Abstract Indubitably, although no age segment is immune to HIV/AIDS infections, the youths more than the adults are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infections. Perhaps this heralds the need for a campaign structure that respects the age if the epidemic is to be won expeditiously. The aim of the paper, using the review of literature methodology, is to discuss the underpinnings of increased youth vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in Botswana and South Africa. Findings indicate the following underpinnings: denial of the HIV/AIDS status; pressure not to take the ARVs; stigma and discrimination from the significant others; and fear of disclosure of the status. The paper recommends the following: adequate adolescent sexual reproductive health education; the governments to increase anti-stigma and anti-stigmatization campaigns; the use of social media to disseminate the HIV/AIDS messages and campaigns; and putting in place stronger anti-stigma legislations.


In the present study application of the multisegment numerical integration technique is extended to the static analysis of macroscopically anisotropic shells of revolution subjected to non-axisymmetric loading. The extension is achieved through the use of finite exponential Fourier transform of the fundamental shell of revolution equations. The governing shell of revolution equations are derived such that the full anisotropic form of the constitutive relations, including first order transverse shear deformation, are included in the analysis. For the non-axisymmetrically loaded shells of revolution, the article presents the detailed numerical integration based solution process of the transformed shell variables. The back-transformation process of the transformed variables to get the physical fundamental shell variables, and finally post-processing of the fundamental shell variables to calculate the derived field quantities such as deformations and stresses throughout the laminated shell structure have also been explained in-depth. Advantages of the numerical integration based analysis are highlighted. Special emphasis is given to the study of tailoring the winding angle of filament wound cylindrical satellite booms to minimize the thermal distortion due to typical nonaxisymmetric temperature differences that may occur in space.


Background: Defects in the lateral lumbar area are a problem during plastic surgery. Causative factors include tumor, trauma, inflammation and infection. An array of repair methods have been designed according to patient conditions. No treatment consensus has been reached to-date.Case Presentations: A male patient aged 66 years showed tumor metastasis across the sinuses 3 years after radical nephrectomy. Subcutaneous tissue including tumor scars, muscles, and ribs were surgically removed. Latissimus dorsi rotatory flaps were used to repair the defect.Conclusions: We highlight a safe and effective surgical method to overcome lateral lumbar defects. Following a literature review, we propose a systematic treatment concept for the repair of lateral lumbar defects.


Let D be a tournament with n vertices. Then the spectral radius ρ(D)≤n-1/2, and the e
quality holds if and only if that D is a regular tournament on outdegrees (indegrees) as n is odd, the inequality is strict otherwise.


This research study deals with the Design and implementation of a Symmetrical Cascaded H Bridge Nine level Multilevel Inverter (MLI) based structure voltage supply device primarily based static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) using curved pulse dimension (SPW) modulation management
 techniques simulated in Matrix Laboratory. The main theme of this article shows the voltage steadiness within the facility mistreatment structure electrical converter primarily based STATCOM. Hence, replacement symmetrical standard structures STATCOM is utilized to extent support voltage fluctuations
 such as sag plus swell conditions with additionally to separate current harmonics, voltage harmonics contained by the gear method. The structure Static Synchronous Compensator is employed for the purpose of PCC. A Fuzzy logic controller is used for minimization of error signal and thus sending
 the pulses to the SPWM based triggering circuit for the multilevel inverter. The hardware model of the proposed system is implemented and results are verified.


In the present paper, we introduce a new form of uncertainty principle in terms of moment generating function(m.g.f) and find the upper bound of the product for the time spread σt and frequency spread σω of a signal f(t)∈ L 2 (R) in terms of the Mathematical expectation and also in case of self-adjoint operators. Further, we find the estimation of frequency at any instant of time and vice-versa.


Secukinumab (SEC) proved to be an effective treatment for patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in randomized clinical trials [1]. There is only limited knowledge on prediction of low disease activity (LDA) and treatment strategy in AS patients under SEC treatment in routine clinical care.Using real-world data from the German non-interventional study AQUILA [2], the main objectives were (1) to predict LDA in individual AS patients treated with SEC through machine learning methods and (2) to identify the most important predictors and their influence on the prediction using explainable artificial intelligence (XAI).Data of 580 AS patients from the AQUILA study were used. Thirty-two demographic, clinical and treatment parameters at baseline (BL) served as input data to develop prediction models. LDA was defined as Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI) ≤ 2.0 at week (w) 16 (+/- 6 w). Samples were divided into training (70%) and validation (30%) cohorts. Ten different prediction models were applied and compared. Model performance was measured using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) which represents the probability that a randomly selected patient with LDA will have higher prediction to achieve LDA than a patient with moderate/high disease activity. Additionally, sensitivity and specificity of the prediction model were computed and express the proportion of correctly identified patients who reach or don't reach LDA at w16, respectively. Shapley XAI estimated importance and impact of each predictor based on how it affected the change in individual prediction [3].The most influencing predictor was BASDAI at BL, followed by the number of pretreatments with biologics, C-reactive protein (CRP), assessment of spondyloarthritis international society health index (ASAS-HI) and patient height (Figure 1 A). AUROC of the best performing prediction model was 0.84. Sensitivity and specificity were 0.87 and 0.67, respectively. Applied XAI approach showed that the lower the BL values of BASDAI, ASAS-HI and number of pretreatments with biologics were, the higher the probability of reaching LDA at w16 was. The opposite was the case for BL values of CRP and body height (Figure 1 A). The approach also provided visual explanations of patient-individual predictions: Variables with values shown in green color increased probability of reaching LDA at w16, whereas red ones showed the opposite effect (Figure 1 B).A promising prediction model accuracy of LDA in AS patients treated with SEC could be reached and validated. Identified main predictors at BL, such as BASDAI and number of pretreatments with biologics, and their direction of influence on the prediction of LDA mostly match the existing clinical knowledge [4]. The analysis showed that XAI can provide useful clinical insights into patient-individual predictions, potentially guiding AS treatment decisions in future.[1]Baeten D. et al., 2015[2]Kiltz U. et al., 2019[3]Molnar C., 2022.[4]Kiltz U. et al., Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases;79:436-437 (2020, THU0399)Figure 1.Main resultsA: Main predictors at baseline and their direction of influence based on Shapley values [3]B: Explanation of patient-individual prediction of 88% using baseline dataAssessment of spondyloarthritis international society health index (ASAS-HI), Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI), body mass index (BMI), C-reactive protein (CRP), patient global assessment (PGA), Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP)NIL.Asmir Vodencarevic Employee of: Novartis Pharma GmbH, Jan Brandt-Juergens Consultant of: Abbvie, Affibody, BMS, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, UCB, Daniel Peterlik Employee of: Novartis Pharma GmbH, Benjamin Gmeiner Employee of: Novartis Pharma GmbH, Uta Kiltz Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, Grünenthal, Hexal, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Gilead, GSK, Grünenthal, Hexal, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, UCB.


Malnutrition in pregnant women has an impact on both mother and child.  In children causing LBW, premature, developmental disorders, stunting. Mother, it causes chronic energy deficiency and anemia. Therefore important to conduct literature studies regarding factors that affect the nutritional status of pregnant women. This literature study is purposeful to identify the influencing factors nutritional status of pregnant women and knowing whether there are other factors besides those that have been widely studied. This study used a narrative review method. Searched using EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Google Scholar database. Keywords "pregnant women" AND "nutritional status" AND "factor". The inclusion criteria were articles that discuss the nutritional status of pregnant women, five last years, free full text, samples of pregnant women, in English, or Indonesian. The exclusion criteria were not including volume, number, and published articles. There were 16 quantitative research articles analyzed in this study. This study found factors that affect the nutritional status of pregnant women, which could be changed and which could not be changed. There were age, parity, education, knowledge,social-economic, infectious diseases, ANC, dietary habits, occupation  and origin of residence. There are other factors besides those that have been widely studied, such as caffeine intake, illiteracy, and self-efficacy. Suggestions for research, it is necessary to have further research related to nutritional status by assessing weight gain and BMI, for health workers it is better to provide health education regarding factors that may be changed in pregnant women, namely nutrition knowledge, visit ANC, and diet.


At present a rapid development of additive technologies for the growth of metal and alloy products takes place. Each additive technology has its own rational field of application and its own characteristic set of advantages and disadvantages. The most promising technologies are new 3DMP-technologies of wire sedimentation/welding deposition by a method electric arc welding in combination with subtractive machining technologies (additive-subtractive technologies). The application of 3DMP-technologies in comparison with common and some powder technologies results in the considerable decrease of production costs and substantial increase of growth productivity, for them it is characteristic a high coefficient of initial material beneficial use. The advantage in use of additive-subtractive technologies (AST) consists in a possibility of the alternative use of additive and subtractive transitions at the formation of a part within the limits of one technological operation in a full compliance with the principle of community and constancy of technological bases. But AST peculiarity requires a complex solution of interrelated engineering and scientific problems including those in the field of design of products, material machining, engineering procedure automation and CAD systems. For instance, in consequence of that the realization of 3DMP-technology is possible only under conditions of complete process automation, in the presence of a subtractive module having 3-5 controlled coordinates, for the equipment on the whole the NC system is necessary which controls the execution unit displacement along six coordinate axes and more.


Many communities lack good performance facilities for symphonic music, opera, dramatic and musical arts, but have basic convention, exhibition or assembly spaces. It should be possible to develop performance space environments within large multipurpose facilities that will accommodate production and presentation of dramatic arts. Concepts for moderate‐cost, temporary enhancements that transform boxy spaces into more intimate, acoustically articulated venues will be presented. Acoustical criteria and design parameters will be discussed in the context of creating a virtual auditorium within the building envelope. Physical, economic, and logistical limitations affect implementation. Sound reinforcement system augmentation can supplement the room conversion. Acceptable control of reflection patterns, reverberation, and to some extent, ambient noise, may be achieved with an array of nonpermanent reflector and absorber elements. These elements can sculpture an enclosure to approach the shape and acoustic charac...


Emission coordinates are those generated by positioning systems. Positioning systems are physical systems constituted by four emitters broadcasting their respective times by means of sound or light signals. We analyze the incidence of the space-time causal structure on the construction of emission coordinates. The Newtonian case of four emitters at rest is analyzed and contrasted with the corresponding situation in special relativity.


Trends in divorce in Hungary in 1980 are examined using data from official sources. Having presented the data, the author attempts to identify the factors affecting the frequency of divorce, including educational status, geographic factors, income, and social class. In a concluding section devoted to the future of marriage, the author suggests that stable marriages based primarily on emotional rather than economic foundations will become less common, as the economic aspects of marriage are likely to increase rather than decrease in importance.


Complete analysis of the high field spectrum of the title compound gives well determined parameters in all cases; the value of the CHCH coupling is in agreement with free rotation around this bond. In contrast, the Eu-shifted spectrum does not allow such a complete analysis because of lack of resolution. Shift dependence on concentration and temperature is reported and discussed.


Using high quality regional seismic lines, we evidence major structures resulting from successive phases of tectonic events that affected the Luconia shelf from the Upper Cretaceous to Pliocene. Each tectonic event (Classified as Event 1–Event 3) is associated with different episodes of limestone growth in Luconia Province. The successive limestone growths are used as markers in constraining the timing and style of tectonic deformation. The poly-stage closure of the Proto South China Sea (PSCS) from the Upper Cretaceous to Lower Miocene led to the formation of compressional structures in its southern portion (South PSCS) providing elevated topography for the growth of the oldest limestone found in this area during the Upper Eocene to Lower Oligocene (Event 1). Based on contrasting seismic reflectors, morphology, and depositional patterns, the offshore Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene limestone growth is correlated to the onshore Engkabang-Karap limestone. The southern part of Luconia was subjected to a continuous compression until the Lower Miocene at a time where the northern side of the Luconia Province was experiencing subsidence due to the rifting of the South China Sea (Event 2). The compression in the south generated elevated anticlines, triggering the growth of the Upper Oligocene to Lower Miocene limestone. By the end of the rifting event in the Lower Miocene, tectonic quiescence had enabled widespread carbonate growth in Luconia from the Middle to Upper Miocene. Regional compression due to the major uplift of Borneo hinterland (Event 3) triggered paramount clastic influx (gravity tectonics) to the offshore perturbating the limestone reef growth in Luconia. The impact of these interrelated shortening and stretching phases led to major crustal thickness variations and a prominent tilt of the Luconia platform that may highlight intricate feedbacks at the transition from compression to extension. While the southern side of the Luconia's crustal fragment was anchored into Borneo hinterland, crustal extension in the northern region of Luconia led to a hyper-stretched crust characterized by low angle detachment faults and highly rotated blocks rising the mantle to its shallowest.


According to the need of on-line three dimensional demonstration, this paper analyses both the good and bad points among the present three dimensional development kits, and finally chooses java 3D as the development kit. Through analyzing the organization of 3DS files, we obtained the human body data by reading the 3DS files, and with these data the three-dimensional human body models can be constructed. This paper applied the surface geometric modeling technology to rebuild the human body models, and developed a three dimensional human body demonstration system based on Java 3D.


This article introduces an analysis of similarity of distributions based on the L2-Wasserstein distance between trimmed distributions. Our main innovation is the use of the impartial trimming methodology, already considered in robust statistics, which we adapt to this setup. Instead of simply removing data at the tails to provide some robustness to the similarity analysis, we develop a data-driven trimming method aimed at maximizing similarity between distributions. Dissimilarity is then measured in terms of the distance between the optimally trimmed distributions. We provide illustrative examples showing the improvements over previous approaches and give the relevant asymptotic results to justify the use of this methodology in applications.


Many people view the use of English worldwide – in international politics, diplomacy, law, business, media, tertiary education, scientific research, etc. – as an irreversible phenomenon, and a positive one which potentially permits everyone to communicate effectively across borders. For example, Philippe van Parijs (2011: 31) describes the dominance of English as furthering "egalitarian global justice." He argues that "the powerful dynamics that currently drives the spreading of competence in English should not be resisted or reversed, but on the contrary welcomed and accelerated" for democratic reasons: it is emphatically a good thing if everybody can communicate directly with each other (2011: 50). The use of English as a lingua franca creates and expands a trans-national demos, "without the cumbersome and expensive mediation of interpretation and translation" (2011: 31). It "enables not only the rich and the powerful, but also the poor and the powerless to communicate, debate, network, cooperate, lobby, demonstrate effectively across borders," which is "a precondition for the effective pursuit of justice" (2011: 31). Some people regard the English used as a language of wider communication by non-native English speakers (NNESs) as instantiations of English as a foreign language (EFL), which can be expected to contain errors resulting from imperfect learning. Others prefer to describe it as English as a lingua franca (ELF), in which speakers choose not to imitate the lexicogrammatical norms of any given native English variety – or indeed any nativized or indigenized variety – but rather adopt ways of speaking which aid intelligibility and successful communication. This gives rise to a great deal of linguistic variation and the use of non-standard (or at least non-native) morphology, lexis, phraseology, and syntax, or what Widdowson (2003: 48–49, emphasis in the original) describes as "the virtual language, that resource for making meaning immanent in the language which simply has not hitherto been encoded." On this account, ELF is different from English as a


(1) Neutralization test in tissue cul-
ture system may be carried out in a
simplified procedure by directly mixing
serum,virus and maintenance fluid and
adding the mixture into cell vials im-
mediately.The results might be read by
CPE on the fifth to sixth days.
 (2) In the tissue culture system,the
neutralizing antibody against Japanese B
encephalitis may be assayed by testing
either 10-fold dilutions of the virus
against an undiluted serum or 2-fold dilu-
tions of the serum against a standard dose
(usually 10—100 TCD_(50)) of the virus.
 The neutralization indeces and the neutra-
lization titers obtained in the tissue cul-
ture system appeared to be comparable in
magnitude to the neutralization indeces
obtained by mouse intracerebral inocula-
tion method.
 (3) The serum-diluting tissue cul-
ture neutralization method was suitable
for the detection of Japanese B encepha-
litis-neutralizing antibody level in the sera
of guinea pigs,horses and children im-
munized with Japanese B encephalitis live
vaccine.


Abstract The issue of having an intercept term in linear regression model is an unsettled issue in the literature. It can be said that, generally, including the constant term depends on the research. But it must be known that the estimation of parameters differs according to involvement of the constant. If an intercept term exists in the model, the least squares estimate of the slope parameter will be unbiased. In this paper, we compare the results of models that include intercept and do not include intercept term on hypothetic data sets. The approaches are demonstrated via both simulation studies. Simulation-based investigation is carried out under various different scenarios using SAS 9.0 software. Results from the simulation study will be presented. We will discuss scenarios in which case they are advantageous. Keywords: Intercept, linear regression, zero-constant, slope parameter, collinearity Cite this Article Ijomah Maxwell Azubuike, Nwakuya Murren Tobechukwu. On the Omission of Intercept Term in Model Estimation: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study. Research & Reviews: Journal of Statistics . 2020; 9(1): 1-8p.


Water quality of Agra city is impaired by the presence of large number of industries in the city. From the observed data it is found that drinking water of Agra city is contaminated with toxic heavy metals like chromium, copper, cadmium, lead, and nickel. Among all these heavy metals, chromium is found to be in comparatively large amounts because most of the leather industries located in Agra city adopt chrome tanning procedure as their basic step for dehairing and dehiding. Presence of high concentration of chromium and other heavy metals in drinking water pose deleterious effects on the health of human beings therefore it becomes necessary to employ certain technological methods to keep the concentration of such toxic heavy metals within their desirable limits.


There are two current approaches to the realisation of interactive building 'skins': in architecture so called intelligent facades are being designed with an environmental science agenda; while in a parallel line of inquiry, artists are experimenting with media facades. It is proposed here that there is common ground between reactive environmental facades and data driven screens, in that both involve the design of kinetic process. Selected examples from kinetic and generative art provide useful precursors for such an approach and these provide the background to a framework for the design of interactive building skins. The aim is to locate the design parameters for practice where the art/architectural skin is a process based system, rather than a static object


An eco-composite wall, acting as the main bearing member of a structure, is made up of a concealed frame and eco-composite wall boards. It is extremely complicated to determine the elastic constants of the wall because of the special construction and different materials used in the wall. It is also difficult to calculate the lateral stiffness of the wall accurately. Based on the previous experimental study, aimed to the special construction of the wall and combined the theory of composite material mechanics, a single-layer composite material model of bi-directional fiber for the wall in the elastic stage is established. The practical design formulas for the elastic modulus and shear modulus are given, which provide the necessary parameters for the practical design formula for elastic rigidity. The lateral stiffness of an equivalent elastic composite slab is deduced by use of elastic mechanics theory. The comparative analysis between the theoretical calculation and test results shows that the composite material mechanical model is practical and effective for calculating the lateral stiffness of the wall.


The most significant event of recent years in reproductive health in Hungary was "Act 79 of 1992 on the Protection of Fetal Life" passed by the parliament on 17 December 1992. This Act provides a new regulation for the termination of pregnancy and social benefits supporting pregnant women. As a consequence of the new Act there have been dramatic changes in the first 6 months of 1993. The most important change is an 18% decrease in the number of interruptions of pregnancy. This is a promising sign of turning the trend towards a decrease in the number of terminations of pregnancy which according to the law are not to be considered a means of family planning and birth control. Unfortunately the rate of teenage abortions has not changed; it is still 10%. Contraceptives are available but they are expensive and the prices are expected to increase further. Lower prices or free access to contraceptives would be necessary to reach the poorer sections of society in order to increase the proportion of users. Sex education (both in schools and in families) is not satisfactory; there are no established and fully developed programs. Concerning the difficulties in infertility treatment the really efficient methods are not supported by the official health service. Sterilization (both female and male) is very expensive since it is not supported by the official health service at all. The rate of premature labor has decreased in recent years but it is still high (9.3%). (full text modified)


The invention relates to an energy generation plant, in particular a wind power plant, comprising an input shaft connected to a rotor (1), a generator (13) connected to a network (9), a differential gear (10 to 12) by which a drive is connected to an electrical differential drive (18), and an electrical energy store (32), wherein the generator (13) comprises an excitation controller (35) and wherein the differential drive (18) is connected to a frequency converter (19). Both the excitation controller (35, 37) and the frequency converter (19) of the differential drive (14) are connected to the energy store (32).


The University of Washington and ExOne, Inc. are collaborating in the development of advanced ceramic materials and processes for three-dimensional printing (3DP). The focus of the research to be presented is work funded by the National Science Foundation to develop a biocompatible alumina-based system for medical and dental applications. Materials design, characterization, and processing considerations will be discussed.


This paper analyses the financial performance of Islamic (IB) and conventional banks (CB) in Malaysia comparatively, within the scope of a dual setting arrangement in the Malaysian financial industry. Performance evaluation of both types of banks relies on ratio analyses which include Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA), Earnings per Share (EPS) and Debt Ratio. Data for this study covers four full-fledged IBs and four CBs in the period between 2012 and 2016. Based on statistical analysis (t-test and correlation analysis), the average of ROE was 6% for IBs and 14% for CBs. Results of t-test reveals that this higher performance of CBs is significant (t-test=1.957, p-value= 0.029). Furthermore, both ROA and EPS were significantly different between the two groups at p-value less than 1%. These results indicate that the Malaysian CBs performed better than IBs, at least for the banks included in this study. In terms of debt ratio, (the percentage of liabilities to total assets), IBs carry more debts than CBs. The risk of this higher debt is that the bank may be at risk of bankruptcy and may not be able to pay its obligations on time. The difference between the average debt of the two groups is significant at less than 5% (t-test= -2.251, p-value= 0.015). Therefore, not only is IBs' performance inferior to CBs but their debt ratio is also higher. This research has implications for IBs; they should further improve their performance to become more competitive in the current environment for the financial industry. More importantly, IBs need to uphold Islamic ethics throughout their business operations to ensure that both the stated principles and subsequent objectives are achieved.


In this study, we examine whether and how the success of refugee integration varies over time and the factors that facilitate successful integration. Using data from the Refugee Integration Survey and Evaluation (RISE), we assess the integration of 467 newly resettled refugees in Colorado over three consecutive years, beginning in 2011. We find that that integration significantly increases with more time in the United States, and that age, gender, and education in one's home country explained approximately half of the variance in overall integration three years postarrival. The integration pathways we derive from the data explain a sizable component of the variance, and we find differences in the integration process across the population subgroups that we examine.


Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the concentration of the antibiotic in vivo determined with Bacillus Subtilis by modifying the culture time from 5 d or 7 d to 1 d. Methods: The sensitivity and the diffused degree and the standard curve of thesame antibioticweredetermined with thethreegroupsof Bacillus Subtilisculturedfor 1 d, 5d, 7 d respectively. Results: Under the light microscope, there were more than 85% spore among the three groups of Bacillus Subtilis. The inhibitted bacteria circles were all clear and their borders in order. There were no statistical differences on the sensitirity of the antibiotic and the three parameters , , of the standard curve among the three groups of Bacillus Subtilis ( 0.05). Conclusions: It is feasible and significant to determine the concentration of the antibiotic in vivo with Bacillus Subtilis cultured for 1d (24h).


Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication is a paradigm in which end-to-end communication is executed without human intervention. The demonstration setup described in this extended abstract shall give a practical view on our research and development activities in the field of M2M and machine type communication (MTC).


Harmonic Balance (HB) methods have been applied to non-linear aeroelastic problems since the 1980s. As the computational power available to researchers has increased, so has the order of calculated HB solutions. However, the computational cost of a HB solution increases with the square of the order. Additionally, the traditional Newton-Raphson, Broyden, Toeplitz Jacobian and other techniques used for the solution of the non-linear algebraic problem at the heart of the HB methodology rely on a good initial guess for the unknown coefficients. If there are many such coefficients the proba bility that a good guess will be available is very low and the HB scheme may well fail. In this paper a search procedure using Genetic Algorithms (GA) is introduced to evaluate the coefficients of a harmonic balance solution. It is shown that the GA can provide high quality initial guesses for the HB coefficients. The method is applied to an aeroelastic galloping-type problem.


Background: In Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), an integrated healthcare system with a high overall hypertension (HTN) control rate, blacks still had poorer blood pressure (BP) control...


Wenzhou city will have a strategic transfer in its industries to coastal zone.This paper,aiming the issues in industrial layout,oceanic environmental protection and ecological residence-suitable cities in coastal new economic zone,studies the functional division,saving resources,protecting and constructing ecological environment,utilizing new resources,and transforming economic development methods,and promoting ecological civilization,presents a scientific layout in functional divisions between industries and transportation in the core of costal industrial zone,focus on ecological isolation,protecting and saving water and land resources,and priority in rare ecologies.This paper combines the specialties and issues of Wenzhou city,expands the points of view and reasons.


The line tension for a Lennard–Jones (LJ) fluid on a (9, 3) solid of varying strength was calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. A new perturbation method was used to determine the interfacial tension between liquid–vapour, solid–liquid and solid–vapour phases for this system to determine the Young's equation contact angle. Cylindrical and spherical nanodroplets were simulated for comparison. The contact angles from the cylindrical drops and Young's equation agree very well over the range of surface strengths and cylindrical drop sizes, except on a very weak surface. Tolman length effects were not observable for cylindrical drops. This shows that quite small systems can reproduce macroscopic contact angles. For spherical droplets, a deviation between the contact angle of spherical droplets and Young's equation was evident, but decreased with increasing interaction strengths to be negligible for contact angles less than 90°. Linear fitting of the contact angle data for varying droplet sizes showed no clear effect by line tension on contact angle. All calculated line tension values have a magnitude less than 4 × 10− 12 J/m with both negative and positive signs. The best estimate of line tension for this system of LJ droplets was 1 × 10− 13 J/m, which is smaller than the reported estimations in the literature, and is too small to be conclusively positive or negative in value.


We have established the 700V-class PIC technology based on 0.35μm design to provide power management ICs with higher performances and lower chip cost for the first time. And a 700V PWM-IC based on 0.35μm design, whose chip size can be reduced to 50% that of the IC based on 1.0μm design, is realized. This paper will report our developed 700V PIC technology with a PWM-IC product designed by this technology.


In the ends of the decade of 1860, in the conjuncture of the incited disputes between regalism and ultramontanism, and of the intense campaign from the part of the political and intellectual elite in the defense of the protestant cause, the ecclesiastical hierarchy promoted a series of interdictions to the burial of the so called non-catholic in the public cemeteries of some localities, under the argument that they were addressed to the citizens of the Empire. These facts, showed clearly how limited and exclusive were the citizenship rights at that time. It is intended here, to identify the way death and dying were significant aspects through which, disputes around the enlargement of the citizen rights in the slavish and catholic Empire towards the protestant immigrants were expressed, in the context of the Empire Crisis.


Gait recognition has recently gained significant attention, especially in vision-based automated human identification at a distance in visual surveillance and monitoring applications. Silhouette-based gait recognition is one of the most popular methods for recognising moving shapes. This paper aims to investigate the important features in silhouette-based gait recognition from point of view of statistical analysis. It is shown that the average silhouette includes a static component of gait (head and body) as the most important image part, while dynamic component of gait (swings of legs and arms) is ignored as the least important information. At the same time ignoring dynamic part of gait can result in loss in recognition rate in some cases, and the importance of better motion estimation is underlined.


Subjects: One hundred two patients, aged 0.2 to 20.5 years, 55% female, with a nutritional diagnosis of failure to thrive (76%), obesity (19%), or other (5%). Methods: We measured REE by indirect calorimetry and compared with prediction equations: Food and Agriculture/World Health Organization/United Nations University (FAO/WHO/UNU) equation, Harris-Benedict (H-B) equation, and two equations from 5chotield, one using weight (SCHO-WT) and one using weight and height (SCHO-HTWT). Results: The SCHO-HTWT equation more closely predicted measured REE (100% _+ 19%), compared with the WHO equation (99% _+ 22%), the 5CHO-WT equation, (99% _+ 2 I%), and the H-B equation (92% _+ 25%). The SCHO-HTWT equation was the best at predicting REE for obese subjects (95% _+ 17%), for those with failure to thrive (101% _+ 20%), and for children from birth to 3 years of age (101% _+ 23%). Nevertheless, the prediction equations closely predicted REE in only about 40% of subjects. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the SCHO-HTWT equation predicts REE in children with clinical nutritional problems better than equations that use weight alone. In view of the wide variability in REE measurements, however, we believe that REE should be measured in patients for whom knowledge of caloric expenditure is required for clinical care. (J PEDIATR 1995;127:200-5)


This thesis considers space opera as a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy. "Falling Stars," the creative component which includes fantasy, space opera and science fiction stories, constitutes a spectrum of speculative fiction. In order to illustrate the similarities and difference between the genres represented in the spectrum, I focus on the central figure of the alien other and the ways in which such a figure can be gendered and embodied. The space opera novella combines motifs of both fantasy and science fiction within the figure of the cyborg, Orlando, who is transgendered and hyperchangeably embodied. The exegesis offers a theoretical context through which to view the creative work. I argue that space operas are melodramatic adventure stories, which operate as a hybrid form of science fiction and fantasy, using the non-realist expectations inherent in both, but mixing the extrapolations and icons of science fiction with the selfconsistent but unbelievable discontinuities of fantasy. I also consider space opera's tendency to exhibit a conservative, unexamined colonialistic imperative, with the attendant assumptions that create a potential for feminist subversion.


The greatest amount of knowledge about the Late La Tène material legacy of the Scordisci in the western part of their distribution in eastern Croatia comes from numerous excavations conducted in the area of Vinkovci and its surroundings, including finds of bronze bucket-shaped pendants. These pendants, previously unknown in the territory of the Scordisci, were probably worn as miniature objects on necklaces, or perhaps bracelets, together with other forms of pendants and beads; in addition to their decora-tive role, they had a certain symbolic meaning. The most similar pendants were found at sites in Central and Western Europe in different and heterogeneous cultural environments, while Eastern European sites contained bucket-shaped pendants of slightly different forms. Bucket-shaped pendants probably imitate functional objects from real life and contained some organic substances, which is why they served as amulets with an apotropaic function to protect or heal those who wore them. The finds of these pendants from burials show how they were carried by children and women, and their wearing reflects different aspects of social identities and has a distinctive gender and age meaning. Also, the analysis of the Late La Tène bronze bucket-shaped pendants discovered at the sites in the Vinkovci area recognizes the dynamic cultural contacts of the Scordisci with neighbouring and remote areas, and especially with Central Europe.


The invention relates to a bacillus strain, the bacillus strain is Bacilluspumilus WP8; and the preservation number is CGMCC No.5206. The strain only need to be performed seed soaking for 10-20 minutes, and is dried in air and planted to obtain the strain; and the bacillus strain has the characteristics of less usage amount, fast effectiveness, strong adaptability and the like. 20-70% of pesticide and fertilizer input amount is saved, and the biocontrol effects on various diseases can reach more than 60%, and the bacillus strain effectively solves the problem of excessive dependence of pesticide and fertilizer by a plurality of fruits and vegetables and crops during the production process.


ESPITE Shirley Geok-Lin Lim's dual identity as a writer and critic, her literary work has been neglected, even though hers is a prominent voice in Asian American literature and scholarship. This is particularly evident with regard to her poetry which, although instrumental in forging her literary and academic career, has been given little critical attention. This is unfortunate, as Lim's poems provide profound insights into Malaysia, her country of origin, and many of them address the notion of diaspora, the difficulty of cultural syncretism and, of course, the problematic social spaces of women. This essay seeks to address this lacuna, but its focus will be the configuration of women, especially mothers, in Lim's poetry. The essay consists of two main movements: the first performs close readings of some of Lim's poems which demonstrate the way Chinese (the cultural context from which Lim writes) women have been victimised, historically, and then silenced. I argue that Lim's poems imaginatively recreate moments of their suffering and reposition them back into 'history' through a different discursive strategy (poetry instead of official historical record). These poems relate to cultural haunting and the persistent presence of 'spectres' who return to inhabit and 'embody' this discursive space, a view I explore through Derrida's concept of spectrality. In the second movement, I demonstrate a significant shift in the way Lim's poems represent mothers. In the poems discussed in the first movement, all of which were written in the early nineteen eighties, mothers predominate whose foremost responsibility is to the patriarchal imperative, and whose deprived agency reinforces their suffering and victimisation. Whenever Lim evokes women who challenge the Symbolic D w A N D R E W N G .......................................................................................................


Some new arylsulfonyl hydrazones undertaken by the condensaion of 2,5-dihydroxy-3-bromo-aceto/benzophenone with different arylsulfonyl hydrazines which were prepared by the reaction of arylsulfonyl chloride with hydrazine hydrate. The structures of the products has been supported by spectral data and elemental analyses. The products were screened for antimicrobial activity. The activity was compared with standard drugs at different concentration.


This research examines the brittleness index in some gneiss rock samples collected from four different quarries in Kwara State, Nigeria. The gneiss samples were tested in the laboratory to determine chemical and mineral compositions using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer and atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Schmidt rebound hammer (L type) was used to estimate compressive strength of the rock samples. The average gneiss silica contentis72.1 %.The average uniaxial compressive strength and tensile strength are 138.5 MPa and 5.81 MPa respectively, classified as extremely high and very high strength. The average density of the rock is 2.6 g/cm 3 . The result of statistical correlation indicates the dominant factors (uniaxial compressive strength and density) affecting the brittle nature of the rock samples having high coefficient of correlation. The relationship between the strength parameter, area under the line C - T of the graph falls within the range of 285.78 - 462. 65MPa. The rock brittleness concept value obtained from the graph was within 96.62 - 136.68MPa. The brittleness index of the selected quarries serves as a reference for the selection of drill bits and drilling equipment in accordance to the nature of the rock within the basement complex.


The paper analyzes the properties of automatization welding building of container body by studing on building site of largy-type container body.We developed successfully double-side automatization submerged arc welding manipulator of transverse and girth seam of container body.The welding technology is advanced,welding efficiency improved largely,welding quality is good,labour strength of worker lightens greatly,the comprehensive cost decreases and application prospect is extensive.


Abstract Emergency management consists of 4 components—mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. All 4 are necessary for an effective plan to address the next bioterrorist attack, emerging infectious disease, or foreign animal disease that may compromise our animal populations. Emergency management plans developed at the local level must coordinate with such plans at the state level, which then should ultimately coordinate at the federal level. Because the equine industry is such an economically important one in the United States, it is particularly susceptible to the devastating repercussions of natural and contrived disasters. It is essential that veterinarians remain vigilant in detecting emerging infectious or foreign animal disease events, be informed about how to contact the state and federal authorities to report their suspicions, and assist their clients with any emergency management strategies, so as to minimize losses.


This study investigated the relationship between franchising arrangements and marketing performance of textile distributors in South-East, Nigeria. The study was anchored on Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) and Resource Scarcity Theory (RST). Convenient sampling was employed in order to reach the study objectives. The analysis revealed positive and significant relationship between the two variables that was investigated. The findings revealed that franchising arrangement is a factor that motivates entrepreneurs to remain in franchising chain. Franchising has a strong relationship with customers' satisfaction and market share, and protects entrepreneurs against competitor. Conclusively, Franchising Arrangements have positive and significant relationship with marketing performance. It was recommended that textile distributors in South-East Nigeria should fully adopt the practice of franchising arrangements in order to boost their business activities.

https://iiardjournals.org/get/IJMCS/VOL. 7 NO. 1 2023/FRANCHISING ARRANGEMENTS.pdf


An Incubator is an apparatus for maintaining an infant, especially one that is ill or born before the usual gestation period. Continuous monitoring of physiological parameters is very often necessary for the evaluation of health conditions, diagnostic reasons and the detection of life or health threatening events. For infants, especially, who cannot provide any feedback about discomfort or health complaints it is an important issue to collect objective data under everyday conditions. This research work provides design of embedded device for real time monitoring of infants. The Embedded device includes sensors for Door Security, Light Intensity, Voice detection of incubator for the continuous monitoring of infants under clinical and home conditions. It will allow the early detection of potential life threatening events. The device would involve DSPIC microcontroller (Part no: 330011 is used for transmitting the audio signals, from the incubator, the microcontroller will generate control signals for the given parameters.  The system will monitor the 3 parameters Door, Light, Audio/ voice of the baby that he/she is ok or crying. The Door parameter provides an Intruder bell it will gives alarm/Led indication if any person will come at the place /Room of baby by breaking the sensor. Light Intensity can be monitored by using LDR (Light dependent register). All these parameters are continuously monitored by system & will display the status on LEDs or gives alarm.


Eating quality is an important aspect of carcass value but it is difficult to measure. Trained taste panels are the only realistic option but results are sometimes variable. As part of a larger study into the design of taste panels tests in commercial situations, this work has examined differences between panellists.


This article analyses the roughness of ASTM-A36 steel both in its delivery state and after various cutting processes. The material was cut with different methods conventionally used in the metal-mechanic and construction industry, in addition to other non-conventional processes used to a lesser extent in the industry. Similarly, similar cuts were made to maintain test homogeneity and to analyze the faces of the cut on each specimen in a similar manner. Among the conventional cuts made to the specimens are the milling machine, oxy-cutting and cutting machine, while the non-conventional ones were applied by EDM and plasma, maintaining as far as possible similar cutting and working parameters. Subsequently, the roughness of the cut surface of each of the specimens was studied using a BAKER K130/8 analog tape roughness meter, which allowed quantifying the changes that occur in the material depending on the cutting method used and defined according to each method that can affect the surface finish 2016 Edwin Peralta Hernández et al. and therefore the final application of the material. The graphical results allowed a comparative analysis of all the methods used, as well as the differences found between them and to obtain important conclusions that can be used in the new techniques of the manufacturing processes.


Summary The purpose of this article is to critically undermine two commonly held and closely related contentions regarding the British idealist tradition. The first is that the British idealist tradition went into rapid and terminal decline shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The second is that J. A. Smith was largely responsible for it. These aims are achieved through a diachronic analysis of Smith's conception of human imperfection as well as an assessment of Smith's intellectual legacy. As this article will show, contrary to the received view, Smith was a philosophical innovator who instigated an intellectual evolution within the British idealist. In particular, this article shows that Smith substituted aspects of his early Greenian philosophy with elements of Italian idealism. As a result, Smith was instrumental in moving British idealism away from its traditional underpinnings and towards more a Croce–Gentilian foundation. It is this neglected philosophical innovation which has given scholars the false impression of the tradition's collapse. By establishing Smith's intellectual innovation this article intends to show that Smith made a much more significant intellectual contribution to the philosophical tradition to which he belongs than has so far been recognised.


Abstract: This paper develops a frequency domain bootstrap method for random fields on Z2. Three frequency domain bootstrap schemes are proposed to bootstrap Fourier coefficients of observations. Then, inversetransformations are applied to obtain resamples in the spatial domain. As a main result, we establish the invariance principle of the bootstrap samples, from which it follows that the bootstrap samples preserve the correct second-order moment structure for a large class of random fields. The frequency domain bootstrap method is simple to apply and is demonstrated to be effective in various applications including constructing confidence intervals of correlograms for linear random fields, testing for signal presence using scan statistics, and testing for spatial isotropy in Gaussian random fields. Simulation studies are conducted to illustrate the finite sample performance of the proposed method and to compare with the existing spatial block bootstrap and subsampling methods.


BECKER, LUCINDA, How to Manage your Arts, Humanities and Social Science Degree. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2003. 174pp. £9.99. BROWN, TONY ET AL. (eds), Welsh Writing in English. A Yearbook of Critical Essays (Volume 8, 2003). Cardiff: University of Wales Press. 2003. 201pp. £12.95. CARPER, THOMAS AND DEREK ATTRIDGE, Meter and Meaning. An Introduction to Rhythm in Poetry. London/New York: Routledge. 2003. xii + 156pp. No price given. DANE, JOSEPH A., The Myth of Print Culture. Essays on Evidence, Textuality, and Bibliographical Method. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2003. viii + 242pp. £40.00/$60.00. GAVINS, JOANNA AND GERARD STEEN (eds), Cognitive Poetics in Practice. London/New York: Routledge. 2003. xii + 188pp. No price given. GAYLIN, ANN, Eavesdropping in the Novel from Austen to Proust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2002. 241pp. £40.00. GIBALDI, JOSEPH, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (sixth edition). New York: Modern Language Association of America. 2003. xvii + 293pp. No price given. GOLDMAN, ANNE, Continental Divides. Revisioning American Literature. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2000. xvi + 208pp. £30.00. HILL, ERROL G. AND JAMES V. HATCH, A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2003. xxiv + 608pp. £75.00. INGHAM, PATRICIA CLARE AND MICHELLE R. WARREN (eds), Postcolonial Moves: Medieval through Modern. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2003. x + 264pp. £40.00. KEEN, SUZANNE, Narrative Form. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2003. xviipp. £15.99. LENTRICCHIA, FRANK AND ANDREW DUBOIS (eds), Close Reading. The Reader. Durham/London: Duke University Press. 2003. 391pp. £18.95 pb. MANGANARO, MARC, Culture, 1922: The Emergence of a Concept. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2002. 231pp. £15.95 pb/£37.95 hb. ORFORD, ANNE, Reading Humanitarian Intervention. Human Rights and the Use of Force in International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2003. ix + 243pp. £50.00. SMITH, ANDREW AND WILLIAM HUGHES (eds), Empire and the Gothic. The Politics of Genre. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2003. xiii + 248pp. £45.00. English Studies Vol. 86, No. 1, February 2005, 96 – 102


Since the enactment of a federal law providing a framework for a coordinated national response to energy supply interruptions, there have been many developments that have tended to hinder this objective. The current oil glut and stabilizing prices, the lack of sufficient planning funds, and the redirection of federal regulatory policy are some of the factors that are affecting the progress of transportation emergency energy conservation planning. A survey was conducted by the New York State Department of Transportation to determine the status of state emergency conservation plans as required by the Emergency Energy Conservation Act of 1979 and to assess each state's plan development process with particular emphasis on the format of the plan, the extent of local plan coordination, impact assessments of specific measures, and measurement of specific implementation details. The results of this survey suggest several shortcomings of emergency conservation planning as conducted by state transportation and energy agencies throughout the country: lack of money for plan development and implementation, inadequate cost estimates of the plan, lack of good coordination with local plans, lack of evaluations regarding energy savings, and no assessment of economic impacts. (Author)


This study examines the position of non Muslims as witnesses in the Religious Courts perspective of the Shafi'i School of Religion. Civil procedural law in Indonesia does not recognize the absolute conditions for accepting witnesses in terms of religion. However, the Shafi'i school rejected non Muslims as witnesses to divorce in the Religious Court. So that there is an opposition between the Civil Procedure Code in Indonesia and the source of the Jurisprudence law school of Shafi'i. The legal research method that the researcher uses in this study is a normative juridical method. The researcher analyzed the fiqh theory of the Shafi'i School of Religion regarding the position of non Muslim witnesses as witnesses of divorce in the Religious Court and its relevance. The theoretical foundation used is the fiqh theory of the Shafi'i School of Religion regarding the absolute conditions of witnesses. In this theory, witnesses are divided based on witnessing events (tahamul) and conveying events in court (ada'). The results of the study are as follows; First, from the fiqh review of the Syafi'i non Muslim School of Religion, they did not have a strong position as witnesses in the Religious Courts. Based on the analysis of legal material conducted by the researcher, it was concluded that non-Muslims do not have a strong position and are absolutely rejected based on the Qur'an, surat al-Baqarah verse 282, surat at-Thalaq verse 2 and Nahl verse 75. Second, from In terms of the relevance of the fiqh theory of the Shafi'i School of Religion, it cannot be applied in the proof of divorce in the Religious Court.


The problem in this research is the planner, the implementation and the results of the application of the method of group investigation in learning to write poetry in class X BDP 1 students at SMK Cendekia Batujajar. This research is based on the lack of students' skills in writing poetry. The aim of this research is to describe the application of the method of group investigation in the process of learning to write poetry in X BDP 1 students at SMK Cendekia Batujajar. This research method is a descriptive qualitative method. The research technique is observation and testing. The research subjects were student  X BDP 1 with a total of 31 students. The results of the study are 1) planning the application of the group investigation method in learning is appropriate, 2) the implementation of the group investigation method when learning is in accordance with the prepared lesson plans, 3) the results of the application of the group investigation method are shown with an average initial test score of 76 and test scores end of 85 there was an increase. In conclusion, the group investigation method is effectively applied in poetry writing skills. Keywords : Learning Outcomes , Group Investigation , Writing Poetry


Cemented soils with inter-particle bonds are widely available in the world especially in the earthquake prone areas. In order to prevent misunderstanding of the soil behaviour under cyclic loads, research on the dynamic properties of cemented soils is inevitable. In this paper, two dynamic parameters including dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio considering the effects of cement content, confining pressure and cyclic deviatoric stress were investigated. These effects were studied on limy cemented gravely sand using cyclic triaxial tests. The results show that by increasing the cement content shear modulus increases. Also higher confining pressures lead to higher shear modulus and lower damping ratio. Furthermore in higher number of cycles, shear modulus decreases.


Not everyone in the organization needs to know how to secure the e-mail service, but anyone who handles patient information must understand e-mail's vulnerabilities and recognize when a system is secure enough to transmit sensitive information.


Objective:To assess safety and validity of tight closed circuit system used for neonate anesthesia.Methods:Forty-seven neonates were intubated under the general anesthesia and mechanical ventilation.Artery gas tension、PetCO_2、SpO_2、temperature、airway pressure、respiratory frequency、electrocard-iogram were monitored.Results:Neonate was anesthetized under the general anesthesia with mechanical ventilation,according to PetCO_2to regulate appropriate respiratory parameters.Under the norm of pressure control ventilation,PaO_2 and PaCO_2 could be kept in normal level.Conclusion:Tight closed circuit system can be used with safety and validity for neonate anesthesia.


Quasi‐least squares (QLS) is a computational method for estimation of the correlation parameters in the framework of generalized estimating equations (GEE) [Liang and Zeger. Biometrika 1986, 73:13–22]. QLS is a complementary approach to GEE, that might be considered if convergence is an issue, or if the implementation of a plausible model for the correlations is not straightforward for GEE. Software for QLS is available in SAS, Stata, MATLAB, and R. In addition, a comprehensive review of the approach [Shults and Hilbe. Quasi‐Least Squares Regression. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC; 2014] was recently published in the highly regarded Chapman & Hall/CRC Statistical Monograph & Applied Probability Monograph Series. WIREs Comput Stat 2015, 7:194–204. doi: 10.1002/wics.1349


Negotiation between two agents is modelled as a one-time encounter between two extended logic programs. Each offers an answer set. Their mutual deal can be regarded as a trade on their answer sets. An agent can achieve this by weakening its program to surrender some literals that conflict with the offer of the other agent. We examine how ways of weakening affects the answer sets, and how they may be used to effect a deal. They are shown to satisfy the classificatios of outcomes that follow from known postulates for rational negotiation.


Properties of electromagnetic field radiation due to micro gap discharge were examined in experimental study. An experimental system was consisted to measure the radiated electromagnetic waves in the frequency range from 1 GHz to 3 GHz using a pear of spherical electrode and a horn antenna. As a result, the amplitude of received voltage is proportion to the discharge voltage (charged voltage of the electrode) from 300V to 620V, and proportion to the diameter of spherical electrodes. Furthermore, a directivity of EM radiation from a pair of spherical electrode is highest at the front of electrode of 0 degree, on the one side received voltage shows lowest amplitude in side of electrode of 90 degree.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are a class of non-coding small RNAs involved in post-transcriptional regulation of genes. In the circulatory system, miRNAs are mainly stably present in the form of nucleic acid-protein complexes. A number of studies have shown that circulatingmiRNAs have the potential to become disease biomarkers. In recent years, the role of miRNAs in the development and progression of venous thromboembolism (VTE) diseases has also received increasing attention. Based on miRNA biosynthesis, this review summarizes the role of miRNAs in coagulation-anticoagulation and fibrinolysis systems and the recent advances in circulating miRNAs as diagnostic markers for VTE.

Key words:
MicroRNA; Venous thromboembolism; Deep venous thrombosis; Pulmonary thromboembolism; Diagnose


Back in 1967, hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation teams were new, almost as new as my medical degree. My preregistration houseman duties included coronary care, directed by a highly regarded general physician of legendary wisdom and humanity. It was accepted by all that it was inappropriate to admit patients over the age of 70 to coronary care or to resuscitate them on the ward. After all, the bible indicated that a life span of three score years and ten was normal. No ethics committees in those days.

This particular cardiac …


It is difficult to manage arteriovenous malformations or fistulas of the face because of the abundant vascular network in this region. They are commonly manifest in childhood or adolescence and often present with significant hemorrhage or cosmetic defects. We report a one-year-old infant with a facial arteriovenous fistula. It is successfully treated by transarterial embolization with metallic coils, resulting in clinical and angiographical improvement.


This paper compiles annual data on personal consumption and personal disposable income for Ireland over the period 1944 to 2014 and goes on to estimate consumption functions. Having established that the series are cointegrated, an error-correction model is estimated which is stable over the entire 70-year period. A dynamic out-of-sample forecast of consumption for the period 2007-2014 fits well although it does not capture the full decline in consumption in 2009. Extensions of the model to include interest rates, household credit, house prices and unemployment as drivers of consumption are discussed.


The emergence of many non-volatile memory (NVM) techniques is poised to revolutionize main memory systems because of the relatively high capacity and low lifetime power consumption of NVM. However, to avoid the typical limitation of NVM as the main memory, NVM is usually combined with DRAM to form a hybrid NVM/DRAM system to gain the benefits of each. However, this integrated memory system raises a question on how to manage data placement and movement across NVM and DRAM, which is critical for maximizing the benefits of this integration. The existing solutions have several limitations, which obstruct adoption of these solutions in the high performance computing (HPC) domain. In particular, they cannot take advantage of application semantics, thus losing critical optimization opportunities and demanding extensive hardware extensions; they implement persistent semantics for resilience purpose while suffering large performance and energy overhead. In this paper, we re-examine the current hybrid memory designs from the HPC perspective, and aim to leverage the knowledge of numerical algorithms to direct data placement. With explicit algorithm management and limited hardware support, we optimize data movement between NVM and DRAM, improve data locality, and implement a relaxed memory persistency scheme in NVM. Our work demonstrates significant benefits of integrating algorithm knowledge into the hybrid memory design to achieve multi-dimensional optimization (performance, energy, and resilience) in HPC.


Background The potential benefits of conbercept, aflibercept, and ranibizumab has been reported in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). However, their economic outcomes are still unclear. The current study would assess the cost-effectiveness of conbercept, aflibercept and ranibizumab for patients with wAMD in a Chinese healthcare setting. Methods A Markov model was constructed based on patient visual acuity. Five regimens were considered: usual care without active anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment, IVT-AFL (intravitreal aflibercept on a two-monthly basis following three initial monthly doses), RBZ q4 (ranibizumab monthly dosing), RBZ RPN (ranibizumab dose as needed) and IVT-CON (intravitreal conbercept on a three-monthly basis after three initial monthly doses). Clinical, cost, and utility data were collected from published literature. Results In comparison with usual care, the IVT-AFL, RBZ q4, RBZ PRN, and IVT-CON strategies provided an additional 0.235, 0.338, 0.228, and 0.324 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), respectively. They had marginal costs of $6,800, $10,084, $4,640, and $6,173, respectively. The strategies also produced incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of $28,892, $29,857, $20,338 and $19,028/QALY, respectively. One-way sensitivity analysis showed utility of blindness (best-corrected visual acuity <35) to have the greatest sensitivity of all the parameters. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) indicated that IVT-CON yielded the greatest probabilities of cost-effectiveness (about 92%) compared with other strategies. Conclusions Conbercept is a cost-effective option for the treatment of wAMD in a Chinese healthcare setting.


This Final Report has been prepared by AlliedSignal Engines and Systems, Phoenix, Arizona, documenting work performed during the period May 1997 through June 1999, under the Small Engines Technology Program, Contract No. NAS3-27483, Task Order 13, ANOPP Noise Prediction for Small Engines. The report specifically covers the work performed under Subtasks 4, 5 and 6. Subtask 4 describes the application of a semi-empirical procedure for jet noise prediction, subtask 5 describes the development of a procedure to predict the effects of wing shielding, and subtask 6 describes the results of system studies of the benefits of the new noise technology on business and regional aircraft.


This study was to observe the effect of fasting and feeding on 18 F-FDG uptake in a mouse model of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: In in vivo studies, 18 F-FDG micro-PET scans were performed in 5 mice bearing NSCLC A549 xenografts on each flank with continuous feeding and after overnight fasting to observe the changes in intratumoral distribution of 18 F-FDG and tumor 18 F-FDG standardized uptake value (SUV). In ex vivo studies, intratumoral spatial 18 F-FDG distribution assessed by autoradiography was compared with the tumor microenvironment (including hypoxia by pimonidazole and stroma by hematoxylin and eosin stain). Five overnight fasted mice and 5 fed mice with A549 tumors were observed. Results : Micro-PET scans were performed in fed animals on day 1, and in same animals after overnight fasting; the lapse was approximately 14 hours. Blood glucose concentration after overnight fasting was not different from fed mice ( P = 0.42), but b ody weight loss was significant after overnight fasting ( P = 0.001). Intratumoral distribution of 18 F-FDG was highly heterogeneous in all tumors examined, change in spatial intratumoral distribution of 18 F-FDG between 2 sets of PET images from the same mouse was remarkably different in all mice. Tumor 18 F-FDG SUV mean and SUV max were not significantly different between fed and fasted animals ( all P >0.05, n=10). Only t umor SUV mean weakly correlated with blood glucose concentration ( R 2 =0.17, P =0.03). In ex vivo studies, in fasted mice, there was spatial co-localization between high levels of 18 F-FDG uptake and pimonidazole binding hypoxic cancer cells , pimonidazole-negative normoxic cancer cells and noncancerous stroma was associated with low 18 F-FDG uptake. However, high 18 F-FDG uptake was frequently observed in noncancerous stroma of tumors but rarely fed Conclusions Host dietary a key role in intratumoral distribution of 18 F-FDG. fed accumulated predominantly in noncancerous stroma in the tumors, i.e. "reverse Warburg effect". In contrast, in fasted status, 18 F-FDG uptake was found in hypoxic cancer cells component (Pasteur effect). Our findings may provide a better understanding of competing cancer glucose metabolism hypotheses: the Warburg effect, reverse Warburg effect and Pasteur effect.


Energy consumption optimization is the key to efficient use of the commodity called 'energy' in any given process or plant or center. Data center is an energy demanding infrastructures that runs large scale internet related services. Energy consumption optimization is vital to designing and development of an efficient model that reduces excessive energy demand and even forecast in data centers. This paper investigates the energy requirement of the 'major' components or units or modules of the data center infrastructure both at peak operations and idle state. The simulation results indicate significant energy management without compromising the quality of service.


MoSi2 and WSi2 layers were grown on Mo and W substrates using the molten salt method. In addition, the Mo- and W-silicide compacts with the addition of Ti were also synthesized using Mo and W powders as the source materials, respectively, then the structural and electrical properties of the silicides were investigated. It was found that Si atoms penetrate into the compacts during the molten salt process. Moreover, nano-sized h-MoSi2 and h-WSi2 with the addition of Ti were formed in the compacts. The electrical conductivity of the compact comprised of Mo(Ti)Si2 showed almost no temperature dependence. On the other hand, for the compact comprised of W(Ti)Si2, the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity showed a semiconducting property with an activation energy of about 0.18 eV.


The production of an all-quartz sample cell is described which has four window surfaces with 99.985% antireflective coatings. The cell is a part of a multipass cell for Raman spectroscopy of gases to determine isotopic abundances and low level impurities.


In rats with carbon tetrachloride induced cirrhosis the liver was investigated in rapidly frozen, freeze-dried specimens. In the rats to which the administration of carbon tetrachloride was stopped 10 days prior to sacrifice the relative sinusoidal volume was found to be higher in the cryo-preparations (mean 24 per cent) compared to formalin fixed tissue (mean 10 per cent) due to vascular collapse and a rapid development of intracellular oedema in the liver cells as a post mortem alteration in the formalin fixed tissue. This is parallel to previous findings in normal rat livers. In the group of cirrhotic rats treated with carbon tetrachloride until 24 hours before sacrifice necrosis of the liver cells was frequently found. In this group the relative vascular volume was much lower (mean 14 per cent) than in the rats without necrosis (mean 24 per cent) in the cryo-preparations. These changes in sinusoidal volume, not visualized in conventional histological preparations, are explained by the presence of intracellular oedema of the liver cells caused by the carbon tetrachloride intoxication. In this group of rats the bile canaliculi were poorly visualized compared to the rats without recent intoxication. It is concluded that the use of an appropriate cryo-technique is essential for the evaluation of the vital alterations in the cirrhotic rat liver, which is only poorly depicted by conventional histological technique.


New approaches to the maintenance and repair cycle of domestic automobile internal combustion engine with application of mobile diagnostic tools were developed in this article. On the basis of the conducted research the proposed device diagnostics of internal combustion engines. The criterion of optimality of the repairs on the particular sample of internal combustion engine with specific calculation of unit labour inputs and proposed elements of the unit cost was justified.


The main defects in the friction welding of high-speed steels are the so-called shiny rings on the side of the high-speed steel, which contain in the cross-section straight or wavy lines, close to or far away from the welded joint. The structure of the fracture surface in the area of the shiny rings contains the regions of brit t le intercrystalline and intra-granular transcrystalline cleavage fracture. Cracks form in the volume of the material, restricting the area of the shiny rings. The defects of the shiny ring-type in friction welding have been studied in a large number of investigations. The nature of formation of the defects is linked with the dissociation of carbides, diffusion of carbon and alloying elements into the welding area heated to higher temperatures, and re-precipitation during cooling. Therefore, the content of the alloying elements in the shiny rings is higher than the content of the elements in the high-speed steel. In the majority of investigations it is concluded that to prevent the formation of these defects, it is necessary to utilise the effect of superplasticity of the high-speed steel in the friction welding process. The latter makes it possible to reduce greatly the solubility of carbon and alloying elements in the α-phase, prevent dissociation of carbides and, consequently, the formation of the shiny rings. The application of the superplasticity effect in the R6M5 steel in friction welding with steel 45 shows that in the structural steel, the effect of plastic deformation results in refining of grains, spheroidsation of plate-shaped cementite and the fraction of carbides in the zone of the welded joint is close to the initial fraction. The impact toughness of annealed specimens in comparison with identical specimens, welded by the conventional method, increases by a factor of 3. In the tensile and torsion tests, specimens fracture through steel 45. The shiny ring defects are not found. Further investigation shows that welding in the temperature range of superplasticity requires strict control of temperature, pressure, strain rate and high quality of the surface. The smallest deviation from the required conditions results in a large number of rejects. In this work, investigations were carried out into the mechanism of formation of the effects of the shiny ringtype after completing the welding process. It has been assumed that the presence of unhealed shiny rings in the welded joints is associated with the nonuniform plastic deformation of the contact zone in the process of upsetting and with insufficient pressure in upsetting in the local (ring-shaped) zones of the welded joints. Special attention will be given to the mechanism of formation of the welded joint using an upset die. In the first phase of upsetting, the deformation of the metal takes place freely without the effect of the upset die. The distribution of the plastic deformation resistance (DPR) of metal in the contact zone on the side of the structural steel in the cross-section of the component (Fig. 1) is governed by the law:


In this article, we explore the question of existence and finite time stability for fuzzy Hilfer-Katugampola fractional delay differential equations. By using the generalized Gronwall inequality and Schauder's fixed point theorem, we establish existence of the solution, and the finite time stability for the presented problems. Finally, the effectiveness of the theoretical result is shown through verification and simulations for an example.


The exercises in this chapter differ from those in other chapters. Instead of providing you with step-by-step instructions for learning specific tools in Adobe applications, these exercises will prompt you to embark on your own projects using the tools you've learned in the preceding 14 chapters. For this reason, the chapter introduction is expanded to include concepts central to the theme of the proposed exercises.


LIKE BREATHING, WALKING IS AN UNCONSCIOUS ACT that we accomplish without consideration, at least as long as we are free to move. We feel our muscles only when we trek a long way; otherwise we just advance one foot after the other, reflexively. Walking is also universal: humans have walked and learned to walk in much the same way since they became erect. And yet cultural critics, anthropologists, and geographers have shown how footwork has meanings and functions that change across space and time. In the modern metropolis, walking has long been associated with intense sensual and intellectual stimulation. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Georg Simmel famously reflected on the psychological effects of crossing busy roads or encountering new environments around every street corner. Later, Walter Benjamin and Michel de Certeau both described walking as a distinctive learning experience. These thinkers have greatly influenced the cultural history of early modern cities, yet walking has attracted relatively little historiographical attention, despite


The ICPS methodology to describe in a coherent way the entire plasma from the centre via the pedestal and the scrape-off layer to the divertor plate, which has been developed for ITER ([1], [2]), is applied here to impurity seeded scenarios in a prototypical DEMO geometry [3] in order to quantify the core impurity contamination associated with a given level of radiation and the effect on the pulse length. For DEMO modelling, the state of the art comprehensive nonlinear neutral model [4], [5] of the edge and divertor region provides the boundary conditions for the core. With the implementation of parallel processing for B2EIRENE, it is now possible to simulate seeding with medium-Z impurity (neon), leading to scaling relationships for the key parameters in DEMO which are then used in DEMO core simulations as boundary conditions as in [1], [2] for ITER. The key parameter for the edge plasma and the detachment state [4], [5] is p DT # P #  0.87 f f  0.8 f w  1 q 95 # 0.27 f nn  1 R # -1.21 , which is proportional to # DT p , the normalised average neutral pressure at the divertor-PFR interface. The edge-based density limit is taken to occur at detachment of the inner divertor (  1), a nd its density analogue for the edge density is f sat _ n   0.43 .


In this case a cervico facial cancer patient scheduled for tracheostomy followed by an endoscopy, and known
to have a pacemaker, had hemodynamic instability at the start of general anaesthesia which lasted several
hours. The anaesthetist in charge used the magnet to override the pace maker which did not respond. Indeed,
it was a leadless pacemaker. These devices will be used more frequently and should be carefully scrutinized
at the anaesthetic consultation.


Real numbers can be represented in a binary computer by the form i-Be where i is the integer part, B the base, and e the exponent. The accuracy of the representation will depend upon the number of bits allocated to the integer part and exponent part as well as what base is chosen. If L(i) and L(e) are the number of bits allocated to the magnitudes of the integer and exponent parts and we define I= 2L(i) and E = 2L(e), the exponent range is given by B±E, the maximum relative representation error is given by B/2I, and the average relative representation error is given by (B-1)/(4I 1n B). The formulas provide quantitative comparison for the effectiveness of alternative formats for real number representations.


The transcriptomes of original diatom strain (wild-type, Nitzschia sp.) and a mutant strain (Nitzschia ZJU2), which exhibited rapid growth and high lipid productivity after two rounds of mutagenesis by γ-rays, were sequenced using the Illumina sequencing platform. Genes in the metabolic pathway and those related to cell growth and lipid synthesis were compared between the two strains. Up to 25 804 and 35 228 transcripts were detected in Nitzschia sp. and Nitzschia ZJU2, respectively. A total of 3939 genes were up-regulated in mutant Nitzschia ZJU2. Nine metabolic pathways involved in cell growth and carbohydrate and protein syntheses obviously changed. Genes involved in lipid synthesis, such as acetyl-CoA carboxylase and diacylgycerol O-acyltransferase, were obviously up-regulated. These phenomena promoted cell growth and lipid synthesis, so as to increase the lipid production of cells. Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms revealed the presence of 40 795 nonsynonymous mutations in Nitzschia ZJU2, which indicated that nuclear irradiation triggers algal mutation.


Due to the constraint of energy resource, the radio of sensor nodes usually works in a duty-cycled mode. Since the sleep schedules of nodes are unsynchronized, a sender has to send preambles to coordinate with its receiver(s). In such contexts, opportunistic forwarding, which takes the earliest forwarding opportunity instead of a deterministic forwarder, shows great advantage in utilizing channel resource. The multiple forwarding choices with temporal and spatial diversity increase the chance of collision tolerance in concurrent transmissions, potentially enhancing end-to-end network performance. However, the current channel contention mechanism based on collision avoidance is too conservative to exploit concurrency. To address this problem, we propose COF, a practical protocol to exploit the potential Concurrency for low power Opportunistic Forwarding. COF determines whether a node should concurrently transmit or not, by incorporating: (1) a distributed and light-weight link quality measurement scheme for concurrent transmission and (2) a synthetic method to estimate the benefit of potential concurrency opportunity. COF can be easily integrated into the conventional unsynchronized sender-initiated protocols. We evaluate COF on a 40-node testbed. The results show that COF can reduce the end-to-end delay by up to 41% and energy consumption by 18.9%, compared with the state-of-the-art opportunistic forwarding protocol.


Purpose of the study. Research aims at clarification of linguistic semantics of quarantine concept and how it perceived by Ukrainians. Design and Methods. Discourse analysis of written quarantine definitions provided by the 104 russian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians (47.1% of women; average age – 41.5). Discovered discourses were classified, quantified and processed with binary logistic regression method. Results. Covid-19 related quarantine is represented in the linguistic consciousness of russian-speaking Ukrainians by a discursive field, which includes at least seven recognizable, semantically autonomous and interconnected discourses: "Contact restriction"; "Sanitation and hygiene"; "Isolation of infected"; "Virus dissemination"; "Lifestyle changes"; "Bureaucratic response"; "Health preservation". According to the research results, the listed discourses have been specifically interacting with each other and with some non-discursive factors, which creates the discursive formation of the quarantine concept. Implications. Established that the actualization of some discourses is accompanied by the deactivation of specific others, what makes quarantine perception one-sided and biased. The results obtained have an important and potentially useful practical application perspective. Thus, effective epidemiological informing should consider discursive features of quarantine semantics for particular ethnic group of people.


【In this paper, we studied the effects of intersection angles of the flow-foucusing type droplet generation device inlet channel on droplet diameter using numerical simulation modeling. We modeled different intersection angles with a fixed continuous channel width, dispersed channels width, orifices width, and expansion channels width. Numerical simulations were performed using COMSOL Multiphysics $^{(R)}$ to solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for a two-phase flow in various flow-focusing geometries. Modeling results showed that an increase of the intersection angle causes an increase in the modification of the dispersed flow rate ( $v^{\prime}{_d}$ ), and the increase of the modification of the continuous flow rate ( $v^{\prime}{_c}$ ) obstructs the dispersed phase fluid flow, thereby reducing the droplet diameter. However, the droplet diameter did not decrease, even when the intersection angle increased. The droplet diameter decreased when the intersection angle was less than $90^{\circ}$ , increased at an intersection angle of $90^{\circ}$ , and decreased when the intersection angle was more than $90^{\circ}$ . Furthermore, when the intermediate energy deceased, there was a decrease in the droplet diameter when the intersection angle increased. Therefore, variations in the droplet diameter can be used to change the intersection angle and fluid flow rate.】


WAPC using Routable-GOOSE (R-GOOSE) is an emerging solution to improve power system protection, control, and monitoring. The R-GOOSE mechanism is a routable extension (IP layer-3) of already proven Ethernet layer-2 high-speed GOOSE within a substation. Comparison of Synchrophasor and R-GOOSE is examined considering protocol mechanisms, WAPC applications, network and bandwidth, performance/delay requirements perspective. A practical use case of R-GOOSE applying to Centralized Remedial Action Scheme (CRAS) is presented. Finally, advancements in cyber security technology to enable WAPC applications are discussed in details.


Keloids are disfiguring, hypertrophic scars with yet poorly understood pathomechanisms, which could lead to severe functional impairments. Here we analyzed the characteristics of keloidal cells by single cell sequencing and discovered the presence of an abundant population of Schwann cells that persisted in the hypertrophic scar tissue after wound healing. In contrast to normal skin, keloidal Schwann cells possess a repair-like phenotype and high cellular plasticity. Our data support the hypothesis that keloidal Schwann cells contribute to the formation of the extracellular matrix and are able to affect M2 polarization of macrophages. Indeed, we show that macrophages in keloids predominantly display a M2 polarization and produce factors that inhibit Schwann cell differentiation. Our data suggest a contribution of this cross-talk to the continuous expansion of keloids, and that targeting Schwann cells might represent an interesting novel treatment option for keloids.


We present optical (UBVRI) and near-infrared (JHK) photometry, along with optical spectra, of the Type Ia supernova SN 2000E in the spiral galaxy NGC 6951. It was discovered by the staff of the Teramo Observatory during the monitoring of the SN 1999el. The observations span a time interval of 234 days in the optical and 134 days in the near-infrared (starting ~16 and ~7 days before maximum B light, respectively). Optical spectra are available from 6 days before maximum B light to 122 days after it. The photometric behavior of SN 2000E is remarkably similar to that of SN 1991T and SN 1992bc: it exhibits a Δm15(B) = 0.94 mag, thus being classifiable as a slow-declining Type Ia supernova (SN) and showing the distinctive features of such a class of objects both in the visible and in the near-infrared. Spectroscopically, SN 2000E appears as a "normal" Type Ia SN, like SN 1990N. We could constrain reddening [E(B-V) ~ 0.5 mag] and distance (μ0 ~ 32.14 mag) using a number of different methods. The bolometric luminosity curve of SN 2000E, which displays a bump at the epoch of the secondary near-infrared peak, allows a determination of the 56Ni mass, amounting to 0.9 M☉.


We have designed a high breakdown yielding AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on 4 inch silicon wafer without using a field plate or increasing the gate-drain length (Lgd). Our approach is based on improving the total thickness (Ttot) of the AlGaN/GaN epi-layers as high as 9 µm which improves the quality of i-GaN. Growing i-GaN on thick buffer reduces the dislocation density, increases the resistance between the surface electrode and Si substrate which considerably suppresses the leakage through buffer (Ibuf) and substrate (Isub) to enhance the breakdown. For a small gate-drain spacing of Lgd = 3 µm we achieved a high three terminal off breakdown (3TBV) of 403 V. A very high breakdown of 1813 V was achieved across 10 µm electrode spacing on 2 µm i-GaN grown on 7 µm thick buffer. Further, we have identified the leakage path which triggers the breakdown of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.


Achieving high quality porous silicon (PSi) materials with desired porosity remains challenging. Three good qualities of PSi samples are prepared by Photo electro-chemically etching a piece of n-type Si inside the solution of 20 M HF, 10 M C 2 H 5 OH and 10 M H 2 O 2 at fixed etching time duration (30 min) and varying current density (15 mA/cm 2 , 30 mA/cm 2 and 45 mA/cm 2 ). As-prepared sample morphologies are characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The gravimetric method is used to estimate the thickness and porosity of the prepared samples. Current density (etching time) dependent morphologies, electronic bandgap and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) properties of such PSi nanostructures are evaluated. These PSi structures revealed enhanced rectifying characteristics with increasing current density.


At the request of the Minister for Industry, Science and Resources, the Assistant Treasurer asked the Commission to undertake a research study examining the performance of commercial buildings and analyse any impediments to better performance of such buildings and how to overcome them. The study was foreshadowed by the Minister in May 1999 when announcing the Building and Construction Industries Action Agenda.


From Er3+/Tm3+ co-doped tellurite glass microspheres, simultaneous laser oscillation at 1.9 μm, and green and red fluorescence emissions with three photons upconversion luminescence were obtained. The microsphere was pumped by a low-cost 1550 nm broadband amplified spontaneous emission source instead of a bulky and expensive tunable laser. It as a non-polarized light provided a wide wavelength range and the multiple wavelengths resonant absorption was obviously observed from the transmission spectra. The use of broadband source made the entire microsphere laser more adaptively stable to withstand the vibration interference and temperature variations. The coupled threshold power was as low as 1.5 mW. It was demonstrated that the Er3+ ions acted as sensitizers to efficiently absorb the pump photons and transfer energy to Tm3+ ions. Therefore, this approach would have potential applications in optical fiber lasers, sensors and lighting devices.


The Vienna School-Based Teacher Development Project (SBP) is an inservice training project, established in Vienna in 1991 to meet the need for an entirely new form of teacher INSET. This article describes the background which led to the creation of the SBP, and explains the importance that the Project has come to have for the teaching of English in the Vienna area, and for the many teachers it has reached. A key feature of the Project has been that the teachers involved not only acquire knowledge and new professional skills, but also improve their group performance through an attention to group dynamics, and the experience of working in a team relationship with each other. In SBP training is seen as a process in which decisions should be taken by the teachers themselves, in their own schools.


In structural materials, it is investigated to make crystal grain size less than 1μm in order to improve strength and toughness. Authors reported that fine ferrites were obtained by laser irradiation in steel. However, it is not made clear that an effect of laser irradiation on the materials which do not have a transformation. In this study, we performed laser irradiation for austenite stainless steel SUS304 as the materials which did not have a transformation and investigated an effect of laser irradiation on grain refinement. Solution treatments were performed for SUS304 and their initial grain size became 23 and 68μm. Then they were given four kinds of strain e and irradiated laser under some laser traveling speeds ν and some defocus distances ƒd. As the result, they became recrystallization grain and their size were obtained about 10 and 15μm, for initial grain size respectively, under the best condition (laser power=1.5kW, fd=60mm, v=350 mm/min, e= 40%). Then a recrystallization grain size was caused by each factor of laser traveling speed (heating temperature, heating time), strain and defocus distance. Furthermore, as an electro-gas arc weld of SUS304, the grain size was 40μm in heat affected zone, was irradiated after shot peening, it was clarified that fine grain was obtained from 10 to 15μm at the heat affected zone.


The effects of geometry and cycling are evaluated for charge-trapping NAND memory devices with SiON tunneling layers. Processing splits include SiON tunneling layers with and without <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{H}_{2}/\text{D}_{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> high-pressure annealing. Programed and erased devices were irradiated up to 500 krad(SiO2) with 10-keV X-rays. Excellent retention and endurance are demonstrated for these devices before and after irradiation. Scaling devices to smaller dimensions enhances program/erase efficiency and radiation tolerance.


Objective:To study the features of neuron migration anomalies on CT so as to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis for this disease.Methods:Clinical and CT materials of 30 cases with neuron migration anomalies confirmed in our institution in the past 2 years were summarized and analyzed retrospectively.Results:In this series, there were (Ⅰ) heterotopias of gray matter in 8 cases, (Ⅱ) schizencephaly in 6 cases (associated with polymicrogyria in 4 cases, pachygyna in 1 case, and the absence of the septum pellucidum in all 6 cases), (Ⅲ) polymicrogyria in 15 cases (associated with schizencephaly in 4 cases), (Ⅳ) pachygyna in 5 cases (associated with schizencephaly in 1 case) and (Ⅴ) unilateral megalencephaly in 1 case. On CT, the heterotopias of gray matter was showed as accumulation in white matter and nodules in subependymal area with same density as gray matter. The schizencephaly, which can be divided into two types: open-lip type and closed-lip type, was showed as hemispheric cleft lined with heterotopic gray matter in the parasylvian region, extending from lateral ventricular wall to the brain surface. The polymicrogyria presented the thickening of cerebral cortex with wave-like or serrated edges, and with shallow and fewer sulci. Characteristic appearances of the pachygyna included the broad gyri, thickened and flat cortex. In the region of lesion, brain surface and border between gray and white matter remained smooth. The unilateral megalencephaly displayed the increased cranial cavity and unilateral cerebral hemisphere.Conclusion:CT can demonstrate pathological features of neuron migration anomalies, and provide accurate diagnosis to clinician.


This letter proposes a new type of photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) called oval-shaped-hole PCW (OPCW). In the proposed structure, the circle-shaped holes are replaced by oval-shaped holes. In order to find the best possible structural parameters, the recently proposed multiobjective framework called MoMIR is employed. The calculation results show that the proposed optimized OPCWs are able to outperform the best current PCW in the literature significantly.