A measurement cell (1) comprises: a measurement chamber (6); an inflow aperture (7) by which a sample solution flows into the measurement chamber (6); an outflow aperture (8) by which the sample solution flows out from the measurement chamber (6); a measurement electrode (12) which is disposed in a location toward the outflow aperture (8) within the measurement chamber (6), captures bacteria which is included in the sample solution which flows in the measurement chamber (6) and whereupon a measurement AC voltage is applied to measure the quantity of the bacteria; a concentration electrode (21a) which is disposed in a location toward the inflow aperture (7) in the measurement chamber (6), and whereupon a concentration AC voltage is applied for imparting a repulsive force which guides the bacteria included in the sample solution to the measurement electrode (12) side; and insulating bodies (20a, 20b) which are disposed upon the concentration electrode (21a), and whereupon an electrical field convergence unit (22) is formed which causes the repulsive force to be generated in a portion of the insulating bodies when the concentration AC voltage is applied to the concentration electrode (21a).


We have prepared 100-mm and 200-mm 1X stencil masks for low energy electron-beam proximity projection lithography (LEEPL) using silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates. We chose 200-mm without frame type format for production mask and 100-mm with NIST-like frame type for developing. And we employed COSMOS (complementary stencil masks on strut-supports) structure proposed by SONY to suppress in-plane distortion (IPD) of membrane. Our 100-mm mask contains 70-nm node device patterns. The critical dimension (CD) uniformity of a 100-nm width line patterns was 5.6 nm in range within 20-mm square area. The CD linearity of the line patterns was 5.5 nm in range throughout the range of 80- to 300-nm width. In our 200-mm mask, 100-nm width line patterns and 150-nm width hole patterns were successfully fabricated within 46-mm square area.


In this paper, an analytical model is proposed for a macrocellular communication system with directional antennas at elevated base station (BS) to quantify the effect of directivity of the radiated waves from antennas on the Doppler spectrum in a 3-D radio propagation environment. The impacts of antenna beamwidth and motion of mobile station (MS) are thoroughly investigated on the statistical distribution of the power Doppler spectrum. Closed-form expressions for trivariate probability density functions (pdfs) of propagation path distance, power, and Doppler shift are derived. Furthermore, general expressions for joint and marginal pdfs of elevation angle of arrival, power, and Doppler shift are established. Finally, the obtained theoretical results, along with the observations that illustrate the effect of directivity of the antenna beamwidth and the direction of the MS's motion on the distribution characteristics of the power Doppler spectrum, are presented. It is established that for motion of the MS in all directions, the spread in distribution of the Doppler shift observed is significantly reduced due to the use of a directional antenna at the BS with a narrow beam directed toward the desired user. It is also observed that, for a sharp azimuthal beam of directional antenna, the multipath components corresponding to the scatterers in the elevation plane result in the reduction of Doppler shift with an increase in their vertical distance from the MS.


documenting and advocating for Indian music, earned her a place of honor as the namesake of the audio archives of the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas. Chapter 5, "Consideraciones fi nales," calls for the recognition of the social, cultural, and intellectual underpinnings of ethnomusicology in Mexico. Alonso posits that this process of taking stock of the past is necessary to forge a new approach to the applied study of Mexican Indian music, one that fully recognizes the living, constantly evolving nature of Indian cultures, as opposed to seeing Indians as static keepers of cultural antiquities. She looks to disengage past perspectives that shackle public policies and practices and scholarly approaches to outmoded and deleterious attitudes of cultural "purity" and externally imposed notions of authenticity. She calls for an anthropology of music that explains music in its cultural context and treats "informants" as interlocutors in the research process. She closes with a defi nite statement: "Aún falta mucho por hacer" (141). Marina Alonso breaks new ground in mining historical records to reveal on-the-ground practices of Mexican cultural policies during its critical era of post-Revolution construction of national cultural identity. Her broadbrush conceptual history of musical scholarship in the 20th century goes well beyond música indigena in its usefulness to understanding intellectual attitudes of the time. While her principal intended audience seems to be her Mexican cultural colleagues, her historical analysis and her call for a more collaborative approach in scholarship carry relevance far beyond the boundaries of Mexico.


This paper first examines whether the more investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR), the less likely the share prices will be undervalued by the market. Secondly, we analyse whether there is a positive correlation between the spending on CSR and the company's productivity and explore the impact of CSR on future financial performance of a firm. The findings show that if the spending on CSR is high in the prior or/and current periods, current share prices are less likely to be undervalued. A stronger focus on CSR in the prior or/and current periods does not lead to higher productivity. This is possible because the input of CSR has no influence on the incentives to employees. In addition, the more efforts in CSR in the prior or current periods, the better is the future financial performance. This study, hence, concludes that CSR input can mitigate undervaluation and improve future operation performance.


The innate immune system has a long evolutionary heritage, with elements shared by most vertebrates, plants, and insects. This group of conserved receptors, barrier and immune cells, and antimicrobial molecules are required to provide immediate protection from potential pathogens. An effective innate immune response must include immune recognition of pathogens by discriminating "self" from "nonself," rapid induction of effector mechanisms for pathogen containment and clearance, stimulation of long-term adaptive immunity so that subsequent exposures are handled more efficiently, and regulation of the response to prevent damage to the host. Innate immune responses are initiated by recognition of molecular components of microorganisms that are foreign to the host, so-called pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). They can also be activated by host molecules that are released by damaged cells or produced by host cells during an inflammatory response, so-called damageassociated molecular patterns (DAMPs). The sensing receptors activated by PAMPs and DAMPs are termed pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). These receptors are germline encoded and therefore present at birth; they are not generated, tailored, or expanded by clonal selection in response to antigen, as are the recognition receptors of T and B lymphocytes in acquired immunity. Because innate immunity is "inborn," it plays a critical role early in the life of an organism when the adaptive repertoire has not yet been shaped and continues to provide immediate protection throughout the life of an organism, bridging the gap to adaptive immune responses, which require days to amplify and become effective. In addition to its sentinel detection and first-responder roles, the innate immune system activates and instructs adaptive immunity, regulates inflammation, and maintains homeostasis to allow the organism to develop, grow, and thrive in its environment. Unfortunately, allergic sensitization, inflammation, and disease may originate in aberrant innate immune development. The innate roots of allergy are considered in this chapter.


Abstract The MCNP4B Monte Carlo transport code is used in a feasibility study of the epithermal neutron boron neutron capture therapy facility in the thermalizing column of the 250-kW TRIGA Mark II reactor at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI). To boost the epithermal neutron flux at the reference irradiation point, the efficiency of a fission plate with almost 1.5 kg of 20% enriched uranium and 2.3 kW of thermal power is investigated. With the same purpose in mind, the TRIGA reactor core setup is optimized, and standard fresh fuel elements are concentrated partly in the outermost ring of the core. Further, a detailed parametric study of the materials and dimensions for all the relevant parts of the irradiation facility is carried out. Some of the standard epithermal neutron filter/moderator materials, as well as "pressed-only" low-density Al2O3 and AlF3, are considered. The proposed version of the BNCT facility, with PbF2 as the epithermal neutron filter/moderator, provides an epithermal neutron flux of ~1.1 × 109 n/cm2·s, thus enabling patient irradiation times of <60 min. With reasonably low fast neutron and photon contamination (Ḋnfast/Φepi < 5 × 10–13 Gy·cm2/n and Ḋγ/Φepi < 3 × 10–13 Gy·cm2/n), the in-air performances of the proposed beam are comparable to all existing epithermal BNCT facilities. The design presents an equally efficient alternative to the BNCT beams in TRIGA reactor thermal columns that are more commonly applied. The cavity of the dry cell, a former JSI TRIGA reactor spent-fuel storage facility, adjacent to the thermalizing column, could rather easily be rearranged into a suitable patient treatment room, which would substantially decrease the overall developmental costs.


An algorithm for process control in the clock grid, guaranteeing the production of control to the actuators in strictly defined time intervals, which eliminates ambiguity in the behavior of the equipment, improves the stability, reliability and safety of its operation due to the built-in mechanism for deadlocks, allows you to receive information on the process due to the function of diagnosing the state of the production equipment.


Spatially resolved heat transfer measurements have been made on a nominally isothermal surface that is spray cooled. The effects of dissolved gas and subcooling were studied. The local measurements were obtained using a microheater array with ninety-six heaters each about 700 microns in size. The heater array consisted of thin-film platinum resistors deposited on a quartz substrate. Electronic feedback circuits were used to keep each of the heaters at a constant temperature and the voltage required to do this was measured. The array was cooled with FC-72 using a spray nozzle from ISR. The heat transfer data was correlated with high-speed images of the flow structure obtained from below. In this paper, heat transfer mechanisms in spray cooling will be discussed, with a particular emphasis on the effects of a non-condensable gas on critical heat flux in comparison to the comparable effects of thermally subcooling the liquid prior to atomization. NOMENCLATURE


Central Sleep Apnea with Cheyne Stokes Respiration (CSA-CSR) is often diagnosed in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). CSA-CSR displays a periodic breathing pattern with a typical waxing and waning breathing with central sleep apnea phases in between. Optimization of heart failure medication with Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibition (ARNi) can effect phenotypic traits of CSA-CSR indicating improvements of both, hemodynamic parameters and central chemosensitivity.


This paper present a reconfigurable T-shaped antenna how can operate easily at seven frequencies in S-band, the switching technique consist of an equivalent approach to PIN Diode it is to change the state of the distribution of current by insert a simple micro strip line in different positions, the simulated and de measured prototype frequency is respectively 3.12 GHz, 3.2 GHz, 3.31 GHz, 3.44 GHz, 3.56 GHz, 3.76 GHz, 4 GHz. The antenna is fabricated using FR4 substrate with relative permittivity of 4.4 and pert tangent of 0.02.


Contrasting to Potato Dextrose Agar(PDA),this test used two kinds of medium to culture mycelial of Oyster mushroom,one was potato bud,and the other was potato skin.The results showed that the medium which had a few potato buds could promote the mycelial growth rate of Oyster mushroom,the medium which had a few potato skin don't impact the mycelial growth rate of Oyster mushroom.


The weldability of Ti 5Al 4Sn 2Zr 1Mo 0.25Si 1Nd alloy was investigated.The test results showed that the heat affected zone(HAZ) of Ti 5Al 4Sn 2Zr 1Mo 0.25Si 1Nd alloy weldment exhibit obvious ductility decrease and the 150 ℃ preheat can improve the HAZ ductility to a certain extent.Combined with alloy system adjustment and appropriate postweld heat treatment,the weldment comprehensive properties were controlled to meet the specifications.Nd rich particle clusters along the grain boundaries and the inner grain martensite structure were considered to be two essential factors embrittling the Ti 5Al 4Sn 2Zr 1Mo 0.25Si 1Nd alloy weldments.


Purpose

The effect of a magnetic field on nanofluid natural convection in a porous annulus is simulated. Control volume-based finite element method (CVFEM) is applied to find the influence of tilted angle and Darcy, Rayleigh and Hartmann numbers on nanofluid hydrothermal behavior. Vorticity stream function formulation is taken into account. Also, Brownian motion effect on nanofluid thermal conductivity is considered. Results reveal that Hartmann number and tilted angle make changes in nanofluid flow style. Nusselt number enhances with augment of Darcy number and buoyancy forces but reduces with rise of tilted angle and Hartmann number.

Design/methodology/approach

The influence of adding CuO nanoparticles in water on the velocity and temperature distribution in an inclined half-annulus was studied considering constant heat flux. CVFEM is applied to the simulation procedure.

Findings

Influences of CuO volume fraction, inclination angle and Rayleigh number on hydrothermal manners are presented.

Originality/value

Results indicate that inclination angle makes changes in flow style. The temperature gradient enhances with rise of buoyancy forces, whereas it reduces with augment of inclination angle.


Mafic rocks from the eastern Lower Yangtze region, including Luzong, Huaining, Fanchang, Tongling and Ningwu areas, belong to alkaline series and are characterised by high U and Th concentrations (averageing 2.90 and 10.01×10 -6 ) and with average Th/Pb and U/Pb ratios of 0.635 and 0.184, respectively. The least contaminated samples show initial Pb isotopic ratios of 206 Pb/ 204 Pb=17.65~18.60, 207 Pb/ 204 Pb=15.42~15.50 and 208 Pb/ 204 Pb=37.67~38.04. The initial basaltic magma came from the enriched lithospheric mantle, which is dominated by EMⅡcomponent, and subordinated by EMⅠcomponent. Since the Pb isotopic ratios of the studied rocks are lower than those of basalts from southwestern Dabie and western part of the Lower Yangtze region, but the U/Pb and Th/Pb ratios of the studied mafic rocks are higher than those of the latter region, it is inferred that the Mesozoic lithoshperic mantle beneath the eastern Lower Yangtze region suffered metasomatism by fluid from subducted slab. EMⅠ type enriched mantle is commonly observed in the North China block, and EMⅡ type isotope signature appears to dominate the South China block in the late Mesozoic Era. This was closely related to deep subduction of Yangtze block in the Triassic time. Although the Cenozoic basalts from eastern China show depleted characteristics because of large scale lithospheric thinning, the residue of Mesozoic lithospheric mantle is still kept in the Cenozoic mantle, shown by their Pb isotope signature.


The effect of weld-lines on the morphology and mechanical properties of injection molded articles made of neat poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and glass fiber-reinforced PBT was investigated. The weld-line was introduced to a molded article by using a rectangularly shaped insert inside a mold cavity, and tensile specimens were prepared at various positions through the entire molded article. The weld-line position was further checked by a short-shot experiment. Although the maximum tensile stress for specimens of neat PBT with a weld-line is almost the same as that without a weld-line, the maximum tensile stress and the elongation at break for fiber-reinforced PBT with a weld-line were found to be about half of those without the weld-line. This is attributed to the fact that the fibers near the weld-lines are oriented parallel to the weld-line direction (or perpendicular to the tensile force direction) due to stretching flow. Finally, we compared experimental results of flow pattern and fiber orientations with numerical simulations. We found that the predictions of flow fronts and fiber orientations are in good agreement with experimental results.


According to the standard method for calculation of life ratings for rolling contact bearings, failure is considered to occur at the initiation of the first spall in a rolling component surface. While this is acceptable for most bearing applications, in many applications bearing operation may effectively continue for a period of time during which spoiling progresses. As spoiling progresses, bearing friction and vibratory loading increase, eventually resulting in bearing seizure and mechanism failure. To estimate the amount of operating time available for corrective action; i.e., mechanism shutdown and bearing replacement, between initial spoiling and potential mechanism failure, an investigation into the friction occurring in a spalled-unspalled concentrated point contact was conducted using a ball/v-ring test rig to generate and progress spalls and a ball-disk rig to test traction. It was thereby determined for a spalled ball-raceway) contact, that a lubricant film of thickness sufficient to adequately "separate" the contacting surfaces can occur: With continuous ample supply of fluid lubricant, measured traction coefficients were only slightly greater than would be expected for unfailed contacts. Using the experimental results, an empirically based mathematical model was developed to estimate ball-raceway traction as a function of degree of spalling. These data will subsequently be used in ongoing studies to estimate rate of spall progression in bearing applications. Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Paper at the STLE/ASME Tribology Conference in Orlando, Florida, October 11–13, 1999


Traditional Russian women's costume is designed to highlight every Russian woman's dignity and the beauty. Everyday casual wears, clothes for special occasions, married women, and young ladies are different in thedecorations, variety of colors and accessories intraditional Russian female dresses. The purpose of this research is to know more about the terms and details related to the traditional Russian female clothes:rubakha, sarafan, kokoshnik, shuba, etc. and to understand some of their traditions, culture and rituals through their folk costumes. The information required for this research was acquired mainly from the textbook of Masters' course Traditions of Russian People; written by Alexandrova. N. M, St. Petersburg State University, published in 2010, dictionaries and Internet websites. The research methods used in this study arethe descriptive and analytical methods. The results of this study would be helpful for graduate Myanmar students who are learning Russian literature, history andculture in Master's coursenot only to understand diverse culture in Russian women costumes, but also to be able to compare the differences between traditional Myanmar and Russian attires.


Carbon monoxide (CO) is an air pollutant and a key player in atmospheric chemistry. Accurate representations of the location and magnitude of CO surface emissions are required to accurately quantify the CO flux signal. Magnitude of CO emissions from different sources categories is not well quantified. In particular, emissions from biomass burning bring large uncertainties due to the variability of fires in both space and time. In addition, different vegetation types, combined with the spatial/temporal patterns of the biomass consumed during fires, leads to different level of magnitude in the CO emission. The global coverage and the high resolution of satellites measuring CO by infrared remote sensing allow to improve our ability to map CO and to understand its variability. Among these orbiting instruments, there are the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) from satellite TERRA and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on board the satellite METOP-A and B. The advantage of using MOPITT is that it has a higher sensitivity in the lower troposphere than IASI.


In this study, we explore the possibility to use deep learning for the reconstruction of phase images from 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) data. The process can be divided into two main steps. First, the complex electron wave function is recovered for a convergent beam electron diffraction pattern (CBED) using a convolutional neural network (CNN). Subsequently, a corresponding patch of the phase object is recovered using the phase object approximation. Repeating this for each scan position in a 4D-STEM dataset and combining the patches by complex summation yields the full-phase object. Each patch is recovered from a kernel of 3×3 adjacent CBEDs only, which eliminates common, large memory requirements and enables live processing during an experiment. The machine learning pipeline, data generation, and the reconstruction algorithm are presented. We demonstrate that the CNN can retrieve phase information beyond the aperture angle, enabling super-resolution imaging. The image contrast formation is evaluated showing a dependence on the thickness and atomic column type. Columns containing light and heavy elements can be imaged simultaneously and are distinguishable. The combination of super-resolution, good noise robustness, and intuitive image contrast characteristics makes the approach unique among live imaging methods in 4D-STEM.


An improvement is provided in a process and apparatus for in-line slush making, for use in, for example, concrete cooling. The improvement comprises connecting the inlet used to convey liquid such as water to the manifold section of the lance so that its longitudinal axis forms an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the inlet for introducing a cryogen into the lance. This improvement substantially eliminates failure to properly make slush due to a build-up of ice within the means used to control the flow of cryogen to the system. Additional improvements to the apparatus comprise substantially aligning the sealed head of the manifold with the longitudinal axis of the inlet for conveying the liquid to the lance to eliminate and to prevent freeze-up of the liquid in the dead space found in the "T" lance design of the prior art.


Renewable energy became more attractive in Energy market worldwide due its environmental and economic benefits. In terms power generation, wind power gets in a top position due to availability of good infrastructure and lowest priced renewable energy technologies available today. Connecting the wind farms to power grid brings a new challenge due to Power Generation fluctuation because of unsustain wind and power quality issues such as Voltage Unbalance, Flicker & Harmonics. This paper represents power quality (PQ) study carried out for connecting Dhofar wind farm to power grid in south of Oman. The voltage unbalance, flicker and harmonic studies were assessed based on system module to investigate impact of connection of Dhofar wind farm to the 132kV Dhofar power system.


We present the case of a seven-year-old girl with a past medical history significant for Prader-Willi syndrome, vesiculoureteral reflux, and chronic pyelonephritis. She is right-handed, and presented in March 1986 with a ten-month history of a non-tender left upper extremity mass lesion, with a diameter of 5 cm and located deep within the triceps brachii muscle tissue. The mass was both soft and mobile on examination, with no associated pain, nor any motor or sensory deficit in the extremity. Imaging studies are unavailable, but the reports include:


Integer codes correcting a single error in the maximum metric are considered. This corresponds to a packing of tori by cubes. For an asymmetric error of size one these cubes have side length 2 and the problem can be shown to be equivalent to finding zero-error codes for cycles in the sense of Shannon and Lovasz. For side length greater 3 the equivalence of single error correcting integer codes and zero-error codes does not hold any more.


As more legal research is conducted online, it is reasonable to conclude that there will be a corresponding increase in citations to the Internet by judges in their opinions. With the widespread public use of the Internet to access information along with the constant changes and impermanence of websites, citing to the Internet should be an issue of increasing concern to the legal community across the country. This paper surveys the types of Internet sources the Washington state Supreme Court and Appellate Court justices are citing. It discusses the interrelated issues of link rot and the impermanence of web pages, citation format, authentication and preservation of online electronic legal information.


Automation represents a very active area of human factors research. The journal, Human Factors, published a special issue on automation in 1985. Since then, hundreds of scientific studies have been published examining the nature of automation and its interaction with human performance. However, despite a dramatic increase in research investigating human factors issues in aviation automation, there remain areas that need further exploration. This NASA Technical Memorandum describes a new area of automation design and research, called adaptive automation. It discusses the concepts and outlines the human factors issues associated with the new method of adaptive function allocation. The primary focus is on human-centered design, and specifically on ensuring that adaptive automation is from a team-centered perspective. The document shows that adaptive automation has many human factors issues common to traditional automation design. Much like the introduction of other new technologies and paradigm shifts, adaptive automation presents an opportunity to remediate current problems but poses new ones for human-automation interaction in aerospace operations. The review here is intended to communicate the philosophical perspective and direction of adaptive automation research conducted under the Aerospace Operations Systems (AOS), Physiological and Psychological Stressors and Factors (PPSF) project.


The Department of Mines in Western Australia is responsible for the registration and processing of applications for mining tenements. In a period of 'normal' mining interest and activity, the number of applications lodged in the Department are in excess of 10 000 per year, rising to between 60 000–80 000 in a boom year. Tendex is a computerised data base holding the most important attribute data against approximately 35 000 tenements. It was designed as the first step in a building-block approach to an eventual large data base management system of tenement information, and scientific data connected to a geographic base. Members of the Mapping Division and the Institute have played major roles in the development of Tendex, D. Pearce as project manager and P. Walby and P. Shaw in writing programs. This paper outlines the background, method and results of the Tendex system.


Introduction: Determining of mineral abundance and elemental composition of lunar surface is essential to understand the formation processes of the crust and the volcanic history of the Moon [e.g., 1–4]. Several previous studies have developed methods to determine the modal mineralogy and elemental composition of rocks from reflectance spectra [5–7]. The modified Gaussian model (MGM) [6, 8] is generally used for deconvoluting an observed spectrum into individual mineral components. However, it is difficult to fit the spectrum of complicatedly mixed material such as mare basalts by the MGM because each rock has multiple absorptions. Nimura et al. [9] improved the MGM by obtaining the relations between chemical compositions of minerals (the ratio of Fe/(Fe+Mg) in olivine and the ratios of Ca/(Ca+Fe+Mg) and Fe/(Ca+Fe+Mg) in pyroxene) and absorption band parameters (center wavelength, width and strength ratio of Gaussian curves). This method was applied to the spectra of asteroids [10]. However, although some Gaussian parameters do not have significant correlations with chemical composition, these parameters are modeled as functions of chemical compositions. Furthermore, applicability of the method to the Moon was not verified. In this study, we reevaluate the correlation between Gaussian parameters and chemical compositions by adding spectrum datasets recently obtained, and formulate the relation. Also, we test whether Fa# of olivine and modal mineralogy are calculated exactly with our models. Methods: We used reflectance spectra from RELAB and USGS library. Figure 1 shows an example of MGM fitting to a reflectance spectrum of synthetic olivine. Figure 2 shows the relationship between Fa# and Gaussian parameters of synthetic olivines. The center wavelength has good correlation with Fa#, while other parameters show lower correlation. We constructed six models to test the sensitivity of correlation between Gaussian parameters and Fa#. The first is the model that all Gaussian parameters are given as functions of Fa# (LGM_O1). The second is the model that the center wavelength is given as function of Fa#, but the width and strength ratio, which have less correlation with Fa#, are constant value (LGM_O2). The third is the model that the width and strength ratio are free parameter (LGM_O3). These three models use only Gaussians of olivine. On the other hand, the models, LGM_M1, LGM_M2 and LGM_M3, are mixture model that use not only the Gaussians of olivine but also those of pyroxene and plagioclase. Results: As the result of linear fitting to the relation between Gaussian parameters and Fa#, we obtained a following relational expression in case of LGM_O1, U = A×Fa# + B R λ, c., c/, Fa#, s3 = c. + c/ λ + s4×exp − λ − μ4 3 2σ4 <


In this paper, the definitions of grid computing and virtual organization are introduced. Based on these concepts, the grid architecture is analyzed in detail. A simple implementation of grid service is proposed.


Objective—To investigate patients with cystic enhancing lesions on CT and to determine whether thallium-201 (201Tl) SPECT adds to further preoperative information in differential diagnosis between gliomas and abscesses. Methods—Twenty one patients with cystic ring enhancing CT findings were studied and uptake indices were compared with CT enhancement volumes, histopathology, and survival times. Results—Fourteen high grade gliomas, three low grade gliomas, and four abscesses were found. Uptake was higher in the highly malignant glioma group (median thallium index (TI)=2.1), than in the low grade glioma group (median TI=1.4) or among the abscesses (median TI=1.6). Overlapping indices were found between high and low malignant cystic gliomas as well as between either one of the glioma groups and the infectious lesions, and there were no significant differences between groups. There was a level at the value 2, where TI⩾2 correlated with tumour diagnosis. One low grade tumour had an extremely high index and a very high enhancement volume. Indices correlated significantly with CT enhancement volumes (P=0.005). There was no significant correlation between Tl indices and patient survival times among the high grade gliomas. One patient with a highly malignant tumour but low Tl uptake <2, had a survival> five years. CONCLUSIONS It is concluded that high201Tl uptake in enhancing cystic lesions is an indicator of highly malignant glioma. However, the differentiation between the high malignant gliomas and abscesses or low malignant gliomas by201TL SPECT is only partial with an overlap between these groups.


The penultimate year of the twentieth century marked the publication of two highly significant books contributing to the development of local and international theatre history and theory. In 1999 Currency Press, in association with RealTime, published Performing the unNameable, the first anthology of Australian performance texts to appear in Australia, and Verlag der Autoren published Hans-Thies Lehmann's landmark contribution to the understanding of 'new' forms of theatre, Postdramatisches Theater. The long-awaited English translation of Lehmann's book by Karen Jurs-Munby, Postdramatic Theatre, appeared in early 2006. Prior to its availability to an Anglophone readership, Lehmann's monograph had emerged as a groundbreaking reference in debate and discussion in an international context,' and it has had an immediate impact in Australia. At the annual conference of the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA), held just a few months after the release of the English edition, a number of papers referred to Lehmann's term. Denise Varney, for example, specifically explored the effectiveness of performances she positioned at opposite ends of a spectrum - which she described as the dramatic/postdramatic theatre divide - to question the political viability of postdramatic theatre form. Like Australia, the international theatre scene has been characterised by the need for a discourse that adequately accounts for recent directions in theatre practice and the relationship of these forms to drama. What Lehmann offers is a comprehensive theory of new forms of theatre that have arguably suffered not simply from derisory language typically embodied in a series of antonyms, but the economic consequences that result from this 'and' or oppositional positioning and the inability to articulate the shift from a text-based dramaturgy to a dramaturgy of image and sound. Performing the unNameable attests not only to a significant change in approaches to the theatre medium, but to the difficulty inherent in describing the work of recent theatre practitioners frequently marginalised as 'experimental'. As a consequence, the collection constitutes a pertinent entry point for a discussion of the application of the term 'postdramatic theatre' to Australian material. Only two of the seventeen 'fragments of live works' in Performing the unNameable, to use the editors' description of its contents, originated from a script completed prior to rehearsal2 and correspond to an understanding of dramaturgy as a literary activity. Instead, the majority of the anthology reflects material prepared by artists interested in production processes that depart from the hierarchy intrinsic to established theatre tradition and, more specifically, deviate from dramatic theatre's privileging of the text. The collection includes manuscripts constituting a record of improvisations, actions and images, for example, as opposed to the dialogue and character form familiar to dramatic literary convention. In this respect, these records can be broadly understood as 'documents of aesthetic performance', to use the classificatory terminology developed by the discipline of Performance Studies, which sets out to describe social, cultural and aesthetic phenomena. 'Aesthetic performance' designates practice created to be observed and experienced by performers and spectators, and can be differentiated from 'direct theatre' and 'social or cultural performance' activity.3 'Direct theatre', a term theorised by Richard Schechner, accounts for carnivals, festivals and events such as demonstrations organised according to political intent. In contrast, 'social or cultural performance' implies everyday performative behaviour and modes of cultural expression exemplified by the Olympic Games or the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney. 'Performance' subsequently constitutes an expanded field of study, and its category of 'aesthetic performance', similarly, implies a broad spectrum of performing arts activity from traditional drama to interdisciplinary work. …


Congenital heart disease is the group of congenital abnormalities most frequently seen in newborns. Its incidence is 8-12 of 1000 live births. About a quarter of children with congenital heart disease have critical congenital heart disease. By routine examination in healthy newborns, less than 50% of critical congenital heart diseases can be detected. For this reason, in all newborns thought to be healthy and to be sent home, pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart diseases is recommended. It is important that the method is cheap, reliable, fast, non-invasive and proven. In this study, the importance of using pulse oximeters in newborns in the hospital within 24–48 hours after birth in order to determine the probability of critical congenital heart disease and the role of midwives and nurses in practice will be emphasized.


Introduction: Unskilled agricultural workers are vulnerable to occupational induced health problems. Working in pesticide intensive environment of a polyhouse can lead to various health hazards. There are not many Indian studies regarding health risks and safety practices among floriculture workers and magnitude of the problem in India. Aims and Objectives: To assess occupational morbidities in polyhouse workers in floriculture industry in rural Maharashtra. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was undertaken in 6 floriculture units of Floriculture Park. Sociodemographic, work and health related variables were recorded using a pretested structured questionnaire. Clinical examination and laboratory investigations were done by medical experts. Results: Overall morbidity was 89.83%, with respiratory problems prevalent in 66.94%, followed by musculoskeletal problems (62.5%). Itching was reported by 42(35.59%) of the study population. Three forth female workers and 23% male workers had pallor. Conclusion: Alarmingly high prevalence (93%) of occupational morbidities found in our study underlines the need of health education to the workers as well as guidelines for safe occupational practices to the owners of the farms


In a child presenting with features consistent with a diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, what clinical features or laboratory findings (at presentation) predict a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia?jpc_1807 442..445 Damien McKay, Louisa Adams, Genevieve Ostring and Davinder Singh-Grewal Department of Rheumatology, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW Department of Immunology, Allergy, Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, The John Hunter Chidren's Hospital, Newcastle and The University of New South Wales School of Women's and Children's Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia


As Meehl (1978) noted four decades ago, psychology has progressed at a significantly slower rate than the natural sciences. This paper argues that one factor that may account for this discrepancy in problem solving progress is that the scientific methods used by psychologists have not properly taken into account unique characteristics of humans that the natural sciences need not consider. This issue has been called "the second demarcation problem" i.e., that a distinction between the methods of the natural sciences (the Naturwissenshaften) and the human sciences (the Geisteswissenshaften) -needs to be made in order to properly understand the research methods that are necessary for scientific progress in each. This paper describes four such unique characteristics of humans as justification for this second demarcation: 1) radical idiography, 2) phenomenological experience, 3) the possibility of free will, and 4) radically new knowledge.


On-product overlay can be improved through the use of context data from the fab and the scanner. Continuous improvements in lithography and processing performance over the past years have resulted in consequent overlay performance improvement for critical layers. Identification of the remaining factors causing systematic disturbances and inefficiencies will further reduce overlay. By building a context database, mappings between context, fingerprints and alignment & overlay metrology can be learned through techniques from pattern recognition and data mining. We relate structure ('patterns') in the metrology data to relevant contextual factors. Once understood, these factors could be moved to the known effects (e.g. the presence of systematic fingerprints from reticle writing error or lens and reticle heating). Hence, we build up a knowledge base of known effects based on data. Outcomes from such an integral ('holistic') approach to lithography data analysis may be exploited in a model-based predictive overlay controller that combines feedback and feedforward control [1]. Hence, the available measurements from scanner, fab and metrology equipment are combined to reveal opportunities for further overlay improvement which would otherwise go unnoticed.


We extended the modified gas-flow/cold-trap method to produce high-density and contact-free binary nanoparticles containing bismuth (BiCu, BiTe) and CdS particles. Binary nanoparticles were collected as stable dispersoids in hexane with a cationic surfactant. The electron micrographs showed individual clusters are separated from each other by surfactant thin layer and do not contact directly any other clusters even after the concentration process. The binary particles containing bismuth gave diffuse halo diffraction patterns characteristic of an amorphous state. Optical effects due to size quantization were observed for the CdS colloids.


In this study, soil microorganisms from Iran were screened for ω-transaminase (ω-TA) activity based on growth on minimal media containing (rac)-α-methylbenzylamine (rac-α-MBA) as a sole nitrogen source. Then, for the selection of strains with high enzyme activity, a colorimetric o-xylylendiamine assay was conducted. The most promising strains were identified by 16S rDNA sequencing. Five microorganisms showing high ω-TA activity were subjected to determine optimal conditions for ω-TA activity, including pH, temperature, co-solvent, and the specificity of the ω-TA toward different amine donors and acceptors. Among the five screened microorganisms, Bacillus halotolerans turned out to be the most promising strain: Its cell-free extract showed a highly versatile amino donor spectrum toward aliphatic, aromatic chiral amines and a broad range of pH activity. Transaminase activity also exhibited excellent solvent tolerance, with maximum turnover in the presence of 30% (v/v) DMSO.


Contemporary political theorists often see the agon as a desirable way of conceptualizing the role of contestation in democratic politics. However, a close reading of Aeschylus' Agamemnon and attention to the historical reality of the agon in 5th century Athens reveals the inequalities, violence, and tragic character of the agon. By returning to a tragic understanding of the agon my reading of the Agamemnon stresses the violent aspects of contestation, and serves as a critique of contemporary agonistic theory. Athenian women in the 5th century were deliberately excluded from participating in most public expressions of the agon. Because participating in agonistic contestation requires that one also be able to participate in the speech at the heart of the polis, women as non-citizens were by definition excluded. Complicating this lived reality of real Athenian women, is the role of women in Greek tragedy. Through a close reading of the carpet scene, I argue that Aeschylus presents a series of highly gendered and unequal contests of subjection and domination. As an agonistic actor Clytemnestra calls into doubt the claims of agonistic theory that the agon fosters mutual recognition and accommodation. The carpet scene instead highlights the aggressive tendencies of the agon and questions if the violence of the agon can be controlled and channeled without relying on the maintenance of inequality and limiting access to the political. As Clytemnestra's agonistic action demonstrates, the tragic agon intimately links persuasion and violence in struggles to gain political inclusion and power. In contests where women seek to enjoy the benefits of masculine inclusion such as citizenship, rights, political speech, honor, and glory, the agon demonstrates a much greater propensity to spiral into violence. A revisionist reading of tragic heroines like Clytemnestra sees their challenges as indicative of a tension and failing in which the masculine public agon of political speech is constructed and maintained by an exclusion of the feminine.


The purpose of this study was to identify incarcerated adolescents' perceptions about the reasons for abstinence, safer sex and unsafe sexual behavior. Fifty male and eight female volunteers participated, whose average age was 15.9 years. They completed a questionnaire focusing on: (a) their expectations about the likely outcome of a scenario in which a couple had the opportunity for sexual intercourse and (b) their perceptions of reasons for the scenario to end in abstinence, intercourse with a condom, or unprotected intercourse. The majority of respondents (75%) expected the scenario to end in unprotected intercourse. Content analysis of their perceptions of reasons for various endings suggested three issues that are important influences on sexual behavior: (a) pleasure, (b) avoidance of fear, (c) availability of a condom. Intervention strategies based on awareness of these three issues are discussed.


Willie Underwood, III, MD, MSci, MPH, a member of AUA's Legislative Workgroup, was to help the CBC develop its recommendations to Congress for national health care reform.


EXPERIMENTS in our laboratory, soon to be reported in the "American Journal of Cancer," indicate that there is no direct stimulation of tissue grown in vitro by radium which causes an uncontrolled increase in the rate of mitotic division. Our clinical observations point to some alternative explanation, namely, an over-response by the tissue to a destructive or irritating action. This is consistent with the history of malignancy which developed from an over-exposure among the early radiologists, and is further suggested by the bone necrosis which has been found to occur when radium seeds, improperly screened, have been placed in the oral cavity. This necrosis does not appear as a rule until several years after the exposure. In neither instance is there any radioactive deposit in the body. The action is local and indicates that some element in the cell has been injured, the effect of which does not become apparent for some time. This latent action due to radiation is still unexplained. The evidence so far p...


Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is an immune mediated polyradiculoneuropathy usually proceeded with respiratory and gastrointestinal infections 3 to 5 days prior to neurologic signs appearance. It seems that GBS seasonally outbreaks in our region. This study was aimed to evaluate seasonal relationship of clinical and epidemiological findings of GBS in hospitalized patients in Imam Khomeini hospital in the period of 1992-2004. One hundred and seventy five cases of hospitalized patients diagnosed with GBS were studied considering following factors: age, sex, events prior to the onset, seasonal incidence, clinical patterns, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein, electrodiagnosis and mortality rate in patients. The age distribution was in the range of 2-83 years with the mean age of 38 years and male to female ratio was 1 to 2.3. Seasonal onset was spring in 21.1% of the cases, summer in 26.6%, fall in 28% and winter in 24.6%. There was no significant epidemic relation with the seasons of the year. The mortality rate was 8.6% during admission time. There was no significant relation between the season of onset of the disease and mortality rate. (Farhoudi M, Ayromlou H, Bazzazi AM, Shadi FB, Golzari SE, Ghabili K, Dehdilani M. Time Frequency of Guillain-Barre Syndrome in Northwest of Iran. Life Sci J 2013;10(1):223-225) (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com . 34


The invention is made by means of following: provides upper and lower plates of temperature equalization plate, and makes it into a certain shape that can form a holding room; bends the upper and lower plates into a designed geometry; bends the flatted heat pipe into a shape matching the shape of upper and lower plates; puts the bended heat pipe into the holding room composed of the upper and lower plates, and paints the adhesive into its gap to form a bended temperature equalization plate; provides a radiator composed of at least one heat sink and located at the cove of the temperature equalization plate or any side of it; paints the adhesive on the joint place and fixes the radiator on the temperature equalization plate by clamper; puts it into high temperature equipment to make heat sealing; takes out the temperature equalization plate radiator, and cools it.


We need to clarify the relation between the traditional comparative advantage theory and the booming competitive success theory in the tendency of developing world trade theories, as it is of great theoretical significance. The structural upgrading of China's exportation needs to take the comprehensive competitions in the field of world economy as guidance, making a clear understanding of the comparative advantage and competitive success of ourselves, modifying our means of competition. We must take competitive success as our guiding theory in our trading practice.


Receiver / (including local demultiplexer devices) for representing physical devices and other devices in the decoder methods and apparatus relates to a receiver / decoder in a digital television environment that includes logic device. The method includes the instantiation of the device by a receiver / decoder as needed to support the functionality. The method may further include, for example, use of a plurality of demultiplexers / remultiplexer in the simultaneous recording of a plurality of services, the control word device for the management of the control word operation, the use of two or three tuners. Various elements of the (receiver / such as decoders and set-top boxes) digital television system are also disclosed.


We present a solution for intelligent planning of engine activations for series hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), Beyond minimizing energy expenditure, other real-world objectives must be incorporated, such as minimizing the perceived engine noise and the frequency of mode transitions between activation and deactivation. We model this problem as a multiobjective stochastic shortest path (MOSSP) problem that takes a vehicle model and navigation map as input and outputs a engine activation policy. The vehicle model and navigation map are learned from GPS traces with metadata, and includes the topological road structure, traversal speeds/times, battery consumption/regeneration, and ambient noise. We analyze our results in simulation on different navigation maps generated from actual GPS traces learned from a real series HEV. Experiments in simulation demonstrate that our approach compared with the baseline system can reduce total energy expenditure (EE), namely on hills, by up to 3%; total additional noise (AN) generated by up to 15%; and total mode transition (MT) frequency by up to 12%. The approach is demonstrated on a real series hybrid vehicle, driving on real public roads.


It is now a good 100 years since the Ceasarean section became a technique reliable enough to be used on a routine basis. In recent decades the medical technique has improved such that 25%-40% of all births in the United States are now Ceasarean sections. Comparative self-exploration has led to indications that individuals born by Ceasarean section exhibit certain preferred modes of experience and behaviour. This is derived from the particular experience of birth by Ceasarean section. Of particular importance in psychotherapy of people born by Ceasarean section is a knowledge of the consequences of this particular experience of birth. Otherwise, insoluble conflicts associated with counter-transference may arise. The article aims at encouraging individuals born by Ceasarean section to clarify in a process of ongoing discussion the unusual features that characterize the way in which they experience their identity


The topic of this article is the transformation of Thailand from an agrarian into an industrial society. This kind of transformation – or development - is far more difficult to realise than is generally assumed, and for quite other reasons than often thought. The main theory – based on ideas of the British anthropologist Ernest Gellner – is that there is a fundamental gap, in the political, social, economic, cognitive and cultural sphere, between agrarian and industrial societies. There is no continuity, let alone some kind of necessary historical development culminating in industrial society. Agrarian society can exist forever and has no internal drive to change into another kind of society. In fact, everything in it militates against the sheer possibility of a fundamental change. Therefore, it is more likely that the transformation of an agrarian society into an industrial one – or in other words the process of 'development'- will fail, than that it will succeed. The transformation of Thailand is a good case to apply and test this theory…


The relevance of electrical energy into the world economy is a motivation for the sustainable energy consumption. Power system management assumes a major role in this field, by contributing to efficient energy consumption. The development and application of forecasting methods to predict the energy consumption contributes to its optimization and to keep a balance between production and demand. The purpose of this dissertation is to make predictions for the electric energy consumption at the Alameda campus of Instituto Superior Técnico, in Lisbon. The prediction problem consists on computing the estimates of the future terms of a time series, given a sequence of observations. It is assumed that the consumption process is generated by an ARMA model. To solve the prediction problem, some algorithms were implemented, in order to integrate all the necessary steps, which are data processing, model identification, and prediction. Several architectures are taken into consideration in this study, one based on multiple models, one based on adaptive methods, and other two that combine both multiple models and adaptive approaches. This dissertation focuses mostly on traditional approaches for model identification, such as the prediction error method and a recursive and extended version of the least squares method. In addition, several studies on the variance of the prediction error are also shown, including on how it is influenced by the prediction horizon. Finally, some comparisons regarding the performance of the different implemented integration architectures are presented.


Abstract This paper focuses on a new type of control laws for oriented mechanical systems. The starting point is dual quaternion and its properties. Logarithm of dual quaternion is defined, based on which control laws are developed, tackling both regulation and tracking problems using logarithmic feedback. The control laws are shown to have several merits, including global asymptotically convergence, computational efficiency, and proper handling of the coupling between rotation and translation. Simulation results validate our design.


The Gibbs ensemble simulation method is extended to multiphase equilibria by increasing the number of boxes that can be used concurrently in the simulation. Atoms are moved within each box and pairs of boxes are selected at random for the volume and particle exchange moves. The equivalence between the Gibbs ensemble with an arbitrary number of boxes and the corresponding canonical ensemble is established. Simulations of two-component, three-phase equilibria and three-component, four-phase and three-phase equilibria are demonstrated for simple model systems, and the model phase diagrams are determined.


Recently the high-power SSL technology has developed rapidly.New laser material and novel running method of SSL are constantly emerging.All of these will promote the tactical laser weapons coming into the age of the electrical lasers.The different performances and new technologies of high-power SSL are reviewed and compared.Then the technical challenges and developing route of the 100 kW-class SSL are analyzed.Finally,the main supporting and coordinated conditions of high-power SSL are presented.


Doppler lidar offers a method of remotely measuring wind speeds in optically clear air. A laser source directs a pulse of narrowband optical radiation into the atmosphere. As the pulse propagates, it irradiates small aerosol particles, which scatter radiation back toward the lidar system. Because the aerosol particles are small enough to be borne by the wind, the frequency of the scattered radiation is Doppler shifted as a result of motion toward or away from the lidar. Measurement of this Doppler shift provides an estimate of the radial wind component, while computation of the power in the backscattered radiation gives insight into the atmospheric turbidity, presence of aerosol layers or clouds, and attenuation. Pulsed Doppler lidar systems have been used in a number of meteorological applications. Deployment of a Doppler lidar on an Earth-orbiting satellite has been proposed to remotely measure tropospheric winds on a global scale. In a large number of these applications, lidar system performance, impact, and maximum range is limited by weak backscattered signals present at the lidar receiver. Because potential methods of improving signal-to-noise ratio can be technically infeasible and/or very expensive, optimizing signal processing of the lidar return to improve performance at very low signal levels has received significant attention. In the remainder of this paper, we describe techniques for processing Doppler lidar returns from weak and fluctuating signals, and discuss system design tradeoffs to obtain maximum performance.


cover statistical learning methods, one modeling framework that seems to have minimal coverage is deep learning. This may be due to the fact that deep learning is more algorithmic in focus and is inherently not intuitive. Overall, this book is highly recommended for readers, from those who are simply curious about models and their applications to real world applications, to those who are actively applying modeling in their daily lives. Again the broad coverage of modeling and principles of modeling are sure to give most readers insights into models that may be unfamiliar. The easy-to-read prose makes for an enjoyable reading experience. And the short chapters on engaging topics makes one want to read many chapters in a single sitting.


The Engineering Model (EM) and Flight Model (FM) Focal Plane Assembly (FPA)/dewar assemblies have been fabricated, tested, and delivered for system integration, and the EM instrument has been assembled and tested. The key design features of the FPA and dewar have been presented in previous SPIE symposia and will only be briefly reviewed. The primary emphasis in this paper is on the performance results such as sensitivity, linearity and spectral response as well as environmental test results and a review of the assembly of the flight hardware.


When designing a marketing strategy to recruit females to participate in bodybuilding competitions, marketers should be aware not only of the established motivators inherent in females considering structured recreational activities, but also of the unique motivators for female potential recruits. Many traditional tactics used in bodybuilding marketing in the past have missed the mark. Chief motivators are fun, improved health and then, in descending order of importance, enhanced appearance, managing bodyweight, socialising and skill.


The uneven speed of family law developments results in the phenomenon of 'limping family relationships', which are family relationships legally recognised in one State but not in another. One example of this would be that of a samesex couple who had validly married in a State with gender-neutral marriage laws. If the couple then moves temporarily or permanently to Poland, will their marriage be recognised, considering the latest landmark decisions of the supranational European courts on cross-border recognition of same-sex formalised relationships? The Private International Law Act of Poland provides that the law of nationality should apply to determine the substantial validity of a marriage. However, even if both of the spouses are nationals of a State that allows a gender-neutral marriage, the issue of incompatibility with the heteronormative concept of marriage in the Constitution of Poland arises. The paper analyses private international law in Poland and the relevant practice in light of the new European human rights standards. The findings of this paper are twofold. On the one hand, under Polish law, Polish nationals are expected not to enter into same-sex marriages, wherever they live. On the other, several developments regarding European human rights standards have softened the traditional approach to same-sex marriages and same-sex parenthood in Poland, and opened some room for cross-border recognition of family status in Poland.


Human sensory system is a complex mechanism, providing us with a wealth of data from our environment. Our nervous system constantly updates our awareness of the environment based on this multisensory input. We are attuned to cues, which may alert of a danger, or invite for closer inspection. We present the first integrated mobile platform with state-of-the-art visual, aural and haptic augmentation interfaces, supporting localization and directionality where applicable. With these interfaces, we convey cues to our users in the context of urban cultural experiences. We discuss the orchestration of such multimodal outputs and provide indicative guidelines based on our work.


Objective To investigate the effect of swimming on the development of neuropsychological and adaptive behavior of infant.Methods Totals of 62 cases of neonatal selected with criteria,were randomly divided into observation group and control group,with 31 cases each group.Control group received the routine nursing after birth,according to conventional methods.On this basis,infants of observation group had swimming once every day after birth 36 h,and extended to three months.Then,neonatal behavioral neurological assessment in the 1th,14th,28th day.And in the 90th day,neuropsychological development of social adaptive behavior tests were executed.Results No significant difference was found in the score of behavioral neurological assessment of observation group and control group in 1th day [(39.71 ± 1.51) vs (39.52 ± 1.26) ; t =0.548,P > 0.05],While significant difference was found in the 14th day [(43.00 ± 1.77) vs (41.71 ±2.10)],28th day [(46.23 ±1.76) vs (44.65 ± 1.89)] between observation group and control group (t =2.615,3.404,respectively; P <0.05).The observed values of the observation group were significantly higher than that of the control group such as developmental quotient score [(3.59 ± 0.28) vs (3.32 ± 0.34)],mental age score [(115.74 ± 8.54) vs (105.94 ± 8.97)],behavior score [(124.90 ± 12.10) vs (113.26 ± 15.24)],adaptive ability score [(118.52±14.92) vs (103.13 ±14.85)],social behavior score [(131.87 ±25.73) vs (117.13 ±23.49)],and the difference was statistically significant (t =3.543,4.409,3.332,4.071,2.356,respectively ; P < 0.05).Conclusions Swimming can promote the infants' neural behavior development,psychological development.And it can improve their social adaptive behaviors,which should be promoted.

Key words:
Infant;  Swimming ;  Behavioral neuroscience;  Psychological development;  Social adaptive behavior


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the contribution and the present need to reconfigure the literature on "queue culture" as a precursor of the sociology of waiting. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a legal-structural lens in comparing the initial conceptual treatment of the archetypal "waiting line" with the "line" modifying sociology of waiting that results in waiting rooms, number and telephone queues and in the experience of online waiting. Findings – The initial conception of the culture of the queue understates the importance of three factors: first, the role of third parties in the design, management and inculcation of rules binding those experiencing thick time; second the degree to which communication technology and its attachment to the "mobilities" paradigm has thinned the experience of thick time and lastly the degree to which the increasing commodification of the wait has resulted in the creation of waiting time as a form of pay as you go flexitime. Social...


The need for red blood cells to transport oxygen and CO2, blood platelets to stop bleedings, and neutrophils, macrophages, B- and T-cells for host defense, is a prerequisite for life. These mature blood cells have a limited life span and are thus constantly replenished by an enormous cell production (estimated to 1012 cells per day) which primarily takes place in the bone marrow (BM). Mature blood cells are produced by lineage-restricted progenitors, which themselves are generated from a small population of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in a process called hematopoiesis. HSC and lineage-restricted progenitors in the BM have been the focus of this thesis. Hematopoiesis is regulated by soluble and membrane bound regulators called cytokines. We have demonstrated that a cytokine called Thrombopoietin (Tpo) promoted viability, when acting alone, and proliferation, if combined with other cytokines, of multipotent progenitors. Furthermore, we have investigated the cytokines FL, IL-7, IL-10 and KL for their role in promoting B-lymphoid differentiation. FL and IL-7 are essential to efficiently produce proB-cells in vitro from uncommitted progenitors. However, we demonstrated that both IL-10 and KL are recruiting FL+IL-7-non-responsive progenitors, thereby increasing the number of progenitors producing proB-cells. Additionally, we showed that KL enhanced proliferation of proB-cells, whereas IL-10 inhibited the same. Murine progenitors were subfractionated based upon expression of the FL-receptor (flt3) and their lineage potentials were characterized. Results suggest that the flt3(-)-population is enriched for HSC, whereas the flt3(+)-population contained a high fraction of macrophage-, B- and T-lymphoid-restricted progenitors. This last finding is in agreement with reports of a similar lineage-restricted progenitor during murine fetal development, but is in contrast to the current picture of hematopoietic development. (Less)


Abstract All fiords and trough‐shaped submarine valleys occur within glaciated coastal mountains or adjacent glaciated shelves and are completely absent from other coasts or shelf areas. This distribution strongly suggests that these landforms are of glacial origin and hence their dimensions can be used for assessing the rate of glacial scour. The total volume of these forms in the eastern North Atlantic measures about 750,000 km3, equivalent to a mass of 280 • 1013 tonnes; this would be equivalent to the removal of a layer of rock 240 m thick. As for the distribution of the resultant drift, 30% of its mass can be explained in terms of lateglacial in‐filling of the troughs, 63% to 65% was dumped on the continental slopes and rises, about 1% was deposited on the polar abyssal plain, and 4 to 5% was rafted by icebergs to subpolar areas of the abyssal plain. Rates of scour in fiords and glacial submarine valleys ranged from 2.7 to 6.0 mm/year, which is an order of magnitude higher than the rate of erosion by...


Abstract Fragmented urban fabric is one of a global phenomenon in architecture and urbanism which has become a concern in Singaporean Urban Housing. Freestanding blocks are built as individual buildings, scattered everywhere with less connection and integration with theirs surrounding environment. The conventional design of housing types demands a new configuration, which can improve the performance of the space. A new architectural strategy is required to solve the separation between landscape and human habitation. On the other hand, landscape as green space has always been associated with open space, a compulsory item in housing project's check list, although the relationship between the two is less connected. Landscape in this sense is often treated as left over space rather than urban element to unify city's activities. Here at Punggol East 18-21, landscape is tested as an urban strategy to integrate urban fabrics rather than an ordinary landscaping design to where this writing tries to criticize the implementation. In this paper, qualitative details are presented in a descriptive method in order to test how profound landscape has been tested as an effective urban strategy rather than neutral greenery. Landscape Architecture theories are compared to question the boundaries between architecture and the landscape. Keywords: architecture, integrated urban housing, landscape, urban fabric.


In this paper, we propose a novel CycleGAN without checkerboard artifacts for counter-forensics of fake-image detection. Recent rapid advances in image manipulation tools and deep image synthesis techniques, such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have easily generated fake images, so detecting manipulated images has become an urgent issue. Most state-of-the-art forgery detection methods assume that images include checkerboard artifacts which are generated by using DNNs. Accordingly, we propose a novel CycleGAN without any checkerboard artifacts for counter-forensics of fake-mage detection methods for the first time, as an example of GANs without checkerboard artifacts.


Steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain computer-interfaces (BCIs) have shown its robustness in achieving high information transfer rate. State-of-the-art training-based SSVEP decoding methods such as extended Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) and Task-Related Component Analysis (TRCA) are the major players that elevate the efficiency of the SSVEP-based BCIs through an individualized calibration process. However, collecting sufficient calibration (e.g. training templates) data could be laborious and time-consuming, hindering the practicality in a real-world context. This study aims to develop a cross-subject transferring approach to reduce the need for training data from a new user. Study results showed that a new least-squares transformation (LST) method was able to significantly reduce the training templates required for a 40-class TRCA-based SSVEP BCI. The LST method may lead to numerous practical applications of plug-and-play high-speed SSVEP-based BCIs.


The wide application of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and the increase in opportunities for its release into the environment undoubtedly compound the potential of these materials to harm people. Research on the effects of pre-exposure to TiO2-NPs on disease development is scarce. The purpose of this work was to assess whether pre-exposure to TiO2-NPs (20 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) for 28 days aggravates the development of alcohol-related liver injury in mice. Results showed that oral administration of 200 mg/kg TiO2-NPs induced only modest changes in liver function parameters, but could induce intestinal inflammation and destroy the integrity of intestinal barrier. After the subsequent alcohol intervention, pre-exposure to TiO2-NPs (200 mg/kg) was found to aggravate alcohol-related liver injury, including significantly increases in serum Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Total glycerol (TG), and Total cholesterol (TC), as well as steatosis and inflammation in the liver. Further investigation revealed that alcohol could increase intestinal permeability and reduce the expression of tight junction proteins in mice pre-exposed high dosage of TiO2-NPs, thereby inducing the transfer of more lipopolysaccharides (LPS) into the liver, ultimately triggering more severe liver inflammation. This study emphasizes that pre-exposed of TiO2-NPs (high doses of up to 200 mg/kg) can potentially promote the development of alcoholic liver diseases. Furthermore, this study provides new insights into evaluating the safety of NPs.


The vertical automatic press filter(Larox M series),designed and manufactured by Larox Corporation in Finland,is roundly introduced in respect of the structure,performance and its application in Ta/ Nb smelting.


In the present work, a deterministic approach is applied for the first time ever to simulate the rarefied gas flow in the particle exhaust system of a nuclear fusion device. As an example of such a system, the pumping area of the DEMO (DEMOnstration Fusion Power Plant) fusion reactor is considered, which is characterized by high geometrical complexity and strong gradients of macroscopic quantities. The Knudsen number in this system may vary from free molecular up to the slip regime and the flow behavior must be described by the Boltzmann equation. In the present work, the Boltzmann equation is approximated by the well-known Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook and Shakhov kinetic models supplemented with the deterministic discrete velocity method. In addition, in order to assess the capabilities of the deterministic modeling, the problem has also been studied by solving the Boltzmann equation with the stochastic direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Extended comparisons between the deterministic and stochastic methods in terms of all macroscopic quantities of practical interest, namely, pressure, number density, temperature, and pumping fluxes, are performed and remarks about the effectiveness of the implemented deterministic approach have been drawn. Results are obtained by assuming He and D2 gas flows, various values of the capture coefficient at the pumping opening, and two different scenarios of the inlet gas temperature. In all examined cases, the deterministic results are in very good agreement with the DSMC ones, with the maximum relative deviation being less than 4%. The nonlinear deterministic code is significantly faster than the stochastic DSMC code for acceptable noise levels. The pumping fluxes and the pressure values in the vicinity of the pumping opening, both quantities useful for pumping system evaluation, have been calculated in terms of the capture coefficient. The present work may support decision making on the suitability of the pumping technology of DEMO and the design of the pumping system.


The Boerqiangji super-unit produced in the south Zhamansu-Boenyiangji deformation belt in east Junggar is featured by the strong plashcal deformahon. It was formed in the early stage of Caledonian move- ment and in the continental are background of orogenesis. It belongs to the "I"type granite.


Paternal preconceptional high‐fat diet (HFD) alters whole‐body glucose and energy homeostasis over several generations, which may be mediated by altered transcriptomic profiles of metabolic organs. We investigated the effect of paternal HFD on the hepatic transcriptomic and metabolic signatures of female grand‐offspring. Paternal HFD strongly impacted the liver transcriptome of the second‐generation offspring. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed grandpaternal‐HFD altered the TNF‐α signaling via NFκB pathway, independent of the grand‐offspring's diet. Reduction in the hepatic cytokine levels, including the TNF‐α, as well as NFκB content and activity, suggest that the basal inflammatory response in F2 rats is disturbed. GSEA also show altered expression of various genes annotated to the fatty acid metabolism. Grandpaternal‐HFD reduced G0/G1 switch gene 2 (G0S2) expression, concomitant with reduced hepatic triglyceride content in F2 rats. In conclusion, the hepatic transcriptome is altered in grand‐offspring from HFD‐fed grandfathers. Altered TNF‐α/NFκB signaling and levels of inflammatory cytokines indicate grand‐paternal HFD impacts hepatic immunometabolism. Overall, our findings indicate that paternal exposure to environmental factors transgenerationally reprograms metabolism in a tissue‐specific manner, affecting the development and health of future generations.—De Castro Barbosa, T., Alm, P. S., Krook, A., Barrès, R., Zierath, J. R. Paternal high‐fat diet transgenerationally impacts hepatic immunometabolism. FASEB J. 33, 6269–6280 (2019). www.fasebj.org


Background: Riparian area of Cikapundung River has experienced massive land-use conversion into buildings and agricultural fields. Those land-use conversion have affected the quality of the river's aquatic ecosystem (Naiman et al., 2005). The quality of aquatic ecosystem of a river can be protected by good condition of riparian ecosystem which can be indicated by the presence of dense vegetation of local species and undisturbed soil (Castelle et al., 1994). This study describes the ecological characteristics of riparian area along the Cikapundung River located in West Java Province. The results of this study can be used for consideration for managing or restoring the riparian ecosystem of the Cikapundung River. Aims: This study aimed to describe the diversity and abundance of vegetation; identify the presence of invasive species; describe the soil (edaphic) condition; and determine the relationship between vegetation coverage and soil condition. The study was conducted on May 13-July 22, 2017 in the riparian area along the Cikapundung River. The river was divided into 100 segments. In each segment, vegetation measurement and soil sampling were conducted in two 5 m x 20 m plots located in each side of the river. Conclusions: Total species found were 335 species, both species richness and diversity index (H') of herbaceous plants are higher than shrubs and trees; total of vegetation coverage de- creased from upstream to downstream.
The presence of invasive species is about 7% (22 species) of total species found in riparian areas along Cikapundung River.
Soil conditions on along the riparian area of the river were the following: average pH about 6-7, decreased soil organic content and increased bulk density from upstream to downstream.
The relationship between vegetation cov- erage and soil condition varied with some parameters showed positive correlations, negative or no correlation with vegetation cover.


The fruit of the Pinang (Arace catechu) is derived from the family Arecaceae plants. Fruit seeds Pinang contains Antelmintik compounds that are useful to eradicate parasites worms namely tannin. Researchers used to know the influence of water stew fruit seeds pinang against the worm motility mining and know the effective concentration of water stew pips pinang as antelmintik. The research is experimental in vitro. This testing using water stew pips pinang with the concentration of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%.


The Integrated Modular Motor Drive (IMMD) concept is a promising approach to the physical integration of electric machines and drives that is based on the use of pole-drive building blocks consisting of segmented stator poles with concentrated windings, each excited by a dedicated single-phase inverter and controller. This paper presents details of the design, construction, and testing of an 18kW (peak) 6-phase IMMD demonstrator unit intended for a traction drive application using a surface PM machine. Key new features in this demo unit include the introduction of a dedicated controller in each of the drive units that shares responsibility for controlling the 6 phase-drive units using a heterarchical distributed control strategy. Experimental tests gathered to date have yielded promising results while also highlighting remaining challenges to full implementation of the IMMD concept.


Network-on-Chip (NoC) has been proposed as a solution to provide better modularity, scalability, reliability and higher bandwidth compared to bus-based communication infrastructures. The performance of Network-on-Chip largely depends on the underlying routing techniques. A routing technique has two constituencies: output selection and input selection.this paper focuses on the improvement of input selection. Two traditional input selections have been used in NoC, First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) input selection and Round-Robin input selection. Also, recently a contention-aware input selection (CAIS) technique has been presented for NOC, But there is some problem and defection in this technique. In this paper we improve the problems and defections of contention-aware input selection (CAIS) technique to develop a simple yet effective input selection technique named ICAIS. The simulation results with different traffic patterns show that ICAIS can achieves better performance than the FCFS and CAIS input selections, when combined with either deterministic or adaptive output selection.


Background. Open multiservice network of telecommunications the Internet has become the most used source of such vital information as: scientific and technical, information, entertainment, and, especially, commercial. Today, it unites 3.36 billion users and provides high economic efficiency of human activity. However, there are many different technologies for accessing Internet services that compete with each other. Objective. The aim of the paper is to create the Internet network model and a content access model, as the main value of the network from the point of view of the end user, for building an effective network infrastructure. Methods. Analysis of all known publications on the construction and evaluation of Internet service quality parameters. Analysis of technologies for accessing the network and content. Synthesis of the model of formation and distribution of traffic between levels of the hierarchy of the Internet. Results. Enlarged indicators of Internet services provision were received. An enlarged scheme for building a global Internet network is proposed. Based on the generalized "end-to-end" scheme of user access to services and network resources, an estimate of the amount of sufficient access speed was obtained. The concepts of hierarchy level and gravitational coefficient are defined for which mathematical relations are derived. Conclusions. The main task of the providers of any level is to close the traffic as close as possible to the client, i.e. to reduce the gravity coefficient. The task of theoreticians and engineers is to determine theoretically the optimal number of levels (there were only three of them in the model in question) of closure or aggregation of traffic. Keywords: Internet; access network; quality indicator; availability indicator; access speed.


University of Washington seismic data taken during ROSE phase 1 have been used to study the structure of the East Pacific Rise in the vicinity of 12°N. Off axis but within 50 km of the axis we find that the oceanic crust can be modeled with a rapid change in velocity in the top 2.5 km, a zone of low but uniform velocity gradient from 2.5 to about 5.5 km and a transitional zone about 1 km thick to mantle material. There is also evidence for substantial anisotropy in mantle velocity gradients, with a positive velocity gradient in the spreading direction and a negative velocity gradient parallel to the rise. Under the rise axis the data allow at most a very narrow zone of low velocity (less than about 2 km wide) in the crust.


The use of iron in catalysis is wide ranging. Iron catalysts are used for both large-scale fuel and platform chemical production as well as for complex synthetic organic transformations. Throughout the last century, iron catalysis has played a pivotal role in the progression of science and technology. The high abundance, low cost and low toxicity of iron oxides and salts makes their use in synthesis and catalysis highly sustainable. Owing to these traits, the field of iron catalysis is rapidly growing, and a suite of organic transformations have become available. This chapter provides a broad overview of the fundamental uses of iron oxides and simple iron salts in modern catalysis, including the most relevant and sustainable examples.


BACKGROUND: Different polymorphisms in Vitamin D receptors (VDRs) have an important role in autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) risk. Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is the most recurrent autoimmune thyroid disorder. Patients with HT may suffer from cognitive impairment brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which has been identified as an important growth factor that is involved in learning and memory.

AIM: This study examined the linkage of VDR gene polymorphism (rs2228570) with blood serum levels of BDNF and 25-OH Vitamin D in thyroid pathology of patients in the West Ukrainian population.

METHODS: This research is a case–control study was performed in HSEEU "Bukovinian State Medical University," Chernivtsi Regional Endocrinology Center, and I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, Ukraine, from September 2017 to December 2020. The study involved a total of 153 patients with post-operative hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism induced by AIT, and patients with both AIT and elevated serum antibodies anti-thyroglobulin (anti-Tg) and anti-thyroid peroxidase. BDNF levels in the sera of the patients and healthy individuals were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with highly sensitive Human BDNF ELISA Kit. Genotyping of the VDR (rs2228570) gene polymorphism using TaqMan probes and TaqMan Genotyping Master Mix (4371355) on CFX96™ Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Detection System (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., USA). PCR for TaqMan genotyping was carried out according to the kit instructions (Applied Biosystems, USA).

RESULTS: Our study revealed a significant decrease in the BDNF level in the study group in carriers of the AA and AG genotypes by 1.58 and 2.39 times, corresponding, compared with carriers of the AA genotype in the control group. Concurrently, there was no significant difference in the BDNF level between different genotypes of VDR rs2228570 in the research group. In our study, analysis of the correlation between serum BDNF levels and 25-OH Vitamin D concentration shows a moderate direct relationship (r = 0.4) between BDNF and 25-OH Vitamin D (p = 0.006).

CONCLUSIONS: The rs2228570 VDR polymorphism is not a risk factor for decreased serum BDNF levels. At the same time, our study found a moderate direct relationship between serum BDNF levels and 25-OH Vitamin D.


The biological role of non-symbiotic plant hemoglobins (Hbs) is not well understood. It may involve sensing and signaling of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species–a property that can be used in electrochemical sensing. Here, we electrochemically studied two novel non-symbiotic Beta vulgaris Hbs: BvHb1.2 and BvHb2 expressed in E. coli. At pH 7, we observed close potentials of their Fe2+/3+ hemes, −349 mV for BvHb1.2 and −345/−457 mV vs. Ag/AgCl for the "open" penta-/"closed" hexa-coordinated states of BvHb2. BvHbs bound and bioelectrocatalytically reduced O2 and H2O2 at potentials significantly exceeding their Fe2+/3+ heme potentials. BvHb2, with the onset of H2O2 reduction at 370 mV, enabled O2-interference-free 10 μM H2O2 detection at 0 mV, with a 87 nA μM−1 cm−2 sensitivity comparable to some peroxidases. The results underpin broad electrochemical applications of BvHbs in the electroanalysis of reactive species and in electrochemical biotransformations. (Less)


The mitigation of the heat island effect has become one of the most challenging issues with the rapid urbanization and increased human activities. A standard model and a porous media model were developed to simulate the microthermal environment in the presence of anthropogenic heat in Nanjing Xinjiekou block. The accuracy of the simulation results was verified by field measurement data. Compared with the standard CFD method, the porous media method reduces the number of meshes by 27.8% and the total computation time by 66.7%. By comparing and analyzing the thermal environment of the block with various porosities and heat intensities at different heights, calculations proved that the velocity is positively correlated with the porosity change, and the temperature is negatively correlated with it in contrast. The temperature increases linearly with the increase in anthropogenic heat intensity under the block height range, and the gradient is about 0.025 K/W at the height of 2 m. The porous media approach allows for effective prediction of the micro-thermal environment in the initial stages of urban design while increasing the porosity of the block and controlling the intensity of anthropogenic heat emissions can be a prominent means of improving the thermal environment.


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A colleague recently asked me to review an ethics article he was writing. In it, he talked about framing and nudging. These were not terms with which I was previously familiar but in fact they are relevant to all of us as hair transplant surgeons.

In social terms, framing is


Our previous studies showed that co-deposition of refractory metal improves the properties of Ni–P films, so in this study we examined electroless Ni–W–P and Ni–Mo–P alloy films as alternatives to Pd films. High heat-resistance is necessary in the intermediate layer of printed wiring boards. The ternary Ni alloy films exhibit high heat-resistance properties. These new intermediate layers were evaluated from the viewpoint of wire-bonding strength. Results indicate that the new intermediate layers have almost the same properties as Pd intermediate layers and lamination. The experimental results also show that the ternary Ni alloy films suppress local corrosion, and Ni diffuses to the Au surface in the same way as a Pd intermediate layer.


This study sought to, first, measure Indonesian EFL learners' vocabulary knowledge across four modalities, i.e. Active Recall, Passive Recall, Active Recognition, and Passive Recognition; second, determine whether or not there were statistically significant differences between male and female participants' vocabulary knowledge and third, determine whether or not the participants' vocabulary knowledge across the four modalities were correlated. Data were collected by administering four sets of vocabulary tests to 71 EFL learners at an English Department of a higher education institution in Indonesia. Data were analyzed using Rasch analysis and Spearman's-Rho correlation technique. The results showed that the participants performed better on the recognition tests than on recall tests. No statistically significant difference was found between male female participants' vocabulary knowledge. Moderate and strong correlations were found among the participants' Passive Recall and Active Recognition, Passive Recall and Passive Recognition, and Active Recognition and Passive Recognition.


The intensity modulation (IM) property of an optical injection-locked quantum cascade (QC) laser is theoretically investigated via a three-level rate equation model. The locking regime is obtained based on the local bifurcation theory. It is shown that the injection-locked QC laser exhibits a rather flat modulation response at zero detuning, whose bandwidth increases with the injection level. In contrast to interband lasers, both positive and negative detunings enhance the modulation bandwidth. Besides, a large linewidth enhancement factor (LEF) can increase the peak amplitude in the response. Moreover, it is found that no frequency dip occurs in the IM response of injection-locked QC lasers.


The results of six full-scale crash tests of highway sign supports are presented. High speed motion picture cameras, accelerometers, displacement transducers, radar, and strain gages were used to obtain test data. Emphasis is placed on methods of data reduction. The various transducers and data reduction techniques are evaluated for their reliability.


Agriculture is the world's only source of food, feed, oil, fibre and other products that play a major role in fostering food security, food sovereignty and socio-economic development. Many countries that have taken serious investments in the agricultural sector have achieved meaningful economic growth, stability and resilience. It is however noted that the reliability of the agricultural sector, in as far as boosting of economic growth is concerned, has dwindled in the recent past due to adverse changes in the climatic conditions. Today, the whole world is striving to address the impact of climate change on agriculture, food security and economic development. It was the focus of this paper to identify and analyse the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity and food security as well as to suggest measures that can be embraced in a bid to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change.


This study explores the robustness of different neural network architectures when exposed to various geometric transformations, including translation, rotation, and scaling. The objective is to evaluate the performance and resilience of these architectures in real-world scenarios where such transformations are commonly encountered. Extensive experiments are conducted using benchmark datasets, and a comparison is made between convolutional neural networks (CNNs), Residual Networks (RESNet), fully connected networks (FCNs), and transformer-based architectures. The study focuses on assessing the generalization capabilities and the efficiency of these architectures when data augmentation techniques are employed. The results aim to identify the architectures that exhibit superior performance and fast adaptation to transformed inputs.


Mechanized mathematics systems, especially Theorem Provers (TP) and Computer Algebra Systems (CAS), can play a very helpful role in handling relational calculus. Computer Algebra Systems help to automate tedious symbolic computations. However, they lack the ability to make sophisticated derivations of logical formulas. Correspondingly, a Theorem Prover is powerful in deriving the truth-value of a logical formula. Nevertheless, it is not suitable for dealing with symbolic expressions. The main goal for our research is to investigate the automation of relational calculus using existing mechanized mathematics technologies. Particularly, we elaborated a heuristic that enables the assignment of tasks to PVS and Maxima to help perform relational calculus. As well we built a proof-of-concept tool that supports this calculus. · To fulfill our objective, we adopted the following steps: 1. Investigated and evaluated the characteristics and capabilities of TPs and CASs. This step led us to select PVS and Maxima as the tools to be used by our system. 2. Explored a strategy that governs setting tasks to PVS and Maxima in order to perform relational calculus. Then, we propose a task assignment heuristic based on this strategy. 3. Designed and built a proof-of-concept tool that makes use of PVS and iv Maxima to help perform relational calculus. 4. Assessed our tool by using it to handle some illustrative examples of operations on concrete relations. In our work, relations are given by their characteristic predicates. We assume as well that predicates that are provided to our proof-of-concept tool are in a Disjunctive Normal Form. We adopt a linear notation for the representation of propositions, quantifications, and expressions. We fall short of providing a user interface, which makes the use of the tool that we built slightly difficult.


Abstaract: A colossal quantity of aggregates derived from rocks and natural gravel are extensively used in the construction of infrastructures. The engineering properties of these aggregates determine their in-service performance. Jutana Formation, Sakeasar Limestone and gravels deposited by streams in Jabbi-Warchha and Katha Saghral area are crushed for use in ordinary Portland cement and asphalt concrete, unbound and bound pavements, railway ballast and riprap. Present study evaluates engineering properties of these local coarse aggregates for use in roads and concrete. The physical properties of aggregates like specific gravity (2.65), water absorption (0.739%), soundness (4.06%), Los Angeles abrasion value (24.48%), California Bearing Ratio (90.10%) and coating and stripping values conform to available standards thereby indicating that these aggregate deposits are potential aggregate sources for mega projects in the Punjab province.


In this paper we present measurement results of a micro-machined split-block waveguide mixer for 600 GHz. The mixer implements a planar GaAs Schottky diode on a quartz substrate. Two different diode designs used for this mixer design are compared. The overall perfonnance of the waveguide mixer is demonstrated by measurements of the mixer in a quasi-optical setup at 600 GHz. In this setup we are able to measure single sideband conversion losses of 9-14 dB at 600 GHz and voltage responsivities of 421-1690 mV/mW.