Previous studies related to learner autonomy have been conducted, yet those studies seem to focus on formative assessment as a guarantee for the development of learner autonomy. This study is projected to assess the undergraduate students' level of independent learning since learner autonomy tends to manifest itself in various degree of independence. A questionnaire related to independent learner was adopted as the main instrument. The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative data were obtained to assess the students' level of independent learning while the qualitative data were gained to reveal the students' perceptions and thoughts about independent learning. The results show that most of the students have moderate independence. Moreover, most of the students are considered able to relate the concept of independent learning with various degrees of independence that are included in the notion of learner autonomy. Nevertheless, the findings also show that some students tend to have low interest in their studies, low expectation about what they want to learn, and low possibility in questioning what they are told. It is important for the teachers to enhance the students' moderate independence into high independence by providing the access to a number of learning opportunities. Thus, the students are able to critically reflect on their own learning and effectively develop awareness to help them learn constructively.


OBJECTIVE To prevent nosocomial infections by strengthening the infection management and training of the hospital cleaning staffs.METHODS Based on the problems existing in the maintenance staff,countermeasures were implemented,various regulations and systems were completed,the training was strengthened;regular and irregular supervision for the cleaning staffs′ work was performed for quality assessment.RESULTS The cleaning staff became more aware of nosocomial infections and the operation procedure were standardized with a good effect.CONCLUSION It can effectively control and prevent nosocomial infections through the implementation of management countermeasures and diversified knowledge training about nosocomial infections.


For clarifying different understandings of two-torpedo salvo of an acoustic homing torpedo,the meanings and attributions of mutual-homing and mutual-interference are discriminated.Measures of salvo protection are analyzed,and the applicability of the measures to anti mutual-homing and anti mutual-interference is discussed.Considering operational application,the possible tactical ways of two-torpedo salvo is analyzed.Thus the solutions to solve the technical and tactical problems in the two-torpedo salvo and the corresponding limitation are described.In addition,test items and test methods of salvo capability of an acoustic homing torpedoes are suggested.


Universities around the globe in this 21st century are facing challenges of globalization, technology and informational changes. Hence, to remain competitive and relevant, universities are required to equipped their students with new knowledge, skills and competencies so that they are able to cope with complex new roles which is in line with educational goals. Nonetheless, students have distinct personality traits which makes them perceived worldviews in a different way and behaving differently in various educational settings. Literature noted that non-cognitive constructs such as personality traits have been considered as predictors of success in learning. Thus, taking these differences into account can assist educators to recognize their students' individual differences and academic achievement. Therefore, this study was intended to investigate personality traits and its influence on academic performance among prospective teachers of shah alam. A total of 130 prospective student teachers participated in this study. Pearson's Product –Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) and multiple regression was conducted to measure the data. The finding showed that there was weak and positive relationships between conscientiousness and extroversion on academic performance. However, the finding found that the relationship between neuroticism and academic performance was significantly weak but inverse. Interesting, multiple regression analysis found that conscientiousness contribute about 11.8% of variance in academic performance. Implications and recommendation were discussed in this paper.


In the critics' view my discussion of administrative decentralization in New York City is beset by two general problems. First, and least serious in my opinion, is the problem of balance. I am charged with having neglected or at least undervalued "community control" and having overvalued administrative decentralization as an answer to the needs of neighborhood people. Second, and more problematic, are the underlying political, economic, and technological forces which exert pressure against any form of political or administrative decentralization. Let me address these problems in turn.


The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Council on Education of the Deaf (CED) share mutually agreed upon standards for beginning teachers of students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Two standards deal with the need for beginning teachers to know how to locate information about alternative communication philosophies. One way to know how far the field needs to take its beginning teachers is to determine veteran teachers' knowledge of alternate philosophies. To investigate this, eight focus groups of veteran teachers of students who are Deaf/ Hard of Hearing were asked to identify language instructional practices associated with a philosophy, either oral communication or using total communication, for which their educational backgrounds had not prepared them. This generated a set of 79 statements of practices, which were then verified by program supervisors using a Likert-type scale. The author lists and discusses the resulting set of practices which define and separate the two approaches as well as those practices which cut across philosophies and describes implications for teacher preparation.


The invention relates to an optical assembly with at least one first light emitting element (LE1) and a second light emitting element (LE2), with at least one light adder (1), arranged such that the light of the first and second light-emitting element (LE1, LE2 ) is added to a light beam. Further, the invention relates to an optical method in which light of a first light emitting element (LE1) using light from a second light emitting element (LE2) is added to a light beam.


Compression indicates the decreasing insize of image without decreasing the quality of the input image. The widely addressed researched area in the application of compression on images is Image compression. The importance of compression of image is to decrease the redundancy and irrelevancy in the image given as input, such that the image can be collected and can be transmitted substantially. There are several compression standards present in this compression of imagebut even there is a scope for high compression in quality of reconstructed image.The image compression contains two techniques depending on the compressed image, to be exactly same as the original such as lossy techniques and lossless techniques.The DCT(Discrete cosine transform) can be used by JPEG in the compression of images.Different aspects in image compression gives wavelet image compression introduction. Theresults thus obtained from the output proves the analysis of compression using DCT and DWTdepending on the PSNR, MSE values as well as the compression ratiowithout the image quality degradation.


A vapour pressure method has been used to determine the partial pressure of water as a function of the concentrations of dissolved water and quinoline in the solvents diphenylmethane, n-hexadecane and several mixtures of diphenylmethane and hexadecane. Inferred values of the equilibrium constant for formation of quinoline · H2O and the effects of solvents on this constant are analogous to those determined previously for pyridine · H2O. In disagreement with a recent report, it is concluded that water is a much poorer proton donor than phenol, but similar in proton-donating ability to aliphatic alcohols.


DR. SARAH VICKERSTAFF IS SENIOR LECTURER in industrial relations (human resource management) in the Canterbury Business School; Dr. Kim Parker is lecturer in operational research in the Maths Institute, both at the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. This paper reports on recent survey research investigating how the new employer-led Training and Enterprise Councils and Local Enterprise Companies, established to spearhead a change in training and enterprise attitudes and activity in Britain, are organising in order to reach and address the particular problems of the small business sector. In the past, small businesses have often believed that government initiatives on training and enterprise fail to address the realities of the small business owners' situation. The paper identifies the problems that TECs/LECs may face in gaining the confidence of small businesses and reveals that many TECs/LECs appear to recognise the need for a specifically targeted approach to SMEs. However, the analysis suggests that TECs/LECs need a range of mechanisms to reach the diverse population that constitutes the small business sector and that connections with industrial organisations may be more significant for reaching small firms than has been assumed.


Abstract Young people's lives have been directly and indirectly affected by the dynamics of decline in rural Australia. In early 1999, the Casterton region experienced the suicides of two young people. These events led to the funding of a rural youth education and support program at the town's secondary college. The program adopts a multi-layered approach to reduce risk factors and strengthen the protective factors amongst students at the college through the enhancement of social connectedness, personal safety and freedom, and educational participation. The program provides interventions at the individual, school and community levels through case management, the delivery of group programs and opportunities for community participation. This approach recognises the importance of early intervention and a holistic approach to health and well-being in the student population. This paper provides an overview and preliminary evaluation of the program undertaken in 2002.


A quantitative analysis of q-space MRI data (QUAQ) is presented to extract the physical parameters of diffusion in fiber networks and resolve fiber crossings, e.g. for brain white matter fiber tracking. This method is based on the analytical expression for the normalized echo attenuation E(q) in cylindrical pores measured by pulsed-gradient MRI in the short pulse approximation, which reflects the restricted diffusion process inside the fibers. An alternative method (MDTI) consists in approximating E(q) by a sum of Gaussian distributions, which corresponds to the assumption that the diffusion process in the fibers reduces to unrestricted anisotropic diffusion. These two methods are validated and compared both numerically and experimentally, and the influence of the distribution of the input measurements in q-space (number of gradient strengths and orientations) on the results is investigated.


Summary A critical and under-studied dimension of inter-organizational relationships is the structure-performance relationship. This paper considers three aspects of this relationship in the operation of lead-organization public service delivery networks -how governance functions are structured and managed, the nature of inter-organizational interdependencies in service delivery, and the intensity of interactions. Using data on 138 partnerships operating within 26 networks to provide family preservation services in Los Angeles County, we estimate a random-effects model of this relationship. After controlling for partner and network characteristics, we find that service delivery is positively impacted when roles and responsibilities are contractually defined, and by the extent to which decision making, information, and resources are shared. Network relational benefits also accrue when roles are contractually defined, and to the extent information and resources are shared. More sector diversity within the network is associated with less effective service delivery, but with an increase in subsequent ties among network organizations. Finally, group structures were not found to affect performance for any outcome. 1 I appreciate the helpful assistance of Bin Chen in this research.


From the supply chain, now RFID technology is gradually applied to the core of manufacturing process. By adopting the RFID technology in workshop layer, the exact real-time information that is obtained from RFID, can be seamlessly integrated into the manufacturing execution system. Therefore it can create additional value, and increase productivity for the enterprise. The technical advantages of applying RFID technology to the manufacturing execution system are analyzed detailedly by this paper. Taking the textile industry as object, the design of manufacturing execution system based on RFID is presented by this paper. And it provide perfection system solution for enterprise realizing real-time informatization.


© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2021. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. DESCRIPTION A 43yearold previously healthy man with hypertension presented to his primary care provider with fevers and dyspnea, after a history of cough and sinus congestion lasting several weeks. A chest radiograph demonstrated prominent interstitial markings with scattered alveolar opacities. Based on the clinical and radiographic findings, the patient began treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics for presumed pneumonia. Four days later, the patient presented to the emergency department with worsening dyspnea and was found to have SpO2 87% on room air, sinus tachycardia with heart rate 107 beats/min and elevated venous lactic acid of 5.1 mmol/L. CT of the chest was obtained (figure 1), demonstrating peribronchovascular and interlobular interstitial thickening in the dependent lungs. Nodular thickening of the peribronchovascular interstitium raised the possibility of lymphoproliferative disease. 2 The appearance was overall considered nonspecific, and atypical community acquired pneumonia was favored given the predominant dependent distribution. After several days without improvement, he developed leukocytosis and neutrophilia (white cell count 20.1×10/L, neutrophils 16.7x10/L) with persistent lactic acidosis presumed related to multifocal pneumonia. He required intubation for worsening hypoxia/adult respiratory distress syndrome and received vasopressor support for several days. Bronchoscopy demonstrated no endobronchial mass and extensive white secretions coating the airways. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology showed 95% neutrophils and 1% lymphocytes. Extensive infectious workup including blood cultures and bronchoalveolar lavage culture was entirely negative. Broad spectrum antibiotics, prednisone and antifungal treatment were given as an inpatient. Two weeks from admission, the patient improved enough to be discharged home with oxygen, completing an oral antibiotic course and prednisone taper. Neoplastic workup (such as peripheral blood smear, bone marrow aspirate, pulmonary biopsy) was not performed during initial presentation due to the patient's clinical improvement suggestive of community acquired pneumonia (despite negative cultures).


Datalog has become a popular language for writing static analyses. Because Datalog is very limited, some implementations of Datalog for static analysis have extended it with new language features. However, even with these features it is hard or impossible to express a large class of analyses because they use logical formulae to represent program state. FormuLog fills this gap by extending Datalog to represent, manipulate, and reason about logical formulae. We have used FormuLog to implement declarative versions of symbolic execution and abstract model checking, analyses previously out of the scope of Datalog-based languages. While this paper focuses on the design of FormuLog and one of the analyses we have implemented in it, it also touches on a prototype implementation of the language and identifies performance optimizations that we believe will be necessary to scale FormuLog to real-world static analysis problems.


Purpose. To identify factors affecting the predictability and report results of donor lamellar graft diameter and thickness in an artificial anterior chamber obtained with a microkeratome. Methods. Lamellar lenticules were obtained from 25 human corneoscleral rims mounted in an artificial anterior chamber. Lenticules measuring 9 mm were attempted at two thicknesses (250 &mgr;m and 350 &mgr;m heads). Intrachamber pressure of 65 mm Hg was confirmed with Barraquer tonometry. Keratometry, pachymetry, limbal white-to-white, and qualitative mires with the diameter applanation lens were evaluated as possible factors predictive of lenticule diameter and thickness. Diameters and thicknesses were measured with calipers and pachymetry, respectively. Results. Ninety-two percent (23/25 lenticules; 14/15 in 250 &mgr;m, 9/10 in 350 &mgr;m) were ± 0.25 mm of the intended diameter and 76% (19/25 lenticules; 12/15 in 250 &mgr;m, 7/10 in 350 &mgr;m) were within ± 100 &mgr;m of the intended thickness. Ovoid applanation mires with the diameter applanation lens represented tissue herniation within the artificial anterior chamber and led to ovoid lenticules (2/25). Conclusions. Lenticules of 9 mm ±0.25mm in diameter were highly reproducible with proper corneoscleral rim seating. Intrachamber pressure confirmed with Barraquer tonometry is important in obtaining lenticules of consistent diameter and adequate thickness. Ovoid applanation mires may herald improper corneoscleral rim seating and result in a similarly shaped lenticule. A 2 mm or greater corneoscleral rim is recommended to prevent tissue herniation within the artificial anterior chamber used in this study.


The purpose of this paper is to show the results of a study focused on the occurrence of damage heterogeneous materials, especially on the issue of modelling crack formation and propagation. In the beginning the attention is paid to the direct application of the finite element method to different types of materials in order to find critical parameters determining behaviour of materials at damage process. The applications of damage mechanics and possible approaches to model the origin of a crack propagation through modifications in FEM systems are presented and some practical applications are tested. Main effort is devoted to cement fibre composites and the search for new methods for their more accurate modelling, especially close to the field stress concentrator, respectively ahead of the crack tip. Modified XFEM method has been used as a suitable tool for numerical modelling.


The present invention encompasses viable cells, tissues and compositions for the real-time detection of transcription and translation of the organisms in the methods and kits. The present invention further provides rapid sequencing methods of nucleic acid without the use of conventional sequencing techniques or reaction.


Reproductiva performance& of 158 French Angora rabbit does were analyzed. They were bom in increasing or decreasing daylength and mated in increasing or decreasing daylength, either in natural mating or artificial insemination. First mating occurred early (after the 2nd fleece harvest, and then after the 4th, 6th, 8th), or late (only after the 6th and the 8th fleece harvest). The high acceptance rate, 87%, was influenced only by daylength, in favour of increasing daylength. From 100 mated does, 84 ovulated at least one ovocyte, 53 were pregnant and only 27 had at least one young bom alive. Average litter size was 5.3 youngs born, whereas there were 9.5 ova shed and 8.3 implantad embryos (12th day of pregnancy), counted by endoscopy. There were no strong significant differences between the group of does first mated early and those first mated late. However, results of the first parity of does mated early were significantly lower than all the others. Naturally mated does had a significantly lower frequency of ovulation (81.1 vs 94.6%, P<0.01), but in ovulating females, artificial insemination led to decrease the implantation rate (64.4 vs 73.2%, P<0.01), the litter size at implantation (7.7 vs 9.1, P<0.01) and at birth (3.8 vs 5.6 live pups, P<0.01). There were no significant correlations between fleece weight and reproductiva traits. None of the studied factors had a major influence on the high abortion rate. Artificial insemination did not improve the performance&. Further studies on the effect of Angora gene on reproduction are needed.


This paper presents a wideband low-spur fractional-N synthesizer with an adaptive noise cancellation technique. By adopting the classical loop filter, the ΣΔ quantization noise as well as the spurs are compensated with simple calibration circuits. The synthesizer is fully integrated in 130nm CMOS technology, consuming 0.33mm2 area and 8.3mW core power. It operates at 1.8 GHz carrier frequency with 1MHz bandwidth. The out-band phase noise is -129 dBc/Hz at 3MHz offset, the reference spur is -68 dBc, and the worst inband fractional spur is -56 dBc.


This article underscores Esau's depiction in rabbinic literature and it calls attention to the use of eponymous biblical figures. Esau not only symbolises a real other, but, like Ishmael and the children of Keturah, he is a fabricated antipode to Israel. Both real historical events and the precedence of an archetype, a primordial Other that is articulated, reified, and transmuted throughout the rabbinic corpus, are contributing factors to this treatment of Esau. Thus, the article emphasises the importance of understanding those causes in light of rabbinic hermeneutic principles and practices. Moreover, it reflects on the reasons for the heavy-handed scholarly construal of Esau as Christianity, even though scholars of rabbinic literature doubtless agree that Esau is not always identified with Christianity. The stakes here have as much to do with understanding specific midrashim as they do with appreciating fundamental rabbinic hermeneutic practices.


Nothing is considered too expensive for produing v aluable reproduction animals. They will supply high genetic progress in short time. Be cause the selection pressure is foscused on males, this desiderate aims them. Some situations where male rabbits maintained in i solation recoded superior development compared to other litter members who received the same housing and feeding conditions but were maintained together with female s (sisters) or in boxes situated in female vicinity, were reported. 10 white Neozeelandez male s aged of 2 months (after weaning) with similar weights were analyzed in order to record th e dynamics of the body development up to 5 months of age. Two groups were formed. The first group control, was isolated from females in individual boxes 80 x 60 x 50 cm, an second was pleced in boxes situate wall to wall from the bxes where the females were housed.


Non-poisonous, wide range and high efficiency bacteriostatic, good heat-resistant inorganic antibacterial agent containing silver was used for preparation of antibacterial masterbatches for PE perforated film by melt extrusion with PE plastic. The influence of antibacterial masterbatches on the antibacterial property, light- resistance, hygienic safety of PE perforated film was investigated. The experimental results showed that antibacterial masterbatches was verified as the grade of non-observered toxicity, and the antibacterial activities of PE perforated film improve with increase the content of antibacterial masterbatches. PE perforated film show excellent rate of properties and prices by adding 4.0 % antibacterial masterbatches, with the content of antibacterial agent 1.0 %.


The importance of in-lake generation of acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) to the neutralization of acidic deposition has been determined for an acidic Adirondack (NY) lake relative to its surrounding watershed. Microbial processes within the sediments of Dart's Lake significant altered the aqueous chemistry of the hypolimnion. Reduction of NO/sub 3//sup -/ and SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ and the production of NH/sub 4//sup +/ contributed 45, 14, and 32%, respectively, to the production of hypolimnetic ANC. The reduction of NO/sub 3//sup -/ was a more significant source of ANC generation than has been reported in other lake districts. On an areal basis, in-lake ANC generation (2990 equiv ha/sup -1/ yr/sup -1/) was greater than terrestrial ANC production (1204 equiv ha/sup -1/ yr/sup -1/). However on a watershed basis, in-lake ANC generation was minor (< 5%) due to the short hydraulic retention time of Dart's Lake. Neutralization of acidic precipitation in the Adirondack region predominately occurs in the terrestrial system since the hydraulic retention time of Adirondack lakes is short.


In this paper a linearized Heffron-Philips model of a Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) power system stabilizer is analyzed with and without controller using MATLAB simulation. Power System Stabilizer (PSS) is compared for different functions. The effectiveness of PSS is providing damping and improving the dynamic response is well established. For PSS, speed deviation and acceleration deviation are taken as inputs. Comparison of the effectiveness (steady state error, ess, overshoot (Mp) and settling time ( ts) of PSS for different functions with conventional PSS and without PSS is done. The performance of the SMIB system has improved significantly compared to SMIB system without PSS/with PSS. The results of the simulation show that for low frequency oscillations, PSS is more effective in damping compared to conventional controllers. A Fuzzy Logic Power System Stabilizer for different membership functions is proposed.


Adaptive infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filtering provides a powerful approach for solving a variety of practical signal processing problems. Because the error surface of IIR filters is typically multimodal, global optimisation techniques are generally required in order to avoid local minima. This contribution applies the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) to digital IIR filter design in a realistic time domain setting where the desired filter output is corrupted by noise. PSO as global optimisation techniques offers advantages of simplicity in implementation, ability to quickly converge to a reasonably good solution and robustness against local minima. Our simulation study involving system identification application confirms that the proposed approach is accurate and has a fast convergence rate and the results obtained demonstrate that the PSO offers a viable tool to design digital IIR filters. We also apply the quantum-behaved particle swarm optimisation (QPSO) algorithm to the same digital IIR filter design and our results do not show any performance advantage of the QPSO algorithm over the PSO, although the former does have fewer algorithmic parameters that require tuning.


Much of the political discussion in nineteenth‐century Britain occurred outside Parliament, led by politicians and reformers who appeared before mass meetings. Simultaneously, the provincial newspapers began an exponential growth, so that many of these meetings were reported verbatim. The essay uses William E. Gladstone's 1879–80 Midlothian campaign to illustrate how these source materials may contribute to historical and critical analysis.


This paper is aimed at a systematic study of the leakage current of high voltage polyamide insulator string under different conditions of pollution for possible application in the electric locomotive systems. It is shown that in the case of clean/dry and clean/wetted insulators, the leakage current and applied voltage are linear. While in the case of pollution with saline spray, the leakage current and the applied voltage are not linear; the leakage current changes from a linear regime to a nonlinear regime up to total flashover of the insulators sting. Traces of erosion and tracking of insulators resulting of partial discharges are observed.


Objective: To analyze the association of hemoglobin levels with the progress of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Methods: 1477 cases of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) were included and collected baseline demographic characteristics, complications, laboratory data, event and time of development to ESRD. COX proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the association of hemoglobin levels with the progress of patients with CKD to ESRD. Results: The COX proportional hazards model showed that moderate and severe anemia were independent influence factors for progression to ESRD (P<0.05). The mild anemia was not significantly associated with progression to ESRD in patients with CKD. (P=0.752). Conclusion:Patients with moderate to severe anemia are influence factor of patients with CKD to progress to ESRD.


The purpose of this study is to suggest how the 'questioning', a fundamental element of teaching and learning should be constructed in the 'inquiry learning' properly reflecting an essential property of grammar.
First, the function of learners' questions for the inquiry learning was stipulated as one for explicitness of thought and meta-thought. Questions were classified to practically manifest the function. They can be categorized of understanding, analysis, inference and integrative thought, according to each step of inquiry learning, and are gradually and consecutively led from convergent to divergent thought.
Moreover, this study examined how learning effects are varied, when learners make questions by types in the inquiry learning. Learners at the middle level were most significantly improved, when they practiced the 'inquiry learning' by constructing questions. In addition, the question construction was effective at the 'analysis' level in which hypotheses were set and the 'integration' level in which a conclusion was drawn.


We read of plans for a research strike at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its object reportedly is to focus attention on the threat to the existence of mankind that appears as a result of the misuse of scientific and technical knowledge. The symbolic strike is probably a good idea. Action that requires effort or involves inconvenience shows conviction that amounts to something. A great deal of significance seems to turn on the interpretation of misuse. The general attitude inferred from statements issued by the MIT group is that far too much of our research applications effort is going toward destructive (military) goals while our society desperately needs more attention to its social and environmental problems. From the view that holds the rights of the human individual above all, the research strikers are right; from the obvious view that war is stupidly and brutally inhumane, they are even more so. Other views derived from the need ...


In this issue of Econometric Reviews, Peter Phillips proposes a quantitative (objective) rule that might be used as part of the exercise of measuring merit. In this short comment, I will try and place the need for such a rule (lack of trust and pluralism), potential for adoption (negotiation and power), pros (transparency), and cons (metric failure and loss of institutional memory), within both an historical context and a broader strategic management literature. Ultimately, the adoption of such a rule will depend on its ability to convince the relevant community, via negotiation, that subjective assessments can be appropriately summarized numerically. Rather than argue for objectivity or suggest that numbers are somehow neutral transformations of the real world, it may be advantageous to consider some of the lessons from the critical accounting literature that has focused on the "socially constructed nature" of their numerical systems and techniques.


Wheat growing ET -stations (viz., Jorhat, Varanasi, New Delhi, Ludhiana, Raipur, Jabalpur, Akola, Bellary, Banswara and Jodhpur) situated in arid to per humid climatic zones were selected. Heat unit and three agromeleorological indices, viz., ARI (agroclimatic rainfall index), YMI (yield moisture index) and AI (aridity index) were computed at various growth stages of wheat crop using latest available five years data for each of the stations. The study revealed that the crop degree days requirement varied from 1580 (at Jorhat) to 2350 (at Akola) with the maximum requirement at tillering and milk stages. All the stations (except Jorhat) recorded ARI values less than 25%, while for the stations in peninsular and western India, the values were even below 10%. Low cumulative YMI values were obtained in peninsular and western India, while high values were observed over eastern India. The wheat crop did not experience any aridity during tillering to flowering stages for all the stations (except Bellary and Banswara). High values of At were observed at early and late crop growth stages. Negative correlation was obtained between AI and ARI with the highest value (-0.89) observed at New Delhi. Depending upon this study, the wheat growing areas were divided into five zones.


US shale oil has created dramatic changes in international oil markets. The United States became the world's biggest producer of crude oil after it overtook Saudi Arabia and Russia and then returned to exporting crude oil after a stop that lasted more than four decades. Its imports of crude oil decreased significantly. US shale oil had a remarkable impact on the structure of international crude oil trade; Other producers, including OPEC, were affected by the decline in their shares in the global oil market and the decline in their financial revenues. Technological development has played an essential role in the success of US shale oil by reducing costs and increasing economic feasibility. Therefore, US shale oil is no longer highly sensitive to lower oil prices, as it was before. Furthermore, the continuous increase in crude oil prices from $24.4 per barrel in 2001 to $97 and $111.6 in 2008 and 2012, respectively, was enough to make shale oil production economically profitable. Now, the United States plays an essential role in the global oil market, as the largest consumer and producer and, behind China, the second largest importer. Shale oil is expected to play a growing role in the US oil sector and the global oil industry in the future.


Objective To study the diagnostic value of the serum level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP)in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease(CHD) complicated by pulmonary hypertension(PH).Methods The serum NT-proBNP concentration was detected with competitive enzyme immunoassay(EIA) in 65 CHD children and 20 control children.Pulmonary pressure was estimated by Doppler ultrasonography cardiogram in 65 CHD children who sere divided into three groups: without PH(20),mild PH(23),moderate to severe PH(22).Results 1.NT-proBNP concentrations in the CHD group without PH were slightly higher than those in normal control group,but there was no statistic significance(P0.05).2.The NT-proBNP level in CHD group with mild PH was significantly higher than that in CHD group without PH(P0.001).3.The NT-proBNP level in CHD group with moderate to severe PH was also significantly higher than that in CHD group with mild PH(P0.001).4.Using serum NT-proBNP concentration ≧500fmol/ml as cut-point for diagnosing mild PH,the sensitivity was 91%,and the specificity was 90%.Serum NT-proBNP was also positively correlated with increased pulmonary pressure.Conclusion Serum NT-proBNP level is sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of CHD complicated by PH.There is a rising tendency of NT-proBNP level companying increased pulmonary pressure.


Background: To investigate whether dendritic cell (DC) precursors, recruited by injection of chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) and CCL20, induce anti-tumor immunity against gastric cancer induced by a DC vaccine expressing melanoma antigen gene-1 (MAGE-1) ex vivo and in vivo. Methods: B6 mice were injected with CCL3 and CCL20 via the tail vein. Freshly isolated F4/80-B220-CD11c+ cells cultured with cytokines were analyzed by phenotype analysis and mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). For adenoviral (Ad)-mediated gene transduction, cultured F4/80-B220-CD11c+ cells were incubated with Ad-MAGE-1. Vaccination of stimulated DC induced T lymphocytes. The killing effect of these T cells against gastric carcinoma cells was assayed by MTT. INF-γ production was determined with an INF-γ ELISA kit. In the solid tumor and metastases model, DC-based vaccines were used for immunization after challenge with MFC cells. Tumor size, survival of mice, and number of pulmonary metastatic foci were used to assess the therapeutic effect of DC vaccines. Results: F4/80-B220-CD11c+ cell numbers increased after CCL3 and CCL20 injection. Freshly isolated F4/80-B220CD11c+ cells cultured with cytokines were phenotyically identical to typical DC and gained the capacity to stimulate allogeneic T cells. These DCs were transduced with Ad-MAGE-1, which were prepared for DC vaccines expressing tumor antigen. T lymphocytes stimulated by DCs transduced with Ad-MAGE-1 exhibited specific killing effects on gastric carcinoma cells and produced high levels of INF-γ ex vivo. In vivo, tumor sizes of the experimental group were much smaller than both the positive control group and the negative control groups (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that survival of the experimental group mice was significantly longer than the control groups (P < 0.05). In addition, MAGE-1-transduced DCs were also a therapeutic benefit on an established metastatic tumor, resulting in a tremendous decrease in the number of pulmonary metastatic foci. Conclusions: CCL3 and CCL20-recruited DCs modified by adenovirus-trasnsduced, tumor-associated antigen, MAGE1, can stimulate anti-tumor immunity specific to gastric cancer ex vivo and in vivo. This system may prove to be an efficient strategy for anti-tumor immunotherapy. Background Gastric cancer is one of the most formidable cancers [1]. Although therapies have improved over the years, it is still difficult to treat advanced gastric cancer that has metastasized and spread to the lymph glands. Currently, radical surgery is the only treatment with a curative potential for this disease, and adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy have been widely applied. Nonetheless, control of gastric cancer at an advanced stage still remains difficult [2,3]. Accordingly, new treatment modalities are worth investment to improve 5-year survival rates of patients. One promising approach is immunotherapy. * Correspondence: email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com 1 Department of General Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 215006 Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China 3 Institute of Health Science and Shanghai Institute of Immunology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Science, Chinese Academy of Science and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 200025 Shanghai, China Full list of author information is available at the end of the article BioMed Central © 2010 He et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. He et al. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 2010, 29:37 http://www.jeccr.com/content/29/1/37 Page 2 of 8 Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells (APC) with the unique capacity to establish a primary immune response against tumor-associated antigens (TAA) [4,5]. This essential role of DCs in cellular immunity has led to development of feasible and effective DC-based vaccines against tumor antigens to eliminate cancer cells. To improve the strategy for DC-based vaccines, it is critical to acquire a large number of appropriate DCs possessing normal function. We have demonstrated that i.v. administration of chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) or/and CCL20 rapidly recruits a group of F4/80-B220-CD11c+ cells into the peripheral blood. These cells can differentiate into mature DCs [6,7]. We have reported previously that TAA-loaded DCs can stimulate cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) significantly to lyse gastric cancer cells ex vivo [8]. Moreover, DC vaccination induced protective immunity toward the development of gastric cancer in vivo. However, these DC vaccines have not been substantially effective in inducing tumor regression in established gastric cancer. Thus, their therapeutic effects are limited. Despite this, DC-based immunotherapy is considered promising for anti-tumor therapy. However, new strategies for improved treatment are necessary. Much research has focused upon finding feasible and effective DC-based vaccines. These include pulsing DC with tumor lysates, tumor antigen peptide, or protein; fusing tumor cells with DC; and transducing genes encoding tumor antigen, cytokines, or chemokines into DCs [9]. Melanoma-associated antigen gene-1 (MAGE-1) was initially isolated from the MZ-2 human melanoma cell line [10], which can be recognized by CTL. We and others have previously shown that MAGE1 is expressed at a high frequency in gastric cancer [11,12], which suggested MAGE-1 may be a target for anti-tumor immunotherapy. In the present study, we demonstrated that F4/80-B220-CD11c+ DC precursors mobilized by CCL3 and CCL20 can induce tumor-specific CTL and elicit potent, therapeutic effects against solid and metastatic tumors when modified with MAGE1. Together, our results suggest a promising new immunotherapeutic strategy against gastric cancer. Methods Animals and cell lines Female BALB/c and C57BL/6 (B6) mice (8-10 weeks) were purchased from the Shanghai Experimental Animal Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China). All mice were housed in pathogen-free conditions in the animal center of The Medical College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Shanghai, China). Animal care and use were in compliance with institutional guidelines. Mouse forestomach carcinoma (MFC), a mouse gastric cancer cell line, and B16F10, a melanoma cell line of B6 (H-2b) mouse origin were purchased from the Shanghai Cell Biology Institutes, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China). Cells were cultured in RPMI (Roswell Park Memorial Institute) medium 1640 (GIBCO, USA) containing 12.5% fetal calf serum (FCS), penicillin G (100 U/ ml), and streptomycin (100 μg/ml) at 37°C in a humidified incubator with a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Major reagents Human recombinant CCL3 and CCL20 expressed in Brevibacillus choshinensis and purified to homogeneity was provided by Dr. Shiro Kanegasaki (Effector Cell Institute, Tokyo, Japan). Murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), tumor necrosis factorα (TNFα), interleukin 4 (IL-4), IL-2, and IL-7 were purchased from Becton Dickinson (New Jersey, USA). Biotinylated anti-F4/80 mAb, Cy-chrome-conjugated streptavidin, phycoerythrin (PE)-labeled anti-B220 mAb, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled anti-CD11c mAb, rat anti-DEC-205 mAb, FITC-labeled goat anti-rat IgG (Fab)2 antibodies, FITC-labeled mAb against CD40, F4/80, CD11b, or CD80, and PE-labeled mAb against Ia, CD8α, or CD86 were provided by Pharmigen (CA, USA). Mitomycin C (MMC) was purchased from Jingmei Biothe (Shenzhen, China). Cell preparation B6 mice were injected via the tail vein with 1 mg CCL3 and CCL20 in 100 μl phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or with the same dose PBS (control). Peripheral blood (0.8 ml per mouse) was obtained by cardiac puncture from anesthetized mice at the indicated time intervals (0 h, 8 h, 16 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 120 h) after CCL3 and CCL20 injection. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were prepared from peripheral blood by density separation with Ficoll. PBMCs were stained with biotinylated anti-F4/80 mAb followed with Cy-chrome-conjugated streptavidin, PE-labeled anti-B220 mAb, and FITClabeled anti-CD11c mAb for fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACScan, Becton Dickinson) analysis and sorting of F4/80-B220-CD11c+ cells. Reanalysis by FACS showed that the purity of these sorted F4/80-B220-CD11c+ cells was greater than 98%. DC development DCs were generated as described previously [6,13]. Briefly, purified peripheral blood-derived F4/80-B220CD11c+ cells from mice injected with CCL3 and CCL20 were cultured at a concentration of 3 × 105 cells/ml in RPMI 1640 medium containing 10% FCS, GM-CSF (4 ng/ ml), and IL-4 (10 ng/ml) for 5 d to induce their differentiation into immature DCs. These were cultured further in GM-CSF and TNFα (5 ng/ml) for 3 to 4 d to induce their maturation. Primary DCs were obtained from mouse He et al. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 2010, 29:37 http://www.jeccr.com/content/29/1/37 Page 3 of 8 bone marrow precursors according to a previously established protocol [13]. Mature DCs were observed by light microscopy (Nikon, Japan). Immunofluorescence Staining Before and after culture with GM-CSF and IL-4 for 5 d, and subsequent stimulation with GM-CSF and TNFα for an additional 3 to 4 d, F4/80-B220-CD11c cells (2 × 105 to 4 × 105 cells) were incubated with rat anti-DEC-205 mAb followed by FITC-labeled goat anti-rat IgG (Fab')2 antibodies or directly with FITC-labeled mAb against CD40, F4/80, CD11b, or CD80 and PE-labeled mAb against Ia, CD8α, or CD86 followed by FACS analysis. The instrument compensation was set in each experiment using two-color stained samples. Mixed Leukocyte Reaction Assay MLR was performed in accordance with previous methods [8,14]. Immature and


RESISTANCE CONCERNS FOR THE PRACTICING CLINICIAN: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. Measuring the Costs of Antimicrobial Resistance in Hospitals. Surveillance of Resistant Organisms: Whats to know? Role of New Drug Development in Combatting Resistance. Understanding Studies of Resistant Organisms: Focus on Methodologies. CONTEMPORARY ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE ISSUES. Gram positive. Staphylococcus aureus: Resistance Update and Treatment Options. Enterococci: Resistance Update and Treatment Options. Streptococcus pneumoniae: Resistance Update and Treatment Options. Gram negative. Enterobacteriaceae: Resistance Update and Treatment Options. Acinetobacter species: Resistance Update and Treatment Options. P. aeruginosa: Resistance Update and Treatment Options. Problematic Beta-lactamases (AMP C, ESBLs): An Update. Others. Clostridium difficile and Antimicrobial Resistance: An emerging epidemic. Emerging Resistance Among Fungal Pathogens: Trends and Treatment Considerations. Interventional Strategies to Combat Resistance. Empirical Therapy: Importance of Getting it Right up Front/Deescalation. Antimicrobial Cycling Strategies: Whats the Evidence? Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs. Computer Assisted Programs to Optimize Antimicrobial Use. Pharmacodynamic Optimization to Prevent Resistance. Short Course Antimicrobial Therapy. Use of Guidelines to Optimize Antimicrobial Use. Infection Control Strategies: Current Controversies and Solutions. Combination Antimicrobial Therapy: What is the Evidence? Strategies to Optimize the Outpatient Use of Antimicrobials


This paper makes some mathematical analyses for the finite point method based on directional difference. By virtue of the explicit expressions of numerical formulae using only five neighboring points for computing first-order and second-order directional differentials, a new methodology is presented to discretize the Laplacian operator defined on 2D scattered point distributions. Some sufficient conditions with very weak limitations are obtained, under which the resulted schemes are positive schemes. As a consequence, the discrete maximum principle is proved, and the first order convergent result of O(h) is achieved for the nodal solutions defined on scattered point distributions, which can be raised up to O(h) on uniform point distributions. Mathematics subject classification: 65D25, 65N06, 65N12, 65N15.


The direct monitoring electric furnace (1) for a horizontal zone melt single crystal growth comprises (a) cylindrical protective quartz tube (6) in a double quartz tube (5), (b) cooling water inflowing and runoffing hole (3)(4) formed in a double quartz tube, (c) major spiral hot wire (7) on the inside of a protective quartz tube, (d) auxiliary hot wire (11) for forming a spike zone with the same axis of a major hot wire, and (e) alumina spacer (13), ceramic supporting tubes (14)(14') and ceramic supporters (15)(15') for fixing an auxiliary hot wire.


Through a facile sodium sulfide (Na2S)‐assisted hydrothermal treatment, clean and nondefective surfaces are constructed on micrometer‐sized Li4Ti5O12 particles. The remarkable improvement of surface quality shows a higher first cycle Coulombic efficiency (≈95%), a significantly enhanced cycling performance, and a better rate capability in electrochemical measurements. A combined study of Raman spectroscopy and inductive coupled plasma emission spectroscopy reveals that the evolution of Li4Ti5O12 surface in a water‐based hydrothermal environment is a hydrolysis–recrystallization process, which can introduce a new phase of anatase‐TiO2. While, with a small amount of Na2S (0.004 mol L−1 at least), the spinel‐Li4Ti5O12 phase is maintained without a second phase. During this process, the alkaline environment created by Na2S and the surface adsorption of the sulfur‐containing group (HS− or S2−) can suppress the recrystallization of anatase‐TiO2 and renew the particle surfaces. This finding gives a better understanding of the surface–property relationship on Li4Ti5O12 and guidance on preparation and modification of electrode material other than coating or doping.


Aim: To explore the perspectives of COVID-19 patients and survivors on the treatment experience and its impact on their lives, socially, psychologically and physically. Background: Nigeria was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with huge impact on an already fragile health system. The impact of the pandemic left many institutions disrupted with pervasive consequences on health, economy and society in general. At the individual level, many affected by the disease were left with lasting negative impacts which were largely unrecognized and trivialized. This paper provides an opportunity to capture the lived experiences of COVID-19 patients and survivors in Nigeria. Method: The study adopted a qualitative, phenomenological design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted digitally from March to August 2021. Fifteen COVID-19 survivors were selected purposively for the interview. Interviews were conducted using electronic platforms such as zoom, e-mails and WhatsApp. The contents of the interviews were transcribed and printed. Data generated was then analyzed manually using the content analysis approach. The respondents included eight males and seven females: including two married couples. Findings: Based on the perceptions of the participants, they experienced stigma and discrimination during their treatment period. Isolation was likened to feeling imprisoned and persons with existing co-morbidities experienced difficulties managing their chronic conditions along with the COVID-19 treatment. The COVID experience generally increased the personal perception of risk as explained by all the participants and it improved adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the COVID-19 infection. Conclusion: Understanding the perceptions of COVID-19 survivors provides an invaluable insight into the treatment experience and how the conditions of treatment impacted patients' treatment and post-treatment outcomes. This deeper understanding may inform policy changes that are targeted at improving patients' care experience and outcomes. Implications for Public Health Practice: Health workers play a key role in the outcome of How to cite this paper: Kusimo, O.C., Ogiri, S., Adamu, H.I. and Aduh, U. (2022) Perspectives of COVID-19 Survivors on the Treatment Experience in Nigeria. Open Access Library Journal, 9: e8373. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1108373 Received: January 13, 2022 Accepted: February 15, 2022 Published: February 18, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Open Access Library Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access


Data-driven predictive models have recently been developed and applied to predict energy production from geothermal reservoirs. Traditional physics-based simulation models that are often used for predicting the performance of geothermal reservoirs require detailed descriptions of reservoir conditions and properties, in-depth technical knowledge, and extensive computational efforts. Data-driven models, on the other hand, extract complex statistical patterns from representative training data and use them for prediction. Deep learning-based architectures offer powerful and fast prediction models that are amenable to flexible implementation and convenient dep loyment and application. Despite their efficiency, data-driven models suffer from three main limitations: 1) extensive data requirements, 2) lack of physical plausibility and interpretability, and 3) poor generalizability beyond training data. These limitations undermine the use of data-driven models for applications in complex science and engineering problems. We develop a novel physics-informed machine learning approach that integrates physics-based representations into recurrent neural network (RNN) models. A typical approach for enabling the incorporation of physics is to regularize the learning of trainable parameters by adding a physics-constrained loss function as a regularization term. In this framework, the architecture of the deep learning model is designed based on the governing equations as well as expert knowledge of the physical system. We present a variant of the RNN as a physics-guided deep-learning model for predicting the dynamical responses of geothermal reservoirs. Inspired by the lumped-parameter modelling, the architecture of the predictive model is designed based on simplified governing equations (i.e., conservation of energy). Different components of heat-transfer terms are incorporated into the architecture of the physics-constrained RNN to approximately represent the behavior of the underlying dynamics. We present the physics-constrained RNN approach in detail and demonstrate its prediction performance by applying it to data from a field-scale geothermal reservoir model.


The primary objective is to explore the potential of neural networks for structural damage diagnosis. To achieve this objective, a general neural network architecture for structural damage diagnosis and a methodology for designing the components of this architecture are formulated and evaluated. The main components of the architecture include i) the physical system of interest and its model ii) the data preprocessing units and iii) neural networks that operate on the processed data and produce a prediction of the location and magnitude of damage. Important design issues are the choice of variables to be observed, the methodology for choosing the excitation and type of vibrational signature for the monitored structure, the actual configuration of neural networks, and their training algorithm. These design issues are first examined in detail for the case of single-point damage, and the evaluation is then extended to multiple-point damage. The diagnosis strategy is based on first identifying which substructures are damaged (global diagnosis), and then examining independently each individual damaged substructure to establish the location and extent of damage (local diagnosis). Global diagnosis requires a neural network for predicting which substructures are damaged. Local diagnosis employs two neural networks for predicting the locations and extent of damage at each location within a substructure. The total number of local diagnosis systems is equal to the number of substructures. The evaluation phase is carried out with beam-type structures. Firstly, a single-point damage diagnosis system for a 2-span bending beam model is developed and evaluated. The second step considers a 4-span model with multiple-point damage. Numerical modeling of the structure and computation of the response are carried out with MATLAB. Damage is introduced by reducing the bending resistance at specific locations. Simulation studies are performed to evaluate the performance for different choices of excitation and types of input. Observation based on simulation studies indicates that the global and local approach considerably improves the practical feasibility from the other existing neural network-based approaches. Difficulties in developing good simulation models of large-scaled civil engineering structures, and the extensive amount of possible damage states that the structures involve, are the major practical problems, and may result in limited applicability of this approach in the field of civil structures. Thesis Committee: Prof. Jerome J. Connor Jr. Prof. Daniele Veneziano Prof. Eduardo Kausel To Ahtorn and Phaga, my parents For their love and support


Abstract:The blurring of life and art is at the center of Karl Ove Knausgaard's explorations in his memoir, My Struggle, Book 1. Like life, Knausgaard's book is filled with boring tasks, objects, and events, through which he sifts attempting to locate intrinsic significance. Rendering in hyperreal detail aestheticizing mundane domestic moments positions him as the literary inheritor of the visual art movements of realism and superrealism, alongside artists Gustave Courbet and Duane Hanson. Superrealist art nudges us into examination of life and peers over the edge for a glimpse of what lies beyond the nothingness of the mundane.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences and reflections of one woman's journey toward well-being.

Design/methodology/approach
A narrative approach has been taken to structure reflections based on lived experience.

Findings
Reflections are offered based on a personal journey toward well-being.

Originality/value
This paper adds to the accounts of the lived experience of the journey toward well-being, and as such, contributes to the understanding of the process of rebuilding a life.


Objective To study dynamicly the effect of polassium iodate(KIO_3)and potassium iodide(KI)with the population dosage on blood antioxidation in mice.Methods Two hundred and forty Kunming mice were randomly divided into four groups according to the body weights(following concentrations are iodine content):(1)adequate iodine content grnup in KI ( KI 50 μg/L),(2) population dosage group of KI(KI 180 μg/L),(3)adequate iodine content group in KIO_3(KIO_350 μg/L), (4)population dosage group of KIO_3(KIO_3 180 μg/L).Fed 10 weeks,20 weeks,30 weeks later, the mice were respectively sacrificed and the GPx and SOD activities and MDA coutents in blood were measured.Results Compared with the adequate io- dine content group in KI,various indicators in other 3 groups were not significantly changed at the 10th week. At the 20th week, the GPx activity in population dosage group of KIO_3 was lower than that of the adequate iodine content group in KI(P0.05), and the SOD activity enhanced compensatorily(P0.05).At the 30th week,the GPx activities in the population dosage group of KI,the adequate iodine content group in KIO_3 and the population dosage group of KIO_3 were lower than that of the adequate io- dine content group in KI,with P0.05,P0.01 and P0.01 separately,the SOD activity enhanced compensatorily(P 0.01),the MDA content increased(P0.01),and the ratio of SOD/MDA decreased(P0.05).Conclusions At the 30th week,compared to the adequate iodine content group in KI,the hlood antioxidation of mice decreased with varying degrees both in the population dosage groups of KI and KIO_3.The change of antioxidation in the KIO_3 group was more significant.


Interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1β) is a central mediator of inflammation and connective tissue destruction in rheumatoid arthritis. IL‐1β activates articular chondrocytes to produce matrix metalloproteinase‐1 (MMP‐1), an enzyme capable of dismantling the collagen scaffold of articular cartilage. To define the transcription factors and signaling intermediates that activate MMP‐1 transcription in chondrocytes, we performed transient transfection of MMP‐1 promoter constructs followed by reporter assays. These studies identified an IL‐1β‐responsive region of the human MMP‐1 promoter that contains a consensus CCAAT enhancer‐binding protein (C/EBP) binding site. Deletion of this site reduced overall transcriptional activity of the MMP‐1 promoter, as well as decreased fold induction by IL‐1β. IL‐1β stimulation of chondrocytes increased binding of C/EBP‐β to the MMP‐1 C/EBP site. Extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) pathway‐dependent phosphorylation of C/EBP‐β on threonine 235 activates this transcription factor. Here we show that IL‐1β stimulation of chondrocytes induced phosphorylation of C/EBP‐β on threonine 235, and that the ERK pathway inhibitor PD98059 reduced this phosphorylation. We further show that PD98059 reduces IL‐1β‐induced MMP‐1 mRNA expression in chondrocytes. Moreover, inhibition of the ERK pathway by expression of dominant‐negative forms of ERK1 and ERK2 impaired the ability of IL‐1β to transactivate the MMP‐1 promoter. Our findings demonstrate a novel role for C/EBP‐β in IL‐1β‐induced connective tissue disease and define a new nuclear target for the ERK pathway in MMP‐1 gene activation. J. Cell. Physiol. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


For the purposes of this paper the term ' radio- therapy ' will be used to cover the established methods of treatment by radium and X-rays. Recent advances in nuclear physics and apparatus construction alter by of in of be


State-of-the-art alloy development processes utilize computerized materials simulations relying on segmentations of alloy micrographs which indicate the arrangement of material precipitates. Automated alloy segmentation algorithms must properly account for abundant prior information regarding the shape of the precipitates, as precipitate size and shape correlate to important materials properties. We propose a novel way of constructing and enforcing shape priors within a maximum a posteriori (MAP) segmentation framework. After computing a preliminary alloy segmentation using matching pursuits, our algorithm uses it to define a shape prior for a MAP segmentation found using a min-cut algorithm. This algorithm was found to significantly outperform both the MAP segmentation obtained without the shape prior, and the matching pursuit segmentations.


: Palladium on metal oxides and on activated carbon with particular properties (high palladium dispersion, low degree of reduction, water content) are shown to be highly active (tunrover number, TON =20,000; turnover frequency, TOF= 16,600), selective and robust catalysts for Suzuki cross-couplings of aryl bromides and activated aryl chlorides. Catalysts and reaction protocol offer combined advantages of high catalytic efficiency under ambient conditions (air and moisture), easy separation and reuse and quantitative recovery of palladium. The palladium concentration in solution during the reaction correlates clearly with the progress of the reaction and indicates that dissolved molecular palladium is in fact the catalytically active species. Dissolved palladium is redeposited onto the support at the end of the reaction. Additional minimization of the palladium content in solution (down to 0.1 ppm) could be achieved by simple procedures which meet the requirements of pharmaceutical industry.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
Epidemiological studies indicate that relevance between appendix and colon cancer is controversial, but unfortunately, there is no data based on examination of immune indicator to reveal the relativity.

METHODOLOGY
This study explored the relation-ship between appendix immunity and the right colon cancer by detecting the presence of NK cells in appendix tissues with immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
The number of NK cells in the appendix tissue was the highest in patients with appendix inflammation (37.2+1.1), while lowest in patients with colon cancer and normal appendix (30.9+1.7).

CONCLUSIONS
The decrease of NK cells in the appendix tissue is correlated with the increased incidence of right colon cancer.


In recent years,migrant rural workers' wages initiate serious influence on society's stability and unity,it becomes the focus of attention. This deliberate behavior brings serious social consequences,which should be adjusted.


Cosmopolitan freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii L a n k e s t e r 1880 (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) was recorded for the first time in the lake Velika peskara near Zrenjanin (Serbia and Montenegro) in summer 1998. A natural population of C. sowerbii from the lake Velika peskara was analyzed for genetic variability at 9 enzyme loci (Gpi, Hk, Idh-1, Idh-2, Me, Mdh-1 Mdh-2, Pgm and Sod) by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A zymogram indicated that population was monomorphic at all analyzed loci.


In this work we combine two recently proposed computer simulation techniques: the wandering interface method for the calculation of surface tensions and Janecek's method for the estimation of long-range dispersive interactions to predict the surface tension of ethane. We have obtained results for two well-known models, the transferable potentials for phase equilibria (TraPPE) and optimized potentials for liquid simulations (OPLS) force fields. We show that neglecting long-range contributions to the dispersive energy as it is often done may yield surface tensions that are far too low by as much as 40 %. Such contributions can be effectively accounted for, however, and the resulting liquid−vapor coexistence densities and surface tensions show a rather good agreement for the TraPPE model, but quite less so for the OPLS model.


Reversible and irreversible contactless starters and starters with microprocessor control are described; these starters are used for regulating asynchronous electric motors and switching in ac circuits in severe working conditions, ensuring direct startup, smooth startup, complex startup, dynamic deceleration, regulation of the asynchronous-motor speed in the range 1:10, and various safety functions.


Background: Diffuse low-grade gliomas (DLGGs) are prone to invade the frontal lobes, with seizures being the most common symptom. However, limited attention has been paid to surgical outcomes and their predictors in patients with frontal DLGG-related epilepsy. Objective: This study aimed to analyze predictors of postoperative seizure outcomes in patients with frontal DLGG-related epilepsy. Design: This is a single-center retrospective study. Methods: This study retrospectively collected data of 115 patients with frontal DLGG-related epilepsy who underwent resective surgery between January 2014 and January 2021. Patients were categorized into favorable and unfavorable seizure outcome groups based on the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classification. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify potential predictors of seizure outcomes. Results: The mean follow-up was 4.11 ± 2.06 years, and 77.4% (89 of 115) of patients were seizure-free. Permanent neurological deficits were observed in 7.0% (8 of 115) of patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that total tumor removal [odds ratio (OR), 0.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.12–0.82; p = 0.018] and older age at seizure onset (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93–0.99; p = 0.042) were independent predictors of favorable seizure outcomes. Conclusion: Surgical resection is an effective treatment for frontal DLGG-related epilepsy. Favorable seizure outcomes are more likely to be achieved in patients with complete tumor removal and those with older age at seizure onset.


ANALISIS PENAWARAN UBI KAYU (Manihot esculenta Crantz) DI KABUPATEN WONOGIRI Dona Arum Pratiwi, Kusnandar, Agustono Program Studi Agribisnis, Fakultas Pertanian, Universitas Sebelas Maret Jl. Ir. Sutami No. 36A Kentingan Surakarta Telp/Fax (0271) 637457 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Abstract : The aims of this research are to idetify and analyze the influential factors, to know the factor that have the biggest influence and to know elasticity of cassava supply in Wonogiri. The research methodology in this research used descriptive method. Location determination method in this research is purposive in Wonogiri. The data used in this research is secondary data in the form of time series data for 17 years from 2000-2016. The results of multiple regression show that the price of cassava in year t-1, width of cassava planting area in year t, the price of sweet potato in year t-1, the price of urea in year t and the average of rainfall ini year t that individually significantly affected the cassava supply in Wonogiri. The price of cassava of year t-1 in Wonogiri was the most affected factor with the standard value of regression coefficients -1,029. Short-term elasticity cassava price in year t-1 of 0,137 is inelastic. Rainfall average elasticity in year t of -0,066 is inelastic. Urea price elasticity in year t-1 of -0,136 is inelastic. Sweet potato price elasticity in year t-1 of -0,865 is inelastic. Long-term elasticity of cassava price was not explained because variable coefficiency of cassava production on year t-1 of -0,183 does not qualified that the magnitude is about 0


The use of rigid-body and rotor-state feedback gains in the design of helicopter flight control laws was investigated analytically on a blade element, articulated rotor, helicopter model. The study was conducted while designing a control law to meet an existing military rotorcraft handling qualities design specification (ADS-33C) in low-speed flight. A systematic approach to meet this specification was developed along with an assessment of the function of these gains in the feedback loops. Using the results of this assessment, the pitch and roll crossover behavior was easily modified by adjusting the body attitude and rotor-flap feedback gains. Critical to understanding the feedback gains is that the roll and pitch rate dynamics each have second-order behavior, not the classic first-order behavior, which arises from a quasi-static rotor, six degree-of-freedom model.


Exact data in the form of technical drawings and plans of built assets are a significant requirement for the successful operation and reconstruction of such assets. When the consistency between this data and the real world situation cannot be assured, the data is not reliable and needs to be updated by comparing plans and reality. Depending on the size and number of assets this may involve an enormous amount of manual effort. In the scope of this research , an approach for supporting and automating such a process by utilizing concepts developed in the field of machine learning was developed. This paper focuses on the interpretation of technical drawings in terms of detecting and classifying plan symbols as this is a time intensive and error prone process when done manually. It is described how the capabilities of Convolutional Neural Networks are employed in analyzing images to automatically detect important plan symbols in the ?eld of Train Traffic Control and Supervision Systems and how those networks are trained without the need for a time consuming-manual labeling process.


A core problem of decision theories is that although decisionmakers' preferences depend on learning, their choices could be driven either by learned representations of the physical properties of each alternative (for instance reward sizes) or of the benefit (utility and fitness) experienced from them. Physical properties are independent of the subject's state and context, but utility depends on both. We show that starlings' choices are better explained by memory for context-dependent utility than by representations of the alternatives' physical properties, even when the decisionmakers' state is controlled and they have accurate knowledge about the options' physical properties. Our results support the potential universality of utility-driven preference control.


Piezoelectric energy harvesters scavenging energy from the environment have been a promising solution to satisfy the increasing power demand in wireless sensor nodes. Power conditioning circuits for piezoelectric energy harvesters are a burgeoning technology widely disclosed in literature since 2001; however, there is still no complete overview available, which exhaustively describes the cutting-edge status of the research on power conditioning for piezoelectric energy harvesters. This paper aims at providing a more complete review on the state-of-the-art piezoelectric energy harvesting interfaces. A systematic categorization of the piezoelectric energy harvesting approaches is presented, based on the qualitative working principle, adopted control scheme, and employed components. The presented power conditioning interfaces are commented and discussed in detail, addressing the strengths and weaknesses based on the achieved results. Furthermore, this paper performs a critical comparison of state-of-the-art techniques by employing seven criteria to evaluate the performance of an energy harvesting system. The observed trend in this field is to design harvesting rectification schemes by employing Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms to achieve a high Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) and, resonant rectification techniques to harvest efficiently energy from wide-band excitations.


The significance of a diverse workforce in organizations has been increasingly recognized over the past two decades due to its substantial impact on both organizational and employee performance. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of research articles on workforce diversity in the construction sector using the Scopus and Web of Science databases. A total of 197 articles were included in the review, revealing a marked increase in research on diversity in the construction industry, with 147 articles published between 2011–2023 compared to 50 articles between 2000–2010. The University of New South Wales emerged as the most productive institution with eleven articles, followed by Loughborough University with eight articles and Universidad De Sevilla with seven articles. This study found that 459 authors contributed to the production of 197 articles. This study underscores the critical importance of diversity in the construction sector and calls for further research to devise effective diversity management strategies. It contributes to the literature by being the first bibliometric review of its kind in this sector, offering valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners. It enhances our understanding of the existing literature and helps identify potential avenues for future research. This original contribution to the field is expected to stimulate further scholarly discourse and practical advancements in managing workforce diversity in the construction industry.


PURPOSE
The Speech Transmission Index (STI; Houtgast, Steeneken, & Plomp, 1980; Steeneken & Houtgast, 1980) is commonly used to quantify the adverse effects of reverberation and stationary noise on speech intelligibility for normal-hearing listeners. Duquesnoy and Plomp (1980) showed that the STI can be applied for presbycusic listeners, relating speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in various reverberant conditions to a fixed, subject-dependent STI value. The current study aims at extending their results to a wider range of hearing-impaired listeners.

METHOD
A reverberant analogue of the SRT is presented--the speech reception reverberation threshold (SRRT)--which determines the amount of reverberation that a listener can sustain to understand 50% of the presented sentences. SRTs are performed and evaluated in terms of STI for 5 normal-hearing participants and 36 randomly selected hearing-impaired participants.

RESULTS
Results show that differences in STI between reverberant and noisy conditions are only small, equivalent to a change in speech-to-noise ratio < 1.3 dB.

CONCLUSION
The STI appears to be a convenient, single number to quantify speech reception of hearing-impaired listeners in noise and/or reverberation, regardless of the nature of the hearing loss. In future research, the SRRT may be applied to further investigate the supposed importance of cognitive processing in reverberant listening conditions.


A hot-rolled medium manganese Q&P steel was annealed at an intercritical annealing temperature (670 °C) and quenched to four partitioning temperatures (300 °C, 280 °C, 260 °C, and 240 °C). The effect of the partitioning temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the steel was studied. The microstructure evolution at different partitioning temperatures was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The results showed that, as the partition temperature increased, the fractions and the size of the fresh massive martensite (M2) increased, the initial lamellar martensite (M1) was coarsened, and the amount of M1 decreased. Moreover, the amounts of lath-like retained austenite (RA) decreased and the amounts of bulky austenite increased. The tested steel partitioned at 260 °C had relatively greater fractions of RA, in which there were sufficient contents of carbon diffused from M1. Therefore, the test steel partitioned at 260 °C showed fine comprehensive mechanical properties. The combination of tensile strength and elongation reached 30.3 GPa.%, and its work-hardening plateau was the longest, showing excellent ductility as it had sufficient fractions of the retained austenite with good stability.


Two loud explosions accompanied by two successive big dark clouds that would have been 300 metres high, had taken place at El Humazo geothermal manifestation at February 2003. These explosions produced some important geomorphologic and structural changes that were registered in the geothermal area and its surroundings. Among these, it can be mentioned the reactivation of a geothermal manifestation place 1,6 km from El Humazo, called Mallin del Domo. In addition the explosions had yielded stone blocks of breccias up to one tonne, scattered throughout the place. The mechanism propose for the explosions and disseminated breccias is the local sealing of nearsurface discharge channels and the transmission of deeper reservoir pressures to the sealed area by the evolution of a compressible cap of exsolved gas (dominantly CO2).


In Reply. —Dr Milauskas has described his experience with 15 silicone IOL implantations of two lens materials and styles from two separate manufacturers. I have clinical experience with several hundred patients in whom silicone IOLs from three manufacturers have been implanted (STAAR Surgical lenses, IOLAB LI-30U, and the Allergan Medical Optics [Irvine, Calif] SI18, SI20, and SI22 NB series of silicone lenses). I have reviewed the medical records of my patients, all of whom were exposed to the high-intensity UV sun exposure of Southern Arizona, and none was found to have discolored IOLs. I have spoken with the manufacturing representatives of both Allergan Medical Optics and IOLAB; neither one has received an official report of discolored silicone IOLs after up to 5 years of postoperative experience. Several investigators in the IOLAB LI-3OU original core study have reviewed the photographs supplied by Dr Milauskas and none has been able to detect


The efficiency of public procurement today is considered all over the world as a complex of effects that ensure sustainable socio-economic development of the country. Among these effects, a special role is played by budget savings obtained as a result of tenders. In this case, the average number of submitted bids for one purchase is considered as the main criterion for competition in purchases and a condition for the growth of financial savings. We assume that this criterion is not sufficient for a qualitative analysis of such savings and balanced management of all the beneficial effects of public procurement. Using a systematic and risk-based approach, we have formulated an extended list of indicators that allow us to identify opportunities for increasing savings and risks of deterioration of other characteristics of procurement. The study of the proposed indicators by statistical methods was carried out on the example of purchases by the Kaliningrad customs. A differentiated analysis of the savings obtained as a result of auctions with different numbers of bids submitted showed a relationship between the initial contract price, the level of competition in procurement and the amount of saved financial resources. At the same time, it was revealed that a significant share of auctions in value terms is held without competition, and among those held with high competition, the share of the risk zone is too high, where the winner of the auction reduces the initial contract price by 25% or more. Further testing of the approaches we have formulated to a multidimensional assessment of the budget savings will reveal patterns in ensuring the efficiency of procurement for government organizations of various territorial and departmental affiliations.


The choice of a vitamin D–binding protein assay is key in calculating free 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. The results of this analysis support the use of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D as a marker of vitamin D status, regardless of race or GC genotype.


The projection display system using TFT-LCD technology will be the wave of the future for large screen displays. It has the advantages of compact in design, large display area, high quality of output image and lower cost. In such a projector, it is the combination of both the electronic and the optical technology. It should be emphesized that the optical system is one of the most important parts for determining the quality of output image, such as brighness, comtrast ratio, colour fidelity and illumination uniformity.


We newly formed universal gate library, that includes NOT, CNOT (Feyman), Toffoli, Fredkin, Swap, Peres gates and a special gate called G gate. The gate G on its own is a universal gate, but using it alone in a library will result in large circuit realization. G gate combines the operations of Generalized Toffoli gates. For example a gate called G3 combines the operations of NOT, CNOT and T3 (3 - bit Toffoli) gates all in one place. The new library was used in synthesizing reversible circuits. The experiment was done using Genetic programming algorithm that is capable of allowing the choice of any type of gate library and optimizing the circuit. The results were promising because the gate complexity in the circuits were drastically reduced compared to previously attempted synthesis.


PurposeGiven increasing customer expectations and disturbances to product returns management, capabilities such as supply chain resilience (SCR) can complement service recovery strategies in retail supply chains. This study utilizes procedural justice theory (PJT) to conceptualize service recovery resilience as a capability that allows firms to meet customer requirements when dealing with disruptions, and empirically investigates its impact on procedural and interactional justice and customer outcomes (i.e. satisfaction and loyalty) in the context of product replacement.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs two scenario-based experiments using a sample of 368 customers to explore the outcomes associated with service recovery resilience.FindingsThe investigation shows more satisfied and loyal customers when a retail supply chain can overcome service recovery challenges through SCR. The study shows that customers evaluate not only the process itself, but also their interactions with the retailer. Specifically, procedural justice and interactional justice have a significant influence on these relationships.Originality/valueThis study proposes service recovery resilience as a concept that bridges service recovery theory with supply chain strategy in the unique context of product replacement. Further, this study also notes how information enhances customer satisfaction with the retailer's effort to address disturbances in the recovery process. Finally, this study informs managers on the capabilities needed to face new customers' needs.


The authors have analyzed the surgical treatment of 34 patients with multiple malignant, mainly metastases tumors of thorax and lumbar spine, using spinal implants. The results of the estimation of life quality, neurological status and survival after the surgery have shown the effectiveness of decompress and stabilization technologies at any variants of malignant tumor spine injuries, especially involving specific therapy. 27 patients were observed during the period from 10 months to 5 years.


In both multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the C-C chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6) is critical for pathogenic T helper 17 (Th17) cell migration to the central nervous system (CNS). While many cytokines and their receptors are potently regulated via post-transcriptional mechanisms in response to various stimuli, how CCR6 expression is posttranscriptionally regulated in Th17 cells is unknown. Here, using RNA-binding protein HuR conditional knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice, we present evidence that HuR post-transcriptionally regulates CCR6 expression by binding to and stabilizing Ccr6 mRNA and by promoting CCR6 translation. We also found that HuR downregulates several microRNA biogenesis which could target the 3'UTR of Ccr6 mRNA for decay. Accordingly, knockout of HuR reduced CCR6 expression on Th17 cells and impaired their migration to CNS compared with the response of WT Th17 cells and thereby ameliorated EAE. Together, these findings highlight how HuR contributes to Th17 cell–mediated autoimmune neuroinflammation and support the notion that targeting HuR might be a potential therapeutic intervention for managing autoimmune disorders of the CNS. T helper 17 (Th17) cells play critical roles in the inflammatory disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) (1-5). The signature cytokine produced by Th17 cells, interleukin 17 (IL17) (2,6), has been previously found to be involved in host defense against bacterial infection (7,8). Expression of the C-C chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6) on Th17 cells is required for migration of pathogenic Th17 cells to sites of inflammation (9-12). In the central nervous system (CNS) of mice with EAE, Th17 cells expressing CCR6 are attracted by the chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20), which is constitutively secreted by choroid-plexus epithelial cells(12-14); accordingly, anti-CCL20 antibody treatment in vivo significantly suppressed pathogenic CD4 T cell accumulation and the development of EAE (15,16). Signaling by CCL20 through CCR6 allows Th17 cells to cross the epithelial barrier of the choroid plexus, and enter the cerebrospinal fluid. http://www.jbc.org/cgi/doi/10.1074/jbc.M117.782771 The latest version is at JBC Papers in Press. Published on July 6, 2017 as Manuscript M117.782771 Copyright 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. by gest on O cber 5, 2017 hp://w w w .jb.org/ D ow nladed from


TGF-β type III receptor (TβRIII) is a coreceptor for TGFβ family members required for high-affinity binding of these ligands to their receptors, potentiating their cellular functions. TGF-β [1]–[3], bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP2/4) and inhibins regulate different checkpoints during T cell differentiation. Although TβRIII is expressed on hematopoietic cells, the role of this receptor in the immune system remains elusive. Here, we provide the first evidence that TβRIII is developmentally expressed during T cell ontogeny, and plays a crucial role in thymocyte differentiation. Blocking of endogenous TβRIII in fetal thymic organ cultures led to a delay in DN-DP transition. In addition, in vitro development of TβRIII−/− thymic lobes also showed a significant reduction in absolute thymocyte numbers, which correlated with increased thymocyte apoptosis, resembling the phenotype reported in Inhibin α −/− thymic lobes. These data suggest that Inhibins and TβRIII may function as a molecular pair regulating T cell development.


In order to select sessions for the 1991 MLA convention, the Executive Board of the RMMLA decided at its meeting ofOctober 11, 1990, to solicit proposals from RMMLAmembers. A committee designated by the Board will recommend to the MLA one panel in English and one in Foreign Language. Proposals not strictly in one of these ares, but appropriate to RMMLA or MLA members' areas of specialization, will also be considered. Panel proposals must be received by Charles G. Davis, Executive Director, RMMLA, Department of English, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725 by February 1, 1991. Proposals should conform to the MLA guidelines for special sessions as described on pages 644-46 of the September 1990 issue of PMLA (Volume 105, number 4). Anyone listed on the program of the MLA-as présider, panelist, or respondent—must be a member of MLA by April 1, 1991.


An approximate value of the horizontal effective stress in an overconsolidated clay deposit is often determined from an estimate of the effective stress ratio, K0, using the equation . It is also generally considered that the α parameter is approximately equal to sin . For evaluating K0 in sensitive clays of eastern Canada, a testing program has been initiated on three different sites representing a large range of overconsolidation ratios. Three different in situ devices were used: the Cambridge self-boring pressuremeter, the flat dilatometer, and hydraulic fracturing. The results show that the different techniques give essentially the same K0 values. They also give K0 values larger than those expected, with an α parameter typically between 0.75 and 1.15. Key words : clay, dilatometer, horizontal stress, hydraulic fracturing, in situ tests, self-boring pressuremeter.


This document provides a short description of practical protocols for private credential systems.1 We explain the basic concepts and mechanisms behind issuing and showing of private credentials and e-cash. The goal is to describe concisely how practical private credential systems can be achieved and not to provide intuition or motivation for the technology; for information on these subjects, see [1, 2, 3]. We give the details of one specific type of practical protocols for private credentials; other choices of functionalities and optimizations are possible. The reader is assumed to have general knowledge of basic concepts of cryptography such as the Discrete Logarithm problem, basic group theory and hash functions. For security proofs and more elaborate descriptions of the techniques used we refer the reader to [2].


In a developing country,a leader's political personality and leading style are closely related to each other.They also affect deeply the political life of the country and determine the operation of the political power in that country.Using the case study method and the theory of socialization,the author analyzes Deng Xiaoping's political personality,leading style and their origin.Based on this,it is hoped that we will have a better understanding of Deng Xiaoping's Theory of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.


Nature is remarkably adept at using interfaces to build structures, encapsulate reagents, and regulate biological processes. Inspired by nature, flexible polymer‐based ribbons, termed "mesoscale polymers" (MSPs), are described to modulate interfacial interactions with liquid droplets. This produces unprecedented hybrid assemblies in the forms of flagellum‐like structures and MSP‐wrapped droplets. Successful preparation of these hybrid structures hinges on interfacial interactions and tailored MSP compositions, such as MSPs with domains possessing distinctly different affinity for fluid–fluid interfaces as well as mechanical properties. In situ measurements of MSP–droplet interactions confirm that MSPs possess a negligible bending stiffness, allowing interfacial energy to drive mesoscale assembly. By exploiting these interfacial driving forces, mesoscale polymers are demonstrated as a powerful platform that underpins the preparation of sophisticated hybrid structures in fluids.


The following paper introduces the contents of waterfront's sustainable development from ecology,economy and society,and points out that at the same time of developing and utilizing various landscape resources in urban waterfront,man should guarantee their renewable mechanism to ensure the evolution and sustainable development of waterfront environment.


he manufacture of moulded flexible polyurethane foam began in T the mid 1950s with the introduction of the hot-cure or conventional process. This technology utilized TDI and polyols with relatively low reactivity, thus requiring high mould temperatures and rather long demould times. The hot-cure foam process was replaced in the mid1960s by cold cure foams, also referred to as HR foams. This new class of foams was characterized by the use of TDI/MDI blends and more reactive polyether polyols used in combination with reinforced polyols. The cold cure foam process allowed for more economical production due


Represented by the Green Party,western green political movement puts forward the ideas of principle of ecology priority,social justice,grassroots democracy and non-violence in order to solve various global crisis in nature and social world.These viewpoints have significant enlightenment on building a harmonious society and achieving scientific development.


Hume's argument concerning induction is the foundation stone of his philosophical system, and one of the most celebrated and influential arguments in the entire literature of western philosophy. It is therefore rather surprising that the enormous attention which has been devoted to it over the years has not resulted in any general consensus as to how it should be interpreted, or, in consequence, how Hume himself should be seen. At one extreme is the traditional view, which takes the argument to be thoroughly sceptical, leading to the sweeping conclusion that all "probable reasoning" or "reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence" is utterly worthless, so that Hume is portrayed as a negative Pyrrhonian intent on undermining the credentials of all our would-be knowledge of the world. But at the other extreme a number of very prominent commentators, particularly in recent years, have put forward a strikingly contrasting view, that Hume's intentions here are entirely non-sceptical, and that so far from advancing a negative thesis himself, he is merely intent on showing the implausible consequences of the "rationalist" position taken by some of his philosophical opponents.


Internet of things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. It has three layers. First layer is data acquisition through sensors and actuators, data transferring using different devices and last is data analysis with different analytic techniques. In this chapter, a conceptual overview of internet of things is mentioned. Different sensors and actuators which are responsible for data acquiring are described with their specification. Networking devices which are responsible for transferring data from sensors to server are also described with their applications. Data analytics techniques like descriptive, predictive, and perspective are also explained. Internet of things is now proven as boon for agriculture development. In the last section, different techniques are explained that are used in information and communication technique-enabled agriculture practices.


With limited availability of vaccines, an efficient use of the limited supply of vaccines in order to achieve herd immunity will be an important tool to combat the wide-spread prevalence of COVID-19. Here, we propose a targeted vaccination approach (EHR) that provides a significant reduction in the necessary number of doses needed achieve herd immunity compared to age-prioritized and random selection vaccination schemes. Using high-fidelity individual-based computer simulations with Oslo, Norway as an example, we find that for a community reproductive number in a setting where R=1.4 without population immunity, the EHR method reaches herd immunity at only 15% of the population vaccinated, whereas the common age-prioritized approach needs 40%. With R=1.9 in the absence of immunity, EHR needs 30% and age-prioritized needs 52%.


Risk calculators are increasingly being used to promote cancer awareness and prevention. The assumption is that by providing individualized risk assessments, users will be nudged to consider their ...


This Volume presents a broad overview of the linguistic structure of indigeneous and tribal languages of Andamanesw, Austroasiatic, Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Tibeto Burman. It includes twenty-six studies by internationally renowned scholars. It discusses the identity and dynamics of these languages representing in their use and structures.


It is shown experimentally that several types of glyceride additives improve the dielectric breakdown strength of polyethylene at the semiconducting electrode. The highest breakdown strength is more than twice the original one in terms of 1% Weibull breakdown strength. The average normal component, cos theta , is introduced to indicate how close the direction of the lamellar lines is to that of the line perpendicular to the interface. It increases up to 0.82 as the range of the lamellar lines increases up to 1 mu m from the interface. The effects of additives in the semiconducting material on the lamellar structure are obvious within a range >