A bstract . The main purpose of this paper is to introduce a new subclass of meromorphic univalent functions, namely Libera type meromorphic close-to-convex functions, and to obtain general coe ffi cient bounds for functions belonging to this class. For this purpose, we consider a certain convex univalent function in the open unit disk U , that maps U onto a strip domain.


Exposure to coal mine dust has several health implications and diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular have been reported. This study intended to investigate the effect of exposure to coal mine dust on the levels of plasma glucose (PG) and serum antioxidants in the miners. The levels of fasting PG (FPG), postprandial PG (PPG), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidise (GPX), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) of the miners exposed to coal mine dust for 10 and 20 years were compared to those of the controls. The observations of the study reveal that the miners remain unaffected during the 10 year exposure period and their glycemic status was under control. But high PPG levels (p ? 0.001) were seen in miners exposed to coal mine dust for 20 years and thus prolonged exposure may predispose them to Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The low levels of SOD and GPX and high TBARS indicated that oxidative stress may be the underlying cause for this predisposition to diabetes.


Based on stilling and cultivating oneself,Laozi's idea of interpersonal relations consists in pursuing the goal of individual awakening by means of helping others and benefiting things.The idea not only constitutes the value basis of interpersonal relations in the harmonious society but also provides a technological means for people getting along with each other.Laozi's aloof realm of life and his brilliant philosophy of dealing with affairs have been worthy of emulation up to date although his ideas have often been misinterpreted and misused in history.


The present invention relates to a device for the dynamic control of the combustion of a burner (8) with gas or liquid fuel in an electric arc furnace, in particular in a steelworks arc furnace to said burner (8) emitting in use a flame (9) through an opening at one end (8 ') of the burner (8), above a molten metal bath (3) itself surmounted by a scrap charge (5) , characterized in that it comprises means for non-contact measurement, arc located, for estimating the distance (D) between the end (8 ') of the burner (8) and a target constituted by the solid scrap (5 ) facing said end (8 ') said means comprising a source emitting a signal passing through the interior of the burner (8) toward said target and a detector where said signal is sensed reflected by the target, also passing inside the burner.


In the present study we aimed to test the best insemination dose for in vitro embryo production (IVEP) and to correlate sperm traits in bovine. In vitro matured oocytes were inseminated with three different sperm concentrations of the same bull: G1 (1*106 ), G2 (2*106 ) and G3 (4*106 ) sperm/mL. At 18 h post-insemination (hpi), presumptive zygotes [G1 (n=114), G2 (n=139) and G3 (n=136)] were stained to evaluate the pronuclei numbers, or continued to in vitro culture [G1 (n=102), G2 (n=111) and G3 (n=106)]. Sperm kinetics were analyzed using Computer-Assisted Semen Analysis (CASA). Sperm plasma membrane, acrosome integrity and mitochondrial activity were analyzed using fluorescent probes. In vitro fertilization (IVF) and IVEP data were compared using chisquare (P 0.05) among the groups. In G3, the polyspermy rate was the highest (7.4%; P 0.05) between G1 (0%) and G2 (0%). In G1, the early blastocyst rate was the highest (7.8%; P 0.05) between G2 (1.8%) and G3 (0.9%). The IVF efficiency and total blastocyst rates were positively correlated with curvilinear velocity (VCL) (r≃+1; P<0.05). We concluded that the reduction of insemination dose may negatively affect embryo development and VCL may be used as a parameter to improve the IVEP outcomes.


This paper considers the problem of channel coding over Gaussian intersymbol interference (ISI) channels with a given decoding rule. Specifically, it is assumed that the mismatched decoder has an incorrect assumption on the channel impulse response. The mismatch capacity is the highest achievable rate for a given decoding rule. The existing achievable rates for channels and decoding metrics with memory (as in our model) are currently available only in the form of multi-letter expressions that cannot be calculated. Consequently, they provide little insight on the mismatch problem. In this paper, we derive the computable formulas of achievable rates and discuss some implications of our results. Our achievable rates are based on two ensembles: the ensemble of codewords generated by an autoregressive process and the ensemble of codewords drawn uniformly over a "type class" of real-valued sequences. We provide a few numerical results of our achievable rates, as functions of the mismatched ISI parameters. Finally, we compare our results with universal decoders which are designed outside the true class of channels that we consider in this paper.


ii Co-Authorship Statement iii Acknowledgement iv List of Tables vii List of Figures viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1. Background 1 1.2. Substitution for Phenol with Lignin 3 1.3. LPF Resin Synthesis Parameters 5 1.4. Objectives 6 1.5. Thesis Structure 7 1.6. References 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review 1 2.1. History and Background of Adhesives 1 2.1.1. Natural Adhesives 1 2.1.2. Synthetic Adhesives 3 2.2. Phenol-Formaldehyde (PF) Resins: 5 2.2.1. PF Resole Synthesis and Curing 6 2.3. PF Synthesis and Curing Parameters 9 2.4. Bio-based Phenolic Resins 11 2.5. Lignin-based phenol formaldehyde (LPF) resins 15 2.6. Lignin Modification Techniques 15 2.6.1. Methylolation and Phenolation 16 2.6.2. Lignin Thermolysis Techniques 17 2.7. Concluding Remarks 19 2.8. References 20 Chapter 3: Synthesis of Lignin-based PF (LPF) Resoles at Large Phenol Substitution Ratios using De-polymerized Lignin from Hydrolytic Depolymerization of Kraft Lignin: Physical Properties 26 3.


Emergency department (ED) patients are usually seen in the order in which they are triaged. However, some clinicians may prefer certain types of


The essence of the "Three Represents" is that our Party should work for the public and assume power for the people. The Party members and cadres should adhere to the principle of "the government of the people, by the people, and for the people", concern for the people, work for the interests of the people,cling to the view of all-round, coordinated and sustainable development and take great efforts to solve the problems which arise in the development of our country. We should bear "Two Musts" in mind, strengthen and improve the Party′s working style and eliminate the corruption so as to achieve our goal of working for the public and assuming power for the people.


Subject. The article discusses target indicators of national development goals of Russia, governmental programs, national projects, and priorities of budgetary finance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Objectives. The study traces a correlation between national development goals of Russia and national projects as structural constituents of governmental programs. The article also investigates opportunities for attaining the national goals during the coronavirus crisis.
Methods. The study relies upon systems and institutional approaches. I also resorted to the analysis, synthesis, comparison.
Results. Target indicators of national goals and national projects were found to have no logic relationship in some cases, with quantitative indices being neglected or contradictory at all, thus making it difficult to evaluate the efficiency of budgetary spending. I detected considerable structural shifts in expenditures of the federal budget from 2020, since financial resources should be optimized due to growing budgetary restrictions.
Conclusions and Relevance. The efficiency of budgetary spending can be adequately evaluated only if there is a firm logic correlation and quantitative consistency between target indicators of the national development goals of Russia and those of national projects as part of the Russian governmental programs, which serve as a financial vehicle of the national goals. The findings can be used by those involved into the budgetary process throughout all levels when planning budgetary expenditures.


An investigation into the design of a stand-alone solar water pumping station for supplying rural areas is presented. It includes a study of system components and their modeling. The solar water pumping station comprises a solar panel, DC/DC buck converter, DC motor driving a centrifugal pump, and a reservoir. The fuzzy-based maximum power point tracker is developed to optimize the drive speed and the water discharge rate of the coupled centrifugal pump. These use dN/I, d(dN/dI) use parameters, and a variation of the fill factor∆α as input variables. The proposed solution is based on a judicious fuzzy adjustment of a converter fill factor, which adapts online the load impedance to the solar panel. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the drive system for both transient and steady-state operations. Hence, it is suitable to use this fuzzy logic procedure as a standard optimization algorithm for such solar water pumping stations. The modeling is carried out in MATLAB/Simulink.


Thus the function J(n) is defined to be the sum of the prime divisors of n and the multiple factors are counted multiply. From (1) it follows that J(n) is completely additive, for J(mn) = J(m) + J(n). For n, a prime, J(p) = p and for n, a composite number, J(n) < n. For n = 4, J(4) = 4 and this is considered to be an exceptional case and thus the number 4 behaves like a prime. The rth iterate of J(n) is defined by


Subject
 African free trade.

 Significance
 Six countries are yet to sign the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), including the continent's largest economy Nigeria. While the impact of its absence will not be felt in the short term, existing trading partners will want to maintain a strong foothold in the country and its projected market of 350 million consumers by 2050.

 Impacts
 The AfCFTA could prompt long-term welfare gains worth 16.1 billion dollars, compared with 4.1 billion dollars in lost tariff revenue.
 The AfCFTA's economic effects may be milder, driving GDP and employment increases of just 0.97% and 1.17% respectively in the long term.
 Nigeria's Dangote group could see sales increase five-fold by 2030, underscoring the potential benefits of AfCFTA to regional manufacturers.


The invention discloses a positive-pressure and non-needle connecting piece. The positive-pressure and non-needle connecting piece comprises a hollow inner cavity outer shell, a positive-pressure device is contained in an inner cavity of the outer shell, a seal is formed by the upper end of the positive-pressure device and an inner hole in the upper end of the outer shell, the lower end of the positive-pressure device is provided with an inner cavity and is open, the side face of the upper end of the positive-pressure device is provided with an encircling type hollow eccentric notch, the lower end of the positive-pressure device is in sealing connection with a connector, the inner cavity of the positive-pressure device is communicated with the outside through the connector provided with a liquid outlet, and the wall of the inner cavity of the positive-pressure device gradually becomes thinner from top to bottom. When the positive-pressure and non-needle connecting piece is open, the positive-pressure device is pushed and pressed downwards by an external connector. When the depth that the upper end of the positive-pressure device extends into the outer shell ranges from 4 mm to 8 mm, the deformation space exists, the parallel movement is generated, a diversion channel is formed in the inner wall of the outer shell, the liquid medicine flows through the inner wall of the outer shell into the liquid outlet, and therefore the infusion process can be achieved. The connector is used for connecting and opening an infusion channel, the damage caused by a steel needle is avoided, blood returning is avoided, the positive-pressure and non-needle connecting piece has the advantages of being simple in structural design, convenient to produce and manufacture and the like, and production cost is reduced.


Human exposure to nanoparticles increases because nano-sized materials are included in food, consumer and medicinal products, as well as being present in the environment. Routine cytotoxicity screening evaluates effects only upon acute exposure, usually 24h, but prolonged contact with nanoparticles might result in intracellular accumulation and disturbance of cell function. We studied effects of polystyrene particles, carbon nanotubes, and silica nanoparticles on endothelial cells and on monocytes using various culturing systems (microcarrier, CELLine CL350, and sub-culturing) for up to 28d. Particles were physicochemically characterized, cellular uptake studied, and cellular localization determined. Nanoparticles formed aggregates to different extent and accumulated in lysosomes to different degree. Exposure systems were suitable to different extent for the evaluation of chronic cytotoxicity. CELLine CL350 and sub-culturing of an aliquot of the exposed cells was less suitable than culture on microcarriers and sub-culturing by transfer of all exposed cells to a larger culture vessel. Cytotoxicity after long-term exposure was higher than after acute exposure. Differences between particles and cell lines were observed and adaptation to nanoparticle damage was also seen.


The turbulent drag reduction technique proposed by Keefe(4, 5) is studied for the first time by direct numerical simulation in the turbulent channel flow geometry at a Reynolds number of R� =180, based on the friction velocity of the stationary-wall case and the half channel height. The actuator consists of arrays of flush-moun ted discs which rotate at constant angular velocity. For a fixed maximum disc tip velocity, drag reduction can be achieved when the disc diameter is larger than a threshold, while below this threshold the drag increases. We find a maximum drag reduction of 23%. The net p ower saved, computed by taking into account the power spent to activate the discs against the fluid viscous resistance, is found to be pos itive and reach 10%. We estimate the disc-flow parameters required for flows of technological interest and discuss possible futur e implementations based on micro-electromagnetic motors and micro-air turbines.


Networked distributed storage systems NDSS use erasure codes in lieu of replication for realising data redundancy. An interesting research challenge is to derive the largest advantage from the trade-offs between storage overhead and reliability that erasure codes provide, while optimising them to satisfy specific storage needs like repairability and better degraded read performance. Many coding strategies for NDSS exploit the storage nodes' computational ability to improve on repairability by applying network coding techniques. However, not every storage node in a NDSS is necessarily endowed with computing capability. This paper studies the effects of passive nodes, i.e., nodes without computational ability, on the repairability of erasure coded data, and how they may impair the promised performance of novel coding techniques. Specifically, we determine a lower bound on the minimum storage overhead in an active-passive mixed storage network, indicative of the price to pay in storage to achieve bandwidth efficient repairability.


This paper describes a partially developed small‐size underwater acoustic radiator capable of providing a 90‐dB source level for frequencies between 300 and 400 cps. It uses the "Tonpilz" configuration to obtain resonance at a low frequency with an electrostrictive ceramic stack only 12 in. long. The 12‐in.‐diam radiating face provides a radiation Q of 6.5 at 400 cps. The entire unit measures 12 in. diam ×15 in. long and has a weight in water less than 100 lb. To meet the needs of higher power, an experimental unit consisting of four of the above sources mounted to form a close‐fitting square array has been investigated. Computed values of mutual impedance indicate that large improvements in efficiency, bandwidth, and power‐handling capability may be obtained in this manner. Acknowledgment is made of the prior work on similar sources by Peter Weber of Hudson Laboratories and of the helpful suggestions received from members of the Underwater Sound Laboratory at New London. [This development was undertaken ...


Abstract Background: Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is a common concern in Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where many risk factors have been reported to be associated with it. VAP can increase patient's length of stay in ICU and possibly causes high mortality rate. Application of several interventions have been found to reduce incidence of VAP, including head of bed elevation, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, peptic ulcer disease prophylaxis, daily sedation vacation, daily assessment for readiness for extubation, daily spontaneous breathing trial, and oral care with chlorohexadine. These interventions are called ventilator care bundle. Echinacea is a herb that has been utilized to strengthen the body's innate resistance. It contains multiple active compounds which gives it its medicinal qualities, it has been shown to reduce the severity of respiratory infections. Aim of Study: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding Echinacea to ventilator care bundle in intubated and ventilated ICU patient on length of stay in ICU and mortality. Material and Methods: This clinical trial included 80 patients who were intubated and mechanically ventilated within 48 hours of admission to ICU in Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) in Kasr Aini Hospital during the period between December 2013 and December 2014. All patients were adults more than 18 years, who have no witnessed aspiration or pneumonia on admission. Intervention: Patients were divided into two equal groups of 40 patients each, one group received Echinacea in the form of Immulant capsules and the other didn't receive it. Both groups have ventilator care bundle applied. All patients were followed-up clinically, radiologically and by laboratory. Length of ICU stay, mortality and VAP associated mortality were calculated in both groups. Results: Both length of stay in ICU and mortality had no statistical significance in both groups, but VAP associated mortality had decreased significantly in the group that received Echinacea. Conclusion: Echinacea may be found to decrease VAP associated mortality.


The earth resistivity data at the Yushu,Changchun,station were analyzed by using shape analysis,anisotropic degree and velocity rate methods.It is found that the earth resistivity showed obvious middle-and short-term anomalies before two deep earthquakes(MS≥7.0) in Wangqing of Jilin.


Face images always have significant intra-class variations due to different poses, illuminations and facial expressions. These variations trigger substantial deviation from the linearity assumption of data structure, which is essential in formulating linear dimension reduction technique. In this paper, we present a kernel based regularized graph embedding dimension reduction technique, known as kernel-based Regularized Neighbourhood Preserving Embedding (KRNPE) to address this problem. KRNPE first exploits kernel function to unfold the nonlinear intrinsic facial data structure. Neighbourhood Preserving Embedding, a graph embedding based linear dimension reduction technique, is then regulated based on Adaptive Locality Preserving Regulation Model, established in [7] to enhance the locality preserving capability of the projection features, leading to better discriminating capability and generalization performance. Experimental results on PIE and FERET face databases validate the effectiveness of KRNPE.


For many years, archaeologists and historical geographers have been aware of a significant lacuna in research on the eastern Netherlands. Currently, urbanization, industrialization, water management measures and nature development projects have a growing impact on the landscape of this region. The Eastern Netherlands Project has two main objectives. The first is to construct a comprehensive image of the biography of the cultural landscape. Second, it is essential that knowledge be exchanged with policymakers, planners, landscape architects and the local population in order to ensure that the information gathered has an impact on the way cultural heritage values are dealt with in spatial planning. We focus principally on the experiences that have been gained with the implementation of the central concepts of the programme, namely biography of the landscape, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. Biography of the landscape is a concept that is open to many interpretations. This project emphasizes the dynamics of a landscape that has been affected by human interaction. Essentially this leads to a diachronic scientific description of the morphological aspects, namely objects, patterns and structures in the manmade environment. Interdisciplinarity is essential for research into the origins of the cultural landscape. Various kinds of expertise are needed to discover what developments caused the complex landscapes of the eastern Netherlands. Transdisciplinarity primarily concerns problems of a philosophical and communicative nature. What is the relationship between the knowledge of the 'experts' and the 'common people' and how does this affect future developments? Finally, this paper presents the final results from the three leading concepts, showing the new understanding gained from this research.


The Internet Age promotes the development of the network courses.But there exist many disadvantages for learners by network in the network courses under the background of traditional learning theories.Through the analysis of the characteristics of learning by network and the traditional learning theories,this thesis puts forward the concept of constructing the network courses and guiding the application of network courses in teaching by using the reformed and reconstructed learning theory of the new Constructivism.


Electronic radiationless transitions in linear polyenes are discussed from a theoretical point of view. Only in‐plane relaxation is considered. It is concluded that for a given energy gap, the nonradiative decay rate is a decreasing function of the chain length. Model calculations of the nonradiative lifetime as a function of the polyene chain length are presented. For those cases where comparison with the experiment is possible (8 to 12 membered polyenes) agreement with the calculations is reasonable. The decrease in the rate of radiationless transitions with the increase in the molecular system is shown to have implications for biological systems, such as rhodopsin, that undergo a fast photochemical change.


The structural design of asphalt foaming device,the determination of foam chamber process and condition parameters are the key technologies to foaming effect of foam asphalt.In this paper,we analyze the research status of foaming mechanism,foaming device design and determination of the various parameters.The paper puts forward opinions for asphalt foaming technology.And development trend of the asphalt foaming technology is analyzed.


Two new barium gold iodates, namely, BaAu(IO3)5 and HBa4Au(IO3)12, have been prepared. BaAu(IO3)5 crystallizes in the polar space group Pca21, whereas HBa4Au(IO3)12 crystallizes in the centrosymmetric space group P21/c. BaAu(IO3)5 consists of unique polar [Au(IO3)4]- anions whose four iodate groups are located at both sides of the AuO4 plane and the polarity points in the [001̅] direction. BaAu(IO3)5 displays strong second-harmonic-generation (SHG) effects about 0.6KTiOPO4 (KTP) and is phase-matchable. Thermal properties, optical spectra analyses, and theoretical calculations are also reported.


A recent development in ex-ante analysis of mega events is the use of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. CGE models improve greatly on the input-output model, which they have largely displaced, since they incorporate fixed factors and substitution effects. However, like input-output, the method is still subject to the risk of over-optimistic estimation of benefits. We see three sources of such risk: (i) failure to treat public inputs as costs; (ii) elastic factor supply assumptions; and (iii) overestimation of foreign demand shocks via inclusion of "induced tourism" expenditure. In this paper, we undertake an ex-post analysis of the Olympics that addresses each of these risks. We handle the first two directly: public services used to support the Games (such as security services) are treated as Games-specific inputs, and we model the national labour market in full employment. For the third risk, we undertake an historical simulation to uncover the extent, if any, of induced tourism. We find no evidence of an induced tourism effect, and so exclude it from our analysis. With these assumptions, we find the Sydney Olympics generated a net consumption loss of approximately $2.1 billion.


This paper proposes an approach respectively Multi-Choice Goal Programming (MCGP) that integrated Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for piloting a Quality Management System (QMS) designed for a real study case. This approach is used to determine the best solution verifies simultaneously the multi-objective functions and satisfying the different constraints of real company which presents a major problem for controlling the quality level of production.


This work is a study of the concept of progress in Bukhara between approximately 1860 and 1920. It is based on unpublished and published sources from this period. The study suggests that not only t ...


Based on the data from Zizhou and Wangjiagou Experimental stations in the coarse sediment-producing area of the middle Yellow River drainage basin, this study deals with characteristics of hyperconcentrated flows in slope-channel systems in the gullied hilly areas. The results show that there exists a sediment storing-releasing mechanism in the systems, which is related to the different behaviors of sediment transport by non-hyperconcentrated and hyperconcentrated flows. For the non-hyperconcentrated flows, the relatively coarse fractions of sediment from the slopes are deposited in the channel,and for the hyperconcentrated flows, the previously deposited coarse sediment may be eroded and released from the channel. There is a close relationship between rainfall and the formation of hyperconcentrated flows. Two thresholds are observed from the plot of event maximum suspended sediment concentration versus rainfall intensity. When the first threshold is exceeded, the sediment concentration increases sharply and when the second is exceeded, there is a extreme concentration, i.e., the sediment concentration remain unchanged with the increase in rainfall intensity.


Measurements of the transmission of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier in the wavelength range 1.05-1.35 mu m are reported. Excited-state absorption at 1.14 mu m and gain at 1.24 mu m are observed when the amplifier is pumped at 528 nm. There is good agreement between the measured excited-state absorption and gain and that predicted from the energy bands. An excited state absorption between 1.5 and 1.75 mu m is predicted from absorption measurements.<<ETX>>


We propose an approach originating from plane wave expansion method to calculate band structure for two types of honeycomb lattice two-dimensional plasma photonic crystals. The eigenvalue equations of E-polarization for two types of structures, which depend on the honeycomb lattice realization(plasma rods immersed in dielectric background or vice versa), are derived respectively. A standard linearization technique which solves the general nonlinear eigenvalue problem has been used to obtain the photonic band structures. The resulting complex band structure yields, in addition to the dispersion curves, the dissipation of each type as it propagates through the system. By properly selecting structure parameters for the two types of plasma photonic crystals, moderate band structures can be obtained to meet the needs of application. The proposed method can be used for any infinite periodic lattice and the results may provide theoretical instructions to design new optoelectronic devices.


An algorithm to determine optimal transmission routes and to perform technology selection for transmission system expansion is developed and presented in this paper. The aim of the optimization is to minimize investment and installation costs of grid expansion, taking into account spatial properties. The optimization is performed by formulating possible expansion options around a weighted graph and using a modified A* shortest path algorithm to find the optimal solution. The algorithm delivers optimal locations routes and determines the best technology along the route. The algorithm is applied to possible future pan European electricity highways. The implications of different installation areas on transmission routes and total costs are discussed.


Background: The coexistence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome: ACOS) is increasingly recognized. Data about the prevalence of ACOS in the elderly and its prognostic implications are unknown. Aim: To evaluate the long-term mortality of ACOS in an elderly population. Methods: 1970 subjects, aged >65 yrs, were enrolled in the population-based SA.R.A. Study. ACOS was defined as: not fully reversible airflow limitation + a) history of asthma or b) very positive bronchodilator test (increase in FEV1 ≥15% and ≥400 ml) + atopy + weezing. The prevalence of ACOS and 15-years mortality rates were assessed in 1063 subjects with complete clinical, lung functional, and follow-up data. Physical performance, disease-related disability and health related quality of life (HRQL) were also evaluated. Results: ACOS was found in 11.1% of subjects (1/3 of those previously diagnosed with COPD and 1/5 of those with asthma). ACOS was associated with impaired physical performance, functional ability, and HRQL. Individuals with ACOS had higher mortality rates than controls (7.17 per 100 person-years; mortality rate ratio: 1.83). After adjustment for the main confounders, the risk of all-cause mortality remained significantly increased in subjects with ACOS (HR:1.82, 95%CI:1.38-2.38), COPD (HR:1.99, 95%CI:1.59-2.49), but not asthma. Male gender, advanced age, high smoke exposure, depression, and poor education were associated with an increased risk of dying. Conclusions: Long term mortality of ACOS was similar to COPD, and worse than asthma and healthy controls. ACOS had a significant impact on physical performance, functional ability, and HRQL in elderly subjects.


Yellowing of modules represents the most evident visual defect. It appears on 98% of the plant modules and, for 63% of panels, it strongly covers their entire background tedlar. In order to see if this yellowing effects the output of the modules the surface oxidation composition and thickness were measured. This letter reports how AUO solar utilizes Highly Accelerated & Humidity Stress Test (HAST) to determine ribbon yellowing effect, and the expected surface oxidation composition. In the same time we identify the surface oxidation rate. The result indicates that ribbon yellowness is a result of surface oxidation, and the yellow appearance is only a cosmetic issue. Lead-free ribbons are more vulnerable to yellowing because lead does not build oxides, only Tin does. The higher concentration of Tin in lead-free solder suggests it will exhibit yellowing relatively faster and easier.


In this paper, we discuss the effect sewage sludge (SS) application has on the contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fertilized soils and groundwater. Morver, the contents of these compounds in plant biomass was analyzed. For six months, composted sewage sludge was introduced into sandy soil. The research was conducted under lysimetric experiment conditions with the possibility of collecting soil leachate in natural conditions. The following doses of sewage sludge were used: 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 t/ha calculated per experimental object containing 10 kg of sandy soil. The examinations were carried out within a three-year time frame. Dactylis glomerata grass was grown on the fertilized soils. Every year, the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was collected from fertilized objects and analyzed in soil leachate, which can contaminate surface water. The following six polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons defined by Polish standards were determined: benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, and benzo(g,h,i)perylene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene. Further, the content of PAHs in soils and the bioaccumulation of these compounds in cultivated plants were evaluated after each year. The results of the study showed that the increase in the dose of sewage sludge used for soil fertilization led to the rise in the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons analyzed in the soil. The compounds migrated to cultivated plants. This phenomenon was observed especially in the first year following soil fertilization with sewage sludge. Excessive accumulation of PAHs (especially benzo(a)pyrene) was observed in plant biomass in the first year of a lysimetric experiment after sewage sludge fertilization with doses greater than 10 t/ha. The increase in bioaccumulation of this compound in plant biomass compared to control objects was 138%, 288%, and 505% after application of 20, 30, and 40 t/ha, respectively. Fertilization with sewage sludge did not cause contamination with PAHs in water leachates from the soils.


Practical techniques for approximating yield given the price and price given the yield are described. Duration and convexity estimations given prices and yields at three observation points are presented. Such approximations are useful when computing prices and yields from their values at nearby points and generating additional data for scenario analysis.


Interstimulus intervals of .5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 sec. were compared for effectiveness in conditioning the blink reaction of the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciurea). Control groups receiving unpaired stimulation, CS-only, and UCS-only were run at each level of ISI. Statistically reliable evidence of conditioning was found in the acquisition data only at .5 sec., with the performance of all groups increasing as a function of ISI. Superior resistance to extinction in the paired group was also discernible only at .5 sec. although the combined performance in extinction of the paired and unpaired groups at 2.0 and 4.0 sec. exceeded that of the .5- and 1.0-sec. groups. A replication experiment using a within-subjects design magnified the interval effect in both acquisition and extinction. The results suggest the operation of pseudoconditioning and sensitization of spontaneous blinks in addition to revealing marked differences from human eyelid conditioning data, particularly in extinction.


THE RESULTS OF A 2-YEAR STUDY OF FROST SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CONCRETE AGGREGATES BY SLOW COOLING ARE PRESENTED. THE INVESTIGATION STUDIED 60 AGGREGATE FRACTIONS FROM 20 SOURCES. PETROGRAPHIC FRACTIONATION AND EXAMINATION, A MODIFICATION OF POWERS' SLOW COOLING TEST, AND VARIOUS "QUICK" METHODS WERE COMPARED. GLACIAL GRAVELS AND GRAVELS OF SUSPECTED GLACIAL ORIGIN HAD A HIGH INCIDENCE OF DELETERIOUS FRACTIONS. GRAIN SIZE WAS FOUND TO HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON FROST SUSCEPTIBILITY. BASED ON TEST COMPARISONS, THE USE OF THE SODIUM SULFATE SOUNDNESS TEST (ASTMC88) IS NOT RECOMMENDED. A NEW METHOD, BASED ON A REGIME PLOT OF BULK VACUUM-SATURATED SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND VACUUM-SATURATED ABSORPTION, IS PRESENTED. /AUTHOR/


This paper presented a new type of TRISWACH(Trimaran Small Waterplane Area Center Hull) with small length displacement volume ratio which has low powering requirements at high speed. Two model tests, each with a test program of 9 systematical arrangement of side-hulls in longitudinal and transverse locations, were performed to quantify the resistance and especially the influence of length displacement ratio and the interference between the main and side hulls. Comparison with the slender trimaran was also given.


The paper introuduced the charactors of the world new econamy,analyzed its significance to China economic development,put forward measures to face the reform of new technology in China.


The Linux kernel is an important part of the Trusted Computing Base (TCB) of a mobile device using the Android OS, making it attractive to attackers. While all vulnerabilities in the kernel are important, those that are directly reachable by untrusted programs pose a grave threat. This paper introduces Sifter, a solution for protecting security-critical kernel modules, i.e., those modules that are directly exposed to untrusted programs. Sifter's key approach is the use of fine-grained, highly-selective filters to reduce the attack surface of these kernel modules and make their vulnerabilities unreachable for untrusted programs. The key observation in Sifter is that there are rich patterns in how legitimate programs issue syscalls to these kernel modules; thus, one can generate filters that only allow such syscall patterns, and as a result mitigate vulnerabilities (including zero-day ones) that could only be exploited by the use of unorthodox syscall patterns. We report a prototype of Sifter and use it to generate filters for two security-critical kernel modules used in many mobile devices: Qualcomm KGSL GPU device driver and Binder IPC. Our detailed study and evaluation of 41 recent CVEs in these two modules show that Sifter is capable of mitigating about half of all syscall-triggered vulnerabilities without a priori knowledge of these vulnerabilities. Moreover, our evaluation shows that when using an adequately large number of legitimate programs to generate the filter policies for a given module, the filter's false positive rate goes to 0%. Finally, our experiments with these filters show that, despite numerous finegrained checks on syscalls, Sifter adds a very small or negligible performance overhead to real programs and incurs a very small amount of energy consumption.


ABSTRACT Context There are research-grade devices that have been validated to measure either heart rate (HR) by electrocardiography with a Polar chest strap or step count with ActiGraph accelerometer. However, wearable activity trackers that measure HR and steps concurrently have been tested against research-grade accelerometers and HR monitors with conflicting results. This review examines validation studies of the Fitbit Charge 2 (FBC2) for accuracy in measuring HR and step count and evaluates the device's reliability for use by researchers and clinicians. Design This registered review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The risk-of-bias visualization (robvis) tool was used to assess the strength of each considered article. Eligibility Criteria Eligible articles published between 2018 and 2019 were identified using PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Cochran, and World of Science databases and hand searches. All articles were HR and/or step count validation studies for the FBC2 in adult ambulatory populations. Study Selection Eight articles were examined in accordance with the eligibility criteria alignment and agreement among the authors and research librarian. Main Outcome Measures Concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) were used to measure agreement between the tracker and criterion devices. Mean absolute percent error (MAPE) was used to average the individual absolute percent errors. Results Studies that measured CCC found that agreement between the FBC2 and criterion devices ranged between 26% and 92% for HR monitoring, decreasing in accuracy as exercise intensity increased. Inversely, CCC increased from 38% to 99% for step count when exercise intensity increased. HR error between MAPE was 9.21% to 68% and showed more error as exercise intensity increased. Step measurement error MAPE was 12% for healthy persons aged 24–72 yr but was reported at 46% in an older population with heart failure. Conclusions Relative agreement with criterion and low-to-moderate MAPE were consistent in most studies reviewed and support validation of the FBC2 to accurately measure HR at low or moderate exercise intensities. However, more investigation controlling testing and measurement congruency is needed to validate step capabilities. The literature supports the validity of the FBC2 to accurately monitor HR, but for step count, it is inconclusive, so the device may not be suitable for recommended use in all populations.


Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture: measures for public health protection , Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater and excreta in agriculture and aquaculture: measures for p... , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی


The language of humanitarianism has played a central role in political and media debates about undocumented migrants/refugees crossing into Europe and North America over the last few years. This essay argues that humanitarianism at the border is not good enough, often producing more harm than good; in particular, the article discusses the limits of central principles and practices of humanitarianism, including the search for innocence, the limits of emergency, and the inadequacies of compassion. The underlying goal of the essay is to make space for new affective and political grammars in response to suffering, injustice and death.


The many etiologies for pericardia! effusion have been extensively documented, but the mechanisms involved in; the formation and persistence of the pericardia! fluid have received little attention. In~estigators interested in the etiologies of pericardia! effusion have concerned themselves primarily with changes in the parietal pericardium. This is understandable, as the parietal pericardium can anatomically be approached as a distinct structure and is n~edled and biopsied with relative ease. On the other hand, the visceral pericardium hk been neglected, since it is much less accessible for study. Just as the parietal peribrdium has been assumed to be the source of pericardia! effusion, so "inflammation'1 has been generally considered to be the insult which causes the effusion. However, understanding the mechanism of pericardia! effusion requires a more thorough examination of the problem. Though "inflammation" can explain pericardia! effusion in cert;ain clinical settings, substantial non-inflammatory effusions do occur with, for example, congestive heart failure.


Pressure induced structural phase transition in SrS from NaCl (B1) structure to CsCl (B2) structure has been studied using plane wave pseudopotential density functional theory as implemented in Quantum Espresso code. Ultrasoft pseudopotential along with generalised gradient approximation (GGA) has been used for total energy calculation. The electronic band structure has been calculated for B1 phase of SrS. We also report the vibrational properties such as phonon frequencies along major symmetry directions using density functional perturbation theory. The phase transition pressure is calculated by comparing enthalpies of both phases and its presently calculated value is 17.95 GPa, in very good agreement with the experimental results.


There are a number of polymorphic genes in mice which control the expression of hemolytic complement levels. The levels of hemolytic complement vary greatly within a non-inbred strain, CF-1, and there is a characteristic level of hemolytic complement activity for each inbred strain. Studies of progeny of crosses between selected inbred strains suggest that the levels of hemolytic complement are controlled by relatively simple genetic mechanisms. The significance of recognizing these genetic variants in understanding the functions of the complement system is discussed.


To know the drag coefficient and the added mass coefficient of plane nets in wave and water flow, the fluid force action on the plane nets were measured in a large fluid dynamical towing tank, the drag and added mass coefficients were calculated. The main results were as follows: The drag coefficients and the added mass coefficients were derived from the wave and water flow which coexisted simultaneously. The relation between the drag coefficient and Reynolds number is shown along the same curve which were obtained in wave only and water flow only. The relation between added mass coefficient and KC number is also expressed along the same curve in wave only. In case of wave and water flow, the KC number becomes large, and so the mass force cannot be disregarded when calculating the fluid force acting on plane nets in wave and water flow that coexist simultaneously.


THIS ARTICLE DESCRIBES THE METHOD WHICH CONSISTS IN MEASURING THE TOTAL AREA OF THE PORES OF CHROMIUM OR TITANIUM COATINGS ON STEEL BY ESTIMATING THE QUANTITY OF ELECTRICITY NEEDED TO MAKE THE NON-COATED STEEL PASSIVE. THE RESULTS, WHICH ARE COMPARED WITH THOSE OBTAINED BY MEANS OF MICROSCOPY, ARE SATISFACTORY.


Biosorption is one of the most useful techniques for environmental remediation especially for heavy metal pollution. Kinetics of the biosorption is of great significance to evaluate the performance of a given adsorbent and gain insight into the underlying mechanisms. Presently, the removal of chromium (VI) from aqueous solutions using Eugenia jambolana Lam. (commonly known as Jamun) seed investigated. Adsorption study were performed in batch adsorption techniques to evaluate various parameters like pH of the solution, time of contact between adsorbent and adsorbate, dose of adsorbent, chromium ion concentration and solution temperature. The adsorption of Cr(VI) increased with dose of adsorbent and reached maximum at 1.0g/ 100mL at pH 6. Kinetic models like pseudo first and second-order were used to correlate the adsorption data. For both kinetic models, kinetic constants were computed and the second-order rate expression fitted well with high correlation coefficient. Two isotherm models, namely; Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm were used to know adsorption mechanism and Langmuir correlated the data well inferring a monolayer adsorption at the binding sites on the surface of the adsorbent. It may be concluded that Eugenia jambolana Lam. seed can be used as an efficient adsorbent for removing Cr (VI) from aqueous solutions.


The Nietzsche-Wörterbuch , whose first volume was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, is certainly the most internationally distinguished project among the Nietzsche research projects being conducted at universities there. We can look forward to the continuation of the project, which will bring into focus aspects of Nietzsche's thought that have not yet been fully considered. The first volume certainly lives up to its claim to stimulate discussion on these aspects and about Nietzsche's language generally.


At the present time, user activities on Internet are permanently monitored, and the information obtained from this process is pretty useful for big advertising companies and especially for governments. The user information that external agents collect could be: search queries, clicks, text from visited web sites and even the time that users spend on browsing some sites. These data are processed in order to build user profiles that are later used to customize services.
Additionally, this large amount of data susceptible of being collected (by personalized information systems) represents a serious risk for the users' privacy on Internet. Perhaps, even more critical is the fact that many users are not aware of this risk, since it is not as evident as it is in the physical world. The risk gets worse when a few companies are capable of collecting much of the user data because their services are so popular to the point where they become vital for users interaction with the Internet, as is the case with search engines. Even when users do not reveal strictly personal information such as addresses, locations or names, current technology allows to infer much of this information from each user interaction with Internet.
We present in this work a first effort towards the development of an extension for the Firefox web browser that estimates the privacy risk of the privacy of a user who, due to its navigation habits, is exposed to profiling mechanisms on Internet. The risk level is shown in a comprehensible and accessible fashion in the browser graphical interface and is calculated based on different adversary models.
The privacy measuring mechanism that we integrate in the browser uses metrics that were appropriately justified and that rely on information theoretic concepts.


Microblog has been an essential tool in people's daily life recent years. Because of its interactive and its multiple users, current events can get a fast spread speed. As a result, more and more people use this platform to focus on hot spots instead of newspaper or television. However, people can only search for some relevant posts ranked by time sequence with much content redundancy or get some hot key words which are hard to understand without background knowledge. In this paper, we analyze the challenges in event detection on microblogging platforms, and present a research framework for event detection and summarization for microblog data.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the individual and combined diagnostic utility of MOC-31, HBME-1 and MOC-31mRNA in the differentiation of adenocarcinoma cells from reactive mesothelial cells in pleural effusions.

STUDY DESIGN
To subject the cells from 293 pleural effusions to immunocytochemical staining for MOC-31 and HBME-1 and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for the expression of MOC-31.

RESULTS
MOC-31 and MOC-31mRNA expression were significantly higher in the cancer cell group and in 3 subgrouped as adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and small cell lung carcinoma than in the mesothelial cell group, whereas HBME-1 expression was obviously lower in those (p < 0.01). In single use, MOC-31mRNA had the highest sensitivity (90.8%) and accuracy (91.5%), whereas MOC-31 had the highest specificity (100%). When combinations of markers were evaluated together, MOC-31mRNA and HBME-1 gave a high diagnostic performance: sensitivity of 96.7% and accuracy of 95.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The detection of MOC-31, HBME-1 and MOC-31-mRNA is helpful in distinguishing between cancer and reactive mesothelial cells in pleural effusions. MOC-31mRNA could be useful to the diagnosis of pleural micrometastasis.


ABSTRACT While knowledge, attitudes and beliefs as well as skills are integrated parts of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) competency, few teacher education programmes have targeted the well-rounded CRT competency in all of these three aspects. Drawing on the conceptual framework of CRT competency and constructivist learning theory, the present study investigated the impact of a field experience model on developing pre-service teachers' (PSTs) CRT competency. This model was comprised of multi-dimensional activities including classroom observations and interactions with English language learners (ELLs), a community walk, community events participation, interviewing mentor teachers, and critical reflections. The data was collected through a triangular process including PSTs' (N = 10) reflections, course projects, and interviews with PSTs. The results indicated that this model enriched PSTs' knowledge about ELLs, positively changed PSTs' attitudes and beliefs towards ELLs, and developed their potential abilities in CRT. The study also identified effective elements in preparing PSTs' CRT to provide implications and recommendations for future PST education programmes.


Safety assessment studies of future nuclear waste r epositories carried out in many countries predict selenium-79 to be a critical radi onuclide due to its presence in the anionic form resulting in weak retardation by most common rock m inerals. This assumption, however, ignores its potential uptake by AFm phases, positively char ged anion exchangers which are present in significant quantities in the cementitious material s used in artificial barriers. Here we report for the first time wet chemistry and spectroscopic data on the interaction of the most reduced selenium anion species, i.e. HSe , with two AFm phases commonly found in cement, monocarbonate (AFm-CO 3) and hemicarbonate (AFm-OHCO 3). Batch sorption experiments show that Se(-II) is retained much more strongly (R d = 100±50 L kg ) by the hemicarbonate than by the monocarbonate (R d = 4±2 L kg ). The cause of this different sorption behavior wa s elucidated by extended X-ray absorption fine-struct ure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, showing that Se(-II) is mainly intercalated in the larger and he nc more accessible interlayer of the hemicarbonate (d-spacing = 0.82 nm), whereas most S e(-II) is sorbed by the anion exchange sites on the outer surfaces of the AFm platelets in the c ase of monocarbonate, where the interlayer space is less accessible due to the smaller d-spaci ng of 0.75 nm. EXAFS spectra of oxidation experiments further show that Se(-II) in the interl ayers is better protected from oxidation than Se(-II) sorbed to the outer surfaces. The quantitat ive sorption data along with the molecular-scale processes obtained from this study provide crucial insight into the Se mobility in the cementitious near-field of a radioactive waste repo sitory under reducing conditions. INTRODUCTION Selenium-79 is one of the critical radionuclides fo r the safety of radioactive waste repositories due to its long half-live ( t1/2 = 3.27·10 5 years) and its presence in the anionic form result ing in weak retardation by many common nearand far-field minerals in low and intermediate level nuclear waste (L/ILW) repositories. 1 The assumption of weak retention adopted in most s afety assessment studies, however, ignores the potential uptake by positively charged anion exchangers such as hydrated calcium aluminate phase s (AFm phases) present in the cementitious materials used as artificial barrier in L/ILW repos it ries. AFm phases are Ca, Al layered double hydroxides consisting of Ca(OH) octahedral s heets in which 1/3 of the Ca 2+ ions are replaced by Al 3+ ions, resulting in a positive structural permanent charge (e.g. Matschei and coworkers 2007). 6 This positive charge is compensated by the interca lation of anions in the interlayers. The anionic composition of AFm phases in cementitious materials is dominated by anions such as CO 3 , SO4 , Cl and OH depending on the type of cement. 6 These interlayer anions are generally relatively weakly bound thus p roviding potential exchange sites for Se anions. In addition to these interlayer anion excha nge sites, AFm phases also possess a smaller number of ion exchange sites on their outer surface s (mainly positively charged interlayer cleavage faces). AFm phases thus seem to provide si gnificant immobilization potential for this critical radionuclide. Under the alkaline reducing conditions expected to prevail in the cementitious near field of a L/ILW repository (10 < pH < 13.3; -750mV (SHE) < E h < -230 mV (SHE) ) 7, , Se(IV), Se(0), Se(-II) are the predominant redox states and the aq u ous Se speciation is dominated by anionic species SeO 3 , HSe and a series of polyselenides (Se x ), mainly Se2 , Se3 2and Se4 2(Supporting information (SI), Figure S1). 9 During the last decade, several studies have been conducted to unravel the sorption behavior of SeO 3 2onto cementitious materials, including AFm phases. 10-14 Sorption of Se(-II), however, has been largely ign ored by the scientific community in the past, as it is experimentally difficult to stab ilize this element in the (-II) redox state. The present study deals with the sorption of HSe onto two types of AFm phases, AFm-CO 3 and AFm-OHCO3. These phases were chosen because they are expecte d to be among the most stable AFm phases in hardened cement paste in the presence of carbonate. 2 In this study, batch sorption experiments under controlled reducing conditions we re combined with X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) investigations to monitor the se lenium oxidation state and to characterize the molecular structure of HSe r tained by these AFm phases. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experiments were carried out in inert N 2 atmosphere gloveboxes (O 2, CO2 concentration < 0.1 ppm). Solutions were prepared using pro analysis gr ade chemicals and high-purity deionized water (resistivity = 18.2 M cm) generated by a Milli-Q Gradient A10 System (Mi llipore, Bedford, USA). The MilliQ water was degassed by boi ling and bubbling N2 for at least 2 hours prior to use. AFm synthesis and characterization. Pure calcium aluminate hydrate (AFm) phases ([Ca2Al(OH)6][X ]1/n·(H2O)m), X being CO3 , OH) were synthesized following the procedures described by Matschei et al. 15 The S:L ratio of the resulting AFm suspensions was 2·10 kg L (batch sorption experiments) or 0.1 kg L -1 (XAS experiments). A pure AFm-HSe phase (([Ca2Al(OH)6][HSe ]·(H2O)m) was synthesized by stoichiometrically mixing C 3A and NaHSe obtained by electrochemical reduction of Na 2SeO3 followed by equilibration on an end-over-end shaker for four weeks. A portion of the AFm suspensions were centrifuged ( 1 hour at 90'000 g (max)). The supernatant solutions were decanted and the pastes were dried f or approximately 2 weeks in an airtight box over N2 atmosphere in equilibrium with a saturated CaCl 2 so ution (RH = ~35%). Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) measurements were carried out us ing an X'Pert Pro MPD diffractometer with CoK radiation ( = 1.789 Å). PXRD data of the sample containing Se(-II) were col le ted using a BRUKER AXS D8 ADVANCE Bragg-Brentano diffra ctometer with CuKa radiation ( = 1.54 Å). A low background airtight sample holder was used t o reduce the risk of Se(-II) oxidation during the measurements. Reduction of Se(IV) to Se(-II). NaHSe solutions were obtained by electrochemical reducti on of 10 M Na2Se O3 solutions in 1.0 M NaOH with the help of a standar d three electrode electrochemical cell coupled with a VMP3 multichann el potentiostat (Bio-Logic, France) in constant potential mode (E h = -1.29V (SHE)) (SI, section 2). UV-Vis spectromet ry (Cary 6000i, Agilent Technologies, USA) which allows identificat ion of the reduced Se species (HSe and Sex ) in solution was used to confirm the completeness of the reduct ion reaction (SI; Figure S3 and S4). Sorption experiments. Se(-II) is extremely sensitive to oxidation. Theref or , sorption experiments were performed in electrochemical cells (140 ml polyacryl containers) implementing a fixed redox potential of -1.0V (SHE) . This redox potential was chosen to ensure sufficiently strong reducing conditions to keep Se in the (-II) redox state without significant O 2 production at the anode through electrolysis of H 2O. The electrochemical setup was similar to the one used for the reduction of Se(IV) to Se(-II) (SI, section 2), while the high surface area reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) working electrode was replaced by a cylindrical glassy carbon working electrode (Sigradur G, HTW, Tierhaupten, Ge rmany). 10 mL freshly prepared AFm suspensions (S:L = 0.1 kg L ) were mixed with 85 ml degassed MilliQ H 2O and 5 mL of a Se(II) solution labeled with Se radiotracer ( t1/2 = 119.8 days) (Imatom GmbH, Switzerland) to obtain a final total Se concentration of 1.25·10 -4 M. The initial Se activity amounted to at least 9 Bq/ml. The suspensions were vigorously stirred fo r up to 18 days. In the case of long term sorption experiments (for XAS investigations), 38 m L of a 0.1 kg L freshly prepared AFm suspension (S:L = 0.1 kg L ) was mixed with 2 mL of a 0.05 M radiotracer-free HSe solution ([HSe]final = 2.5·10 -3 M) in polyallomere centrifuge tubes. To this suspe nsion, 0.2 ml hydrazine (N2H4) (64%), a strong reducing agent (E h 0 = -1.15 V), was added to preserve reducing conditions 20, 21 (see SI, section 3). The tubes were shaken on an e nd-over-end shaker for 30 days. Duplicate 5 mL aliquots were sampled from the Se labelled suspensions for gamma counting (Packard Cobra model 5003 gamma-counter, P erkin Elmer, USA) to determine the total Se activity involved in the sorption reaction. Phas e eparation was obtained either by centrifugation (1 h at 95000g (max)) in the case of the XAS samples or by filtration (PTFE Filters, pore size 0.2 μm, Perkin Elmer, USA) in the case of the experiment s i electrochemical cells. Triplicate 5 mL samples were taken from the supernatant solutions and filtrates and analyzed by gamma counting ( Se labeled samples). The pH of the supernatant solu ions was measured with a Metrohm combined glass electrode. T he redox speciation of Se in the supernatant solutions was verified with UV-vis spec troscopy. The distribution coefficient, R d (L·kg ), was calculated as follows: { } [ ] susp eq solid d eq eq eq A A Se A V V R Se A m A m     −     = = ⋅ = ⋅                     (L·kg) , (1) where { } Se and [Se] eq are the amount of Se sorbed (mol kg ) and the equilibrium Se(-II) concentration, respectively. A solid is the radionuclide activity sorbed (cpm·L ), Aeq is the radionuclide activity in the equilibrium solution ( cpm·L), Asusp is the total radionuclide activity in suspension (cpm·L ). V and m are the suspension volume (L) and mass o f olid (kg). X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS). AFm-CO3 phases and AFM-OHCO 3 phases loaded with Se(-II) were prepared as described in section 2.3 with Se loadings varying between ~5·10 -3 mol kg (~450 ppm) and ~2·10 -2 mol kg (~1800 ppm). Wet pastes obtained after centrifugat ion were filled into Kap


The marginal cost approach has proved a useful economics-based alternative to the well known classical analysis of replacement models. In this paper, the marginal cost analysis' workings are explored for some basic ordering models for systems with a single spare unit. As with replacement models, the fundamental quantity of interest is the marginal cost function. While the basic pattern of analysis broadly corresponds to that for replacement models, the usual micro-type reasoning inherent in marginal cost analysis now has to be supplemented by some look-ahead considerations and a more detailed analysis. Moreover, the optimality equation derived here for ordering models is an extension of that for replacement models. Two kinds of objective functions are considered here: the long term expected cost rate function and the expected total discounted cost function. Several ordering policies are reviewed by way of the marginal cost approach, which, it is argued, is a viable and from the decision maker's perspective attractive tool of analysis also in the ordering context.


The array layout is very important to application of high resolution direction finding technique in wide band.Based on the definition of angle ambiguity,this paper mainly discusses the first-order two-dimension angle ambiguity of five-sensor cross array.Then the array is amended in order to evaluate the directions better in a lower SNR and estimate more radiation sources.The theoretical analysis and simulation results prove that the amended array has better performance.


CONTEXT
Inflammation may have a pathogenic role in the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); by contrast, the role of anti-inflammatory molecules has not been addressed. Low circulating levels of the anti-inflammatory molecule IGF-I have been described in subjects with NAFLD.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to elucidate the clinical significance of IGF-I in NAFLD and its relationship with inflammatory biomarkers and fibrosis.

DESIGN AND SETTING
We conducted a cross-sectional study and in vitro experiments on hepatic HepG2 cells at the Internal Medicine and Gastrointestinal and Liver Units of the Universities of Catanzaro and Palermo.

SUBJECTS
A total of 221 individuals with NAFLD diagnosed on ultrasonography (cohort 1) and 50 subjects with biopsy-proven NAFLD (cohort 2) participated in the study.

INTERVENTION
Liver ultrasonography was performed on cohort 1, and hepatic biopsies were obtained from cohort 2.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
NAFLD fibrosis and Kleiner scores were calculated. IGF-I and inflammatory biomarker plasma concentrations were assessed with specific assays. In the in vitro study, real-time RT-PCR was used to assess the mRNA expression levels of acute-phase reactants.

RESULTS
In the first cohort, circulating IGF-I levels showed an inverse correlation with NAFLD fibrosis score and inflammatory biomarkers; similarly in the second cohort, liver IGF-I mRNA levels and the fibrosis score showed a negative relationship. Finally, we showed that IGF-I was able to directly modulate the expression of acute-phase reactants, decreasing C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels and up-regulating albumin expression in HepG2 cells.

CONCLUSIONS
The present data suggest that evaluation of circulating IGF-I and proinflammatory markers might be useful to assess comprehensively the severity of the disease in individuals with NAFLD.


The article discusses the features of teaching the academic discipline "Economic Political Science". Its place in the educational process, its relationship with other disciplines, main goals, objectives and learning outcomes are shown. The most important problems of the key topics of the discipline are revealed. Special attention is paid to such discipline categories as "power", "politics", "economics", "entrepreneurship" in the context of all the complexity and multidimensionality of their relationship. Methodological recommendations are given for their consideration in lectures and practical classes, the use of interactive teaching methods, in particular, discussions, brainstorming, etc.


Ticlopidine is an antiplatelet agent used in the prophylaxis of peripheral and cerebrovascular diseases, [1-3] ischemic heart disease, [1,3] and vascular complications of diabetes mellitus. [4] In healthy volunteers ticlopidine reduces the clearance of theophylline [5] and antipyrine, [6] probably by inhibiting the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes. On the basis of these observations, the package insert in some countries contains a warning advising caution when ticlopidine is introduced in patients receiving therapy with highly metabolized drugs.

We report a case of metabolic phenytoin-ticlopidine interaction in which phenytoin plasma concentrations increased and CNS toxicity appeared when ticlopidine was added to the therapeutic regimen.

A 65-year-old man had a history of complex partial seizures, sometimes with secondary generalization, which started at the age of 52 years. A brain CT scan obtained at this time was normal. He had been treated with different antiepileptic regimens for about 10 …


Radiological changes in the cervical spine were investigated among eighty two patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis. Sixty six cases out of eighty two (80.5%) complained of the subjective symptoms such as pain in the neck and so forth.Thirty four cases out of eighty two (41.5%) were found the objective finding such as limitation of neck rotation and flexion sideway. There are no abnormal neurological signs in this series.Radiological change of the cervical spine, in the strict sense, were found in sixty five cases of this series (79.3%).Radiological changes in the atlanto-axial joints, especially anterior subluxation of the atlas on the axis were more commonly observed among the group of the patients with those clinical symptoms.Rheumatoid changes in the synovial atlanto-axial joint were also confirmed in a autopsy case with classical rheumatoid arthritis which had expired of pulmonary tuberculosis.


We have identified the mechanism of capacitance–voltage (C–V) hysteresis behavior often observed in pentacene organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). The C–V characteristics were measured for pentacene OTFTs fabricated on glass substrates with MoW as gate/source/drain electrode and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) SiO2 as gate insulator. The measurements were made at room temperature and elevated temperatures. From the room temperature measurements, we found that the hysteresis behavior was caused by hole injection into the gate insulator from the pentacene semiconductor for large negative gate voltages, resulting in the negative flat-band voltage shift. However electron injection was observed only at elevated temperatures.


Dr.Mario Roccaro has been added to the author list since he originally cloned the ArabidopsisWRKY18 andWRKY40 genomic loci that servedas templates for theconstructionof the transgenic linesused in this study.All coauthorsagree to includeDr.Roccaroascoauthor. The authors would also like to acknowledge Dr. Moritz Schön for generation of a complementation line used in the study. Because of these changes, the Author Contributions and Acknowledgments have also been updated below. We regret these omissions in the previous version.


SummaryThe effect of heavy metal intoxication on superoxide anion (O2−) production and larval burden during experimental Ascaris suum infection was studied. Mice were chronically intoxicated with lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) or mercury (Hg) and subsequently infected with A. suum. The metabolic activity of peritoneal macrophages in mice intoxicated with Pb was suppressed and subsequent parasitic infection did not change this inhibition. Cd intoxication increased the superoxide production and also stimulated the activity of this oxygen radical after A. suum infection. Intoxication with Hg had a stimulative effect on the macrophage metabolic activity and subsequent A. suum infection moderately reduced this activity. Parasite burden was different depending on a type of heavy metal intoxication. Pb intoxication moderately increased the parasite burden in the liver and lungs of intoxicated mice. In contrast, Cd and Hg intoxication triggered a marked reduction of A. suum larvae in the liver and lungs of intoxicated mice, respectively. Monitored heavy metals differed in their immunomodulatory effect on metabolic activity of macrophages what also altered the intensity of the parasite infection in the hosts.


Silver nanowire (Ag NW) films are the promising next-generation flexible, transparent conductors, but their transport properties are greatly deteriorated by the insulating polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP...


An investigation of the effects of rolling and annealing on the orientation of individual grains in silicon ferrite strip yielded results which led to the formulation of a theory for the appearance of the ``magnetic'' orientation in the final processed strip. It is proposed that, in a fine‐grained strip of silicon ferrite, those grains which are already in the ``magnetic'' orientation before rolling will keep that mean orientation during rolling but become more highly strained than other grains, and therefore, they will become the portions of the cold‐rolled strip with highest free energy. In the annealing process these highest energy regions will recrystallize first, becoming lowest energy regions which will be able to consume the now higher energy regions surrounding them. Since these nuclei have the ``magnetic'' orientation, the final product also attains the ``magnetic'' orientation.


Serum selenium level was determined in 72 patients with Graves′ disease (GD) and 58 patients with Hashimoto′s thyroiditis (HT). Their thyroid function, goiter, thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) and course of disease were observed. The serum levels of selenium in GD and HT patients were significantly lower than that in control group (both P0.01). With the decline of serum selenium, the clinical manifestation tended to be aggravated.


The nature of peer bullying in schools is described, differentiating between its defining characteristics and others usually but not necessarily present. Topics on the phenomenon, sometimes unreal, are analysed. On the basis of Spanish data, incidence of bullying in schools, its settings and participants, and its consequences for the ones involved are summarised, together with students' and teachers' representations of this problem, resulting from qualitative studies carried out by the authors. Finally, the role of different participants, specially the school, in the intervention and prevention of bullying, is discussed.


Background Cells have heterogeneous cellular diversity in size, morphology, cell cycle, metabolism, differentiation degree, and spatial distribution. The shift of specific cells towards the desired cells is crucial for maintaining uniform cellular function and can be represented by homogeneity and heterogeneity. Here, we developed a simple and direct method for evaluating the homogeneous distribution of desired cells in a constant region. Methods We differentiated osteoclast progenitors into bone-resorbing multinucleated giant osteoclasts in a 2-dimensional culture plate under 2 conditions. Cells were stained with tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase to assess osteoclast differentiation, images were taken using a microscope and divided into sectors, and the number of osteoclasts (≥3 nuclei) in each sector was counted. To assess the homogeneity of the spatial distribution of osteoclasts, the standard deviation (SD) was calculated from the mean number of osteoclasts within each sector. Results From the 2 groups, a value with a SD close to 0 indicates high spatial homogeneity while a relatively high SD represents low spatial homogeneity. Conclusions Our findings suggest that spatial homogeneity can be represented as SD.


We present transport properties of silicon nanowires field effect transistors realized on SOI substrates and their application to probe electrical activity of biological objects. Devices are sensitive to short and weak voltage pulses (ms, mV) applied in an electrolyte solution, allowing a future efficient detection of neuronal activity. For that purpose, the organized growth of neuronal cells along chosen patterns has been obtained, leading to an accurate coupling with silicon nanowire field effect transistors. Both network architectures, neural and semiconducting, have been designed to study some aspects of the propagation and the processing of information by the nervous system.


A method of Cs/sup 137/ selective desorption on ammonium salts of heteropolyacids (HPA) from mixtures of fission products was studied. Experiments were carried out on a column of the ammonium salt of phosphotungstic and phosphomolybdic acids. The efficiency of cesium elution by 10 M ammonium nitrate solution was investigated. Excess ammonium nitrate was decomposed by heat treatment or by means of a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. Decomposition of the ammonium salts of HPA by ammonium hydroxide was proposed as an alternative method for the separation of cesium. Components of decomposed HPA were precipitated as barium salts. (auth)


The Kerberos-One-Time protocol is a key distribution protocol promoted for use with Javacards to provide secure communication over the GSM mobile phone network. From inspection we suspected a replay attack was possible on the protocol. To check this, we formally specified the protocol using Object-Z and then analysed its behaviour in the presence of an attacker using the symbolic analysis laboratory's model checker. To produce accurate results efficiently, our formalism included an abstraction of the protocol's data structures that captured just those characteristics that we believed made the protocol vulnerable. Ultimately, the model checker's analysis confirmed our suspicions about the protocol's weakness


TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Master's Degree Programme in Signal Processing and Communications Engineering PALTTALA, JANNE: Indoor network impact on the macrocell HSPA performance Master of Science Thesis, 70 pages, 3 Appendix pages May 2010 Major: Computer networks and protocols Examiners: Prof. Jukka Lempiäinen, M.Sc. Tero Isotalo


ABSTRACT. The Neotropical species of Metopia Meigen are revised, and a total of fifteen species recorded from the region. Five species are described as new; M.aurigans sp.n., M.pulverulenta sp.n., M.hispidimana sp.n., M.flava sp.n., and M.cubitosetigera sp.n. Three species are recorded for the first time from the Neotropical region; M.inermis Allen, 1926, M.krombeini Sabrosky, 1953, and M.sinipalpis Allen, 1926. Four new synonyms are proposed; M.tessellata Allen, 1926, syn.n. of M.perpendicularis Wulp, 1890, M.macrocera Dodge, 1968, syn.n. of M.brasiliana (Townsend, 1929), M.astuta Dodge, 1968, syn.n. of M.brasiliana (Town‐send, 1929), and M.lucipeda Reinhard, 1961, syn.n. of M.campestris (Fallen, 1810). Males of M.polita (Townsend, 1935) and M.juquiana (Townsend, 1934) are recorded for the first time. A key to all American species of Metopia is provided, and the phylogenetic affinities of the Neotropical species are briefly discussed.


Abstract Matters of interreligious engagement and worldview orientation are becoming more salient on campuses across the country. All-comers policies, conflicts about the Middle East, and intersections of spirituality with other aspects of identity present challenges for professionals working with students on college campuses. This article will discuss some of the intricacies to addressing conflict around religious identity on campus, focusing on the importance of building relationships across disagreement.


Concretes and Cements: Materials and Technology. Concretes and Cements: Experimental and Theoretical Studies. Special Concretes. Other Inorganic Materials (Geomaterials and Metals). Hydrocarbons and Synthetics. Timber. Structures and Masonry. Durability and Service Life. Testing Equipment


ELEAZER BIRNBAUM, Ottoman Turkish and Cagatay MSS in Canada, Islamic Manuscripts and Books 6. (Leiden: E.J. Brill 2015), Pp. 521 $194.00 cloth.This catalogue describes more than two hundred seventy Ottoman and Chaghatay Turkish manuscripts in Canadian collections. Three of these collections are institutional: University of Toronto Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (twenty-five or so items); McGill University, Montreal (more than fifty items); and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (four items). But the vast majority of manuscripts described in this handsome volume are in the personal collection of its author, Professor Eleazer Birnbaum, who has dedicated his working life as an educator and librarian in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada to the conservation and study of Islamic manuscripts.This catalogue is therefore testament to the author's mastery of codicology (the study of manuscripts) and associated disciplines like philology and paleography. For the reader, his volume serves two, related purposes. The first is as an invaluable scholarly guide to surviving manuscript materials in the principal Turkish dialects of the pre-modern Islamic world. The second is as a model for the kind of basic research that anyone working with manuscripts needs to do before beginning textual and contextual analysis. Although researchers of materials produced during the preprint era must by necessity learn how to decipher the classical styles of Islamic calligraphy (whether it be Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, or Chaghatay) and be able to map the contents of a manuscript, they rarely receive formal training in how to do so. Although some organizations such as the Islamic Manuscript Association periodically run intensive short courses on Islamic codicology, courses are rarely offered by universities (particularly in North America and Europe) as part of the formal graduate student education. In lieu of such training, catalogues like as the one reviewed here provide a welcome model.The volume is based on the author's own handwritten notes, typed up by an assistant. It is divided into four parts, one for each collection addressed. In each part the author has further subdivided the manuscripts according to a taxonomy of eleven subject areas. These subject areas include the usual fields of history, jurisprudence, poetry, religious texts, and more loosely designated fields that he refers to as "pseudo-sciences'" (e.g., dream interpretation, divination). The manuscripts are then described in order of date of original composition (where known), rather than date of copying. …


Introduction: Chitosan is a biodegradable, naturally occurring polymer with recently used as a scaffold material in tissue engineering. To maximize the biocompatibility and bioactivity of Chitosan, nanohydroxyapatite has been incorporated into chitosan scaffolds. Aim: This study aimed to investigate bone healing after placing CS/nHA scaffold in bone regeneration of extracted socket in rabbits with induced osteoporosis. Materials and Methods: We used 40 New Zealand white rabbits randomly divided into 4 groups: group A (-ve Control), group B (+ve Control with CS/nHA scaffold), group C (osteoporosis with CS/nHA scaffold), and group D (osteoporosis without CS/nHA scaffold). After induction of osteoporosis and surgical extraction, the rabbits were euthanized at 2 and 6 weeks. The effect of CS/ nHA was evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically using ALP, OP, and BMP-2 markers. Results: Our results showed enhanced bone trabeculae in group B and C comparable with the group A. However, thin bone trabeculae with irregular bone surfaces were seen in group D. Our histological findings were confirmed by the newly formed bone surface area histomorphometry, besides ALP, BMP-2, and OP immunoexpression showing a sustained significant increase in group B and C compared with group D across both intervals. Conclusion: The histology and immunoexpression of bone healing markers was positively affected by the placement of CS/nHA scaffolds under osteoporotic conditions. These results may indicate that CS/nHA scaffolds could be used to augment bone healing and improve the quality of newly formed bone after extraction in patients with osteoporosis required for future surgical procedures such as dental implantation.


Copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGSe) solar cells grown on glass substrates have reached an efficiency of 20.3%. Their industrial production is becoming increasingly relevant. While various deposition techniques for the fabrication of the absorber are used by different groups and corporations, molybdenum (Mo) has become the back contact material of choice. Oxidation of the bare Mo layer prior to absorber deposition is a phenomenon that is generally hard to control or to avoid. Since the incorporation of sodium (Na) into the absorber layer is commonly achieved by diffusion from a glass substrate through the Mo layer, oxidation of the back contact will influence the diffusion, and thus the availability of Na during the CIGSe growth process. In order to investigate this effect, Na containing glass substrates with Mo layers in different stages of oxidation have been prepared using a damp heat treatment. The samples were coated with CIGSe by physical vapor deposition in a multistage co-evaporation process. The CIGSe/Mo-interface is investigated by Raman spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy, using a lift-off technique. The damp heat treatment led to the formation of an oxide layer (presumably MoO2) and an increase of the sodium content in the grown absorber layers.


A hand-held hammer drill has a combination chuck comprising first and second toolholders. The first toolholder 10 is for gripping a round shaft tool and the second 12 is for gripping a slotted shaft tool. Locking means 48 are provided which prevent actuation of the first toolholder when a slotted shaft of a tool is inserted into the chuck. In the hand drill according to the invention, the clamping jaws (25) of the first toolholder (11) for round-shaft tools are in geared connection with a setting ring (26), which in a peripheral direction is connected non-rotatably to an actuator (27) in the form of an actuating sleeve. Locking means 48 comprises a locking slide (50) disposed radially in the base element (19) engaging with its radially inward-directed end (52) into the location opening (21) for slotted-shaft tools (13) and is provided at its radially outward-directed end (53) with a gearing (54) which, when a slotted-shaft tool (13) is inserted, meshes with a matching gearing (55) on the actuator (27).


The radio-frequency (RF) plasma production technique in the ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) attracts growing attention among fusion experts because of its high potential for solving several basic problems of reactor-oriented superconducting fusion machines, such as ICRF wall conditioning in tokamaks and stellarators (Te = 3−5eV, ne<1012cm−3), ICRF-assisted tokamak start-up and target plasma production (ne = 1013cm−3) in stellarators. Plasma initiation by ICRF has been studied intensively using single particle descriptions and basic analytic models. To further improve the present understanding on plasma production employing the vacuum RF field of ICRF antennas in toroidal devices in presence of the toroidal magnetic field, and its parametric dependencies a Monte Carlo code has been developed. The 1D code RFdinity1D describes the motion of electrons, accelerated by the RF field in front of the ICRF antenna, along one toroidal magnetic field line. Dependent on their individual energies and the relate...


The article by Stefano Tarocchi titled Ermenegildo Florit and "Dei Verbum" presents the contribution of the then Archbishop of Florence and his accompanying theologian Rev. Umberto Betti in the writing of the constitution on the Revelation of the Second Vatican Council. Based on the Diario del Concilio of the Florentine theologian and his correspondence with the Archbishop the author shows in a chronological order not only the participation of the Archbishop in the work of the theological commission that prepared subsequent versions of the document, but also scrupulously recounts the particular propositions modifying the versions of the document, expounding in this way the contribution of the two Florentines to the emergence of the constitution Dei Verbum against the background of subsequent stages of the shaping of this conciliar document.


This paper offers a conceptual model for integrative, participatory research projects that aim to improve the sustainability of agriculture and natural resource management. The purpose of the model is to provide a systematic framework for farmer participatory research that can guide the design of projects, their analysis and the documentation of results. In the model, explicit boundaries are drawn between research and development, development and extension and between extension and implementation. The objectives, activities and actors associated with each of these realms are described; and the role and principles of monitoring and evaluation are clarified. Examples are provided from three case studies of participatory projects with a retrospective analysis and critique based upon the framework.


Food is the main need for every individual that must always be fulfilled. For Indonesia, food is identified with rice because this type of food is a commodity consumed by the Indonesian population. Therefore, the rice crisis can be interrupt economic resilience and national stability. National rice consumption from year to year will continue to increase in line with the increase in Indonesia's population. Although, Indonesia is the third-largest country in the world in producing the most, Indonesia still depends on rice imports. This was done by the government to maintain the national rice supply.The rice supply chain in Indonesia has not been optimum, as indicated by the relatively small profits of producer. In this research, we construct the maximum profit model of direct and indirect media sales of rice for producer, distributor, and retailer. And then, we determine the optimum solution of the model and analysis of the factors in the rice supply chain that affect it. The results showed that  changes in the proportion of demand greatly affects the resulting optimal profit.


Taking the data of listed companies in A- share from 2008 to 2010 as samples,this paper exams whether internal control can influence corporate risk- taking and its characteristic under different ownerships and external law environments. We find that internal control will significantly negatively influence risk- taking and this effect will be more prominent in state- owned enterprises; what's more,external governance environment has a substitute for internal control,that is,the inverse relationship between internal control and enterprise risk taking will be weakened with the deepening of the marketization reform process.


THE CONCEPT of a person's becoming sensitized, in one or more of his organs, to a substance elaborated in or on his body from his own tissue proteins has intrigued many investigators. Whitfield 1 was probably the first to apply this concept to the field of dermatology. He reported, in 1921, the cases of 2 patients in whom generalized toxic eruptions developed ten days after they had incurred large hematomas due to trauma. A generalized papular, urticarial rash developed in a third patient eleven days after an acute exacerbation of dermatitis of the legs. In another patient a red-streaked, urticarial wheal developed whenever serum from a vesiculobullous eczema of the legs came in contact with normal areas of the skin. For these interesting dermatologic phenomena Whitfield coined the term autosensitization. In 1945, Smith 2 reported, under the name "eczema autolytica," the same type of autosensitization dermatitis as in Whitfield's third


PURPOSE: A support for protecting underground buried pipe is provided to improve constructability by strengthening combining force between a support and a bottom. CONSTITUTION: A support for protecting underground buried pipe comprises a radius of curvature support part(12), a plurality of support ribs, a soil filled space(18), a lower pipe protective support(10), and an upper pipe protective support. The support ribs support the radius of curvature support part. The lower pipe protective support is located on a bottom surface(14a) of the support ribs. A plurality of spikes are formed in the lower pipe protective support. The lower pipe protective support and the upper pipe protective support are joined together with a fixing protrusion and a fixing groove.


THE results arrived at contrast in a striking way with those obtained by the majority of previous observers, and are in direct opposition to the opinion held by many physicians and founded chiefly on a priori reasoning. About 500 litres of air, bearing on a low average 1500 organisms, are inspired every hour. As all, or at least the greater portion of this comes in contact with the moist mucous membrane lining the tortuous passages of the nasal fossae, it has been taken fur granted that the interior of the nose must show a rich profusion of micro-organisms. This conception is now widely adopted, and its general acceptance probably accounts for the scarcity of recorded observations of bacterioscopic examinations of the nasal cavity in a state of health. The of subject is gone in order. papers have found state made course of diseased met with. two authors —Loewenberg Hajek—find a scarcity of bacteria in the nose ; others record a greater or less variety and profusion. One observer finds the streptococcus of Fehleisen present in one out of every five individuals, and found the diplococcus pneumonia: (Frankel-Weichselbaum) in every four observer frequently met with the bacillus (Friedlander), the streptococcus pyoqenes, and the staphylococcus pyogenes aiireus, and 1" considerable but in insiue uniformity of comparison. Thirteen healthy individuals were examined. I went}- seven cultures and fourteen cover-glass preparations were made from the vestibuk of the nose. Seventy-six cultures and thirty cover-glass preparations were made from the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity. The results are summarized as considerable conjunctivitis was present. The pain in ear was severe and persistent. Operation was deemed inadvisable. shortly after- wards, and the condition was found A large, extradural bone


Indoor power line communication (PLC) systems experience high attenuation and frequency-selective channel condition, in addition to different types of colored noises. Its performance is heavily influenced by the length and topology of the in-house power cable wiring. By exploiting the broadcast property of the indoor power grid to each outlet, this paper presents a simple but practical relay-based cooperative communication scheme for indoor PLC networks. By plugging a relay device into a third outlet between the transmitter and receiver, reliable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be cooperatively achieved by setting proper system parameters. The condition for the optimal location of the plug-in relay device has been identified. Numerical simulation results show that with the cost of extra relay device, more reliable performance can be obtained with respect to the conventional direct transmission scheme.


A 3-dimensional dynamical regional atmospheric model was used to investigate the quantitative relationship between the physical processes of long range CO 2 transport from the emission region in Eurasia, and the magnitude and duration of a CO 2 anomaly measurement over the Canadian Arctic. We chose to simulate a positive CO 2 anomaly episode of about 5 ppm observed at Alert, located at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, during early December of 1990. The simulation allowed us to examine the evolution of the spatial distribution of the CO 2 anomaly field as it was being transported from the emission region in northern Europe to Siberia, and then across the Arctic Ocean to the Canadian Arctic. The anthropogenic CO 2 took more than a week to reach eastern Siberia, and stayed there until a synoptic situation evolved to finally advect it across the pole to the Canadian side. With the industrial emission from the northern Eurasia as the only CO 2 source, the model was able to simulate an intrusion of CO 2 anomaly field into the Canadian Arctic of little less than 2 ppm. With the inclusion of land biospheric CO2 sources, the model was able to account for much of the remaining 3 ppm. The positive CO 2 anomaly observed at Alert on December 1 represents a classical case of a low-level transport of CO 2 from Eurasia, via northern Siberia, to the Canadian Arctic during a winter season characterized by a very strong inversion in the lower troposphere.


Introduction: The quality of life improvement in children with cerebral palsy has become one of the main goals of therapeutic intervention, in parallel with the relief of disease symptoms. Unfortunately, the number of Polish publications on the quality of life of this group is relatively small compared to other countries. Aim of the study: The aim of this paper was the assessment of the quality of life of children with cerebral palsy. Material and methods: The study group included 128 persons with cerebral palsy aged two to 18 years. The study was of prospective nature and was carried out using the diagnostic survey method with the use of two standardised tools: PedsQL 3.0 Cerebral Palsy Module and CP QOL-Child Questionnaire. All calculations and figures were made using Microsoft Excel and Statistica 10.0 software. Results: The least frequently reported problems on the PedsQL 3.0 scale were pain (68.02 points) and fatigue (58.40 points). The most difficult for cerebral palsy patients were everyday activities (32.31 points), and mobility and keeping balance (39.41 points). The lowest scores of all domains in the CP QOL-Child questionnaire were received by the access to health services – 56.24 points, and physical health and participation – 58.99 points. According to the surveyed patients, their highest quality of life occurs in the area of participation in social life and social acceptance – 75.71 points, and emotional state – 75.27 points Conclusions: The results show a deficit in the quality of life of children and youths with cerebral palsy in terms of physical, social, and school life as well as in terms of problems arising from the disease entity. The therapy should be focused on appropriate adjustment of the home and school environment to the patient's needs, as well as developing skills that enable self-care or assisting in everyday self-care and school activities.


The invention discloses qi and blood benefiting brilliant red kumquat rice vinegar and a preparation method thereof. The qi and blood benefiting brilliant red kumquat rice vinegar is characterized in that the vinegar is prepared through the following raw materials, by weight, 500-550 parts of kumquat, 50-55 parts of black rice, 150-155 parts of sticky rice, 30-35 parts of grapes, 30-35 parts of buckwheat hull, 50-55 parts of bean dregs, 30-35 parts of jumble beads, 25-35 parts of hawthorn, 30-35 parts of celery and appropriate amount of water. The effective constituents of the qi and blood benefiting brilliant red kumquat rice vinegar has the functions of strengthening the spleen and stomach, clearing away heat and toxic materials, benefiting qi and nourishing blood and the like.


Using the theoretical lenses of Activity Theory this paper reviews literature about the possibilities of integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to develop teacher trainees' skills in collaborative and critical analysis of Literature in English texts. The review is based on the following arguments: 1) There are many affordances within the context of Uganda in general and Makerere University in particular to facilitate such integration. 2) Trainees can integrate ICT in their lessons if they themselves experience it during their training. 3) The study of Literature texts is inherently collaborative as readers interpret meaning and attempt to relate it to their own experiences. 4) ICT can provide the space and tools to develop pedagogical skills among teacher trainees of Literature. 5) Activity Theory provides the framework to explore the literature for the opportunities and gaps of using ICT to train Literature teachers. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17.12.8