Urogenital prolapse and urinary incontinence secondary to multiple defects of the pelvic floor (cystocele caused by lateral and central defect of the pubocervical fascia, hysterocele, rectocele) may also be successfully treated by vaginal approach only. From October '95 to September '97, 78 women underwent colpohysterectomy, Lahodny bladder suspension and perineoplasty and in 15 of them the vaginal cupola was anchored to the right sacrospinous ligament. In another 3 women Lahodny's procedure was associated with just perineoplasty, since there was a cystocele caused by lateral and central defect of the pubocervical fascia and a rectocele, while the uterus was fixed in place. Prior to operation the 81 patients underwent a colpocytological exam, pelvic ultrasound, a urodynamic exam with flow pressure study and assessment of the leak pressure with Valsalva manoeuvre, and in the cases of constipation or fecal incontinence, coloproctological investigation. The suprapubic catheter that was always positioned at the end of the operation was on average removed on the 10th day, upon the disappearance of significant post-micturitional residue. There is no micturitional difficulty in any patient. Given the short follow-up, the results are given of the 44 women observed for at least one year, 40 of whom are continent. Recurrent prolapse was found in 8 cases, 2 involving the anterior, 40 the rear and 2 the central wall. No patient has had a return of stress incontinence.


Objective. To estimate and compare the endothelial function in patients with essential arterial hypertension (HTN) and primary hyperaldosteronism (PHA). Design and methods. Eighty-two patients were examined. Among them, PHA was verified in 19 patients, while 36 patients had essential HTN stage II (blood pressure (BP) elevation of 1st or 2nd degree), and 27 age-matching healthy people formed control group. The HTN duration in PHA patients was 1,95 ± 0,24 years, and in patients with essential HTN — 5,5 ± 0,5 years. Both patients and healthy peoples were examined within the hospital, in compliance with the hospital regime and diet. Endothelial function was assessed by several methods: the number of circulating desquamated endothelial cells (the method by Hladovec J.), reactive hyperemia test and evaluation of endothelium-dependent vasodilation (as a percentage of the brachial artery diameter increase), total blood nitrates and nitrites level (Griss-reaction method), nitric oxide excretion in urine. Results. Endothelial dysfunction (ED) was found in all patients with high BP. We found more profound ED in PHA patients compared to patients with essential HTN, which resulted in a significantly higher number of circulating endothelial desquamated cells, lower percentage of vasodilation response in reactive hyperemia test, decreased blood levels of total nitrites/nitrates and elevated nitric oxide urine excretion. Discriminant analysis was applied to range the severity of ED. Patients with essential HTN had moderate ED, while patients with PHA had severe ED. Conclusions. The proposed classification approach can be successfully applied for monitoring changesin ED and the effectiveness of treatment in patients with various diseases associated with BP elevation.


Gorham-Stout Disease (GD) is a very rare disease of unknown etiology characterized by progressive osteolysis and soft tissue involvement. Imaging is non-specific, and diagnosis may be delayed. The evolution of the disease is unpredictable, with progression of the osteolysis, spontaneous regression, or in a few cases re-ossification. We report a case of a 54-year-old woman with GD of the radius. In this rare location, only few cases have been reported with all imaging modalities: conventional radiography, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET-CT). We describe the characteristics of GD in different imaging modalities, as well as the histological features. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first metabolically active lesion in GD, with relevant implications for the differential diagnosis.


Dear Editor,

We read with interest the article by Arababadi et al. [1], which highlights different and important areas of concern in the management of occult hepatitis B (OBI). There are two relevant issues worthy of discussion. First, the authors described the variable prevalence of OBI in different geographical regions worldwide. The laboratory assay used to detect OBI is an important determinant of its prevalence. Because of the low viremic state of patients, OBI may not be detected even when sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are employed. Results of a recent population study in our locality involving 13,034 blood donors showed the prevalence of OBI to be between 0.11% and 0.13% [2]. We used nucleic acid testing to detect hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, which has a detection limit (3.7 IU/mL) lower than that of most available PCR assays. Only studies using sensitive assays should be considered when implementing policies for screening blood donors. Although Arababadi et al. have suggested using an antibody against the hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) for screening blood donors, there is a vast difference in the prevalence of serum anti-HBc positivity and OBI worldwide. For example, the preva-lence of anti-HBc positivity in Korea is 13.5%, whereas the prevalence of OBI in the same region is 0.016% [3]. Hence, in blood donor screening programs, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) testing followed by nucleic acid testing should be regarded as the most accurate approach for the detection of OBI.

Second, the authors have suggested that OBI is a possible risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but they have also commented that the underlying patho-genesis is unclear. Recently, an Asian study compared the tumorous and adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues from 33 cases of cryptogenic HCC and 28 of HCC with identifiable causes [4]. Both intrahepatic HBV DNA and HBV pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) were detected in 73% of the cases of cryptogenic HCC, albeit at levels lower than those detected in cases of HBV-related HCC. Hence, it is very likely that both persistent viral replication and viral integration play an important role in the pathogenesis of OBI-related HCC. The detection rate of intrahepatic HBV DNA was higher in the non-tumorous tissues than in the tumorous tissues; this finding is consistent with the hypothesis that tumorous tissues lack the optimal environment for HBV replication [5], which may affect the detection of OBI-related HCC. Therefore, in regions with a high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B, OBI should be considered as a possible cause of cryptogenic HCC even when HBV virologic markers are undetectable in tumor histological analysis.


The purpose of research is improving the efficiency of preventive and therapeutic measures in disorders of calcium and phosphorus piglets metabolism. We studied the influence of complex aluminosilicate drug Silimix and drug Silimix with the addition of tricalcium phosphate for the factors of nonspecific resistance of piglets. Silimix is a complex natural mineral additive, containing montmorillonite, zeolite, glauconite, phosphorite in its composition, and vital for the body silicon, aluminum, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, iron. Tricalcium phosphate is a common mineral product obtained from Apatite and phosphorite, which has a high degree of digestibility of calcium and phosphorus. The task was to conduct a comparative assessment of the impact of drug Silimix in pure form, as well as adding tricalcium phosphate for the indicators characterizing factors of nonspecific resistance of piglets. The work was carried out into three groups of piglets, formed on the principle of the 7analogies. The first group received the drug Silimix, the second mixture Silimix with tricalcium phosphate (3:1), the third was control. It was found that the bactericidal activity of blood serum in the group use a mixture of products was higher than the background values by 7.92%, and the control values were below background values at 27.33%. Lysozyme activity of the control group decreased relative to the background at 10.42%, and the difference between the control and two experimental groups was 5.5% and 12.5% in favor of the 1-St and 2-nd experimental groups, respectively. Beta-lytic activity of the last holdout was below background at 6.58%, and below the 1-St and 2-nd experimental groups at 7.25% and 10.75%.


It is established that the greatest quantity of metals accumulates in leaves, and the least in birch roots. In runaways and wood of a pine the quantity of metals equally also surpasses the maintenance of metals in needles on 30%. The total maintenance of metals in plants surpasses a similar indicator for soils under plantings, but the greatest quantity of metals accumulates in well developed wood laying.


The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of social workers working with unaccompanied refugee minors during the autumn of 2015, commonly referred to as the "refugee crisis". During this period, Sweden received approximately 156 400 refugees, putting Sweden's social infrastructure under enormous pressure. As a result of the stressful working conditions, a large amount of social workers left the social services. This study however, focuses on the experiences of social workers choosing to stay during and after this period, aiming to identify their working conditions, coping strategies as well as their ability to remain professional. The focus of the study was to examine whether the social workers felt they were able to execute their tasks professionally when forced to operate in a stressful situation, as well as how they perceived the situation affected their ability to remain professional. Empirical data was collected with semi-structured interviews with five social workers, operative in the greater Stockholm area during the autumn of 2015. The empirical data was interpreted and analysed through a theory of coping strategies in social work. The study reached the conclusion that the utilization of different coping strategies enabled a sense of accomplishing "real social work" where respondents perceived that they reached the "core purpose" of social work. However, the situation also created negative effects, for example in terms of legal security.


AIM To study the scavenging capacities on radicals of Flos Lonicerae . METHOD Chemiluminescence. RESULTS All the samples show the scavenging capacities on three kinds of radicals to some extent. As the same species,the scavenging capacities of the samples from Henan and Shandong are stronger than those from Jiangsu,and as the different species,the scavenging capacities in descending order are L.macranthoides,L.japonica,L.similis,L. fulvotomentosa and L.hypoglauca. With regard to L.japonica ,the scavenging capacities of n-BuOH extract are stronger than those of EtOAc extract. CONCLUSION The scavenging capacities on radicals vary from locality and species,and are highly relative to the contents of phenolic acids.


… trauma is precisely what cannot be seen; it is something that inherently, politically and psychoanalytically, defeats sight, even when it comes in contact with the rules of evidence and with the trial's legal search for visibility. The political is thus essentially tied up with the structure of the trauma. It is to the structure of the trauma, therefore (and not simply to a different ideology), that our "eyes" should be precisely educated.


Background: The conditioned place preference (CPP) test is an animal model serving to assess addictive potential of drugs in which environmental cues become associated with the subjective effects of drugs of abuse. Morphine, a known addictive drug, is an agonist of opioid receptors that couple to the G(i/o) family of guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (GP). We have recently found that chronic treatment with morphine affects mRNA levels of GPs that are not coupled to opioid receptors (OR). Therefore, in this study, we investigated the influence of morphine-induced CPP on mRNA expression of the Ga subunits, G(i/o), G(s), G(q/11), and G(12), in the


Empirical research on the differences between unit values in the EU's trade with the Czech Republic and the intra-EU average has shown a significant changes. The comparative level of manufacturing products imported from the Czech republic has increased, the comparative level of products exported to the Czech republic has decreased. The price-gaps, inherited from the communist regime have been substantially reduced. Most remarkable changes of the comparative prices took place in trade with products of metalworking industries. The favourable development of price relations in the Czech foreign trade has been an important element underlying balance of payments performance, it has contributed to the nominal and real improvements of Czech krown and shoud play an importent role in the process of convergence. The analysis is based on Eurostat Comext Database.


With the development of virtual reality technology, data gloves began to widely popularize various fields. Some of the force feedback data gloves at this stage still have problems such as high cost and complex structure. The mechanical force feedback data glove proposed in this paper uses the principle of mechanical rotation, using a potentiometer as the rotating shaft and a nylon rope to drive the potentiometer to rotate, so that it records the relevant data instead of sensors, and uses a servo to bring force feedback experience. Experiments indicate that the force feedback glove in this paper has both the force feedback effect of the existing force feedback data gloves and is lower in cost than the existing data gloves and has good generalizability.


Bradshaw (1997); Bevan & Estrin (2000); Manaenkov (2000) # of foreign JV Natural resources; domestic market-oriented production activities (e.g. manufacturing & retailing consumer and producer goods). Market size, secondary school enrollment ratio; investment performance of the industrial sector; climate; economic reform progress; institutions Brock (1998); Broadman Recanatini (2001); Iwasaki & Suganuma (2005); Ledyaeva & Linden (2006); Ledyaeva (2007) FDI Market size & crime rates. Infrastructure (e.g. paved road density), wage rate, policy frameworks (e.g. investment ratings), private domestic investment, level of education, lagged FDI. Market size, resource endowments, degree of industrialization and infrastructure. Market size, agglomeration effect, advantages of Moscow, skilled labor. Market size, size of a city, sea ports; oil and gas resources; political risk ratings Ahrend (2000) FDI (Survey) Market size, existing investments by entrepreneurs, presence of partner companies, availability of special production factors (e.g. raw materials) KPMG(2010); Deutsche Bank (2012) FDI Investment ratings aren't good predictors; past FDI; "Soft" factors such as regional commitment to FDI and successful regional management can overcome "hard" factors (natural endowment, geographic location) Song (2015) FDI While Moscow and its proximate regions attract most of FDI, since 2001, the proportion has been diminishing. Diff-in-Diff analysis shows SEZ regions have performed better than non-SEZs. Foreign investments in manufacturing and service sectors have steadily risen – these sectors require more trust. Kaluga, a late-SEZ, has performed exceptionally well surpassing geographically strategic locations like St. Petersburg or skill-endowed locations like Samara. In general, regions that have grown their industrial output have seen a statistically significant rise of FDI. But the greatest determinant is proven to be the proportion of labor force in SME – level in which greatest skill transfer happens, and a possible proxy for committed administration and ease of doing business. 0 50000


Abstract Biogenic amines were determined in 102 samples of albacore tuna harvested in the US Northwest from 1994 to 1996. Six amines were detected: spermine, spermidine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine and tyramine. Total levels varied from 0.59 to 4.65 mg/100 g. Spermine was present at higher levels, followed by spermidine, hista-mine, putrescine, cadaverine and tyramine. There were significant differences of amine levels in fish from different years. No difference was observed on amine levels of upper and lower loin light muscles, however, dark muscle contained higher spermidine. Intestine wall samples contained higher amine levels and also histamine and serotonin. Canning caused losses of spermine, putrescine and tyramine and accumulation of 2-phenylethylamine.


Regulating device of the lighting range of the headlamps of a vehicle, provided with setting facilities (18) associated with the projectors (10, 11) for adjusting the beam range, a transmitting device (20; 20 , 22) which emits at leastone electromagnetic radiation beam incident on a region (24, 25, 26, 27) at the front of the vehicle, an electro-optical detection system (30) Donneau within the irradiated zone (24 , 25, 26, 27), an image point (124, 125, 126, 127), an evaluation device (40) which operates the positiond'au least one irradiated region (24, 25, 26, 27) and unsignal deducted compared with a reference signal the correct setting representative of the lighting range, andin case of deviation between the current signal and the signal deconsigne, adjustment facilities (18) are commandeespour remove this deviation.


We study surface critical phenomena of the S 4 model having Gaussian randomness. Using the renormalization-group 4-d expansion, we obtain surface critical exponents indicating the decay of the correlation function, η ∥ random and η ⊥ random , at the random fixed point. These exponents are evaluated for both the ordinary and special transitions up to the second order, and the surface scaling relation η random =2η ⊥ random -η ∥ random is confirmed in this random system


M. Justin Wilkinson  In arguing for a strict definition of the alluvial fan (coarse‐grained with radii <10 km, in mountain‐front settings), Blair and McPherson (1994) proposed that there is no meaningful difference between large fluvial fans (LFF) and floodplains, because the building blocks of both are channel‐levee‐overbank deposits. Sediment bodies at the LFF scale (>100 km long, fan‐shaped in planform), are relatively unstudied although >160 are now identified globally. The following perspectives suggest that the significance of LFF needs to be reconsidered.


1. Introduction: South Asia, Non-State Actors and Securitization Theory 2. Understanding Security in South Asia: An Overview 3. Securitizing Misgovernance in Bangladesh: The Daily Star, New Age and The Bangladesh Today 4. Tackling Human Trafficking in Nepal: Shakti Samuha and Maiti Nepal 5. Shaping India's National Action Plan on Climate Change: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) 6. Conclusion: NSAs, Securitization Theory and Security Practices in South Asia


© Medical Communications Sp. z o.o. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND). Reproduction is permitted for personal, educational, non-commercial use, provided that the original article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited. Selected mental health problems in institutionally reared children Wybrane problemy z zakresu zdrowia psychicznego wśród nastolatków w wychowaniu instytucjonalnym


The present disclosure describes a surface coating solution having a boehmite particles provided in the surface coating base and in the surface coating base. Boehmite particles is mainly of at least 3: including anisotropically shaped particles having an aspect ratio.


Family is a bond of life chain which possesses love and concern to one another. It is with this bond the sufferings of lots of twists and turns get revealed. Jhumpa Lahiri is an Indian diasporic writer. In her work, she speaks about the dynamics of relationship, loneliness, loss and grief, connection, honesty. A Temporary Matter is taken from her interpreter of maladies. In this short story she speaks about the connection, honesty, loss, grief, and moving on. The central characters are Shoba and Shukumar. The other major characters in this story are Shoba's Mother, Mr. Bradford and Mrs. Bradford. Shukumar and Shobaarea lovely couple. The protagonist is Shoba as she sustains a strong character. As life reverses they donot talk with each other after their child death. They receive a notice from their electric company that their power will be disconnected for the next five days from 8:00 to 9:00 P.M in order to repair the destruction caused due to snowstorm. During the period of power disconnect, Shoba and Shukumar sits together in a candle light and they share their secrets which remains disclosed for years. On the fifth day Shoba intimates her plans of moving to another house while Shukumar conveys the truth that he stood in the labour ward during her delivery time. This turns to be greatest twist at last.


This paper describes a methodology for the extraction of a linear time invariant model from a nonlinear helicopter model, and followed by an examination of the interactions of the Higher Harmonic Control (HHC) and the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS). This new method includes an embedded harmonic analyzer inside a linear time invariant model, which allows the periodicity of the helicopter response to be captured. The: coupled high-order model provides the needed level of dynamic fidelity to permit an analysis and optimization of the AFCS and HHC loops. Results of this study indicate that the closed-loop HHC system has little influence on the AFCS or on the vehicle handling qualities, which indicates that the AFCS does not need modification to work with the HHC system. The results also show that the vibration response to maneuvers must be considered during the HHC design process, which leads to much higher required HHC loop crossover frequencies. This research also demonstrates that the transient vibration response during maneuvers can be reduced by optimizing the closed-loop higher harmonic control laws using conventional control system analyses.


Most monetary models make use of the quantity theory of money along with a Phillips curve. This implies a strong correlation between money growth and output in the short run (with little or no correlation between money and prices) and a strong long run correlation between money growth and inflation and inflation (with little or no correlation between money growth and output). The empirical evidence between money and inflation is very robust, but the long run money/output relationship is ambiguous at best. This paper attempts to explain this by looking at the impact of money growth on firm financing.


In this paper, the author pointed out the wonderful changes often effected upon the scenery of a country by the quiet but ceaseless energy of its streams and rivers, alluding to the picturesque features introduced into many landscapes by river-erosion. As a splendid example of such erosion, he instanced the valley of the Esk, at the famous Hawthornden, near Edinburgh, and exhibited a sketch showing the present features of a portion of this charming valley, and a diagram of how it is possible such river-erosion as this may have been produced without any convulsion or extraordinary violence, and simply by the action, during a long period of time, of the little stream itself. Mr Richardson stated that, what might be termed the ‶figure of eight″ windings of rivers formed one of their commonest phenomena, such windings being caused by the stream impinging on one bank, and being thrown off in a curve against the opposite bank, the result frequently being (as at Hawthornden) the formation of a steep cliff at the bank against which the stream struck, with a sloping earth-covered bank facing it; the space between marking the amount of land-surface removed by the river-erosion. The annexed lithograph illustrates this phenomenon, and also the progress of river-erosion at various successive stages, the river Esk here forming a cliff, ‶The Lover's Loup,″ on its right bank, after having formed a cliff on its left bank (also with an earth-covered slope opposite it) a little higher up the stream. Allowance is


The present study focuses on three immigrants' narratives about Finnish at vocational education. The aim is to investigate how immigrants narrate about willingness to communicate and learner beliefs and how they portray linguistic and social context in the act of narrating. The narratives are extractions from altogether 27 narrative interviews collected by interviewing nine adult immigrants, each three times during a year. The findings of the analysis suggest that even though some narratives are very individual and idiosyncratic, they are nevertheless socially constructed. Therefore, it is possible to create educational spaces, where individuals develop their beliefs about second language and also willingness to communicate.


Aristaless-like homeobox 4 is a homeodomain transcription factor that has important functions during mouse development. A recent report demonstrated that Alx4 expression is required in periductal stromal cells in the mouse mammary gland for normal mammary morphogenesis. To test the hypothesis that ALX4 is expressed in the normal human breast, and this expression is altered in breast cancer, immunohistochemistry was performed on normal and breast cancer tissue and breast tissue microarrays. In the normal breast, ALX4 was expressed in stromal fibroblasts and luminal epithelial cells, but not in myoepithelial cells. Expression was lost in breast cancer in both cell compartments. Upon global demethylation induced by 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine, normal and breast cancer cell lines expressed ALX4, suggesting that hypermethylation may repress expression of ALX4 during malignant transformation of the breast. These results demonstrate that ALX4 may be used as a biomarker for breast cancer, and may act as a tumour suppressor.


The text analyises the implementation of coypright law in Eastern European countries and a specific kind of artwork that was produced previous to it.


The high rodenticide efficacy (up to 95%) of liquefied technical ammonia was found applied by special portable devoice for treatment of holes and chelters of mice rodents "GryzNet" showed 95-100% efficacy against mice rodents.


The article analyzes the features of the relationships between the King of Macedonia, the Council and the Army Assembly in the times of crisis in the later 3rd century B.C. The author concludes that changes in the political life of Macedonia, such as an increasing number of cities, the altitudes of the provincial nobility, the influence of Greek traditions, demanded a governmental reform. However, such a reform could only result from a crisis of power. Thus, the early years of the reign of Antigonus Doson are the most likely date of the reforms.


Physician well-being has been gaining more attention across all circuits of physician advocacy given the current state of our health care systems. Physician wellness (wellbeing), per a systematic review of 78 studies, is defined by quality of life, which includes the absence of ill-being and the presence of positive physical, mental, social, and integrated well-being experienced in connection with activities and environments that allow physicians to develop their full potentials across personal and work-life domains.1 Physician burnout has a clear and consistent definition. The World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases-11 defines burnout as an "occupational syndrome," cementing the Maslach Burnout Inventory triad of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and cynicism or feelings of diminished personal accomplishment as the classic definition of physician burnout.2 Mental illness in physicians and burnout, although closely related, are acknowledged as separate entities. Physician suicide rates historically have been higher compared to the general population, with a 2004 meta-analysis reporting rates 1.41 times higher in male physicians and 2.27 times higher in female physicians.3 Yet data from the National Violent Death Reporting System showed that physicians who died by suicide were less likely to be under treatment for a mental illness and more likely to have antipsychotics, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines rather than antidepressants in their systems compared to nonphysicians.4 Stress, a common occupational hazard in many professions, is a known risk factor of burnout and mental illness. Stress can induce neuroinflammation affecting the brain's hippocampal centers of memory, emotional processing, and cognition.5 Resilience, the ability to bounce back in the face of adversity, is a protective factor against both burnout and mental illness.6,7 Resilience training interventions have been shown to decrease depression, stress, and stress perception in health care workers.7 So even if physician burnout is not the result of a resilience deficit but is instead a health system– related issue, resilience training can help reduce some of the impact of chronic workplace stress. The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act that was signed into law onMarch 18, 2022, promotes physician wellness and resilience.8 This legislation was designed not only to increase awareness but also to establish grants to support mental health and resilience in physicians. As an adjunct to this legislation, physicians and health systems can adopt self-help measures to improve well-being. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY–BASED INTERVENTIONS Since 2000, positive psychology-based interventions have emerged as a promising technique to manage stress and to increase psychological resilience and engagement.9,10 Positive emotions, purpose, and a sense of achievement can drive the process of flourishing and contribute to individual success.11 Most of these interventions are low-cost and time-efficient, with yields comparable to or even better than pharmacologic therapies.12 These interventions can be introduced into work routines without the burden of extensive training. Some interventions are targeted toward certain domains of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization), yet when used at the institutional level, positive psychology-based interventions can support overall physician well-being.


This article presents the novel use of a super ductile ®ber reinforced cementitious composite for repair and retro®t of concrete structures. Research in repair and retro®t demands immediate attention because of rapidly deteriorating and heightened safety requirements of civil infrastructures worldwide. The strain-hardening Engineered Cementitious Composites have been developed with the aid of fracture mechanics and micromechanics. It is emphasized that material ductility, and not just strength, can translate into strong and ductile structural performance. This article is extended from an original version presented as a Principal Lecture at the FRAMCOS-3 Conference at Gifu, Japan in October, 1998. # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Abstract Abstract In Italy, two different types of wastes can be dumped in the seas: industrial wastes and dredged material. There are no cases of sludges from urban treatment plants being discharged into the sea. The sea dumping of harbour dredging sludges is a long standing practice, while the disposal of industrial wastes dates back to 1965. Two specific laws regulate these two activities, although they do not establish quality standards for the receiving sea environment. Careful evaluation must be made, case by case, of possible effects of discharge with regard to physico-chemical characteristics of materials, to general oceanological characteristics of the dumpsite and to the uses to which such a dumpsite is designated. The analysis of different cases of industrial waste dumping, carried out at the pre-operational level and during discharge, revealed some potential for negative long-term effects on the sea environment. This, as well as the increasing public sensitivity to environmental problems, led ...


Oscillation is an unwelcome state as it has adverse effects not only on the work piece but also on the tool. This paper deals with the problem of circular saw blade oscillation and the effect of modification of the circular saw blade body on the natural frequency as well as on the critical rotational speed. The calculation and experimental investigation of the natural frequencies and node shapes on two types of circular saw blades were carried out. Two methods used to determine the natural frequencies are presented: the first, modal analysis (FEM), a theoretical method, and the second, experimental measurement. The results of the investigation were used to compare the FEM and experimental methods and to show which modification achieved a higher critical rotational speed. Both methods were conducted on two circular saw blades for continual cutting with 36 teeth and slots.


The aim of this article is to explore the connexion between body movement and thought production starting from a particular point of view: the daily practice of Nietzsche to walk in order to increase his philosophical thought. We propose to demonstrate: 1)how this particular habit, which characterizes the last ten years of the life of Nietzsche, has deep bonds with nietzschean paidetical project; 2) how this habit could be an interesting perspective to face some unsolved questions of Nietzsche's philosophy.


The driver monitoring system (DMS) plays an essential role in reducing traffic accidents caused by human errors due to driver distraction and fatigue. The vision-based DMS has been the most widely used because of its advantages of non-contact and high recognition accuracy. However, the traditional RGB camera-based DMS has poor recognition accuracy under complex lighting conditions, while the IR-based DMS has a high cost. In order to improve the recognition accuracy of conventional RGB camera-based DMS under complicated illumination conditions, this paper proposes a lightweight low-illumination image enhancement network inspired by the Retinex theory. The lightweight aspect of the network structure is realized by introducing a pixel-wise adjustment function. In addition, the optimization bottleneck problem is solved by introducing the shortcut mechanism. Model performance comparison test results demonstrate that the Structure Similarity Index Measure index of the proposed model is 7.04% and 31.03% higher than that of Multi-Scale Retinex with Color Restoration and Contrast Limiting Adaptive Histogram Equalization, respectively. In the use case, the proposed model is capable to process videos with a resolution of 400×600 at a speed of 20fps on average, which meets the requirements of DMS video stream processing speed. Furthermore, a MobileNet based distraction state recognition network pre-trained on the SFD3 dataset is adopted as the back-end to verify its application in the DMS system. The results show that the accuracy in the driver's distracted behavior recognition with a low-light environment is improved by 75.39% compared to before use.


This paper is to evaluate the cost efficiency and service effectiveness of public transport under the problem that has not considered the effect of management, external environmental variables and statistical interference. The analysis is performed using Three Stage DEA Method, with public transport operation annual data from 2010 to 2013 for 35 central cities in China. It's concluded that the environmental impact and the random interference effect is significant for service effectiveness; the average cost efficiency of cities which have over ten million population and the eastern regions in China have the better performance, the average service effectiveness of cities which have more than three million populations and the western regions in China have the better performance. While, the service effect of public transport is increasing year by year after the public transport industry back to public welfare position. The technical efficiency of public transport industry is increasing, but the total factor productivity is decreasing. So control the industry's reasonable development scale and enhance the attractiveness is the focus for improving the efficiency.


Entrepreneurial activity is viewed as beneficial for national economies, but does an economy therefore need a large degree of economic freedom to stimulate entrepreneurship? Andreas Kuckertz and Elisabeth S.C. Berger present recent research comparing the level of economic freedom and entrepreneurial activity across 63 economies. They argue that extreme levels of economic freedom are not a silver bullet to stimulating more entrepreneurship in Europe and that understanding the connection between these two factors requires a more fine-grained perspective.


The deoxyribonuclease 1, designated as DNASE1 gene in which it has, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), considers as a valuable marker in clinical investigation and genetic. Genotyping of the DNASE1 alleles polymorphisms within the DNASE 1 gene was performed in a sample of Iraqi population. In this study, the identification of the fourth alleles of DNASE1 gene using polymerase chain reaction .The results clarified the distribution of the four alleles of DNASE1 gene and demonstrates that there is a certain genetic heterogeneity in the samples, Furthermore, the DNASEl*1 allele was found to be the most predominant (65%) among the samples (100%), with molecular base (261 bps), 430 bps for DNASE1*3, and 139bp for DNASE1*2 and *4.. The DNASE l*4 allele can be distinguished from the DNASE l*2 allele by PCR-RFLP based on a G-C transversion in exon 1 of the gene. The result showed that seven samples(7%) among twenty two (22%)of human DNA appeared positive result when digested with XhoI enzyme with a band of116 bp which is related to DNASE1*4 ,while fifteen samples showed negative result with a band of 139 bp which is related to DNASE1*2.


Circulatory tolerance for gravity was examined in anesthetized and unanesthetized bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) tilted head up in air for short or prolonged periods. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored using a ventral aortic catheter. During tilts in unanesthetized fish, BP decreased slightly, and tachycardia occurred. Anesthesia lowered resting BP while the response to tilting was similar to unanesthetized fish. Spinal cord transection 3 mm caudal to the obex was used to interrupt sympathetic outflow and paralyze the lower body. It produced a reduction and subsequent fall in BP during tilting. Spinal cord transection combined with vagotomy produced pronounced tachycardia, with a precipitous fall in BP with stable HR during tilting. Phentolamine mesylate (400 µg/kg) produced a fall in control BP and further reduction during tilting. When 80 µg/kg of atropine sulphate was given, tachycardia occurred and BP fell during tilting yet not below levels measured in control fish. Transient elev...


The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of the role of youth on agricultural development in the Gayo Lues Regency of Aceh Province. The research was conducted by survey method, the sample was determined by simple random sampling and the number of samples was determined by the Frank Lynk formula. This research is explanatory which explains the relationship between the variables studied. Data analysis was performed with descriptive analysis and multiple linear regressions. The results of the research show that the role of youth as agent of change, agent of development and agent of modernization has a mean score of 3.57 in the interval 3 F table and P value t table and P value <0.05 shows the role of youth as agents of change, agent of development and agent of modernization partially have a significant positive effect on agricultural development. So it can be concluded that there is an influence of the role of youth on agricultural development in the Gayo Lues Regency of Aceh Province.


This paper presents a 3D virtual visualization management,monitoring and surveillance system for transformer substations.The system integrates the 3D virtualization technique with existing systems,such as PMIS,SCADA,and the real-time video surveillance system.The system can display all information integrated from existing systems on the 3D virtual model of transformer substation,which can improve the management and monitoring of the substation greatly.


The fact that there is numerous abuse of narcotics and dangerous drugs in Indonesia today is inseparable from the many modes and justifications used by these abusers in carrying out their actions. The exploration is remembered for the regularizing juridical assessment, the strategy involved by the creator as the peculiarities concentrate on that happens connected with the utilization of helpful equity in drug cases has been performed at the examination site. The results are that the Crook Code Bill has thought about the age of the more established in the criminal system, by setting the age north of 75 years for guilty parties of criminal goes about very far they are not open to confinement. In the conversation of Article 72 of the Lawbreaker Code Bill, this age limit was deferred, between the time of "north of 70 years" or "more than 75 years" for culprits of criminal goes about quite far they were not expose to detainment. This arrangement was one of the issues forthcoming at the Detailing Group Meeting (Timus), yet at the accompanying Timus Meeting concurred that "mature more than 75 years" for culprits to try not to be condemned to jail quite far (become Article 76), considering the future that the higher it is. For the elderly who are caught in drug abuse cases, consider the interests of the perpetrators who act as victims by prioritizing rehabilitation efforts as the best way to return the perpetrators to the condition they were in before committing drug abuse


The KASCADE-Grande Muon Tracking Detector allows to measure with high accuracy (∼ 0.3) muon directions in Extensive Air Shower up to 700 m distance from the shower centre. According to the simulations within such a distance, in showers initiated by primaries with energies 10–10 eV, nearly all muons reaching the observation level are subject of investigation. Study of lateral distributions of muon densities allows to investigate not only the longitudinal development of the Extensive Air Shower but also to check performance of the Muon Tracking Detector. Measuring muon tracks and their angles with respect to the shower direction it is possible to study also such quantities like mean muon production heights and muon pseudorapidities. They are not only sensitive to the longitudinal shower development but are a tool for testing hadronic interaction models and investigating cosmic ray mass composition. The description of the detector, its capabilities to investigate the longitudinal development of muonic component in EAS, especially by means of studying lateral distributions of muon densities, will be presented. Preliminary results of these distributions will be shown.


The radiation field of three dimensional electric dipole is described by direction angle and its degree of polarization is analyzed. The summary demonstrates that if three dimensional electric dipole is coherent, then P ≡1, if three dimensional electric dipole is incoherent, then P ≡0.


In the education sector, the academic factor is considered the primary focus when assessing the service quality of schools. However, the traditional approach to service quality proposes that the supplemental indicators of quality are just as important in meeting customer expectations. As parents of secondary school students are not directly involved in the academic service of the school, non-academic factors (e.g., administrative quality [ADQ] and physical environment quality [PEQ]) can be considered alternative service quality indicators, subsequently affecting their satisfaction and loyalty. Using data obtained from a survey questionnaire with 230 parents of secondary education students in Vietnam, this study examined non-academic service factors as antecedents of parent satisfaction and loyalty. Results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded two factors under the non-academic service dimension: PEQ and ADQ. Results of the structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that while PEQ affects loyalty both directly and indirectly, ADQ affects loyalty only indirectly through satisfaction. Implications for stakeholders, including school principals and policymakers, have been drawn from the findings of this study.


Abstract. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geography Information System (GIS) technologies are widely used in ecological analysis and regional planning. With the advantages of large scale monitoring, combination of point and area, multiple time-phases and repeated observation, they are suitable for monitoring and analysis of environmental information in a large range. In this study, support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm is used to monitor the land use and land cover change (LUCC), and then to perform the ecological evaluation for Chaohu lake tourism area quantitatively. The automatic classification and the quantitative spatial-temporal analysis for the Chaohu Lake basin are realized by the analysis of multi-temporal and multispectral satellite images, DEM data and slope information data. Furthermore, the ecological buffer zone analysis is also studied to set up the buffer width for each catchment area surrounding Chaohu Lake. The results of LUCC monitoring from 1992 to 2015 has shown obvious affections by human activities. Since the construction of the Chaohu Lake basin is in the crucial stage of the rapid development of urbanization, the application of RS and GIS technique can effectively provide scientific basis for land use planning, ecological management, environmental protection and tourism resources development in the Chaohu Lake Basin.


Electromagnetic cloaking has being continuously pursued using a large variety of approaches. In recent years, this effect has been observed using either complex devices based on the so-called Transformation Optics or simple systems based on conventional optics with proper characteristics. In the latter case, a simple arrangement of lenses working in the paraxial regime can provide broadband visible cloaking in a wide area. In this work, we analyzed and generalized this method by proposing a five-lens system producing at least three potential invisible regions with a large cloaked area (>90% of the visual field). In particular, we developed the mathematical formalism and show, both numerically and experimentally, the successful operation of the cloaking system with the naked eye.


We give an example showing that the product and linearization formulas for the Wick product versions of the $q$-Charlier polynomials in (Anshelevich 2004) are incorrect. Next, we observe that the relation between monomials and several families of Wick polynomials is governed by "incomplete" versions of familiar posets. We compute M\"obius functions for these posets, and prove a general poset product formula. These provide new proofs and new inversion and product formulas for Wick product versions of Hermite, Chebyshev, Charlier, free Charlier, and Laguerre polynomials. By different methods, we prove inversion formulas for the Wick product versions of the free Meixner polynomials.


Heavy metals and semen quality in humans Public and scientific concern about the potential risk of environmental pollutants to male reproductive health has been heightened, most of all due to the increasing number of reports that show a downward trend in semen quality, as well as increased rates of developmental urogenital tract anomalies and testicular cancer. There are several toxicants and pollutants that affect quality semen, and one of the most important are the heavy metals. Currently studies are limited and do not allow for a definitive conclusion on these chemicals affects human semen quality. Scientifics are increasingly able to measure levels of environmental pollutants in human samples, for identifying the role of environment in human fertility.


of thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF NUCLEOCAPSID PROTEIN OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE VIRUS FUSED WITH VP5 GENE OF INFECTIOUS BURSAL DISEASE VIRUS By SHAHERNY ZAID June 2007 Chairman: Datin Paduka Professor Khatijah Mohd. Yusoff, PhD Faculty: Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) is a constant threat to the poultry industry worldwide. This virus encodes a non-structural protein VP5 (17 kDa) that is capable of inducing apoptosis and may play an important role in pathogenesis of IBD. The nucleoprotein (NP) of Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) has been shown possible to be use as a general carrier. In this study, the C-terminal end of NP full-length (pTrcHis2) were fused to the full-length of VP5 of IBDV to study the effect of these construct in cell culture and the possibility of this recombinant to induce apoptosis. The clones were then expressed and solubility test were done to determine the level of solubility of the recombinant proteins by Western blot. The DNA insert of NPfl-VP5 and VP5 were further subcloned into pCDNA3.1/V5 TOPO TA vector. The pcDNA3.1-NPfl-VP5 and pcDNA3.1-VP5 constructs were tested for transient expression in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. DNA laddering analysis and Acridine orange propidium iodide (AOPI) was also performed in order to check for any changes due to apoptosis. Expression of the NPfl-VP5 protein in E. coli was not detected by SDS-PAGE but a band at the expected size (~


In this paper, we extracted stereo disparity using single camera added a stereo adapter, and trace out the target object. we used the left masking image as the reference image. we get stereo disparity as a result of the stereo matching using the left masking image changes into the reference image, and can trace out the target object by the pan/tilt of camera control as this stereo disparity


The demographics of donor and recipient candidates for kidney transplantation (KT) have substantially changed. Recipients tend to be older and polymorbid and KT to marginal recipients is associated with delayed graft function (DGF), prolonged hospitalization, inferior long-term allograft function, and poorer patient survival. In parallel, donors are also older, suffer from several comorbidities, and donations coming from circulatory death (DCD) predominate, which in turn leads to early and late complications. However, it is unclear how donor and recipient risk factors interact. In this retrospective cohort study, we assess the overall and combined impact of a KT from marginal donors to marginal recipients. We focused on: 1) DGF; 2) hospital stay and number of dialysis days after KT and 3) allograft function at 6 months. Among the 369 KT included, the overall DGF rate was 25% (n = 92) and median time from reperfusion to DGF resolution was 7.8 days (IQR: 3.0-13.8 days). Overall, patients received four dialysis sessions (IQR: 2-8). The combination of pre-KT anuria (< 200 ml/24h, 32%) and DCD procurement (14%) was significantly associated with DGF, length of hospital stay, and severe perioperative complications, predominantly in recipients 50 years and older.


The hardware design of vehicle PDA based on Intel Atom Z530and TI MSP430F2350is described.According to the characteristics of"vehicle lane management",an improved mode of auto inspection and quarantine and entry-exit based on vehicle PDA is proposed by utilizing the wireless base station,double working frequency,frequency hopping technology and so on.On this basis,an intelligent mobile supervision system for land ports is built.In the situation that there is no physical vehicle lane,the system could reduce the links of inspection and quarantine and enhance the entry-exit efficiency.Field testing results show the system has good stability and reliability,the vehicle collection and identification rate is greater than 99.50%,while the response time is less than 1s.


ABSTRACT In this paper, a range-free, passive, and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-based localization scheme is proposed for underwater acoustic sensor networks. The AUV has used four directional acoustic beams with fixed steering angle and width, which led to the constant ratio of array size to wavelength, in order to localize the sensor nodes. The AUV was moved on a random waypoint path and broadcasted messages periodically. The sensor nodes used two successively received message sequences which were submitted by two beams on one side of the AUV path in order to localize themselves. Extensive simulation results in MATLAB demonstrated that using the proposed localization scheme could yield better localization success than other AUV-based localization methods.


IF IT WERE POSSIBLE to divide the total population of library users into subpopulations based on their needs, academic library administrators could better predict the responses of these user groups to proposed programs or changes. Programs might be developed aimed specifically at satisfying needs of a particular group. Thus it is desirable to identify functionally different user groups, not only to gauge library effectiveness but also to guide its programs. In a recent survey conducted in an academic library, faculty and student users (i.e., library "visitors") were asked to evaluate the library's services. To discover their attitudes and certain descriptive information about respondents, a special questionnaire was designed and directed to a sampling of users at all levels. The response of users was excellent, and 6,568 gave the information request-


The most of modern commercial optoelectronic devices such as Laser diodes, solar cells, lightemitting diodes (LEDs), and nonlinear optical devices are built on the basis of traditional inorganic semiconductors. However, a lot of progress has been made in producing devices based on organic electronic materials, in recent decades [1], but the current development prospects of organic materials are mostly limited in their scope to relatively low-performance areas. Low mobility of charge carriers in molecular materials, can be mentioned as one of import reason for this topic. Strong chemical interaction between organic molecules and metal electrodes can destroy the injection of charge carriers into the organic molecules [2].


Subtitle: The growth of car manufacturing in China caught carriers short, but building programmes have now been set in place.


A mapping function between different speaker frequency envelopes based on GMM is put forward, in which several linear functions are combined by probability, and LSF parameter is adopted to reflect the frequency envelope. The initial mapping parameter are gotten by the relation of average and covariance between source and target GMM. Furthermore, the EM algorithm is adopted to refine the mapping function, by which the estimation of target feature can be gotten from the source feature. All the analysis of histogram, the difference between estimation and the real target feature with time and the DTW distance show that, the proposed mapping function can well characterize the relationship between source and target features.


This paper presents our experience in teaching Digital Signal Processing (DSP) in Irish university undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as some limited experience of teaching DSP in Australia to undergraduate students. We also present the methodology used in designing and the delivery of the module. Our experience of various methods of delivery, such as traditional " lecture-only" classroom environment, technology based "smart classroom" environment and distance learning via video conferencing is also presented. Current development of Java based DSP education in Australia is outlined.


The article describes a method of experimental determination of the coefficient of heat engineering homogeneity of enclosing structures buildings used during thermal testing in a climate chamber. The method is based on obtaining a matrix of temperature distribution on the inner surface of a fragment of enclosing structure. The matrix is formed by collecting data from a thermovision controller and data received from the temperature sensors installed at selected points.


Sol–gel distributions at high conversions, simulated by computer with spatial constraints on the distribution of chain ends, are reported for end‐linked tetrafunctional systems. The composition of the sol is found to be uniquely dependent upon the functionality f of the cross linker: for f=4, it mainly consists of linear monomers and oligomers containing one saturated cross linker. The molecular weight distribution of the sol exhibits a shoulder at the trimer due to the relative abundance of the ''bow‐tie'' molecule. The populations of various types of dangling ends and loop defects in the gel are given and discussed. Our simulations reveal empirically that the single‐loop probability varies with the −3/8 power of the molecular weight of the prepolymers. The power‐law dependence of the loop formation on chain length of the prepolymers and the nonrandom nature of the cross‐linking reaction is discussed.


Microgrid can operate in dual mode; grid-connected and islanded mode. In order to seamless transfer from islanded microgrid to grid connected mode, it is necessary to voltage, frequency and phase of microgrid to synchronize with main grid to prevent severe conse-quence. However, microgrid has to be controlled in a coordinated way to achieve a synchronization. This paper present a review on the existing active synchronization approach with their control strategies. There are three approach for grid-connected synchronization; active synchronization, passive synchronization and open transition transfer. However, only active synchronization approach provides the reliable reconnection for microgrid. Active synchronization approach associates with control structures and control strategies. There are three control structures of microgrid under active synchronization; centralized, decentralized and distributed and three control strategies available in the literature which are phase locked loop (PLL), droop control, and frequency locked loop (FLL). The most applicable control strategy for active synchronization is phase locked loop because of its simplicity, robustness, and effectiveness in various main grid condition. Furthermore, between three control structures of active synchronization, decentralized control is becoming more favorable by the researches based on its advantages over the other structures.


Aim To study the effects of Sikang ganmao oral liquores(CCD) on virus,bacteria and analgesia.Methods Virus induced cell pathological changes were used to observe the anti virus effect of CCD;the method of pouring drug into plate media holes was adopted to observe the anti bacteria effect CCD;and heat induced pain response and acetic acid induced writhing in mice were employed to observe the analgesic effect of CCD.Results The median effective concentration of CCD anti herpes virus Ⅰ was 0.98 g·L -1 .CDD 1 0 g·ml -1 showed inhibition against staphylococcus aureus(ATCC 25923,MRSA),epidermidis staphylococcus,streptococcus pneumoniae and streptococcus viridans CCD 5.0 and 10 0 g·kg -1 prolonged incubation period of hot plate reaction in mice(P0 05,P0 01).CCD 10 0 and 20 0 g·kg -1 showed marked suppressive effect on writhing induced by acetic acid in mice(P0 01).Conclusion CCD has anti virus and bacteria function.It also possesses analgesic effect for a relatively long time.


Many decision problems are set in changing environments. For example, determining the optimal investment in cyber maintenance depends on whether there is evidence of an unusual vulnerability, such as "Heartbleed," that is causing an especially high rate of incidents. This gives rise to the need for timely information to update decision models so that optimal policies can be generated for each decision period. Social media provide a streaming source of relevant information, but that information needs to be efficiently transformed into numbers to enable the needed updates. This article explores the use of social media as an observation source for timely decision making. To efficiently generate the observations for Bayesian updates, we propose a novel computational method to fit an existing clustering model. The proposed method is called k-means latent Dirichlet allocation (KLDA). We illustrate the method using a cybersecurity problem. Many organizations ignore "medium" vulnerabilities identified during peri...


The Apostolic Order, a late medieval Italian mendicant order remains fundamentally little understood despite several centuries of research and writing devoted to their history. Much of the work done on the Apostolic Order (or Followers of Dolcino) has been focused on their leaders, taken as given the order's heretical status, or presumed the marginalized status of those who supported the order. This thesis attempts to reconsider the order and its supporters by placing them as another mendicant order prior to the papal condemnation, and put forth the new perspective that the supporters were much like other medieval persons and became socially marginalized by the inquisitorial focus on the Apostolic Order. To support this theory, this thesis will compare the inquisitorial records of the Apostolic supporters found in Historia Fratris Dulcini Heresiarche and the Acta S. Officii Bononie—ab anon 1291 usque ad annum 1310 to those of another group of mendicants and supporters, the Beguins of Provence, which are found in Spirituali e Beghini in Provenza, Bernard Gui's Le Livre des Sentences de L'inquisiteur Bernard Gui 1308-1323, and the martyrology in Louisa Burnham's So Great a Light, So Great a Smoke: The Beguin Heretics of Languedoc. These two groups of data were compared using statistical analysis and network and game theory, and the results were that 1) the groups were similar; 2) most differences could be reasonably explained by the objectives of respective inquisitions or length of persecution prior to the inquisition. That these two groups are comparable suggests that there are patterns in mendicant supporter membership exemplified by Franciscan tertiaries and that the supporters of the Apostolic Order fit this pattern.


A new method of reactive power optimization in power systems is proposed, which employs the theory of chaotic optimization. The method takes the minimum real power losses as the objective function, and seeks the corresponding optimum solution of the minimum objective function under the constraints of the control variables.In consideration of the ergodicity and randomness of the chaotic system, the optimal solution is figured out directly by transforming the chaotic variables into the optimizing variables. The numerical results from IEEE14, 30, 57 and 118 systems show that the method hold fine global convergence and it is a novel approach to solve the problem of power system reactive power optimization with simple structure and usage convenience.


Resistance to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a frequent occurrence in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)-secreted exosomes have been associated with 5-FU sensitivity. The potential molecular mechanism of CAFs-exosomal miRNAs in CRC remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of exosomal miRNAs in 5-FU sensitivity in CRC. Exosomes derived from CAFs were extracted. Exosomal miR-181d-5p was identified as a miRNA associated with 5-FU sensitivity. The putative function of exosomal miR-181d-5p was evaluated by ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine staining, flow cytometry, RNA immunoprecipitation, luciferase reporter assay, tumor xenograft formation, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. Modification of miR-181d-5p by the RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methyltransferase like (METTL)3 was examined by m6A methylation analysis. The results indicated that m6A modification and METTL3 expression were upregulated in CRC patients. METTL3-dependent m6A methylation promoted the miR-181b-5p process by DiGeorge Syndrome Critical Region 8 (DGCR8) in CAFs. CAFs-derived exosomes inhibited 5-FU sensitivity in CRC cells through the METTL3/miR-181d-5p axis. A mechanistic study revealed that miR-181d-5p directly targeted neurocalcin δ (NCALD) to inhibit the 5-FU sensitivity of CRC cells. Patients with higher NCALD levels exhibited a higher survival rate. Taken together, METTL3-dependent m6A methylation was upregulated in CRC to promote the processing of miR-181d-5p by DGCR8. This led to increased miR-181d-5p expression, which inhibited the 5-FU sensitivity of CRC cells by targeting NCALD. The results of the present study provided novel insight into exosomal microRNAs in 5-FU sensitivity in CRC cells. Furthermore, exosomal miR-181d-5p may represent a potential prognostic marker for CRC.


Through experiences of dance with elderly, where there were many difficulties and doubts about the didactic - methodological resources to be used, emerged the interest for this study, which aims to identify and analyze the didactic - methodological processes used for dance in elderly groups teaching in the city of Santa Maria/RS. This research is justified by our belief that from the analysis and reflection on the didactic - methodological process, we can contribute to the pedagogic practice of the teachers who work dance to elderly, and that this study intends to point some suggestions to the most adequate methodology for this population. The study is characterized as descriptive, the subjects are the physical education teachers that work dance to elderly in this city; as research instruments we used the (direct) observation of the classes and the interview (semi structured) with the teachers. We hope to reach our goal, contributing for the pedagogic practice in a way the teachers obtain some reference about the didactic - methodological processes used for the elderly groups, and changing dance into something more then a simple practice, in something that passes through body and becomes part of history and life of the learners.


It is widely accepted that the OO paradigm will significantly increase software reusability, extendibility, interoperability, and reliability. This is also true for high assurance systems engineering, provided that the systems are tested adequately. Software testing is an important software quality assurance activity to ensure that the benefits of OO programming will be realized. OO software testing has to deal with new problems introduced by the powerful new features of OO languages. The objective of the article is to review some of the existing research in OO software testing, in particular, the research at the University of Texas at Arlington.


Informatization development level of Henan Province is lower,and being as the regional think-tank,Henan Library should constantly develop and innovate diversified services,and speed up the informatization development in Henan Province. This paper expounds the necessity of carrying out the diversified services in the library,and puts forward some methods and countermeasures for Henan Library to carry out the information services.


Understanding the breakup morphology of an expelled respiratory liquid is an emerging interest in diverse fields to enhance the efficacious strategies to attenuate disease transmission. In this paper, we present the possible hydrodynamic instabilities associated with expelling the respiratory liquid by a human. For this purpose, we have performed experiments with a cylindrical soap film and air. The sequence of the chain of events was captured with high-speed imaging. We have identified three mechanisms, namely, Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) instability, Rayleigh–Taylor (R–T) instability, and Plateau–Rayleigh (P–R) instability, which are likely to occur in sequence. Furthermore, we discuss the multiple processes responsible for drop fragmentation. The processes such as breakup length, rupture, ligament, and drop formation are documented with a scaling factor. The breakup length scales with We−0.17, and the number of ligaments scales as Bo. In addition, the thickness of the ligaments scales as We−0.5. Here, We and Bo represent the Weber and Bond numbers, respectively. It was also demonstrated that the flapping of the liquid sheet is the result of the K–H mechanism, and the ligaments formed on the edge of the rim appear due to the R–T mechanism, and finally, the hanging drop fragmentation is the result of the P–R instability. Our study highlights that the multiple instabilities play a significant role in determining the size of the droplets while expelling a respiratory liquid. This understanding is crucial to combat disease transmission through droplets.


A method for checking a functionality of a multicolor printing machine (1) with a corresponding colors number of printing units (5), in which initially a plurality of registration marks (20) consisting of register lines (23-29, 43-48) of the individual printing units (5) being determined on the basis of the output signal of the register sensor (8) is printed within respective registers frame (50), and the register marks (20) are detected by a register sensor (8), whether the number of printing units (5) corresponding number of register lines ( 23-29, 43-48) can be seen, the total register mark (20) is discarded if this is not the case, and wherein when a predetermined number or a predetermined percentage of register marks (20) was discarded, a method for detecting errors is carried out in the individual color separations comprising: Printing a plurality of first register lines (43'-48 ') with a first printing unit (5) and a plurality of second register lines (43'-48') with a second printing unit (5) such that each of the first register lines (43 ' -48 ') together ...


Useful experience of agricultural independent innovation system at home and abroad from four aspects, those are construction of rule, input of science and technology and the combination of science, research and technology promotion were summarized in this paper.


The present invention is based on the positive, or a mixture of polar compounds having negative dielectric anisotropy, the general formula (I) In the formula, R In represented by at least one type of compound, a liquid crystal medium. Electro-optical display device including the use and the aforementioned medium to electro-optical engineering of the media of the invention are also disclosed.


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for forming an epitaxial layer on a substrate. The substrate is exposed to pulsed laser radiation to clean, anneal, and/or activate the surface of the substrate. The substrate is then exposed to a deposition precursor in a self-limiting deposition process. The substrate may again be exposed to pulsed laser radiation, and then exposed to a second deposition precursor in a second self-limiting deposition process. The process may be repeated as desired to form the epitaxial layer of very high quality one atomic layer at a time.


This paper deals with road recognition by the use of neural networks on vibration signals. In particular, an accelerometer sensor is used and it acquires the vibrations transmitted in the contact between the tyres and the ground. Twelve different types of road have been tested at different speed of the car. Based on these data a neural network has been proposed to correlate a set of suitable characteristics of the vibration signal with the type of road. The effectiveness of the resulting neural network has been proved on a control set of data. Moreover the paper reports a sensitivity analysis of the neural network in order to minimize the number of inputs needed and to make it rugged.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


This paper briefly discusses the purpose of research super totalstation global positioning system (STGPS), and it gives the constructions and functions of STGPS which has been developed by us. We believe the STGPS will get wide application because the STGPS has many advantages compared with a totalstation or GPS.


Since the first publication of successful silanization in carbon nanotubes (Velasco-Santos 2002) different research groups have opted for modify carbon nanotubes using various organosilanes. Silanization offer to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) the possibility to diversify their surface features depending on the organic part in organosilane inserted to nanotube surface. Silanized nanotubes show different features related with the silane used in functionalization. Dispersion of CNTs in organic solvents is modified by the organosilane type applied in silanization of nanotubes. Silanization have been achieved in CNTs taking advantage of the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups produced during the oxidation process of nanotubes. Also, silylation achieved without previous oxidation and by hydroxylation have been developed. In addition, silanized CNTs (s-CNTs) are used to attach to nanotube surface other nanoparticles and molecules. This later is useful to create alternatives to functionalize or accomplish CNTs to other inorganic or organic nanometric structures. Due to the alternatives that the silanization offer to carbon materials, recently the successful approaches used to silanize CNTs have been applied to other carbon materials such as nanofibers and graphene. In spite of silanization is a successful method to change nanotube surface behavior, to attach other molecules or chains to nanotubes, or linking CNTs with other nanostructures; this route with organosilanes is an established approach in polymer composites. In this type of chemical functionalization, silanes are used as coupling agents of glass and carbon fiber with polymer matrices in order to improve interface. In this context, silanization in CNTs, also have been proposed as nanometric coupling agent (Velasco-Santos 2002) of CNTs with polymer matrices and thus, recently silanized carbon nanotubes have been incorporated to develop polymer nanocomposites. Thus, in the first part of this chapter are described the principles of silanization reaction achieved in CNTs and the characterization obtained in the first report. The second part of the chapter describes diverse researches of silanization reactions achieved in nanotube


The association between breast cancer outcomes and presence of isolated tumor cells (ITCs) or micrometastases in regional lymph nodes is unknown. To examine this issue, investigators in the Netherlands conducted a retrospective analysis of 995 node-positive patients (with ITCs or micrometastases) who had received treatment (systemic adjuvant therapy), 856 node-positive patients who had not received treatment, and 856 node-negative patients who had not received treatment.

At median follow-up of 5.1 years, 5-year …


These are the miniproceedings of the workshop "Exotic hadronic atoms, deeply bound kaonic nuclear states and antihydrogen: present results, future challenges," which was held at the European Centre for Theoretical Nuclear Physics and Related Studies (ECT*), Trento (Italy), June 19-24, 2006. The document includes a short presentation of the topics, the list of participants, and a short contribution from each speaker.


DURING THE LATE ANTIQUITY THE CITY GETS TRANSFORMED. IT DOES NOT DISAPPEAR OR GETS WRECHED. IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE ARISING OF A GREATER NUMBER OF RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS SUCH AS BASILICAS. MONASTERIES. BAPTISTERIES. EPISCOPAL PALACES. ORATORIES. ETC. THE "CIVITAS" CONTINUES ITS LIFE ADAPTING ITSELF TO NEW SPACES AND FUNCTIONS. THANKS TO THE STUDY OF THE LITERARY SOURCES AS WELL AS THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SOURCES. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COME TO AN END WITH THE IDEA OF THE LOWER-IMPERIAL DECLINE IN THE CITIES. THE CASE OF TARRACO IS PARADIGMATIC. AND THE EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAS PROVEN IT SO.


For the current problem that the calculation in the method of sampling inspection by attributes is too complicated,an application program for the calculation is proposed.This program is developed based on the platform of Delphi 7.0,and its mathematical model is hypergeometric distribution.The successive approximation is conducted by using the trial-and-error method.The program provides six interfaces which are single,double,and triple samplings based on choosing plans by indicators and single,double,and triple samplings of calculating indicators by plans respectively.The program also shows the OC curves.Several years' experience of the experts from more than ten institutions shows that this program really functions well and easy to be used with small error.It can runs on any PC and obtain results realtimely.The program is applied especially to the research phase for small volume production and can be used to design the double and triple sampling plans easily.


In order to get a further understanding of the arc stability and study the regular phenomenon of arc interruption during the CO_2flux-cored double wire GMAW process,a series of experiments(arc voltage matching,welding current matching and inter-wire distance matching) were designed.Synchronous high-speed camera system was used to take a picture of arc shape and data acquisition system based on Labview was used to collect current and voltage waveforms simultaneously. Then histogram was used to analyze the arc stability.The results show that decreasing the voltage of trailing arc,decreasing the current ratio between trailing arc and leading arc and increasing the inter-wire distance will enhance the leading arc stability;decreasing the current ratio between leading arc and trailing arc,decreasing the voltage of trailing arc and increasing the inter-wire distance will decrease the frequency of interruption of the trailing arc.Finally,the captured images of the arc were combined with the acquisition of current,voltage waveforms,by which the arc interruption phenomenon occurred in the welding process was analyzed.


The success of managing forest resources in Indonesia that it has not been massive yet, the track record of the progression has shown due to mindset of managing forest that tend to antisocial. Conservation area of Sorong Nature Recreation Park (TWA Sorong) can't be separated from its community and culture. This study aims to uncover social phenomenom of the people in TWA Sorong as the implication of community interaction with surrounding forest resources. This research based on constructivism paradigm with qualitative approach. The strategy used is case study strategy trough observation method, interview and desk study. The results shows in its historical development, TWA Sorong has asymmetric information phenomena betwen government and the community that can direct its status to an illegitimate legal condition. The community arround the area are more of the type of oral tradition and tend to post-truth so that in interpreting the objective truth of the law that tend to appear simplification of law phenomena. In the cultural context, there is shifting of culture phenomena which shows a shift in the meaning of customary rights which were originaly interpreted as rights that have religio-magical ties but nowdays it's interpreted more economically .


Using phenyllformic acid as initiating combustion agent, molar comb us tion heat of castor oil at constant volume is determined with bomb calorimeter.A s a result of conversion,molar combustion heat of castor oil at constant pressur e is -32428.1kJ·mol-1,standard molar formation enthalpy is -4865.1 kJ·mol -1


Beginning in 1900, Sigmund Freud loved to spend his summer holidays in the small village of Lavarone in the eastern Italian Alps, better known as the Dolomites, then part of the AustriaHungary Empire. He expressed his enthusiasm for this lovely place in a letter to his wife, Martha: ''Unser Herz zeigt nach dem Suden'' (''Our heart looks toward the south'') and came there again and again until 1923. He stayed at the Hotel du Lac, a small, old-fashioned hotel overlooking the gracious lake, where the father of psychoanalysis loved to swim. In the small library at the hotel he wrote ''Delusion and Dream in Wilhelm Jensen's Gradiva'' in 1906, the first application of psychoanalysis to the study of a literary work. More than a century later, in August 2008, a handful of transactional analysts led by Dolores Munari Poda, who also loves to spend her holidays in Lavarone, met in the same small library where Sigmund Freud used to sit. They gathered to share their interest, passion, and commitment to the analysis of very special literary masterpieces: the little scripts of little people. That was the first Lavarone Seminar on transactional analysis with children and adolescents. In subsequent years, the number of participants who gathered for the seminar made it difficult to stay in the small library, so in 2010 we moved to a larger location, the conference hall provided by the Lavarone Municipality. The group has met there ever since. The Lavarone Seminar has had considerable success and now brings together about 100 transactional analysts from different countries to deepen their knowledge about transactional analysis applications in education, counseling, and psychotherapy with children and adolescents. Most of these professionals are now members of the association of International Transactional Analysts with Children and Adolescents (ITACA), the acronym for which recalls Ithaca, Ulysses's island, to represent a most desired territory. It was during the Fifth Lavarone Seminar, in 2012, that the three guest editors of this special issue of the Transactional Analysis Journal—two of them former pediatricians (GJ-H and MM), one a long-time child therapist (DMP), and all enthusiastic participants of the seminars—decided to propose to the TAJ coeditors a special issue of the Journal on this theme. We are grateful to the TAJ team for their encouragement and support. As we were talking about the transactional analysis literature on children and adolescents, we realized that there has not been an issue on that topic since 1988, when guest editor Frances Bonds-White edited one on children. Looking at research in child development over the past 25


The purpose of this synthesis of research was to explore how classroom inclusiveness affected international students in U.S. higher education based on published studies. Data were collected from 15 peerreviewed published studies that included international students' experiences in U.S higher education. Some of the themes that reoccurred in the review of research included the following areas: classroom differences between students' home countries and the United States; classroom participation expectations, including professors' and students' perspectives of those expectations; and denial of equity in education by production of whiteness and the relationship between language and power. The author concluded from the results that classroom practices existed that, instead of promoting integration of international students into classroom activities, facilitated exclusion and segregation of these students. The classroom practices that promoted exclusion of international students included the following: (a) unstructured class discussions, (b) lack of guidance from the professor during class, (c) little value placed on international perspectives, (d) overrepresentation of oral classroom participation as the only mode of participation, (e) lack of respect for other educational cultural norms, and (f) reinforcement of production of whiteness by professors and American students.


Emaciation and enteritis of the small intestine were observed in three cottontail rabbits, Sylvilagus floridanus, which had died shortly after their capture from the wild and introduction into outdoor enclosures. These symptoms were associated with very heavy infection of intestinal flukes, Hasstilesia tricolor. Histological sections collected from the intestine of one rabbit revealed extensive villi destruction attributed to the parasite. Attachment of flukes to one another by ventral suckers was also observed. The high prevalence of infection of this parasite in Montgomery County, Virginia, indicates that it may be of local importance as a pathogen causing fatal consequences in its host.


We study the effect of the spin-orbit coupling on the band structure and the Fermi surface of the threeorbital model within the two-iron Brillouin zone. Due to the presence of two irons in the crystallographically correct unit cell, the spin-orbit coupling can be divided into the intraand intercell parts with respect to the one-iron unit cell. We show that the intercell part produces the reconstruction of the Fermi surface in the form of the pronounced splitting between the previously degenerate electron (π, π)-pockets along the (0, π) − (π, π) direction. Intracell part shifts the bands around (0, 0) point and removes degeneracy there. There are also some other band shifts but they should not affect the low-energy physics because they occur at energy scales of about 1 eV below the Fermi level.


A study of the oral communication experiences and training of obstetric sonographers can provide insight into the complex expectations these medical professionals face as they complete their technical tasks and communicate with patients. Unlike other diagnostic medical professionals, obstetric sonographers are expected to provide detailed information to patients during the exam, a practice not typically found in the work of other types of medical diagnostic professionals. This study presents the results of interviews with 23 obstetric sonographers who described their communication experiences and their views on sonographer training in communication. Results suggest that sonographers experience complex communication challenges in the workplace that are not typically addressed in their education, nor are they officially recognized in the official discourse of their profession.


Advances and widespread use of Internet shopping intermediaries have empowered consumers to collect detailed product information and discover the price dispersion for the product and its alternatives. These intermediaries provide in-depth decision support systems for consumers to search and sort out vast amount of information available on Internet. This paper examines the impact of these intermediaries upon consumer strategy and payoffs. We extend pioneering works in the area of information economics to find out optimal consumer search strategies varying level of market competition, signal qualities from intermediaries, and search costs. Our major findings are: (1) consumer payoff is continuous along the quality of signal dimension, but it may have kinks because of strategy changes, (2) cost of search decreases the incentive to search, and (3) market competition increases the incentive to search. This work reinforces the existing literature propositions on the impact of search costs in a stochastic problem setting and includes an intriguing analysis of market competition and corresponding consumer strategies. Our findings should assist firms in their design of infomediaries and precipitate in improved understanding of the impacts on market competition and rationale for consumer behavior and strategies.


Scientific publications have only been mentioned since the beginning of the 20th century. With the emergence and development of the research of scientific communication, the quantification of science also began, first as a 'science of science' and then developed further as a result of the explosion of the amount of scientific output, which has been almost exponential since the 20th century. This growth led to the quantification of the output from the middle of the 20th century, and the establishment of the Science Citation Index by Eugene Garfield. In the 1960s the quantification of science was finally institutionalised.


Information Security is one of the key segments for every organization that gathers customers' information. This paper reviews customers' perception of information security in internet banking, their needs regarding security of information and their familiarity with some of the concepts related to Information Security. Online questionnaire was used in this paper as method for collecting data that will be used in this research. After conducted questionnaire, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23, and various tests (T-test, ANOVA) were used in order to get most precise data. Keywords—Information Security, Internet banking, Customers' perception


In this investigation we consider a semiclassical fully ionized plasma in which interparticle interactions are treated by means of an effective potential taking into account both quantum and correlation effects. An expression for the dielectric function corresponding to the generalized Drude–Lorentz formula is obtained beyond assumptions on the homogeneity of electromagnetic waves. The reflection index of semiclassical electron plasmas is then calculated and a comparison is made with similar results yielded by the method of moments.


From June to August 2010,30 feeding-sites of Grey Heron(Ardea cinerea) and 300 control sampling sites were investigated by the methods of sampling plot and factors analysis in Yellow River Wetlands in Shaanxi Province.Ten habitat factors,such as vegetation density,vegetation height,were examined.Compared with random plots,Mann-Whitney U and Independent Sample t-test indicated that usage sites were characterized by lower vegetation density,disturbance level,reeds cluster,reeds cluster density,vegetation coverage and higher dry level.However,there are no significant difference in vegetation height,water depth,and distance to lakeside between usage sites and random ones.By principle components analysis,the factors of vegetation,disturbance and water were critically factors to discriminate usage sites and random plots.


Research professors develop scientific products that impact and benefit society, but their competencies in doing so are rarely evaluated. Therefore, by employing a mixed two-stage sequential design, this study developed a self-assessment model of research professors' competencies with four domains, seven competencies, and 30 competency elements. Next, we conducted descriptive statistical analysis of those elements. In the first year, 320 respondents rated themselves on four levels: initial, basic, autonomous, and consolidated. In the assessment model's second year, we compared 30 respondents' results with those of their initial self-assessment. The main developmental challenge was Originality and Innovation, which remained at the initial level. Both Training of Researchers and Transformation of Society were at the basic level, and Digital Competency was at the autonomous level. Both Teaching Competence and Ethics and Citizenship attained the consolidated level. This information helps establish priorities for accelerating researchers' training and the quality of their research.


Segmentation is one of the key problems in remote sensing image processing, and a cluster hierarchy is a powerful tool to analyze data on multiple scales. In this paper, we present an optimal hierarchical remote sensing image segmentation approach which is a combination of feature-based classification, multi-scale region merging and classification-based object refinement, and it is shown to have the following properties: 1) it gets better results on general remote sensing images; 2) it offers a flexible segmentation hierarchy at a less computational cost.


Considering the non-stationary nature of the vibration signals of bearing fault under working conditions,a rolling bearing fault diagnosis method based on time-varying autoregressive(TVAR)model and hidden Markov model(HMM) has been proposed.After the vibration signals was modeled with TVAR,time-frequency spectrum with high time-frequency resolution and no cross term was obtained.Features of the time-frequency spectrum were extracted by energy means and then HMM was adopted to carry out statistic classification of the fault features and realize diagnosis of bearing fault.Analysis of the bearing signals shows that modeling with TVAR can facilitate effective extraction of the fault features from signals,and HMM has dynamic statistic characteristics,the integration of which can achieve intelligent identification of the fault type of bearing with satisfactory diagnosis result.


In Catholic tradition, the ordinations of clergy have to be approved by the Pope. However, many early ordinations in China had been supervised by the government. How could these ordinations and Masses be valid? This had concerned many Chinese Catholics before the 2018 China-Holy See Deal, which provided a solution, but still provoked debates. This essay studies if the 2018 Deal will de facto benefit the ordinary Chinese Catholics. An analytical study and a comparative study was conducted in this essay, which included the reference of sources quoted from the various sides of the debate and analysis of the key published resources regarding to this topic. Also, interviews with the witnesses of this issue, including the members of the underground church in China and the state church priests who were studying abroad, were referred in this study. This essay sought to predict a potential future of the Catholic community in China, and through this particular case, offers an alternative to the universal question of the role of religion in a state. The studies also lead to the conclusion that mutual compromise between China and the Holy See is probably the most beneficial for the ordinary Catholic population in China under the current situation.


Energy education needs to start early on in the school careers of our children. This is where CREATE's work was originally focused. But the organisation now develops and provides energy courses and education resources fora wide variety of organisations. Its Chief Executive, Mike Wolfe, take us through the curriculum.


A light module includes a light source (4) and an optical part (6) shaping the light rays emitted by the light source. The light source (4) is a semiconductor source which comprises a plurality of emitting units (8) of sub-millimeter dimensions, and at least one positioning protrusion (9) configured to participate in the positioning of the light source on an optical part (6). The light source is positioned relative to the optical part through cooperation of the at least one positioning projection (9) with a receiving opening (40) formed in the corresponding optical part.


Abstract This review article is an attempt to introduce the Polish reader to the most important aspects of Marcello Veneziani's book Nostalgia degli dei. Una visione del mondo in dieci idee (The longing for gods: Vision of the world in ten ideas), published in 2019. The Italian author, philosopher, journalist, writer and TV commentator, addresses the problem of diseases plaguing contemporary Western civilization that threaten its further existence. The book is a proposal to return to metaphysical thinking, but in a way akin to a contemporary pop version, and Veneziani's gods, close to Platonism, are metaphors and 'penultimate deities': Civilisation, Homeland, Family, Community, Tradition, Myth, Fate, Soul, God and Return. The article provides a subjective review of the content of Veneziani's book and juxtaposes it with Joseph Ratzinger's famous proposal addressed to contemporary non-believers, that is, 'to live as if God existed' (veluti si Deus daretur).


Electrical machines are more and more fed by static converters. These power supplies impose nonsinusoidal statoric waveform to the machines. In these conditions, behaviour of magnetic material can be very different compared with sinusoidal ones. The characterization of magnetic material under non‐sinusoidal excitations is not clearly defined. At the present time, there is not any standard about operating test and specific parameters to be measured in order to get efficient knowledge of soft magnetic materials in distorted excitation mode. The aim of this paper is to present the effect of statoric connections on harmonic characterization parameters. The experimental results correspond to a Fe‐Si non oriented material excited by two different waveforms in a classical Epstein frame. The behaviour of the material is divided into two parts: the fundamental and the harmonic responses. The fundamental parameters are representative of the duty frequency of the machine, harmonic ones give information about additional losses; especially their harmonic distribution. They also allow us to estimate harmonic impact on the fundamental response.


Many weight trainers are using GH in order to increase muscle hypertrophy and strength. The purpose of this review is to explore the effects of GH utilization in physiological and ergogenic responses to resistance training (RT). The responses will be divided in seven groups: bone mass, fat free mass (FFM), body fat, muscle strength and power, muscle hypertrophy, Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) concentrations and adverse reactions. There is evidence that RT associated with GH promotes superior gains in FFM and IGF-1 levels. However, none of the studies reviewed showed additional gains in muscle strength and hypertrophy in response to RT due to GH administration. Additionally, there is no irrefutable data to support GH use in order to increase bone changes or reduce body fat with RT. The large evidence of side effects without a significant ergogenic effect, reinforces the orientations that this hormone should not be used as an ergogenic aid.