It is argued that the magazines Zig-Zag and Sucesos, published under the imprint Zig-Zag between 1905 and 1930, through their reports and photojournalism spreaded ideas about society and indigenous cultures of Chile's new northern border, as well as its Andean neighborhood (southern Peru and Bolivia), loaded with negative elements and value judgments, all of them related to the large indigenous population of the region, contributing to create a negative imaginary around them in central Chile after the Pacific War (1879-1883).


The invention discloses a method for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback information. The method comprises the steps that: a, receiving data of a PDSCH sent by a base station and/or a PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the release of SPS by means of UE, and determining HARQ-ACK feedback information of the data of the PDSCH and/or the PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the release of SPS; b, determining an uplink subframe carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback information; c, and transmitting indicating information of the HARQ-ACK feedback information and the HARQ-ACK feedback information in the determined uplink subframe, or, transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback information corresponding to all HARQ processes in a predetermined order, wherein, the indicating information is used for indicating the PDSCH or the PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating the release of SPS corresponding to the HARQ-ACK feedback information, and the HARQ-ACK feedback information corresponding to all HARQ processes comprises the HARQ-ACK feedback information. By adopting the method and the equipment, the HARQ-ACK feedback information can be transmitted in time, and PUCCH resources for transmitting the HARQ-ACK feedback information can be saved.


ForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsCh. 1The New Frontiers of American Diplomacy3Ch. 2The Diplomacy of Reason20Ch. 3The Diplomacy of Doctrine38Ch. 4The Diplomacy of Process55Ch. 5Diplomacy as Representation72Ch. 6Diplomacy as Management92Ch. 7Diplomacy as Communication112Ch. 8Diplomacy as Negotiation132Ch. 9Improving the Reach of American Foreign Policy148Ch. 10Improving the Grasp of American Diplomacy164Notes179Index193


Objective. To investigate the possibility of micronutrient dilution by alcohol in the diets of an adult population in nutrition transition. Design. A cross sectional, comparative, population based study. Setting. The African population of the North West Province, South Africa Subjects. One thousand seven hundred and fifty seven participants (742 men, 1015 women) aged 15 years and older from 37 randomly selected sites from rural and urban areas. Outcome measures. Outcome measures included alcohol consumption at different levels of urbanisation. Nutrient intakes in different alcohol intake categories (abstainers, light to moderate and heavy drinkers) as well as body mass indices of men and women separately. Results. Sixty one percent of men and twenty five percent of women reported alcohol consumption. Percentage energy provided by alcohol were 2.8% and 1.5% for light to moderate drinking men and women respectively and 18.1% and 11.7% for heavy drinkers, defined as those consuming more than 30g alcohol/day for men and more than 15g alcohol/day for women. Sorghum and commercial beers were the most popular alcoholic beverages. Alcohol intake increased from rural to middle class urban, with a shift from sorghum to commercial beer with urbanisation. Men and women consuming the most alcohol had significantly higher mean intakes of most macro and micronutrients. For both men and women only percentage energy from fat reduced significantly as alcohol intake increased. Intake of some micronutrients did not meet the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI, Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)) at all levels of alcohol consumption. However, the DRIs for pantothenic acid, biotin and zinc were met only in men consuming the most alcohol. There was no significant difference in BMI across the different alcohol categories although the total energy intake increased with an increase in alcohol consumption.


A-factor C13H22O4 was shown to be not only the inductor of the biosynthesis of streptomycin in inactive mutants of Streptomyces griseus (Actinomyces streptomycini), but also the potent regulator of differentiation of the cells: it induces the formation of spores in asporogenous strains during their superficial and submerged growth. This is accompanied by morphological modifications in the course of growth of the colonies.


This research was carried out at two locations, Ada and Aveglo at the Volta Estuary, Ghana to evaluate the importance of sediments as regulatory media in controlling the levels of four metals, Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe) and Mercury (Hg) in the tissues of the clam, Galatea paradoxa (Born 1778) and to investigate the possible relationships between the concentrations of the metals in the sediments and the clams. The clams were categorized into three size classes as follows: small (25 - 40 mm), medium (41 - 55 mm), and large (above 55 mm). To understand the possible relationships between the concentrations of the studied metals in the sediments and in the tissues of the three clam size classes, the monthly concentrations of the studied metals were graphed and subjected to Pearson correlation analyses (p < 0.05) to identify metal accumulation patterns and determine whether or not positive relationship patterns existed between the concentrations in the clams and sediment samples. The correlation revealed no simple linear relationships between the concentrations of four heavy metals in the clam tissues and the sediments at the two sampling stations although some distinct trends were observed. Mn concentrations in the clams and sediments from the two stations showed some clear positive relationship patterns with some increments in monthly sediment concentrations resulting in increments in clam tissue concentrations. This relationship though, was not too clear-cut.


Friedel–Crafts transannular alkylation of aromatic compounds with nonconjugated cyclic dienes such as (Z,Z)-1,5-cyclooctadiene (1,5-COD), bicyclo[2.2.1]hepta-2,5-diene (norbornadiene), and 1,4-cyclohexadiene was studied. The five to six isomers of phenylbicyclooctanes were produced in the alkylation of benzene with 1,5-COD in the presence of either Bronsted acid or Lewis acid as the catalyst. The isomer ratios depended on the nature and the amount of catalyst, the reaction time, and the reaction temperature. In the AlCl3-catalyzed reaction of 1,5-COD with toluene it was disclosed that an initial para-rich isomer distribution of the products shifted to a meta-rich one in a prolonged reaction. With norbornadiene a transannular cyclized compounds was obtained, while with 1,4-cyclohexadiene no transannular cyclization was observed.


Objective To observe the clinical effect of minimal invasive embedding in treating lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.Methods The 116 patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation were randomly divided into a treatment group(66 cases) and a control group(50 cases).The treatment group was treated by minimal invasive embedding with points selected according to nerve segments,and the control was treated by conventional invasive embedding.Results The cure and markedly-effective rate in the treatment group was 90.9% and 92.4% respectively after a treatment course and after 2 treatment courses,versus 66.0% and 80.0% in the control,and the differences were statistically significant(P0.01,P0.05).Conclusion Minimal invasive embedding with points selected according to nerve segments is an effective approach in treating lumbar intervertebral disc herniation.


The main objective of nanotechnology is to build self-powered nanosystems that are ultrasmall in size, exhibit super sensitivity, extraordinary multi functionality, and extremely low power consumpt ...


A Case-Report of a Taeeumin Patient with Diabetes Mellitus Treated by Mangeummunmu-tang gagambang Young Cho.Jun-Hee Lee Dept. of Korean Medicine, Graduate school, Kyung Hee Univ. Dept. of Integrated Medicine, Jang-deuk Oriental Medical Center. Dept. of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee Univ. We report 1 case about Mangeummunmu-tang gagambang that was used for a Taeeumin patient with diabetes mellitus. We treated a Taeeumin patient who was diagnosed with diabetes at another hospital two months ago. We considered his Sasang constitution as Taeeumin and prescribed Mangeummunmu-tang gagambang. The improvement of his diabetes was evaluated by improvement of his symptoms, results of blood sugar test, bone muscle mass, body fat, body fat rate of inbody test and the results of Blood test & urine test. The evaluation index of the patient's disease has all improved since treatment after Mangeummunmu-tang gagambang medication.


The use and application of lasers in printing industry was analyzed in this article. The classification of the laser use in printing industry was developed on the base of its analysis. The use and application of lasers to treat the printing materials was analyzed in this article.


Photograph sharing is an alluring component which promotes Online Social Networks (OSNs). Shockingly, it might release clients' protection in the event that they are permitted to post, remark, and tag a photograph uninhibitedly. In this paper, we endeavor to address this issue and study the situation when a client shares a photograph containing people other than himself/herself (named co-photograph for short). To avert conceivable protection spillage of a photograph, we plan a system to empower every person in a photograph know about the posting movement and take an interest in the basic leadership on the photograph posting. For this reason, we require an effective facial acknowledgment (FR) framework that can perceive everybody in the photograph. Be that as it may, additionally requesting protection setting may confine the quantity of the photographs openly accessible to prepare the FR framework. To manage this quandary, our component endeavors to use clients' private photographs to outline a customized FR framework particularly prepared to separate conceivable photograph co-proprietors without releasing their security. We additionally build up a dispersed consensusbased technique to decrease the computational many-sided quality and secure the private preparing set. We demonstrate that our framework is better than other conceivable methodologies as far as acknowledgment proportion and effectiveness. Our system is actualized as a proof of idea Android application on Facebook's stage. Keyword Social network, photo privacy, secure multi-party computation, support vector machine, collaborative learning etc....


A pipe bursting is one of the major problems in water distribution systems. This problem resulted in losses, particularly in water wastage or shortage and infrastructure damages. Furthermore, several organisation and authorities do not have systems or database for water management monitoring, leading to a difficulty in monitoring and update the condition of the pipeline. Geographical Information System (GIS) can help to develop a geospatial database for the water distribution network; to determine the high potential of pipe to be burst and identify the areas affected by the pipe failure. In this study, the potential of pipe to be burst is determined using a stochastic approach to get the probability of the potential failure, which based on four factors; age, pressure, material and diameter of the pipe. A valve isolation trace function from ArcGIS tool is then used to determine the area affected by the pipeline failure. Results from the analysis are to produce maps of high potential pipeline bursting and the affected areas. The findings could help the management to monitor the conditions of the water pipeline regularly, detecting early warning, preparation for the pipe's replacement and notify the residents to make initial preparations if the pipe has a potential to burst.


The lead zirconate titanate (PZT) powders were synthesized to make the piezoelectric ceramics in low temperature as low as . To investigate the influence of additives on sintering of PZT, two kinds of sintering aids were made as follows; and LiBiO2-CuO. The sintering aid, wt.% , was added into these PZT powders and the specimens were fired at temperature in the range of . The highest density was shown in the specimen with 1 wt.% as additive at temperature of . The sintered specimen were analyzed by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was utilized to observe the microstructure, especially the densified morphology of specimens. In the XRD pattern, the well-crystallized PZT phase could be obtained in consequence of firing at . The scanning electron microscopy(SEM) was utilized to observe the structure of specimens after firing at . The densified perovskite structure of could be obtained by sintering at temperature as low as . The high sinterability of PZT ceramics was attributed to the low formation temperature of the liquid phase of additives.


The proton spectra produced in interaction of 5-GeV/c negative pions with carbon nuclei are measured. The data show fluctuations which cannot be accounted for by the statistics. The fluctuations are analyzed on the basis of a theory similar to the theory of Ericson fluctuations. The resonance widths of the excited target systems are found to be less than 10 MeV, in contrast with the widths of more than 100 MeV predicted by Ueda for a number of dibaryon resonances.


Contemporary rapid advancements in science and technology have brought about and continue to convey change in all sectors of everyday life. Education as one of the institutions of utmost importance is directly and indirectly affected by these changes and needs to redefine its role to keep pace. Nowadays, information and communications technologies (ICTs), in which audiovisual media technologies are encompassed, are omnipresent in all educational levels and disciplines, including media studies. New approaches in traditional teaching methodologies, which demand many skills and abilities by the educators, are reformulated through utilization of audiovisual media technologies, aiming at administering enriched outcomes that support the objectives that are set, especially in the field of media studies, where audiovisual media technologies are an integral part and even inherent in many of the courses (journalism, radio, television, social media, public relations, communication). The purpose of this paper is to summarize, through a theory and bibliographic review, the various implementations of audiovisual media as the educational techniques and tools that will provide technology-enhanced learning. As this paper is an investigation of the effects of audiovisual media in technology-enhanced learning and teaching methodologies, the contribution to the discipline of media studies is straightforward.


Verified and updated calibrated absolute solar flux in the He II 30.4 nm spectral band-pass as measured by the Solar EUV Monitor (SEM) allows us to study variations of the solar EUV irradiance near the minima of Solar Cycles 22/23 and 23/24. Based on eight (1996 to 2007) NASA sounding rocket flights, a comparison of SEM data with the measurements from three independent EUV instruments was performed to verify and confirm the accuracy of the published SEM data. SEM calibrated data were analyzed to determine and compare minima for solar cycles 22/23 and 23/24. The minima points were calculated using SEM first order daily averaged flux smoothed by a running mean (RM) filter with the window of averaging equal to 365 days. These minima occurred on June 2, 1996 (22/23) and November 28, 2008 (23/24). The 23/24 minimum showed about 15% lower EUV flux in the 30.4 nm band-pass than the 22/23 minimum. The 365-day RM curve around the 23/24 minimum has significant asymmetry (fast decrease of the EUV flux to the minimum and a long, near-horizontal profile after the minimum). This profile is quite different from the much faster and symmetrical change of the flux around the 22/23 minimum. SEM flux was compared with both high spectral resolution (0.1 nm) Mg II index calculated from the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) using the Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) data and with the NOAA composite Mg II index spectrum.


The authors propose an approach for developing complex models integrating different components and including human behaviour; in these problems the data uncertainty as well as their availability is a major criticality; the paper proposes an approach for a mutual validation of the model and a fine tuning process based on integrating simulation with optimisation techniques.


Reactions of 2-trimethylsilyl-3,4-bis(methoxycarbonyl)furans 1a,b with sulfuryl chloride, bromine, and iodine monochloride in acetonitrile afforded the corresponding 2-halo-3,4-bis(methoxycarbonyl)furans 2a-f via chloro-, bromo-, and iododesilylation in good yields, respectively. However, the reaction of 1a with bromine in carbon tetrachloride mainly gave 2-bromo- 2b and 2-bromo-5-trimethylsilyl-3,4-bis(methoxycarbonyl)furan (3) in 37% and 45% yields. Similarly, the reaction of 1a with iodine monochloride afforded 1a, 2-chloro- 2a and 2-iodo-3,4-bis(methoxycarbonyl)furan (2c) in 50%, 27%, and 23% yield.


Multiwavelets in one dimension have given good results for image compression. On the other hand, nonseparable bidimensional wavelets have certain advantages over the tensor product of 1D wavelets. In this work we give examples of multiwavelets that are bidimensional and nonseparable. They correspond to the dilation matrices D1 equals [1 1;1 -1], a reflection followed by an expansion of (root)2, or to D2 equals [1 1;1 1], a rotation followed by an expansion of (root)2, and possess suitable properties for image compression: short support and 2 or 3 vanishing moments. Multiwavelets are derived from multiscaling functions. Conditions on the matrix coefficients of the dilation equation are exploited to build examples of orthogonal, nonseparable, compactly supported, bidimensional multiscaling functions of accuracy 2 and 3. They are continuous and the joint spectral radius is estimated. To the author's knowledge no examples of bidimensional multiscaling functions with these characteristics had been found previously. Coefficients for the corresponding multiwavelets are given. Multiscaling functions and multiwavelets are plotted with a cascade algorithm.


Experimental solubility data of sodium naphthalene-1,5-disulfonate in five neat solvents (water, methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, acetone) and three binary solvent systems (water + ethanol, water + 2...


Abstract:In life and in death, Anne Boleyn has always invited controversy. On the one hand, she was that 'godly lady and queen' under whom 'the religion of Christ most happily flourished'. But to her detractors, Anne was the very 'scandal of Christendom'. A prevailing view that commonly appears in both scholarly and popular texts is that Anne was either perceived in her time as a witch or was indeed a witch. However, this essay argues that such a perception is relatively recent – one created in the earlier part of the twentieth century, sustained by modern writers and historians, and in popular culture. It demonstrates that Anne was never regarded as such by her contemporaries or by those who were critical of her.


Educational innovation has been and is presently one of the key components in contemporary Vietnamese society, which is included in the Central Party Resolution and has received positive feedback from the community. Educational innovation has long been established and continuously promoted in European and American countries, attracting hundreds of professional researchers who have published many useful works in both theoretical and practical fields. The educational outcomes of these countries shows that, education reforms and adaptation to change require the building of a reasonable, progressive and theoretical basis for school culture, making it a guideline for the whole process of designing and operating that campaign of educational innovation. This paper applies the method of document analysis under the comparative perspective to investigate the theoretical and practical experience of the United States of America and European countries in building school culture for the sake of renovating school culture in Viet Nam today. The study shows that school culture shares most of the similarities among cultures, which are characteristics created by the nature of the field of education itself; however, the intrinsic factors such as the viewpoint, goals, guidelines, policies, management practices and the nature of traditional education in each country play an even more important role in


One of the most significant outcomes of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment has been the high quality oceanographic data that have been collected and assembled over the 1990's. It is these oceanographic data that will drive the basin-scale research for the next decade and will form the reference data sets for future global climate and climate variability programmes such as CLIVAR. The greatest legacy of WOCE could arguably be the oceanographic data from the 1990's.


The aim of this paper is to generalize the Hermite--Hadamard inequality for functions convex on the coordinates. Our composite result generalizes the result of Dragomir in \cite{Drag}. Many other interesting inequalities can be derived from our results by choosing different values of $n\in\mathbb{N}.$ Furthermore, we add to the literature a new result for positive functions convex on the coordinates.


In the article the outcomes of the research of efficiency of complex SPA treatment of the patients with chronic inflammatory diseases of organs of the small pelvis in various seasons of the year in conditions of humid subtropics are indicated. The dynamics ofa psycho-emotional condition, vegetative reactivity, condition of the protective-adapting mechanisms of the gomeostasis are investigated, depending on a kind of applied SPA treatment (hydrogen sulfide or iodine bromide)? In cool and warm periods of a year. The recommendations for differentiated rehabilitation treatment of patients with valiants of clinical process of chronic inflammatory diseases of organs of the small pelvis and complications, accompanying them, in conditions of humid subtropics are represented.


Two-dimensional (2D) phases of boron are rare and unique. Here we report a new 2D all-boron phase (named the π phase) that can be grown on a W(110) surface. The π phase, composed of four-membered rings and six-membered rings filled with an additional B atom, is predicted to be the most stable on this support. It is characterized by an outstanding stability upon exfoliation off of the W surface, and unusual electronic properties. The chemical bonding analysis reveals the metallic nature of this material, which can be attributed to the multicentered π-bonds. Importantly, the calculated conductivity tensor is anisotropic, showing larger conductivity in the direction of the sheet that is in-line with the conjugated π-bonds, and diminished in the direction where the π-subsystems are connected by single σ-bonds. The π-phase can be viewed as an ultrastable web of aligned conducting boron wires, possibly of interest to applications in electronic devices. I the past decades, the outstanding geometry and electronic properties of graphene inspired a wide interest in lowdimensional structures. However, for elements right next to carbon in the Periodic Tablesilicon, boron, and phosphorusthe preparation of elemental two-dimensional (2D) phases has been proven to be much more difficult. Among these elements, boron is particularly intriguing and challenging. First, the elemental allotropes of boron are dominated by the well-known and very stable B12 icosahedral clusters. 6 Second, the 2D nature has been found to prevail only in small clusters of boron, governed by a mix of covalent and delocalized bonds in an undercoordinated situation. Planarity does not easily translate to extended systems, because of the electron-deficient nature of boron, as compared to carbon: like a metal, the metalloid boron tends to go toward 3D bulk. In purely theoretical works, a large amount of effort went into finding stable 2D boron phases, e.g., the α sheet, β sheet, and χ sheet, by different approaches, including cluster expansion (CE), particle-swarm optimization (PSO), and based on existing structural characteristics. These works mainly focus on the boron monolayer, constraining the global optimization to two dimensions, and not considering the possibility of growing the boron phase on a substrate to support it. The substrate, however, plays a crucial role in experimental preparation of 2D boron, which is one of the major differences between boron sheets and graphene in the experiment. Only very recently have a few types of boron sheets been synthesized on Cu foils and on a Ag(111) surface by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In these cases, the exoticism of boron structures again implied the complexity of the bonding features. The substrate obviously dictates the structural and electronic preferences in these materials, and also the feasibility of their preparation. Accordingly, the possibly rich 2D chemistry of boron might be accessible through templating on different supporting surfaces. In this work we focus on the most stable surface of tungsten, W(110), as a substrate for 2D boron growth. This surface features good stability and an excellent performance in growth of carbon nanotubes. Most importantly, while Cu and Ag surfaces have an hexagonal symmetry, W(110) has a rectangular symmetry. Therefore, it might be a promising support to obtain novel boron monolayers. Indeed, we will describe here a unique new 2D sheet of boron that can be formed on the W(110) substrate and, upon exfoliation, retains its structure and stability up to strikingly high temperatures. We show that this phase possesses special electronic structure and anisotropic electric conductivity. To identify the most stable structure of 2D boron on W(110), we applied the particle-swarm global optimization method combined with DFT-PBE calculations to explore several different chemical compositions, varying the Received: February 3, 2017 Accepted: March 1, 2017 Published: March 1, 2017 Letter


This study concerned the prevalence of adolescents' problems amongst Ebira secondary school students. Using responses from a sample of 200 SS in stratified cum randomly selected six secondary schools, the researcher investigated the pattern of differences in their self-reported problems between low and high SES background, sexes, failing and passing adolescents, and among the three type of schools attended. The responses from the SS level of perceived undisciplined behaviour in Ebira-land were used as criterion measure and their self reported problems in student problems Inventory (SPl) as independent measures, to predict undisciplined behaviour in Ebira land.


Since the crude oil prices were decreased in global market, the renewable energy technology e.g. photovoltaic and wind turbine was disappointed (no profit) over 2014 ~ 2015. The marketing strategy and management risk was developed to increase of income renewable energy technology. The conventional energy and renewable energy technology is very competitive. Based on the problem, this work aimed to obtain the renewable energy prospect using risk management and marketing strategy especially over Riau – Indonesia. The observation data taken from Google trends based on popularity level. The two years data (2014 and 2015) were processed to analyze the result. In validation section showed the technology of renewable energy on Riau have a good profit compared with petroleum, gas and ash (non renewable energy). We also obtained in generally the technology of renewable energy were prospect (in Sumatera - Indonesia) due to the resource of wind and solar intensity is plentiful than non renewable energy.


Abscisic acid (ABA) causes the closure of stomata. By means of an infrared gas analyzer it was found that changes in the physiological status of Fragaria grandiflora Duch. cv. Red gauntlet, caused by pretreatment with exogenous ABA, decreased the sensitivity to the next dose of the hormone. A similar decrease of sensitivity to ABA may be obtained by shortening the light period. It is proposed that this decrease in sensitivity to ABA may be due to adaptation of guard cells to an excess of ABA.


With the increasing demand for diesel in various countries, the ecological pollution caused by the improper use, storage, and accidental leakage of diesel needs to be addressed urgently. As an environmentally friendly and cost-effective method, bioremediation generally uses various microorganisms to remove pollutants from the environment. Here, the strain KJ-1, obtained through an enrichment culture using n-dodecane from oil-contaminated soil near a gas station as the substrate, was identified as Acinetobacter vivianii according to its morphology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. The isolate KJ-1 was able to use diesel as a sole carbon source and more than 40% of diesel was degraded after 12 days of incubation with strain KJ-1 in mineral salts medium. The most suitable diesel concentration and nitrogen source concentrations were 4,140 mg/L and 350–700 mg/L, respectively, for diesel degradation and bacterial growth. The optimal initial pH and temperature for strain KJ-1 growth and diesel degradation were 6.5–8.0 and 20–37°C, respectively. To investigate the diesel-degrading mechanisms of this strain, the complete genome was sequenced and annotated. The complete genome consists of one chromosome with a total length of 3,927,757 base pairs and a G + C content of 41.5%. The genes related to the two-component regulatory system and alkane degradation were analyzed. In addition, two putative alkane monooxygenases were analyzed, and the protein sequences were characterized and compared with other AlkBs in Acinetobacter spp. using sequences downloaded from NCBI. The results demonstrated that A. vivianii KJ-1 may be particularly useful for future bioremediation of diesel-polluted soil.


Introduction In the 1990s, as the lifestyle of the Indian middle classes underwent dramatic change, an emerging consumerist orientation challenged many of the certainties embedded in everyday practices. Amongst the arenas where these changes were played out, food consumption and the availability of new foods across India's metropolitan areas were particularly prominent, but have been notably absent in the analysis of these new lifestyles. That changing food habits signify wider social transformations in the aftermath of neo-liberal reform has been documented in some detail in the case of other regions, e.g. China, but in spite of a rich literature on traditional understandings of food and food practices in South Asia there has been little interest in the way such important everyday activities as eating at home or in public, snacking and feasting have been transformed in contemporary India. Furthermore, where consumption has been identified as a hallmark of new middle-class lifestyles it has been largely viewed in terms of the 'public modernity' paradigm. Thus the focus of social scientists has been on the public sphere, i.e. the emerging youth


The study examined whether the early life-history temperature experience of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss embryos affects subsequent growth and expression of growth-related genes in the growing-up juveniles in response to variations in ration levels. Embryos were reared in a Heath incubator at either 8.5 degrees C (E-8.5) or 6.0 degrees C (E-6.0) until hatching, at which time they were transferred to grow-up tanks supplied with water at 8.5 degrees C. At swim-up, the late stage embryos were subsequently fed a salmonid starter diet at levels of 5, 2 or 0.5% of live body mass per day. The body mass and proximate composition of the juveniles was examined when yolk absorbance was complete (21 days after the fish commenced feeding). Quantitative RT-PCR was used to examine the expression of mRNA encoding for growth hormone receptors 1 and 2 (GHR1 and GHR2) in the liver, and the two isoforms of thyroid hormone receptor (TR alpha and TR beta) in the liver and intestinal tract. Final body mass and total length, liver and intestinal masses, and total lipid content of the E-8.5 treatment group were directly related to increased ration size. These variables in the E-6.0 treatment group fed the 5% ration were significantly lower than for the comparable E-8.5 treatment group, suggesting an effect of embryo rearing temperature on the subsequent growth of these late stage embryos as they undergo the transition from embryo to early juvenile. Intestinal TR alpha and TR beta mRNA abundance was directly related to ration size in the E-8.5 treatment group, but not in the E-6.0 treatment group. Conversely, hepatic TR alpha and TR beta mRNA abundance was significantly affected by ration size only in the E-6.0 group, with TR beta and TR alpha abundance showing direct and inverse relationships with ration size, respectively. Hepatic GHR1 mRNA abundance was significantly and directly related to ration size in both the E-8.5 and E-6.0 treatment groups, but there were no differences in the abundance of hepatic GHR2 mRNA among any treatments.(c) 2007 The Authors Journal compilation. (c) 2007 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.


The use of potentiometric and amperometric micro-sensors for studies in corrosion is illustrated. A brief theoretical background of each technique is presented, the advantages and limitations are compared and the potentialities for studies in the corrosion field are discussed.


Day by day wireless users are increasing. So to increase the efficiency of system, we rely on Cognitive radio. It detects unused channel and sends the data through that channel. Here  multicarrier modulation techniques like Generalised Frequency Division Multiplexing and Universal Filtered Multicarrier play an important role as these techniques are non-orthogonal multicarrier schemes used for sending information with low latency and higher efficiency. In this paper,a technical review on both GFDM and UFMC candidate waveforms for 5G  has been given under wireless dispersive channels for cognitive radio. These use digital multicarrier transceiver concept which employs filters for pulse shaping so as to maintain control over transmitted signal's spectral properties. The advanced LTE system provides standard compliant functions for design, simulation and verification of advanced communication systems. Cognitive radio is the intelligence that guides Software defined radio to choose the mode of operation and vital parameters mainly frequency, modulation, bandwidth and power. The main aim of opportunistic cognitive radio is the modification of said parameters depending upon the radio frequency environment, user situation and demands of network etc .


Abstract : The overall goal of this research project was to study the mechanisms by which non-genotoxic chemicals induced multiple disease end points such as birth defects, tumor promotion, reproductive- and neuro-toxicities. The working hypothesis was that these non-genotoxic chemicals disrupted homeostatic control of cell proliferation, differentiation and adaptive responses of differentiated cells. Specifically, to test this hypothesis, gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) was studied. During this grant period, several techniques were developed and applied to study how various model non-genotoxic chemicals, as well as various oncogenes, interfered with GJIC to cause abnormal cell growth and differentiation. The molecular biology, biochemistry and cell biology of non-genotoxic chemical and oncogene interference with GJIC was studied using in vitro techniques, primarily with fluorescent detection of ions and molecules via laser-assisted image analyses. jg p.1


There is provided an image output apparatus including an image-capturing section that captures an image of the observed person, an observer's point of sight measuring section that measures a point of sight of the observer when the image-capturing section captures the image of the observed person, an output section that outputs the image of the observed person which is captured by the image-capturing section, and a point of sight output control section that causes the output section to output information indicating the point of sight of the observer which is measured by the observer's point of sight measuring section, together with the image of the observed person which is captured by the image-capturing section.


Three-dimensional mathematical model of shutdown temperature drop of buried heated oil pipeline is often established based on the finite volume theory and the enthalpy-temperature method.In this paper,three-dimensional numerical simulation of shutdown temperature drop of Shi-Ke D377 pipeline in Xinjiang oilfield under different conditions was carried out,and the contours of crude oil and soil temperature at different time in different locations along the tube were obtained.On the one hand,the effect of different temperature of outbound oil on temperature of inlet oil and the shutdown time was analyzed;On the other hand,optimal outbound oil temperature under the condition of the lowest amount of transmission in the coldest month was analyzed.By calculating and analyzing,the data can provide the theoretical judgment basis for planning scheme of shutdown and restarting and optimizing pipeline operation.


Overhead wiring structures (OWS) provide physical support to overhead electrical wires that power trains. They are typically spaced at 50 to 70 m. In a rail network, tens of thousands of these structures are required. Although they are simple structures, due to their numbers; design, construction and maintenance often involve large capital investments. Their reliability is also crucial to a safe operating rail network. This paper presents a review of OWS in Australia. Electrification of train services began in the 1910s, making some of the OWS over 100 years old. Descriptions in this article include their structural forms, design, construction, assessment and maintenance. It follows with a structural assessment carried out on a century-old riveted OWS built in the 1910s. This OWS was decommissioned in a recent railway renewal project which allowed the assessments to carry out. The assessment provides insights into hundreds of similar aged OWS still being used today. Assessments carried out consisted of tensile tests, corrosion depth measurements, radiographic imaging, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX). Crevice corrosion is common in locations where moisture accumulated. Material properties were similar to modern-day Grade 250 steel with satisfactory ductility. Corrosion depths were less than those predicted. Samples of riveted connection showed no sign of deterioration within connected plates. This study may provide insights into structural design, construction and maintenance of similar structures in Australia and abroad.


Objective: To investigate the pudendal nerve block anesthesia in the application value of transvaginal delivery. Methods: 700 cases of vaginal delivery were divided into control group and experimental group with 350 cases in each group, experimental group underwent perineal anaesthesia of nerve block, the control group received routine perineum treatment, compared two groups of treatment effect. Results: Two groups of average VAS score, analgesic level two laceration, level, proportion of laceration of perineum complete proportion ratio significantly. Conclusion: Perineal nerve block anesthesia can cause vaginal delivery of maternal perineal damage greatly reduced, worthy of promotion.


Tuned mass dampers (TMD) are installed in base-isolated building to suppress the excessive isolator displacement and acceleration responses of primary structure. By incorporating an inerter element into the original configuration, the seismic performance of TMD is significantly enhanced. In this work, optimal solutions of tuned mass damper inerter (TMDI) for improving the seismic resilience of base-isolated building are proposed. The analytical formulations of optimal design of TMDI are respectively developed to minimize the H2 norm of the displacement of primary structure relative to the base floor and the isolator displacement. The performance of presented optimal methods are validated by using stationary responses under the stochastic excitations. Additionally, the seismic performance of TMDI with parameters obtained from the proposed method are compared with the established methods. Introduction Base isolation (BI) system has been widely employed in public building which is of importance to keep its' functionality [1-2] (e.g. hospital, disaster prevention center) and prevent catastrophic results. The mechanical characteristic of BI is to decouple the resonance of building and ground motions by inserting a very soft base layer between them [3]. Although, BI technique presents attractive benefits in mitigating the earthquake responses of primary structure, some detrimental features, e.g. serious concentration of base isolators deformation, need to be carefully taken into account. In order to reduce the excessive displacement of base floor, the so called "hybrid base isolation system", which consists of traditional base isolators (e.g. lead rubber bearing, friction peculium slide and natural rubber bearing etc.) and additional damping devices, was developed. It was mentioned that the effectiveness of displacement dependent damper is less than the viscous damper because the adverse contribution of higher modes. Furthermore, it is worthy to note that a high damping ratio of viscous damper may lead to an excessive inter-story drift and acceleration response [4]. Although an active or semi-active damper may overcome above difficulties, it requires stable power supply and active feedback system might be hardly satisfied during a major earthquake. Alternatively, a tuned mass damper, which is able to simultaneously mitigate the displacement of base floor and acceleration response, are recommended to work with base isolators to suppress the isolator displacement [5]. Although, the effectiveness of TMD has been confirmed in previous studies, it should be noted that a large mass ratio is necessary to achieve the designated performance target. An inerter element, which amplifies the mass effect by using the relative motion of two terminals, can be employed to enhance the seismic performance of traditional TMD. A novel configuration consists of a TMD and an inerter element which is called tuned mass damper inerter (TMDI) has been proposed to mitigate the excessive displacement of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system [6]. Structural Health Monitoring Materials Research Forum LLC Materials Research Proceedings 18 (2021) 263-271 https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644901311-32 264 With an excellent seismic performance for mitigating the excessive displacement responses and suppressing the acceleration responses, TMDI was gradually popularized in suppressing isolator displacement demand in a BI system [7]. For implementation of TMDI in a BI system, the optimal solutions with numerical optimization algorithm were carried out in [7]. Although, the effectiveness of optimal results has been validated by a lot of benchmark models, it should be noted that the numerical results cannot be readily applied to practical design, because most of practicing engineers are unfamiliar with those methods to derive optimal designs. Thus, an analytical formulation of optimal parameters needs to be developed to fit the request of practical design. Marian and Giaralis [6, 8] presented two analytical formulae to minimize the HH2 and HH∞ norms of displacement responses of a SDOF system under white-noise excitation and harmonic excitation. An analytical formula which consider the characteristics of a BI system was derived to suppress the excessive isolator displacement by Matteo et al. [9]. In this work, two closed-form formulae for suppressing the acceleration of primary structure and excessive isolator displacement were developed. Moreover, an investigation of the influences of external excitation on the optimal solutions were discussed with a series of numerical calculations. To access the effectiveness of proposed method for improving the seismic performance of a BI system under stationary excitation, a performance comparison is carried out in Section 7. BI system equipped with a TMDI On the basis of Kelly's work [4], a BI system can be simplified as a 2-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) system as shown in Fig. 1(a). mms and mmb denote the mass of the primary structure and the basement, respectively. The stiffness of primary structure and basement are respectively represented by kks and kkb. ccs and ccb are used to denote the inherent damping of primary structure and base isolators. As shown in Fig. 1(b), a TMDI can be simplified to a tuned inerter damper (TID) by removing the physical mass. On the other hand, TMDI is an advanced TMD whose control effect is significantly improved by connecting a ground linked inerter. As mentioned above, we expect to develop a comprehensive closed-form formula of TMDI that can represent TID or TMD by setting the physical mass or inertance as zero. Assume the aforementioned 2-DOF system is subjected to an external excitation ?̈?x0, the governing equations of this hybrid BI system can be expressed as, Fig. 1 (a) Schematic of BI system equipped with (b) TMDI, (c) TMD and (d) TID.


The software tool EMA ("Editor for Manual Work Activities") facilitates digital production planning and ergonomics assessment by providing a more efficient and accurate approach to 3D human simulation. EMA uses a modular system for describing human work activities based on a pre-defined library of "complex operations", which allows the generation and simulation of human movements with highly-automated algorithms. Moreover, EMA includes standard tools for the assessment of ergonomic strains (EAWS – "Ergonomic Assessment Worksheet") and production time (MTM – "Methods Time Measurement"). After introducing some basic analysis functions of EMA and their typical use cases, this paper presents an evaluation study that examines the validity of EMA ergonomic evaluations in comparison to paper-pencil-assessments with EAWS. Moreover, this paper shows several use cases of the EMA software application in automotive and aviation industry. These applications illustrate that EMA considerably reduces the effort for preparing human simulations and enables the user to analyze ergonomic conditions (body posture, action forces, manual load handling) and productivity (e.g., walk ways) very thoroughly.


Background: We hypothesized that the incidence of hypotension during total knee replacement (TKR) surgery is lower in patients given combined spinal-epidural (CSE) anesthesia vs those receiving epidural anesthesia alone. Methods: In a prospective study, 80 American Society of Anesthesiologists I-II patients (aged 40–80 yr), undergoing elective TKR surgery were randomly assigned to either CSE anesthesia (CSE, n = 40) or epidural anesthesia alone (Epidural, n = 40). Hemodynamic measurements included oscillometric mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and cardiac index (CI) as determined by thoracic bioimpedance; systemic vascular resistance (SVR) was calculated. Our primary endpoint (outcome) was the number of hypotension episodes (defined as MAP < 70 mmHg). Results: Using univariate analysis, we found no differences between the groups in regards to MAP, HR, CI, or SVR during the perioperative period. The incidence of hypotension was similar in both groups (two patients in each group), as was the incidence of bradycardia (12 patients in CSE, 7 in Epidural; P = 0.2). There were no differences between groups in other hemodynamic measurements including CI and calculated SVR. Analgesia supplementation with fentanyl was more frequently required in the Epidural group (20 vs 6 patients – P = 0.03). Conclusion: Combined spinal-epidural anesthesia and epidural anesthesia alone during TKR surgery are associated with the same incidence of hypotension with statistically and clinically similar hemodynamic responses.


Moored observations of near-inertial currents and buoyancy fluctuations from the Frontal Air Sea Interaction Experiment (FASINEX) may be understood as nearinertial internal waves reflecting off sheared background currents. The FASINEX moored array measured upper ocean currents, temperature, and conductivity between January and June 1986 in a region of the Sargasso Sea heavily populated by strong upper ocean fronts. The background jets associated with these features have typical cross-front scales of 20km, maximum currents of 0.5 m s−1, and relative vorticities of ±0.3ƒ. In the vicinity of fronts, observed near-inertial currents have short horizontal scales, show no clear horizontal phase structure, and trace out elongated current ellipses with elevated across-front over along-front variance. During these periods, inertial band-pass buoyancy fluctuations often correlate with major-axis currents. WKB ray-tracing models of propagating, monochromatic plane waves exhibit horizontal phase propagation and correlations between minor-axis currents and buoyancy and thus cannot explain these results. Models of near-inertial internal waves reflected or trapped by a barotropic frontal jet produce mode-like structures with short horizontal scales, little horizontal phase propagation, and anisotropic current ellipses aligned primarily cross front. Model buoyancy may correlate with one or both current ellipse components, depending on the incidence angle of the wave and the degree to which it reflects. Completely reflected waves with horizontal scales similar to those of the front and near-normal incidence angle produce current ellipses and correlation patterns consistent with the observations.


A PLC system is operationg electronic system which is specially designed for industrial environment.Its reliability on relates to the system that can opernte for a long term.Starting with improving PLC system reliabilty,the hardware and software of the system and installation conditions are presented and analyzed.


Four rare human cases of primary ocular rhinosporidiosis with staphyloma formation in Sri Lanka are described. Cases 1, 3, and 4 were the first reported cases of ocular rhinosporidiosis, with a river contaminated with the causative organism Rhinosporidium seeberi as the probable source of infection. A contaminated lake was the probably source in case 2. Their unusual features included serial rhinosporidial lesions in multiple sites (palpebral and bulbar conjunctivae), with possible extension to the posterior chamber with uveitis and to the retina with the formation of posterior staphylomas in the same eye. In addition, a possible extension of the infection or immunological reaction against the pathogen to the contralateral, nonrhinosporidial eye occurred in three cases, documented by the development of posterior staphylomas and retinal abnormalities. Only one patient had a significantly elevated IgG titre. (J Infect Dis Antimicrob Agents 2007;24:133-41.)


The 3.18-cm (1.25-in.) diameter AISI Type 4140 steel shaft and the AISI Type 4037 steel capscrew of water pump GA-207 from the Synthane plant failed by complete separation after approximately 1.8 to 2.9 Ms (500 to 800 h) operation. The pump circulates high-temperature water between the venturi scrubber and the scrubber surge tank. A replacement capscrew, Type 4037 steel, also failed by shear after a shorter operating time (9 to 18 ks (2.5 to 5 h)). Both failures are associated with fatigue. The capscrews failed in a brittle manner due to cracks that initiated at the thread root. The capscrew manufacturer suspects that this component was improperly heat treated during production. The shaft failure occurred shortly after the capscrew failed. A high torsional load due to carbon-fine buildup is transmitted to the keyway that engages the impeller of the pump after the capscrew fails. The keyway fillet radius (0.021 cm) was smaller than recommended (0.067 cm) by normal design practice and acts as a stress riser adding to the existing torsional loads. The Type 4037 steel capscrew failed as a result of improper heat treatment, as was suspected by the capscrew manufacturer. The improper heat treatment, was verified by amore » measurement of the capscrew hardness, which was twice that specified for this steel. The fracture initiated at surface defects and propagated in a brittle manner as a result of high Vickers hardness. The Type 4140 steel shaft failure occurred after the capscrew fractured. A fatigue crack initiated at the keyway fillet radius of the shaft and propagated toward the shaft center and along the keyway. The small radius of curvature of the keyway fillet (0.021 cm) contributed a stress riser to the torsional load that led to the peeling-type crack.« less


This research investigates the development of an FPGA-based sound field rendering system with the FDTD method, in which wave equations are directly implemented by the reconfigurable hardware, spatial blocking and temporal parallelism are applied to alleviate external memory bandwidth bottleneck and speed up computation. Compared with the software simulation carried out on a desktop machine with a Xeon Gold 6212U processor and 512 GB DRAMs, the FPGA system achieves about 13 times speedup in computation performance.


Official COVID-19 mortality statistics are strongly influenced by the local diagnostic capacity, strength of the healthcare system, and the recording and reporting capacities on causes of death. This can result in significant undercounting of COVID-19 attributable deaths, making it challenging to understand the total mortality burden of the pandemic. Excess mortality, which is defined as the increase in observed death counts compared to a baseline expectation, provides an alternate measure of the mortality shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we use data from civil death registers for 54 municipalities across the state of Gujarat, India, to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all-cause mortality. Using a model fit to monthly data from January 2019 to February 2020, we estimate excess mortality over the course of the pandemic from March 2020 to April 2021. We estimated 16,000 [95% CI: 14,000, 18,000] excess deaths across these municipalities since March 2020. The sharpest increase in deaths was observed in April 2021, with an estimated 480% [95% CI: 390%, 580%] increase in mortality from expected counts for the same period. Females and the 40 to 60 age groups experienced a greater increase from baseline mortality compared to other demographic groups. Our excess mortality estimate for these 54 municipalities, representing approximately 5% of the state population, exceeds the official COVID-19 death count for the entire state of Gujarat.


An important aspect of workplace design is the creation of possible ways to bring innovations to the prevention of excessive joint loading. The solutions for finding these different options are new theoretical concepts with applications of biomechanics and fuzzy logic, innovative insights into the human body using simulation tools, critical examinations of the relationship between workplace analysis and causality in the control of musculoskeletal disorders, and inventive studies of their validity through epidemiology. These methodological approaches can be useful tools for minimizing incompatibilities between the capabilities of workers and the demands of their jobs and prevention of likely musculoskeletal injuries during work. The results of these approaches can assess the suitability of the designed human-machine system and determine possible improvements in the workplace.


The efficacy of grape seed extract (GE), citric acid (CA) or lactic acid (LA) on the inactivation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in shucked oysters was studied. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of GE, CA or LA against V. parahaemolyticus in TSB-1% NaCl was also determined. The shucked oysters were artificially inoculated with V. parahaemolyticus, the inoculated shucked oysters (25 g) were then dipped in solution of GE (0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 50.0, 100, 200, 300 and 500 mg mL 1), CA (0.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0, 50.0, 100, 200 and 300 mg mL 1) or LA (0.0, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0, 50.0, 100 and 150 mg mL 1) for 10 min. The population of V. parahaemolyticus in shucked oysters was determined. The MICs of GE, CA or LA against V. parahaemolyticuswere 10.0, 5.0 or 1.0 mg mL 1, respectively. A 500, 300 or 150 mg mL 1 GE, CA or LA solutions were needed to reduce the population of V. parahaemolyticus to below the detection level (1.0 log g 1) in shucked oysters. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


ABSTRACT— This article describes a community psychiatric survey of a random sample (n= 291) of Greek Cypriot immigrants living in London. Over three quarters of the immigrants were first generation. Information from the subject and from hospital case records were used to date previous episodes of psychiatric disorder. Datable episodes had occurred in 52 subjects. There was no evidence that the risk of breakdown was increased in the immediate aftermath of immigration. For 34 subjects who experienced their first illness after migration, the mean interval was 15 years. In only 9% did breakdown occur within 2 years of migration. The age‐specific incidence of psychiatric disorder was the same as that seen in a native British sample. Although there were differences in the age of onset of first‐ and second‐generation subjects, this was in the opposite direction to that expected if immigration appreciably provoked breakdown.


Over the last decade, the UK has experienced unprecedented increases in migration associated with the 2004 A8 expansion of the European Union. These migrant workers have been praised by managers in the UK, who have frequently stated that they perceive these workers to have a strong 'work ethic' when measured on aspects such as absence from work rates. This article examines this perceived migrant 'work ethic' by analysing worker absence data from the UK Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the period 2005–2012. Regression analysis reveals that when A8 migrant workers first arrive in the UK, they record substantially lower absence than native workers, but that these migrant absence levels assimilate within two to four years. If employers use this information to make hiring decisions, this may have negative implications for native workers, but, importantly, only in the short run.


Abstract The Compton effect, that describes the interaction via scattering between photons and electrons, is modelled by a homogeneous quantum kinetic equation. The electrons are assumed to be at nonrelativistic equilibrium, and the scattering of photons by electrons is studied. The kernel in the collision operator presents a strong singularity. The local existence in time of an entropy solution to the Cauchy problem is proven for small initial data.


Two-line Interline Dynamic Voltage Restorer (IDVR) consists of two back-to-back Dynamic Voltage Restorers (DVRs) connected to independent distribution feeders with a common DC link. One of the involved feeders is feeding a critical load (critical feeder). When this critical feeder is subjected to voltage sag, its DVR will compensate this sag via voltage injection (voltage control mode). The voltage control mode may absorb active power from the DC link, so the other DVR will be responsible for maintaining a constant DC link voltage via pumping the required active power into the DC bus (power control mode). The maximum active power can be pumped from the healthy feeder is mainly depend on its load displacement factor. So, if the pumped power is not sufficient, the voltage restoration will fail. This paper suggests adding renewable energy sources as a support to this system, which may be coupled across the DC link to share, if needed, in supplying the required active power during voltage sag problem. Complete analysis supported with simulations is presented in this paper. NOMENCLATURE


Because of inadequate and unsuccesful management of ALI, undesired chronic disabilities may unluckily be observed. Treatment of these patients should be planned comprehensive and detailed depending on patient's diagnosis, injury's severity and stage. Program should not only be focused on to solve edema. An integrated treatment covering injury's acute and subacute period and a comprehensive algorithm including an early rehabilitation program would provide better recovery times.


Why was there an abrupt increase in economic openness in Europe in the 1860s? This increase may have been the result of a contagion process, in which the Cobden-Chevalier treaty between Britain and France threatened to displace third-party exports to France with British exports. As a result, most European states signed similar treaties with France, which had further ripple effects. This article outlines a formal model of this process, based on the assumption that an agreement between two states increases the desirability of similar treaties to third parties. Propositions regarding the rate and pattern of spread of treaties are derived from this model. This article then discusses the insights these propositions may offer into the rise and fall of the most-favorednation network of treaties between 1860 and 1929. At a theoretical level the model aims to link the microlevel processes underlying state preferences to system-level phenomena. At a substantive level this analysis offers insight into the current explosion of regionalism.


Beginning in October 2020 and ending in April 2021, researchers from Al-Nahrain University's High Institute for Infertility Diagnosis and Assisted Reproductive Technologies compared the success rates of two different methods of diagnosing and treating infertility. The major purpose of the research was to assess the impact of a combined trigger (follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH] and human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG]) on endometrial receptivity (endometrial thickness, endometrial pattern, sub-endometrial blood flow). A total of 100 females took part in the study. All patients gave their informed written consent, and the study was approved by the Al-Nahrain University Ethics Committee. Procedure Time To confirm ovulation, measure and analyze the endometrial pattern, and examine the sub-endometrial blood flow, a vaginal ultrasound was done 36 to 48 hours following trigger ovulation. All four hormones (FSH, LH, Progesterone, and E2) were tested in the blood at the same time to determine whether a couple was fertile, a complete medical history, and physical examination whereas performed on each member of the pair. An ultrasound vaginal probe was used to do the transvaginal examination. Patients were placed in the dorsal lithotomy position with an empty bladder for early follicular US (CD 2-3) to assess the number of antral follicles, measure endometrial thickness, and rule out ovarian cysts or other pathology. A second ultrasound was performed during the middle of the cycle (CD9-14) to determine whether a mature follicle had been found. A multiplanar image of the uterus was acquired after an ultrasound scan was swept across the mid-sagittal plane. Endometrial thickness in the median longitudinal plane of the uterus was calculated as the largest distance from one basal endometrial interface via the endometrial canal to the opposite endometrial-myometrial interface of the anterior-posterior uterine wall. A statistically significant difference was found between Group A's average E2 concentration of 69.62 pg/mL and Groups B and C's concentrations of 53.32 and 36.65 pg/mL. (P 0.001). In group C, there was a statistically significant difference in E2 levels on the day of the trigger and the day of the IUI (P = 0.036). On the day of IUI compared to the day of trigger, no statistically significant differences were seen between the study groups for any of the other hormonal indicators (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in any of the baseline clinical measures between the research groups. All clinical indicators were comparable across groups (P > 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) between the research groups on any other clinical indicators. When comparing groups, A, B, and C on the decline in RI between the trigger and IUI days, group A significantly outperformed the others (P = 0.003). There was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in any of the other clinical parameters between the IUI and trigger groups on the day of IUI.


We investigated the accuracy of several spectral metrics when used for matching in hyperspectral imagery. Spectral matching refers to measuring the similarity among spectra. Two spectra are similar when the spectra distance between them is small and dissimilar otherwise. Spectral matching is used in many areas such as target detection and spectra classification. At the heart of spectral matching lay the distance measure used and the threshold value differentiating between similar and dissimilar. Frequent choices for such measures are spectral angle (SA) and spectral information divergence (SID) since they provide a limited range for threshold values. In addition, two new measures spectral correlation angle (SGA) and spectral gradient angle (SGA) are developed. Next, we suggest an alternative measure developed by using a normalized Euclidean distance (NED). To test the accuracy of the measures we used target information extracted from HYDICE data, and assessment tools such as the relative spectral discriminatory probability and the relative spectral discriminatory entropy. Experimental results suggest that NED outperforms SA, SCA and SGA and is relatively equivalent to SID. Given the reduction in computation time, NED constitutes an attractive measure to be used in spectra matching.


Let $ \widehat{\Gamma} $ be the extended modular group acting on $ \widehat{\mathbb{Q}} $ by linear fractional transformation. In this paper, we investigate connectivity of the suborbital graphs $ \widehat{\mathcal{F}}_{u,n} $ for the congruence subgroup $ \widehat{\Gamma}_0(n) $ of $ \widehat{\Gamma} $.


The characterization of a plasma plume is a key issue in laser ablation and deposition studies. Combined diagnostic measurements by Optical Emission Spectroscopy, Fast Imaging have been used to study the dynamics and composition of laser ablation plume produced during ultrashort laser irradiation of metals, in vacuum. Our results show that, in the laser fluence range of 0.1-1.0 J/cm2, the process of matter removal results in a plasma plume which is mainly composed of two different populations: atoms and nanoparticles. The nanoparticles dynamics during expansion has been analyzed through their structureless continuum optical emission, while atomic species have been identified by their characteristic emission lines. The presence of a fast atomic component emitted from the sample surface as a result of the supercritical state induced by the intense ultrashort laser pulse irradiation has been also observed both by optical emission spectroscopy and fast imaging techniques. Finally, atomic force microscopy analysis of the material deposited at room temperature has allowed the characterization of the nanoparticles size distribution.


Because of the similar behaviour, bromide (Br) could be used as a tracer for nitrate (NO3) in soil-water systems. However, successful use of Br depends upon accurate recovery of added Br from soil and detection by instrument...


Nothing creates loyalty and national consciousness more speedily and more thoroughly than participation in defence and membership of the armed forces ... the nation building aspect of defence will be more significant if its participation is spread out over all strata of society. This is possible only with some kind of national service.-Dr. Goh Keng S weeSingapore as a young country is unique in many ways. Its geo-strategic position at the crossroads of the worlds busiest trade lanes has created a multiethnic and multiracial society, which is still attracting many foreign talents through immigration, bringing with it the challenge of establishing a unique and enduring national identity. The national flag carries a waxing crescent moon to embody the spirit of this young and growing country, and it is widely recognized in Singapore that the work of nationbuilding is never done.Adding to the challenge of nationbuilding, Singapore's limited size, small population, and lack of natural resources necessitate a unique approach to its defense. It meets its security requirements through the implementation of national service (NS) in the military. Here, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is both the guardian of the country's national interests and sovereignty as well as a national institution that brings together people from all walks of life.1 As such, there arises an important role for the SAF, through NS, which is to build a common set of beliefs within young Singaporeans that will define the people of Singapore collectively. This role for the SAF is already widely recognized and is echoed in Singaporean popular culture, with national service being the theme of many dramas and movies such as Ah Boys to Men, which will be filming its fourth sequel in 2017.2Conscription as a Social LevelerThe practice of conscription in the past five decades has created the "NS citizen soldier"-a unique form of military professionalism where three hundred thousand national servicemen (NSmen) are part of the main fighting force alongside fifty thousand active-duty personnel.3 The SAF has deliberately integrated active-duty personnel and NSmen. For example, a Singapore infantry brigade comprises a mix of active and NSmen units. The brigade headquarters is also staffed by both active-duty personnel and NSmen.4The SAF has identified the need to sustain Singaporeans' commitment to defense as a key strategic objective. Toward that end, much effort and many resources have been invested into related initiatives such as values inculcation programs in the curriculum of military schools to help young Singaporeans affirm their national loyalty.The values being inculcated in these programs are by design and top-down driven. They are not the result of a long common historical experience. The same conscious design applies to development and promotion of Singapore's code of Shared Values.Singapore Armed Forces andthe Continuous Journey of NationbuildingFive shared national values to be promulgated among citizens were proposed by a parliamentary committee and then passed by the Parliament of Singapore on 15 January 1991:* Nation before community and society above self* Family as the basic unit of society* Community support and respect for the individual* Consensus, not conflict* Racial and religious harmony5The SAF Core Values and Singapore Shared Values are routinely reviewed to ensure their continued relevance. In August 2012, the Singapore government launched Our Singapore Conversation, an initiative involving over 47,000 Singaporeans in over 660 dialogue sessions. Whilst one of the key perspectives was to build a Singapore anchored on values, there continues to be an open question on which of the Shared Values expressed in 1991 should be retained.6Evolving Concepts of Values and Ethics in the Singapore Armed ForcesOne of the first SAF manifestos to be published was the 1967 SAF Code of Conduct. …


In this paper I propose and perform two lab experiments aimed at testing two possible mechanisms by which the law could have informative effects on citizens. Both mechanisms share a conception of agent typical of rational choice theory. The results reject both hypotheses. However, it is still possible that the law may have informational effects through other mechanisms not discussed, as deliberation.


The aim of this paper is to find a green way to reduce the carbon dioxide released into the environment due to the heating system for buildings. The amount of carbon dioxide is 10500 kg per year for University of Pitesti. For compensation this is necessary to plant trees around the building of Faculty of Sciences. We studied about the advantages of Paulownia trees in terms of absorption of carbon dioxide and quick-growing speed. In the first three years they reach maturity and have a height of about 20 meters. Our researches estimate that a number of 40 Paulownia trees could eliminate this pollution.


An ideal Brushless DC or BLDC motors are generally in the form of small horsepower control motor. As these motors are highly efficient, they operate almost without making any noise and have a compact structure. BLDC motors are reliable, dependable and generally not much maintenance is really required. However during the last couple of decades, there are many inherent challenges and problems one faces with such motors with respect to variable speed operation. The technological advancements and development of the control schemes of adjustable speed drives increases the use of the permanent-magnet brushless electric motor in the variable speed application.


Composite square tube was prepared by taking advanced pore morphology(APM) aluminum foam units as core material and square aluminum tube as panel material,then the quasi-static compression testing was performed,and the comparison between the APM aluminum foam and square tube with the traditional ones.The results show that the compression performance of APM foam aluminum units and traditional foam aluminum was not very different,and that of APM aluminum foam units fulling square tube and traditional ones also was little difference.The compressive properties of the filling square tube was improved significantly by the interaction of APM foam aluminum units square aluminum tube,and the deformation style of the filling square tube was also changed.So,APM aluminum foam units could be used for preparating complex aluminum foam sandwich structure materials.


A cold neutron scattering technique is described that should give a better understanding of the behavior of defects in solids. The usefulness and limitations of this technique are discussed. (C.E.S.)


Given the imperfect and non-comprehensive situation of the domestic evaluation system on the transportation service quality level, this article will take urban public transportation as the research object, from the perceived services level of passengers, aim to construct an evaluation system regarding urban public transportation service level. To explain the applicability of the result, the survey data obtained from the investigation are thoroughly analyzed in terms of their reliability and validity. A further evaluation is also conducted on the level of public transportation service in urban using the analytic hierarchy process.


The residual stress and refractive index of polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs) are jointly measured at high resolution. The novel measurement technique used reveals the local birefringence and other subtle effects associated with PMFs.


We use the Robo-AO survey of Kepler planetary candidate host stars, the largest adaptive optics survey yet performed, to measure the recovery rate of close stellar binaries in Gaia DR2. We find that Gaia recovers binaries down to 1″ at magnitude contrasts as large as six; closer systems are not resolved, regardless of secondary brightness. Gaia DR2 binary detection does not have a strong dependence on the orientation of the stellar pairs. We find 177 nearby stars to Kepler planetary candidate host stars in Gaia DR2 that were not detected in the Robo-AO survey, almost all of which are faint (G > 20); the remainder were largely targets observed by Robo-AO in poor conditions. If the primary star is the host, the impact on the radii estimates of planet candidates in these systems is likely minimal; many of these faint stars, however, could be faint eclipsing binaries that are the source of a false positive planetary transit signal. With Robo-AO and Gaia combined, we find that 18.7 ± 0.7% of Kepler planet candidate hosts have nearby stars within 4″. We also find 36 nearby stars in Gaia DR2 around 35 planetary candidate host stars detected with K2. The nearby star fraction rate for K2 planetary candidates is significantly lower than that for the primary Kepler mission. The binary recovery rate of Gaia will improve initial radius estimates of future Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite planet candidates significantly; however, ground-based high-resolution follow-up observations are still needed for precise characterization and confirmation. The sensitivity of Gaia to closely separated binaries is expected to improve in later data releases.


In the Editorial "Ten Simple Rules for Doing Your Best Research, According to Hamming" [1], Erren and colleagues discussed ten ideas originally presented by Hamming for how to do great science. I am grateful that the authors started this discussion. Scientific careers are very challenging, and there is a lack of training in many graduate programs to provide this kind of career meta-advice. Such discussions are a good starting point, and young scientists should take them seriously.


A child's cancer diagnosis and treatment are stressful for family caregivers, who may experience anxiety, depressive symptoms, and poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) related to the care they provide.

 This study assessed the prevalence of anxiety, depressive symptoms, HRQoL, and associated factors among caregivers of children with cancer.

 A cross-sectional study was conducted on 167 caregivers of children with cancer in Malawi. A multivariate analysis was conducted to identify the determinants of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and HRQoL.

 All 167 caregivers who consented to participate in this study completed all the questionnaires. Severe anxiety and severe depressive symptoms accounted for 17.5% and 10.2%, respectively. Being Muslim (B = 7.800, P < .001) and Pentecostal (B = 3.067, P = .023) by religious denominations was more likely to be anxious, whereas Catholic caregivers (B = 3.702, P = .033) were more likely to be depressed. Being unemployed was more likely to result in lower anxiety (B = −4.080, P = .016). Furthermore, caregivers demonstrated a lower mental health component (mean, 39.33 [SD, 6.35]), whereas being a female and aged between 31 and 40 years was more likely to result in better physical health (B = 3.962 [P = .031] and B = 3.415 [P = .020], respectively).

 This study supports evidence that caregivers of children experience moderate and severe anxiety and depressive symptoms and poor HRQoL in Malawi.

 Nurses need to include psychological interventions for caregivers of children with cancer during childcare.


Jennifer M. Del Russo FAMILY RISK FACTORS RELATED TO ADOLESCENT ADJUDICATION 2003/04 Dr. Katherine Perez-Rivera Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling and Applied Psychology Family and social relationships have been identified as risk-factors for adolescent adjudication. Ninety-five participants between the ages of 13 and 19 were recruited from the Youth Empowerment System (YES) Shelter & Residential Treatment Facility, Camden Day & Residential Treatment Center, and Camden Catholic High School in Camden County, New Jersey. The participants were administered a survey designed by the experimenter and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Chi-square analyses showed significant relationships between adjudication and who the legal guardian was, marital status of their biological parents and legal guardian, their relationship with their legal guardian, biological parents' criminal record and drug/alcohol addictions, households on welfare, and race. Two-parent households. preferably consisting of the biological parents, and positive parental relationships may help prevent adolescent adjudication and delinquent behaviors.


Introduction: Fibromyalgia is defined as a pain syndrome characterized by generalized chronic pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression and, at times, an insufficient and frustrating treatment response. It is a benign condition chronically suffered by many patients, which forces the medical community on an ongoing search for an optimal treatment. We evaluated the effect of intravenous lidocaine on the different characteristics of fibromyalgia. Method: This is a prospective, longitudinal study. We recorded data for 48 patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome according with the American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR 1990). Patients with abnormal electrocardiogram or abnormal blood electrolytes were excluded. Included cases received an increasing dose of 2 mg/kg up until 5 mg/kg of an intravenous lidocaine perfusion during 10 days. All included cases filled the following questionnaires at day 0 (pre-treatment), day 10 (post-treatment) day 30 and day 90: Health Survey SF-12 (SF-12), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Medical Outcomes Sleep Scale (MOS), Patient Improvement Expectations (EXPEC). Results: 48 cases were recorded, 46 were female and 2 were male, the median age was 55 (36-70). We found improvement in pain, fatigue and psychological attitude at 10 days that disappears at 30 days. Discussion: The treatment with infusion of intravenous lidocaine at these doses on this set of patients did not modify the clinical characteristics of fibromyalgia as a sustained manner.


The isolation of 1-N,N-dimethylamino-2,3-diazaphenoxathiin and its molecular structure as determined by X-ray crystallography are described. The existence of a potential non-bonded interaction between the lone pair of electrons of the dimethylamino group nitrogen and sulfur atom are also discussed.


We investigate the kinetic theory of partially ionized reactive gas mixtures in strong magnetic fields following Giovangigli et al (2003 Physica A 327 313–48). A new tensor basis is introduced for expanding the perturbed distribution functions associated with the viscous tensor. New symmetry properties of transport coefficients are established as well as simplified bracket expressions. A variational framework is introduced for a direct evaluation of the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusion ratios. The transport linear systems corresponding to the usual Sonine/Wang–Chang Uhlenbeck polynomial expansions are evaluated. The behavior of transport coefficients and transport fluxes for vanishing magnetic fields is investigated using series expansions. Practical implementation of iterative algorithms for solving the resulting complex symmetric constrained singular linear systems is discussed as well as various approximations of the transport coefficients.


Good modern dictionaries increasingly base the compilation of both their macro- and microstructure on electronic corpora. As the macrostructure is the subject of this article, a few typical macrostructural inconsistencies in existing African-language dictionaries, which can be rectified by the utilisation of a corpus, are discussed. It is shown that the first application of a corpus is the utilisation of word-frequency counts to compile a lemmatised frequency list. Together with data on lemma-sign distributions across sub-corpora, the lemma-sign list of a dictionary can subsequently be derived. These theoretical notions are exemplified with a thorough discussion of how an electronic corpus led to the creation of the macrostructure of a Cilubà-Dutch dictionary. In addition, explicit frequency markers are advanced to further enhance the macrostructural reference quality. The latter is illustrated with both Cilubà-Dutch and Sepedi-English dictionaries. Finally, the article concludes with a series of macrostructural improvements of corpus-aided/based dictionaries over manually compiled ones.


An area of sea floor from the Dorset coast southward to about 50° 30' N, and between 2° 2' and 2° 27' W has been surveyed in detail using asdic equipment for recording relief, and a gravity corer and free-swimming divers for obtaining samples. Neighbouring areas were examined in less detail. The asdic provides an acoustic picture of the sea floor, and enables outcrops and faults to be mapped. Supplementary information was obtained from Admiralty surveys. The submerged part of the Isle of Purbeck Anticline is shown to be an elongated dome with Corallian rocks exposed in its core at Lulworth Bank. The dome is intersected by many sub- parallel faults trending about 15° east of north. Except along the steep monoclinal northern limb dips are low, seldom more than 3° or 4°. Minor folds are superimposed on the main structure. In the east they lie nearly east and west, while in the west, where the Purbeck Anticline yields place to the Weymouth Anticline, a north-westerly trend is dominant. South of the Purbeck Anticline lies a broad and gentle syncline in Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous rocks which is named the Shambles Syncline. It is overlain unconformably by Upper Cretaceous rocks.


The birth of the present Society was due to the efforts of S. Nishikawa, T. Ito, S. Miyake, and other forerunners. The sympathy and friendship of P. P. Ewald and R. W. G. Wyckof f toward Japanese crystallographers for the birth should be reflected. The proceedings of the first meeting were reported in a journal "X-Rays" [6, No. 1 (1930), 44] .


Electroactive 2,2′: 6,2″-terpyridinyl ligands (3, 5, 6) and their iron(II) (7a–9a) and ruthenium(II) complexes (7b–9b) were synthesized. Bis[3-(aminophenyl)-2,2′ :6,2″-terpyridinyl]metal(II) complexes (7a, 7b) and bis[2-(hydroxyphenyl)-2,2′ :6,2″-terpyridinyl]metal(II) complexes (8a, 8b) were electropolymerized on to the surface of Pt or In-SnO2 (ITO) electrodes in acetonitrile containing Bu4NCIO4 by scanning the potential between O and + 1.6V (for 7a and 7b), and −0.8 and +1.6V (for 8a and 8b) versus saturated calomel electrode. The electrodes obtained by electropolymerization exhibited reversible electrochromism based on Fe(II)/Fe(III) or Ru(II)/Ru(III) redox couple. Photoresponses to visible light were found in the modified electrode obtained by electropolymerization of ruthenium complex 7b in an aqueous LiClO4 solution containing methylviologen (cation MV2+) under an O2 atmosphere. The mechanism for the photoresponded cathodic current was explained in terms of an excitation of bis(terpyridinyl)ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(terpy)22+] by visible light, an electron transfer from the excited state [Ru(terpy)2+*2] to MV2+, reduction of Ru(terpy)3+2 at an electrode, and oxidation of MV+* with O2.


After the Supreme Court held in 1969 that the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial applied to inmates charged with crimes in other jurisdictions, forty-eight states and the federal government quickly became signatories to the Interstate Agreement on Detainers. The states' prompt response signaled the significance of the Court's decision in Smith v. Hooey. Since then, courts have narrowed the availability of the Interstate Agreement, leaving many inmates to live with the uncertainty of pending revocation and other charges judicially excluded from the Agreement's scope.


Covalent bonds between active materials and conductive substrates significantly facilitate rapid interfacial charge transfer, thus enhancing the lithium-ion storage performances of freestanding electrodes. Herein, an efficient photocatalytic reduction approach is developed to synthesize chemically bonded N-doped TiO2 nanowire/reduced graphene oxide (N-TiO2/RGO) hybrid as a freestanding electrode for ultrafast lithium storage. Ti3+–C bonds are formed during the ultraviolet photocatalytic reduction process, as corroborated by Raman, electron paramagnetic resonance, and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The N-TiO2/RGO hybrid electrode exhibits a significantly higher rate capability than its counterpart without UV irradiation. After as long as 10,000 discharging/charging cycles, high capacities of 182.7, 125.1, and 101.8 mA h g–1 are retained at current rates of 5, 25, and even up to 50 C (1 C = 335 mA g–1), respectively. The excellent electrochemical performances of the N-TiO2/RGO hybrid are attributed to the enh...


Lido micro-projection lens for calligraphy comprises a predetermined distance (D) of the diaphragm (BL) arranged in the front of the mirror (S2) of the lens. A diaphragm (BL) has a diaphragm (BL) and a mirror hole 28 having an outer edge extending in a non-circular manner according to the inclination and a predetermined distance (D) of the principal ray 34, between (S2). Lido calligraphy, the projection lens, diaphragm


Since 2006, the global wave of the creative industries concept has reached the European Union, triggering a large amount of documents, reports and political initiatives and apparently imbuing their visions of culture with modernity. The aim of this research is to analyze the meanings, borders and objectives of the EU in the cultural field, covering its historical periods for more than two decades, examining its documents, studying its historical and current cultural programs, its goals and budgets, its sectors of activity, and its recent assessments orientated to its renovation in coming years, considering it as a privileged observation laboratory


Value-based business strategies are acquiring attention throughout the world. Retailing in India has distinct challenges. The diversity in its population largely affects its retail characteristics. Understanding customer perceived values and developing appropriate strategies is the only way to succeed. The proposed study is designed to explore and validate the customer perceived mall values in an Indian context. To accomplish the objectives, samples were taken from malls located in central India. A total of 257 samples were utilised to conclude the results. As the factor analysis remains a dynamic field of research studies in marketing, EFA and CFA is used to examine the data. The study results show seven customer-perceived mall values: convenience value, epistemic value, exploration value, monetary saving value, self-gratification value, social interaction value, and enjoyment-seeking value. At the end of the study useful managerial implications are provided to mall managers and operators.


Microtremor array measurements are considered to be one of the most practical ways to explore the S-wave velocity structures for the seismic hazard evaluation. As seen in many articles (e.g. Horike, 1985), the Rayleigh-wave dispersive characteristics have been derived from vertical components to model the S-wave velocity structures. On the other hand, the detection of Love-waves from horizontal components seems to be limited in very few literatures (e.g. Yamamoto, 2000), because horizontal components of microtremors are composed of the Love-waves and the Rayleigh-waves and the separation of two different kinds of surface waves is usually considered to be difficult.


Tourism image and travel experiences are argued to be great influence factors in the development of tourism. The purposes of this study were exploring...


The utility model provides a lock cylinder. The lock cylinder comprises a high end part, a low end part and a brake unit. The high end part comprises an up-down extending brake chamber and a horizontally extending positioning cavity, wherein the positioning cavity is communicated with the brake chamber. The brake chamber is provided with a side wall and a limit position. The brake unit comprises a brake piece arranged in the positioning cavity of the high end part of the lock cylinder, a reset piece which is arranged on the brake piece and horizontally extends along the brake piece, and a limit bolt. The limit bolt is pivotably arranged on the side wall of the brake chamber. The utility model further provides a lock cylinder with a high end part, a low end part and a brake unit.


Despite the extensive use of communication networks in today's vehicles, the mass of automotive electrical wiring has continued to increase as new technologies evolve. Approximately 100 kg of wire are used in a typical vehicle and the problem is exacerbated for electrified vehicles such as hybrids where additional electronic control circuitry is used along with high current cables for electric propulsion. Another consideration that is of increasing concern is the vulnerability of the network to security breaches where access to the network is illegally acquired or where the network integrity is compromised by electromagnetic interference. This paper describes the use of plastic optical fiber with Ethernet networks to alleviate many of these concerns.


We present a novel transform for periodic complementary sets (PCSs) over two-valued alphabets from a large set of difference families. This is achieved by generalizing Golomb's idea in 1992, which was for transformed perfect sequences with zero autocorrelations only. Based on the properties of difference family, a sufficient condition for such two-valued PCSs is derived. Systematic constructions of two-valued periodic complementary pairs are presented. It is shown that many lengths for which binary PCSs do not exist become admissible for our proposed two-valued PCSs.


The main interactions between the sex steroids and growth hormone (GH) in males are synergistic growthpromoting effects, enhancement of GH secretion by androgens, and modification of sex hormone-induced androgenic effects by GH. A total of 14 prepubertal boys with short stature and no evidence of GH deficiency (as judged by the response to standard provocative tests and by nocturnal GH secretion) were treated with biosynthetic GH (Genotropin'), 0.54.7 IU/kg/week, administered subcutaneously in six divided doses for 1 year. During treatment, six patients remained prepubertal (testicular volume 5 3 ml; mean age before treatment 8.8 years) and eight patients entered puberty (testicular volume 2 4 ml; mean age before treatment = 12.2 years). Auxological and bone age data were obtained using Tanner's standards, and are presented in Table 1. After treatment, there was a greater increment in height velocity and bone maturation in the pubertal boys than in the prepubertal boys, and puberty began at a prepubertal bone age (mean 10.9 years). These results indicate that there is androgenic potentiation of GH therapy and suggest that GH administration has an effect in triggering the onset of puberty.


A method has been developed for the determination of trace and ultra-trace amounts of cobalt in sea-water. Samples of CASS-2 Nearshore Seawater and NASS-4 Open Ocean Water reference materials from the National Research Council of Canada were employed. Laser-excited atomic fluorescence spectrometry in an electrothermal atomizer (ET-LEAFS) was used, and integrated with semi on-line flow injection microcolumn preconcentration. For cobalt, the effects of pH on the preconcentration efficiency, the concentration of the chelating agent and the distribution of cobalt in the ethanol eluate were studied. A bonded silica, with octadecyl functional groups (C18) in a 10 µl column, was employed for preconcentration of cobalt in ocean water. Ocean water volumes of 0.40 and 1.00 ml were required for the determination of cobalt in CASS-2 and NASS-4, respectively. These volumes were almost two orders of magnitude smaller than those required by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and some other competitive techniques. The preconcentration factors were 5- and 12.5-fold for CASS-2 and NASS-4, respectively. The detection limits (3s), based on 12.5-fold preconcentration, were 0.08 and 1.0 ng l–1 for cobalt in aqueous standard solutions and in Ocean Water Reference Materials, respectively. Results for the determination of cobalt in CASS-2 and NASS-4 showed that there were no significant differences between the certified values and the measured values, based on Student's t-test at the 95% confidence level. The relative standard deviations for the determinations of the concentrations of cobalt in CASS-2 and NASS-4 were 9 and 13%, respectively.


Irene D. Pritzker Foundation associated with the Field Museum of Natural History African Training Fund; John D and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; and the Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies emergentes dans l'Ocean Indien (CRVOI) through the Fonds Europeen de Developpement Regional Programme
Operationnel de Cooperation Territoriale Reunion, pathogenes associes a la faune sauvage ocean Indien #31189. SYNTHESYS project http://synthesys.info/, which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7
Integrating Activities Program.


For more than sixty years in all the world are trials of gateroad temporary mechanized roof supports in mechanized development operation have been conducted unsuccessfully. A case study - temporary mechanized gateroad roof support implemented in one of the entrances/drifts development in the turkish coal mine Yapi Tec Maden from the construction to 12-month practical experiences in practical use as described in the article. The review of gateroad roof support for different purposes is presented in article as a background or circumstances for the described case study. The YapiTec trial of the company own temporary mechanized gateroad roof support is discussed in comparison with second mechanized gateroad face without temporary mechanized roof support and same mining conditions during comparable time.


The paper consists in demonstrating seasonal dynamics of polarimetric properties of the natural land cover backscatter. Data set of 14 ALOS PALSAR images of the eastern coast of the Baikal Lake (Siberia) was processed. The results of a multi-temporal full-polarimetric classification and of two polarimetric decomposition methods were analyzed. Scattering mechanisms' dependence on seasonal weather conditions was revealed and estimated for different types of land cover. Significant changes in polarimetric decomposition results for winter acquisitions were discovered and discussed.


Various embodiments provide a system for placing a semiconductor chip on a substrate, a base and a substrate holder, wherein the substrate holder is parallel to the x-y plane can move relative to thebase, and can move relative to the base basically only along the fixed vertical axis, so that the x and y positions of the combined head relative to the base are basically fixed.