Silicon is the second widespread element on the Earth after oxygen. Besides inert forms of silicon (quartz, glass et al.), biogeochemically active forms of Si present in nature: monosilicic, polysilicic acids and organosilicon compounds. Silicon plays a distinctive and significant role in soil formation processes, affecting soil properties and plant nutrition. Beginning in 1840 numerous experiments have shown benefits of Si fertilization for crop productivity. Si fertilizers and Si soil amendments promote restoration of degraded soils as well as increased soil fertility. Silicon soil amendments provide reduction in Al toxicity in acid soils more effectively than lime. Silicon improves plant P nutrition. Active Si has a positive influence on soil microbial population. Plant adsorbs Si in the amounts higher than those of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Adsorption of Si is realized with specific transport proteins. High concentrations of monosilicic acid (150 to 500 ppm of Si) and polysilicic acid (800 to 5000 ppm of Si) are tested in plant tissue. Numerous studies have been demonstrated that optimization of plant Si nutrition protects cultivated plants against diseases, fungi and insects attacks without negative effects on the environment. The main function of Si in plant seems to be a formation of the natural plant defense system to be realized on several mechanisms. Silicon accumulated in epidermal tissues forms "a shield" that protects and mechanically strengthens plant. Polysilicic acid can provide reinforcing biosynthesis of anti-stress hormones and substances. The application of Si fertilizers or/and Si soil amendments benefits productivity and sustainability of agriculture.


A common problem in neuropathological studies is to assess the spatial patterning of cells on tissue sections and to compare spatial patterning between disorder groups. For a single cell type, the cell positions constitute a univariate point process and interest focuses on the degree of spatial aggregation. For two different cell types, the cell positions constitute a bivariate point process and the degree of spatial interaction between the cell types is of interest. We discuss the problem of analysing univariate and bivariate spatial point patterns in the one‐way design where cell patterns have been obtained for groups of subjects. A bootstrapping procedure to perform a nonparametric one‐way analysis of variance of the spatial aggregation of a univariate point process has been suggested by Diggle, Lange and Beneš (1991). We extend their replication‐based approach to allow the comparison of the spatial interaction of two cell types between groups, to include planned comparisons (contrasts) and to assess whole groups against complete spatial randomness and spatial independence. We also accommodate several replicate tissue sections per subject. An advantage of our approach is that it can be applied when processes are not stationary, a common problem in brain tissue sections since neurons are arranged in cortical layers. We illustrate our methods by applying them to a neuropathological study to investigate abnormalities in the functional relationship between neurons and astrocytes in HIV associated dementia. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Soil characterization is important since it gives an idea of the state of soil in the field. Moreover, Philippine geology map shows a vast area of Pliocene-Pleistocene classification, where until now no up to limited study presented the soil characteristics of this type of geology. These soil characteristics are essential for engineering purposes like design, land development, slope stability, disaster risk mitigation, stabilization, and other relevant utilization. In addition, it identifies if the soil in the site is problematic like being expansive or collapsible. In this study, the soil from thirty sampling locations in the two barangays of Kibawe, Bukidnon with Pliocene-Pleistocene geology is characterized based on their physical and mechanical properties. The results showed that the soil in this geology is classified as fine-grained soil with other locations as gap-graded. The plasticity index (PI) varies from 14.11-71.28%, which indicates medium to very high plasticity. The liquidity index (LI) of the soil varies from 0.12 to 0.96 which means that the soils at their in-situ water content are in the plastic state of intermediate strength and can be deformed like a plastic material. Based on USCS, there are four soil types CH, MH, CL and ML while based on AASHTO soil classification system it belongs to A-7-5 and A-7-6 groups with moderate and high plasticity, respectively. Majority of the soils under this geology are highly expansive and have a high tendency to swell. On the other hand, it has 25 locations that are non-collapsible soil and only 5 are collapsible. In terms of cohesion-PI relationship, it shows that the cohesion value increases with the increasing value of PI. However, the friction angle for CL and ML decreases with increasing PI; while the friction angle for CH and MH increases with increasing PI. While some laboratory tests are expensive, these results may help estimate the soil properties and shear strength from other locations with the same geology.


The Ir-catalyzed C–H borylation of fluoroquinolines has been realized. The quinoline boronic ester formed undergoes a range of important transformations of relevance to medicinal chemistry. Judicious choice of the substituent at C4 on the quinoline facilitated the unmasking of a fluoroquinolone—the core structure of many antibiotics.


Abstract The substitution reaction of the bisethene complexes (C5H4R)Rh(C5H4)2 (R[dbnd]H, CH3) (la,b) with thiirane-S-oxide yields the SO complexes (C5H4R)Rh(SO) (R[dbnd]H, CH3) (3a,b), which can also be obtained by the directed reduction reaction of the SO2 complexes (C5H4R)Rh(C2H4)(SO2) (R[dbnd]H, CH3) (2a,b)) with Si2Cl6.


The possibility of growing nanometre scale oxides on silicon surfaces using the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) opens a new field of applications for this instrument. The present paper reports a polysilicon on silicon structure microfabricated using standard CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) processes which will allow characterization of the as grown oxides using various techniques. The structure is characterised by STM and atomic force microscopy to study the effect of reactive ion etching damage and HF etching over the silicon surface. Finally, a new technique to carry out local oxidation of a silicon (100) surface using STM is presented, which is based on controlling the electrical field between the tip of the STM and the surface of the sample


Abstract In this paper we further investigate tour construction algorithms for the Asymmetric Traveling Salesman Problem (ATSP). In [14] we introduced a new algorithm, called Contract-or-Patch (COP). We have tested the algorithm together with other well-known and new heuristics on a variety of families of ATSP instances. In our study, COP has demonstrated good performance, clearly outperforming all other algorithms on robustness. It has either produced the shortest tours or came close to the leader on eaeb of the seven families tested,while each of the remaining algorithms failed on at least two families of instances. In this paper we introduce three new variants of Che COP algorithm, and perform an extensive computational study of the original as well as new versions of the algorithm on a variety of ATSP instances. We also study the influence of the threshold parameter on the quality of tours produced by COP. We conclude the study by recommending one of the new versions of COP as a replacement for the original algorithm. The modified algorithm produces higher-quality tours iban the original version, and has a nice property of being a mucb simpler algorithm. We also recommend a good universal choice of the parameter value.


An erosion of mould steel can debase the surface qualities of castings and shorten the service lifetime of the casting moulds.Effects of casting pressure,injection speed and injection temperature on the erosion rate of the H13 mould steel are discussed.Results show that effects of three low pressure process parameters on the erosion rate of H13 mould steel arranged by sort ascending are the injection temperature,injection speed and casting pressure.The erosion rate of the H13 mould steel increases with the increasing of the injection temperature and the injection speed and takes a direct proportion with the square of the injection speed.


Chromosomal translocation t(4 ; 14)(4p16 ; 14q32) leads to overexpression of FGFR3 and WHSC1/MMSET genes (4p16)due to the activity of regulatory elements of IgH gene(14q32). IgH/MMSET rearrangement is an adverse prognostic factor for myeloma and diagnostically molecular detection of the fusion transcript by an RT-PCR test confi rms the existence of translocation. We used nested RT-PCR assay for IgH-MMSET detection (after Malgeri et al. Cancer Res 2000 ; 60:4058) in a group of 64 patients with MM diagnosed at our institutions over the last fi ve years. We found 10 (15, 6%) patients with IgH-MMSET transcripts in BM or PB. Mean age was 62, 2 years, paraprotein was IgA in 3, IgG in 6 and light chains kappa in one. Five positive patients died of MM in the period of 2 years after diagnosis, one of plasma cell leukemia. One further patient died after transformation to MDS. Three patients are in the stable phase of disease and one shows progression after 20 years of MM history. In our IgH/MMSET-positive patients we noted an increased predisposition to extramedulary sites or the occurrence of localized bone destructive and soft tissue invading of plasmocytoma. Molecularly, 3/10 fusion transcripts were MB4-1 type. For one of them we confi rmed the break in exon 3 of MMSET by sequencing. Two thirds ofmolecular isoforms were of MB4-2 type. In conclusion, the prevalence of 15, 6% IgH/MMSET in our so far tested patients corresponds to the expected frequency for this genetic lesion in MM. Distribution of fusion gene molecular isoforms is in favor of MB4-2 type. Clinically, also presentation of locally aggressive and extramedulary t(4 ; 14)+ myeloma tumors could be expected.


A backlight unit and a liquid crystal display device having the same. A backlight unit adapted to prevent light leakage and damage of its internal components due to a thermal deformation is disclosed. The backlight unit includes: a bottom cover with an opened upper surface; a printed-circuit-board disposed on at least one inner side surface of the bottom cover; a plurality of LEDs loaded on the printed-circuit-board; and a plurality of slits formed on at least one edge of the bottom cover opposite to the printed-circuit-board and configured to reduce thermal deformation of the bottom cover.


Cloud computing is one of the major technologies which has gained popularity in computer sciences and information technology domain. Cloud computing has changed the way of doing business by an enterprise in general and data management, retrieval & storage within a business enterprise in particular. Smartphone usage has grown rapidly in tandem with cloud computing by providing different services/applications using cloud computing. Most of the Smartphone do run on Android operating system. Android OS is the widely used Smartphone operating systems with huge user base. Everyday hundreds and thousands of application are added to the repository of Android by different vendors and are easily available for installation to android users. As most of the applications are developed by third party giving way to possible loopholes which result in different threats to security & privacy of data. These threats are critical when a user is suing cloud storage or services on Smartphone devices and if the device is stolen it may lead to access of information by an unauthorized user. This unauthorized access to information can be misused which creates distrust among the users of cloud computing on android devices. In this paper a methodology has been proposed to secure data and information from unauthorized access using android cloud application.


James Beattie1 is correct that effective communication should begin at the earliest opportunity, usually at the first consideration of using a life-sustaining medical device (LSMD). Some patients will want to discuss all possible outcomes including withdrawal of the LSMD. Some patients will go further and choose to make advance statements describing their preferences and wishes, beliefs and values, or choose to make an advance decision …


Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. This study utilized 3D magnetic resonance imaging in combination with optical coherence tomography to investigate the relationship between dome-shaped macula and posterior staphyloma in high myopic eyes.


The self-similarity matrix (SSM) is becoming more prevalent in temporal representation understanding; it has been utilized for various video understanding tasks, such as classifying human actions, counting repetitions, and identifying generic event boundaries. Recently proposed methods for Generic Event Boundary Detection (GEBD) [1] based on SSM have obtained impressive results on the Kinetics-GEBD dataset. However, they demand a large model size and an immense number of computations to achieve good performance, making them challenging to realize on edge devices. We introduce a projected SSM with cosine distance that produces an efficient representation of SSM that can be interpreted using lighter transformer decoders. This paper presents a lightweight novel architecture with just 3M trainable parameters that utilize projected SSM to solve GEBD. In addition to the low computation regime of the model, the experiments demonstrate that the architecture is invariant to the feature extractor model while inferencing. The proposed method achieves a boost of 13.92% on the Kinetics-GEBD validation dataset with 3.5X fewer model parameters and 19.5X fewer multi-add operations compared to the baseline [1]. We report competitive F1 results at unprecedented efficiency with 22X fewer model parameters than state-of-the-art methods and achieve the lowest inference time on GPU and mobile device.


The development of teaching materials or instructional media that are tailored to the characteristics of students is considered important at this time. For this reason, this study aims to develop comic-shaped mathematics learning media based on a valid and practical contextual approach. This comic was developed based on the stages of the ADDIE development model. Based on the analysis of the data, it was concluded that this comic based contextual approach was valid and was practically used. This contextual approach-based comic can be used as an alternative learning media for material on flat side spaces.


A collaboration between legal scholars and practicing psychologists, Psychology and Professional Practice attempts to define the role of the psychologist who takes a position alongside traditional human service professionals such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, and educators. This volume focuses on the legal and ethical responsibilities of clinical, counseling, school, and community psychologists, as well as other members of the mental health profession. License requirements, malpractice and defamation suits, the privilege of confidential communications, conflicting concepts of mental capacity, and other complex and controversial issues are considered from the perspective of both the lawyer and the psychologist.


This paper aims to explain a marked individuality and universality of literary spirit in the poetry of Borges and Lee Hyunggi. They encounter through aleph. Lee Hyunggi sees aleph of Borges as original and symbolic world which transcends his creativity. From an intertextual perspective, Borges and Lee Hyunggi do not simply relate, but they share similarity and universality. They try to defy conventional recognition and explore nihil of beings who are in confusion. Their nihilism shows that oriental thought can be mixed and integrated with western thought by Buddhism. In order to examine nihilistic world in the poetry of Borges and Lee Hyunggi, this paper reads their works closely. Even with all the contrasts between the two literaty works, there are still similarities; self, symbol, subject matter, and motif. For this reason, this paper expands common grounds of their poetic world to four steps. It is "I and you―cosmic irony of beings and shadows", "stone or sand―abyss of chaos and infinite labyrinths", "space and moon―a bitter struggle with the absolute void and mysterious being", "poem and dream―dream about nihil and immortal poem."This comparative study on Lee Hyunggi and Borges grows more intriguing in the context of world literature. They are the poets who dream about nihil and create immortal poem using metaphysical imagination that doubts, rejects and disbands an impenetrable world. Through this analytical process, certain conclusions were made regarding Borges and Lee Hyunggi; it is literary trait and universality that this paper finds out. Therefore, this paper can be developed into study to compare Korean literature to world literature.


To investigate the effects of the supplementation of carnitine and/or γ-aminobutric acid (GABA), Sprague-Dawley male rats were orally treated with either an AIN-76 diet (control), a control diet plus ethanol (CE, 4 g ethanol/kg bw), CE plus L-carnitine (CEC, 0.5 g/kg bw), CE plus GABA (CEG, 0.5 g/kg bw), or CE plus L-carnitine plus GABA (CECG, 0.25 g/kg bw each) for 6 weeks. Serum triglyceride levels were increased in the CE group and were decreased significantly in the CEC, CEG and CECG groups. HDL-cholesterol was increased and LDL-cholesterol was decreased in the CEG and CECG groups compared with the CE group. Serum GOT and GPT levels increased by the chronic ethanol administration were decreased in the CEC group. In addition, we have evaluated the mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I in those groups. Supplementation of carnitine/GABA had some recovery effects on the liver CPT-I mRNA levels which decreased by chronic ethanol administration. These results may suggest that supplementations of either L-carnitine or GABA are effective on the recovery of chronic ethanol-related symptoms, but no combined effects were shown.


The compounds Ph(CH2)3B(OH)2I, [Ph(CH2)3BO]3II, Ph(CH2)3B(1,2-O2C6H4)III, Ph(CH2)3BC8H14IV(BC8H14= 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-9-yl), [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)3B(1,2-O2C6H4)}(CO)3]1, [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)3BC8H14}(CO)3]2, [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)3BBr2·SMe2}(CO)3]3, [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)4BC8H14}(CO)3]4, [Cr(η-Ph(CH2)4BC8H14}(CO)2(PPh3)]5, [Cr{η-PhCH2CHCH2}(CO)3]6, [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)2CHCH2}(CO)3]7, [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)2η-CHCH2}(CO)2]8, [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)2CHCH2}(CO)2(PPh3)]9, [Li(Et2O)n][Cr{η-PhCH2CHCH2}(CO)2{C(O)Ph}]10, [Li(Et2O)n][Cr{η-Ph(CH2)2CHCH2}(CO)2{C(O)Ph}]11, [Mo{η-Ph(CH2)3BC8H14}2]12 and [Cr{η-Ph(CH2)3BOC8H14}(CO)3]13, have been prepared and characterised. Compounds 1–5, 12 and 13 have π-donor η-arene ligands which also bear a Lewis-acid σ-acceptor boron group. There was no evidence that these boron groups formed ground-state intra- or inter-molecular interactions with the Lewis base functions of the carbonyl oxygen atoms.


According to the research of previous scholars, many undergraduate colleges and universities in Liaoning Province have actively organized students to participate in rural revitalization and agricultural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship competitions. Many students also showed a high willingness to participate, and they also chose to return to their hometown to start a business in the direction of employment. Based on the above background, this paper studies the willingness of college students to return to their hometowns for entrepreneurship, and conducts an online questionnaire survey on college students in Shenyang University of Science and Technology to further understand the degree of understanding of the current entrepreneurial policies, the willingness of college students to return to their hometown to start a business, and the understanding of college students. The current situation of entrepreneurship education, analyzes the influencing factors of college students' willingness to return to their hometown to start a business, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures, in order to provide a reference for the cultivation of talents in rural revitalization.


the essays can we discover even a single objective similarity. The re-creation of the relationship consists of the exploration of the relationship's possibilities. These possibilities were what Lukacs thought (and lived) out according to the rules of "Platonic" conduct. These possibilities are daydreams, or, more accurately - rational visions, the dreams and visions of "what could be if," "what could have been, if." In these daydreams and visions, however, the Other is only a vague shape, an indefinite object, the only real being is the one who dreams.


Application of second-order statistics of variable fading channels (average level crossing rate and average fade duration) for estimation of time behavior of MIMO-system characteristics is investigated. Mathematical expressions of these statistical parameters for MIMO-system are derived. Verification of the results is conducted using numerical modeling.


For me there are various post types that essentially all boil down to being bookmarks, but the sub-category adds a slightly different shade of intent


The main purpose of many current peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is off-line file sharing. However, a potentially very promising use of such networks is to share video streams (e.g., TV programs) in real time. In order to do so, the peers in a P2P network who are interested in the same video stream may employ application level multicasting (ALM). In existing P2P networks, peers may exhibit behaviour which is problematic for ALM: peers tend not to donate any resources (free-riding), and they arrive and depart at a high rate (churn). In this paper we propose the orchard algorithm for ALM of video streams in P2P systems, which deal with both these problems. By employing a technique called multiple description coding, we split a video stream into several substreams. Orchard creates a dynamic spanning tree for each of these substreams in such a way that in the re suiting forest, no peer has to forward more substreams than it receives. Our experiments show that orchard is capable of providing a good quality of service to every peer, even when peers join and leave the forest at a high rate


The De phisicis ligaturis or Epistola de incantatione is a very little known magical-medical treatise that considers the efficacy of amulets, enchantments and other magical devices in combating ill health or in preventing illnesses. It was written in Arabic by Costa ben Luca (ca. 820-ca. 912), but its original version is missed. It survives, however, in a translation quite probably made by Constantine the African in Monte Cassino between 1077 and 1087. This paper analyses principal aspects of the treatise (biographies of both author and translator, structure and contents of the epistle, medical-philosophical sources, manuscripts that survive, fortune of the text up to the Renaissance, etc.) and offers as a supplement a critical edition, including notes mainly devoted to the identification of the Greek sources of the text, namely Dioscorides and Galen. The epistle also sheds light on the complex relationship between Indian and Greek Medicine in the Arabic context of the IX th century A. D.


We examined the composition of nest material used by northern flying squirrels ( Glaucomys sabrinus ) occupying artificial nest boxes in central Idaho and western Montana. Nests were constructed almost entirely of arboreal lichens (96% lichen by volume). In both regions, three species of Bryoria dominated nesting material although a total of 15 species of lichens were identified in 159 nest samples from central Idaho. Species of lichens used for nests differed across four types of forest vegetation. Nests in stands of lodgepole pine ( Pinus contortd ) had more Bryoria fremontii and less B. pseudofuscescens than nests in other forest types. The rank-order abundance of lichens used in nests was related to the rank-order abundance of lichens collected from forests at nest sites, although the relationship was not strong. We suggest that lichen nests may function to reduce thermal energy expenditures during winter or act as food caches. The dominant lichen used in nests lacked acids and other secondary compounds found in other arboreal lichens and, thus, may be more palatable to squirrels.


Graphs are ubiquitous like chemical compounds, protein structure, road networks, web, social network analysis, etc. So graphs are very important means to model schemaless data with such complicated structures .This paper focuses on indexing structures present in the large graph datasets and proposes a time efficient indexing technique for efficient graph mining for molecular database. First step is to enumerating all frequent substructures in the graph database (derived from search tree) using proper pruning strategies at the time of candidate generation so removing the redundant search which will generate compact index for input database .An inverted index between these structures and graphs are then created. So indexing feature used is frequent subgraphs. But in the real world these datasets are very large in numbers so process of creating index may take large time. The time required has been minimized by using parallel and distributed approach.


A second-order asymptotic result for the probability of occurrence of a persistent and aperiodic recurrent event is given if the tail of the distribution of the waiting time for this event is regularly varying with index −1.


Abstract Background NAD+-dependent PARP1 (Poly-(ADP-ribosyl)polymerase 1) generates the post-translational modification ADP-Ribosylation (ADPR). Given PARP1-ADPR determines cellular NAD+ availability, which in turn impacts a range of hormonally governed actions, we sought to identify the molecular roles of PARP1 in relation to glucocorticoids in the endocrine sensitive tissue skeletal muscle. Importance: Activity of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is dictated by molecular partners whose actions skew the frequency with which GR produces meaningful transcriptional outcomes. As a result, our molecular understanding of this steroid hormone receptor remains incomplete. Hypothesis PARP1 through ADPR actions impacts skeletal muscle phenotype and co-regulates glucocorticoid-mediated transcriptional responses. Experimental Design: Murine muscle myoblasts (C2C12) or primary murine muscle cultures were treated with PARP inhibitors (PJ34(10uM) or BYK204165(1uM)) or transfected with silencing RNA targeting PARP1. Cells were treated with ± dexamethasone (1uM). Major Results Analysis of differentiating muscle revealed PARP1 and ADPR are dynamic at days 0-5 (measured by Western immunoblot. p<0.001; n=6). Chemical inhibition of PARP1 significantly decreased ADPR (Western immunoblot. p<0.001; n=9) but did not prevent myotube formation. To identify if initial ADPR dynamics held consequence for fully differentiated myotubes, cells were treated with a single dose of the PARP1 inhibitor BYK204165 at induction of differentiation. Myotube lysates were collected 5 days later and were subjected to unlabelled SWATH-MS. This measured the abundance of 180 proteins as significantly different in PARP inhibitor-treated cells (n=7). Analyses of these proteins revealed over-representation of pathways governing muscle development (FDR 8.99-08), contraction (FDR 9.47-08, myofiber assembly (FDR 8.06-05), and energy metabolism (FDR 2.93-06). Indicating PARP1-ADPR regulates myogenesis and plays a role in the striated muscle contractile response. ChIP assays for PARP1 binding in cells showed a (30-fold enrichment ±3.2SEM) at GR response elements and detectable ADPR was reduced when exposed to dexamethasone (Western immunoblot n=5). These data support ADPR as responsive to glucocorticoid exposure and PARP1 influences GR recruitment to the genome. RNAseq of siPARP1 (n=4) versus scrambled myoblasts (n=5) identified differential expression of 165 genes. Gene ontology revealed over-representation in siPARP1 cells of those pathways regulating muscle differentiation, including actin-binding, cytoskeletal structure, and NAD+ binding genes. SiRNA of PARP1 had no influence over the ability of glucocorticoids to activate archetype target genes (DUSP1, MURF1, ATROGIN1 & GILZ), but differentially impacted the expression of 434 other genes. Conclusions PARP1 mediated ADPR is critical to the 'early phase' events of muscle cell differentiation. PARP1 influences short-term transcriptional behaviors of the glucocorticoid receptor; in turn, glucocorticoids themselves impact PARP1-genome interaction events. These findings are important for the understanding of general GR mechanisms and have relevance for the widespread functional decline observed during tissue glucocorticoid excess. Presentation: Saturday, June 11, 2022 12:30 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.


The tough space environment has a great influence on the reliability of the measurement results owing to the rapidly aging sensor. Also, the measurement uncertainty caused by the random factors seriously affects the accuracy of the sensor. Aiming at the multidimensional dynamic uncertainty problem of the six-axis force measurement, a six-axis force sensor for docking system is presented based on the piezoelectric force sensing element. The decoupling algorithm of the six-axis force sensor is proposed. Grey prediction model is employed to establish the dynamic uncertainty model in single channel. Residual test, correlation test and posterior error test are conducted to verify the reliability of the prediction model. The multidimensional dynamic uncertainty model of the six-axis force sensor is derived by combination of the decoupling algorithm and the dynamic uncertainty in single channel. The multidimensional dynamic uncertainty model of the six-axis force sensor can avoid the error signals for the force feedback control in the space environment, and the model can also be employed for the measurement of six-axis force in any other harsh conditions.


This article studies the emergence of the mobile Internet business from six strategic perspectives, highlighting the ongoing transformations of the mobile industry. The article suggests that companies of the mobile industry can reconstruct their business models with six different kinds of choices: 1. Positioning differently in the value network, involving both vertical and horizontal movements. 2. Acquiring and developing critical assets and competencies to build sustaining and dynamic competitive strategies. 3. Inventing new mobile business models by utilizing the lessons from the Internet. 4. Integrating end-users in making and redefining services, optimizing pricing logic, introducing new business models with end-user originated content creation in mind, and making services easy to adopt by end-users. 5. Leveraging and focusing on disruptive, winning technologies that are changing the rules of the business. 6. Adapting to relevant policy schemes, and proactively planning and reconsidering business decisions under a dynamic regulatory environment.


The introduction of ecosystem-based oceans management has become a critical issue in the Arctic. Norway has been at the forefront in introducing such comprehensive oceans management, where the assessment of the total impacts on ecosystems from various sources is a critical element, and a process for reconciling various concerns is another. An important lesson is that ecosystembased oceans management has to build on existing structures and administrative systems and develop these. The article also addresses the recent efforts at ecosystem-based oceans management in the Arctic Council, through the Best Practices in Ecosystems Based Oceans Management Project which resulted in a set of Observed Best Practices for ecosystem-based oceans management in an Arctic context. The experiences from seven Arctic countries were the basis for the identification of these best practices.Keywords: Integrated oceans management, Barents Sea, ArcticCitation: Arctic Review on Law and Politics, vol. 1, 2/2010 p. 186-206. ISSN 1891-6252


NASA Medical Standards for space Might (JSC 11570) specifically disqualify any flight crew member who is pregnant. A variety of factors led to this recommendation including the effects of radiation exposure on fetal development. Additionally, other concerns such as toxic chemical exposure, microgravity. pregnancy accidents, plus alterations in breathing gas mixtures and decompression preclude pregnant flight crew members from missions in the forseeable future.


Objective To explore the problem-centered approach(PBL) in the "midwifery" Teaching and effect.Methods 95 students of implementation of midwifery group teaching,in the experimental group were 48 PBL teaching method used,the control group using traditional teaching methods 47;end of the course evaluation of teaching effectiveness.Results students in experimental group(83.12±6.16)points,was significantly higher than class(72.36±7.35) points,the difference was significant(P0.01).Experimental group self-motivation to learn,systematic understanding of theoretical knowledge,analyzing problems and problem-solving ability and the role of adaptation was significantly higher(P0.05 or P0.01).Conclusion the use of PBL teaching method in "midwifery" teaching can stimulate independent learning motivation and enhance student self-confidence,improve the overall quality,but also improve the quality of teaching,effectively improve student performance.


Once automatic vehicles are available, working from self-driving car (WFC) in the AV's mobile office will be a real option. It allows firms to socialize land costs for office space from the office lot to road infrastructure used by AV. Employees, in turn, can switch wasted commuting time into working hours and reduce daily time tied to working. We develop a microeconomic model of employer's offer and employees choice of WFC contracts and hours. Using data for Germany and the U.S., we perform Monte Carlo studies to assess whether WFC may become reality. Eventually, we study the impact of transport pricing on these choices. Our findings is, that WFC contracts are likely to be a standard feature of large cities given current wages, office, and current and expected travel costs. There is a clear decline of hours spent working in office. On average, WFC hours and distance traveled slightly exceed commuting figures.


Abstract In order to theorize the phenomenon of urban shrinkage, the paper draws from resilience theories that focus on the ability of communities to react to abrupt as well as slowly occurring disturbances. Mechanisms for resilience are defined and identified. The empirical case study is a peripherally located small city in Finland. It is a specific feature for shrinking cities in Finland that many of them, now facing the challenge of population decline, have grown to be economically dependent on the utilization and processing of natural resources, most importantly timber and minerals. Recent transformations in the global division of labour have caused employment opportunities to decline, resulting in out-migration and ageing. Due to lack of a general regional policy dealing with this issue, these cities and settlements now have to find individual strategies to adapt to these wider-scale transformations. Nevertheless, these communities have faced such situations previously and, therefore, it is possible to learn from their former adaptation strategies. The conditions under which the case city has been able to adapt to change in the past are analysed as well as the preconditions for future adaptation, thereby making it possible to refine theories of resilience and adaptability from the perspective of industrialized Northern Europe.


Several clinical forms: the most frequents are JCML  and the monosomy 7 syndrome; these disorders have some common features: JCML is defined by clinical and cytological observations; 6 to 24% of JCML children show monosomy 7 in the bone marrow; monosomy 7 syndrome is a cytogenetic-defined entity. The therapy related cases of monosomy 7 had been exposed to alkylating agents, they have a myelodysplastic phase preceding acute leukemia with multilineage bone marrow dysplasia. In opposite, therapy including anti-topoisomerase drug induce myelodysplastic syndromes and leukemias with 11q23 abnormalities


Aiming at the actual condition of public traffic communication management in China and the present situation of GPS technology development,this paper designs an intelligent transport system baesd on GPS,GPRS and GIS technologies,and gives its structure and working principle.Experimental results prove that the system is with high GPS orientation precision(±2 m),high efficiency and stability for GPRS information transportation(packet loss rate1%),and the bus arrival time prediction is exact(accuracy rate90%).


We present a model of cash constrained entrepreneurs who need an investor to finance their project. Investors can either be uninformed, such as individual bondholders, or informed, such as venture capitalists and banks. There is an entrepreneurial moral hazard problem, which can be partially overcome through monitoring only by informed investors. However, monitoring is only effective if investors can commit ex ante to liquidate the project after observing a poor signal. We show that a capital structure that minimizes commitment and information costs requires informed investors to hold senior convertible debt, uninformed investors to hold junior debt and entrepreneurs to hold common stock.


Aiming at the techniques of the image compression based upon BP neural networks,The improved local learning adaptation Silva-Almeida(SA)algorithm was proposed based on BP networks.The new algorithm divides training process into the accelerated and steady convergent phases,and adjusts the two parameters(local learning rate and momentum factor) locally at the same time.By the experiment of the curve fitting,the improved SA algorithm makes the training speed increased,precision raised distinctly and also resists the oscillation on a large scale.In the emulational test of the image compression,opposite to the resilient back propagation(RPROP) method,the new algorithm's training speed increased,the quality of the reconstruction of image raised very greatly,and a higher ratio of image compression can be even acquired.


Korean drama history has maintained two main themes; the liberty from tradition and the liberty from colony.
 There were two playwright groups; one...


Abstract The selectivity of the substitution reaction of phosphoryl chloride with organometallic reagents was investigated using NMR spectroscopy. This led to the discovery that the selectivity of the substitution reaction can be tuned by choosing a proper organometallic reagent. A phosphinate could be obtained by using a Grignard reagent whereas an organozinc reagent provided a phosphonate. Based on these results, one-pot synthetic methods for the preparation of phosphinates and phosphonates using commercially available starting materials were developed. Both methods allow the synthesis of a broad range of either phosphinate or phosphonate derivatives in a straightforward and general procedure. Moreover, using these one-pot procedures, mixed systems substituted with different alkyl/aryl groups can be prepared.


ABSTRACT Recently, government agencies, acting as trustees for natural resources, have sought substantial claims from potentially responsible parties for natural resource damages resulting from oil...


French written and spoken corpora reveal that variation of adjective-noun placement occurs more often within written corpora than in spoken ones (Lightfoot, 1979; Prévost, 2009; Thuilier, 2013). I examine adjective lemma variation of placement, adjective categories, frequency, and syllable length as a means of assessing current Twitter trends of adjective placement. In this preliminary study, a cross-section of 30 adjective lemmas within a corpus of approximately 6,000 French tweets demonstrates that parallels exist between the usage of adjectives on Twitter and norms of spoken French.


Henry Canaday examines the ways in which the painting and coating of aircraft can pay off through material and application choices, as well as in protecting the brand.


Social influence is not evenly distributed in teams. Some individuals, referredto here as influencers, become more influential than others. Consequentially,these influencers play a significant role in shaping project performance.The current work simulates the presence of influencers duringidea generation in co-design teams to better understand emergent socio-cognitivephenomena. Besides providing, a novel approach for modelling learningin concept generation the model highlights the results related to individualcognition during idea generation. Idea quality and exploration of designspace are affected by the presence of influencers in design teams. Teamswith no well-defined influencers produce solutions with high general explorationbut less quality. In contrast, the agents in the teams with only oneinfluencer produce solutions high quality than those teams with no influencers.


Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits torture, and "inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". There are no exceptions or limitations on this right. This provision usually applies, apart from torture, to cases of severe police violence and poor conditions in detention. The European Court of Human Rights has further held that this provision prohibits the extradition of a person to a foreign state if they are likely to be subjected there to torture. This article has been interpreted as prohibiting a state from extraditing an individual to another state if they are likely to suffer the death penalty. This article does not, however, on its own forbid a state from imposing the death penalty within its own territory. It imposes on a State both a negative and a positive obligation. In addition to the Convention, most Council of Europe states are also parties to the following treaties which all prohibit torture: the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, the 1966 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", the 1984 UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.


decreased from 30% to 10% over 5 years, which probably reflects the impact of multidisciplinary intestinal rehabilitation programs on patient outcomes. Joly et al. indicated that continuous tube feeding could improve intestinal absorption and adaptation in SBS. Despite an extremely short bowel, with only 27 cm remaining of the small intestine, this patient with continuous feeding via gastrostomy tube was able to wean from PN within 9 months after birth and is developing well. The homogeneous distribution of nutrients might have improved the absorption in the remnant small bowel secondary to the continuous mode of feeding instead of discontinuous intermittent feeding. These results suggest that continuous feeding accommodates the gastric and small intestinal motor disturbances related to SBS and clearly improves intestinal absorption. Thus, tube feeding could be suggested as a potentially effective medical therapy in the intestinal rehabilitative program of SBS infants after the postoperative period. However, ingestion in infants is important to prevent anorexia and should be continued in small doses. In summary, this case emphasizes that continuous feeding via a gastrostomy tube can wean infants with extreme short bowel from parenteral nutrition support within a short time, thus allowing for normal growth and development.


【Objective】Effects of β-1,3-glucan injection on immunity of haemocytes of Cherax quadricarinatus were studied. It provided reference for developing β-1,3-glucan as an immunopotentiator for C. quadricarinatus.【Method】C. quadricarinatus were injected with different doses(1 and 5 μg/g)of β-1,3-glucan,physiological saline injection was as control,and haemolymph of C. quadrciarinatus were obtained after 0,6,12,24 and 48 h injection,and then total haemocyte count (THC),reactive oxygen species(ROS)production,nitric oxide(NO)production,non-specific esterase activity,phagocytic activity and plasmic phenoloxidase(PO)activity of haemocytes were determined.【Result】β-1,3-glucan injection would significantly induce the improvements of THC,ROS and NO productions,activities of esterase and plasmic PO(P<0.05,the same below). Moreover,β-1,3-glucan at dose of 5 μg/g also significantly induced the phagocytic activity of haemocytes. Effects of β-1,3-glucan on immune responses of C. quadricarinatus haemocytes were dose-dependent and time-dependent. THC,ROS and NO productions and plasmic PO activity were more sensitive to β-1,3-glucan stimulation. ROS production,activities of esterase and plasmic PO rose firstly and then dropped. The elapsed time was between 24.72-28.20 h when these three indicators reached their peaks.【Conclusion】β-1,3-glucan injection can increase the number of circulating haemocytes and improve their cellular immunity of C. quadricarinatus,indicating that β-1,3glucan can be developed to be an immunopotentiator for C. quadricarinatus.


This paper reports the findings from a study of student teachers at a university–school initial teacher education partnership in England. Forty student teachers, on primary and secondary teacher education programmes, were identified through tutor and mentor reports as making very good use of information and communication technologies (ICT). These student teachers were interviewed, and in many cases observed, teaching a lesson using ICT. Interviews covered their use of ICT in a particular lesson; their past experience of using ICT; factors encouraging or discouraging their use of ICT in school; and their beliefs about teaching and learning. Observations recorded their uses of hardware and software. Findings indicate that access, support for, and modelling of, ICT use in the classroom were key issues in developing this very good use of ICT. Equally important, however, seemed to be the belief that ICT could make a positive difference to teaching and learning and a willingness to 'learn by doing'. These findings are reported in the context of the wider literature.


17 This paper will address three topics of importance to bulk nanostructured materials. Bulk 18 nanostructured materials are defined as bulk solids with nanoscale or partly nanoscale 19 microstructures. This category of nanostructured materials has historical roots going back many 20 decades but has relatively recent focus due to new discoveries of unique properties of some 21 nanoscale materials. Bulk nanostructured materials are prepared by a variety of severe plastic 22 deformation methods, and these will be reviewed. Powder processing to prepare bulk 23 nanostructured materials requires that the powders be consolidated by typically combinations of 24 pressure and temperature, the latter leading to coarsening of the microstructure. The thermal 25 stability of nanostructured materials will also be discussed. An example of bringing 26 nanostructured materials to applications as structural materials will be described in terms of the 27 cryomilling of powders and their consolidation. 28


AbstractThis paper examines how salespersons' perceptions of organizational climate and inequity in reward allocation affect the desirability of available extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Since climate and inequities can be controlled by the organization, desirability of rewards can be increased by appropriately adjusting organizational factors. Results indicate that a number of organizational climate dimensions and perceptions of inequity do influence the importance that salespersons attach to various rewards.


This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the CTL-based physics e-module in improving the creative and critical thinking skills of senior high school students. Consequently, an experiment with a pretest-posttest control group design was conducted using two groups of 60 tenth-grade students majoring in Science. The experiment consisted of an assessment of creative and critical thinking skills, as well as test questions. Subsequently, the data obtained from the assessment was analyzed using the ttest and N-Gain, and the results showed that the scores of students' creative and critical thinking skills in the experimental group at the end of the treatment were 81.85 and 81.81. Furthermore, the N-Gain scores for the two skills in the experimental group were 0.60 and 0.59. However, there were significant differences in the levels of creative and critical thinking skills of students using the CTL-based physics e-module with the control group (p=0.000). The experimental group had an average cognitive competence score of 78.50 and a completion rate of 93.34%. The study concluded that the e-module is effective in improving creative and critical thinking skills as well as student learning outcomes in physics education, especially during the aftermath of COVID-19.


. Low-rank approximations are commonly used to compress the representation of data structures. The loss of information induced is often negligible and can be controlled. Although the dense internal datastructures involved in a multifrontal method, the so-called frontal matrices or fronts , are full-rank, they can be represented by a set of low-rank matrices [1, 2]. Applying to our context the notion of geometric clustering used by [3] to define hierarchical matrices, we show that the efficiency of this representation to reduce the complexity of both the factorization and solve phases strongly depends on how variables are grouped. The proposed approach can be used either to accelerate the factorization and solution phases or to build a preconditioner, and aims at exploiting and completing the features of the MUMPS solver for general sparse matrices.


Documented are the during- and after-construction effects of widening a highway. Between 1991 and 1993, a 3.75 km (2.33 mi) section of State Highway (TX-21) in Caldwell, Texas, a town of 3,000, was widened for a continuous two-way left-turn lane with curbs and gutters. Data collected during and after construction include information about the abutting businesses' estimation of the impact of construction on their businesses profits and property values and on the traffic volumes, travel times, and accident rates of the highway. The number of most businesses' usable parking spaces, customers per day, and full-time and part-time employees decreased slightly during construction. Most business managers thought that sales decreased. Reported sales figures showed a 5 percent decrease, which was less severe than the business managers had estimated. Appraised abutting property values fell between 1990 and 1992, while land values increased. Construction expenditures in Texas totaled $6.095 million. The Texas input-output model estimates the impact of these expenditures to be $22.5 million in additional output and 364 jobs for the statewide economy, including $7.5 million in additional output and 121 jobs for the Caldwell economy. The benefit-cost ratio was 1.71—that is, the motorists are receiving $1.71 in benefits for every dollar spent on the project.


In the early 1970s, the adoption of floating exchange rates resulted in more fluid transfers between international currencies and spurred increased international demand for hardwood lumber produced in the United States.


The invention discloses a polycarboxylic acid water reducing agent which is prepared by copolymerizing 10-25 wt% of monomer A, 50-65 wt% of monomer B, 1-10 wt% of monomer C and 21-30 wt% of monomer D in a 50-100 DEG C water solution in the presence of an initiator and a chain-transfer agent, wherein the sum of the weight percents of the monomers A, B, C and D is 100%; the monomer A is unsaturated polyether; the monomer B is unsaturated acid, unsaturated acid anhydride or mixture thereof; the monomer C is unsaturated siloxane; and the monomer D is a unsaturated monomer with double bond, excluding the monomers A, B and C. When being used in mortar or concrete, the water reducing agent has the advantages of high water reducing rate, high slump holding capacity and low gas content.


Isolation, purification and finally Chemical characterisation of (Z)-7-methoxy-1, 5dihydrobenzo[c] oxepine was done describe in this paper. This compound seemed to be a terpenoid isolated from Curcuma caesia Roxb., an endemic and naturally occurring triploid plant of northeast Asia. For chemical characterization of the compound various spectroscopic techniques like UV, IR (FT-IR), HRMS and NMR was used. The compound was positive in Liebermann's Burchard test and had melting point of 570C. Best of our knowledge this was the first report of presence of (Z)-7-methoxy-1, 5-dihydrobenzo [c] oxepine in plants.


A binaural recording system for 360° video is developed and evaluated. The 360° images can be stitched by using multiple cameras. A binaural recording generally uses a dummy head microphone or binaural recording microphones; however, the orientation of the dummy head needs to be changed depending on the selected view. Binaural recording corresponding to multiple orientations of a dummy head is very difficult and sometimes impossible. Therefore, we propose a binaural recording system that can simultaneously record the sound for the entire corresponding 360° video. The proposed equipment is cylindrical in shape and has four hollows that correspond to the cavity of the concha on the side. Binaural signals corresponding to a desired direction are generated by a weighted average of the recorded signals. Three types of weights, i.e., linear, spline, and optimum weights, were examined. The degree of suitability between the video and generated binaural signals was evaluated using subjective tests. Nine subjects a...


This chapter explores how interest in Mexico continued to orient Los Angles toward the borderlands and Pacific world in the 1930s and through the post-war era. Los Angeles rebuilt its cross-border relationship with Mexico in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution through the construction of a transnational highway running from Los Angeles to Mexico City. While the political borderline running horizontally between the two countries became increasingly rigid during this period, the construction of the International Pacific Highway reveals how regional elites hoped to strengthen ties through cross-border infrastructure, tourism, and trade. The Automobile Club of Southern California, precursor to the American Automobile Association, and a number of Mexican governors spearheaded the project, which they completed in 1957. Through the highway, elites in Los Angeles and in Mexico envisioned and negotiated a new regional relationship between two borderlands regions.


The Mariana Trough is one of active backarc basins and currently the seafloor is spreading with 2-4 cm/yr in full rate [e.g. Kato et al., 2003]. Geochemical analysis along the central Mariana Trough indicates water contents derived by subducting slab in the backarc mantle [e.g. Gribble et al., 1996]. Therefore volcanism along the backarc would be considered to be different from that along mid-ocean ridges. However, the differences between them, such as scale or distribution of volcanisms, are not clearly understood yet. In 2003, we obtained the first fine-scale sidescan imagery along the spreading segments of central Mariana Trough using a WADATSUMI (Univ. of Tokyo). This study presents results from comparison of volcanic activities inferred from fine-scale sidescan sonar imageries along the Mariana backarc basin and along Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at the scale of tens of meters.OurWADATSUMI survey obtained images along two distinct spreading segments around 17deg.N (we call Seg-17 here) and 18deg.N (Seg-18) of the trough. The bathymetry of Seg-17 is characterized by an hour-grass shaped axial valley. The heightened segment center suggests robust volcanism in the past. On the other hand, the bathymetry of Seg-18 is characterized by a deep axial valley and clear axial valley walls with an Active Volcanic Ridge (AVR). Sidescan sonar imagery along MAR was obtained by TOBI (Towed Ocean Bottom Instrument, UK) [Briais et al., 2000]. The TOBI data cover 6 spreading segments from 27deg.N to 30deg.N, where the full spreading rate is 2-3 cm/yr. Bathymetric characters in this area are


The stethoscope and its use are described. A current classification of breath sounds, voice sounds and adventitious sounds is presented, and its use in diagnosis outlined. Finally, the value of auscultation to the physiotherapist is discussed.


Inflammation in the small airways might contribute to incomplete asthma disease control despite intensive treatment in some subgroups of patients. Exhaled NO (FeNO) is a marker of inflammation in asthma and the estimated NO contribution from small airways (CalvNO) is believed to reflect distal inflammation. Recent studies recommend adjustments of CalvNO for trumpet model and axial diffusion (TMAD‐adj). This study aimed to investigate the clinical correlates of CalvNO, both TMAD‐adjusted and unadjusted.


In his celebrated paper [18] Lüroth proved that a nonsingular quartic plane curve, containing the ten vertices of a complete pentalateral, contains infinitely many such 10-tuples. This implies that such curves, called Lüroth quartics, fill an open set of an irreducible, SL(3)-invariant, hypersurface L ⊂ IP . In his short paper [19] Morley computed the degree of the Lüroth hypersurface L by introducing some interesting ideas which seem to have been forgotten, maybe because a few arguments are somehow obscure. In this paper we put Morley's result and method on a solid foundation by reconstructing his proof as faithfully as possible. The main result is the following:


A Cu-catalyzed reaction procedure was found for the selective formation of dimethylchlorosilane ((CH{sub 3}){sub 2}HSiCl) from the direct reaction of CH{sub 3}Cl with solid Si. The new procedure is a two-step process. A Cu/Si sample is prepared by evaporating Cu onto clean polycrystalline Si under ultrahigh vacuum, and the Cu/Si surface is first activated by exposure to 10% HSiCl{sub 3}/CH{sub 3}Cl at 598 K. After the HSiCl{sub 3}CH{sub 3}Cl mixture is evacuated from the reactor, the activated Cu/Si surface is reacted in fresh CH{sub 3}Cl. For low surface concentrations of Cu, the partially hydrogenated silane, (CH{sub 3}){sub 2}HSiCl, is selectively produced. Trichlorosilane was also found to activate polycrystalline Si (in the absence of Cu) for production of highly chlorinated methylchlorosilanes at a much higher rate than on the Cu/Si surface but with poor selectively to (CH{sub 3}){sub 2}HSiCl. All reactions are carried out at atmospheric pressure in a reactor that is attached to an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber. This allows surface analysis of Auger electron spectroscopy, which detected SiCl{sub x} on reacted surfaces. These SiCl{sub x} sites, which appear necessary for methylchlorosilane formation, are apparently formed during activation by HSiCl{sub 3}.


The recent literature (1992 - early 1996) on secondary metabolites from marine algae has been reviewed and selected results concerning more than one hundred bioactive compounds are reported. The review is specifically devoted to the seaweeds (Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta) and does not include metabolites from microalgae and Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Emphasis has been placed on novel compounds, but some recent reports about previously known bioactive metabolites have also been reviewed.

A variety of bioactive metabolites has recently been obtained from marine algae, including terpenoids (among them the halogenated mono- and sesquiterpenoids typically produced by red algae), compounds of mixed biogenesis and further miscellaneous compounds. The reported activities range from properties of pharmacological interest, i.e. cytotoxicity against tumoral cultured cells, antimicrobial activity, antiviral activity, etc., to other activites of ecological or agronomical significance, such as antifeedant activity against marine predators or insecticidal activity.

The review of the recent literature on secondary metabolites from marine algae indicates that the search for new bioactive metabolites from seaweeds is an active sector of the chemistry of natural products, stimulating the application of sophisticated physical techniques like two dimensional NMR as well as intriguing syntheses of compounds of biomedical interest.


Using a well-established methodology to measure aggregate insider trading, this exploratory study examines the relation between future stock market returns and aggregate trading by corporate insiders (in academy commonly referred to as insider trading and directors' dealings). Analyzing a unique data set of more than 1.3 million filings of individual directors' transactions in 16,893 US, European, and Asian firms from 2003 to 2017, we provide novel results for a multitude of countries which had not been thematized before. We find that the null-hypothesis (i.e., aggregate trading by directors is not related to future stock market returns and corporate insiders cannot forecast economy-wide trends) cannot conclusively be rejected for all countries in the sample. Only aggregate directors' dealings in the US, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Poland, Asia-combined, China, India, and the Philippines is coherently positively associated with future market returns. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed. © 2018 Altana Wealth Ltd. All rights reserved.


And a method for controlling a power circuit relating to the power amplifier in a portable radiotelephone, comprising: a power amplifier (30), power supply (10), the power controller (90) (which is connected between the power amplifier and one or more of Room was added for adjusting to the power amplifier (30) is applied), and a control unit (40) which is connected to the power supply controller (90) for use in accordance with the strong or weak field regions required a transmit power mode and / or dual-mode (FM / CDMA) in the required transmit power adjustment control voltage power supply controller.


Bilingual education is constructive to the cultivation of high quality foreign-oriented talents and the improvement of teachers' qualities.Taking the bilingual education of the course of "International Settlement" as an example,the essay sums up the reform of bilingual education and explores its problems and countermeasures from the aspects of the selection of teaching materials,the improvement of teaching methods and the way of evaluation.


Media pluralism has become a buzzword in public, political, and academic discourses. However, it is generally unclear what is meant by referring to pluralistic media content or how pluralistic media should operate within democratic societies. The goal of this article is to distinguish between different conceptual and normative assumptions about media, pluralism, and democracy that demarcate the limits of analysis on media pluralism. Based on a discussion of three different schools of democracy with their corresponding media roles (the liberal, deliberative, and agonistic democracy schools), we derive two fault lines which allow us to distinguish four approaches to media pluralism. These approaches imply a different interpretation of its meaning and the standards by which it should be researched.


Objective To study the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy in rats by DNA microarray Methods DNA microarray was made by spotting PCR products of 4 000 rat cDNAs onto a specially treated glass slides The probes were prepared by labeling normal tissue mRNA and tissue mRNA of diabetic cardiomyopathy with Cy3 dUTP and Cy5 dUTP separately through reverse transcription The arrays were then hybridized against the cDNA probe mixture and the fluorescent signals were scanned Results (1) The oxidant stress related gene and energy metabolism related gene were expressed in lower level in tissue of diabetic cardiomyopathy than in normal tissue (2) The S adenosylmethionine synthetase and arginase gene were expressed in higher level in tissue of diabetic cardiomyopathy than in normal tissue Conclusions (1) The oxidant stress and energy metabolism disorder may play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy (2)The S adenosylmethionine synthetase and arginase may play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy through influencing content of homocysteine and NO in myocardial tissue


The article has an observed style. The results of 25-yeas investigation for using of system economic analysis in agriculture are generalized in it. The approaches for building the imitation models of the agricultural systems are shown. The calculations fulfilled with using these models are characterized. The sort of practical using received dates is shown. The author's basis the supply about necessity of the creation regional automatic analysis systems oriented on using «Internet».


Bimodal ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in-reactor blends (IRBs) are produced by the bimetallic catalysts, which are synthesized through co-supporting silylchromate and vanadium-oxide-based catalysts on silica or alumina, zirconia and titania-modified silica. After support modification, the activities of the catalysts for ethylene polymerization are substantially enhanced. The IRBs produced by the modified catalysts also contain more UHMWPE and low-molecular-weight polyethylene (LMWPE) fractions, and have much broader molecular weight distribution (MWD). The homogeneous nature of the IRBs is preliminarily confirmed by the differential scanning calorimetry melting curves, showing unique melting peak in both nascent and recrystallized states. The rheological results reflect that the viscosity of the IRBs is reduced more or less when compared with UHMWPE. The distinct elastic dominance of the IRBs is also observed, implying the UHMWPE characteristics in the IRBs. In addition, the intimate mixing of the IRBs is further verified by the similar slopes of Han curves for the polyethylene (PE) samples. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 3404–3412


The minimally invasive concept of treatment in clinical medicine and, in particular, in dentistry is associated with the introduction of pulp-saving treatment technologies into clinical practice. The aim of the study was to identify the reaction of the structure of pulp tissues in traumatic pulpitis in the experiment using various means and techniques of direct pulp capping. The experiment was carried out on male minipigs aged 4–5 months with deciduous dentition. Milk molars were selected for trepanation. After teeth preparation under anesthesia, the crowns of the first and second milk premolars were trepanned on the vestibular surface in the cervical region with pulp probing until bleeding. After bleeding has been stopped, the trepanation hole was closed with various preparations. For direct pulp capping we used mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) — containing silicate material and glass ionomer cement (GIC). All samples of teeth with experimental pulpitis using MTA-containing materials (Rutdent), tricalcium silicate materials (Biodentin) and even GIC (Vitremer) did not reveal inflammatory changes in the pulp tissues when they were directly covered with various materials. Of all the experimental samples of pulpitis, inflammation was detected with a sample of the Rutdent material with fragment damage to the pulp. With traumatic pulpitis and the use of various materials for direct pulp capping, active reparative regeneration of pulp tissue was revealed. All studied materials contribute to the reparation of the pulp after damage and reduction of pulp inflammation.


In the present work, the layout design of a high power density engine for range extender application in hybrid vehicles is introduced. After a brief overview of the legislative framework, the input data for the design are provided. In the following, the attention is on the first design of crankshaft, bearings and connecting rod. The methodology followed for crankshaft and connecting rod design is the same: the starting point is a CAD based on geometrical considerations, to assess the feasibility of the desired design. The first step is then the choice of the appropriate material for the component, followed by a fatigue calculation of the component. In the case of the connecting rod, also other static verifications are conducted. On the topic of crankshaft design, special attention is also paid to the assembly procedure of the component, which is designed to be dismountable. In the end, the final proposed design for both components is introduced and CAD models are shown. The bearing design has been carried out using Ricardo ENGDYN, which has allowed to build several model with increasing complexity level to finally get to a robust result.


Easily and safely, and further invasive extremely small, which can cure various diseases relating to mucosal tissues mucosal tissue contractile agents, various diseases of treatment on mucosal tissue using such mucosal tissue contractile agents, which can be used in these treatments to provide a syringe and a therapeutic set. Characterized in that it contains ethanol as the active ingredient, preferably, corticosteroids, and / or nasal mucosal tissue the therapeutic causing contraction of these mucosal tissues mucosae inflammatory disease using the therapeutic causing contraction of treatment containing antihistamines, such treatment a syringe, and a set of treatment available.


Objective To research the effect of early goal-directed therapy( EGDT) in the different phases on clinical prognosis of patients with septic shock. Methods From January 2010 to January 2014,forty-nine patients with septic shock in Intensive Care Unit of the Second People's Hospital of Xinxiang City were divided into observation group( n = 23) and control group( n = 26). In the observation group,23 patients with lactic acid concentration ≥4 mmol · L- 1and systolic presure 90 mmHg( 1 mmHg = 0. 133 kPa) were treated with EGDT for 6 h to decrease the lactic acid concentration less than 2 mmol·L-1for 3 days. Twenty-six patients in the control group( systolic presure 90 mmHg or lower than basic value 40 mmHg,urine amount 0. 5 mL·kg- 1·h- 1,clammy skin and other traditional clinical manifestation) were also treated with EGDT. The sequential organ failure score( SOFA) of the two groups before treatment and after treated with EGDT for 1 day and 2,3 days were analyzed. Results The SOFA score of patients in the two groups had no statistical significance before treatment and after treated with EGDT for 1 day( P 0. 05). After treated with EGDT for 2 and 3 days,the SOFA score of patients in the observation group were significantly lower than those in control group( P 0. 05). Conclusion Lactic acid can be found earlier monitoring septic shock,which can prompt intervention as soon as possible and improve prognosis. It provides an objective basis to grasp the best time for clinical treatment of the septic shock patient.


In this work, we reexamine sulfur chemistry occurring on and in the ice mantles of interstellar dust grains, and report the effects of two new modifications to standard astrochemical models: namely, (a) the incorporation of cosmic-ray-driven radiation chemistry and (b) the assumption of fast, nondiffusive reactions for key radicals in the bulk. Results from our models of dense molecular clouds show that these changes can have a profound influence on the abundances of sulfur-bearing species in ice mantles, including a reduction in the abundance of solid-phase H2S and HS, and a significant increase in the abundances of OCS, SO2, as well as pure allotropes of sulfur, especially S8. These pure-sulfur species—though nearly impossible to observe directly—have long been speculated to be potential sulfur reservoirs and our results represent possibly the most accurate estimates yet of their abundances in the dense interstellar medium. Moreover, the results of these updated models are found to be in good agreement with available observational data. Finally, we examine the implications of our findings with regard to the as-yet-unknown sulfur reservoir thought to exist in dense interstellar environments.


We present embedding a sensing capability to a slim haptic actuator based on electrorheological (ER) fluids, designed for conveying vivid kinesthetic and tactile sensations at small scale. Haptic feedback is produced through electrorheological fluid's controllable resistive force and varies with the actuator's deformation. To demonstrate the proposed actuator's feedback in realistic applications, a method for measuring the actuator's deformation must be implemented for feedback control. To this end, in this study, we incorporate a sensor design based on stress-sensitive resistive film in bending to the ER haptic actuator. The combined actuator and sensor module was tested for its ability to simultaneously actuate and sense the actuator's state under indentation. The results show that the deflection sensor can accurately track the actuator's displacement over its small stroke range. Thus, the proposed sensor may enable control of the output resistive force according to displacement. Introduction Haptic technology has become essential in electronic devices today to bridge the gap between our physical world and virtual information through the sense of touch. Haptic feedback consists of two sensations: kinesthetic and tactile. Kinesthetic feedback is acquired by receptors in joints, muscles and ligaments, and provides information about force and displacement. Tactile feedback is observed by cutaneous receptors and provides information about vibration, texture and friction (Srinivasan and Basdogan, 1997). For the greatest immersion when designing for haptic feedback, both modes of feedback must be present. The authors developed a haptic actuator based on electrorheological fluid that can convey both kinesthetic and vibrotactile sensations in a compact form (Mazursky et al., 2018, 2019). To demonstrate this actuator in real-world applications, such as haptic rendering of compliant objects, a method of sensing the actuator's state is necessary to incorporate control. Thus, the primary goal of this study is to embed a displacement sensor within a haptic button actuator based on mixed modes (squeeze and flow) of ER fluid, where sensations are generated from fluid flow through charged electrodes due to the user's interaction. Hence, to control the actuator's force output with respect to the user's finger position, this study investigates the addition of a stress-sensitive sensor to measure the displacement of the actuator's contact surface. Methods The mixed mode ER haptic actuator with the proposed sensor are presented in Fig. 1. When a user presses down on the contact surface, ER fluid beneath it is driven through squeeze and valve electrodes. Therefore, the resistive force felt in the user's finger directly corresponds to the fluid's yield stress under applied field. For a range of applied voltage magnitudes and frequencies, a range of haptic sensations may be felt by the user. The deflection sensor consists of a stress-sensitive film with resistance sensitive to bending. The sensor is adhered to the surface of the haptic actuator and spans halfway across the contact surface. Thus, when the user interacts with the device, they press directly on the bending sensor and contact surface. By measuring the change in voltage across the sensor, the indentation depth may be approximated in real time. Figure 1. (a) Top-down view of the combined haptic actuator-sensor system and (b) the experimental setup. To test the simultaneous performance of the actuator and sensor, mechanical analysis was conducted with a dynamic mechanical analyzer. As shown in Fig. 1b, this experimentation measured the total resistive force with respect to indentation depth over the actuator's 1 mm stroke. Two cycles of loading/unloading were performed at a rate of 1 mm/s. A function generator and voltage amplifier were used to supply the high voltage (HV) to the actuator's electrodes. A microcontroller was used to record the voltage across the sensor over time. Results and Discussion Figure 2 presents the combined actuator (force vs. time) and processed sensor (indented depth vs. time) data from the described experiment. Figure 2a and b show the response when 0 kV and a 4 kV 3 Hz sine wave are applied, respectively. Figure 2. Actuator and sensor response subjected to (a) 0 kV and (b) 4 kV sine wave at 3 Hz. As shown, the deflection sensor sufficiently tracks the actuator's displacement (1 mm over 1 second) and corresponding force output for both the off-state and high voltage. Therefore, the proposed sensor can enable control of the output resistive force according to displacement to demonstrate realistic applications of the ER fluid-based haptic module. Furthermore, the sensor does not impede upon the tactile and kinesthetic sensations (observed as oscillations in force in Fig. 2b) and the actuated forces do not influence the sensor's response. References Mazursky A, Koo J-H and Yang T-H (2018) Experimental evaluation of a miniature haptic actuator based on electrorheological fluids. In: SPIE Smart Structures and Nondestructive Evaluation, Denver, CO, USA, 2018. SPIE. Mazursky A, Koo J-H and Yang T-H (2019) Design, modeling, and evaluation of a slim haptic actuator based on electrorheological fluid. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures: 1–13. Srinivasan MA and Basdogan C (1997) Haptics in virtual environments: Taxonomy, research status, and challenges. Computers & Graphics 21(4): 393–404.


The hazards associated with performing maintenance on energized electrical equipment have been the subject of massive amounts of literature as well as the driver for numerous product innovations aimed at mitigating the effects of this hazard. The intent of this paper is to highlight potential personal and environmental dangers associated with this same equipment when it is deenergized. This paper is specifically targeted at switchgear and circuit breakers rated above 1000 V and is more specifically targeted at personnel who perform maintenance, decommissioning, retrofitting, or clean up after catastrophic failures of this class of equipment.


The present study has resulted in a conceptual design of the heat pump system providing the information needed for the detailed design and construction of a laboratory working system. The basic cycle was studied for use with low-temperature waste heat (60/sup 0/C). Multistaging of the heat pump was investigated for increased temperature boosting and a preferred two-stage configuration was identified. Open cycle evaporation and desorption was considered for cases of low temperature differential between the heat source and sink. Suitable working materials were considered and components performance was analyzed at the conceptual design level. The overall system performance was studied for varying operating conditions. Several improvements in the cycle were considered. A complete computer model of the system was developed to perform the study. The code is available for investigation of different configurations and operating conditions, and will be used in the detailed design of the laboratory system. Technical accomplishments are summarized.


Background:
 Serological evidence of the burden of common infections (IB=infectious burden) has been associated with stroke, carotid atherosclerosis, and global cognitive function in the race/ethnically diverse community-based Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) cohort. We hypothesized that IB is associated with worse performance and decline on a battery of neuropsychological tests.

 Methods:
 A subsample of stroke-free NOMAS participants underwent a neuropsychological battery, and a subsample of these had repeated testing a mean of six (SD=2) years later. Using factor analysis-derived domain-specific Z scores for memory, language, executive function, and processing speed, we examined associations between a quantitative IB index previously associated with stroke risk and based on five common infections (Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2) and cognitive performance in each domain. We used multivariable linear regression and adjusted for age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, insurance status, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, BMI, moderate alcohol, moderate-heavy physical activity, and smoking.

 Results:
 There were 588 NOMAS participants with IB index and cognitive data (mean age=71, 62%women, 14% white, 16% black, 70% Hispanic) and 287 with repeat cognitive testing. After adjusting for demographic variables, IB index was inversely associated with all cognitive domains, although not all associations were significant (executive function, beta=-0.11, p=0.002; language, beta=-0.07, p=0.04; memory, beta=-0.06, p=0.11; processing speed, beta=-0.07, p=0.07). These effects attenuated only slightly after adjusting for vascular risk factors. The IB index associated with cognitive decline across domains, but a trend toward significance existed only for memory, after adjusting for baseline performance, demographic and vascular risk factors (beta=-0.09, p=0.07).

 Conclusions:
 A quantitative measure of IB associated with stroke risk was inversely associated with executive function and language, and decline in memory performance. Past exposure to common infections may contribute to vascular cognitive impairment and warrant further study.


Research of soil and water's conservation and use is a question about national economy's stability and increase.Southern Xinjiang is one of the most serious districts facing up with the desertification disaster,it has serious soil and water loss.The authors discuss reasons,disaster,and measures of prevention and control of soil and water loss.


Objective To study the clinical effectiveness of CO2 laser skin resurfacing on treatment of cellular nevus on margo palpebrae.Methods 42 cases of cellular nevus on margo palpebrae were treated with CO2 laser skin resurfacing after local anaesthesia with protection of eye patch.The energy density was 18~35 mJ/cm2,the pulse frequency was 20~30Hz.Results All patients'lesions disappeared with no scar formed,39 cases presented with excellent result and 3 cases with good result after three month follow-up.The total effective rate was 100% and all patients were satisfied with the results,without significant adverse effects.Conclusion CO2 laser skin resurfacing is a safe and efficient approach in treating cellular nevus on margo palpebrae.


We appreciate the letter from Aihua Wu and Yangin Liu regarding our study.1 They raised an issue that other predictive factors such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels and liver stiffness should be incorporated into the model. We agree that these factors, being wellknown predictive factors for clinical outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), have been incorporated in other predictive models.2 Unfortunately, the nationwide cohort used in our study does not contain detailed laboratory information on HBV DNA level and liver stiffness; it has already been described as one of the limitations of our clinical events in asymptomatic patients with chronic HBV infection (CAPB) score in the Discussion section. However, it should be noted that the aim of our CAPB score was to warrant regular followup in the specialized clinic for noncirrhotic patients with CHB who are at risk of developing clinical events. Therefore, the CAPB score, composed of easily obtainable information, could be applicable to literally all patients with CHB under primary care. This aspect makes our CAPB score different and advantageous compared with the other predictive models. CONFLIC T OF INTERE S T YoungSuk Lim is an advisory board member of Gilead Sciences and receives investigatorinitiated research funding from this institution. There are no other conflicts of interest.


In this paper we present coupled quantum mechanical/molecular dynamics simulations on the solvation of naphthalene in acetonitrile. A semiempirical treatment is introduced into classical molecular dynamics simulations to deal with the electronic polarizability of the solute. We study the structure of the solvation shell, the features of the electrostatic intermolecular interactions, the dynamics of solute and solvent molecules and the spectral shifts of the solute. For this particular system it is found that the influence of induced electrostatic interaction on the structure of the solvation shell is negligible. On the other hand, net induced dipolar contributions arise in the electrostatic interactions, in spite of the fact that the electric field is found to be inhomogeneous at the scale of the solute molecule. These induced dipolar interactions enhance the calculated absorption and emission shifts and contribute up to 40% to the electrostatic spectral shifts. They also modify or even dominate the fluct...


The integro‐differential system of viscoelasticity equations with a source of explosive type is considered. It is assumed that the coefficients of the equations depend only on one spatial variable. The problem of determining the matrix kernel included in the integral terms of the equations is studied. The solution of the problem is reduced to a series of inverse problems for scalar hyperbolic equations. For each case, the inverse problem is replaced by an equivalent system of integral equations for unknown functions. The principle of constricted mapping in the space of continuous functions with weighted norms to the latter is applied. The theorems of global unique solvability are proved, and the stability estimates of solution to the inverse problems are obtained.


I often think about the Hyacinth Macaw as a macaw designed by birdtrappers: the largest and perhaps the most spectacular of all parrots, and also the most absurdly easy to locate and catch. Indisputably, Hyacinths are especially vulnerable to capture and shooting because they are large and conspicuous, noisy, intrinsically fearless, curious, sedentary, predictable, and have extremely specialized feeding behaviors. A trapper can quickly learn where a given group of macaws sleeps, nests, feeds, and rests. A clever trapper can determine regular flight routes into and out of favorite trees, then strategically place nets to capture the birds . And because they thrive on fallen palm fruits, Hyacinths can even be enticed into traps on the ground. The same qualities which make  Hyacinth Macaws ideal prey for birdcatchers make them perfect quarry for aboriginal meat or feather hunters. One famous Kayapo' Indian head-dress included the tail feathers of more than fifty of these charismatic blue parrots. The Hyacinth Macaws' specific feeding requirements also make them susceptible to habitat destruction. Their reliance on the fruit of certain palm trees limits their ability to adapt to changing environments. Although the palms on which Hyacinths depend for food are often spared during human agricultural activities (because they provide food for cattle), if those species of palms were cut and the rest of the habitat left untouched, all Hyacinth Macaws. would quickly perish.


The application effects of the needle-style tobacco clip for nipping tobacco leaf and the traditional tobacco pole for weaving tobacco leaf during tobacco leaf baking were compared.The results showed that applying the needle-style tobacco clip to nip tobacco leaf had the advantages of simple operation,less labor cost and time spending,which had 1~3 times tobacco-weaving speed and 2 times tobacco-unbinding speed of the traditional tobacco pole.The application of the needle-style tobacco clip could save tobacco-weaving lobar cost by 350~490 yuan per kang,decrease the cost of planting tobacco,enhance the comparative benefit of planting tobacco,and increase the total weight of fresh tobacco per kang by 20%~30%.There was no significant difference in the quality of flue-cured tobacco leaf between the application of the needle-style tobacco clip and the application of the traditional tobacco pole.Thus,under the condition of the same baking barn,applying the needle-style tobacco clip to nip tobacco leaf could save the fuel cost and enlarge the planting area of tobacco as compared with using the traditional tobacco pole to weave tobacco.


Abstract New electro-optical phenomena in quantum-well structures, i.e. modulation of the light absorption and birefringence due to carrier heating in a strong electric field, have been investigated. The effects have revealed different features in the three types of structures under investigation, namely: (1) well-doped n -type GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells, (2) barrier-doped n -type GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices and (3) barrier-doped p -type Ge/GeSi multiple quantum wells. Possible mechanisms of the phenomena have been discussed.


Being polite is important in people's life because someone's personality can be judged and seen through the way he or she constructs politeness strategy. Therefore, learning about politeness strategy is considered as important. This study is about politeness strategies of female teenagers in Wild Child movie including how politeness strategies constructed by Poppy Moore (the main character of the movie) and the reason why she uses those strategies. The purpose of this study is to find out the way female teenager (Poppy Moore) constructs politeness strategies while communicating with her female friends in the movie. In this study, descriptive qualitative approach and Brown and Levinson's theory about politeness strategies is used. Moreover, the data that have been collected through the process of watching movie, making transcription and classifying are analysed by several process. Those are, (1) the data are classified to the four kinds of politeness strategies, (2) describe the circumstances and (3) analyse the reasons of the using. Finally, the result shows that the way Poppy constructs politeness strategies is by applying bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness and off-record. Bald on record used before and after her personality changed are to achieve her female friends' attention and to make her friends directly do what she wants. In using positive politeness before and after her personality changed, Poppy wants to create solidarity to her friends and maintain that solidarity and intimacy. Poppy also wants to minimize the FTA that she uses and respects her friends' negative face by applying negative politeness. At last, she uses off record strategy before her personality changed because she does not want her act considered as imposing her female friends.


After a period of relative neglect, state theory is once more at the centre of debate within Marxism. New theoretical currents from Germany provide the focus of this article by Werner Bonefeld. Concentrating on the work of Hirsch, Esser and Roth, he examines their attempts to reformulate state theory, their use of 'intermediate' categories, and the political implications of their approach. The author argues that there is a need for a less functionalist and determinist analysis of current social and political transformations.


Composted municipal solid waste (MSW) was assessed as a soil amendment material for restoring the canopy cover of a degraded soil in an area with a Mediterranean climate. Four rates (0, 40, 80 or 120 Mg ha−1) of MSW were surface-applied to a calcareous soil in central Spain and the effects on soil properties and the native plant community recorded over the next five years. Soil N, P and K levels increased significantly after application. Soil organic carbon (OC) increased with the amount of MSW applied, but the differences were small and inconsistent. Soil total Zn, Pb, Ni and Cu increased in the MSW-treated soils compared to the controls, but levels were still below the maximum allowed by Spanish legislation. DTPA-extractable soil Zn and Cu were the only heavy metals studied that increased with MSW application, but their concentrations were still adequate for plant growth. Total aerial plant biomass yields and canopy cover increased with MSW amendment compared to the control treatment. Plant production increased three fold in the amended plots in the first years and than declined with time, although no consistent trends were observed. The percentage canopy cover ranged from approximately 82 to 100 % in the MSW treatments and from 43 to 49% in the control throughout the study period. Native plant species richness decreased slightly with increasing MSW rates. Differences in the plant communities developing on the control and MSW-treated plots were observed, with a reduction in perennial species and an increase in annual species after five years. Plant tissue N, P, K, Zn and Cu levels generally increased with the MSW rate. Thus, MSW application have a positive effect on the soil chemical characteristics and on the native vegetation without causing environmental damage. MSW may therefore be of use in the rehabilitation of ecosystems similar to that studied.


EFFECTS OF COMMON DISTURBANCES ON COMPOSITION AND SUCCESSION IN COPPICE PLANT COMMUNITIES ON ELEUTHERA, THE BAHAMAS: CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS by Claire Cecilia Larkin Different disturbances in similar habitats should produce unique successional assemblages of plants. Plant species cover data was collected to investigate the effects of three common disturbances–fire, bulldozing, and bulldozing followed by goat grazing–on early-successional coppice communities on Eleuthera, The Bahamas. For each disturbance type, both the ground layer ( 0.5 m) were sampled in eight patches (> 1 ha) of varying age (1-28 yr) since disturbance. Results suggest that goats accelerate succession by quickly removing non-woody ground cover, and increase the representation of woody ground cover; these results also suggest that managed goat grazing delays plant succession by inhibiting growth of tree species and maintaining early-successional shrubs. These effects may lead to different coppice successional trajectories, and may have important conservation implications for the threatened Kirtland's warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii), who's wintering habitat consists of early-successional coppice rich in Lantana fruits. EFFECTS OF COMMON DISTURBANCES ON COMPOSITION AND SUCCESSION IN COPPICE PLANT COMMUNITIES ON ELEUTHERA, THE BAHAMAS: CONSERVATION


This study analyzes the factors that affect customer satisfaction. Customers will be satisfied if the bank is able to deliver the quality expected. The quality of service, price, product, promotion and the location is an important factor supporting the performance of BRI for the better. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of service, price, product, promotion, and location to the satisfaction of merchants who are customers of BRI Branch Unit Kemlagi Mojokerto. The independent variables consist of service, price, product, promotion, and location. The dependent variable is satisfaction. Using multiple regression analysis. Samples taken as many as 28 customers using quota sampling. Data collection techniques by distributing a questionnaire using Likert scale. The results showed that simultaneous service, price, product, promotion, and location of positive and significant impact on satisfaction. Partially service, price, product, promotion, and location of positive and significant impact on satisfaction. Variable service, price, product, promotion and location can be a determinant of customer satisfaction BRI.


N his collection of essays, A Community of Character, Stanley Hauerwas questioned the compatibility between political liberalism and the way of life informed by Christian belief and practice. "Liberalism" in Hauerwas' political writings signifies something quite different from "liberalism" in common parlance: it is the belief that "society can be organized without any narrative that is commonly held to be true,"' or "that impulse deriving from the Enlightenment project to free all peoples from the chains of their historical particularity in the name of freedom."* Liberalism thus defined is quite close to Ronald Dworkin's understanding of it as the belief that "justice" is independent of any particular conception of "the good life."3 This sort of political individualism includes political stances which would be labeled "conservative" as well as "liberal."


This paper deals with the interpretation of prehistoric offerings in relation to houses and buildings. Records of such building offerings are, so far, few in Swedish archaeology. Presumably this is due to the contextuality of the offerings combined with the humble character of the offering gifts. Further knowledge of the structure of the idea behind the offerings is required to increase the understanding of their importance in the mental culture of Scandinavian prehistoric agrarian society. A similar phenomenon is described in folk belief records from Nordic preindustrial agrarian culture, offerings which sought to effect success and protection for the inhabitants of the farm buildings. An attempt is here made to interpret the existing Iron Age offerings in relation to those performed in historic times. The similarity between the archaeological and the historical records seems to support historic continuity, which confirms the importance of the phenomenon in Scandinavian agrarian culture in premodern times. This investigation mainly concerns building offerings of an osteological nature. A number of Swedish Iron Age offerings are discussed in relation to the general building offering tradition. Some circumstances indicating offering are presented, intended as guidelines for future excavators.