The W3C Web Ontology Language (OWL) provides the needed expressiveness formulation of complex concepts. However, the codification of an ontology is a thought formalization process that sometimes requires extensive knowledge and is often inaccessible laypersons. The G-OWL (for Graphical OWL) syntax has been designed to make easier the knowledge expression (compliant to OWL) in a graphical way. This paper presents the OntoCASE4GOWL prototype, software for editing and modeling formal graphical ontology in G-OWL.


Beam tests of the ANL 12 MHz Radio-Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ), designed for use as the initial element of an injector system for radioactive beams into the existing ATLAS accelerators, are in progress. Recent high-voltage tests of the RFQ without beam achieved the design intervane voltage of 100 kV cw, enabling beam tests with A/q as large as 132 using beams from the ANL Physics Division 4 MV Dynamitron accelerator facility. Although the RFQ was designed for bunched beams, initial tests have been performed with unbunched beams. Experiments with stable, unbunched beams of singly-charged /sup 132/Xe and /sup 84/Kr measured the output beam energy distribution as a function of the RFQ operating voltage. The observed energies are in excellent agreement with numerical beam simulations.


We present a characterization of the core entities and relationships of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) in first order logic. Evidence from the text and diagrams in FRBR support the identification of axioms that capture the constraints and assumptions built into the model. The result is an axiomatic system that clarifies the meaning of the specification. This approach provides a more systematic way of clarifying ambiguities and confusions in the interpretation of FRBR than separate analyses of individual problems and allows scholars and system builders concerned with bibliographic theory to clarify their interpretation of the specification prior to the choice of an implementation language, such as RDF or OWL.


This article deals with the main features of European values and their importance for the process of common European identity forming. The essence and main functions of the EU cultural policy, its peculiarities are formulated. The author describes the place of European values among the basic principles of the cultural policy of the European Union. According to sociological polls, these values are close to Ukrainian society but do not associate with the European Union as a single community and do not contribute to the formation of European identity. The main functions of the EU's cultural policy are promotion and dissemination of European values through cultural events, grants and tourism.

Approaches to common European values defining are analyzed, their degrees are structured. The author identifies the following basic European values: fundamental rights, including rights of communities and families; equality of all members of society, including minorities and regardless of gender; pluralism of thoughts; justice; self-realization; responsibility; unity; peace; respect for human life; democracy; legality; freedom of personality (freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of the media); tolerance; solidarity; respect for human dignity; religion. The main differences between the European values and the common Western ones are emphasized.

The main ways of raising awareness and mechanisms for promoting European values among the Ukrainian population are summarized. But the formation of a new value system is impossible without the participation of the state and its institutions. It is concluded that the formation of a new value system will have a consolidating effect on the Ukrainian people. Therefore, the promotion of European values should become not only a task for EU cultural policy, but also a top priority for the Ukrainian authorities.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus its attention on the analysis of buyer-seller interactions in facility services. In particular it proposes to investigate the interactions Italian municipalities develop with sellers involved in facility services outsourcing and to evaluate how scientific contributions on business service (filtered through Service Dominant Logic) are constitutive paradigms of the interactions investigated. Design/methodology/approach – The investigation is based on 15 case studies of small and medium-sized municipalities that are built on in-depth interviews with technical staff who, together with the mayors, perform the role of facility managers. Results from case studies are triangulated with secondary data and observations emerging from focus groups. Findings – The research reveals paradoxes in the outsourcing processes of business services implemented by the public organizations analyzed. From these paradoxes it derives that the outsourcing of facility services in Italia...


As the canon of medieval literature expanded rapidly in the Romantic era, critics and literary historians had to be on the lookout for fakes. Unscrupulous writers had often altered authentic medieval texts, misrepresented their origins, or even invented documents out of whole cloth. Some texts some were malign hoaxes, some were light-hearted pranks, and some were unintentionally misleading pseudepigrapha. Whatever the nature of the fakes, though, Victorian antiquarians were obliged to sort carefully through the evidence and try to distinguish the true from the false. But while these fakes took a toll on editors and literary historians, some of whom inadvertently passed on falsehoods, they also forced critics to develop a new set of scholarly tools, which had the paradoxical effect of strengthening scholarship. The need to keep the canon free of fakes ended up training antiquarians, editors, and literary historians to become better historicist critics.


Active contour models, or "snakes," developed in (Kass et al. 1988), use a simple physical model to track edges in image sequences. Snakes as originally defined however, tend to shrink, stretch and slide back and forth in unwanted ways along a tracked edge and are also confused by multiple edges, always grabbing the nearest one. In this paper a practical solution is presented that combines motion estimation techniques with snakes to overcome these problems. An algorithm is presented that uses a block matching technique to guide the endpoints of the snake, optical flow to push the snake in the direction of the underlying motion, followed by the traditional snake edge-fitting minimization process. We use this technique for tracking facial features of an actor for driving computer animated characters.


Thalassemia is one of the most common genetic diseases in the world and it is a major health problem. It is among the most common genetic disorders worldwide, occurring more frequently in the Mediterranean, Indian subcontinent, Africa and south East-Asia. In Iraq, thalassemia is a major health probl em with prevalence of carrier range from 4.4%6.66%. Throughout the past century, there have been an emergence of a large number of diseases, including thalassemia, many of which have been recently associated with intestinal dysbiosis that is, compositional and functional alterations of the gut microbiome. Dysbiosis may be responsible for a shift in the homeostatic healthy flora to detrimental proinflammatory microbial species, which can later predispose to intestinal inflammation and can drive an autoimmune disease – in particular, a non-gut autoimmune disorder. This study aimed at identifying a possible link between disturbed gut microbiota and the immunological status of patients with thalassemia in Babylon province. Eighty-eight children & adolecents were enrolled in this case – control study. Blood & stool samples were taken from all subjects in the study for biochemical, immunological & microbiological (bacteriological) studies. After demographic data analysis, results presented in the current study established a correlation between the frequency of blood transfusion and acquisition of hepatitis C. also, in the present study bacterial microbiota was assessed among the study groups to reveal a hypothetical association between disturbed microbiota and the immunological status among patients with thalassemia. Results got in our study stated that, there was a significant positive correlation between the distribution of gram World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research SJIF Impact Factor 7.523 Volume 6, Issue 12, 1334-1348. Research Article ISSN 2277– 7105


Introduction: Water ice clouds form and dissipate in the Martian atmosphere and though their abundance is small compared to the bulk atmosphere, they play a significant role in the regulation of the net annual meridional transport of water (Clancy et al., 1996; Montemssin et al., 2004; 2007). Here we show that the radiative effects of water ice clouds play an important role in the determining the thermal structure of the atmosphere, and the wetness of the seasonal global water cycle. Approach: We use version 2.1 of the NASA/Ames Mars General Circulation Model to demonstrate these effects. This version of the model of the model runs at 5° x 6° (lat/lon) with 24 vertical layers up to an altitude of ~ 80 km. It includes a tracer transport scheme based on the Van Leer formulation, a 2-stream radiation code that accounts for gaseous absorption in the presence of scattering aerosols, a complete water cycle package with microphysical processes that account for nucleation, growth, and settling, a PBL scheme based on the level-2 Mellor-Yamada formalism of turbulent mixing, and a subsurface module that allows for heterogeneous soil properties. We use MOLA surface topography, and LMD-derived albedo and thermal inertias for the lower boundary conditions, each smoothed to the model grid resolution. Our model has the capability to transport aerosol tracers using bins or moments in order to account for particle size variations. For the present work, we use a moment scheme and assume a log-normal size distribution. We specify the effective standard deviation (σeff), which allows us to transport two quantities: mass and number density. From these we derive the effective radius (reff) of a given population of aerosols. Dust injected into the atmosphere follows a lognormal distribution with reff =2.5 μm, and σeff =0.5. Once in the atmosphere dust concentrations and particle size distributions evolve by transport, turbulent mixing, settling, and cloud scavenging. For ice clouds we assume σeff =0.1. Model Simulations: We run the model from dry initial conditions for 5 Mars years to allow the water cycle to equilibrate. In each simulation we assume that the NPRC, which exists in the model everywhere poleward of 80°N, is a permanent source for atmospheric water. We prescribe the atmospheric dust loading based on zonal mean TES Mars Year 26-27 observations (i.e., no global dust storm). Nominally, we specify an exponential variation of dust with altitude for the radiative heating calculations. Thus, dust radiative effects are not self-consistently determined. However, we do transport dust passively to allow it to serve as condensation nuclei, and in some simulations we have enabled fully interactive dust lifting and coupling to the water cycle (Kahre et al., 2011). We begin our study by comparing the results of two simulations: a baseline run in which water ice clouds are not radiatively active; and a radiatively active cloud (RAC) run in which the clouds are radiatively active. For the latter, the cloud optical properties are calculated off line using a Mie theory and stored in a look up table where the scattering properties are a function of particle size and dust/ice ratio, both of which are predicted quantities in the model.


This paper examines asset returns, equity premium and portfolio allocation in a three-period overlapping generations model with increasing risk aversion (IRRA). This specification allows us to separate the effect ofthe two risk aversion parameters (middle-aged and old). Wefind that the effect of IRRA in a life cycle model has the following implications for financial markets: an increase in all security returns, a higher risk premium, a reduced level of saving, and a decline in risky portfolio shares. These results suggest that an economy in which the level of average risk aversion is rising as the population ages would see a drop in the savings rate, a rise in security returns, and a portfolio shift into safer assets. Our findings are driven by fairly small differences in the risk aversion parameters and even small increases in older agents' risk aversion produces significant results. In addition, wefind that the relative difference between the tworisk aversions (how much more risk averse old agents are relative to the middle aged) matters more than the average risk aversion in the economy (how much more risk averse both cohorts are).


Let $ R $ be a prime ring with characteristic different from two and let $ U $ be a Lie ideal of $ R $ such that $ u^2 \in U $ for all $ u \in U $. Suppose that $ \sigma, \tau $ are automorphisms of $ R $. In the present paper, it is shown that if $ d $ is an additive mapping of $ R $ into itself satisfying $ d (u^2) = d(u) \sigma (v) + \tau (u) d(v) $ for all $ u,v \in U $, then $ d(uv) = d(u) \sigma (v) + \tau(u) d(v) $ for all $ u, v \in U $.


As a high-risk occupation, firefighters are exposed to huge challenges and dangers in extinguishing fires and performing rescue operations. Therefore, many firefighter robots are being designed and deployed to firefighting operations and promote the efficiency while protecting the human operators. There are already studies on the implementation of mobile fire-fighting robots, but how to plan an efficient route in the case of multiple fire spots still needs further research. In this work, we propose a greedy-algorithm-based route planner and calculate the best route to visit each fire spot with the shortest time, by formulating the problem as a traveling salesman problem (TSP). We validate the proposed idea by using a mobile robot, namely redbot, and present the test results.


This research was done in SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Kepanjen which aims to know the description of transformational leadership style of teachers who have in SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Kepanjen whether the effect on teacher performance,, the factors that cause the subject of leadership, how to develop the leadership style of the subject. The method applied in this research is survey and the characteristics of the subjects are teachers who have in SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Kepanjen.

Based on the results of research conducted by interview and questionnaire methods, the leadership of teachers on students in SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Kepanjen effect on the performance of teachers and learners are, where transformational leadership is leadership that can bring change within each individual involved or the entire organization to achieve higher performance. On the basis of this view, then the effective leadership in schools can be a performance, teacher performance is the appearance of activity assessed by the duty teacher and professional responsibilities at a certain time. The teacher is a professional profession in which he claimed to do all it can run the profession as possible.

The factors that cause the subject of leadership as it is the desire of the subject as a leader to set an example to students for Facebook to imitate what has been the subject did, this will indirectly improve the performance of the subject. As a professional, the duties of teachers as educators, teachers and coaches should be able to impact their students. In this case the teacher should continue to improve its performance which is the capital for the success pendidikan.sebagai form of leadership that emphasizes academic achievement and school nonakademik. Thus, an effective educational leader always concentrate to drive the potential factors for the achievement goals for the school. We demonstrate an alternative framework of implementation of transformational leadership in schools that can improve the performance of teachers to students as a whole that should be owned learners as a result of a process of education and learning activities in class.

Keywords: Leadership, transformational leadership, teacher performance.


ABSTRACT The partition of Palestine was first proposed more than eight decades ago. It remains a consensus international approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Why was Palestine the only settler-colonial context outside Europe in which partition became a dominant "solution"? This article argues that the explanation is found in European racial attitudes towards Jews and Arabs in the first half of the twentieth century. British and international policy makers regarded (European) Jews as a non-European, Semitic race. This led them to view Jewish Zionist migrants and native Palestinian Arabs as somewhat comparable groups. Rather than a clash between European settlers and Arab natives, they saw in Palestine a conflict between two nations living side by side. Reading through key documents – the Balfour Declaration, the Palestine Mandate, and the Partition Reports of 1937 and 1947 – I show how this racial logic informed the framework of partition.


Vasomotor symptoms (VMS), including hot flushes and night sweats, are linked with adverse health outcomes. This study investigated the associations between smoking, body mass index (BMI), and their joint effects with the risk of VMS.

 We pooled individual-level data on 21,460 midlife women from eight cohort studies in the InterLACE consortium. Frequency or severity of VMS were self-reported and categorised into four levels (from none to frequent/severe). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate relative risk ratios (RRRs) and 95%CIs adjusted for within-study correlation and covariates.

 Nearly 60% of the women experienced some degree of VMS; 30% were overweight, 21% obese, and 17% current smokers. We found that smoking more cigarettes with longer duration and earlier initiation and being overweight or obese were all associated with more frequent/severe VMS. Never smokers who were obese had a 1.5-fold increased risk of frequent/severe VMS (RRR 1.52, 95%CI 1.35-1.73), compared with never smokers who were of normal-weight. Smoking strengthened the association because the risk of frequent/severe VMS was much greater among smokers who were obese (RRR 3.02, 95%CI 2.41-3.78). However, women who quit smoking before age 40 years had a similar level of risk as never smokers.

 Cigarette smoking and overweight/obesity substantially increased women's risk of frequent or severe VMS in a dose-response manner, and smoking intensified the effect of obesity.

 Quitting smoking before age 40 years and maintaining a normal weight before the menopausal transition may mitigate the excess risk of VMS in midlife.


Abstract This work introduces a method for plasma state supervision, based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave radar sensor and a suitable signal evaluation enabling a continuous supervision method for the plasma state. Highly precise phase evaluation of the signal allows us to detect and visualize smallest changes in the plasma state. Assuming the plasma to act like a frequency-dependent dielectric material, the propagation of the electromagnetic wave depends on the plasma state and hence, also the measured phase. Broadband measurements are carried out at center frequencies of 80 and 140 GHz in a low-pressure plasma. The radar-based setup can be used for a very flexible application, capable for spatially resolved measurements in the plasma bulk. At the same time, the high measurement rate allows for quasi real-time monitoring, so that transient processes in the plasma are recorded. Due to the simple setup, this approach is most suitable for industrial applications to improve process control. The chosen different frequencies will show a change in the influence of the plasma on the electromagnetic wave demonstrating the advantages of multi-frequency approaches in future applications.


By using video tapes and questionnaires, this paper makes a study of error correction in the instructional context of college English teaching. The major findings of the presentstudy were asfollows: ①Students need error correction; ②Grammatical errors were by far the most frequent ones among all errors made by learners and thus the treatment on them were more frequent than on other types of errors; ③Recasts and clarification request are two predominant corrective feedbacks adopted by teachers; ④Elicitation and recast are corrective feedbacks that students prefer.


Determination of 'time elapsed since death' (TSD) is one of the important content of the postmortem report. Although the status of transparency of cornea is variable, depending on different factors like other parameters used for the purpose of determination of time since death but it is less variable as compared to others. The study sample comprised of 238 medico-legal autopsies conducted in the department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, Jharkhand during June 2006 to September 2007. In majority of cases cornea remains transparent & moist in 0—06 Hrs and becomes transparent & dry in 06—12 Hrs, transparent to hazy in 12—24 Hrs, hazy to opaque in 24—36 hrs and opaque in >36 Hrs. In sequence, changes occurs more in warm & moist weather then in warm & dry weather and cold & moist weather respectively and least in cold and dry weather.


Direct water photoelectrolysis using III-N materials is a promising way for hydrogen production. GaN/AlGaN based p-n structures were used in a photoelectrochemical process to investigate the material etching (corrosion) in an electrolyte. At the beginning, the corrosion performs through the top p-type layers via channels associated with threading defects and can penetrate deep into the structure. Then, the corrosion process occurs in lateral direction in n- type layers forming voids and cavities in the structure. The lateral etching is due to net positive charges at the AlGaN/GaN interfaces arising because of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in the structure and positively charged ionized donors in the space charge region of the p-n junction.


Crowdsourced live video broadcasting services, such as Twitch and YouTube Live, are becoming increasingly popular. In such a service, viewers are allowed to perform rich interactions, such as posting comments and donating monetary virtual gifts, while watching videos. Understanding viewer interactions is essential for people to comprehend the production and consumption of the crowdsourced live video content and improve the service. However, the basic characteristics of the viewer interactions are still unknown. In this paper, we present a comprehensive measurement study of the viewer interactions on Douyu, a popular crowdsourced live video broadcasting website in China. Our measurement spans four months and contains comment posting and virtual gift donating interactions from tens of millions of viewers in hundreds of thousands of channels. Based on the measurement data, we carry out a content analysis on danmu comments and characterize the patterns of the viewer interactions. We build a suite of models for capturing the gift donating process, viewer activity, and channel popularity. We further analyze the influences of the broadcaster's behavioral factors on a channel's popularity and present methodologies for popularity predicting. Our measurement and analysis have important implications on the design and business policy of the crowdsourced live video broadcasting services.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed guidelines for evaluating and treating adults with acute respiratory disease. The recommendations in part III of the guidelines present an argument for a conservative approach to antibiotic use in patients with rhinosinusitislike symptoms.


The invention relates to a method for acoustic measurement of exit speeds and / or outlet flow rates of gases and / or liquids. The invention further relates to a device for implementing this method and a sensor for acoustic measurement of exit speeds and / or outlet flow rates of gases and / or liquids.


Commissioned by Bovema Inc. in Milsbeek (NL), the Research Institute for Pig Husbandry investigated the chemical scrubber as a means of reducing ammonia emission from growing-finishing pig houses. The scrubber is supposed to absorb ammonia from ventilation air into a acid solution. The acid fluid is sprayed onto a plastic filter medium, which is placed in the ventilation flow of the pig house. In pig husbandry air scrubbing is mainly applied in central extraction systems, which are often applied in new buildings. The principal aim of this research was to determine the reduction in ammonia emission from the growing finishing pig house where pigs are housed according to law regulations as to animal welfare in 1998


Actin filaments of hepatocytes in three types of experimental rat cholestasis were examined by a previously reported method (J. Histochem. Cytochem. 28; 335, 1980). Liver treated with cytochalasin B in vivo showed bile canalicular dilation and the obscure polygonal pattern of hepatocytes depended upon partial loss and granular aggregation in peripheral fluorescence. Liver treated with phalloidin showed an accumulation of fluorescence mainly around bile canaliculi in addition to an accumulation in the cytoplasma and nucleus in hepatocytes. Liver ligated with common bile duct showed increased fluorescence in the peripheral cytoplasma of hepatocytes, particularly around bile canaliculi, but this alteration varied according to the duration of ligation.


So, what do you have to do to become a star performer? You need to change the ways in which you do your work and work with others. After 10 years of research and productivity improvement work, my colleague, Janet Caplan, and I believe we have debunked the myth about innate superiority: Star performers are made, not born. Star performers work very differently from solid, average performing people. Over a seven-year period, we led 600 knowledge workers at AT&T's Bell Labs through Breakthrough, a program we developed to enhance productivity by helping people build skills in nine work strategies common to star performers. It's estimated that Bell Labs recouped the cost of the program after the first year through a 25 percent increase in productivity.


The invention discloses a strip steel hot-dip galvanizing technology. The technology comprises the following steps: 1) pickling, adding surfactant in the pickling solution to remove oxide on the surface of the strip steel and lay a foundation for the increase of the corrosion resistance of the coating; and 2) adopting a coating solution formula to further increase the corrosion resistance of the coating. The coating solution comprises the following components by weight percent: 1.5-2.0% of Al, 1.3-1.8% of Mg, 0.2-0.6% of Cu, 0.02-0.05% of Sn, 0.05-0.15% of Ce and the balance of Zn.


The characterization of solid suspensions in fluid is discussed with reference to existing methods used in optics (turbidimetry). Merits and flaws of the present standard for turbidity measurements are discussed. A method for a more profound characterization of solid suspensions in fluid, based on multi-angular scattering measurements, is presented. A simple model for experimental data interpretation is developed. Results of the model are compared with measurements performed on monodisperse particulate.


We investigate theoretically the carrier transport in a two-dimensional topological insulator of (001) HgTe/CdTe quantum-well heterostructure with inverted band, and find distinct switchable features of the transmission spectra in the topological edge states by designing the double-electric modulation potentials. The transmission spectra exhibit the significant Fabry–Pérot resonances for the double-electric transport system. Furthermore, the transmission properties show rich behaviors when the Fermi energy lies in the different locations in the energy spectrum and the double-electric barrier regions. The opacity and transparency of the double-modulated barrier regions can be controlled by tuning the modulated potentials, Fermi energy and the length of modulated regions. This electrical switching behavior can be realized by tuning the voltages applied on the metal gates. The Fabry–Pérot resonances leads to oscillations in the transmission which can be observed in experimentally. This electric modulated-mechanism provides us a realistic way to switch the transmission in edge states which can be constructed in low-power information processing devices.


In the construction machinery research and development design, the design of steering trapezium mechanism was essential. This article needed to discover one method that would realize fast to obtain the optimized design and the result output of steering trapezium in known wheelbase and vehicle tread and other design entity parameter situations. Through the wheel kinematics analysis in the steering process to the construction machinery, obtained the theory corner relations and the actual corner relations for left and right wheel under three ways for the front wheel steering and the four wheel steering and the crab shape. Introduce a concept for average angle deviation of internal wheel as the objective function. Established the partial objective function under three kinds steering the way separately. According to the construction machinery actual work operating mode request, had determined the weighting factor under the each kind steering way, has established the comprehensive objective function. Chooses the complex unification goal function method to take the optimized method, had compiled the optimized design and the computational procedure based on the C language. And by one kind of construction machinery took the computation example, has made the optimized design and computed result processing to its steering trapezium mechanism. The result indicated, optimized design model establishment and optimized design method choice were accuracy. The optimized design result conforms to the construction machinery to steering the performance requirement completely, and satisfies the construction machinery to steering under the front wheel steering and the four wheel steering and the crab shape three kind of work operating modes.


Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is one of the most important and extensively grown palm tree worldwide. The inner part of the nut (endosperm) is divided into two edible parts, white kernel and clear liquid (Coconut water/juice). Coconut water widely consumed as a beverage usually comes from immature coconut fruit which is at a tender stage and referred as tender coconut water. The tender coconut water is considered as a natural health drink due to its unique characteristics (Debmandal et al., 2011). Its sugar content and mineral composition makes it an ideal rehydrating and refreshing drink (Campbell et al., 2000). Tender coconut water (TCW) is considered as low acid and high water activity beverage which contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and minerals (Campos et al., 1996 and Krishnankutty et al., 2005). The physicochemical and nutritional properties of TCW can vary based on variety and geography (Yong et al., 2009). The TCW is rich source of nutrients. It can be used as best medicine for diseases like fever, heartburn, dengue etc. Consumption of coconut water prevents the formation of kidney stones, high blood pressure, and diabetes. It is also used for increase metabolic rate, weight loss, The effect of ultraviolet (UV-C) of tender coconut water (Cocos nucifera) on physicochemical properties (viz. pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity, total color difference, turbidity) were studied during this research work. The process conditions for ultraviolet treatment were sample thickness (1, 2, 3 mm), treatment time (30, 60, 90 min) and distance of sample from lamp source (8.6, 13.7, 18.6 cm). The results obtained from this study showed that the ultraviolet treatment (UV) doesn't have any significant effect on pH, TSS, titrable acidity of tender coconut water (TCW). However, the UV treatment conditions had significant effect on total color difference (ΔE*), turbidity. Further, the results were compared with physicochemical properties of tender coconut water after thermal processing in literature. The obtained results suggested that, the loss of quality attributes is less in ultraviolet treatment as compared to other treatments. Hence, this study was concluded that, the ultraviolet treatment is good alternative methods to retention of quality attributes in coconut water. K e y w o r d s


guishing features of the new economy. Telecommunications companies currently offer a wide range of products from caller ID and call forwarding, to video teleconferencing and high-speed Internet access. The number of telephone access lines in the United States, deployed by major carriers that report annually to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), increased by 32% between 1990 and 2000, from 119.8 million to 157.6 million lines. Over the same period, the number of these lines equipped to provide ISDN-a highspeed, digital communications technology-increased from 13.6 million to 129.6 million, which represents a jump of 850% (Federal Communications Commission). ISDN, or Integrated Services Digital Network, is defined by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee as a network "that provides end-to-end digital connectivity to support a wide range of services, including voice and nonvoice services" (Kessler, p. 2). ISDN technologies, applied to copper or fiber optic phone lines, allow for the transmission of multiple channels of information (e.g., voice, fax, data, and video) over a single wire. Depending on the specifics of the ISDN technology (e.g., type of phone line, characteristics of the central office switch, etc.), lines that are upgraded to offer ISDN can transmit information at speeds ranging from 128 kilobits per second to over 150 megabits per second. Benefits of ISDN include highspeed data transmission, videoconferencing, enhanced ability to multi-task, and greater clarity in voice calls. Motivated by the increasingly important role that advanced (digital) telecommunications services play in the new economy, this paper investigates the investments in ISDN infrastructure made by major telecommunications carriers in rural areas across the United States. Specifically, we examine the recent (1999) status of ISDN investments in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States, and we measure the "digital divide" in ISDN deployment between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas for each year between 1996 and 2000. Although, at the present time, other technologies are beginning to replace ISDN as the digital technology of choice, ISDN played an "important role" in bringing digital technology to telephone networks during the time period analyzed in the study (Greenstein and Spiller, 1996; Malecki and Boush). We believe that the patterns of ISDN investment and the digital divide uncovered in the study may apply to other forms of telecommunications infrastructure available today and in the future.


Achieving a faster and efficient technique to solve Economic Load dispatch (ELD) problems becomes a common goal for several researchers is the field of modern power system analysis. Here the main object is to minimize the highest percentage of operating cost (fuel cost) of various generating utilities satisfying customer's peak and base load demand and to assess optimum operation along with financial and electrical performance of a power plant. Out of various modern heuristic techniques POS algorithm has already taken a representative position in solving ELD problems which is capable of providing fast response. In this paper, space reduction based PSO has been implemented which enhances the ability of particles, exploring the solution spaces more effectively providing faster optimization and higher convergence rate. A three unit formal generating with the power balance constraints and ramp rate limits is considered here and compared with other evolutionary algorithms as given in the literature to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.


A B ST R A C T Refrigeration is the applied science which deals with reducing the temperature of a confined space and its content to a predetermined level that is below the ambient temperature. The design of a cooling table is presented. The cooling table is an innovative application in refrigeration system design. The table is a multipurpose table for maintaining a low product temperature whilst still being able to carry out other activities on the table like a conventional table. The design covers thecompressor, condenser, evaporator, table frame, table top, cabinet volume and the covers. The prototype design requires a 70W compressor for three participants.


In this paper, Parikh's recent work, which treats Hawking radiation as a tunneling process in a spherically symmetric spacetime, is extended to the stationary axisymmetric Kerr spacetime. A generalized Painleve coordinate system (Painleve–Kerr coordinates) is introduced. The new coordinates are well-behaved at the event horizon. Constant-time slices are just flat Euclidean space in radial and satisfy Landau's condition of clock synchronization. The tunneling process across the Kerr black hole event horizon is investigated and the correctd radiation spectrum is obtained. The result is consistent with an underlying unitary theory.


Recently Berg and co-workers have reported interesting time resolved studies of ultrafast solvation dynamics in a completely nonpolar liquid. The relevant time correlation function was found to exhibit many fascinating properties. It was biphasic and highly nonexponential in the supercooled liquid near the glass transition temperature. In this article we present a general microscopic theory of such solvation phenomena. It is found that in contrast to solvation of charged species in polar solvents, the nonpolar solvation dynamics in controlled essentially by the dynamic structure factor of the liquid; the orientational relaxation is seen to play a less important role. As the dynamic structure factor shows anomalous behavior in the supercooled liquid, so does the solvation time correlation function. The theory suggests that nonpolar solvation dynamics can be an important scale dependent probe of microscopic dynamical processes in the supercooled liquid.


Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT) attempts to image conductivity distribution of biological tissues from pairs excitation and receiver coils. The inverse eddy current problem is nonlinear and ill-posed. Analysis of sensitivity field is necessary for image reconstruction. This study investigates the influence of conductivity perturbations, that is, changing the conductivity of a small region by a small amount, on the sensitivity field. Changes of sensitivity field relative to homogeneous conductivity background are calculated using finite-element method. The results show that the distribution of sensitivity field has relations with location and size of conductivity perturbations. This study provides the theoretical basis for image reconstruction.


Nickel supported on silica (SiO2) porous bodies have been found to be active for hydrogen and carbon in gas catalyst applications. In this study, the compatibility of naturally derived SiO2 derived from rice husk ash (RHA) and nickel oxide (NiO) at variable compositions and temperatures were highlighted. The compositions of SiO2 involved in this study were 50wt% and 90wt% sintered at temperatures of 800°C, 900°C, 1000°C and 1100°C. The properties of SiO2-NiO were determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and density. XRD analysis proven SiO2 derived from RHA was found to be amorphous and that mixtures of SiO2-NiO at all composition and temperatures yielded no tertiary phase of SiO2 and NiO. Density analyses indicated that density increased with increasing sintering temperature. Thus, this proves SiO2 derived from RHA is compatible with NiO even up to 1100°C, which indicates probability of applying SiO2 in gas catalyst application.


This paper describes practices in a new area. Based on the Social Networking Sites, it studies the effective building of learning communities among university students, and analyzes the social network's ability to effectively build a learning community, to improve college students' learning efficiency, and to promote comprehensive development of students.


The paper presents the results of an experiment carried out in controlled conditions, regarding triticale plants growth on a nutritive layer consisting of a mixture of red mud, acid rock and compost, in different proportions. The analytical results highlighted the strongly alkaline reaction of the layer, high organic carbon, mobile phosphorus and potassium contents and low nitrogen contents. The layer has a high salinity and sodium salts are predominant. The total microelements and heavy metals contents are generally acceptable. The triticale plants grew in these conditions up to 10-15 cm height, when the experiment was stopped. The plants accumulated normal nitrogen, calcium and magnesium quantities, low potassium ones, high phosphorus and very high sodium contents. The metallic microelements (copper, iron, manganese, zinc) accumulated at relatively normal levels, but the heavy metals (cadmium, cobalt, chromium, nickel, lead) concentrated up to values several tens of times higher than the normal contents.
Introducing the obtained vegetal mass in the nutritive layer will contribute to enhancing its fertility for the next vegetation cycles.


At present, the working fluid R22 is often used in refrigeration and heat pump systems, but it will be replaced in the next several years because its ozone-depletion potential (ODP) and global-warming potential (GWP) are very high.In order to seek some novel working fluids to replace the R22, some experiments on a small refrigeration and heat pump system were performed, and the working conditions were decided at different water temperatures and flow rates in condenser or evaporator,which were compared with those experimental data of R22 in the same working conditions.The non-azeotropic mixtures working fluid R290/R600a/R123(50%/10%/40%,mass) may become an alternative of R22 for heat pump application.


ABSTRACT The paper adds to the debate on the relationship between military spending and economic growth by analysing the contribution of a military university centre to regional economic development. It goes beyond traditional economic impact studies by including research related effects and integrating "third stream" activities. Conceptualization and categorization are carried out to thoroughly analyse the different dimensions of knowledge and "third stream" actions. The analysis is performed from its settlement and during its first 5 years of existence which allows showing how the strategy of community engagement is developed. The conclusion suggests that, as traditional military roles extend, and military education institutions become higher education institutions, a comprehensive evaluation should be taken into account to enrich the public debate on government spending.


Speaker: Behrndt, Jussi (TU Graz, Austria) Title: Spectral theory for differential operators with indefinite weights Abstract: In this talk we discuss the spectral properties of a class of ordinary and partial differential operators with indefinite weight functions. These operators are not symmetric or self-adjoint with respect to a Hilbert space scalar product but they can still be viewed to be symmetric with respect to a suitably chosen Krein space inner product. However, for a detailed spectral analysis the Krein space symmetry is only of little use. In this lecture we present a general approach via decomposition and perturbation methods to obtain results on the structure of the real and non-real spectrum, as well as quantitative bounds on the non-real spectrum. In this talk we discuss the spectral properties of a class of ordinary and partial differential operators with indefinite weight functions. These operators are not symmetric or self-adjoint with respect to a Hilbert space scalar product but they can still be viewed to be symmetric with respect to a suitably chosen Krein space inner product. However, for a detailed spectral analysis the Krein space symmetry is only of little use. In this lecture we present a general approach via decomposition and perturbation methods to obtain results on the structure of the real and non-real spectrum, as well as quantitative bounds on the non-real spectrum. Speaker: Berry, Michael (University of Bristol, UK) Title: The exquisite sensitivity of polarization Abstract: Recent insights into the time-development of quantum states driven by nonhermitian matrices, and an exactly solvable model, can be applied to the evolution of optical polarization in a stratified nontransparent dielectric medium twisted cyclically along the propagation direction. The twist is chosen to encircle a degeneracy (branch-point) in the plane of parameters describing the medium. Polarization evolutions are determined analytically and illustrated as tracks on the Poincaré sphere and the stereographic plane. Even when the twist is slow, the exact evolutions differ sharply from those of the local eigenpolarizations and can display extreme sensitivity to initial conditions with the tracks exhibiting elaborate coilings and loopings that would be very interesting to explore experimentally. Underlying these dramatic violations of adiabatic intuition are the disparity of exponentials and the Stokes phenomenon of asymptotics. Reference: Berry, M V 2011, 'Optical polarization evolution near a non-Hermitian degeneracy', J Opt. 13 115701 (15pp). Recent insights into the time-development of quantum states driven by nonhermitian matrices, and an exactly solvable model, can be applied to the evolution of optical polarization in a stratified nontransparent dielectric medium twisted cyclically along the propagation direction. The twist is chosen to encircle a degeneracy (branch-point) in the plane of parameters describing the medium. Polarization evolutions are determined analytically and illustrated as tracks on the Poincaré sphere and the stereographic plane. Even when the twist is slow, the exact evolutions differ sharply from those of the local eigenpolarizations and can display extreme sensitivity to initial conditions with the tracks exhibiting elaborate coilings and loopings that would be very interesting to explore experimentally. Underlying these dramatic violations of adiabatic intuition are the disparity of exponentials and the Stokes phenomenon of asymptotics. Reference: Berry, M V 2011, 'Optical polarization evolution near a non-Hermitian degeneracy', J Opt. 13 115701 (15pp). Speaker: Bigoni, Davide (University of Trento, Italy) Title: Challenging instabilities in elastic structures Abstract: A series of challenging structural behaviours will be presented for elastic structure evidencing: bifurcation and instability for tensile dead loads; multiple bifurcations for single-degrees-of-freedom structures; decreasing of buckling loads at increasing stiffness; A series of challenging structural behaviours will be presented for elastic structure evidencing: bifurcation and instability for tensile dead loads; multiple bifurcations for single-degrees-of-freedom structures; decreasing of buckling loads at increasing stiffness;


Carrageenan is a group of galactose polysaccharides extracted from seaweed and has the ability to form a thermo-reversible gel or a viscous solution when added to the salt solution widely utilized as gelling, thickener and stabilizers in various industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, printing, and textiles. Only two types of carrageenan can be used in the manufacture of hydrogels which are kappa and iota. Kappa-carrageenan is produced from the tropical seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii and Eucheuma denticulatum is the main species producing iota-carrageenan. The aim of this research is to know the composition of kappa-carrageenan and iota-carrageenan mixture as gel base to produce the optimum physical properties and to know the physical properties of optimum formula with the addition of papain enzyme for 4 weeks storage. The determination of the optimum formula of mixed carrageenan kappa and iota gel with Simplex Lattice Design method. The physical properties of the optimum formula with the addition of papain enzyme during 4 weeks storage are viscosity, pH, dispersion, and sineresis of optimum formula were statistically verified using Anova Univariate method of experimental design of two factorial with 95% confidence level. The results showed that the optimal formula of mixed carrageenan kappa and iota respectively concentrations of 0.3%, 1% and the use of 0.8% papain enzyme.


Owing to the present very low level of calamity forecast,people can prevent and reduce natural calamity effectively only by making a thorough understanding of the calamity bearing capacity of various objects and giving a scientific analysis and appraisal.Because the economical and natural conditions in various area are different,the farmland calamity bearing capacity is not the same.Started with selecting evaluation factors,this paper established models,analyzed the bearing and defensive capabilities of different factors to natural calamity,the ability of production restoration,as well as the comparison of each evaluation factor,the weights of these factors were then determined.After that,synthetic indexes were calculated,grades were differentiated,and comprehensive access of divisions were accordingly made.It shows that evaluation and division of farmland calamity bearing is very useful to the rational adjustment of agricultural structure,and can provide scientific reference to government for decision making.


A Structured Query Language (SQL) relational database has been developed based on the original (n, n′γ) work carried out by A. M. Demidov et al., at the Nuclear Research Institute in Baghdad, Iraq ["Atlas of Gamma-Ray Spectra from the Inelastic Scattering of Reactor Fast Neutrons", Nuclear Research Institute, Baghdad, Iraq (Moscow, Atomizdat 1978)] for 105 independent measurements comprising 76 elemental samples of natural composition and 29 isotopically-enriched samples. The information from this ATLAS includes: γ-ray energies and intensities; nuclide and level data corresponding to where the γ-ray originated from; target (sample) experimentalmeasurement data. Taken together, this information allows for the extraction of the flux-weighted (n, n′γ) cross sections for a given transition relative to a defined value. Currently, we are using the fast-neutron flux-weighted partial γ-ray cross section from ENDF/B-VII.1 for the production of the 847-keV 21 → 0gs transition in 56Fe, σγ = 468 mb. This value also takes into account contributions to the 847-keV transition following β− decay of 56Mn formed in the 56Fe(n, p) reaction. However, this value can easily be adjusted to accommodate the user preference. The (n, n′γ) data has been compiled into a series of ASCII comma separated value tables and a suite of Python scripts and C modules are provided to build the database. Upon building, the database can then be interacted with directly via the SQLite engine or accessed via the Jupyter Notebook Python-browser interface. Several examples exploiting these utilities are also provided with the complete software package.


Abstract The dynamic topography of the Pacific Ocean has been mapped and its mean annual and random variability has been investigated using approximately 66,600 hydrographic stations. Largest annual fluctuations are associated with the equatorial current system and are probably due to vertical displacements of the thermocline in response to the changing wind field. In the subtropical gyres and in higher latitudes, dynamic topography varies seasonally in response to the annual cycle of surface layer temperature, but the pattern of dynamic height does not change much between summer and winter. In the western portion of the North Pacific anticyclonic gyre, a U-shaped ridge is developed with its open end pointing east, which separates the western boundary current from the interior of the gyre and links the north equatorial ridge with a ridge at the right flank of the Kuroshio. The variability of dynamic height given by its standard deviation increases from east to west across the Pacific Ocean. Most of this v...


Using XML which replace of ASN.1 coding mode to improve attribute certificate(AC) of PMI.It quickens the speed of AC decodification,improve the efficiency of privilege management infrastructure(PMI),and makes the system more expansible.RBAC is the most access control method.The AC is divided to role specification certificate and role assignment certificate.It implements policy more flexible and can achives more careful access control of Web resource.


PURPOSE: A reciprocating piston internal combustion engine is provided to increase the mixture rate and to prevent lowering of performance by mixing supplied air with exhaust gas in the upper part of the cooling apparatus. CONSTITUTION: A reciprocating piston internal combustion engine has at least one cylinder(1) followed by an exhaust manifold(7) and preceded by a charging air tank(10) and at least one exhaust gas turbocharger(13) whose turbine(14) is provided with exhaust gas and whose compressor(12) supplies air to the charging air tank. The charging air tank is arranged next to a cooler(16) with charging air. The reciprocating piston internal combustion engine is provided for re-circulation of exhaust gas that is added to the charging air on the pressure side of the compressor and upstream of the charging air cooler. Thus, the mixture rate is increased, and lowering of performance is prevented.


Contemporary state governance relies increasingly on regulatory strategies encouraging self-regulation and compliance for corporate regulation. This paper examines the conditions in which such strategies might be effective by reference to the Australian trade practices regime. The paper argues that regulators will only use compliance strategies effectively when (i) a community of compliance professionals with both professional integrity and commercial 'street' credibility exists to make compliance come alive in everyday corporate activities, and (ii) regulators invest in meta-evaluation of compliance professionals' activities.


In this paper, congruences between holomorphic Hilbert modular forms are studied. We show the best possible level optimization result outside l for l > 2 by solving the remaining case of Mazur principle when the degree of the totally real field is even.


We analyze holographic models that attempt to describe QCD-like theories focusing on 5dimensional perspectives. We obtain the mode equations for the hadronic fields propagating in the bulk. We present the spectra for Scalars and High Spin Mesons in back-reacted geometries and we discuss the connection between confinement and the deformed geometries. Finally we discuss the application of AdS/QCD models to calculate decay constants of Mesons.


Purpose – The recent growth of South Korean products in the international market is the benchmark for both developed as well as developing countries. According to the development index, the role of international trade is indeed crucial for the development of the national economy. However, the visualization of the international trade profile of the country is the prerequisite of governmental policy decision-makers and guidance for forecasting of foreign trade.

Design/methodology – We have utilized data visualization techniques in order to visualize the import & export product space and trade partners of South Korea. Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) were used to identify the Korean international trade diversification, whereas the time series approach is used to forecast the economy and foreign trade variables.

Findings – Our results show that Chine, U.S, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan are the leading trade partners of Korea. Overall, the ECI of South Korea is growing significantly as compared to China, Hong Kong, and other developed countries of the world. The expected values of total import and export volume of South Korea are approximately US$535.21 and US$ 781.23B, with the balance of trade US$ 254.02B in 2025. It was also observed from our analysis that imports & exports are equally substantial to the GDP of Korea and have a significant correlation with GDP, GDP per capita, and ECI.

Originality/value – To maintain the growth rate of international trade and efficient competitor for the trade partners, we have visualized the South Korea trade profile, which provides the information of significant export and import products as well as main trade partners and forecasting.


ABSTRACT The present paper is an empirical exercise that contributes to the debate on whether long-lasting cyclical economic development can be viewed as a deterministic phenomenon or a stochastic process. First, we search for longer lasting, periodically reappearing cycles of GDP per capita in four countries: USA, UK, Germany and France. Second, based on theoretical arguments that stress applied knowledge as a significant driving force, we test its dynamic interrelationship with these countries' economic performance by applying spectral and cross-spectral methodologies. We confirm the existence of periodical long waves both in terms of GDP per capita as well as of applied knowledge. Moreover, we find strong interrelations between them and modest evidence for which is the leading force in the long term.


Japan has tried to fulfil greenhouse gas reduction plan and in same time breathing some life into the its economy by investment on environmental...


.

We studied the effect of genistein, a weak estrogenic compound found in soybean products, on the growth and reproductive development of yellow perch Perca flavescens. Four diets were prepared: control, estradiol-17β (E2) at 10 μg/g diet (E10), and genistein at 7.5 and 0.75 mg/g diet (G7.5 and G0.75). Fish (initial weight = 13–15.5 g and initial total length = 105–111 mm) were fed to excess for 63 d. The E10 diet promoted weight gain in yellow perch of both sexes, whereas the G7.5 diet decreased weight gain in females. The growth of the G0.75 group was not different from either the E10 group or the control group. Among females, fish fed the E10 diet had the lowest plasma concentration of E2 36 h after the last feeding of the study. The plasma concentration of E2 did not differ among the males from the four treatments. The E10-treated fish of both sexes had increased plasma concentration of alkali-labile phosphoprotein phosphorous (ALPP) in both sexes, indicating that vitellogenesis had been induced. Neither genistein diet increased plasma (ALPP) concentration. Male but not female yellow perch fed the E10 diet had significantly lower gonadosomatic indices compared to control and genistein groups. These results suggest that genistein may have a positive effect on growth in yellow perch, but no apparent estrogenic effects on reproductive function.


Simple Summary Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is one of the treatment options for locally advanced or metastatic gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). This treatment makes use of radioactive labeled somatostatin analogues, with 177Lu-DOTATATE as its established standard. PRRT has positive effects in tumor control and it lowers the risk of disease progression or death. It also improves the quality of life of the patient. Unfortunately, important risk factors for a minority of patients include renal and hematological toxicities. NET is a rare disease and treating patients with PRRT requires clinical expertise. This guide gives an overview of the background of PRRT and the current results in NET patient care. Abstract Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with [177Lu]Lu-[DOTA0,Tyr3]-octreotate (177Lu-DOTATATE) has become an established second- or third-line treatment option for patients with somatostatin receptor (SSTR)-positive advanced well-differentiated gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Clinical evidence of the efficacy of PRRT in tumor control has been proven and lower risks of disease progression or death are seen combined with an improved quality of life. When appropriate patient selection is performed, PRRT is accompanied by limited risks for renal and hematological toxicities. Treatment of NET patients with PRRT requires dedicated clinical expertise due to the biological characteristics of PRRT and specific characteristics of NET patients. This review provides an overview for clinicians dealing with NET on the history, molecular characteristics, efficacy, toxicity and relevant clinical specifics of PRRT.


Demonetization—this single buzzword dazed the entire Indian subcontinent at the beginning of the second week of November 2016 following the honourable Prime Minister's announcement of the denotification of `500 and `1000 currency notes from the midnight of 8th November of that year. These high denomination notes, which constituted almost 86% of the notes in circulation that time, were ceased to be a legal tender with a view to serve several high flown objectives like curbing the spread of black economy, to put a check on corruption, stop the supply of counterfeit notes and to prevent terrorism. The countrymen were meant to be engulfed by patriotic sentiments and led to take an oath to bear the hardship for a few months for the sake of the ultimate benefit of their motherland. But in actuality this hardship prolonged and those high-sounded objectives of demonetization hardly materialized. The parallel economy is still on its reign, corruption continues and sources of funds for the terrorist activities have not fully dried. As against this backdrop, professor Kumar's book attempts certain economic insights in the processes of demonetization and its efficacy after a year in meeting the avowed objectives of the November declaration. The author analyses the necessity of this exercise in curing the curse of black money and its consequences on the health of Indian economy with the aid of macroeconomic theories, postdemonetization data and obviously his vast research experience on the so-called parallel economy. This book was published three years ago, but the questions it raises and the loophole of the policy-making it pinpoints are very much relevant not only for today but also in the years ahead. Besides, the fact that since the publication of this significant work in 2017, there has been very little published review of this book that lures the present reviewer to get into the heart of issues considered here.


We investigate the twist-3 pion and kaon distribution amplitudes of the pseudoscalar ({phi}{sub {pi}}{sub ,K}{sup p}) and pseudotensor ({phi}{sub {pi}}{sub ,K}{sup {sigma}}) types, based on the effective chiral action from the instanton vacuum. Flavor SU(3) symmetry breaking effects are explicitly taken into account. The Gegenbauer moments and the moments of the distribution amplitudes ( ) are also computed. Our results are summarized as follows: a{sub 2,{pi}}{sup p}{approx}0.4, a{sub 1,K}{sup p}{approx}0.02 and a{sub 2,K}{sup p}{approx}0.14, and a{sub 2,{pi}}{sup {sigma}}{approx}0.02 and a{sub 1,K}{sup {sigma}}{approx}a{sub 2,K}{sup {sigma}}{approx}0; {sub {pi}}{sup p}{approx} {sub K}{sup p}{approx}0.37 and {sub K}{sup p}{approx}0, and {sub {pi}}{sup {sigma}}{approx} {sub K}{sup {sigma}}{approx}0.20 and {sub K}{sup {sigma}}{approx}0. We compare our results with those from the QCD sum rules. We also discuss the relevant Wilson coefficients which were analyzed recently in chiral perturbation theory.


:Objective To study the calcium metabolism intacrolimus(FK506)induced rats nephrotoxicity and the preventive effect of calcium channelblocker.Methods Twenty-four Spragueinduced or FK506-induced nephropathy model.Bloodcreatinine,blood electrolytes,renal tissue histopathology(HE stain)and the change ofultrastructural organization in renal cells by transmission electron microscope wereobserved.Results The blood creatinine levels of both CsA and FK506 groups [(36.00±2.61)and(34.17±4.54)μmol/L]were significantly higher than those of the FK506+Dilgroup and control group(all P<0.05).Theblood calcium levels of both CsA and FK506 groups (2.00±0.04 and 2.05±0.04 mmol/L) weresignificantly lower than those of the FK506+Dil group and control group(all P<0.05).Theblood creatinine and calcium levels of FK506+Dil group were not significantly differentwith those of control group(P>0.05).Histopathologyexamination showed cloudy swelling and vacuolization of the renal tubular epithelial cellsand intra-cellular mitochondria swelling and vacuolization in the CsA and FK506groups.However,the pathological changes of the FK506+Dil group were remarkably milder incomparison with the CsA and FK506 groups.Concluum channel blocker,Dil,could prevent theFK506-induced nephrotoxicity.

Key words:
Tacrolimus; Nephrotoxicity; Calcium channel blocker; Diltiazem


Using a longitudinal cohort study of female first- and second-year students from a state university this research summary determines the factors and characteristics that influence the association between sexual initiation and human papillomavirus infection.


Background Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice develop Sjögren's-like disease (SS-like) with loss of saliva flow and increased lymphocytic infiltrates in salivary glands (SGs). There are recent reports using multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as a therapeutic strategy for autoimmune diseases due to their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory capabilities. This paper proposed a combined immuno- and cell-based therapy consisting of: A) an injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) to eradicate autoreactive T lymphocytes, and B) transplantations of MSCs to reselect lymphocytes. The objective of this was to test the effectiveness of CD45−/TER119− cells (MSCs) in re-establishing salivary function and in reducing the number of lymphocytic infiltrates (foci) in SGs. The second objective was to study if the mechanisms underlying a decrease in inflammation (focus score) was due to CFA, MSCs, or CFA+MSCs combined. Methodology/Principal Findings Donor MSCs were isolated from bones of male transgenic eGFP mice. Eight week-old female NOD mice received one of the following treatments: insulin, CFA, MSC, or CFA+MSC (combined therapy). Mice were followed for 14 weeks post-therapy. CD45−/TER119− cells demonstrated characteristics of MSCs as they were positive for Sca-1, CD106, CD105, CD73, CD29, CD44, negative for CD45, TER119, CD11b, had high number of CFU-F, and differentiated into osteocytes, chondrocytes and adipocytes. Both MSC and MSC+CFA groups prevented loss of saliva flow and reduced lymphocytic infiltrations in SGs. Moreover, the influx of T and B cells decreased in all foci in MSC and MSC+CFA groups, while the frequency of Foxp3+ (Treg) cell was increased. MSC-therapy alone reduced inflammation (TNF-α, TGF-β), but the combination of MSC+CFA reduced inflammation and increased the regenerative potential of SGs (FGF-2, EGF). Conclusions/Significance The combined use of MSC+CFA was effective in both preventing saliva secretion loss and reducing lymphocytic influx in salivary glands.


While quite provocative, the chapter on sensory systems analysis is uneven in quality. The Weiner method of white noise analysis of nonlinear systems is an esoteric technique based upon multidimensional cross-correlation of input-output relationships; these yield n-dimensional "kernels" which may be used to reconstruct the system. Naka, however, has written better descriptions of his pioneering use of this method. Those papers are referenced, however, and thus this presentation is not a total loss. It is unfortunate that a longer and more comprehensive paper was not devoted to such a highly technical but potentially important topic. The last paper in this chapter is a wildly over-ambitious work entitled "Signal Integration in the Cortex." The contribution is a mere six pages, has a single figure, and is really about neuronal synchronization. Imagine the excitement generated from reading the table of contents and the subsequent letdown that occurred after reading the paper. When reading the original articles referenced in many of the papers in this volume, one can easily see that the scientific quality is uniformly high, yet one does not always get the feeling that the present papers are the best works of their authors. In general, this volume is useful as an indicator of new techniques being used and as a source of references to more complete presentations of these techniques. As such, the book largely fulfills its goal of promoting a "cross-fertilization of ideas" among neuroscientists.


Impact of the agricultural cooperatives on the regional development of Northern Cyprus is considered. The Guild like System is supposed to be a very supporting model for regional development. Especially countries with insufficient capital and resources are candidate for such cooperation and collaboration for mutual help. In this model of regional development contributors and receivers are mutually helping each other especially for long rung capital requirements with a very low interest rate and other facilities for small medium size enterprises. Guild like is mostly observed in African countries and in developing regions.


Phase‐change materials (PCMs) and phase‐transition materials (PTMs) both show a large contrast in their respective optical properties upon switching, enabling compact optical components with diverse functionalities like sensing, thermal imaging, and data recording. However, their switching properties differ significantly, that is, the switching is non‐volatile for PCMs while volatile for PTMs. Here, new‐generation smart mid‐infrared modulators with switchable transmission, reflection, and absorption are demonstrated conceptually and experimentally, which combine one PCM (Ge3Sb2Te6 or In3SbTe2) with one PTM (VO2) as two active layers. The bottom VO2 layer is employed as a thermally regulated (modulated) dynamic mirror, facilitating the switching of transmission between "on" state (using VO2 in its semiconducting state at temperatures below its phase transition temperature Tc) and "off" state (metallic VO2 at temperatures above Tc). The PCM layer on top of the metallic VO2 layer is used either for continuously adjusting the absorption peak spectrally (by up to 1.8 µm using different phases of Ge3Sb2Te6) or for switching between absorption mode (A = 0.99 with amorphous In3SbTe2) and reflection mode (R = 0.85 with crystalline In3SbTe2). The presented concept of merging static, non‐volatile thermal switching (via PCMs) with dynamic, volatile thermal modulation (via PTMs) empowers a new generation of optical devices for smart optical switching, for example in spectrally tunable safety optical switches.


In this paper, the wireless power transmission from the docking station to the defense surveillance robot is proposed. This power transmission is used to charge the battery of the robot through wireless charging and also more efficient due to shorter distance. The proposed system contains both way monitoring is done from the docking station to the destination and also from destination to the docking station. During this process the power in the battery of the camera will not be cut off for continuous monitoring purpose. For the position (latitude and longitude) purpose of the robot in the surveillance area a GPS detector is used. A continuous monitoring of the battery and the position in the robot is monitored from the control room. The transmission of this data between the robot and the control room are accomplished by the Radio Frequency transmission. Battery monitoring and control measurement are proposed by LABVIEW .Simulation result has been verified for battery monitoring and control measurement.


Prehension movements to wooden dowels have been studied in healthy elderly adults and Parkinson's disease patients, using a three camera WATSMART system. Patients were slower overall and showed an additional impairment in the decelaration period when they instructed to move fast or to grasp without vision of the target. Proportion of time to peak velocity was smaller, but coordination between transport and manipulation components of the movement was not differentially impaired. While PD patients could vary tangential velocity of the wrist within subnormal limits, they were unable to pick up the objects very fast when they were instructed to do so. They use a reduced safety margin of grip aperture for movements in spatial accuracy have to be taken into account and need significantly more time to establish a firm grip when they have no vision of the objects and must rely on somatosensory information for grip control


Concepts from contemporary critical analysis hold that all thought is inseparable from its medium of formulation and expression. When applied to design, such concepts argue that study drawings are active agents rather than passive records; their graphic processes provide the means to generate information within the design task. This paper analyzes characteristic graphic processes from Le Corbusier's work on the chapel at Ronchamp and from recent study drawings by five contemporary architects. This article has been excerpted from a forthcoming book on study drawings, a project supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. But where did Iget all ofthat? -Le Corbusier, upon returning to the hill at Ronchamp several years after the project had been completed.


Calcium (Ca) supplements are widely taken by postmenopausal women owing their role in the maintenance of bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis. Beneficial effects on circulating high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol (TC) have also been reported following Ca supplementation with or without vitamin D. Short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) increase Ca absorption in vivo and thus may mediate beneficial effects on lipid concentrations. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a Ca rich marine-derived multi-mineral supplement administered alone or in combination with scFOS on serum lipid concentrations in postmenopausal women. A total of 214 postmenopausal women (mean BMI 27·3 (SD 4·7) kg/m) aged 48–75 years completed a two year double-blind placebo controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to daily supplements of 800 mg of Ca (2·4 g Aquamin) (n= 75), 800 mg of Ca with 3 g of scFOSs (3·2 g Nutraflora) (CaFOS) (n= 60) or maltodextrin (MD) (n= 79). The TC, LDL, HDL and triglyceride concentrations were measured at baseline and 24 months. Per-protocol analysis was undertaken using ANCOVA (with baseline measures as covariates) to assess time × treatment effects between groups, controlling for age, BMI and baseline Ca intake (mean intake 868 mg Ca/day) using least significant difference for post hoc comparisons. A significant time × treatment effect was observed for LDL for the Ca (P= 0·009) and CaFOS groups (P= 0·01). Furthermore, a significant time × treatment effects were observed for TC for the Ca and CaFOS groups (P= 0·02 and P= 0·03 respectively). There was no significant treatment effect of Ca or CaFOS on HDL, LDL:HDL and triglycerides. Supplementation with this Ca rich marinederived multi-mineral supplement has beneficial effects on LDL and TC concentrations in postmenopausal women over two years. It is plausible that the available Ca is binding to fat and forming insoluble Ca-fatty soaps within the gut. These insoluble Ca-fatty soaps may limit lipid absorption and subsequently increase lipolysis. Administration of Aquamin may have a role in maintaining cardiovascular health in women and further research on this area is warranted.


We construct Markov chain algorithms for sampling from discrete exponential families conditional on a suucient statistic. Examples include generating tables with xed row and column sums and higher dimensional analogs. The algorithms involve nding bases for associated polynomial ideals and so an excursion into computational algebraic geometry. 1 1. Introduction. As a simple example of the problem under study consider generating a


The paper by Touyz and Yao [1] in this issue of the journal concerns two topics that have been part of hypertension research for several decades. These are the renin–angiotensin system and intracellular cation concentrations. There have been many ideas on these topics and Touyz and Yao put forward another suggestion as to how angiotensin II could alter cell ion concentration, in this case increased sodium and decreased magnesium, and argue that this could mediate the rise in blood pressure. These conclusions are drawn from the observations that (i) blood pressure elevation caused by angiotensin II is accompanied by increased platelet sodium and decreased platelet magnesium and (ii) that treatment with either of two Naþ/Mgþ exchange inhibitors modifies both blood pressure and cell ion responses to angiotensin II. Whether these coincident effects indicate causation deserves closer scrutiny.


A 25-year-old man underwent diagnostic colonoscopy because of mild upper abdominal pain. He had no history of trauma. The colonoscopy was completed without any significant difficulty. During the procedure, the patient did not complain of any pain or uncomfortable feelings. However, 24 hours after the procedure, the patient returned to the hospital with complaints of serious upper abdominal pain. On physical examination he had rebound tenderness in the upper abdomen and decreased breath sounds on the left chest. A chest radiograph (●" Fig.1) indicated left diaphragmatic hernia. The chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan (●" Fig.2) confirmed a posterolateral diaphragmatic agenesis, with most of the stomach, the whole spleen, the tail of the pancreas, and the splenic flexure of the colon all appearing in the left chest. The patient underwent immediate left thoracotomy and diaphragmatic repair. Hemade an uneventful recovery and was discharged 15 days later. He is now asymptomatic. Diaphragmatic hernias can be divided into two broad categories: congenital diaphragmatic defects and acquired diaphragmatic defects. Congenital diaphragmatic hernias occur through embryologic defects in the diaphragm with an incidence of <1–5/10 000 births [1], and most patients present early in life rather than later. However, a subset of adults may present with a smaller congenital hernia that was undetected during childhood [2]. Acquired diaphragmatic hernia is commonly seen after trauma, especially traffic accidents [3]. Diaphragmatic hernia related to colonoscopy is a rare but usually life-threatening complication [4,5]. Only a few cases have been reported previously [4–8], and the incidence is not well defined at this time. However, laparotomy is usually required as soon as possiblewhen the complication occurs. Our endoscopic center performs 5000– 6000 colonoscopies every year. To our knowledge, this is the first diagnosed case of diaphragmatic hernia as a consequence of colonoscopy. Various risk factors should be considered in order to both decrease the risk and make an early diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernia. For patients who have a history of traffic accident, blunt trauma, and other diaphragmatic injuries, endoscopists should pay more attention to the possibility of this adverse event in patients undergoing colonoscopy. If necessary, an abdominal radiograph should be performed before the procedure. Moreover, increased abdominal pressure caused by air insufflation, and forceful and excessive advance during the colonoscopic procedure may push abdominal contents through a weakened diaphragm or an existing diaphragmatic defect. Chest and abdominal radiographs and CT are very helpful for the diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernia. Therefore, there should be a low threshold to perform them, especially for patients who have the risk factors described above. In conclusion, diaphragmatic hernia caused by colonoscopy is a very rare adverse event, but the consequences are serious, with most patients requiring surgery. Therefore, it is very important for endoscopists to consider the possibility of herniation in patients undergoing colonoscopy.


In our region Rabi and Kharif crops were utilized during Harappan period. The agriculture cycle needed monsoon rains like today. But if the land is not artificially irrigated, the rainfall may be insufficient to make the plants germinate (kharif crop) until late June, by which time they cannot mature before the fall frosts destroy them. Crop failure in non-irrigated areas for this and other reasons is frequent, and thus there is a strong incentive to irrigate crops.


In this paper we present research of the resistance of Frequency Hopped Spread Spectrum Signals (FHSSS) to intentional interference in case of coincidence of their code structures and different values of carrier and clock frequencies.


The provision of information about medicines to the driver is described as a collaboration between the marketing authorisation holder, the regulatory authority and the healthcare professional. An EU regulatory framework exists to ensure the provision of up-to-date, relevant information to the patient to promote safe use, where the information exists. Brief details are given of the system, in particular the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC), the information upon which labelling is based. The SPC contains a section devoted to the effects of the medicine on ability to drive and use machines. The incorporation of this information into labelling is discussed, in particular the possible responses of some patients in terms of failure to use the medicine or altering their behaviour to accommodate it. For the covering abstract see IRRD 893732.


Abstract We investigate the question of which weakenings of the associative law imply that a quasigroup is a loop. In particular, we completely settle the question for all laws of "Bol–Moufang type" (those written with four variables, three of which are distinct).


The cylindrical mold is a key element utilized in the manufacture of different cylindrical components for a wide range of applications in industries like automotive, aerospace, medical, and among others. Fine finishing of the cylindric mold with high surface integrity has several benefits such as good fits and tolerance, increased product quality, and high load-bearing capability for components. Recently, a cutting-edge rotating magnetorheological honing (RMRH) method based on permanent magnet tools was developed for the fine finishing of interior cylindrical surfaces with great productivity. Furthermore, many industrial real-time cylindrical molds need to be fine-finished with high productivity to enhance their functionality. To meet these requirements, the RMRH procedure could be the better option. Therefore, the RMRH process is investigated in the current study to finely finish the inner surface of the real-time EN-8 steel mold for plastic bottle caps. To determine how well the real-time EN-8 steel cylindrical mold could be fine-finished using the current process, the response surface technique was used to know the best finishing parameters. The significant % drop in parameters of the surface roughness profile ( Ra, Rz, and Rq) of the MR finished real-time EN8 mold surface is achieved as 86.05, 82.17, and 84.62, respectively, after 40 minutes of the RMRH process with the optimal parameters. Also, a considerable improvement in straightness is obtained as the final surface waviness on the inside cylindrical surface of the real-time EN8 mold for plastic bottle caps is decreased from an initial value of 120 nm to 40 nm. Further, circularity and surface morphology tests are carried out over the mold's finished inner surface. After providing the efficient MR finishing using the current process, results indicate that surface properties and functional efficacy of the internal surface of the real-time mold for producing plastic bottle caps have improved.


The master thesis investigates role and challenges of project management in new drug development.An analysis of differences between results from literature and a case study has been made. Some recommendations are delivered.


In the article we consider theoretical and empiric research aspects of military-political security as an important component of the national security system, realization of which presupposes necessity of taking into account the specifics of such essential factor as contemporary student youth attitude to the service in the army.


For acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, information may be available on the time of diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (first positive HIV antibody test) in addition to the time of AIDS diagnosis. This extra information may be incorporated into backcalculation of HIV infection curves. This also allows the estimation of the rate of HIV diagnosis among HIV-infected individuals, a measure which is of obvious public health importance. A framework for this is described and then applied to data from England and Wales. Different exposure categories are compared. The incorporation of information on the total number of HIV diagnoses in specific exposure groups is also examined.


PreviewAlthough most patients with dental emergencies should be referred to a specialist, the primary care physician is often able to start treatment to relieve pain and preserve function. The authors of this article, all specialists in dentistry, offer guidelines for diagnosing and treating acute odontogenic problems that physicians may be the first to see.


We experienced a patient, who complained severe fatigue in spite of adequate hormonal supplement after pituitary tumor removal, was successfully treated with Kampo therapy. The pharmacological effect of this Kampo formulation i.e. bukuryoshigyakuto is still unknown, but this formulation has been used for pre-shock conditions in the terminal stage of infectious diseases. According to the description in the classic textbook, this formulation is suggested to encourage metabolic function and maintain core temperature of the human body. The authors propose that Kampo medicine is a hopeful alternative way in the management of such patients.


It is to be expected that a period of openness and restructuring in Russian culture, a period of glasnost' and perestroika, would be accompanied by a serious examination of the representations and institutions of literary art, since this has been the cultural activity within which and around which Russian intellectuals have examined their society and its movements since the late eighteenth century. To a considerable extent this interrogation of the literary process marks the present period, as the essays presented below testify.


Mandragora plant contains 80 different substances including alkoloids such as mandragorine, hiyosiyamine, and skapolamine. It presents sedative, aphrodisiac, emetic, analgesic, and anesthetic effects. In our presentation, we studied the case of a 58-year-old female patient who developed allergic contact dermatitis following the application of Mandragora roots to the skin for the treatment of leg pains. Plants such as Mandragora, which contain many chemicals, must be used carefully. Further, emergency physicians must be aware of the side effects of plants used in traditional medicine and show great accuracy at the diagnosis-treatment point.


College is the center of methodic activity. Active usage of various pedagogical technologies in the educational process allows making this process a motivated and regulative one, training students for their future vocational activity and selfdevelopment.


Journalist, historian, anthropologist, art critic, and creative writer, Anita Brenner was one of Mexico's most sympathetic and discerning interpreters. Born to a Jewish immigrant family in Mexico a few years before the Revolution of 1910, she matured into an independent liberal who defended Mexico, workers, and all those who were treated unfairly, whatever their origin or nationality. In this book, her daughter, Susannah Glusker, traces Anita Brenner's intellectual growth and achievements from the 1920s through the 1940s. Quoting extensively from Brenner's unpublished journals and autobiographical novel, as well as from her published books and articles, Glusker paints an engrossing portrait of the intellectual circles in which Brenner moved in Mexico City and New York, which included such figures as Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jean Charlot. Glusker describes the origin and impact of Brenner's three major books, Idols behind Altars, Your Mexican Holiday, and The Wind That Swept Mexico, all of which grew out of a lifelong devotion to her native land - a devotion that also manifested itself in her championship of Mexico as a haven for Jewish immigrants in the early 1920s. Along the way, Glusker records Brenner's support of many liberal and radical causes, including the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War.


Toxin of the spider Araneus ventrocosus was separated by two dimensional gel electrophesis(2D-PAGE).Over 80 protein spots were presented on a silver stained 2D gel and most of them were basic or neuter.


Genuis, brings together all the major characteristics of the female figures in the poem. She is a young and fair girl that her father, the Roman Emperor Claudius, gives to the British King Arviragus in order to enter an alliance with Britain more easily. She becomes a woman that sincerely loves her husband; she bears him a son who later on becomes King Marius. She is a "peace-weaver" who wishes to see concord and harmony prevail in the kingdom. Once her function as a peacmaker is completed, Genuis is immediately forgotten, and while the men arm themselves to go back to war, she returns to the dark, silent area in which most other queens are kept.


Estimating the location, time and magnitude of a possible earthquake has been the subject of many studies. Various methods have been tried using many input variables such as temperature changes, seismic movements, weather conditions etc. The relation between recorded seismic-acoustic data and occurring an anomalous seismic processes (ASP) has been proved in articles written by Aliev and et al. [1-4]. But it is difficult to predict the location, time and magnitude of the earthquake by using these data. In this study, it is aimed to prepare a data set/sets for prediction of an earthquake to be used in machine learning algorithms. An Earthquake-Well Signal Monitoring Software has been developed to construct these data sets. This study uses the on-line recordings of robust noise monitoring (RNM) signals of ASP from stations in Azerbaijan. An interface for analyzing the recordings and mapping them with previous earthquakes is designed.


This chapter describes a biomechanical model of the forces about the ankle joint applicable to both unimpaired and neurologically impaired subjects. EMGs and joint kinematics are used as inputs and muscle forces are the outputs. A hybrid modeling approach that uses both forward and inverse dynamics is employed and physiological parameters for the model are tuned for each subject using optimization procedures. The forward dynamics part of the model takes muscle activation and uses Hill-type models of muscle contraction dynamics to estimate muscle forces and the corresponding joint moments. Inverse dynamics is used to calibrate the forward dynamics model predictions of joint moments. In this chapter we will describe how to implement an EMG-driven hybrid forward and inverse dynamics model of the ankle that can be used in healthy and neurologically impaired people. IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This paper appears in the publication, Computational Intelligence for Movement Sciences: Neural Networks and Other Emerging Techniques edited by Rezaul Begg and Marimuthu Palaniswami © 2006, Idea Group Inc. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB12294 Estimation of Muscle Forces About the Ankle During Gait 321 Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. INTRODUCTION It is difficult to estimate muscle forces during human movements. Such forces cannot be measured directly apart from implantation of force sensors into the muscles — a painful procedure that is difficult to use on multiple muscles and would likely cause unnatural changes in the way such muscles are activated (e.g., limping). Although biomechanical models are commonly used to analyze human motion, estimation of individual muscle forces remains problematic as it is a difficult modeling task to do with reasonable accuracy. The main reason for this difficulty is that the musculoskeletal system is redundant: there are an infinite number of combinations of muscle forces that could create a desired limb movement or, in most cases, even a single joint moment. Nevertheless, there are two approaches that have been used with reasonable success. The first uses a mathematical approach, calculating muscle forces based on optimization of muscle forces according to a user-defined cost function (e.g., Neptune, 1999; Anderson & Pandy, 2001). The other approach uses information about how the nervous system activates the muscles, as recorded from electromyograms (EMGs) and from this the muscle forces are estimated (e.g., Lloyd & Besier, 2002; Buchanan et al., 2004). The later approach will be the focus of this chapter. Accurate estimation of muscle forces is important to study the neural control of movement, design of advanced prosthetics and to provide clinical tools for rehabilitation. In this chapter the focus will be on applications pertaining to the control of the human ankle and will conclude with an application to gait in a subject who has had a stroke. MODEL FLOW There are two fundamentally different approaches employed to study human movement and kinetics: forward and inverse dynamics. Each has strengths and weaknesses and we shall use a hybrid method that takes advantage of the strengths of each method (Figure 1). Inverse dynamics relies on information about position and ground reaction forces. By simple application of fundamental rigid-body dynamics (e.g., Newton's Laws), joint moments can be calculated from the kinematic and external force data. From joint moment and musculoskeletal geometry one might try to calculate muscle forces. However, the body is a redundant system and multiple muscles contribute to each joint moment. Therefore, the force distribution among the muscles that span a joint cannot be readily determined. In our application, inverse dynamics will only be used to determine joint moments. Forward dynamics depends on neural command, which can be estimated from electromyograms. EMG is measured directly from each of the interested muscles. Muscle activation dynamics is the process by which the EMG (measured in millivolts) is converted to muscle activation, a(t), a dimensionless time varying signal between zero and one (Figure 1). In combination with joint position and velocity data, muscle activation is used to estimate muscle force by means of a process called muscle contraction dynamics. The total joint moment due to the muscle forces is easily computed from forces and corresponding muscle-tendon moment arms. In a typical forward dynamic analysis, 26 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the publisher's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/estimation-muscle-forces-ankle-during/6817


The avifauna of Costa Rica is better known than that of other Neotropical countries (Stiles & Smith 1980, Sanchez et al. 1998), although much less information is available for seabirds than for terrestrial species (Stiles & Smith 1977, Steinkamp & Schlatter 2006). The pelagic and nomadic behavior of species such as stormpetrels (Hydrobatidae), shearwaters (Procellariidae) and tropicbirds (Phaethontidae) makes information difficult and expensive to obtain (Harrison 1985, Spear et al. 1995). Information on Costa Rican pelagic species is primarily from sightings and museum collections made off the Pacific coast in the 1970s and 1980s (Stiles & Smith 1977, 1980; Stiles & Skutch 1989) and recent records from Cocos Island (Montoya 2003a, 2003b; Montoya & Pascal 2004; Dean & Montoya 2005; Obando et al. 2007). Additional information is obtained when vagrants are observed close to the coast, especially in response to strong weather offshore (Stiles & Smith 1980), but such behaviour is not well-documented (Jehl 1974). Here, we report on two pelagic species recorded from Costa Rican inland sites.