【Objective : In benign prostatic hyperplasia, dihydrotestosterone acts as a potent cellular androgen and promotes prostate growth. Inhibiting enzyme $5{\alpha}$ -reductase that is involved in the conversion of testosterone to the active form dihydrotestosterone reduces this excessive prostate growth. The mechanism on benign prostatic hyperplasia is substantiating evidence to support the clinical value in the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy. In this study, we investigated the effects of Lygodium japonicum on cyto-pathological alterations and expression of $5{\alpha}$ -reductase in the rat model of benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by castration and testosterone treatment. Methods : Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with testosterone after castration for induction of experimental benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is similar to human benign prostatic hyperplasia in histopathological profiles. Lygodium japonicum as an experimental specimen, and finasteride as a positive control, were administered orally. The prostates were evaluated by histopathological changes and testosterone levels. Also, the prostates were observed by hematological alterations of AST, ALT, ${\gamma}$ -GTP, BUN and creatinine. Results : The rats treated with Lygodium japonicum showed a diminished range of luminal cell and duct epithelial cell damage. The stromal elements and connective tissue proliferation of Lygodium japonicum treated group as compared to the control group decreased. Conclusions : These findings suggest that Lygodium japonicum may protect the glandular epithelial cells. We concluded that Lygodium japonicum could be a useful remedy agent for treating the benign prostatic hyperplasia.】


We study the resonant enhancement of linear and nonlinear chiroptical effects in asymmetric silicon metasurfaces supporting multipolar Mie resonances and quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BICs). We demonstrate theoretically and observe in experiment the pronounced linear circular dichroism at the quasi-BIC resonances. We further find that both local field enhancement and third-harmonic signal are large for Mie resonances and some quasi-BIC modes. We explain the selectivity of the nonlinear enhancement by employing the concept of critical coupling being more favorable for the modes with moderately large radiative quality factors ($Q$ factors). We demonstrate experimentally strong nonlinear chiroptical response associated with high efficiency of the third-harmonic generation and large nonlinear circular dichroism varying from $+0.918\pm0.049$ to $-0.771\pm0.004$ for the samples with different asymmetries. We believe our results suggest a general strategy for engineering nonlinear chiroptical response in dielectric resonant metasurfaces.


A 55-year-old man with diabetes presented with severe reflux, chronic cough, and aspiration pneumonia. An easily reducible hernia was noted in the area of the sternal defect.


Automotive OEMs have been reducing vehicle development cycle and lead time with increasing usage of CAE techniques. However there is still an immense need of further reduction in the lead time to gain an extra edge in the current competitive market. One of the ways to make this possible is with the development of strong CAE processes and further by structured automation of these CAE processes. This paper highlights the framework that is developed for automation of post processing activities for crash simulations in HyperWorks environment. Presently these post processing tasks are done manually and most of these activities are non-value added, timeconsuming & repetitive in nature. The purpose of the framework is to reduce time for these activities and to allow user to create PowerPoint document from the simulation results in required output format and layout automatically. Timeline reduction of @ 60 % is achieved with the use of this framework in post processing activities. Report standardization and FE entities standardization is achieved across different vehicle programs. The key approach used for designing and customizing framework is TCL/TK programming language with the help of other languages to generate PowerPoint reports easily. HyperWorks suites (HyperMesh, HyperGraph and HyperView) are used as source for post processing different output variables in the framework. Hyperworks consists of its own API's which are used to interface with its different applications by using TCL/TK.


Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome-CoV and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV).[1] Following the first reports of cases of acute respiratory syndrome in the Chinese Wuhan municipality at the end of December 2019, Chinese authorities have identified a novel coronavirus as the main causative agent. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) assays on these samples were positive for pan-Betacoronavirus. Using Illumina and nanopore sequencing, the whole genome sequences of the virus were acquired. Bioinformatic analyses indicated that the virus had features typical of the coronavirus family and belonged to the Betacoronavirus 2B lineage named as COVID-19. The outbreak has rapidly evolved affecting other parts of China and outside the country. Cases have been detected in several countries not only in Asia, but also in Australia, Europe, Africa, and North America.[1] Further global spread is likely. It is mainly spread through respiratory droplets from one person to another and is considered a prominent threat to public health, as there has been no confirmed treatment to control its activity. The transmissibility of CoV is 2.9 (the average number of secondary cases generated per infectious case) compared to that of SARS which was 1.7 based on effective reproductive number.


: Accurate analysis of the stator modal shapes and natural frequencies is very important for reducing acoustic noise and vibration of electrical machine. The stator mode of motor based on large distributedmagnetic bearings(MB) is studied by finite element method(FEM). Effects of axial MB windings, radial MB laminations, mounting feet, and additional mass on stator natural frequencies are investigated. The results show that : Stator windings have great effects on natural frequencies of axial MB, and those are suitable dealt with mass into stator cores. Less impact of stator laminations on the natural frequencies of radial MB, those can be dealt as isotropic structure. Bolt joint has some influence on natural frequencies of stator. But when the connection is much greater than the shell stiffness, the connection stiffness has little effect on natural frequencies. Additional mass can make difference to natural frequencies, and the effects of the frequencies vary with different modal shapes. The calculation results of machine's 12 modes are validated against experimental results.


A Mutation causing the abnormal development of grains was induced in rlce (Oryza sativa L.) by means of the tetraploid-irradiation technique. The grain was about half of the size of a normal brown rice and consisted entirely of the embryonic tissue. Microscopic observations revealed that the endosperm cells stopped dividing at early developmental stage, while the embryo continued growing into a large cellular clump in which a plumule, a radicle and a scutellum differentiated. We termed these grains endospermless grains. On the basis of the segregation ratios of endospermless grains, it is concluded that a recessive allele on a single locus or a deletion of small chromosomal segment is resposible for the abnormal development of grains.


ABSTRACT This essay examines the role of 'criticality' and 'publicness' as part of the development of contemporary art within the People's Republic of China during the latter half of the 1990s. The latter half of that decade saw the production of various forms of 'experimental' art, including performance, within the PRC that drew renewed attention to the possibility of a direct critical 'effect' (jieguo) on politics and everyday life. Here, the concept of 'criticality' will be discussed in relation to the 'publicness' of performance art as a way of examining the social relevance of experimental art as a focus for social change within the PRC.


Blocking the interleukin‐2 receptor's α‐chain in lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus‐infected mice by treatment with monoclonal antibodies diminished the increase of numbers of CD8+ T lymphocytes in spleens and prevented CD8+ T lymphocyte‐mediated virus clearance from organs as well as generation of virus‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Also, the CD8+ T cell‐mediated early phase of the delayed‐type hypersensitivity footpad swelling reaction was decreased. The same treatment had no effect on the number of CD4+ spleen T lymphocytes, which, however, did not enlarge during infection, but these cells' heightened DNA synthesis and cytokine production were reduced by antibody treatment; yet the generation of antiviral antibodies remained unaffected, and the CD4+ T lymphocyte‐mediated second part of the footpad reaction was somewhat augmented. We conclude that blocking of the interleukin‐2 receptor by antibody in lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus‐infected mice diminishes both CD8+ and CD4+ T cell‐mediated antiviral immune responses, the former more than the latter.


The increased need for power generation has led to exploration of the untapped naturally available, renewable
energy sources. The researchers worldwide focus on the application of green engineering principles with the motive to create lesser or zero pollution of the environment. Ocean currents possess remarkable potential capability to generate power, worldwide. The average global tidal current velocity is 1.4 m/sec and the power generated by the horizontal axis ocean current turbine is influenced by the velocity of the marine currents. In the current study, a CFD analysis is performed using Ansys Workbench Fluent® to decide the shape of the diffuser to be added to the turbine and swirl inducers to increase the turbulence, which creates the increase in velocity of the fluid flow. The effect of shroud parameters (dimension, inclination, attachments) on the flow velocity and performance is studied. The study enables to decide the shape of the shroud to be added to the turbine. In addition, a performance analysis of the turbine is carried by
varying the configuration of the swirl inducers. The swirl inducers influence the further enhancement of the tidal
current velocity. In the current study, two swirl model configurations explored in the study, the second model extracted more power output in comparison to the first model. However, the results show that diffuser with swirl around the turbine can further accelerate the water at the entrance and a velocity coefficient up to 1.995. The turbine shall be located at a distance approx. 0.4 m to 0.7 m from the swirl inducer. Hence, the introduction of the shroud and the swirl inducers in the horizontal axis turbine is an effective way to improve its performance.


We present an x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) study performed on both Ho{sub 6}Fe{sub 23} and Y{sub 6}Fe{sub 23} compounds as a function of the temperature. The combined analysis of both Fe K-edge and Ho L{sub 2,3}-edge XMCD spectra recorded through the magnetic compensation transition allows us to disentangle the thermal dependence of both Fe and Ho magnetic moments in Ho{sub 6}Fe{sub 23}. In addition, contributions from Ho ions to the Fe K-edge XMCD signals and, conversely, from Fe ions to the Ho L{sub 2,3}-edge XMCD spectra have been clearly identified. These extra contributions, arising from the strong Fe(3d)-Ho(5d) hybridization, have been isolated from the spectra and correlated with the magnetic state of both Ho and Fe ions surrounding the absorbing site. The influence of these contributions to the values of the orbital and spin moments derived by using sum rule analysis is also shown.


In view of the non-linear, uncertain and complicated characteristics of the combustion system in hot-blast stove, referring to the operating experiences at home and abroad, a fuzzy self-adaptive controller was used for controlling the temperature of the waste gas. The results of simulated and practical application have proved that the system is able to enhance the heat-transfer efficiency, stabilize the furnace condition, economize the energy and simplify the operating procedure.


Despite growing support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States, the Southeastern region continues to pass legislation that discriminates against those who do not fit normative notions of sexuality and gender. This opposition affects LGBT students and the teachers who identify as LGBT activists. This study of two years of data is an analysis of one novice teacher's efforts to advocate on behalf of LGBT students despite the resistance that she faced from sociocultural factors influencing her students, classroom, and her teaching practices. An examination of the social, cultural, and political limitations she faced suggest that research advocating curricular changes and findings suggesting that teachers resist sexuality- and gender-based topics ignore the many sociocultural factors acting on educators in the Southeastern US as they strive to be LGBT activists.


This paper describes a forward error control scheme designed for use with BADD (Battlefield Awareness and Data Dissemination) and GBS (Global Broadcast Service). The error events encountered will consist primarily of dropped data packets resulting in erased data rather than errors. The scheme is designed to recover large amounts of lost data (of the order of several megabytes) using low coding overhead (of the order of 10%) and is thus applicable for large messages only. The scheme is designed for implementation at the application level, so the minimisation of the computational complexity is the primary design constraint. The scheme is based on multidimensional Reed-Solomon product codes and uses a sub-optimal but computationally feasible decoding procedure.


Extra-musculoskeletal manifestations (EMMs) are common in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA), but there are limited data on the impact of upadacitinib (UPA), an oral JAK inhibitor, on EMMs in SpA patients.To assess the development of EMMs among patients with PsA, AS, or non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) treated with UPA 15 mg (UPA15) or placebo (PBO) in the SELECT clinical trial program.This analysis includes safety data from UPA trials in PsA (2 trials),[1,2]AS (2 trials),[3,4]and nr-axSpA (1 trial).[5]All trials were designed with initial randomization to UPA or PBO for a pre-specified number of weeks, followed by a second open-label extension where PBO-treated patients were switched to UPA. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) of EMMs, including uveitis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and psoriasis, were assessed; as psoriasis is considered a core manifestation of PsA, it was only evaluated as an EMM in AS and nr-axSpA.[6]TEAEs were defined as an AE with onset on or after first dose of study drug and ≤30 days after last dose and summarized for PsA (pooled PBO to week 24 and pooled UPA15 to data cut-off [15 Aug 2022]), AS (pooled PBO to week 14 and pooled UPA15 to data cut-off), and nr-axSpA (PBO to week 52 and UPA15 to data cut-off). EMMs are reported as exposure-adjusted event rates (EAERs; events/100 patient years [E/100 PY]) and are stratified by patients with a reported history (flare) of the respective EMM vs those without a history (new onset).The vast majority (92-99%) of patients across PsA, AS, and nr-axSpA did not have a prior history of EMMs at baseline (Table 1). In PsA, development of uveitis and IBD were low regardless of treatment or prior history (Figure 1). In AS, development of uveitis was numerically higher (E/100 PY [95% CI]) in patients treated with PBO (total: 7.5 [2.7, 16.3]) vs UPA15 (total: 2.8 [1.8, 4.1]) and in patients with a prior history of uveitis (PBO: 6.2 [2.0, 14.5], UPA15: 2.1 [1.3, 3.3]) vs no prior history (PBO: 1.2 [0.0, 6.9]; UPA15: 0.6 [0.2, 1.4]); occurrence of IBD and psoriasis were low regardless of treatment or prior history. In nr-axSpA, development of uveitis was low regardless of prior history, while the total rate was numerically higher in patients treated with PBO (2.1 [0.4, 6.3]) vs UPA15 (0.9 [0.2, 2.7]); occurrence of IBD and psoriasis were low or absent.Data from this post-hoc analysis describe adverse events of relevant EMMs in the SELECT program and should be interpretated with caution as the efficacy of UPA in patients with specific EMMs was not systematically evaluated, as well as the overall low number of events observed. Development of EMMs in patients treated with UPA15 was generally low across PsA, AS, and nr-axSpA. Uveitis was numerically higher in patients treated with PBO vs UPA, and particularly in patients with AS. A better understanding of the impact of UPA across EMMs in SpA, and subsequent follow-up analyses, may help clinicians make informed treatment decisions and guide future treatment recommendations.[1]McInnes et al.N Eng J Med. 2021;384(13):1227-39.[2]Mease et al.Ann Rheum Dis. 2021;80(3):312-20.[3]van der Heijde et al.Lancet. 2019;394(10214):2108-17.[4]van der Heijde et al.Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;81(11):1515-23.[5]Deodhar et al.Lancet. 2022;400(10349):369-79.[6]Coates et al.Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2022;18(8):465-479.Table 1.Prior History of EMMs Reported at Baseline in Patients Treated With UPA Across PsA, AS, and nr-axSpAPsAASnr-axSpAEMM, n (%)PBO n=635UPA 15 mg QDan=907PBO n=303UPA 15 mg QDan=596PBO n=157UPA 15 mg QDan=286Uveitis5 (0.8)8 (0.9)23 (7.6)49 (8.2)11 (7.0)21 (7.3)Inflammatory bowel disease10 (1.6)13 (1.4)7 (2.3)16 (2.7)6 (3.8)8 (2.8)PsoriasisN/AbN/Ab10 (3.3)19 (3.2)4 (2.5)7 (2.4)N/A, not applicable; QD, once daily; UPA.aAny UPA exposure, including patients who switched from PBO to UPA.bAs psoriasis is considered a core manifestation of PsA, it was only evaluated as an EMM in AS and nr-axSpA.AbbVie funded these studies (NCT03104400,NCT03104374,NCT03178487,NCT04169373) and participated in the study design, research, analysis, data collection, interpretation of data, reviewing, and approval of the publication. All authors had access to relevant data and participated in the drafting, review, and approval of this publication. No honoraria or payments were made for authorship. Medical writing support was provided by Monica R.P. Elmore, PhD of AbbVie.Denis Poddubnyy Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Biocad, BMS, Galapagos, Gilead, GSK, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Medscape, MoonLake, Novartis, Peervoice, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, and UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, Biocad, BMS, Galapagos, Gilead, GSK, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Medscape, MoonLake, Novartis, Peervoice, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, and Pfizer, Bhumik Parikh Shareholder of: Employee of AbbVie and may hold stock or options, Employee of: AbbVie, Dirk Elewaut Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Consultant of: AbbVie, Victoria Navarro-Compán Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, MoonLake, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, BMS, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, MoonLake, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, MoonLake, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB, Stefan Siebert Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Amgen, Eli Lilly, GSK, Janssen, and UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Eli Lilly, GSK, Janssen, and UCB, Grant/research support from: Amgen, Boehringer-Ingelheim, BMS, Eli Lilly, GSK, Janssen and UCB, Michael Paley Consultant of: AbbVie and Priovant Therapeutics, Grant/research support from: Lilly, Derek Coombs Shareholder of: Employee of AbbVie and may hold stock or options, Employee of: AbbVie, Reva McCaskill Shareholder of: Employee of AbbVie and may hold stock or options, Employee of: AbbVie, Ana Biljan Shareholder of: Employee of AbbVie and may hold stock or options, Employee of: AbbVie, Peter Wung Shareholder of: Employee of AbbVie and may hold stock or options, Employee of: AbbVie, Ennio Lubrano Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Celgene, Galapagos, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, and Pfizer, Consultant of: AbbVie, Celgene, Galapagos, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, and Pfizer, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Celgene, Galapagos, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, and Pfizer.


The urban math teachers and the rural math teachers show to a certain degree differences in the adaptation to new curriculum due to a variety of conditions.In order to clarify the interaction of implementation of the new curriculum and math teachers' adaptability,to find out the basis to balance the educational differences between urban and rural areas,to improve the level of educational theories and teaching practice of math teachers,to give reference on theory and practice for teachers' transition,growth and smooth implementation of the new curriculum,and to give reference for setting up teacher's specialized courses and training new teachers,a self-designed questionnaire researches 198 teachers in 10 aspects,the results of which show that urban and rural math teachers' adaptability to new curriculum is not very satisfactory on the whole,and the differences are quite obvious.


"By disrupting adenosine signaling in the auditory thalamus, we have extended the window for auditory learning for the longest period yet reported, well into adulthood and far beyond the usual critical period in mice," said corresponding author Stanislav Zakharenko, M.D., Ph.D., a member of the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. "These results offer a promising strategy to extend the same window in humans to acquire language or musical ability by restoring plasticity in critical regions of the brain, possibly by developing drugs that selectively block adenosine activity."


In this study, zinc, cobalt and nickel phthalocyanine compounds bearing the 4-(2-phenylprop-2-yl)phenoxy) substituent were prepared. Here, a new practical method for synthesis was used. This method significantly shortens the synthesis time. This method is very effective for the reaction to take place in a short time and at a lower temperature. Additionally, these compounds were examined for their aggregation and photodegredation properties. The aggregation was studied in concentration range of 1x10-5-1x10-6 M in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The photodegradation properties of phthalocyanine complexes under light irradiation were also investigated in chloroform (CHCl3).


A nocturnal dose of a histamine2-receptor antagonist (H2RA) is commonly added to proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy for patients with persistent


Real-time high-resolution ultrasonography of the pelvic organs was performed in 140 healthy females aged 2-18 years. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of polycystic ovaries during normal pubertal development. The volume of the ovaries was calculated and ovarian structure was classified as homogeneous, microcystic, multycystic, polycystic and follicular. The volume of the ovaries increased and the ovarian structure varied according to sexual development. The ovaries exhibited a polycystic appearance in 8% of the cases (two prepubertal and nine postpubertal girls). The volume of the ovaries was normal in 8/11 patients with polycystic ovaries. We consider that the using of the volume of the ovaries as a diagnostic criterion for polycystic ovaries is difficult to interpret and we emphasize the importance of the evaluation of the ovarian stroma with ultrasound. An attractive hypothesis that needs confirmation by longitudinal studies is wether girls with ultrasound diagnosed polycystic ovaries are at risk of developing polycystic ovarian syndrome in adulthood.


How accurate are the estimates of retail sales which are used so widely as market guides? Estimates by Standard Rate and Data Service and by Sales Management are those most commonly used. The 1954 Census of Retail Trade provides a basis for gauging the accuracy of the estimates, both for counties and cities. The following article reveals some of the errors in retail-sales estimates. Consideration is also given to evidence of bias, and to the correlation of errors with size of county and city, and with geographical location.


Various methods have been proposed for the evaluation of reservoir rock wettability. Among them, Amott–Harvey and USBM are the most commonly used approaches in industry. Some other methods, such as the Lak and modified Lak indices, the normalized water fractional flow curve, Craig's triple rules of thumb, and the modified Craig's second rule are based on relative permeability data. In this study, a set of capillary pressure curves and relative permeability experiments was conducted on 19 core plug samples from a carbonate reservoir to evaluate and compare different quantitative and qualitative wettability indicators. We found that the results of relative permeability-based approaches were consistent with those of Amott–Harvey and USBM methods. We also investigated the relationship between wettability indices and rock quality indicators RQI, FZI, and Winland R35. Results showed that as the rock quality indicators increased, the samples became more oil-wet.


A wide-area control problem of power systems based on wide-area measurement system (WAMS) is investigated. Via discrete dynamic output-feedback control, a closed-loop power system is modeled as a discrete-time networked control system considering both network-induced delay and random data packet dropout in the communication network of WAMS. The network-induced delay is assumed to have an upper bound; the random data packet dropout is described by a Bernoulli random binary distribution. Next, exponential mean-square stability conditions for the power system are established, and linear matrix inequality based methods are presented to design a wide-area damping controller. Finally, nonlinear simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The membrane separation is a new practical technique with wide applications. This paper introduces the course of its development, theorem and feature, and the usage of its module. Its application in the research and production is reviewed. Its existent questions in the applications presently are analyzed and the relevant resolvents are brought forward.


The magnetron injection gun (MIG) has been the predominant choice as the electron-beam generator in gyrodevices and it can be tuned by externally installed magnetic-field trim coils. The double-anode MIG, traditionally employed in most experiments, has the intermediate anode as an internal tuning mechanism. The single-anode design, on the other hand, is simpler to construct but lacks an internal beam tuning mechanism. The current paper describes a method to allow mechanical tuning of the MIG. Since the tip of the cathode is located in the region of the highest electric-field gradient, its extension and retraction relative to the rest of the cathode assembly provide an effective means for local electric-field profile modification and, therefore, a tuning mechanism for the electron-beam property and quality. It is demonstrated, in computer simulations and experimental tests, that the tuning mechanism adds a useful degree of freedom to the single-anode MIG for beam optimization. This method may also be applied to the double-anode design.


We propose a simple seasonal autoregressive model with a linear trend to forecast the Central England Temperature record. The data is divided into three distinct epochs: pre-industrial revolution, post-industrial revolution, and 21st. Century. An AR(3)xSAR(8) seasonal autoregressive model with linear trend is identified as describing the data for the pre-I.R. period. That model structure is estimated independently on the post-I.R. data. We compare the functional forms of the models and their relative skill in forecasting the temperature during the 21st. Century, during which time both models are out-of-sample. We find that the post-I.R. model possesses a warming trend at a borderline level of statistical significance (2.6 sigma). However, the pre-I.R. model without the warming trend does a better job of forecasting the 21st. Century temperature record than the post-I.R. model.


This paper describes the design of a variable structure PID controller using genetic algorithms for compliant motion control. This VSPID has a structure similar to that of a simple PID controller where the PD mode is used to speed up response, whereas the PI mode is applied to eliminate the steady state offset. Flexible changes of the controller modes and parameter values of the VSPID could therefore solve the conflict in nature between steady state accuracy and dynamic responsiveness. Due to the difficulties encountered in the application of traditional analytical and numerical methods for the design of variable structure systems, micro-genetic algorithm (uGA) is used for the determination of the different controller parameters. uGA is known to converge rapidly with optimal or near optimal results. In order to demonstrate the design procedure, the compliant motion control of a robot arm is used. Taking the integral of the absolute error as the performance measure it reveals that the proposed VSPID is better than the simple PID controller.


During the 19th and 20th centuries, engineering works have modified the functioning of the river Rhone giving priority to navigation, hydroelectric power production, irrigation, urban and industrial wastewater collection. Today, the river's management needs to take account of society's demand for the development of environmental quality standards and the protection of natural ecosystems. As a result, an action plan has been implemented to restore aquatic communities through improvements to the river, especially in by-pass river sections, aquatic floodplain habitats and floodplain forests, and through the restoration of migration routes for long-distance migrating fish. Examples are given of operations which are underway : methodological developments, pilot operations to restore by-pass sections and the restoration of migration routes and reproduction areas for the migrating fish (Alosa fallax, twaite shad). Study of the technical aspects is completed by emphasizing the role of local partners in the realisation of projects.


A systematic study of the electronic structures of sphalerite containing fourteen kinds of natural impurities was performed by the density functional theory.The results show that Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Cu,Cd,Hg,Ag,Pb,and Sb impurities narrow the bandgap of sphalerite and cause the absorption edge to increase.For all impurities except Cd and Hg,the Fermi level shifts to a higher energy level and impurity levels appear in the forbidden band.Fe,Ga,Ge,In,Sn,and Sb impurities change the sphalerite from a p-type to a n-type semiconductor while Mn,Co,Ni,Cu,Cd,Hg,Ag,and Pb impurities have no effect.Cu impurity changes the sphalerite from a direct bandgap to an indirect bandgap type semiconductor.


In recent years, electronic commerce has maintained stable and rapid development in our country. Electronic payment instrument is the product of the development of electronic commerce. Compared with developed countries, the hardware equipment of electronic commerce payment instrument in China is still relatively backward, and technology of payment security still needs to be improved. This paper mainly elaborated the requirements of the security of electronic commerce payment instrument in our country, and put forward the basic countermeasures of the security of electronic commerce payment, in order to provide a theoretical support to promote the healthy and stable development of electronic commerce in China.


Students at Para Los Ninos in Los Angeles will speak with a NASA astronaut living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 12:55 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 22. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.


In this paper, we investigate connectivity probability of ns of deployment are model by 2D Gaussian distribution with zero-mean for the triangle, grid and hexagon topologies. Thus, the k-connectivity performance is studied through the outage probability of CDMA signal links. Simulation results show that with a minimum requirements SIR0 = -10.7dB, the three topologies can perform 3-connectivity for small variation σN ≤ 0.07. Furthermore, with SIR0 = -12dB, 3-connectivity performance can be achieved with variation range by 0.08, 0.083 and 0.085 for the triangle, grid and hexagon topologies, respectively.


This study aims to provide empirical evidence related to the effect leverage, growth, audit tanure and opini audit on earning management. The research sample is mining companies in Indonesia Stock Exchange periode 2013-2017 consisted of 100 companies. The data analysis technique used in this study is multiple regression analysis. Hypothesis test results indicate that leverage and growth has a negative influence on earning management. Meanwhile, audit tanure and opini audit have no effect on earning management.


ABSTRACT The area of micro strip antennas has seen some inventive work in recent years and is currently one of the most dynamic fields of antenna theory. An overview of work done in the area of micro strip antennas is presented and several recent developments in the field are highlighted. In addition, new antenna configurations that improve electrical performance and manufacturability are described. This designing is very easy and chip in microstrip antenna designing. We analyzed micro strip antenna in IE3D by finite moment of method. The proposed antenna design on different substrate and analyzed result of both substrates between 1GHz to 20GHz,When the proposed antenna design on a 31 mil RT DUROID 5880 substrate from Rogers-Corp with dielectric constant of 2.2 and loss tangent of .004. At 14GHz the verify and tested result on IE3D SIMULATOR are Return loss = -10.35dB, VSWR=1.872, Directivity=6dbi, Z=32.94Ω Characteristic impedance, and when The proposed antenna design on a 60 mil RO4003 substrate from Rogers-Corp with dielectric constant of 3.4 and loss tangent of .002. At 10GHz the effective results of RO4003 substrate verify and tested on IE3D SIMULATOR are Return loss = -21.34dB, VSWR=1.192, Directivity=8dbi, Z=42.31Ω Characteristic impedance, Axial ratio (at theta=90deg) =96%. The optimum 60 mil RO4003 substrate E Shape microstrip patch antenna provides very good results between 10GHz to 20GHz, All results shown in Simulation results. The results shown in Table 1, Table2,


The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core spacecraft is being developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). The GPM is a follow-on mission of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The objectives of the GPM mission are to observe global precipitation more frequently and accurately than TRMM. The frequent precipitation measurement about every three hours will be achieved by some constellation satellites with microwave radiometers (MWRs) or microwave sounders (MWSs), which will be developed by various countries. The accurate measurement of precipitation in mid-high latitudes will be achieved by the DPR. The GPM core satellite is a joint product of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), JAXA and NICT. NASA is developing the satellite bus and the GPM microwave radiometer (GMI), and JAXA and NICT are developing the DPR. JAXA and NICT are developing the DPR through procurement. The contractor for DPR is NEC TOSHIBA Space Systems, Ltd. The configuration of precipitation measurement using an active radar and a passive radiometer is similar to TRMM. The major difference is that DPR is used in GPM instead of the precipitation radar (PR) in TRMM. The inclination of the core spacecraft is 65 degrees, and the flight altitude is about 407 km. The non-sun-synchronous circular orbit is necessary for measuring the diurnal change of rainfall similarly to TRMM. The DPR consists of two radars, which are Ku-band (13.6 GHz) precipitation radar (KuPR) and Ka-band (35.55 GHz) precipitation radar (KaPR). According to the different detectable dynamic ranges, The KaPR will detect snow and light rain, and the KuPR will detect heavy rain. In an effective dynamic range in both KuPR and KaPR, drop size distribution information and more accurate rainfall estimates will be provided by a dual-frequency algorithm. The proto-flight test for DPR have finished in February 2012 and DPR integration on GPM core spacecraft was successfully completed in May 2012. The status of proto-flight model of DPR will be presented.


The tire tread presents a thickness T20 and a sipe (30) having a length and a depth d3o extending into the tread thickness in a direction away from an outer, ground-engaging side of the tread. The sipe articulates between an open configuration and a closed configuration as the tire rotates during tire operation. The sipe has a variable-width W30 extending transverse to the sipe length and transverse to the depth in the open configuration, the variable-width being defined by a pair of opposing sipe sides (34). The variable-width decreases as the depth increases into the tread thickness in a direction away from the outer, ground-engaging side. The opposing sipe sides substantially engage each other at substantially the same time in the closed configuration.


In this study, the feasibility of ammonium and total nitrogen (TN) removal from aqueous solution using a simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process was studied in a membraneless (single chamber) bio-electrochemical system with a novel electrode. The main objectives were to synthesize a polypyrrole/microbial cellulose (PPy/MC) composite and utilize it as a novel electrode material. To determine the mechanical properties of PPy/MC, the tensile strength and Young's modulus were investigated. A biofilm was prepared using the fabricated electrode during the first few weeks. Effective parameters such as initial ammonium concentrations (NH4+ ∼ 15–150 mg N L−1), HRT (6–72 h), carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio ∼ 0–4), current intensity (2–10 mA), and pH (6.5–8.5) were evaluated. The following optimum values were obtained: HRT, 24 h; C/N ratio, 2; electric current, 6 mA; and pH, 7–7.5 at a constant ammonium concentration of 77.77 mg N L−1. It can be concluded from the experimental data that under optimal conditions about 97.42 and 62.47% of ammonium and TN were removed successfully, respectively.


The use of social science research in reaching a judicial decision with broad societal implications dovetails with the emerging push for evidence-based policies regarding criminal procedure issues....


ObjectiveTo study management mode of medical records filing and improve the medical records filing rate.MethodsRetrospective study was used to determine the difference of three-day filing rate by application of novel or tradition archiving method respectively in two quarters.ResultsThe higher medical records filed rate was observed when novel medical archiving mode had been adopted(P0.05).ConclusionThe new model of medical archive management is superior to the traditional one in filling rate,and can greatly improve the satisfaction of staffs of case department as well as doctors and nurses.


Special libraries have emerged out as efficient information catering organizations with exquisite tools to meet the never saturating demands of the information seekers. Still due to time, budgetary and staff constraints it is not an easy task to provide quality services let alone value added services.Really Simple syndication or Rich Site Summary is a part of push technologies used to speed up on-time and up-to-date information dissemination. In other words it can be said that RSS is a newer version of Current Awareness Service.. RSS feeds are used to share and deliver information spontaneously to the patrons. RSS are either posted on the website or read through RSS readers (eg. Bloglines and Google Reader). RSS in special libraries are used to - update web page contents, alert new additions in the online catalogue, give notifications, inform overdue materials, display new programs and events in the library, create electronic newsletter of the library, reflect press releases and media advisories, display job openings, create reading list, table of contents, provide current awareness and guides etc. This poster would outline what's and how's of RSS feeds and their applications in the special libraries. Furthermore sample demonstration of RSS feed creation, editing, downloading and hosting on the web page through freely available RSS feed software will be made.


This work evaluates the use of a synthetic NaP1 zeolite obtained from a hazardous Al-containing waste for the removal of ammonium (NH4+) from aqueous solutions by batch experiments. Experimental parameters, such as pH (6–8), contact time (1–360 min), adsorbent dose (1–15 g/L), and initial NH4+ concentration (10–1500 mg/L), were evaluated. Adsorption kinetic models and equilibrium isotherms were determined by using nonlinear regression. The kinetic was studied by applying both the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. The equilibrium isotherms were analyzed according to two-parameter equations (Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin) and three-parameter equations (Redlich–Peterson, Sips, and Toth). The results showed that the NH4+ uptake on NaP1 was fast (15 min) leading to a high experimental sorption capacity (37.9 mg/g). The NH4+ removal on NaP1 was a favorable process that followed the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The NH4+ adsorption was better described by the Sips (54.2 mg/g) and Toth (58.5 mg/g) models. NaP1 zeolite from Al-waste showed good NH4+ sorption properties, becoming a potential adsorbent to be used in the treatment of contaminated aqueous effluents. Thus, a synergic effect on the environmental protection can be achieved: the end of waste condition of a hazardous waste and the water decontamination.


Abstract : A macroscopic description of electron transport in semiconductors has recently been developed (M. G. Ancona and H. F. Tiersten, Phys. Rev. B35-II, 7959 (1987)) in which the equation of state of the electron gas was generalized to permit a dependence on the gradient of the gas density. This generalization leads to a macroscopic theory - density-gradient theory - which is often expressible as a generalized diffusion-drift description and which is capable of describing quantum transport phenomena associated with carrier confinement and tunneling. The original paper contained a derivation of this description from well known principles of classical field theory but only in a very condensed form. It is the purpose of the present report to supplement the earlier paper by giving the detailed derivations. As in the original paper two methods of derivation are presented: One is a variational approach which follows the work of Toupin while the other uses a balance law approach pioneered by Green and Rivlin. Keywords: Electron transport, Semiconductors.


prepare for and succeed in community-oriented careers such as fire service and law enforcement. Susan Bracken's Chapter 4 demonstrates the importance of communication in developing productive relationships among partners. She points out that using the same vocabulary is no guarantee that partners are communicating effectively. This case provides an example of miscommunication and the way it was identified and addressed by partnership leaders. Chapter 5, by Jesse S. Watson, is the final example of a successful partnership, this one achieved by K-12 school district, a community college, and a university. The success of this partnership is explained, at least in part, by various forms of capital such as social and organizational capital. Part 2 provides an overview of three unsuccessful partnerships, and the authors of each case analysis interrogate the circumstances for insights and lessons learned. In Chapter 6, Pamela L. Eddy describes tensions among five two-year technical colleges that partnered as a way of circling the wagons in a hostile political climate. The partnership was a success in that the colleges survived threats to close the colleges; however, the partnership splintered into two regimes, which the authors attribute to campus-based protectionism, unclear objectives, inadequate or nonexistent feedback loops, and authoritarian mandates from systemlevel administrators. Consequently, commitment to the partnership never fully materialized. Chapter 7, by Patricia L. Farrell and Kim Allan Seifert, identifies problems associated with a dual-enrollment program. Lessons learned from this less-than-successful partnership are described in terms of academic standards, faculty standards, coordination, state policy, college preparation, and evaluation. Part 2 concludes with an account of the life and death of a partnership involving seven university education departments and four community colleges. Although the partnership served an important purpose for many years, it succumbed to a evolving institutional ecology and was terminated. The final section of the book includes two chapters. In Chapter 9, Debra D. Bragg and Maxine L. Russman situate a partnership in a state policy context. This chapter is an important contribution to the volume because it accounts for the impact of the external political climate on educational partnerships. Finally, Ozaki, Amey, and Watson return to the model presented in Chapter 1 and, in Chapter 10, conclude that this model adequately captures the successes and failures of the partnerships described in the volume. At the same time, however, they expand the model to include social and organizational capital, which emerged as factors associated with successful partnerships. The chapter concludes with recommendations for policy. The contributors to this book do not assume that partnerships are win-win situations, although one might draw such a conclusion from related literature and political rhetoric. Instead, the authors ask difficult questions about who benefits from the partnership, who does not, what costs accrue and to whom, what the benefits are and for whom, and the extent to which partnerships are sustainable. They acknowledge that a combination of accountability mandates, funding inadequacies, and "knowledge-economy" discourses about seamless education construct a political economy in which partnerships are viewed as common-sense solutions to what are viewed as institutional crises. The authors do not question the social forces that contribute to such a politically fraught economic environment, and I found the tacit accommodation of these forces disturbing. The authors take a pragmatic view of partnerships, however, which is appropriate given their audience: educators and policymakers who confront difficult situations on a daily basis. For these practitioners, this volume imparts wisdom and warnings. Educational partnerships can indeed lead to synergistic movement toward institutional goals; however, neither synergy nor success is guaranteed.


The hydraulic conductivity,which is an important indicator for the water movement in unsaturated soil,is an essential parameter for the study on the transformation rule of surface water-soil water-groundwater,the forecast and prediction of farmland soil moisture and the study on the movement rule of regional water and salt.This paper introduces the experimental methods,experimental apparatus and experimental procedures of the horizontal soil column method in determining soil's hydraulic conductivity,makes detailed record of the whole course and conclusion data of the experiment of the soil specimen in a certain area,and makes analytical comparison of the experimental results.


A number of musical and cultural initiatives that aim at fostering ecological values and sustainable development took place in the Iberian Peninsula within the past fifteen years. This relationship between music and ecology has been recently studied in Portugal and Spain (Pestana 2009; Sanfeliu 2010). The analysis presented here, based on fieldwork, archival and on-line research, focuses on three festivals held in northeastern Portugal, in a region bordering with Spain: Festival de Ecologia, Artes e Tradicoes Populares "Sons&Ruralidades", Festival Itinerante da Cultura Tradicional "L Burro i L Gueiteiro", and Festival Interceltico de Sendim . These case studies provide data and insights on the relation between music, ecology and sustainable development.


In the past 20 years, the ecosystem of the areas along the Lake Taihu has depredated seriously and the quality of the ecological environment goes from bad to worse, which has resulted in the water shortage owing to the water quality in the basin and exorcises often occurs. Its negative impact day by day on the sustainable development of the regional economic society in the Yangtze River Delta, and it shows a tendency to spread. In this new era, having ecological civilization and sustainable development in mind, it is a must to speed the construction of the ecological area along the Lake Taihu. This article, applying the symbiotic theory, analyzes the relevant symbiotic relations to the construction of the ecological area along the Lake Taihu, and bears an idea that the ideal mode of organization of the construction shall be an integrated symbiosis, and that of behavior shall be the symmetrical mutual symbiosis. During the construction of the ecological area along the Lake Taihu, it shall be a must to strengthen some regional cooperation and chain reaction, attach much importance to the advancement of system. On the one hand, it′s necessary to reconstruct and administrate the ecology. On the other hand, it′s necessary to stress the conversion of style of economic increase and the industrial upgrading and transition. It should not only speed the improvement of various rules and operating mechanism, but make great effort to strengthen the awareness of environment and responsibility from the interests′ subject and the whole society as well.


Usually PID controller does not posses the disturbance rejection capability. The internal model control (IMC) brings in a very good performance for set point tracking, but gives lethargic response for disturbance rejection problem. The study proposes a systematic procedure for pole-placement & IMC for PID controller tuning. The proposed control strategy is implemented in Cascaded 5 level inverter type dynamic voltage restorer (DVR). The case studies are presented to test the performance of the proposed control strategy. The test circuit is developed in Matlab/simulink and the results are presented to validate the proposed strategy.


The present invention relates to a cover for package stacking group, comprising the steps of: a flat pick up the empty package (12) comprising an inlet (25); an inlet adjacent to a package (12) (25) is fixed vacuum terminal (8) and to maintain the enclosure (12) is rectilinear; maintaining the vacuum terminal (8) is activated, to retain the package (12) and creating an air flow toward the enclosure (12) an inlet (25) to open an inlet enclosure (12); maintaining the vacuum terminal (8) is activated, thereby opening the inlet retention enclosure (12) and the package (12) (25) fitted into the supply opening (5); and group stacked lid (6) to the (12) inside the package, the cap group (6) through the supply opening (5) and the package (12) an inlet (25) until the inner package (12). The present invention further relates to an apparatus for packaging a group of stacked lid.


In recent times, as is known, various methods of multi-criteria analysis are used more and more in order to evaluate the efficiency of financial institutions as accurately as possible. One of them is MABAC (Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison) method. Bearing that in mind, this paper analyzes the efficiency of banks in Serbia based on this method. The results of the research on the efficiency of banks in Serbia based on the MABAC method show that Banca Intesa ad Beograd is in first place. The ranking of banks in Serbia according to the MABAC method was influenced by numerous macro and micro factors (economic climate, foreign direct investments, exchange rate, inflation, employment, living standards of the population, financing of infrastructure projects and debts). The impact of the Covid-19 corona virus pandemic on the efficiency of banks in Serbia is negative. A reduced number of employees was recorded and credit activities were "frozen". This also affected the efficiency of banks in Serbia. In order to improve the efficiency of banks in Serbia in the future, it is necessary to manage human resources, assets, capital, income and profit as efficiently as possible.


Based on emotional response theory (ERT), recent researchers have observed connections between teachers' communication behaviors and students' emotional reactions. In the present study, we further elaborated ERT by exploring the effects of teacher communication behaviors and emotional processes on discrete negative emotions, including anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom. Using cross-sectional survey data, we tested a hypothesized predictive model using structural equation modeling; the model was observed to fit well with the data. When teachers lack immediacy, are unclear, and/or demonstrate poor communication competence, students tend to report heightened negative emotional reactions. These effects are mediated by students' perceptions of social support from their teacher and their perceived need for emotion work in the class. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.


ANCA associated vasculitides (AAV) are a heterogeneous group of rare diseases with unknown etiology and the clinical spectrum ranging from life-threatening systemic disease, through single organ involvement to minor isolated skin changes. Thus there is an unmet need for phenotype identification especially among patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis GPA, patients with microscopic polyangiitis MPA group seems to be more uniform. Recently, based on previous clustering analysis and clinical, histopathological, serological and prognostic aspects three subcategories of AAV have been proposed and named as: non-severe AAV, severe PR3-AAV and severe MPO-AAV [1].In line with these attempts to subcategorize AAV we decided to use latent class analysis (LCA) on a large multicenter cohort of polish AAV patients from POLVAS [2] registry to identify potential new subphenotypes or confirm already proposed ones.Latent Class Analysis (LCA) approach was used as a model based clustering method of objects described by dichotomous (e.g., gender; ANCA status – cANCA, pANCA; organ involvement - skin, eye, ENT, respiratory, heart, GI, renal, urinary, CNS, peripheral nerves) and polytomous (number of relapses) variables supported by quantitative covariates (e.g., age at diagnosis, CRP at diagnosis, maximal serum creatinine concentration ever).Results of LCA on our AAV group returned four class model of AAV subphenotypes, confirming existence of the previously proposed by Mahr at al. [1] and revealed fourth – previously not described clinically relevant subphenotype. To this fourth class - belong patients only with GPA, diagnosed at young age, with multiorgan involvement, high relapse rate and relatively high risk of death.Table 1.AAV subcategorization – summary of clinical characteristics and ANCA specificityLCA Class 1LCA Class 2LCA Class 3LCA Class 4No of patients13019410297AAV typeMainly GPAMainly GPAmainly MPAOnly GPAAge at diagnosisMiddle ageMiddle ageOldYoungMale/female ratio1:22:11:11:1Main organ involvementENT, respiratory, eyeRenal, respiratory, ENTRenal, respiratory, skinMultiorgan involvementRelapse rateintermediateintermediatelowhighModified class description (based on ref. [1])Non severe AAVSevere PR3 AAVSevere MPO AAVSevere non-renalPR3 AAVBased on multiple clinical and serological variables LCA methodology identified 4-class subphenotypes model of AAV. Fourth-class is a new clinically important subphenotype including exclusively PR3-positive young AAV patients with multiorgan involvement, high risk of relapse and distinct mortality.[1]Mahr A, Specks U, Jayne D. Subclassifying ANCA-associated vasculitis: a unifying view of disease spectrum. Rheumatol Oxf Engl 2019;58:1707–9.https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kez148.[2]Wójcik K, Wawrzycka-Adamczyk K, Włudarczyk A, Sznajd J, Zdrojewski Z, Masiak A, i in. Clinical characteristics of Polish patients with ANCA-associated vasculitides—retrospective analysis of POLVAS registry. Clinical Rheumatology. 1 wrzesień 2019;38(9):2553–63.Krzysztof Wójcik: None declared, Adam Ćmiel: None declared, Anna Masiak: None declared, Zbigniew Zdrojewski: None declared, Radoslaw Jeleniewicz: None declared, Maria Majdan Consultant of: Roche, Amgen, Speakers bureau: Roche, Amgen, Iwona Brzosko: None declared, Marek Brzosko: None declared, Piotr Głuszko: None declared, Małgorzata Stasiek: None declared, Małgorzata Wisłowska: None declared, Joanna Kur-Zalewska: None declared, Marta Madej: None declared, Anna Hawrot-Kawecka: None declared, Hanna Storoniak: None declared, Barbara Bułło-Piontecka: None declared, Alicja Dębska-Ślizień: None declared, Eugeniusz Kucharz: None declared, Katarzyna Jakuszko: None declared, Jacek Musiał: None declared


Abstract : The constant evolution of testing methodologies for the human retroviruses demands that periodic reviews of the capabilities of these methodologies used in the public health laboratories be conducted. The following are descriptions of the six panel sessions concentrating on the most relevant topics of human retrovirus testing. Panel Session 1 was entitled 'Testing for HIV-1'. Topics discussed included rapid testing methods, Western blots, testing of non traditional samples, surrogate markers, recombinant/synthetic based assays, Western blot interpretation criteria, indirect fluorescent antibody methods, and viral detection methods. Panel Session 2, entitled 'Polymerase Chain Reaction', discussed methodologies used in PCR, quality assurance, proficiency testing, and test interpretation and reporting. Panel Session 3 centered on developments within 'Flow Cytometry'. The topics covered flow cytometry for disease staging, monitoring anti viral therapy, training, quality assurance, reporting criteria, and interpretation. Panel Session 4 addressed 'Testing for HIV-2 and HTLV-I/ HTLV-II'. Topics covered HTLV-I and HTLV-II differentiation, the confirmation methodologies and criteria for HIV-1 and HIV-2 as opposed to HTLV-I/II viruses, HIV-1 and HIV-2 combination tests and alternate rapid testing methods. Panel Session 5 concentrated on 'The Diagnosis of HIV infection in Newborns'. The topics covered, in a very specific sense, the use of flow cytometry, PCR, and viral culture to enhance detection of infection in newborns. Discussions also covered the use of ELISPOT , in vitro assays and analysis for IgA.


In this article we present the risks faced by the new countries that have joined the European Union, and which also desire to adopt the euro currency as quickly as possible. We will analyze the existing literature regarding the ways these risks manifest themselves, depending on the economic conditions present in these countries. The risks are mostly caused by an incomplete fulfillment of the optimum currency area conditions, especially the ones regarding the synchronization of the business cycles, the existence of mitigation mechanisms in the case of asymmetric shocks, and to a lesser extent, the insufficient flexibility of the European labor markets. In addition, because there are different economic conditions between the countries that plan on introducing the euro currency and the ones that already had, mostly related to a lower economic development and lower prices, there are specific risks that affect the former countries. Moreover, the benefits of entering the EMU - greater monetary stability, reduced transaction costs, lower exchange rate volatility and a decrease of the interest rates - can in some specific cases become also costs. In order to quantify all these elements, we have constructed a case study of Portugal, which has entered the EMU in the first wave. We have determined that Portugal's experience after the euro introduction was a negative one, when compared with the previous period, because the convergence process did not actually happened, as expected. Not only that, but the economic differences between Portugal and the other EMU countries deepened, and the country's fiscal situation also deteriorated badly in all these years, up to the point where Portugal was forced to ask for external help. The case of Portugal is very important for the countries that are eager to adopt the common currency without first achieving a sustainable economic development, through increasing labor productivity and exports. It shows that fulfilling the nominal criteria and entering EMU must not be a declared goal, but just the last measure implemented after reducing the economic disparities and reaching a balanced economic development. Based on the existing realities from the Central and Eastern European states, different scenarios can be constructed that will take into account the way these risks influence the future economic environment, should these states were to decide accelerating the common currency adoption process.


In many communication systems, turbo coding Techniques for Encoding and Decoding are employed to repair errors. As compared to other error correction codes, turbo codes provide great error correcting capabilities. For the implementation of the Turbo decoder, a Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) architecture is suggested in this study. The Maximum-a-Posteriori (MAP) algorithm is employed at the decoder side, where soft-in-soft-out decoders, interleaves, and deinterleavers are all used. The usage of the MAP algorithm reduces the quantity of iterations necessary to decode the information bits being transferred. This research employs a system for the encoder component that consists of two recursive convolutional encoders and a pseudorandom interleaver on the encoder side. Tools from Octave and Xilinx Vivado are used for the Turbo encoding and decoding. The system is synthesised and implemented using a specialised integrated circuit.


Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is a hyperspectral radiometer aboard NASA's Aqua satellite designed to measure atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity. AIRS retrievals are assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over the North Pacific for some cases involving "atmospheric rivers". These events bring a large flux of water vapor to the west coast of North America and often lead to extreme precipitation in the coastal mountain ranges. An advantage of assimilating retrievals rather than radiances is that information in partly cloudy fields of view can be used. Two different Level 2 AIRS retrieval products are compared: the Version 6 AIRS Science Team standard retrievals and a neural net retrieval from MIT. Before assimilation, a bias correction is applied to adjust each layer of retrieved temperature and humidity so the layer mean values agree with a short-term model climatology. WRF runs assimilating each of the products are compared against each other and against a control run with no assimilation. This paper will describe the bias correction technique and results from forecasts evaluated by validation against a Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product from CIRA and against Global Forecast System (GFS) analyses.


In case of unexpected or temporary events, cellular networks can become quickly saturated. A promising solution is using drones as flying base stations. In this article, we address the issue of anomalous behavior within cellular networks that occurs during crowded events. The proposed approach consists of two parts: the detection of overloaded cells using a machine learning algorithm (LSTM - Long Short-Term Memory) and the deployment of drone base stations to assist the cellular network by providing wireless coverage. Initially, we use the LSTM algorithm to analyze the impact of extra-data on the network and detect the peaks of user's demands. Then, we formulate an optimization problem for maximizing the coverage when deploying drones taking into account the energy constraints. The proposed approach is validated using real data-set extracted from the Call Detail Records (CDR) of Milan. Simulation results show that the use of drones can satisfy the quality-of-service requirements of the network.


Investment is considered one of the most important tools for increasing Gross Domestic Product in Egypt. The agricultural sector is considered one of the pioneer sectors for realization of economic development in Egypt. On the other hand encouragement of the increase in investment rates, is considered one of the goals of the economic development in Egypt, where the realization of the development is not possible without the abundance of a suitable rate of investment that lead to more demand on labor. Egypt has faced several problems that hindered the economic development such as: the general state budget's deficit, the increase of deficit in the balance of payments, the higher rate of inflation either by demand inflation or by production costs inflation, the higher rates of unemployment, and in addition to the existence of structural defects between the fiscal and monetary policies. The problem and objective of this study are concerned with the role of investment in increasing the demand on human labor input in the agricultural sector, in the shade of fiscal and monetary policies. The research applied simple regression and simultaneous equations models by three stages least squares (3SLS) during (1990-2007). The results indicated to the effectiveness of expanded fiscal policy to increase the demand on labor, either by increase government expenditure or decrease taxes that lead to increase production, consumption, labor, and further job opportunities. Also the implementation of an expanding monetary policy based on the reduction of the interest rate in order to encourage the investment that is necessary for pushing forward the economic development's wheel. Recommendations are related to applying expanded monetary policy to encourage investment, especially in the intensive labor projects, and expanded fiscal policy by reducing taxes and increasing government expenditure to increase production, consumption, and employment.


Introduction: The heart is a very active metabolic organ which exerts endocrine effects by secreting cardiokines. However, its role in regulating whole-body metabolism has received scarce attention...


Regucalcin, which is a suppressor protein in cell signalling, was discovered in 1978. The regucalcin gene is localized on the X chromosome and is identified in over 15 species consisting of the regucalcin family. Regucalcin is highly conserved in vertebrate species throughout evolution. Regucalcin is found to play a multifunctional role in cell regulation. Regucalcin is trans located into the nucleus and regulates nuclear function in cells. Overexpression of endogenous regucalcin in cells has been demonstrated to suppress cell proliferation and apoptotic cell death. The analysis of proteome and differential gene expression has shown a unique suppression of regucalcin expression among many proteins in the development of carcinogenesis. Clinical studies of regucalcin for disease and the application of regucalcin in clinical fields are discussed.


Background: fMRI can be used to non-invasively visualise human brain activity. Considering the importance of estimating the extent of functional disturbances in children with focal brain lesions, the purpose of this study was to investigate the visual processing in sedated children (a) during normal brain development and (b) in selected children with focal brain lesions. Subjects and Intervention: 9 children with normal visual function (15mo-6y) and 3 children with visual disturbances (1 suspected hemianopia, 1 suspected cortical blindness, 1 ophthalmoplegia with ptosis) were examined during pentobarbital sedation. A Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD)-contrast sensitive MRI sequence was used. Visual stimulation was done by red LED flashing goggles (8Hz). Results: In 8 of the 9 children without visual problems a stimulus related inverse BOLD-signal was detected in the visual cortex. The child with ophthalmoplegia also showed activity, whereas no activity was seen in the child with cortical blindness. Conclusion: fMRI permits investigations of visual processing in sedated children. Results from a parallel study in adults indicate that the inverse BOLD-effect is related to pentobarbital sedation, rather than to brain maturation.


Each company will try to improve the efficiency of production costs, the competitiveness of production in conducting production and transaction of fish commodity in the local and export market. Objective: (1) assess the level of efficiency costs of production and marketing fish commodities in the local market and export markets every month; (2) assess the competitiveness of commodity fish in the local market and export markets every month. The study found that: (1) the level of cost-efficient production and marketing of fish commodities in the local market and export markets are found in the process of production and marketing in the export market in October-November amounted to Rp3.451.861 / kg (2) The highest of Competitiveness of fish commodities is in the export market in November 2012 amounted to Rp11.548/ kg and the rate of increase of competitiveness in the export market by 9.48%/month.


We demonstrate the first reconfigurable photonic metamaterial controlled by electrical currents and magnetic fields, providing first practically useful solutions for sub-megahertz and high contrast modulation of metamaterial optical properties.


The pattern of distribution of minor elements in manganese ores associated with Precambrian gondites (metamorphosed manganiferous sediments) in the Nagpur and other districts of India is reported. The data lead to the conclusion that the Mn and Fe of solutions responsible for the alteration of the gondites were converted into colloids prior to precipitation as the oxide ores.


One of the main requirements of life on earth is to save water. The amount of fresh water available is a tiny fraction. The management of the resource has been part of the Millennium Development Goals for the past ten years. The use of photovoltaic panels is interesting especially for the favorable climatic conditions in our country. In the absence of bacteriological water quality sensors and equations which models this phenomenon, we are going to develop a database allowing the available PV energy to be dispatched to the loads (UV lamp, DC motor) in order to guarantee the better water quality. This database will be used in deep learning to model the phenomenon of water disinfection, which forms the main part of a pilot water disinfection unit.


The paper present review on various transformer protection technologies and monitoring & controlling of transformer. The paper describes the technologies by which we can protect the transformer. This includes transformer protection using PLC system, GSM module, relay, fuzzy logic, arduino etc. This paper also includes the monitoring & controlling of transformer with the help of PLC system and single board computer. It also shows the effect of inrush current on transformer protection. Transformers are the most important equipments for electrical energy transfer in power system. Stability and security of transformer protection are important to system operation. Hence, this paper includes various technologies for the transformer protection.


The paper deals with the results of standardized interviews with representatives of the peoples from Central Asia (Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks) currently residing in Samara and the Samara Region. The interviews were conducted in 2018-2019 within the framework of the project supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. It has been established that ethnic culture retains its functionality in a new environment in all groups selected for the study. In particular, national cuisine and ethnic elements for the interior of their houses are widely used. The vast majority know and perform folk songs and music, have their recordings, and many of those people listen to them regularly or from time to time. They keep reading books and periodicals in their native language. Almost all of them keep their language immersion. All groups of respondents noted openness and readiness for friendly contacts regardless of nationality. The overwhelming majority of respondents communicate with their colleagues and neighbors. Communication is predominantly positive. Marital and family behavior reflects a rather positive perception of inter-ethnic marriages. Although the situation in this private sphere is not very clear. Based on the results obtained, the conclusion is that the majority of the representatives of the diaspora communities are successfully integrated.


Background. Although several coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines initially showed high efficacy, there have been concerns because of waning immunity and the emergence of variants with immune escape capacity. Methods. A test-negative design case-control study was conducted in 16 healthcare facilities in Japan during the Delta-dominant period (August-September 2021) and the Omicron-dominant period (January-March 2022). Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection was calculated for 2 doses for the Delta-dominant period and 2 or 3 doses for the Omicron-dominant period compared with unvaccinated individuals. Results. The analysis included 5795 individuals with 2595 (44.8%) cases. Among vaccinees, 2242 (55.8%) received BNT162b2 and 1624 (40.4%) received messenger RNA (mRNA)-1273 at manufacturer-recommended intervals. During the Delta-dominant period, VE was 88% (95% confidence interval [CI], 82–93) 14 days to 3 months after dose 2 and 87% (95% CI, 38–97) 3 to 6 months after dose 2. During the Omicron-dominant period, VE was 56% (95% CI, 37–70) 14 days to 3 months since dose 2, 52% (95% CI, 40–62) 3 to 6 months after dose 2, 49% (95% CI, 34–61) 6+ months after dose 2, and 74% (95% CI, 62–83) 14+ days after dose 3. Restricting to individuals at high risk of severe COVID-19 and additional adjustment for preventive measures (ie, mask wearing/high-risk behaviors) yielded similar estimates, respectively. Conclusions.


Background: Apatinib-targeted therapy is considered a promising treatment option for malignancies. This study systematically evaluated the efficacy and safety of the combination of apatinib and S-1 for the treatment of patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC). Methods: Clinical trials were searched from the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, and Wanfang databases. Outcome measures including therapeutic efficacy, quality of life (QoL), and adverse events were extracted and evaluated. Results: Data from 8 trials including 393 patients with advanced GC were included. The results indicated that, compared with S-1 alone, the combination of apatinib with S-1 significantly improved patient partial response rate (odds ratio [OR] = 1.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21–3.02, P = .005), overall response rate (ORR, OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.51–3.82, P = .0002), and disease control rate (DCR, OR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.51–5.10, P = .0010), whereas the rates of complete response (CR, OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 0.93–6.12, P = .07) and stable disease (SD, OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.64–1.54, P = .97) and QoL (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 0.51–2.92, P = .66) did not differ significantly. Moreover, the group receiving the combined therapy had higher rates of hand-foot syndrome (OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.19–4.17, P = .01), hypertension (OR = 8.85, 95% CI = 4.07–19.26, P < .00001), albuminuria (OR = 11.25, 95% CI = 3.32–38.06, P = .0001), and hemoglobin reduction (OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.32–7.67, P = .010), whereas analysis of other adverse events did not show significant differences (P > .05). Conclusion: The combination of apatinib and S-1 is more effective for GC treatment than S-1 alone. However, this combined treatment could lead to increased hand-foot syndrome, hypertension, albuminuria, and hemoglobin reduction. Therefore, the benefits and risks should be considered before treatment.


Introduction: The Fayetteville meteorite is a highly shocked, gas-rich, H4 bronzite chondrite [I] with a regolith texture consisting of clasts up to about 3.5cm in size embedded in a darker matrix or host. We have begun a detailed study of the mineralogy, petrology, and rare gas systematics of this meteorite. Our objective is to closely compare it with regolith breccias which are better understood, namely lunar regolith breccias, so that we can determine the processes which have shaped it. We have used techniques which have proven to be very useful on lunar reg01 ith breccias including disaggregation, grain population studies, and rare gas distribution as a function of grain size [2]. Procedures: We used a freeze-thaw disaggregation technique [2] on 0.56gm of matrix material. Fayetteville proved to be extremely resistant to disaggregation, and the procedure was stopped because of obvious oxidation of the metal after 24,400 cycles (64 days), with about half of the sample remaining undisaggregated. However, we had enough disaggregated material to sieve into 5 size fractions, make polished grain mounts, and analyze for rare gases. Additionally, we disaggregated another sample using a 500W ultrasonic device. The procedure was stopped after five hours. About 25% of the sample was disaggregated below lmm and most of this was fine powder (~20um). For the freeze-thaw sample, we determined grain populations using the pol i shed grain mounts. We also analyzed a number of minerals in polished thin sections of the bulk meteorite using the electron microprobe. The results of point-count data of various grain types were used in calculating the modal weight percentages for the sieve fractions between 20um and lmm. The modal weight percentages are shown in Table 1. Rare gas measurements were performed by conventional rare gas extraction and mass spectrometry techniques (Table 3). Preliminary Results: Most of the coarser grains are undisaggregated matrix or 1 ithic clasts which cannot be differentiated from the matrix (Table 1). The remainder is mainly chondrules. At finer size fractions, the relative proportion of undisaggregated matrix (and lithic clasts) decreases, and mineral fragments become dominant. Chondrules decrease in abundance with decreasing grain size and are absent below 45um. In the bulk thin sections, chondrules make up about 50% of the meteorite. Many of the chondrule boundaries are distinct, especially for the larger ones. Electron microprobe analyses show that the composition of the olivine and pyroxene in the chondrul es is very close that in both the cl asts and matrix (Tab1 e 2). Plagioclase is present in the chondrules in both matrix and clasts, but was not observed outside the chondrules. The variation of pl agioclase composition is considerably greater than that of olivine or pyroxene. Other minerals identified in a prel iminary survey include kamaci te, taeni te [3], chromium spinel (Cr-Fe-A1 -Ti -Mg), calcium phosphate, and native Cu. Thus far, rare gas measurements have been performed on five size fractions from the freeze-thaw separation (Table 3). It is expected that the solar component of these gases, long established to dominate in the dark matrix of Fayetteville, would be negatively correlated with grain size if it were acquired by exposure of the grains to the solar wind at a regolith surface. The data in Table 3 do not display the expected negative correlation. The isotopic data do suggest the dominance of the solar component with 4/3:2000-3000 and 20/22 approximately 11. Conclusions: The chemical and mineralogical similarities of host and clast


On the automobile press line,to solve both design problem of dependence on operational experience and the iterative adjustment in assembling process,the accessible digital models of all standard parts,the spacial structure and assembling relation are analyzed respectively. Furthermore,the key technologies are researched on four sides of standard part modeling,model simplifying,and mathematic model. And in the virtual assembly environment based on CATIA V5,the corresponding solutions are presented respectively to realize the auto-matic virtual assembly for whole tooling. By this research work,the advantages are obvious to direct the real assembling on the press line,and to provide references to the similar assembly in other industries.


INTRODUCTIONThis paper studies how the emergence of big data is driving the adoption of broader and more sophisticated quantitative analysis techniques across media channels by large, medium and even smaller sized firms. A new ecosystem of marketing and advertising service firms is emerging. This ecosystem provides information processing services which impact marketing organization spending patterns in much faster time intervals than ever seen in the history of modern marketing. The findings of this study are a direct result of semi-structured interviews of stakeholders in the advertising analytics and related industries during the summer of 2014. This paper is the first paper of a two part series; it provides a consolidated framework and typology intended to help companies and researchers understand the structure of this ecosystem. The second paper will provide detailed quantitative information related to the performance of these marketing information processing services and the required marketing budget to participate. It will also provide insights into qualitative opportunities and challenges that marketing organizations face operating in a big data world.The emergence of big data has produced massive amounts of information related to all kinds of business activity. In January of 2014 the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, had the following to say at the World Economic Forum: "Information technologies (IT) play a key role in enabling the transition towards circular business models. This role ranges from tracing materials and products, organizing reverse logistics and accelerating innovation (with crowdsourcing and information sharing) to mining big data (for mapping resource and value flows and tracking indicators to measure progress) (WEF, 2013).Additionally, the worldwide web consortium (W3C) has been facilitating the evolution of the internet from a so-called web 2.0 world (characterized by interaction and collaboration) to a semantic web or so-called web 3.0. The W3C is the international standards body of the World Wide Web. According to the W3C, "The semantic web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries." The term was developed by Tim Berners-Lee for a web of data that can be processed by machines. (BernersLee, T. et-al, 2001) Berners-Lee is often referred to as the inventor of the worldwide web and is the currently the overall Director of the W3C.This semantic web evolution to web 3.0 is well in progress, and as a result, various entities are collecting and using knowledge about network users - ostensibly for the users' convenience and benefit. This networked data collection is often referred to as big data (Lohr, 2012; Manyika et al, 2011; McAffee and Brynjolfsson, 2012) and is readily available to marketers and advertisers. Progressive marketing companies are obtaining access to this data and focusing their attention on individual and collective consumer habits and preferences. Those same progressive organizations are also shifting more of their advertising budgets to online marketing (Nielsen/IAB, 2012; Moorman, 2014; SoDA Report, 2014). The shift is happening because online advertising can be more cost effective and consumers are spending more of their time consuming media in online vs. traditional (i.e. TV, terrestrial radio, print) venues. See Figure 1 below.The top storyline from 2012 in Advertising Age is simply titled Data Dominates. It is summarized as follows:"Not since the phrase "social media" have two words so overtaken our industry. From the Barack Obama re-election campaign to Unilever to Sony, everyone is panning the data rivers for marketing gold. And unlike other "ad land" trends, the consensus seems that this one is relevant to the bottom line. You can't get by with a guru for big data. You need an actual scientist - and those are some of the most sought-after pros in the land. …


The Regional Water Company of Tirtanadi in Padang Bulan Branch seeks to provide services to meet the needs of clean water, but on the way, it often gets complaints from the public or customers. Community complaints in obtaining clean water are still an obstacle in PDAM Tirtanadi, especially in the service area of Padang Bulan Branch. This research was carried out useful in the development of the theory especially, about the level of customer satisfaction with the services provided by PDAM Tirtanadi Padang Bulan Branch. Can also provide information or a more real picture, especially about the condition of customer service PDAM Tirtanadi Padang Bulan Branch with satisfaction received by customers so that they find the factors that cause the optimal service provided. The study was conducted by distributing questionnaires as many as 400 respondents. From the results of this analysis, the results of the level of service, especially the quality of the smell of clean water, need attention, and the skills of field workers need to be improved.


This special issue is prepared based on selected papers presented at the 17 Great Lakes Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Conference, which took place on May 24, 2012 at the campus of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. The theme of the conference is GeoEngineering in Face of Energy and Sustainability Challenges. This proceeding contains 6 technical papers that cover a variety of topics related to the sustainable geotechnical and pavement engineering practice.


The present invention relates to a method for adjusting an actuator (200) for a camshaft (201) of an internal combustion engine. The actuator (200) is so coupled to the cam shaft (201) that a camshaft position is adjustable. According to the method, a torque is determined, which transmits a component of the internal combustion engine to the camshaft (201), wherein the torque is determined based on at least one operating parameter of the component. The torque is transmitted from the camshaft (201) to the actuator (200), may cause an adjustment so that the torque (202) of the actuator (201) and the camshaft position. The magnitude of the adjustment (202) is indicative of the moment of the component. According to the method, an adjuster (300) of the actuator (200) is controlled based on the torque such that the torque is counteracted and the adjustment (202) of the actuator (200) and the camshaft position is prevented.


The aim of this study was to asses the effect of the MBT shoeosn the kinetics of the lower extremity joint sduring gait and running. Nine healthy male subjects(age : 24.9±2.2 yrs, height : 177.3±3.3cm, weight : 73.9±5.2 kg) were recruited to analyze the eccentric work, concentcr iwork and contribution to total work. The r-esults show that the eccentric work at ankle joint was decrease dbut at knee and hip joints was increased wit hMBT shoes during gait. However the concentric work and contribtuion to concentric work was not significan twith MBT shoes during gait. During gait the contribution to total eccentric work at hip joint was the greatest, butduring running at knee joint was the greatest. The contributio nto total concentric work at ankle joint was th egreatest during both gait and running


aiming at investigating – from both a physiological (thanks to EEG recordings) and classical psychological (thanks to a qualitative and quantitative ad hoc self-report battery: FQ, FSS, 5D-ASC) points of view – psychophysiological correlates of the two experimental conditions and at exploring potential common features. We then induced and compared the two altered states of consciousness, namely a hypnotic state induced via a double indirect induction procedure, and a state of flow induced via a PC videogame (flOw). To increase the chances of actually making participants experience those states in the laboratory setting, we focused on a sample that already proved to be able to enter both the states we were interested in. We then opted for a group of clinical psychologists who were specializing as ericksonian psychotherapists (n = 7). There have been two data collection phases. In the first phase, we collected subjective data regarding previous experiences of hypnosis and flow proposed by the subjects, to be used as a reference. In the second phase, in the laboratory, each subject underwent both experimental conditions, and we collected both physiological and self-report subjective data regarding those experiences. Physiological data showed significant variations in the power of delta, alpha and gamma frequency bands, but only in the condition of hypnosis. The state of flow was associated to a qualitative modulation of theta power over prefrontal areas. Subjective data demonstrated that participants qualitatively recognized to be in a flow state during the relative induction condition, with the exception of only one of them. Self-report quantitative data showed that the experimental condition of hypnosis presented similar features with respect to the reference state of flow. To sum up, our main hypothesis was partially verified: while physiological data during the flow condition were less consistent, hypnosis was overall associated to the slowing of cortical rhythms, and first evidences suggested that hypnosis and flow states may be similar at least for subjective experience.


In this introduction to the edited collection 'Law and the City' by A. Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, a survey of the current literature of law and urban geography is sketched. Special emphasis is given to feminist legal geography, environmental law and space, body and the law and other critical legal theoretical strands that in one way or another attempt to capture the elusive connection between the law and the city. In order to advance such an understanding of the connection, the text builds on existing research and suggests 'the lawscape', namely the bringing together of law and the city, the logos and the polis, in a pairing that is determined by the law and the city's needs to be mutually conditioned (regulated, arranged, delimited) by the other. While the one constitutes the horizon for the other, at the same time each one is constitutive of the other in ways that belie any impression of epistemic or even ontological distance between the two. The text closes with a brief description of each one of the fifteen chapter-lawscapes that make up the edited collection 'Law and the City', which include Berlin, London, Panjim, Istanbul, Manhattan, Athens, Dar-es-Salaam, Moscow, Singapore, Johannesburg, Sydney, Toronto, Brasilia, Mexico city, and the Cybercity, as written by some of the most original and thought-provoking theorists of contemporary critical legal theory.


The article presents a conceptual project prepared by a couple of English architects. The project involves constructing a network of wind power plants for the centre of London. "Cities may get windy at times, especially these located on the British Isles. Despite this fact, municipal power-generating wind turbines are rather rare phenomena. David Marks and Julia Barfield, mainly known as the authors of the 'London Eye', are preparing a silent revolution. They prepared a project which involves placing 6,600 wind turbine power plants in London by 2012, when the city will host summer Olympics. This project complies with declarations of politicians who show interest in a proecological strategy for the city. The wind turbine will not be like the familiar three-blade propellers.
The architects designed Y-shaped masts-structures, on which 5 turbines are placed. Each of the turbines has vertical spin-axes which secure maximum use of wind, regardless of its direction. [...] The authors like presenting their project from a historical perspective and remind us that energy was generated in the city centres as early as in the 19th century. Later, mostly due to air pollution, power plants were relocated to places as far from residential areas as possible. Do new technologies have a better chance to restore power plants in the city centres?


C ERTAINLY the most popular and perhaps the most plausible view among thinkers on ethics has been utilitarianism. This term is used in a narrower and in a wider sense. It may stand for hedonistic utilitarianism, which regards pleasure as the only good and pain as the only evil, or it may stand for any view which makes the rightness of an act depend solely on its conduciveness to good without committing one to any particular theory as to what things are good. I shall use it in the wider sense in this article. The term "ideal utilitarianism" has often been used in recent years to stand for those forms of utilitarianism which are not hedonistic. Hedonistic utilitarianism is, in any case, incredible to me. The analytic form of hedonism according to which "good" just means "pleasant" or "conducive to pleasure", is obviously false and has in fact not been held consistently by any important thinker; but it has been a common view that the only characteristic which makes something good (otherwise than merely as a means) is its pleasantness and that its goodness is in proportion to the latter. This seems to be what is meant by saying that pleasure is the only good. Some thinkers (e.g., Hume and, in modern times, Schlick) have given a naturalistic definition of "good" as that for which people feel approval and have then on the basis of an empirical survey of what people generally approve inferred the truth of hedonism. The naturalist premise I have criti-


Knowledge of the branches of the abdominal aorta is important not only for surgeons operating within the abdomen, on the gut or associated structures such as the pancreas, liver, suprarenal gland, spleen or ureters; but also interventional radiologists and those studying anatomy in the early stage of their careers. The presence of a branch arising directly from the celiac axis supplying the pancreas and duodenum is uncommon. In the present case the celiac axis was observed to give six branches, (a) common hepatic, (b) left gastric (c) splenic, (d) an aberrant branch supplying the pancreas and part of duodenum, and (e) two inferior phrenic arteries.


Cassava starch as a raw material was reacted with the mixture of a cationic etherification agent and an alkaline catalyst,and the quaternary ammonium type cationic starch was synthesized by using the wet process. The effect of reaction temperature,reaction time,amounts of the etherification agent and the catalyst on the degree of substitution and reaction efficiency was emphatically discussed. The optimized reaction condition was identified when NaOH as the catalyst. The obtained product is suitable for papermaking industry.


This paper deals with the mechanics and physics of board-level drop test with the intention of providing the fundamental understanding required to design and analyse the results of a drop test. Three finite element analyses were performed to understand the physics of failure in board-level drop impact: (i) velocity impact of a PCB - modeled as a beam; (ii) velocity impact of a PCB with centrally mounted package - modeled as a beam; (iii) velocity impact of a drop assembly - solid elements with submodeling. Parametric studies have been performed on the solid model for a number design variables: drop height, fall plate thickness, PCB length, PCB thickness, solder bump height, solder bump size, solder bump number, and impact cone diameter. Differential flexing as well as inertia has been identified as the key failure drivers. In both cases, the transverse stress, S33, is the most critical stress component. Geometrical stress concentration and intermetallics of the interconnection are critical in the impact strength of interconnection.


Objective To explore the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relation between the parental rearing pattern of medical students and the subjective well-being. Methods We investigated the relation between parental rearing pattern and the subjective well-being among 596 medical students using the International College Survey, Egma Minnen av Bardndonsnauppforstran(EMBU)and the Self-esteem Scale, and we examined the mediation role self-esteem on their relationship. Mediating effect was analyzed by Amos 6.0. Results(1) Self-esteem mediated between father warming and subjective well-being, and the mediating effect was 0.12;(2) Self-esteem mediated between father overprotection and subjective well-being, and the mediating effect was-0.10;(3)Self-esteem mediated between mother warming and subjective well-being, and the mediating effect was 0.18, the total effect was0.47, which accounted for 38.30% of the total effect. Conclusion Self-esteem plays different mediating roles between parent rearing pattern and the subjective well-being among medical students.


It is not avoidable that today's human life cannot be separated from the need for electric energy. Sri Soewasti Soesanto (1996: 6) states that many studies have shown the effects of the electromagnetic field caused by electrical equipment on human health in the form of leukemia, brain cancer, and barrenness. Because there is such an indication that the radiation of the electromagnetic field is dangerous for human health, preventive measures have, therefore, to be taken to reduce the negative effects by avoiding direct contact with the source of radiation, by providing a protective cover appropriate with the kind of radiation, by putting as far a distance as possible between the body and the source of radiation, by shortening the period of work using the source of radiation, and so on.