Owing to the cost‐effectiveness, Earth abundance, and suitable redox potential, potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) stand out as one of the best candidates for large‐scale energy storage systems. However, the large radius of K+ and the unsatisfied specific capacity are the main challenges for their commercial applications. To address these challenges, constructing heterostructures by selecting and integrating 2D materials as host and other materials as guest are proposed as an emerging strategy to obtain electrode materials with high capacity and long lifespan, thus improving the energy storage capability of PIBs. Recently, numerous studies are devoted to developing 2D‐based heterostructures as electrode materials for PIBs, and significant progress is achieved. However, there is a lack of a review article for systematically summarizing the recent advances and profoundly understanding the relationship between heterostructure electrodes and their performance. In this sense, it is essential to outline the promising advanced features, to summarize the electrochemical properties and performances, and to discuss future research focuses about 2D‐based heterostructures in PIBs.


In recent years, new coronagraphic schemes have been proposed, the most promising being the optical vortex phase mask coronagraphs. In our work, a new scheme of broadband optical scalar vortex coronagraph is proposed and characterized experimentally in the laboratory. Our setup employs a pair of computer generated phase gratings (one of them containing a singularity) to control the chromatic dispersion of phase plates and achieves a constant peak-to-peak attenuation below 1:1000 over a bandwidth of 120 nm centered at 700 nm. An inner working angle of λ/D is demonstrated along with a raw contrast of 11.5magnitudes at 2λ/D. A more compact setup achieves a peak-to-peak attenuation below 1:1000 over a bandwidth of 60 nm with the other results remaining the same.


The results of an investigation of p‐(and to a lesser extent) d‐nucleus interactions are reported. The technique involves following the classical production and propagation of mesons (π, K+, K°, K−, K°, K*, η, ω, φ) and baryons (N, Λ, Σ) in nuclei after antiparticle annihilation. It is found that small regions of the nucleus can be raised to sufficiently high energy densities that some predictions of a quark‐gluon phase transition can be tested with the use of energetic antiprotons (5–10 GeV/c). The strangeness signal is examined and compared with the amount of strangeness produced in a recent experiment with 4 GeV/c incident antiprotons. A general expression is given for the total amount of strangeness produced which is invariant under intranuclear strangeness exchange reactions.


RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy) trial demonstrated that just 6 mg daily reduced mortality in severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) but is currently testing doses of 20 mg daily after promising results from other trials (10, 11). In addition, the intravenous route might not be necessary, given the bioavailability of oral dexamethasone, which would reduce adverse effects (e.g., phlebitis), costs, and complexity of intravenous administration (12). In summary, as the first of its kind, the STOPPE trial has shown that it is both safe and feasible to randomize adult patients with parapneumonic effusions to steroids. Future trials are certainly indicated, but careful consideration should be given to their aim. Should we aim to prevent pleural infection development, or instead attempt to dampen inflammation in already established disease to reduce immediate symptom burden and/or improve longer-term outcomes?


The utility model discloses a reversed cutting limit socket drill, which comprises a socket drill (1), a transmission pin (8), a limit device and a cutter arbor (9), and is characterized in that the limit device is arranged on the socket drill (1); the limit device comprises a steelwire retaining ring (2), a shaft sleeve (7), a stop collar (3), a thrust ball bearing (6), a position regulation threaded sleeve (4) and a clamp nut (5); the shaft sleeve (7), the stop collar (3) and the thrust ball bearing (6) are sequentially sleeved on the socket drill (1) from the outer thread end of the socketdrill (1); and the position regulation threaded sleeve (4) and the clamp nut (5) are sequentially connected to the socket drill (1) through threads. Before processing, operators can regulate the position of the position regulation threaded sleeve to control the limit position that the stop collar slide axially; when the cutting edge of the socket drill begins countersinking, the limit distance that the stop collar slides axially is equal to the depth of the countersinking; therefore, the depth of the countersinking is controlled efficiently; the operators have no need to observe with the eyesduring processing; and the processing efficiency of the operators is improved during batch processing.


Abstract This paper The data from the article was presented by the author during 16th SKAM Lithic Workshop ("Fossil Directeur". A Phenomenon over Time and Space), 21–23 October 2019, Nitra, Slovak Republic, presentation: The Late Palaeolithic in Toruń Basin in the light of the latest research in Brzoza, site 50 (poster session). presents the preliminary findings related to the excavations in Brzoza site 50, commune Wielka Nieszawka, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (Poland). The Late Palaeolithic site complex in Brzoza – until the end of 1990s known as Toruń-Rudak – is located it Toruń Basin (Poland), in the grounds of a military shooting range on the left bank of Vistula south of the city. According to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Monuments Conservator the whole complex was defined as one, site no. 50. Rescue excavations in Brzoza in years 2015–2018 were conducted by the District Museum in Toruń. In total 276 m2 were excavated, resulting in documentation of over 11 000 flint products. The research was funded from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivode budget via the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Monuments Conservator and the District Museum in Toruń. The research consisted of archaeological exploration at the remains of the dune embankment, to locate and document undisturbed (in situ) cultural features (flint concentrations). In order to capture the stratigraphic situation in the vicinity of the planned research excavations and to locate the cultural layer with the flint materials linked to the Late Palaeolithic surveys were conducted by means of drillings. The following specialist examinations and consultations were carried out: geological and geomorphological documentation; analyzes of the geographical environment and pedostratigraphy of the research area; from selected profiles soil samples were taken for TL and OSL method analyses. Against the background of other well-known sites with tanged points in northern Poland, the area under study stands out both in terms of the number of flint products obtained and the documented flint concentrations. It must be emphasized that the context of new flint concentrations discovered in Brzoza in the years 2015–2018 is different than that of earlier investigations. Flint products were discovered in a preserved planigraphic and stratigraphic layout; not on a secondary deposit, as was the case, among others in the 1970s. New concentrations discovered in 2015–2018 are related to the Late Palaeolithic technocomplex with tanged points. Amongst flint tools there are elements typologically characteristic to Ahrensburg and Swiderian culture, and individual finds that can be associated with Bromme assemblages. At the present stage of research the acquired flint materials can be linked to the Late Palaeolithic communities present in the area presumably in the younger Dryas. Brzoza site complex occupies an important place in the research of the Late Palaeolithic of northern Poland.


by methods generally involving successive approximation. Later we were able to corroborate our ideas by carrying out tests on the full-size structures when finally erected before and after inflation. Obviously, however, we had to confine our attention to the measurement of the forces set up in the wiring of the ship, noting the changes produced by modifications in the loading applied, and afterawards to estimate the forces in the girders from equilibrium considerations.


Let $G$ be a group and $H\leqslant G$ a subgroup. The free extension of an $H$-subshift $X$ to $G$ is the $G$-subshift $\widetilde{X}$ whose configurations are those for which the restriction to every coset of $H$ is a configuration from $X$. We study the case of $G = H \times K$ for infinite and finitely generated groups $H$ and $K$: on the one hand we show that if $K$ is nonamenable and $H$ has decidable word problem, then the free extension to $G$ of any $H$-subshift which is effectively closed is a sofic $G$-subshift. On the other hand we prove that if both $H$ and $K$ are amenable, there are always $H$-subshifts which are effectively closed by patterns whose free extension to $G$ is non-sofic. We also present a few applications in the form of a new simulation theorem and a new class of groups which admit strongly aperiodic SFTs.


1. Introduction. The maximum dimension of the group of isometries of an «j-dimensional connected Riemannian manifold is«i(«7+ l)/2. And if the maximum is attained, then the Riemannian manifold is of constant curvature, and is one of the standard spaces: an w-dimensional sphere Sm, an »7-dimensional real pro-jective space Pm, an «i-dimensional Euclidean space Em, and an «i-dimensional simply connected hyperbolic space Hm (cf. S. Kobayashi and K. Nomizu [11, p. 308]). The purpose of this paper is to consider similar problems in almost Hermitian manifolds. We denote by A(M) the automorphism group of a connected almost Hermitian manifold M with an almost complex structure J and an almost Hermitian metric G. If the dimension of M is 2«, then the maximum dimension of A(M) is «(« + 2), as is seen in Lemma 2.1. Under the assumption that M is a Kaehlerian manifold, K. Yano and I. Mogi showed in [17] that M admits local holomorphic free mobility if and only if it is of constant holomorphic sectional curvature. Noticing that the maximum dimensionality of A(M) and axiom of holomorphic free mobility are equivalent, we generalize their result in Theorem 3.3, from which we have


The quality and the level of design which have directly impact on the function and value of projects are crucial to state property and people's lives.The design management of the project owner plays a key role in the whole control process of the construction.Multiple instances of project management are analyzed from both theoretical and practical perspectives.Some suggestions for design management and construction control are put forward.


Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) represents -5% of all urothelial carcinomas. Synchronous bilateral tumors are extremely rare with only 19 reports in the literature. Haematuria is the main presenting complaint. We report a case of synchronous bilateral tumors of the ureters in a gentleman with frank haematuria treated with staged aggressive resection.


Shared decision‐making is a process whereby patients and clinicians jointly establish a treatment plan integrating clinical evidence and patient values and preferences. Although this approach has been successfully employed in numerous medical disciplines, often using shared decision‐making tools, otolaryngologic research assessing its use is scant. Our primary objective was therefore to determine if the tools we developed reduced decisional conflict for children with obstructive sleep apnea without tonsillar hypertrophy.


We successfully demonstrate a highly sensitive optical sensor for detecting magnetic fields with normal-incidence geometry that uses a Ni-based bilayer subwavelength periodic structure (SWS) operating in the visible-wavelength region. The electromagnetic field distribution within the SWS as calculated by the finite-difference time-domain method indicates that the bilayer SWS has the potential to detect minuscule magnetic fields without the need for a complex incidence system. Our bilayer Ni-SWS system with its very simple normal incidence geometry is experimentally able to detect magnetic field changes of the order of a few millitesla.


In this work, we present a novel microfluidic photocatalytic water-splitting reactor. Optofluidics offers advantages over conventional reactors in terms of improved photon transfer efficiency and mass transfer efficiency and are therefore the ideal platform for photocatalytic reactions. Our device is a planar optofluidic device which we used to study the kinetics of Platinum-Impregnated Titanium Oxide as the oxygen and hydrogen producing photocatalyst redox mediated by Iodide/Iodate species. We deposit our catalysts via a sol-gel method while the platinum co-catalyst is added by wet impregnation via reduction in Sodium Borohydride. The reactions are performed under a 100W Hg lamp and reaction rates are inferred by measuring the depletion of the two Iodine species via UV-vis absorption spectrophotometry. Our results indicate that reaction rates and efficiencies can be enhanced by using an optofluidic platform as opposed to the conventional slurry reactor used in previous experiments for this class of reaction. We believe that the micro-optofluidic platform of our device offers the benefit of measuring the kinetic properties of these class of reactions quickly and cheaply for the goals of further optimization.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Introduction:
 Atrial fibrillation is associated with increased risk of heart failure and mortality. The association of QRS duration (QRSd) with morbidity and mortality is understudied in patient with atrial fibrillation (AF)

 Hypothesis:
 We sought to investigate the association of prolonged QRSd (≥120 ms) and risk of heart failure and in-hospital death in patients admitted for AF with rapid ventricular response (RVR)

 Methods:
 A retrospective study in a community hospital using EPIC database analyzed 1637 patients from 2013-2018 with admission codes of AF with RVR. The cohort was then stratified based on QRSd ≥120ms vs <120ms. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant

 Results:
 Among the 1637 patients who were admitted with AF with RVR, 233 (14%) had QRS ≥120ms. Patient's characteristics with QRSd≥120 compared to those with QRSd<120ms were mean age [75.9 (11.8) vs 70.9 (13.6), (P<.0001)], history of CAD [41% vs 28%, odds ratio (OR)= 1.78, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-2.3 (P<.0001)], history of PVD [15% vs 7%, OR=2.38, 95% CI: 1.58-3.59 (P<.0001)], history of acute MI [50% vs 33%, OR=1.99, 95% CI:1.5-2.6 (P<.0001)] and CHA2DS2Vasc score [median (IQR) 5(3, 6) vs 4(3, 5) (P<0.001). QRSd≥120ms was associated with higher BNP value [median (IQR) 537(305, 862) vs 371(186, 655) (P<0.001)] and an increased risk of heart failure [(70% vs 55%, OR=1.93, 95% CI:1.43-2.6 (P<.0001)]. Additionally, higher in-hospital mortality rate was observed in patients with QRSd≥120ms [4.3% vs 1.3%, OR=3.11, 95% CI:1.44-6.75 (P=0.006)]

 Conclusions:
 In patients who were admitted with AF with RVR, QRSd≥120ms was associated with a higher burden of cardiovascular disease, CHA2DS2Vasc score and an increased risk of heart failure resulting in worse clinical outcomes. Higher median BNP values suggest that worsening heart failure contributed to higher in-hospital mortality. Heart failure associated mortality could be alleviated with medical management or cardiac resynchronization therapy.


We develop a preprocessing method to improve the performance of an intelligent motion controller. Our method addresses the competitive problems that have been observed in the coupled inverted pendula model, in which a controller outputs impulsive forces to produce the desired final states based on a look-up table (LUT) that stores dynamical correspondences from the initial to the final states. However, the degradation in performance due to misclassifications in the LUT occurs near the boundary points of the reachable sets of the model. The proposed algorithm removes the boundary points from the LUT. The resulting controller successfully reduces misclassification errors and improves overall control performance.


Abstract A new classification system for seasonal snow covers is proposed. It has six classes (tundra, taiga, alpine, maritime, prairie, and ephemeral, each class defined by a unique ensemble of textural and stratigraphic characteristics including the sequence of snow layers, their thickness, density, and the crystal morphology and grain characteristics within each layer. The classes can also be derived using a binary system of three climate variables: wind, precipitation, and air temperature. Using this classification system, the Northern Hemisphere distribution of the snow cover classes is mapped on a 0.5° lat × 0.5° long grid. These maps are compared to maps prepared from snow cover data collected in the former Soviet Union and Alaska. For these areas where both climatologically based and texturally based snow cover maps are available, there is 62% and 90% agreement, respectively. Five of the six snow classes are found in Alaska. From 1989 through 1992, hourly measurements, consisting of 40 thermal and...


Treatment of alcoholics with phenytoin and disulfiram (DI) simultaneously is complicated and inexpedient because of the marked drug interaction. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an interaction exists between DI and carbamazepine (CBZ). The serum levels of CBZ and the metabolite CBZ‐10, 11‐epoxide were measured by high‐pressure liquid chromatography in seven out‐patients with epilepsy, on monotherapy with CBZ, before and during two weeks administration of DI. Five patients completed the investigation. None were alcoholics. The changes in the serum levels were insignificant, i.e. without clinical importance. Moreover, uncontrolled clinical experience has not indicated any interaction between DI and CBZ. Thus the influence of DI on the metabolism of CBZ is probably negligible. CBZ is suggested, therefore, when anticonvulsive therapy is needed by alcoholics in treatment with DI.


Workplace incivility is a global challenge for healthcare and a major leadership challenge facing emergency physicians. However, little is known about emergency physicians' understanding of the factors that help and hinder attempts to address incivility, or what emergency physicians believe are the priority factors to address. The present study makes a novel contribution to research in this area by examining the perceived enablers of, and barriers to, efforts to address incivility in Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand EDs.


Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is an anticoagulant protein required for murine embryonic development. Intrauterine lethality of Tfpi−/− mice occurs at mid‐ and late gestation, the latter of which is associated with severe cerebrovascular defects. Megakaryocytes produce only the TFPIα isoform, which is stored within platelets and released upon activation.


Solvers for the Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) problem are making rapid progress. However, many verification tools aren't making use of the full power of modern SMT solvers. We believe that the verification community could be benefiting more from the work of the SMT community; at the same time, the SMT community could benefit from a more active and engaged verification user community.


This paper describes the application of statistical methods to political polling data in order to look for correlations and memory effects. We propose measures for quantifying the political memory using the correlation function and scaling analysis. These methods reveal time correlations and self-affine scaling properties, respectively, and they have been applied to polling data from Norway. Power-law dependencies have been found between correlation measures and party size, and different scaling behaviors have been found for large and small parties.


In this study, we have fabricated n-type Bi2Te2.85Se0.15 compounds by different processing routes such as crushing, milling and mixing respectively. Subsequently, the obtained powders were consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The phase crystallinity of bulk samples were identified using X-ray diffraction technique. Powder morphology and fracture surface of bulk samples were observed using the scanning electron micros-copy (SEM). The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity values were significantly increased for the milling sample than crushing and mixing samples. As a result, the maximum power factor was obtained 2.4 mW/mK2, which is thrice than that of crushing process. The maximum figure of merit (ZT) of 0.77 was achieved at 400 K for the milling sample. Furthermore, relatively high hardness and density values were noticed for the different pro-cessed samples.
(Received May 10, 2018; Revised May 16, 2018; Accepted May 21, 2018)


Abstract The rise in childhood obesity has led policymakers to target schools and school districts to take a leadership role in addressing this epidemic. As such, teachers must be prepared to address the complex nature of childhood obesity through nutrition and health education. This paper outlines how teachers have the potential to be agents of change in schools thereby creating a culture of health within the school environment. Through professional development workshops and employee wellness programs, teachers have the opportunity to learn the knowledge and skills needed to promote health resulting in teachers being role models of healthy behaviors and integrating health concepts into daily instruction. The purpose of this study was to assess the beliefs and self-efficacy of classroom teachers before and after a professional development program focused on aligning nutrition lessons with district learning standards in an urban middle school. The school faculty was exposed to a minimal intervention designed to align nutrition and health standards to core curriculum learning standards. As a result of this program, teachers showed significant changes in their beliefs in the intersection of health and learning and improved their self-efficacy for delivering health and nutrition education aligned to existing learning standards. This project presents the promise that teachers can develop the confidence and conviction to include health across the curriculum and positively impact student and teacher health outcomes.


Abstract Training in supervision is an essential part of service delivery education, yet it has not received the attention and emphasis it deserves in many service delivery fields. Interest in supervision for applied sport psychology has emerged only in the last few years. This paper presents issues relevant to supervision in sport psychology service delivery and discusses models of supervision training including individual, peer, and meta-supervision processes within a prototype Practicum course.


Based on the present state of mathematics courses in normal college and university and the factors of the reform of mathatics courses, this papcr discusscd reformational plan of mathatics courscs in normal college and university and put forward some reformational practice.


Software development based on product lines has been proved a promising technology that can drastically reduce cycle time and guarantee quality by strategically reusing quality core assets that belong to an organization. This paper presents a context-based measurements elicitation approach for product lines that reflects the performance characteristics of product lines and the diversity of their application. The approach includes both detailed procedures and work products resulting from implementation of the procedures, along with their templates. To show the utility of the approach, this thesis presents the elicited measurements, especially for technical management practices among product line practices


Access to Healthcare [2] For Kassahun, a used clothing merchant in Ethiopia, managing his diabetes is something of an obstacle course. In the rural area where he lives, there are no doctors specialized in treating the disease, which if poorly managed can spark a host of other health problems, including heart disease, vision problems and nerve damage. So Kassahun travels 300 kilometers (approximately 186 miles) by public transportation to the capital Addis Ababa to see a specialist at the Black Lion Hospital, requiring him to spend several nights in a hotel. "If we had more skilled physicians in the regions, it would be a relief to us," he says.


Standing there with the sun against my back, I understood—deeply, for the first time since I donned my white coat and swore that sacred oath as a hopeful, wide-eyed, first-year medical student—that...


Localization concerns the translation of digital content and software, and their appropriate presentation to end users in different locales. Localization is important because having software, a website or other content in several languages, and meeting several sets of cultural expectations is an important international marketing advantage. This paper presents the difference between software localization, globalization and internationalization and compares the traditional document translation with respect to software localization. The paper further includes the survey of various localization software and software localization services, methods and tools available worldwide. As part of conclusion the steps followed for localizing a software project is included. We intend this paper to be useful to researchers and practitioners interested in software localization.


Domination and coloring are two important concepts in the study of graphs, extensively studied for theoretical properties and applications. Power domination and dominator coloring are two notions recently introdu ced and investigated. Here we introduce the concept of power dominator coloring r equiring each element of a set of vertices to power dominate an entire color class, t hus giving rise to power dominator chromatic number which is the minimum cardinality o f such sets of vertices in a graph. We derive formulae for computing this number for ce rtain classes of graphs.


aimed to revise The Tempest, Cesaire''s A Tempest and Lamming''s Water with Berries, emphasizing the similar attempt undertaken to decolonize Caribbean literature. However, the texts differ in their interpretation of gender, especially in relation to the representation of white women and black women, as Sylvia Wynter attests, ''Caliban''s woman'' is largely absent in these rewritings of The Tempest. I would argue that through the representation of white and black women, Rhys''s Wide Sargasso Sea invites the coming age of ''Caliban''s woman''. Reading Wide Sargasso Sea through Wynter''s ''Beyond Miranda''s Meanings'' published in 1990 will reveal Rhys'' text also attempts to link the construction of gender and race, similar to Wynter''s argument in her criticism. In so doing, this essay aims to position Rhys alongside the Caribbean feminists who challenged the homogenizing Western concept of women. In reading several Caribbean texts contrapuntally, I wish to contrast Rhys'' Wide Sargasso Sea to the rewriting of The Tempest by Caribbean male writers and to see how it reveals Rhys'' complex position as a Caribbean writer.


In this paper, we analyze on the use of token-controlled public key encryption (TCE)schemes. We argue that for many of the applications in some possibilities of application in financial or legal scenarios, for example, the millionaire's will problem, the `private-opening' commitment, the scheduled payment problem, and the sealed-bid auctions and electronic lotteries problem, in the literature, the use of token-controlled public key encryption on its own, leads to inadequate solutions. We suggest that when considering applications of TCE, it is advisable to pay close attention to the lack of authentication and incorporate defences against the problems highlighted in this paper.


An optical WCHF-SDF (wavelet circular harmonic function synthetic discriminant function) filter is proposed. The proposed WCHF-SDF filter is synthesized by 2nd order harmonics of the four different wavelet transformed patterns by Haar wavelet function. This filter has full rotation and limited scale invariant properties. The scale invariant range can be increased by using more training patterns.


Inspired by an application in the field of on-demand public transportation, we perform a Monte Carlo simulation study on the probability distribution of the length of Traveling-Salesman-Problem (TSP) tours between small numbers of random locations. We consider a fixed convex region, where we generate a fixed number of random locations from a known probability distribution and find the corresponding euclidean TSP tour for them. We simulate this process extensively and perform both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the resulting experimental distribution for the TSP tour length. We show that, under certain assumptions on the shape of the region and the probability distribution of locations, the length of the TSP tour is well-approximated by a normal distribution, even for as few as five locations. Furthermore, we propose experimental models for estimating the mean and standard deviation of the tour length.


At first, the concept and principle of hook are introduced, The aspects of the PBX centralized management are reviewed based on TCP and IP. And a solution is put forward which satisfies the need of the PBX centralized management system. This solution inherits the terminal interface of PBX, makes use of technique named hook, adds a control medium named gateway, and forms a system with three-layers. This solution is adopted by the PBX centralized management system in Guangdong Telecom. It is proved that the solution is practical and rational.


This research is aimed at determining the effectiveness of the active learning strategy of The Firing Line type is varied with meaningful script on results and activity of student learning materials on human reproductive system in class XI IPA SMA Parulian 1 Medan Academic Year 2016/2017. This type of research is pre-experiment, where the population in this study are the students of class XI IPA SMA Parulian 1 Medan with 57 students. Sampling was performed by using the random sampling technique. The result show that student mastery level classified in the category of high with a value of 80, students' learning completeness classified in the category of complete with a value of 89.3%, and student learning activities classified in the category of active with a value of 77.60. So it can be concluded that the active learning strategy of The Firing Line type is varied with meaningful script effectively used on the material of the human reproduction system in class XI IPA SMA Parulian 1 Medan Academic Year 2016/2017. Key Words : Active Learning Strategy Of The Firing Line Type, meaningful script, activity learning.


type="main"> Using sectoral data from the World Input-Output Database, this paper considers the impact of offshoring and inshoring on the volatility of employment and wage growth. Our results indicate that inshoring has a positive impact on sectoral employment volatility, while offshoring has a negative impact. Additional results indicate that much of the positive volatility effect of inshoring is found to occur in countries in East Asia and the EU12, regions that are important destinations for offshoring activities. Conversely, the negative volatility effect of offshoring is found to occur mainly in EU15 and 'Other' countries, which consists of developed countries that are relatively intensive offshorers. We also present results to suggest that firms smooth employment fluctuations by offshoring, and that such smoothing tends to be concentrated on low-educated and medium-educated workers.


Cancer immunotherapy represents one of the most important advances in cancer treatment in the past decade. It is the standard treatment for some types of cancers, including melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer, and trials are ongoing into its effectiveness in the treatment of other cancers. While the findings do not imply a change in treatment guidelines for men or women, the authors say they should prompt further research to understand the mechanisms at play in order to improve treatments for all patients.


describes a method for extending the service life of release coatings on non-ferrous metal casting. In this method, during the casting process z. B. sprayed onto the mold surface in the brass casting at regular intervals, an aqueous solution of a carboxylic acid and / or a complexing agent. solves this compound or complexed the metallic zinc and removed excreted end when Giesprozes it characterized by provided with release agent mold surface. Thus, the release coating experiences a considerably longer service life because it eg brass can not come during the casting process for the bonding of the zinc with the actual casting alloy.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are a promising future for many commercial and military applications. WSN is vulnerable to a variety of potential attacks (active and passive). The confidentiality of WSN is an essential service and becoming a major concern for security WSN protocol designers. However, the characteristics of WSN (limitations of power, computation and memory) impose security challenges, since the conventional ciphers suffer from these limitations. In this paper, a new different cipher technique is defined to ensure the data confidentiality with a significant reduction of computational complexity, energy cost, and communication overhead. The proposed cipher is applied on a set of packets called generation. The strength of the proposed cipher against attacks is based on its dynamic property. The basic scheme was tested and evaluated by comparing it with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm, which is considered as a reliable and robust cipher algorithm. Theoretical and simulation results of the proposed cipher scheme show that it is immune against linear, differential, chosen/known-plain-text, brute force, and statistical attacks.


Carbon black is prepared with ethylene tar in argon and nitrogen plasma. The physical and chemical properties of the carbon black are detected, and its microstructure is analysed by High Revolution Electromicroscopy (HREM) and X-ray Diffraction. The analysis results show the carbon black is similar to acetylene carbon black in microstructure, conductivity, hydrochloric absorption number, DBP, etc. The sample of the carbon black in plasma of higher power is nana-graphite powder. The relationship between microstructure of carbon black and its physical and chemical performance, and technological condition is discussed. 1~2kWh/Liter raw material is needed. There is a mass of hydrogen in flue gas.


As an African-American woman growing up in a working-class neighborhood, the author initially did not have mentors who could guide her successfully to college. However, the TRIO programs professionally and personally prepared Graham for higher education and an academic career.


A small scale Condensation Irrigation (CI) system was constructed to investigate the flow patterns of water, air and heat in the soil surrounding a perforated pipe from which water, heat and humid ...


Some measures of implementing the construction engineering planning of ecological public welfare forest in Yongjia County were raised to guide the ecological public welfare forest construction through analysing the status of ecological public welfare forest in Yongjia County.


The current chapter proposes a Self-Organizing Self-Esteem (SOSE) model, which provides an integrative theoretical foundation for conceptualizing and studying the dynamics of state self-esteem and trait self-esteem. The SOSE model is in contrast to the traditional approach to self-esteem, in which state and trait self-esteem are part of one construct, where state self-esteem is conceptualized as the contextual error around latent trait selfesteem. In contrast, the SOSE model posits that trait self-esteem and state self-esteem are distinct constructs that occur on two interconnected time scales. The model outlines how their nature, as well as their relationship with each other, can be conceptualized based on a primary process of bottom-up emergence, where trait self-esteem is an emergent macrolevel product of state self-esteem dynamics, and state self-esteem is an emergent meso-level product of current micro-level experiences of the self. The model also outlines a secondary process, namely, that of top-down constraint, where the emergence of the higher-order construct begins a process of constraint on lower-order interactions. Together, these form a self-organizing process. The current chapter discusses the core differences between the SOSE model and the traditional approach to self-esteem and the implications that these differences have for empirical research. 1 1 This chapter is based on De Ruiter, N.M.P., Van Geert, P.L.C, Kunnen, E.S. (2015). A self-organizing model of self-esteem: state and trait self-esteem as dynamically interacting across nested time scales. Manuscript under revision. Chapter 2 A Self-Organizing Model of Self-Esteem 26 While it is generally accepted that self-esteem is multifaceted, with a trait element and a state element (Donnellan, Kenny, Trzesniewski, Lucas, & Conger, 2012), there are relatively few explicit accounts of how these facets are ontologically interconnected, and even fewer attempts to empirically investigate this interconnection. In the current article, we delve into the nature of the trait aspect of self-esteem (typically characterized as the relatively stable valence associated with the self-concept; Harter, 1982; Rosenberg, 1979) and the state aspect of self-esteem (typically characterized as the fleeting and in-themoment experience of the self; DeHart & Pelham, 2007; Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993; Leary & Downs, 1995; Rosenberg, 1986), as well as the relationship between the two. Specifically, we present a comprehensive model of trait and state self-esteem and their dynamic relationship, called the Self-Organizing Self-Esteem (SOSE) model. As the name suggests, our model emphasizes the process of self-organization as a core underlying mechanism of self-esteem (Kelso, 2000; Smith & Thelen, 2003), where self-esteem is conceptualized as spatiotemporal patterns of self-experience that arise out of many nonlinear interactions between lower-order components, and where novelty is generated by the intrinsic dynamics of self-esteem itself. The SOSE model is in contrast with the traditional top-down approach to selfesteem, which we call the latent-construct model. Broadly speaking the latent-construct model suggests that trait self-esteem is a latent variable that generates measurable and context-dependent experiences of the self (i.e., state self-esteem) in a top-down fashion. With our model, we show that self-esteem can be conceptualized as a complex dynamic system, which is any system that is composed of multiple components that interact with each other in a reciprocal and iterative way over time (Thelen & Smith, 1994; Van Geert, 1994, 2008). While some researchers have theorized about the importance of dynamics and complexity in self-esteem (for example, Delignières, Fortes, & Ninot, 2004; Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993; Markus & Wurf, 1987; Morf & Mischel, 2012; Ninot, Fortes, & Delignières, 2005; Nowak, Vallacher, Tesser, & Borkowski, 2000; Scheff & Fearon, 2004; Vallacher, Nowak, Froehlich, & Rockloff, 2002), there is currently no formal model from which the specific nature of the relationship between state self-esteem and trait self-esteem can be conceptualized. The main aim of the current chapter is to present our SOSE model as a new account of the nature of state self-esteem, trait self-esteem, and their relationship with each other, compared to the latent-construct model. We show that the fundamental differences between the models stem from a distinction in the causality theory that underlies the two models, where an emergent-causality theory contrasts a generative-causality theory. Our second aim is to show that the two models also complement each other, in that they predict two different empirical approaches to self-esteem and two different kinds of research questions that, together, provide comprehensive empirical coverage of the self-esteem concept. As the two alternative models of self-esteem discussed in the current article are models of the ontological relationship between trait and state self-esteem, it is important Chapter 2 A Self-Organizing Model of Self-Esteem 27 that we first clarify what is meant by 'self-esteem', and more specifically, its 'trait' and 'state' characteristics. We begin by outlining the difference between trait and state selfesteem from the theoretical bases of the classic Jamesian distinction between me-self and Iself (James, 1890). 2.1 The Foundation of Trait and State Self-esteem The difference between trait self-esteem and state self-esteem is often reduced to a distinction in the level of stability and context-dependency (Kernis et al., 1993; Leary & Downs, 1995; Rosenberg, 1986). Trait self-esteem is seen as relatively stable and context independent, while state self-esteem is seen as highly variable and context dependent. We suggest that, while this distinction is accurate, it does not quite capture the essence of the difference between trait self-esteem and state self-esteem. To appreciate the essential difference, we suggest that the distinction between trait self-esteem and state self-esteem be framed in terms of the classical distinction between me-self and I-self. This distinction was formulated by William James (1890), and is seen as classic in self-psychology (Rosenberg, 1979) with a vast legacy in modern-day psychology (e.g., Bretherton, 1991; Butterworth, 1992; Demetriou, Kazi, & Georgiou, 1999; Harter, 1999; Hermans, 1996; Kernis, 2003; McAdams, 1996; Roeser & Peck, 2009). The Jamesian distinction between me-self and I-self is essentially a distinction in levels of self-concept. The me-self (also known as the self-as-object) is "an empirical aggregate of things objectively known" about the self (James, 1890, p. 400), or the "trait labels" regarding the self (James, 1890). It is an "organization" (Mead, 1934) of selfdescriptions or trait labels regarding the material-me, the social-me, and the spiritual-me (James, 1890). The I-self, otherwise referred to as the self-as-process (James, 1890), is not an aggregated product of what is known about the self. Instead, it is the active knower of the self: the continuous and ever-changing awareness and experience of one's dynamic internal states of self-related emotions, thoughts and actions (Dickstein, 1977; Hattie, 1992; James, 1890; Mead, 1934). In the past, I-self has been viewed as being rather elusive and inaccessible (Allport, 1961), and a "metaphysical problem" (James, 1890, p. 401). At the same time, however, Mead (1934) held that the I-self can and should be studied. McAdams (1996) offers a conceptual clarification that we believe is key to making the I-self empirically tangible. According to McAdams, readers tend to misinterpret the two Jamesian 'selves' as being two entities, where the I-self is seen as an inner self that "pulls the strings", thereby eluding scientific enquiry (Allport, 1961, p. 130). We suggest (in concordance with McAdams) that this be remedied by emphasizing the nature of I-self as an active process, and the nature of me-self as a product. In accordance with this, our working definition of me-self becomes an aggregated product pertaining to the self that consists of an organization of stable trait 2 In the current article we focus on global self-esteem and we omit domain-specific self-esteem. Chapter 2 A Self-Organizing Model of Self-Esteem 28 labels; and our working definition of I-self becomes a dynamic process of experiencing one's immediate internal states pertaining to the self. Moving now from a distinction in levels of self-concept to a distinction in levels of self-esteem; 'self-esteem' is an experience of an attitude, which is either a positive or negative reaction to, or association with, the self (Gawronski, 2007; Olson & Fazio, 2009). Selfesteem, in other words, is the valence of the self-concept (Harter, 1982). Consequently, this results in two levels of self-esteem: Trait self-esteem is the valence of the aggregated and relatively stable me-self (Harter, 1982; Rosenberg, 1979), and can thus be defined as the valence of the aggregated product pertaining to the self that consists of an organization of stable trait labels. State self-esteem, on the other hand, is the valence of the self that occurs "at this moment" (DeHart & Pelham, 2007; Kernis et al., 1993), i.e., the I-self (Hamaker, 2012), and can be defined as the valence of the dynamic process of experiencing one's immediate internal states pertaining to the self. Based on the above distinction, it is clear that the difference between state selfesteem and trait self-esteem consists of more than a difference in stability and in context dependency. The two can be seen as two qualitatively different aspects of self-esteem, where trait self-esteem is the valence of an aggregated product and state self-esteem is the valence of the current process of self-experience. Trait self-esteem and state self-esteem, and their relationship with each other, can be concep


The author describes a reawakening interest in 'small element' paving in the form of concrete paving blocks. Such paving has been popular on the continent for many years and the Cement and Concrete Association has launched a campaign to promote it in the U.K. The method of laying the blocks is described and their advantages reviewed. These include variety in shape and easy removal and replacement in trench cutting. The compressive strength of the concrete used is set at 50 n per square millimetre, a strength unlikely to be vulnerable to frost. Illustrations are given of the use of concrete blocks in England and abroad. Costs cannot be estimated accurately because of the lack of competition at present but excluding the sub-base and kerb laying a price range of about found4-found5.20 per square metre is suggested. /TRRL/


In recent years the Deep generative networks have made it easy to create real face swaps in images and videos with less traces of manipulation, significantly improving the quality of these deepfakes. This improvement in fake media have gained more concern as for their use in fake terrorism, blackmail etc. This has drawn attention of both industry and government to distinguish and restrict their utilization. In spite of the way that these AI generated fake media produce realistic images upon detailed assessment, the proposed method can find some features that are unnatural which are not visible to the naked eyes. This paper uses a method known as frequency domain analysis after which a classifier will be used to differentiate the real and fake image. This paper evaluates our method on dataset of deepfake images collected from different website. Our work can show promising performance for detecting these deepfake images.


Materials and Methods: Oysters and mussels around the Korean coasts were collected from major farm areas in November 2013. Samples were spiked with an aliquot of 209Po as a yield tracer, and they were digested with 6 mol·L-1 HNO3 and H2O2. The 210Po and 209Po were spontaneously deposited onto a silver disc in an acidic solution of 0.5 mol·L-1 HCl and measured using an alpha spectrometer. The activity concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po were decay corrected to the sampling date, accounting for the possible in-growth and decay of 210Po.


ABSTRACT Just after the 1988 Seoul Olympics concluded, a handful of US athletes defied national and international customs and codes and accepted invitations to compete in South Africa, then a pariah state barred from international athletic competitions by almost every global sporting organization. The sporting boycotts represented one phalanx of the decades-long campaign to isolate South Africa until it dismantled apartheid. The US team included both white and Black athletes, as well as women and men. Condemned by many of their fellow athletes, international sporting officials, and the world press corps as mercenaries bent on violating the embargo righteously imposed on apartheid South Africa for a lucrative payday, the 'rebel' track and field team fought back. They declared that their interracial goodwill visit would do more to undermine apartheid than boycotts, proclaimed themselves as missionaries determined to change the world, and condemned their critics as hypocrites who denied athletes the rights of free expression and choice while encouraging sporting interchanges with other 'pariah nations', including Iran, North Korea, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. The tour became an international sensation that highlighted tensions over how to best fight apartheid while also changing the careers of many of the athletes involved.


Comparing the experience of neoliberal reform at the Universities of Manchester and Helsinki shows that not all forms of neoliberalization are the same, despite the similarities in structural changes. In this case, the key difference has to do with the the social value attached to the content of scholarship, and to what universities do. In Manchester, the reforms were in the name of trying to achieve excellence, full stop; in Helsinki, the reforms were in the name of trying to achieve excellence for a reason: to better serve scholarship and the social good. This difference suggests that there is nothing inevitable about neoliberal reform: the outcome is contingent, and that generates hope.


Background: Increasing the number of patients with DM, complications are also increasing, one of them is ulceration of the lower leg, with or without infection and cause damage to the underlying tissue, hereinafter referred to as diabetic foot (KD) or diabetic foot wound. In the world, the number of diabetic foot patients is expected to continue to rise. Objective: This study is to analyze the comfort of patients and nurses when performed wound care with a simple foot elevator (SFE) tool. This type of research is quasi experimental Pre and Post Test Without Control Design by creating a prototype called SFE. It was then tested on 30 DM patients with diabetic ulcer complications in the lower extremity and 12 nurses. The variables of this study were to measure the comfort of patients and nurses when using SFE through a questionnaire. Data processing research with Mann Withney test with significance level (α = 0,05) or CI = 95%. Results : Mann Whitney Test Result research on the use of SFE in diabetic foot wound patients that nurse comfort value in performing diabetic ulcer treatment p = 0.001, patient comfort p = 0.001 (p <α = 0.005). Conclusion: The use of SFE aids in the treatment of diabetic foot wounds can provided the comfort of nurses and patients. So it can be recommended as one alternative tool that can be used in wound care Key word: Diabetic foot wounds, Simple Foot Elevator, Comfort


In July 1999, Potsdam University hosted an international conference, supported by the European Council of Jewish Communities, the Jewish Partnership for Europe, the European Commission (Direction Générale X), the Alliance Israélite Universelle, and the Moses Mendelssohn Centre. 'Preserving Jewish Archives as part of the European Cultural Heritage' was not just a conference title, but the starting point of an ambitious programme: to identify Jewish archives (within Jewish communities and related organizations) as well as public archives (state, regional, municipal) containing material relating to Jewish history and culture; to encourage and support exchange and cooperation between those archives; 'to present the state of the art in the field of Jewish archives in Europe, to set the foundations for a future directory of Jewish archives, and to create a debate between the main actors of the field, including our American and Israeli colleagues'. In his opening lecture Feliks Tych, then Director of the Zydowski Instytut Hystoryczny (ZIH) in Warsaw, argued that the course of events since 1933 – the destruction of Jewish communities and related organizations all over Europe, the confiscation of archives and libraries by the Nazi government in Germany and its institutions all over occupied Europe, the deportations of Jewish people to the concentration and extermination camps, the damage caused by warfare and military action, as well the post-war emigration of many of the Jews who survived the Holocaust – have turned historians into archaeologists who try to decipher tombstones, search through the ruins of destroyed synagogue buildings and, literally, dig out lost or hidden materials in cities or forests. Documents which may have been kept in secure places, in well-organized archives, in genizot, or even in private property, for hundreds of years, have been destroyed or, in many cases and in many different ways, displaced: from Berlin to Moscow, from Vilna (Vilnius) to New York, from Odessa to Jerusalem. Most archivists agree today that these displacements have to be accepted as a matter of fact, and that instead of trying to 'return' documents to their places of origin, efforts should be made to 'reconstruct' archival collections only in a virtual way, through cataloguing, digitization, publication, and other forms of collaboration between archives all over the world. Already in 1999 those present at Potsdam, after having heard reports from Kiev, Prague, Sofia, Berlin, Milan, Girona, and so many other places, had the impression that there was another dimension, another meaning maybe, to be realized and understood. Historians must begin to integrate their knowledge of


The use of georeferenced data without control points leads to registration failures of sequent aerial images and airborne LiDAR data of forest areas. To address this problem, this work proposes a registration method of sequent images and LiDAR data captured by airborne sensors in forest areas. Firstly, 3D points are generated from sequent images by a multi-view stereo algorithm. Secondly, bare-Earth DEMs are created by a filtering method applied to the cloud points and contours are used to initially register the DEMs. Finally, dense-matching data are triangulated into a TIN and interpolated at each horizontal coordinate of the LiDAR data. The transformation matrices between the two cloud points are calculated using LiDAR data and interpolated points. By using this method, I register the two kind of DSMs successfully.


Sir, Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the letter of Bajaj et al., who highlighted the issue of data protection and need for obtaining consent from patients prior to transmission of images via a mobile phone within the United Kingdom. We, however, would like to emphasize that the aim of our study was to determine whether common clinical images related to our specialty that have been photographed, digitally transferred, and interpreted on a mobile phone by another user, can be considered as an effective alternative means of clinical image data transmission to improve patient care. Web-based electronic medical record (EMR) systems have become an increasing common practice for easy access and transfer of medical data. Within the UK, this is currently available mainly on workstations installed within NHS hospitals using NHS approved encryption technology as already highlighted by Bajaj et al. In many other countries, many EMR system providers have already developed commercially available software to enable personal digital assistant (PDA) to link PDA–EMR systems to web-based EMR systems. These enable clinicians to gain full access to patient data including patient demographics, current and past drug history, physical examination findings, diagnosis, laboratory results, and radiological images and reports while they are on the move. In addition, clinicians can input data onto the PDA, and these new data can be synchronized onto the mainframe web-based EMR system performed over dialup connections. Access to these systems are secured with encryption technology and data can only be retrieved by registered users with the appropriate passwords. Mobile phones have become increasingly sophisticated. Many mobile phones have PDA functions, and many PDAs have an inbuilt mobile phone. It will not be a difficult task for software providers to produce securely encrypted mobile phone-based EMR systems. In our study, we concluded that the accuracy and confidence of diagnosis of common ENT emergency radiological investigations using mobile phone digital images is compatible with the conventional X-ray box. We agree that physicians who wish to use the mutimedia service (MMS) of their mobile phones to transfer clinical images of patients should ensure that they are in compliance with data protection laws of their country of practice. Nevertheless, with time, we believe that healthcare systems throughout the globe including the UK will adapt to using such handheld systems provided that the data protection technology used has been tested and approved.


Suppose Y has a linear regression on X1, X2, but observations are only available on (Y, X1). If large scale data on (X1, X2) are available, which do not include Y, and if the regression of X2, given X1, is nonlinear, then one may estimate the regression coefficients of Y by using the proxy g(X1) := E(X2X1) for X2, or an instrument [phi](X1) which is uncorrelated with X2. Both methods provide estimators which are asymptotically normal around the true parameter values under appropriate assumptions. A computation of the optimal instrument is provided, and the asymptotic relative efficienties of the two types of estimators compared.


The well-established advantages of resonant converters, including simplicity of circuit configuration, ease of the control scheme, low switching losses, and low electromagnetic interference, among others, have led to their attracting more interest. This work develops a highly efficient battery charger with an improved series-loaded resonant converter for renewable energy applications to improve the performance of traditional switching-mode charger circuits. The switching frequency of the improved series-loaded resonant battery charger was at continuous conduction mode. Circuit operation modes are determined from the conduction profiles. Operating equations and operating theory are also developed. This study utilizes the fundamental wave approximation and a battery equivalent circuit to simplify the circuit analyses. The mean charging efficiency of the proposed topology is as high as 87.5%.


Two as-cast low-density steels grades (austenite-based duplex Fe-30.9Mn-4.9Al-4.5Cr-0.4C and austenitic Fe-21.3Mn-7.6Al-4.3Cr-1C) with an initial dendritic microstructure were subjected to hot working conditions to understand the influence of deformation parameters on flow behavior and microstructural evolution. The alloys were produced using electric arc melting, and their phase constituents were determined using optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. This was then corroborated with the phase predicted from Thermo-Calc simulation. The as-cast alloys were machined to 10 × 10 × 7 mm specimen configurations for rectangular axial testing on the Gleeble 3500 thermomechanical simulator. The samples were deformed to a total strain of 0.5 at different deformation temperatures (800, 900, and 1000 °C) and strain rates (0.1 and 5 s−1). Thereafter, a hardness test was conducted on the deformed samples, and post-deformed microstructures were analyzed using optical and scanning electron microscopes. The results showed that the alloys' dendritic structures were effectively transformed at temperatures below 1000 °C regardless of the strain rate. At all deformation conditions, the peak flow stress of Fe-21.3Mn-7.6Al-4.3Cr-1C alloy was at least 50% higher than that of Fe-30.9Mn-4.9Al-4.5Cr-0.4C alloy owing to the higher carbon content in the austenitic low-density stainless steel. The hardness of all the deformed samples was superior to that of the as-cast samples, which indicates microstructural reconstitution and grain refinement in the alloys. Dynamic recrystallization, dynamic globularization, and dynamic recovery influenced the softening process and the microstructural changes observed in the alloys under different deformation conditions.


In order to simulate the static recrystallization process which was affected by large particle stimulated nucleation(shortly called PSN) and non-uniform stored energy distribution,a model was put forward by using cellular automata method and the evolution of static recrystallization microstructure in a ferrite steel with preciptates whose diameter was 1 μm was simulated.The results show that the PSN effect of large particles and its role of decreasing average recrystallization grain size are simulated;and the simulated static recrystallization process better demonstrates the characteristics and kinetics revealed by relevant experiments and theories.The feature of this paper is the new established model to consider the effects of non-uniform stored energy distribution and PSN on recrystallization with reason.


Reliable simulation models are an essential prerequisite to accurate assessment of present and future consequences of human activities on ecosystem health and functioning. In particular, for non-point source pollution assessments in the vadose zone, chemical fate and transport models are required at field and watershed scales. However, developing such models that characterize adequately the processes occurring during an arbitrary period of time within an arbitrary spatial region in unsaturated soil is a challenging task due in part to the complexity of the processes and heterogeneity of the properties involved. This task requires developing, calibrating, and evaluating an appropriate process description for the region of interest from relatively sparse spatial and temporal information. Here we discuss and point to some of the relevant literature addressing the various "hurdles" that need to be overcome in order to develop non-point source pollution transport models. Of central concern are spatial heterogeneities of physical properties over a range of scales, how these can be inferred from spatial data, how heterogeneities are effectively represented by macroscale parameters and how (or if) processes can (or should) be related over a range of effective scales. Upscaling from observed microscale processes could yield useful results.


s Implementation of distributed applications over the internet needs the interaction among homogenous/ heterogeneous subcomponents to a great extent. This interaction among heterogeneous components can be implemented by considering the semantic issues of its related compositions. The coordination and cooperation between services at the two ends of application make the problem of interaction more significant. The term interaction can formerly be described in terms of features and services of the application or of the subcomponents & can be called the problem of "feature interaction". This paper proposes a less complex method that uses two concerns termed as signature and transformation. The signature describes the specification aspect of a feature i.e name, arguments etc. On the other hand the transformation describe the working aspect of the feature i.e the fundamental code which actually implements interactions and finally make the two features to work together.


This paper examines the association between audit fees and attributes of internal audit (IA), audit committee (AC), as measured by independence and financial expertise, as well as characteristics of the firm. The determinants of audit fees have been extensively investigated in the prior literature, but the results are conflicting. We develop a comprehensive model from a multi-country and multi-industry perspective. A total of 3,136 companies covering a period of 10 years (2011-2020) with 15,247 observations from 55 countries were included in this study. We found that the most critical variables that have a significant positive effect on the audit fees are client size, leverage (risk), profitability, complexity, losses, AC independence, AC expertise and auditor size. The study also shows that audit pricing is significantly negatively related to foreign operations, auditor tenure, and internal audit independence. The results highlight variables that affect audit fees across a range of countries/industries.


A study has been made of the physical properties and crystal structure of pure zinc. Data are given on the following properties: Coefficient of expansion, density, scleroscope and Brinell hardness, and tensile properties and crystal structure at normal and elevated temperatures. Proof is given that zinc has but one allotropic form between normal temperatures and the melting point.


【Objective】 The objective of this experiment is to develop an immunochromatographic strip for rapid detection of neomycin(NEO).【Method】 The monoclonal antibodies(mAb) against neomycin were generated and labeled with colloidal gold particles.Then the immunochromatographic strips for detection of NEO were developed and identified.【Result】 Ka of NEO monoclonal antibody was 3.75×1010 mol·L-1.The detection limit of the strip was 50 ng·mL-1 by naked eyes.The cross-reactivity with other antibiotics,such as gentamicin,streptomycin,tobramycin,sisomicin,ractopamine,salbutamal,tylosin,chloramphenic,was not detected.In parallel experiments,the test strip gave the same results as HPLC-MS-MS did.【Conclusion】 An immunochromatographic strip test method was established and the strip can be used to detect NEO residues rapidly with high specificity,sensitivity and simplicity in different samples.


Transmission-line waveguides can mediate long-range fluctuation-induced forces between neutral objects. We present two approaches for the description of these forces between electric components embedded in transmission-line circuits. The first, following ordinary quantum electrodynamics (QED), consists of the quantization and scattering theory of voltage and current waves inside transmission lines. The second approach relies on a simple circuit analysis with additional noisy current sources due to resistors in the circuit, as per the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT). We apply the latter approach to derive a general formula for the Casimir force induced by circuit fluctuations between any two impedances. The application of this formula, considering the sign of the resulting force, is discussed. While both QED and FDT approaches are equivalent, we conclude that the latter is simpler to generalize and solve.


No official catch statistics exist for grenadiers in Alaska because they are considered "non-specified" by the NPFMC. However, catches for the years 1997-2005 have been estimated for the eastern Bering Sea (EBS), Aleutian Islands (AI), and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) based largely on data from the Alaska Fishery Science Center's Groundfish Observer Program. Average catches in the EBS have been 3,154 mt, in the AI 2,358 mt, and in the GOA 10,903 mt. Species breakdown of the grenadier catch is unknown, but is believed to be nearly all giant grenadier. Except for two very small attempts at targeted fishing, all the catch has been taken as bycatch and discarded. Discard mortality is 100%. The catch comes primarily from sablefish and Greenland turbot longline fisheries.


In the productive process of the aluminum-clad steel wire,the online IF induction heating method was applied.Based on the IF induction heating condition and aiming at the wire diameter,the wire speed,the heating temperature,the IF frequency,the IF voltage,the IF current,the IF power,the functional relationship between the length of heating furnace,the multi-variable fuzzy neural network control method of a continuous coating process was set up.After doing several experiments,screening to select the valid data,and studying repeatedly in a number of patterns,finally the network universal error function E was less than a pre-set extremely lows.Through the network training and simulation analysis,the preferable method was figured out.The method was used in the production line of a continuous coating of aluminum-clad,and the problem of steel wire heating control was preferably solved.


Objective To master the current brucellosis infection rate among occupational people exposed to cattle and sheep in Jining City, to find the affected person, and in order to prevent and control the brucellosis. Methods The method of serum epidemiology was made.People who were occupationally exposed to brucellosis infection were detected. Results The average rate for brucellosis infection among occupational people exposed to cattle and sheep was 5.12% during 2006 - 2010,mainly in younger adults group.There was no significant difference for brucellosis infection rate between occupational people exposed to cattle and sheep (x 2 =2.27, P 0.05). The brucellosis infection rate for people who slaughtered sheep was higher than those who traffic them (x 2 = 4.06,P 0.05). The apparent infection rate for people exposed to sheep was higher than cattle (x 2 = 31.46,P 0.01). Conclusion The people of occupational exposure of cattle and sheep are at high risk of brucellosis infection.The regular education and epidemiological surveillance should be strengthened to reduce disease and hazards.


THE RESPONSE OF MATERIAL TO INTERFACIAL FRICTION AND ABRASIVE SLIPPAGE IS DISCUSSED. FRICTION IS DIVIDED INTO TWO FACTORS: VISCOELASTIC AND ADHESIVE. WITH SLIPPAGE, THE ADHESIVE FACTOR RESULTS ULTIMATELY IN ABRASION. ABRASION HAS BEEN STUDIED IN THE LABORATORY FROM A MECHANISTIC APPROACH AND IN THE FIELD FROM A BASE MATERIAL APPROACH. AT LEAST TWO MECHANISMS HAVE BEEN FOUND: A TENSILE FAILURE AND A FATIGUE OXIDATIVE FAILURE. THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE TREAD (CARBON BLACK, OIL, AND POLYMER) HAVE BEEN FOUND TO HAVE THE LARGEST INFLUENCE ON FRICTION WEAR. SOME PROPERTIES OF CARBON BLACK AND POLYMERS THAT HAVE BEEN RELATED TO WEAR ARE REVIEWED. /HSL/


Dental caries is an important condition to record in archaeological collections, but the way in which recording is carried out has a large effect on the way in which the results can be interpreted. In living populations, dental caries is a disease that shows a strong relationship with age. Both the nature of carious lesions and their frequency change with successive age groups from childhood to elderly adulthood. There is also a progression in the particular teeth in the dentition which are most commonly affected and, in general, the molars and premolars are involved much more frequently than the canines and incisors. Lower teeth are usually affected more than upper, although the condition usually involves the right and left sides fairly equally. In the high tooth wear rate populations represented by many archaeological and museum collections, there is a complex relationship between the form of lesions and the state of wear, which adds yet another range of factors to the changing pattern of caries with increasing age. In the same populations, chipping, fracture and anomalous abrasion of teeth are also common, and these contribute similarly to the distribution and forms of carious lesion observed. Amongst the living, the pattern of ante-mortem tooth loss is important in understanding caries and, in archaeological material, there is also the complicating factor of post-mortem tooth loss. Finally, there is the question of diagnosis. There are diagnostic problems even in epidemiological studies of living patients and, for archaeological specimens, diagenetic change and the variable preservation of different parts of the dentition add further complications. For all these reasons, it is difficult to define any one general index of dental caries to represent the complete dentition of each individual, which would be universally suitable for studying a full range of collections from archaeological sites or museums. Variation in the nature of collections, their preservation, tooth wear, and ante-mortem and post-mortem tooth loss mean that when such a general index appears to differ between sites, there could be many other reasons for this, in addition to any genuine differences in caries incidence and pattern that might have been present. It is suggested here that the best approach is instead to make comparisons separately for each tooth type, age group, sex, lesion type and potential lesion site on the tooth. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Two syntheses of the C15 ginkgolide, bilobalide, are presented. One approach results in a formal synthesis by intersecting an intermediate in the Corey synthesis, while a second approach results in a completed total synthesis which is considerably shorter than the first. Both approaches rely on a stereoselective intramolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition to control much of the stereochemistry. A diastereoselective aldol condensation serves to establish the relative stereochemical relationship between the secondary and tertiary alcohols in the second approach. This circumvents problems of incorporation of the tertiary carbinol which were encountered in both previous appraches


FIELD: medical engineering. SUBSTANCE: device has ring-shaped haptic part having two external diametrically opposite projections in its principal plane manufactured as a whole with it as flat spirals bent to the same side and the optical part. The optical part has single or two lenses. The haptic part has three internal ring-shaped grooves forming ring-shaped projections. Through opposite slits are available on the second and the third frontal projection relative to cornea. The slits are congruent to projections of each lens and serve as means for placing a lens on one of the ring-shaped projections. The internal ring-shaped grooves allow the lens projections to move in them. The through slits on the frontal and the third ring-shaped projections are arranged one under the other. The through slits on the second ring-shaped projection are arranged between those three through slits. Non-penetrating opposite holes are available in peripheral part of the frontal surfaces each of the lenses to enable lens rotation by moving their projection members in the ring-shaped groove of the haptic part. EFFECT: reduced risk of traumatic complications. 3 cl, 7 dwg


Herein, an optical device, in particular, various systems and methods for improving the visualization of the medical device (18) is disclosed. The device includes an elongated body (30 extending between the distal optical portion (40) having a proximal coupling portion (37) and a closed distal end for coupling to a distal portion of the medical device (18) ), an inner surface (33) and an outer surface (35) lens cover with (12), comprising a lens cover having at least partially spheroidal shape of the inner surface and said outer surface. .The


The revival of old films is often full of surprises. It can indicate that there is something missing from modern films which audiences yearn for, whether it be simply a straightforward, well-told story with no political pretensions and no overt sexual displays, or just the nostalgia so brilliantly exploited by that institution of Australian television, Bill Collins.


This paper investigates the investment preference of foreign institutional investors across different industries in Taiwanese stock market. By employing the idea of Fama and French (1992) three-factor model with investment strategy, the investment preference is a function of beta value, company size, book-market ratio and investment strategy. Our empirical results find that foreign institutional investors in all five industries adopt momentum strategies in their investment preference. Next, in each industry, investment preference has a long-run equilibrium relationship with beta value, company size, book-market ratio, and investment strategy. Moreover, in the electronic, financial, and steel industries, foreign institutional investors' investment preference has corrective power in the short-run. Further, the results of the Granger causality test reveal that the investment preference has a uni-directional leading relationship with beta value in the financial and textile industries. While in case of the steel industry, investment preference and beta value have a bi-directional causal feedback relationship. Industries where company size leads investment preference include electronics, finance, and steel. Book-market ratio leads investment preference only in the textile industry. Generally speaking, in each industry, company size is among the predominant factors that foreign institutional investors take into account when making decisions. The influences of beta value and investment strategy on investment preference do not appear significant. That is, the investment strategy under consideration does not make a difference for investment preference.


Objective To describe the epidemiology features of SARS in Shenzhen and to provide information and data for making prevention and control strategy against SARS. Method To summarize and analyze the case reports of 53 patients with SARS in Shenzhen. Results Among the 53 patients (male to female ratio, 1.4∶1), 29 patients (54.7%) were aged 20 40 years. The plague peaked in Feburary and March. The plague spots were in two districts of Luohu and Futian with an incidence of 19 and 20 cases respectively. The incidents did not correlated to their professions. Thirty patients (56.6%) had the contact history with SARS patient or had ever been to the other cities of Guangdong or Hongkong. Nine patients (17%) were infected with SARS in hospital. Clustered incidences in 21 patients (39.6%) and 2 deaths were detected. They were from 5 families and 2 working units. None of the hospital staffs in Shenzhen suffered from SARS. Conclusions In Shenzhen, the young and male patients were more sufferred from SARS infection. The plague spot was mainly at populated downtown or business center. Both the contact/travel history and clustered incidences in family or working unit were found. To sterilize the contaminated areas, quarantine and treat with anti virus medicines like Ribavirin may effectively prevent SARS from transmitting in a hospital.


ABSTRACT A hemolytic toxin related to thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH), TDH-related hemolysin (TRH), produced by Kanagawa-phenomenon-negative Vibrio parahaemolyticus is suspected of playing an important, but yet-to-be-elucidated role in diarrhea caused by this organism. In cultured human colonic epithelial cells, TRH increases Cl− secretion, followed by elevation of intracellular calcium.


Introduction and Objectives Moderate and severe asthma are often associated with a degree of fixed airflow obstruction. We aimed to comprehensively characterise a group of patients with moderate to severe asthma using a variety of standard and novel physiological techniques, including hyperpolarised helium-3 magnetic resonance imaging (He-3 MRI), in order to non-invasively localise the major site of airway obstruction within the bronchial tree. Methods We recruited 17 patients with moderate asthma (GINA 3/4), 12 patients with severe asthma (GINA 5) and fifteen healthy control subjects. Participants undertook standard pulmonary function tests, multiple breath washout (MBW) and impulse oscillometry (IOS). Five healthy subjects and 10 patients with asthma also undertook He-3 MRI. Two MRI sequences were performed. The first sequence allowed derivation of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), a measure of alveolar airspace size, while the second sequence allowed derivation of the modelled parameters R and h, representing acinar outer airway radius and alveolar sleeve width respectively, as introduced by Yablonskiy et al.1 Results Patients with asthma displayed evidence of fixed airflow obstruction and air trapping, with reduced FEV1 and increased RV/TLC ratio, compared to healthy controls. However, Kco was higher in patients with asthma than in controls. The MBW small airway marker Sacin was significantly raised in patients with asthma compared to healthy controls (healthy=0.126, GINA 3/4 asthma=0.173, GINA 5 asthma=0.213; p=0.03), confirming the presence of acinar airspace disease in patients with moderate and severe asthma. Scond, a conductive airway marker, did not differ significantly between the groups. ADC, R and h also did not differ significantly between healthy controls and patients with asthma, or between asthmatic patients with and without evidence of acinar airspace disease (see Abstract S80 figure 1), suggesting that the alveoli are not a major site of involvement in asthma.Abstract S80 Figure 1 Characterisation of asthma patients with and without acinar disease by He-3 MRI. Means and standard errors of the mean are displayed. Data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance with no statistically significant differences found between groups. Conclusion Our results suggest that the site of fixed airflow obstruction in patients with moderate to severe asthma may be localised to the proximal acinus, and that the alveoli are relatively spared.


Teacher professional development theory and new curriculum reform are the theoretical basis and practical background for developing and studying teachers' teaching abilities.Therefore,it is helpful for further understanding the feasibility and necessity of teachers' teaching abilities from the perspective of related theories and teaching practice.


This report is a brief summary of research from July 1, 1988 to March 1, 1989. Microstructure-property relations have been examined in a series of polycrystalline ceramic YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-sigma/ samples. (JDF)


Background: Dolutegravir (DTG) may inhibit organic cation transporter-2 in renal tubules and elevate serum creatinine levels without true renal function deterioration. There are scarce data on the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) equations in Chinese HIV patients with DTG/TDF/3 TC. This retrospective study was to evaluate the changes in creatinine- and cystatin C-based estimated GFR values among Chinese adult HIV patients with initial highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with DTG/TDF/3 TC for 48 weeks. Settings: Retrospective analysis of Chinese adult HIV patients who received initial HAART with DTG/TDF/3 TC between January 2016 and May 2021. Methods: We compared the changes in creatinine-based and cystatin C-based estimated GFR before and 48 weeks after HAART to determine the optimal tool for renal function estimation. Results: Ninety-five patients [91.58% men; median age, 34 years (interquartile range, 29–44 years)] were enrolled. The median baseline CD4+ cell count was 185 cells/µL [interquartile range, 53–303 cells/µL] and the median baseline viral load was 148,000 copies/mL [interquartile range, 26,800–596,000 copies/mL]. The estimated GFR at 4, 12, and 24 weeks was significantly different than at baseline (P < 0.05) using all 4 equations. Only the GFR estimated using the CKD-EPIcreat and CKD-EPIcys equations was significantly different at 48 weeks of treatment (P < 0.05). The modification of diet in renal disease-based decline of GFR incidence at 4, 12, 24, and 48 weeks of treatment (21.5%, 24.21%, 33.68% and 38.95%, respectively) was higher than that calculated using the other 3 GFR equations. Conclusions: The modification of diet in renal disease equation may not be optimal for Chinese HIV-1-infected adults receiving DTG + TDF + 3 TC as the initial antiviral therapy. Clinicians must carefully choose the GFR equation for patients with HIV/hepatitis B virus coinfection.


Abstract Let a, b and n be non-negative integers such that 1 ≤ a ≤ b, and let G be a graph of order p with $\(p\geq\frac{(a+b-1)(a+b-2)+bn-2}{a}\)$ and f be an integer-valued function defined on V(G) such that a ≤ f(x) ≤ b for all x ∈ V(G). Let h: E(G) → [0, 1] be a function. If ∑e∋xh(e) = f(x) holds for any x ∈ V(G), then we call G[Fh] a fractional f-factor of G with indicator function h, where Fh = {e ∈ E(G): h(e) > 0}. A graph G is called a fractional (f, n)-critical graph if after deleting any n vertices of G the remaining graph of G has a fractional f-factor. In this paper, it is proved that G is a fractional (f, n)-critical graph if $\(|N_G(X)|>\frac{(b-1)p+|X|+bn-1}{a+b-1}\)$ for every non-empty independent subset X of V(G), and $\(\delta(G)>\frac{(b-1)p+a+b+bn-2}{a+b-1}\)$. Furthermore, it is shown that the result in this paper is best possible in some sense.


Abstract This paper is about identifying structural shocks in noisy-news models using structural vector autoregressive moving average (SVARMA) models. We develop a new identification scheme and efficient Bayesian methods for estimating the resulting SVARMA. We discuss how our identification scheme differs from the one which is used in existing theoretical and empirical models. Our main contributions lie in the development of methods for choosing between identification schemes. We estimate specifications with up to 20 variables using US macroeconomic data. We find that our identification scheme is preferred by the data, particularly as the size of the system is increased and that noise shocks generally play a negligible role. However, small models may overstate the importance of noise shocks.


Under illumination of a femtosecond laser pulse on the Pt/CoFe/Ta trilayer heterostructure, an impulsive spin current can be generated in the ferromagnetic layer due to the ultrafast demagnetization. The spin current is super-diffusively transported and injected into the neighboring heavy metal layers, and is converted into the transversal charge current due to the spin-orbit coupling, which is named inverse spin Hall effect. The transient charge current on a time scale of sub-picosecond gives rise to the electromagnetic radiation in the far-infrared range to the free space. In this work, we demonstrate two kinds of experiments to investigate the modulation of far-infrared emission by photo-thermal effect, which is due to the thermal energy deposed by light pulses on a short timescales. First, the amplitude of the emitted far-infrared pulse as a function of an applied magnetic field is measured, which shows a far-infrared hysteresis behavior. The coercive field of the sample obtained by far-infrared hysteresis is smaller than that obtained by the M - H hysteresis through vibrating sample magnetometer. In addition, the coercive field decreases with pump laser fluence increasing. Second, the control of spin polarization on an ultrafast timescale in the presence of a small magnetic field applied oppositely to that of the magnetization of the ferromagnetic sample. The amplitude of far-infrared time-domain signal reaches a maximum value at a pump fluence of 1.43 mJ/cm 2 . For the pump fluence larger than 1.43 mJ/cm 2 , the far-infrared pulse experiences a phase reversal. After the reversal, a decrease of the laser pump fluence cannot restore the original phase of the far-infrared pulse. The above two experimental results not only elucidate the photothermal effect of femtosecond laser pulses, but also provide a new method for controlling the far-infrared radiation pulses based on ultrafast spintronics. These results demonstrate that far-infrared emission spectroscopy can be used as an ultrafast optical method to investigate magnetic properties, such as the coercive field and anisotropy field of the samples.


A systematic pot test was performed both in summer and autumn, which the purification efficiency to the polluted urban storm runoff was studied. The orthogonal method was applied to design the experiment. 24 plastic pots were divided into eight groups, and each group included a blank sample and two parallel samples for comparison. The results showed that: (1) the removal rate of CODCr was almost higher than 90%, which was mainly dependent on the absorption of substrate. And the positive correlation between removal rate and pollutant concentration was existed; (2) the removal rate of TN in plant pots was obviously better than that of no plant; (3) the removal rate of TP was assured by the absorption and complexation of substrate, which was higher than 90%; (4) the experiment was performed on the condition of intermittent inflow and the higher removal rate was reached, which indicated that the purification function of urban riverbank could recover in the period without storm.


In the light of the great changes of social environment at the beginning of the 21st century, this paper qualitatively describes the typical group characteristics of university youth under this background, and proposes some countermeasures, corresponding to the changing educational objects, of accelerating the reform of higher education itself.


The axial resolution capability of an ultrasonic pulse-echo imaging system is known to depend on the bandwidth of the propagating pulse. However, the exact resolution limit, the minimum spacing between two reflectors that a given ultrasound imaging system can resolve, has been lacking. In particular, for a known transducer bandwidth, noise level, excitation frequency, and the dispersion rate, it is desirable to know the exact axial resolution limit. Such a limit is useful for assessing the performance of resolution improvement algorithms such as deconvolution methods. This paper develops a method to estimate the resolution limit in terms of propagating pulse characteristics, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and resolution success rate.


Results on a large dynamic front end integrated circuit for readout of an avalanche photodiode with an associated low consumption nonlinear compressor scheme are presented.


Objective To provide the clinical basis of interventions by investigating the mental health status and related influencing factors in parents of children with congenital heart disease( CHD). Methods Applying general condition questionnaire and symptom cheek list 90( SCL- 90) to investigate 130 parents of children with congenital heart disease. Results The aggregate score of parents on the SCL- 90 was 156. 18 ± 54. 49,which was higher than that in the Chinese norm. The aggregate score,somatization,obsessive- compulsive symptom and so on eight factors have statistical significance as compared with Chinese norm( P 0. 05). The somatization factor score of parents which children asymptomatic were significantly lower than those children often feel sick,cannot strenuous exercise, like squat down( P 0. 05); the hostile factor score of parents which spent with their own money were significantly lower than those have the medical insurance for urban residents,rural cooperative medical service,charity foundations( P 0. 05). Conclusion The parents of children with CHD have certain psychological problems,especially which children with symptoms and entirely at his own expense,the medical staff should pay attention to the parents' psychological health education of the patients at the same time of treating children.


The paper discusses criteria introduced into the several East European countries legislations concerning soil quality. The connected guideline values vary in a very broad range, combining scientific recommendations and common experience. Some soil standards are integrated and designed to protect both soil and drinkingwater quality. Soil guidelines certificate different contamination levels in different countries for the same hazardous elements and the same types of the land-use sites. All the applied criteria have been critically reviewed, and specific legal requirements enforced in particular countries presented.


CRISPR (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)‐based diagnostic technologies have emerged as a promising alternative to accelerate delivery of SARS‐CoV‐2 molecular detection at the point of need. However, efficient translation of CRISPR‐diagnostic technologies to field application is still hampered by dependence on target amplification and by reliance on fluorescence‐based results readout. Herein, an amplification‐free CRISPR/Cas12a‐based diagnostic technology for SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA detection is presented using a smartphone camera for results readout. This method, termed Cellphone‐based amplification‐free system with CRISPR/CAS‐dependent enzymatic (CASCADE) assay, relies on mobile phone imaging of a catalase‐generated gas bubble signal within a microfluidic channel and does not require any external hardware optical attachments. Upon specific detection of a SARS‐CoV‐2 reverse‐transcribed DNA/RNA heteroduplex target (orf1ab) by the ribonucleoprotein complex, the transcleavage collateral activity of the Cas12a protein on a Catalase:ssDNA probe triggers the bubble signal on the system. High analytical sensitivity in signal detection without previous target amplification (down to 50 copies µL−1) is observed in spiked samples, in ≈71 min from sample input to results readout. With the aid of a smartphone vision tool, high accuracy (AUC = 1.0; CI: 0.715 – 1.00) is achieved when the CASCADE system is tested with nasopharyngeal swab samples of PCR‐positive COVID‐19 patients.


since World War II. The former with its monolithic communist leadership has brought about dramatic changes in its development strategies, political processes and foreign policies. One however discerns a major change in China's strategy between the Maoist and the post-Mao phases. While the earlier phase was more inward looking with its major emphasis on rural transformation through collective farming etc., the latter has seen a vigorous drive for modernization through import of western technology. 1


In this letter, we present an optimized version of the relaxed half-stochastic (RHS) algorithm targeted at non-binary LDPC codes with a variable node degree equal to two. The new algorithm has significantly fewer multiplications while maintaining an error-correction performance and a decoding iteration count identical to those of the original.


Introduction: Posterior rotational osteotomy has been used in young patients to treat apparent collapse and extensive osteonecrosis of the femoral head. We have reviewed a series of our patients with greater than 3 year follow-up. Materials and Methods: Forty-three hips in 32 young patients with non-traumatic femoral head osteonecrosis were treated by posterior rotational osteotomy. All heads were apparently collapsed (Greater than 3mm), and 12 hips showed joint narrowing. Extensive lesions were noted on measurements of the area below the acetabular roof on preoperative AP radiographs. The age of the patients at the time of surgery ranged from 15 to 48 years with a mean of 34 years. There were 13 women and 19 men. Nineteen patients received steroid administration, 9 had alcoholic abuse, 6 had no apparent risk factor. Posterior rotational angle was 60–150 degrees with a mean of 124 degrees. We reviewed radiographically at 3 to 17 years follow-up (mean; 7.6 years). Results: Re-collapse were prevented in 39 hips (91%) on final follow-up AP radiographs. Progressive joint narrowing was found in 6 hips (14%). Of the remodeling, we observed a collapsed area on the medial portion of 19 hips after posterior rotation. Re-spherical contour was noted on 18 hips. In 12 hips with joint narrowing preoperatively, atrophy of acetabular subchondral bone was seen on 12 hips 6 months postoperatively. A newly formed acetabular bony roof was noted in 11 hips at 2 years postoperatively. Discussion: These results suggest that this operation is effective for young patients with advanced stage osteonecrosis.


In this paper,we consider the problem of the approximation of nearly arc-length parameterized Bezier curves.When a nearly arc-length parameterization[1] for a Bezier curve has been obtained,the parameterization could only acquire C0-continuity.To increase the parametric continuity,we use its best approximation with constraints at the endpoints with respect to L2-norm to get a Bezier spline curve with C2-continuity.Experiment proves that the effect of this approximation is quite satisfactory.


A series of polyimides with different side chain content had been copolymerized from 4-dodecyloxy-biphenyl-3',5'-diaminobenzoate,3,3'-dimethyl-4,4'-methyl-enedianiline (DMMDA) and 4,4'-oxydi(phthalic anhydride) (ODPA) via one-step method. The synthesized polyimides also possessed solubility in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP),N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF),N,N-Dimethylacetamide (DMAC),dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and trichloromethane (TCM). Meanwhile,uniform and stable vertical alignment of liquid crystal was induced by the polyimides films,and even after the rubbing process,the pretilt angles of liquid crystal show good stability.


Since brown coal was first excavated by the SECV at Yallourn Open Cut in 1924, the Commission has had to develop its own geotechnical expertise to ensure stable operating batters. When developing Morwell Open Cut in the 1960's, it was necessary to eliminate heave in the floor by depressurising artesian aquifers. This led to regional subsidence and the study of earth movement effects on structures. Foundation investigation techniques have had to keep pace with the increasing size of power station structures and dam embankments. To service the needs for earthworks construction quality control field laboratories have been established in the Latrobe Valley. A central geomechanics laboratory provides design parameters for geotechnical assessment of mine stability and foundation analysis. Ground instrumentation has been used to monitor site specific subsidence and structural settlement. Engineering geologists have evaluated potential pumped storage and power station sites. Developments in computer modelling of subsidence and the use of new techniques in earthworks construction will be examined in the near future.