15 mW at 5 V.


The comparison between Gran Buenos Aires's IPC and Mendoza's ICP is possible thanks to the extensive series Mendoza offers. First of all, an estimation of each index is made in order to analyze IPCGBA's and IPCMZA's series and to evaluate the existence of coincidences in their behavior as to make an estimation of one of them based on the other. Secondly, it is made a try to show the change in the behavior of IPCGBA from January 2007. It is concluded that it is possible to consider the IPCGBA as a function of the IPCMZA. Monthly and quarterly estimations are carried out in which binary variables are added to show the structural change. This work shows that the index of prices series present an important correlation.


This paper, the ninth in the IIASA water demand series, reports on the analysis of water demands of a large agroindustrial complex in the northeastern part of Bulgaria, covering a territory of about 2,700 sq. km, with a population of some 175,000. With the aid of SWIM (Silistra Water for Irrigation Model), which was developed at IIASA, several factors that both influence agricultural production and associated water demands have been analyzed. The major goal of the Silistra complex, to maximize the total crop and livestock production within the limited regional resources, has been taken into account in the analysis. The model allows analyses to be made of substitution possibilities in agricultural production (water for fertilizers, irrigated for nonirrigated crops, one sub-region for another, and so on). The work leads ultimately to determining an economically efficient level of irrigation development.


This article presents a summary report of the 1950 National Study of Teacher Supply and Demand, the third annual in vestigation of this problem conducted by the National Commission on Teacher Edu cation and Professional Standards under the direction of Mr. Maul, of State Teach ers College, Emporia, Kansas, who serves as Research Associate of the Commission. Reprints of this article are available from the National Commission offices, 1201 Sixteenth Street, Northwest, Wash ington 6, D. C. Separate printed copies of the complete report, with state-by-state figures, are also available from the Com mission.


The cruciate ligaments are the main stabilizers of the knee. Their loss causes instability and malfunction of the knee joint, leading to severe meniscus tears and cartilage lesions in many cases. The development of arthroscopic surgery in the 1970s and the fast pace of advances in instrument technology have combined to make ACL reconstruction a standard procedure. Treatment of a tear of the ACL must be preceded by both clinical examination and diagnostic imaging; the standards in terms of timing, implants, transplant placement and fixation are highlighted. A new method for the treatment of acute ACL tears, the healing response technique, is introduced following its first use in 120 patients; the results achieved have been monitored by arthroscopy in 110 of the patients and are also presented. Rupture of the PCL is an even greater challenge to the knee surgeon. The different opinions on its management are discussed.


This interpretative/qualitative study of the Parents as Teachers (PAT) programme is designed to provide parents with more effective child-rearing practices. It focuses on how the PAT programme operates with parents who are difficult to contact, enroll or maintain in the programme.


Methanol extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum was used to evaluate its antilithic property in adult male albino rats. Experimental urolithiasis was induced by oral administration of ethylene glycol and ammonium chloride with drinking water for 7 days. The treatment with methanol extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum and cystone by oral administration was continued for 14 days. Fresh urine samples were collected daily for urine crystal counts. On 14th day fresh urine and serum samples were collected for creatinine estimation and rats were sacrificed for kidney histopathology. An increased serum creatinine and decreased urine creatinine level were observed in urolith group, where as the findings did not differ significantly in Bryophyllum pinnatum extract and cystone treated groups with the control group. Urine crystal counts were significantly reduced and histopathology of kidney showed apparently normal architecture with very less crystal deposition in kidneys of the Bryophyllum pinnatum extract and cystone treated groups.


Abstract A ventilated thermocline model is used to discuss the circulation of the warm water of the subtropical gyre. It is suggested on theoretical grounds that the warm water layers that outcrop well south of the zero wind-stress curl line are completely replenished by the mass flux pumped down from the upper Ekman layer while recirculation of mass through the western boundary current plays a relatively insignificant role for these layers. The recirculation seems, instead, to be confined to the deeper layers of the thermocline.


Background and Aim The development of interferon- (IFN-) free regimens substantially improved efficacy of treatment for HCV, but despite excellent effectiveness the failures still occur. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of retreatment with genotype specific direct acting antivirals- (DAA-) based regimens in nonresponders to previous IFN-free therapy. Materials and Methods Analysed population consisted of 31 nonresponders to IFN-free regimen, which received second IFN-free rescue therapy, selected from 6228 patients included in a national database EpiTer-2. Results Age and gender distribution were similar, whereas proportion of genotype 1b was slightly higher and genotype 4 lower in the whole population compared to studied one. Patients included in the study demonstrated much more advanced fibrosis. Primary therapy was discontinued in 12 patients, which were recognized as failures due to nonvirologic reason, whereas virologic reason of therapeutic failure was recognized in 19 patients which completed therapy. Overall sustained virologic response (SVR) rate was 81% and 86% in intent-to-treat (ITT) and modified ITT analysis, respectively (74% and 78% in virologic failures, 92% and 100% in nonvirologic failures). Resistance-associated substitutions (RAS) testing was carried out in 8 patients from the group of completed primary therapy and three of them had potential risk for failure of rescue therapy due to NS5A association, while two of them achieved SVR. Conclusions We demonstrated moderate effectiveness of genotype specific rescue therapy in failures due to virologic reason and high in those who discontinued primary therapy. Therefore rescue therapy with genotype specific regimens should be considered always if more potent regimens are not available.


Five single-phase W- and Mo-containing high-entropy borides (HEBs) have been made via reactive spark plasma sintering of elemental boron and metals. A large reactive driving force enables the full dissolution of 10-20 mol. % WB2 to form dense, single-phase HEBs, including (Ti0.2Zr0.2Hf0.2Mo0.2W0.2)B2, (Ti0.2Ta0.2Cr0.2Mo0.2W0.2)B2, (Zr0.2Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2W0.2)B2, and (Zr0.225Hf0.225Ta0.225Mo0.225W0.1)B2, for the first time; in contrast, such single-phase W-containing HEBs cannot be made via conventional fabrication routes. In the processing science, this result serves perhaps the best example demonstrating that the phase formation in high-entropy ceramics can strongly depend on the kinetic route. A scientifically interesting finding is that HEBs containing softer WB2 and/or MoB2 components are significantly harder than (Ti0.2Zr0.2Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2)B2. This exemplifies that high-entropy ceramics can enable unexpected/improved properties beyond the rule of mixture.


Alvin H. Marill, Movies Made for Television: The Telefeature and the Mini-Series (Westport, Conn.: Arlington House, 1980—$29.95). Eileen Bowser and John Kuiper, eds., A Handbook for Film Archives (FIAF, Couderberg 70, 1000 Brussels, Belgium— $40.00). Just out is Peter Cowie, ed. International Film Guide 1981 (San Diego, Ca.: A.S. Barnes, 1981—$9.95, paper) Charles Grande, The American Film Institute Seventh Annual Guide to Courses in Film and Television (Peterson's Guides, P.O. Box 123, Princeton, N.J. 08540—$11.50 plus $2.00 postage) Patrick Robertson, Movie Facts and Feats: A Guiness Record Book (New York: Sterling Publishing, 1980—$21.50) James L. Limbacker, Keeping Score: Film Music 1972-79 (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1981— $21.50) Jerry C. Hostetler and Donald C. Winsor, Directory of United States Film and Video Festivals (write to Kathy Bury, Box 176-B, DeSoto, Ill. 62924—$5.00, spiral bound with $1.00 to cover postage) Lubomyr Wynor and Lois Buttlar, Ethnic Film and Filmstrip Guide for Librar...


Abstract We first report a novel route to synthesize centimeter-scaled polypyrrole (PPy) fiber in the presence of oligo-polyacrylamide. The Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectra reveal that the fiber is in high conductive state. The PPy fibers have a uniform diameter of 300 μm, and length varying from several millimeters to 4 cm. The temperature dependence of electrical conductivity reveal that the transport properties of PPy fibers should be dominantly characterized by phonon-assisted hopping mechanism. Polymer-directed crystal growth may provide promising routes to rational synthesis of various ordered organic materials with complex form and structural specialization.


One of the dilemmas faced by directors is the need to be entrepreneurial in ensuring the future succcess of a company while at the same time retaining prudent control. A conversation is required among some directors and boards to review what is meant by risk and risk management, their governance responsibilities in relation to risk, and the extent to which the risk management community is perceived as a help or hinder to addressing contemporary challenges facing boards and their companies, and whether contemporary risk management attitudes and practices inhibit or support risk taking, enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Issues that need to be considered include the accountability and professionalism of the risk manangement community, remaining current as risks and requirements change, widening involvement in risk management, learning from other professions, perceptions of risk, risk and responsible business, recognising realities, embracing supply chains and network organisations, changing approaches, the risks of order, rules and regulations, and professional aspirations. Suggestions are made as to what is required in these areas and how the risk management community should respond.

Published in an edited book of papers to accompany the London Global Convention 2017 and 17th International Conference on Corporate Governance & Sustainability as: Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2017), Risk Management's Role in Corporate Governance, in Ahluwalia, J. S. (Editor), The Board: Emerging Issues of Corporate Governance & Sustainability Challenges, London, IOD Publishing, 25th October, pp 52-61 [ISBN: 978-81-933766-2-1]


Container shipping in the eastern Asian region has been rapidly increasing. Enlargement of the size of vessels seeking economies of scale encouraged the concentration of large ports, and raised the volume of hierarchical movement of freight, namely hubs and spokes operation with efficient transshipment. We propose an integrated network model which can reproduce and estimate the volume of flows and the transport patterns under various policy impacts such as the improvement of port facilities and port operation. As we discuss the characteristics of Asian ports based on the outputs of the model, Finally, an impact study of port improvement initiatives is introduced as an example of model-application.


ABSTRACT Among the barriers to proper solid waste management (SWM), and which have received little research attention is the role of conflict and crime in the sector. This paper explores conflict and crime in SWM in Kenya's two major cities of Mombasa and Nairobi. Building on published and grey literature on crime and conflict in the sector, we present findings from a household survey and qualitative discussions with key stakeholders in SWM. The findings indicate that the pulling out of municipal authorities from the provision of SWM services, coupled with the 'informalization' of the Kenyan economy in the 1990s and the increase in both unemployment and poverty set the stage for the involvement of criminal elements in the sector. Crimes in the sector include corrupt practices such as well-connected individuals getting awarded service provision contracts that they do not honour, illegal activities on the dumpsites where gangs control access by transporters, and recovery of recyclables. In addition, there is violence from waste pickers towards outsiders thought to encroach on their territory. There is a need for county authorities to take over the control of waste management to address the huge public health implications it poses to the city.


The image capturing method influenced for the rapid scanning of a by respiratory movement of a patient (1) receiving area (2) using a tomography apparatus (3) having at least two about a common rotation axis (4) rotatably arranged receiving systems (5, 6, 7, 8), in which from a breathing signal (9) at least one matched to the respiratory motion recording pulse (10) is generated, with which the imaging unit (3) is controlled so that during the recording pulse (10) projections (11, 12) of the receiving region (2) are recorded wherein projection gaps (13) of the receiving region (2) when the detected projections (11) along a first spiral path (14) around the receiving portion (2) with the first receiving system (5, 6) by projections (12) along a second spiral path (15 ) (by the receiving portion 2) to the second recording system (7, are padded 8), wherein the recording pulse (10) based on the respiratory signal (9) from a number of previous breaths (Z is tistisch determined, and wherein two following respiration signal peaks


Published literature on the possible carcinogenic effects of oral contraceptives is reviewed. Very little has been published on the effect of oral contraceptives on preexistent female genital or breast cancer. The few publications extant do not suggest this possibility but their number renders them inconclusive. Cytological and histological examination of healthy women with a view to documenting a carcinogenic effect of steroids has given contradictory results. Increased frequency of true cancer following treatment with hormonal contraceptives has not been demonstrated but increases in cytologically suspicious findings and in histological findings suggestive of precancerous conditions have been reported by many authors. These studies cannot be evaluated because of statistical flaws and an insufficient study population. Definitive results will be obtained only from long-term observation and large prospective studies and the necessity of such investigations is emphasized. Regular breast and genital examination are urgently recommended including cytological and colposcopic examinations. At present the great advantages of hormonal contraceptives outweigh the risks.(AUTHORS MODIFIED)


Avionics as a term was introduced in the USA in the early 1950s to describe the systems which depend on and exploit electronic technology in the aviation field. Its role has become more and more important in modern aircraft, and the cost of the avionic system now fitted can equal as much as one-third or more of the total aircraft cost. The world market for avionics equipment over the next 10 years is estimated to be in the region of £30 billion, and so its importance for the future can be appreciated


The most critical environmental risk to enterprise in transnational business is political risk of host country. As the transnational business develops in Chinese enterprises, how to prevent the political risk of the host country becomes urgent. State sovereignty, stability of governmental policy and economic nationalism are three aspects being the bases of formation of political risk. Various forms of political risk could be analyzed from the actions taken by the government. After ponder over how to evaluate the political risk in host country, an evaluation system is formed. The strategy to control the risk is put forward, i.e. to minimize hostile emotion of host country, to well organize the business in host country, to implement planned localization strategy, to buy political insurance and to develop emergency response plan.


The invention belongs to the metallurgy technical field and discloses an electric stove metal bulk cargo continuous feeding and preheating device and method. The metal charge roller preheating grooveof the device is inclined with the horizontal plane, the lower end of the metal charge roller preheating groove is inserted into the inlet of a stove entering vibratory conveyor to be sheathed in short distance fit, the stove entering vibratory conveyor is connected with open pore A of the electric stove, the position of approach end is lower, the higher end of the metal charge roller preheating groove is sheathed and combined with a groove entering vibratory conveying and air sealing device, and the two are sheathed in short distance fit. The method is characterized in that metal charge is fed into the metal charge roller preheating groove to be preheated. The preheated metal charge is fed into the electric stove, and smoke of the electric stove is exhausted by the stove entering vibratory conveyor, the metal charge preheating groove and the groove entering vibratory conveying and air sealing device. The invention has the advantages of less electrical energy consumption, steady operation, high scrap preheating efficiency, high operational throughput and short total device length and is a new energy-saving and environmentally friendly technology with promotional value on electric stove or other production technologies.