The invention relates to the field of mobile payment and provides a device for achieving air recharge based on a mobile phone audio socket. The device for achieving air recharge based on the mobile phone audio socket comprises a headset plug, a protocol conversion and electricity taking module, a card swiping antenna and one or more selectable function modules, and further comprises an E-wallet storage carrier. The E-wallet storage carrier receives and processes E-wallet related commands sent by mobile device client-side software and is in wireless communication with the external world through the card swiping antenna to achieve non-contact type card swiping. The invention further provides a method for achieving air recharge based on the mobile phone audio socket. By introducing the E-wallet storage carrier, limitation that an existing product must depend on messages or card-mobile phone APP software to finish air recharge can be avoided, and therefore the defects that air recharge operation fails easily and is lagging and compatibility of a mobile phone is poor are overcome. Meanwhile, the device for achieving air recharge based on the mobile phone audio socket is arranged outside the mobile phone, the card swiping antenna is not disturbed by metal components inside the mobile phone, and machine card compatibility is achieved.


Star formation happens in a clustered way which is why the star cluster population of a particular galaxy is closely related to the star formation history of this galaxy. From the probabilistic nature of a mass function follows that the mass of the most massive cluster of a complete population, Mmax, has a distribution with the total mass of the population as a parameter. The total mass of the population is connected to the star formation rate (SFR) by the length of a formation epoch.

Since due to evolutionary effects only massive star clusters are observable up to high ages, it is convenient to use this Mmax(SFR) relation for the reconstruction of a star formation history. The age distribution of the most massive clusters can therefore be used to constrain the star formation history of a galaxy. The method, including an assessment of the inherent uncertainties, is introduced with this contribution, while following papers will apply this method to a number of galaxies.


In this paper, we propose four wide domino circuits to improve the robustness and reduce the power consumption. All proposed circuits use small potential at the source of the pull down network in the standby mode. Simulation is done using 90nm HSPICE for 32 input OR gate. Our proposed circuits reduce power consumption by 11.75% to 41.85%, improvement of unity noise gain by 41.03% to 90.87% and have better figure of merit as compared to conditional keeper domino.


IN THE AREA OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING, ONE WAY FOR STRUCTURING GOAL-IDENTIFICATION FOR GUIDING URBAN PUBLIC INVESTMENT DECISIONS IS TO EXAMINE THE IMPACTS OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS UPON THE LAND-USE PATTERNS OF CITIES. THREE ESSENTIAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS FOR URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS APPEAR TO BE INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY, GREATER URBAN OPPORTUNITY, AND EFFICIENCY IN THE USE OF RESOURCES. FIVE MORE SPECIFIC AND RELATED DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES CAN BE DESCRIBED AS COORDINATING URBAN DEVELOPMENT, EXTENDING URBAN DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPING HIGHER DENSITIES, MIXING URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND THE CONSERVING OF RESOURCES. IN ORDER TO PARTIALLY ACHIEVE THESE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, THREE BASIC DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS OR TECHNIQUES CAN BE ADVANCED - MULTIPURPOSE CENTERS, MULTIPURPOSE CORRIDORS, AND INTEGRATED URBAN CLUSTERS. THESE GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND CONCEPTS PROVIDE A GENERAL, INTRODUCTORY SET OF BASIC DEVELOPMENT FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES AND SERVICES. AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THESE FACTORS CAN IMPROVE, IN TURN, THE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE URBAN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. /AUTHOR/


Renewable energy advocates often invoke the goal of sustainability in order to promote their cause. Most people agree that the energy supply for a sustainable world should be based on safe, clean and renewable forms of energy. However, sustainability is a much over-used word to the point where it has become almost meaningless. This paper argues that we need to reaffirm the meaning of sustainability and use its defining principles to guide our advocacy and practice. If we ignore these principles, we run the danger of generating unrealistic expectations and mistrust, and becoming involved in practice that is questionable from a sustainability perspective. On the other hand, if we use the principles of sustainability to guide our practice and advocacy, our goals will be more achievable, our credibility will increase and our practice will become more ethical. This paper uses one model of sustainability to evaluate examples of renewable energy advocacy and practice.


ions were Swami Yoganand's main concern, not the problems of individuals. However, he was a very human person and his wisdom was beyond question. He could give her life a direction, a meaning. He could show her how to be free from the void she has been trying to fill, but making it worse and worse (42). The welcome and birthday celebration of Yoganand was arranged by the two ladies at Jennifer's house. Stella created the ambience with an Indian touch. Yoganand met many people there. Vincent Swift, the President of the East-West center also met Yoganand. He appreciated Yoganand's work. He had plans to make full use of Yoganand's presence in Hawaii. He planned to establish an institute in Hawaii under Yoganand's guidance and discussed this idea with the people he would need support from in his endeavour. He emphasized on the need of raising funds for the same to ensure that it is launched on a big scale. He even decided to name it Yoganand as he found it cryptic enough to attract attention. Stella suggested the name of the center. She was overwhelmed by the thought of Yoganand's stay in Hawaii for a longer time that the institute would ensure. She feels the desperate need of his guidance. Stella's husband Walt, an uninvited guest to the celebration who questions Yoganand's need in Hawaii asks him a question: "How does a yogi like you arrange his sex life..." (57)? He called a celibate's life abnormal. He tried his best to trouble Yoganand by his questions. Vincent Swift's entry from his discussion area stopped Walt's and Yoganand's conversation. Swift then presented his idea to Yoganand. Yoganand disapproved of it as his motto was only to help people in their spiritual quest but Vincent Swift with his smooth talk convinced him to think over it in a month. He also offered him to take a break for his


A mass flow meter that is suitable for insertion into a main channel (2) in which a mass flow in a main flow direction (12) flows, having a housing (1). In the housing (1), an auxiliary channel is formed, and which has an inlet opening (4) and an outlet opening (10) in the at least one sensor element (6, 7) is arranged. The inlet opening (4) is funnel-shaped. The outlet opening (10) in the main flow direction (12) of the mass flow in the lee of the inlet opening (4).


This paper analyzes optimal weed control management strategies under static and dynamic decision rules. Seed bank is taken into account to introduce dynamics into the model. We present a numerical example of controlling Sheathed Monochoria (Monochoria Vaginalis) in Korean rice paddy fields. Our results show that producers benefit from dynamic decision rules; higher income and more control of weed density can be obtained with the same amount of herbicide. In order to illustrate the magnitude of differences between static and dynamic models, a numerical example is presented using a data set from Korean rice production. When it comes to controlling weed density, Korean rice farmers are found to be better off under the dynamic model, and the magnitude of advantages are found to be more sensitive to herbicide efficacy and less sensitive to initial seed banks and germination rates in terms of weed density.


In his paper a three phase multilevel inverter with a less number of switching devices is proposed. Large electrical drives and utility application require advanced power electronics converter to meet the high power demands. As a result, multilevel power converter structure has been introduced as an alternative in high power and medium voltage situations. A multilevel converter not only achieves high power rating but also improves the performance of the whole system in terms of harmonics. In this paper the proposed inverter can output more numbers of voltage levels with reduced number of switches as compared to cascade H-bridge inverter, which results in reduction of installation cost and have simplicity of control system. Finally, the simulation results validate the concept of this new topology


The electronic spectra of monosubstituted chromate ion derivatives, CrO3X-, where X-=F-, Cl-, Br- and IO3 -, have been measured at liquid helium temperature, employing a variety of sample forms. The observed electronic transitions correlate simply and directly with those of CrO4 2-, the lowest-lying transitions being only very weakly perturbed. Of particular interest is that the lowest excited state 1 Ea retains the peculiarities of the 1 T 1 parent state of CrO4 2-. The sharp line spectrum observed in Cr2O7 2- between 18 000 and 19 000 cm-1 is identified as 1 Ea (1 T 1 in T d) ←1 A 1 in a single O3CrO= chromophore. It is suggested that the observed features of the low-lying absorption bands can be explained by assuming that two spin-triplet states [3 E, 3 A 2] are located a few hundred wave numbers above the sharp 0-0 line of 1 Ea ←1 A 1.


Knowledge of neural receptive fields helps decode animal's movement from neural activity in motor brain machine interfaces (BMI). The traditional tuning depth is a coarse metric to evaluate the neuron's tuning properties. The major difficulty of the tuning depth is that it does not allow for a direct comparison among neurons that have very different firing rates. An information theoretic tuning depth based on mutual information is proposed to evaluate how neural spikes encode the kinematic direction. This metric is scale invariant and makes the tuning analysis comparable among not only the cortical areas but also among kinematics vectors. It can help identify candidate neuron subsets to reduce the complexity of analysis and decoding in BMI. The application of the metric on neural encoding modeling also provides a way to estimate time delays in motor cortical neural activity


The invention relates to a cooling device for a convertor, which comprises an air conditioning assembly, a water-cooling assembly and a fan refrigerating assembly, wherein the air conditioning assembly is arranged at the outside of the convertor; the water-cooling assembly is arranged on the convertor; and the fan refrigerating assembly is arranged in the convertor and used for leading external air into the convertor.


Addressing historical injustice by reconfi guring rights to access, use and ownership of land is a global issue. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, for example, was the fl agship legislation of the fi rst Scottish Parliament. To many Scots, it began to address the wrongs of the highland clearances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It also provided the right of responsible access to land. The Scottish Parliament is expected to review the legislation and the existing rights may well be extended. At an international level, the decision in Mabo v Queensland (1992) 175 CLR 1 was the landmark case which – as Mr Justice Sachs explains in his introduction to the book the subject of this review, Comparative Perspectives on Communal Lands and Individual Ownership: Sustainable Futures – had the effect of completely transforming the tenure possibilities recognised by law. This case gave recognition to a presumptive form of title to the land on which indigenous peoples lived. The infl uence of this judgment, and particularly its advances and retreats since 1992 coupled with an examination of it in the context of sustainability, is the basis of this book.


Aiming at the start-up design and implementation process of the permanent magnet synchronous motor(PMSM),the DSP TMS320LF2812 was used as the core control unit.Such as Hall sensors and incremental optical-electrical encoder were used as position feedback devices.The bi-directional detection through rough measurement and precision measurement to determine the start position was proposed.The starting current was controlled,and the troubles were avoided,such as overflowing,less flow and so on.At the last,the relevant Matlab model was built.The merits of controlling the starting current with the application of this method were validated by simulation.The test results indicate that the system can realize comparatively precise position control of the motor.


In order to study the effects of mass ratios of components of intumescent fire-retardancy system on fire-proof property of the coatings,aqueous intumescent fire retardant coatings(AIFRC) were prepared using APP-PER-MEL as the flame-retardant system,aqueous polyacrylic emulsion as the binder,titanium dioxide as the filler and appropriate water as solvent.The fire-proof properties of the coatings were studied by the small chamber method and the simulated slab method;and the effects of different mass ratios of each component of APP-PER-MEL on the thermal decomposition of coatings and the structure of residue chars were studied in detail by thermo-gravimetric analysis(TGA),Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electric microscope(SEM).The results show that when the m(APP)-m(PER)-m(MEL) ratio was 7∶1∶2,the prepared coating has the best fire protection property,and that APP-PER-MEL mass ratios have a great effect on the char formation rate,the structure of the remaining char,which then affect the flame-retardancy property of the coatings.


8511Background: Dramatic responses to MET inhibitors have been reported in patients with NSCLC harboring activating mutations that cause MET exon 14 (METdel14) skipping. We conducted a multicenter retrospective analysis of pts with METdel14 NSCLC to determine if treatment with MET inhibitors impacts survival. Methods: We collected clinicopathologic data on pts with METdel14 NSCLC. Event-time distributions were estimated using Kaplan-Meier and compared with the log-rank test. Multivariable Cox models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. Results: Of the 148 pts with METdel14 mutant NSCLC, the median age was 72 (range 43-88); 57% were women, and 41% were never smokers. The most common histologies were adenocarcinoma (77%) and pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (14%). Overlap with oncogenic driver mutations in other genes was rare. At the time of diagnosis, 70% of pts had stage I-III disease, and 30% had stage IV disease. Of the 34 pts with metastastic disease who never received a MET inhibitor, the median ove...


Cellular network design for a specific area requires precise knowledge of the propagation characteristics of the radio channel in that area. This paper discusses the applicability of some well known theoretical models to the specific conditions in Izmir, Turkey. Three path loss models were used to predict the path loss in three different frequency bands. Advanced Okumura-Hata, Advanced Walfisch-Ikegami and Algorithm 9999 were used to predict the path loss in certain areas of Izmir, Turkey. The simulation results were compared to real signal strength measurements obtained from live GSM and WCDMA cellular networks and it was concluded that Algorithm 9999 performs best in the dense urban, urban and suburban environments of Izmir.


A new oxyfluoride Sr 2Mn2O5–xF1+x was synthesized by low temperature fluorination of Sr 2Mn2O5 with XeF2 and studied using X-ray powder diffraction, electron diffraction and high resolution electron microscopy. The oxyfluoride has a tetragonal perovskite-like structure with cell parametersa = 3.8069(8) Å, c = 3.989(2) Å (S.G. P4/mmm). No additional superstructure or lattice distortions were detected by electron microscopy. The Mn oxidation state was evaluated using bond valence sum calculations as close to VMn = +3.5. The tetragonal distortion of the perovskite structure arises from the Jahn–Teller deformation of the Mn(O,F) 6 octahedra. 2002 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.


Bean, A.R. (2017). Labichea mulliganensis A.R.Bean (Leguminosae: Caesalpiniodeae), a new species from Queensland. Austrobaileya 10(1): 196–199. Labichea mulliganensis A.R.Bean, confined to Mount Mulligan in northern Queensland, is described as new. Illustrations are provided, as are notes on its affinities and conservation status. A key to the identification of all Queensland species of Labichea is included.


This report discusses issues surrounding the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 and programs set up to meet the water quality standards that it outlined. The report focuses specifically on the legislative issues for the 110th Congress in relation to the CWA including the authorization of water infrastructure funding, regulatory protection of wetlands, and other CWA issues that may require separate oversight or legislation. It also includes a brief comparison of the expected appropriations for FY2008 and FY2009.


We present a dimensionally deconstructed model of an s-wave holographic superconductor. The 2+1 dimensional model includes multiple charged Cooper pair fields and neutral exciton fields that have interactions governed by hidden local symmetries. We derive AdS/CFT-like relations for the current and charge density in the model, and we analyze properties of the Cooper pair condensates and the complex conductivity.


The Pri-Kuma zone of highs is characterized by numerous local highs, which are grouped on four structural-tectonic lines (sub-zones) of Caucasus trend. On the north is the Velichayev sub-zone; in the central part th e Ozek-Suat and Neftekum sub-zone s; and on the south the Mekteb sub-zone. They differ one from the other in the morphology of their folds, co mpleteness of the Mesozoic section, and stratigraphic range of oil productivity.


Abstract:  Surface water resources in urban areas serve multiple functions ranging from recreation to wildlife habitat. As a result, diverse values influence people's views about resource protection, potentially leading to conflicting interests. In metropolitan Portland, Oregon, natural resource planning has recently focused on habitat restoration as well as stormwater and pollution mitigation, especially through the protection of riparian areas. Due to opposition over proposed regulations in the study region, this research examines public attitudes about an array of resource management efforts. The primary research question is: what is the extent of positive–negative attitudes about water resource protection, and what theoretical dimensions underlie diverse judgments? After empirical survey results are presented, I outline a conceptual approach for future assessments of environmental attitudes while highlighting important value‐based dimensions of judgments. Although flexible, the framework allows broad comparisons to advance knowledge about the social acceptability of varied water resource management approaches across diverse places and contexts.


Asymmetric supercapacitors have attracted tremendous attention in energy storage devices since they have an enhanced energy density in comparison with symmetric supercapacitor devices. Furthermore, the development of diverse and flexible electronic devices requires the asymmetric supercapacitor devices to be flexible and in various configurations. However, it is still a challenge to develop a universal strategy to obtain both capacitive and Faradic electrodes with various architectures. Herein, a spontaneously reducing/assembling strategy in an alkaline condition is developed to fabricate large‐area reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and RGO–metal oxide/hydroxide composite films or microsized structures. As a proof of concept, the large‐area pure RGO and RGO/Mn3O4 composite films with porous structure and superior mechanical property are achieved by such strategy. These RGO‐based films can directly serve as the anodes and cathodes of the flexible asymmetric film supercapacitors. Furthermore, the interdigital RGO and RGO/Mn3O4 patterns are also obtained via a selectively reducing/assembling process to achieve the asymmetric microsized supercapacitors. These asymmetric supercapacitors with different configurations possess good electrochemical performance and excellent flexibility. Therefore, such reducing and assembling strategy provides a route to achieve large‐area RGO‐based films and microsized structures for the applications in the various fields such as energy storage and photocatalysis.


I was listening to students presenting cases from their experiences in contact lens clinic. Each student is charged with describing an unusual case and developing a management strategy that is based on evidence in the literature that would be generalizeable to the case they are managing. First, I was impressed with the sophistication of the presentations, their critique of the research articles, and how each was able to use the evidence from those studies for the management of their patients. The session was intriguing because it highlighted the concerns that parents have about the visual state and development of their children and the similar concerns that those children or patients have about their own visual health. The two perplexing conditions on that day were myopia and keratoconus for different reasons, but also because of the preponderance of those categories in our contact lens clinic. Vitale et al.'s publication on increased prevalence and severity of myopia in the United States drew considerable media attention late last year to the alarming statistics.1 Even more staggering is the increase of myopia prevalence in Asia described by Papas and Sankaridurg on the Vision CRC website.2 They wrote that the number of myopes will grow from 1.6 (currently) to 2.5 billion by 2020. The origin of myopia is somewhat controversial but recent work on animals has shown that peripheral optical defocus influences the axial growth of the eye.3 This is an exciting prospect as both spectacle and contact lenses can be designed to potentially control this anomaly. Many other clinical methods have been attempted to control myopia apart from atropine drops which appear to work well in children but produce side effects, whereas most of the other methods have had limited success. There is great hope for this new optical procedure. The reward and joy of providing successful visual treatment of keratoconus for both the patient and practitioner with contact lenses or any other remedy is immeasurable, but it can be equally disheartening and depressing if the treatment doesn't work. Now, there is hope that wavefront-guided design soft lenses4 will provide similar visual results to rigid gas-permeable lenses. Perhaps even more urgent is the need to halt the progression of the disease and work on this has been documented. Corneal collagen crosslinking using ultraviolet-A light and riboflavin (vitamin B2) is a technique that produces additional crosslinks in the corneal stroma to increase the rigidity of the corneal tissue,5,6 and the early reports suggest that it appears to be effective. Clearly (no pun intended), so much more research is required on all of these developments.


AbstractThis study investigates the characteristics of the cost performance of megatransport infrastructure projects in Hong Kong and performs dependence analysis of cost overruns. It is based on 5...


This paper evaluates and compares two comprehensive cone penetration test (CPT) based methods for evaluating liquefaction resistance of sandy soils. The comparison is made based on the results obtained from artificial neural network (ANN) analyses. Two methods are compared, one by Olsen and his colleagues at the Waterways Experiment Station and one by Robertson and his colleagues at the University of Alberta. ANN models are created to approximate the two CPT-based methods so that they can easily be compared using a large database. The results show that ANN models can approximate both Robertson and Olsen methods well, and that both methods are fairly accurate in predicting liquefaction resistance. The Robertson method has a success rate of 89% in predicting liquefied cases, a success rate of 76% in predicting nonliquefied cases, and an overall success rate of 84%. The success rates for the Olsen method are 68%, 89%, and 77%, respectively, in predicting liquefied cases, nonliquefied cases, and all cases. Bo...


The Fed model postulates that the equity earnings yield follows the bond yield in the long run. Our tests based on a cointegration analysis of the United States, United Kingdom and German data indicate that the Fed model has predictive power in forecasting changes in the equity prices, earnings and bond yields. The predictions are better in the US than in other countries. Our approach consists of building a Vector Equilibrium Correction model which provides a quantitative dynamic version of the Fed model.


To what extent do human-robot interactions (HRI) rely on social processes similar to human-human interactions (HHI)? To address this question objectively, we use a unique corpus. Brain activity and behaviors were recorded synchronously while participants were discussing with a human (confederate of the experimenter) or a robotic device (controlled by the confederate). Here, we focus on two main regions of interest (ROIs), that form the core of "the social brain", the right temporoparietal junction [rTPJ] and right medial prefrontal cortex [rMPFC]. An new analysis approach derived from multivariate time-series forecasting is used. A prediction score describes the ability to predict brain activity for each ROI, and results identify which behavioral features, built from raw recordings of the conversations, are used for this prediction. Results identify some differences between HHI and HRI in the behavioral features predicting activity in these ROIs of the social brain, that could explain significant differences in the level of activity


Laser micro-sampling technique for analysis of C and O isotope in carbonate minerals is a useful tool to focus a high-power laser beam onto a carbonate sample to liberate CO2 gas. It is an effective way to use a special carbonate structure in the slice to product CO2 gas, with a spatial resolution of 20-50 μm, and optimal precision approximately ±0.22‰(σ) for both δ13C and δ18O in carbonate standard materials. The technique can provide a lot of high resolution and in situ data, and the micro-sampling technique is becoming an important developing tendency in δ13C and δ18O analysis. Geochemical characteristics of the oolitic dolomites in Feixianguan Formation, Northeast Sichuan are studied by using this technique. The results show that the interpreting errors resulted from impure samples are avoided due to the precise micro-sampling technique and the precise geochemical data may lay a foundation of the genesis of the oolitic dolomites. The δ13C‰(PDB) values of the oolitic dolomites are more than that of the marine water at the time when the oolitic dolomites formed, illustrating that the dolomitization fluids were not mixed by the meteoric water. The δ18O‰(PDB) values of the oolitic dolomites vary with the micro-sampling sites. They are lighter with the increasing of the dolomite crystalline size, illustrating the process of dolomitization underwent processes of deep burial and gradually rising temperature of the strata. The δ18O‰(PDB) values are also lighter with decreasing salinity in dolomitization fluid. The laser micro-sampling technique can provide the geochemical evidence for explaining brine reflux origin in oolitic dolomites.


Recently, comparative studies of school systems have documented what everybody knew already: that children living in white or upper income areas go to better schools than children living in Negro or lower income areas.&dquo; This finding holds whether one compares small towns or neighborhoods of big cities which differ in income or race. The focus of this essay is on educational inequalities in the big cities, their causes, and the consequences of reducing them by various


This article examines the crisis of the Jamaican peasantry. Jamaica's peasants are struggling against pressures old and new, with the burden of their spatial inheritance magnified by a withering state, rising food imports following trade liberalisation, and oft-conflictive social relations. It begins by examining the historical formation of the peasantry after Emancipation, emphasising the unevenness of the landscape and the tensions between individualism and cooperation, before describing the protracted process of de-peasantisation, which has sped under structural adjustment reforms. Current conditions and future prospects are assessed through the insights and experiences of peasant farmers situated on the periphery of a plantation landscape. Ultimately, the future of peasant farming in Jamaica is seen to be bound up foremost in the struggle for land reform, and it is hoped that the current de-stabilisation of the plantation system will provide a new window for historic change.


Historians' understanding of the Cromwellian period in Scotland remains strikingly underdeveloped, with the 1650s usually being described simply as a period of military rule. Yet political science makes it clear that this concept carries many potential meanings, and consequently it tells us little about the actual workings of the republican regime. This paper seeks to address that gap through detailed analysis of Cromwellian governance in the Scottish Highlands, the most heavily militarised part of Scotland throughout the 1650s. Concentrating on the Protectoral period, the paper explores the purpose, size and function of the army establishment in the Highlands, before proceeding to assess the continuing role of traditional social elites in the matrix of control. Concluding that the republican authorities constructed a much more nuanced governing system – and one, moreover, noticeably inspired by antebellum norms – than concepts of 'military rule' imply, the paper suggests that the Highland experience can shed valuable light on the broader mixture of conservatism and radicalism characteristic of the British republic.


In this paper, we present an <italic>&Ogr;</italic>(<italic>n</italic> log <italic>n</italic>) algorithm for finding the minimum Euclidean visible vertex distance between two nonintersecting simple polygons, where <italic>n</italic> is the number of vertices in a polygon. The algorithm is based on applying a divide and conquer method to two preprocessed facing boundaries of the polygons. We also derive an <italic>&Ogr;</italic>(<italic>n</italic> log <italic>n</italic>) algorithm for finding a minimum sequence of separating line segments between two nonintersecting polygons.


Introduction This paper analyzes women's participation in forest management in villages in the Manali area of the upper Kullu Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. I explore women's participation in Joint Forest Management (JFM) projects and the forest-related activities and functioning of lIlahila lIlandals (village women's organizations). Women in the villages surrounding the town of Manali procure the majority of the forest products used daily within households. JFM is only part of the overall context for the interactions between people and the forests, and forest use and management. Women's participation within local groups such as the mahila mandai is also significant because these groups contribute to forest management through the creation and enforcement of local-level rules about forest access and use. These two aspects of women's participation in forest management are highlighted in order to examine the question of whether JFM threatens to undermine the existing pattern of women's involvement in forest use and management, including those aspects of forest management that are the domain of the mahila mandaI.


A 14 year old girl, at age 8, had had a bipolar pulse generator implanted with myo‐cardial leads. Because one of the myocardial leads fractured near the electrode, a second pair of myocardial leads were implanted. Thus, the patient had two pairs of myocardial leads and one demand pulse generator implanted.


Urban water industry,as an infrastructure industry which is closely related to people's livelihood,especially has a bright future in the aspects of urban water production and living,water conservation and water recycling.Capital-intensive,precipitation and long recovery period are the major characteristics of water industry.Thus,an effective way to solve the lack of our water infrastructure funds is to introduce asset securitization and credit enhancement and to make an inventory of stock assets of water.


Electron beam welding (EBW) technique was used to perform dissimilar joining of plain carbon steel to Fe-7%Al alloy under three different weld conditions such as with beam oscillation, without beam oscillation and at higher welding speed. The effect of weld parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar joints was studied using optical microscopy, SEM, EBSD, hardness, tensile and erichsen cup tests. Microstructure results show that the application of beam oscillation resulted in uniform and homogeneous microstructure compared to without beam oscillations and higher welding speed. Further, it was observed that weld microstructure changes from equiaxed to columnar grains depending on the weld speed. High weld speed results in columnar grain structure in the weld joint. Erichsen cup test results show that the application of beam oscillation results in excellent formability as compared to high weld speed. Tensile test results show no significant difference in strength properties in all three weld conditions, but the ductility was found to be highest for joints obtained with the application of weld beam oscillation as compared to without beam oscillation and high weld speed. This study shows that the application of beam oscillations plays an important role in improving the weld quality and performance of EBW dissimilar steel to Fe-Al joints.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: the first step of forming a gate electrode over a silicon substrate, with a gate insulating film; and the second step of digging down a surface layer of the silicon substrate by etching conducted with the gate electrode as a mask. The method of manufacturing the semiconductor device further includes the third step of epitaxially growing, on the surface of the dug-down portion of the silicon substrate, a mixed crystal layer including silicon and atoms different in lattice constant from silicon so that the mixed crystal layer contains an impurity with such a concentration gradient that the impurity concentration increases along the direction from the silicon substrate side toward the surface of the mixed crystal layer.


The author discusses the impact of oral health disparities on the physical, mental and social well-being of poor and minority citizens in the U.S. Topics include the need for a more diverse health workforce in order to better respond to the changing demographics of the U.S., the integration of oral health care with overall health care, and the need for comprehensive access to oral health care and preventive services.


Objective: To establish an HPLC method for the determination of succinic acid in Anemone altaica Fisch.Methods: Kromasil C18(150 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm) column was used and methyl alcohol-0.02mol/L KH2PO4 buffer solution(7:93) as the mobile phase,with the detection wavelength of 214 nm,column temperature of 30 ℃ and rate of flow 0.5mL/min.Results: The linearity rela-tionship of succinic acid was good in the range of 4~48 μg.The average recovery rate of succinic acid in samples was 99.15 % with RSD of 2.04 %.The content of succinic acid in Anemone altaica Fisch was 0.200%~0.318 %.Conclusion: The method is reliable,repeatable and precise,which could be used for the rational use and quality control of Anemone altaica Fisch.


Physicists do not fully understand the nature of dark matter although we infer its existence from experimental observation. This project is part of the dark matter detection searches with the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). We are investigating one of the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMP) candidates called the neutralino, a particle predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. In particular, we ran a computer simulation called DarkSUSY that predicts the signature that we expect to see in the data from GLAST that pertains to the detection of the neutralino in the galactic halo.


Background: We analyzed the results of external proficiency tests for HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV, and these tests are currently used for blood donor screening in Korea. Methods: The external proficiency testing (EPT) data was retrospectively collected from 2001 to 2009 from the Korean Association of Quality Assurance for Clinical Laboratories, and this association includes those institutes that have blood centers. The pooled patient sera or converted sera from the plasma were used for EPT. The year 2004 data includes the Recombinant HBsAg variant (Gly/Arg 145). Results: A total 806 institutes participated in this evaluation. The average discordant rate for HBsAg, anti-HCV and anti-HIV in the blood centers was 0.2%, 0.6% and 1.0%, respectively for the years 2001-2009. For the HBsAg test, the discordant rate was less than 0.5% in 2009, yet there was a much higher rate (1.6-22.2%) in 2004 when using the recombinant HBsAg variant. Conclusion: HBV variants or low positive antigen or antibody titers were problematic in the current clinical laboratory, and so a systematic quality assurance program should be conducted with using control materials.


Abstract Results of a biodiversity investigation of Agromyzidae (Diptera) in the cadastre of Zlaté Hory town (Silesia, Czech Republic) in June 2017 are presented. In the area under study a total of 43 species of 12 genera have been recorded including 29 species representing new additions to the fauna of Czech Silesia. Agromyza seticercus, Cerodontha (Poemyza) beigerae, Galiomyza galiivora, Liriomyza europaea, L. puella, Phytomyza aurei, Ph. cirsii, Ph. vilnensis and Pseudonapomyza palliditarsis being to most interesting species found in the area. The importance of these species from a faunistic point of view is discussed.


As datasets continue to grow in size and complexity, exploring multi-dimensional datasets remain challenging for analysts. A common operation during this exploration is drill-down-understanding the behavior of data subsets by progressively adding filters. While widely used, in the absence of careful attention towards confounding factors, drill-downs could lead to inductive fallacies. Specifically, an analyst may end up being "deceived" into thinking that a deviation in trend is attributable to a local change, when in fact it is a more general phenomenon; we term this the drill-down fallacy. One way to avoid falling prey to drill-down fallacies is to exhaustively explore all potential drill-down paths, which quickly becomes infeasible on complex datasets with many attributes. We present VisPilot, an accelerated visual data exploration tool that guides analysts through the key insights in a dataset, while avoiding drill-down fallacies. Our user study results show that VisPilot helps analysts discover interesting visualizations, understand attribute importance, and predict unseen visualizations better than other multidimensional data analysis baselines.


Heifers were given .5 or 1 mg/day of melengestrol acetate (MGA) for 14 days to investigate the effect of dose and time of initial treatment on the following parameters: 1) ovarian morphology 2) luteinizing hormone (LH) and progesterone levels in blood 3) cervical mucus index 4) estrus and 5) ovulation and fertilization following mating. Average time for estrus from last MGA feeding was 7.26 days in 1 mg MGA heifers (p less than .01) and 4.75 days in .5 mg MGA-synchronized heifers. 47% of the heifers given MGA on Day 15 failed to become synchronized whereas only 20% of those given MGA on Day 4 failed. Major physiologica l changes occurred in ovaries as a result of MGA treatment; there were f ewer mature follicles and more very large follicles compared with controls. Cervical mucus index coincided with estrus in only 1/3 of the MGA-treated heifers. Serum LH levels were higher (p less than .05) in those heifers first treated on Day 15 rather than on Day 4 and in animals receiving .5 mg MGA. MGA-treated heifers had more uncleaved ova indicating a higher rate of fertilization failure. It is concluded that fertility is reduced in matings at the first synchronized estrus following MGA treatment.


Aspiration of foreign body (FB) into the respiratory tract represents one of the leading causes of death in childhood, especially in preschool children. The highest incidence is recorded in children aged from one to 3 years. The leading symptoms in conditions after acute aspiration are sudden cough, shortness of breath, suffocation and stridor [1-16]. The signs of acute respiratory distress with


The question of the age of the Northern Schist Range of Trinidad, or the Caribbean group of Messrs. Wall and Sawkins, is an important one in Antillean geology. Wall and Sawkins 3 state that "Calcareous rocks are represented by two varieties in this series, viz., crystalline limestones contained in the slates and alternating with them; and compact limestones, either quite unconnected with the schistose group, or only associated with its upper strata". Further "The compact limestones form a portion of the LaventiUe Hills, and several islands of the gulf. Some beds to the east, situated at the base of the range, such as those of Laurel Hill, and inter-stratified in the slates, are supposed to belong to this variety; but the sections in general are not such as to indicate the precise relations of the compact limestones to the micaceous series".


Based on the structure and the technical characteristic of cdma2000 reverse channels introduced in this paper, we compare cdma2000 with IS-95CDMA system and expound the improvement in spreading, power control, variable rate transmission, forward error correction and random access method, and the improvement obviously enhance the performance of cdma2000


L-dopa remains the most effective treatment for Parkinson"s disease (PD). However, its effectiveness declines on continuous use, leads to motor complications, and does not modify the progression of the neurodegenerative process. Medical therapy that provides the benefits of l-dopa without motor complications and enhances cell proliferation would be a major advance in the treatment of Parkinson"s disease (PD). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the role of pramipexole in delaying l-dopa induced dyskinesia and providing neuroprotective effect for the substantia nigra neurons. Additionally, the study was extended to evaluate the impact of this neuroprotective effect in enhancing the response to l-dopa in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl 1,2,3,6tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of PD in mice. Mice were allocated to five groups as follows: saline group, MPTP group, l-dopa group, pramipexole group and l-dopa + pramipexole group. Coadministration of pramipexole with l-dopa delayed the priming of l-dopa-induced dyskinesia, improved the motor performance of MPTP-parkinsonian mice throughout the entire period of the experiment and promoting cell proliferation. Therefore, pramipexole seems to be a useful adjunct to l-dopa in the current model of experimental parkinsonism, not only to gain more therapeutic effect and to delay the priming of l-dopa induced dyskinesia but also to reduce dopaminergic neuron loss and promote cell proliferation.


The new bismaleimide monomer N,N'-bis(maleimide)benzenesulfonamide [BMBS], homopolymer N,N'-bis(maleimide)benzenesulfonamide [HBMBS] and copolymers-N,N'bis(maleimide)benzenesulfonamide–vinyl acetate[CBMBS-A] and N,N'-bis(maleimide)benzene sulfonamide–ethyl vinyl acetate [CBMBS-B] were formed by addition reaction followed by dehydration –cum-cyclization of 4-amino sulfonamide and maleic anhydride. Polymerization process was accompanied by AIBN-THF free radical initiator-solvent selected by trying of many initiatorsolvent system. Melting points were determined by open capillaries method and compounds structures were confirmed from FT-IR spectra (KBr) spectrophotometer. H NMR spectra of all compounds were recorded, using TMS as internal reference. Antifungal activity were examined by various fungus-strain of Candida albicans, Alternaria soloni and Aspergillus niger and results were compared with Griseofulvin as standard reference anti-fungal drug.


Introduction: Paraproteins cause interference in many assays systems due to increased viscosity and/or by non-specific binding to either analytes or reagents which may variably affect the results. There is abundant evidence to indicate that performance characteristics of automated, competitive protein-binding assays for folate assays are normally sound, but there is a paucity of data comparing folate assays in patients with paraproteinaemia compared to normals. Method: Serum samples were prepared from venous blood taken into Greiner Vacuette containers (code: 456018) in fifty patients with paraproteinaemia (IgG Kappa, n = 20: IgG Lambda, n = 9: IgM Kappa, n = 6: IgM Lambda, n = 4: IgA Kappa, n = 5: IgA Lambda, n = 3: multiclonal, n = 3). Serum folate assays were measured according to manufacturer's instructions on Beckman-Coulter Access and Abbott Architect haematinics analysers on the day of sample collection. Results: The ratio of means of serum protein concentrations in the paraprotein sub-groups compared to the mean values of age/gender related reference ranges were: IgG = 1.57: IgM = 7.8: IgA = 6.3. Serum albumin concentration was normal in all patients. Mean serum folate results (±1SD) for paraprotein patients and normals controls (laboratory personnel) are shown in the table below: When analysed using the paired-t-test serum folate was significantly different in normal subjects using the Access compared to the Architect. However, no such significant difference between the two systems was observed in the paraproteinaemia group. Although the mean serum folate in normals was higher compared to the paraprotein group as analysed by the Access, this difference was not significant when analysed using the two-sample t-test. Interestingly the mean serum folate when analysed in the two groups using the Architect gave identical mean values. There were no statistically significant differences between the two methods in any of the paraprotein sub-types (p>0.05 in each case). Conclusions: The complex and variable mixture of proteins present in paraproteinaemias pose potential erroneous measurement in immunoassay systems. This is because they may interfere with the associated antigen-antibody reactions which are dependant on complimentary matching shapes being assumed by the antibody variable regions of the immunoglobulin. Despite this, our data using two distinct chemiluminescence analysers for folate measurement indicate no statistically significant difference for this parameter between patients with paraproteinaemia compared to normal controls. However, it has yet to be determined whether differing results between these two groups are generated using different analytical techniques.


The purpose of this article is to record a clinical and experimental study of muscle changes noted in a recent epidemic of poliomyelitis in New Zealand. The term muscle spasm has come into general use to describe those changes which occur in the acute stages of the disease and has to be distinguished from the state of contracture which is a terminal condition of muscle shortening due to fibrosis. In this study we are chiefly concerned with the state of muscle spasm encountered in acute poliomyelitis. The subject of muscle spasm has been a controversial one and skilled observers in the U.S.A. have stated that they encounter muscle spasm in all patients with poliomyelitis, whereas experienced neurologists and orthopaedic surgeons in the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. state that they have


There are limited data to guide treatment recommendations for children with acute, symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This review outlines a proposed management approach for children based on the published evidence to date and the approval of medications through drug regulatory agencies, as well as the known safety profile of the recommended drugs in this age group.


Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics; jointly with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, February 1999.


INTRODUCTION In addition to its role in development, cell proliferation, cell differentiation and extracellular matrix production, TGF-beta exerts key anti-inflammatory properties. In vitro studies have demonstrated that TGF-beta1 suppresses the capacity of monocytes/macrophages to release reactive oxygen intermediates [1], reactive nitrogen intermediates [2] and proinflammatory cytokines [3, 4]. In vivo, TGF-beta1-null mutation in mice [...]


Research on the carboxyl rosin modification and application was summarized in three aspects of esterification reaction,amidation reaction and preparation of rosin nitriles.Finally,the development prospect and trend of this field were discussed.


INTRODUCTION: Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is an increasingly attractive and clinically successful treatment for individuals with isolated medial compartment disease who demand high levels of function. A major challenge with UKA is to place the components accurately so they are mechanically harmonious with the retained joint surfaces, ligaments and capsule. Misalignment of UKA components compromises clinical outcomes and implant longevity. Cobb et al. (JBJS-Br 2006) showed that robot-assisted placement of UKA components was more accurate than traditional techniques, and subsequently that the clinical outcomes were improved. Cobb's method, however, employed rigid intraoperative stabilization of the bones in a stereotactic frame, which is impractical for routine clinical use. Robotic systems have now advanced to include dynamic bone tracking technologies so that rigid fixation is no longer required. The question is Do these robotic systems with dynamic bone tracking provide the same accuracy advantages demonstrated with robotic systems with rigidly fixed bones?


We have developed a complete theory for the calculation of the observed Stokes parameters for radiation emitted from the surface of a rapidly rotating neutron star (NS) using the oblate Schwarzschild approximation. We accounted for the rotation of the polarization plane due to relativistic effects along the path from the stellar surface to the observer. The results were shown to agree with those obtained by performing full numerical general relativistic ray-tracing with the ARCMANCER code. We showed that the obtained polarization angle profiles may differ substantially from those derived for a spherical star. We demonstrated that assuming incorrect shape for the star can lead to biased constraints for NS parameters when fitting the polarization data. Using a simplified model, we also made a rough estimate of how accurately the geometrical parameters of an accreting NS can be determined using the X-ray polarization measurements of upcoming polarimeters like the Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer or the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission.


Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) may strongly affect soil structure and soil physical properties, which in turn may have feedback effects on the soil microbial activity and SOC dynamics. Such interactions are still not quantitatively described and accounted for in SOC dynamics modelling. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that soil shrinkage curve (ShC) analysis allows the establishment of close relationships between soil physical properties and SOC. We sampled a rice‐cropped vertisol, a cambisol under conventional tillage and no‐tillage and a restored cambisol. Soil samples were analysed for clay and SOC content, bulk volume, hydro‐structural stability and plasma and structural pore volumes changes on the full water content range using ShC analysis. Although the soils behaved differently according to their constituents and history, changes in SOC linearly affected most of the soil physical properties, with stronger effects than changes in clay content. The observed effects of increasing SOC, such as increasing hydro‐structural stability, specific bulk volume and water retention, agreed well with previously reported results. However, using ShC measurement and modelling allowed the observation of all these different effects simultaneously for small changes in SOC, and in a single measurement. Moreover, the relation between SOC changes and physical properties could be quantified. ShC analysis may, therefore, be used to account for the effect of changes in SOC on soil physical properties.


The impact toughness of ZA27 Alloy at different temperatures is investigated by pendulum impact testing. The surface morphology of impact fracture is observed by scan electron microscope (SEM). The results indicate that impact energy of ZA27 decreases as the temperatures increase when the temperatures is lower than 100 ℃. Between 100 ℃ and 200 ℃, impact energy increases by the temperature's increase. And when the temperature exceeds 250 ℃, impact energy decreases dramatically. Impact energy gets to the maximum of 72.768 J at 20 ℃. At impact fracture surfaces show the morphology of tear ridges and dimples. Higher the impact energy, more obvious the character of tear ridges, smaller the dimples and more uniformity the dimples distribute; On the contrary, lower impact energy is corresponding to less tear ridges, larger dimples and inhomogeneous distribution of the dimples. Impact behavior of ZA27 alloy can be evaluated by the width of impact spectrum curve. The wider the peak of impact spectrum curve, the higher the impact toughness. Moreover impact toughness is worse if peak is narrow.


We report the solid phase synthesis of four pairs of 𝓁‐ and 𝒹‐thienylalanine (Thi/𝒹‐Thi) position two modified analogues of the following four oxytocin (OT) antagonists: des‐9‐glycinamide [1‐(β‐mercapto‐β,β‐pentamethylene propionic acid), 2‐O‐methyltyrosine, 4‐threonine]ornithine‐vasotocin (desGly(NH2)9,d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2,Thr4]OVT) (A); the Tyr‐(NH2)9 analogue of (A), d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2,Thr4,Tyr‐(NH2)9]OVT (B); the Eda9 analogue (where Eda=ethylenediamine) of (A), d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2, Thr4, Eda9]OVT (C); and the retro Tyr10 modified analogue of (C), d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2, Thr4, Eda9←Tyr10]OVT (D). The eight new analogues of A–D are (1) desGly(NH2),d(CH2)5[Thi2,Thr4]OVT, (2) desGly(NH2),d(CH2)5[𝒹‐Thi2,Thr4]OVT, (3) d(CH2)5[Thi2,Thr4,Tyr‐(NH2)9]OVT, (4) d(CH2)5[𝒹‐Thi2,Thr4,Tyr‐(NH2)9¯]OVT (5) d(CH2)5[Thi2,Thr4Eda9]OVT, (6) d(CH2)5[𝒹‐Thi2,Thr4,Eda9]OVT, (7) d(CH2)5[Thi2,Thr4,Eda9←Tyr10]OVT, (8) d(CH2)5[𝒹‐Thi2,Thr4,Eda9←Tyr10]OVT. We also report the synthesis of (C). Peptides 1¯–8¯ and C were evaluated for agonistic and antagonistic activities in in vitro and in vivo OT assays, in in vivo vasopressor (V1a receptor) assays and in in vivo antidiuretic (V2 receptor) assays. None of the eight peptides nor C exhibit oxytocic or vasopressor agonism. Peptides 1¯–8¯ are extremely weak V2 agonists (antidiuretic activities range from <0.0005 to 0.20 U/mg). Peptide C is a weak mixed V2 agonist/antagonist. Peptides 1¯–8¯ and C exhibit potent in vitro (no Mg2+) OT antagonism (anti‐OT pA2 values range from 7.76 to 8.05). Peptides 1¯–8¯ are all OT antagonists in vivo (estimated in vivo anti‐OT pA2 values range from 6.54–7.19). With anti‐V1a pA2 values of ∼5–5.80, peptides 1¯–8¯ exhibit marked reductions in anti‐V1a potencies relative to those of the parent peptides A–D (anti‐V1a pA2 range from 6.48 to 7.10) and to 1‐deamino[𝒹‐Tyr(Et)2, Thr4]OVT (Atosiban, trade name Tractocile) (anti‐V1a pA2‐6.14). Atosiban has recently been approved in Europe for clinical use for the prevention of premature labour (Pharm. J. 264(7‐100): 871). Peptides 1¯–8¯ exhibit striking gains in in vitro anti‐OT/anti‐V1a selectivities with respect to the parent peptides A, B, C and D and to Atosiban. Peptides 1¯–8¯ exhibit anti‐OT (in vitro)/anti‐V1a selectivities of 450, 525, 550, 450, ∼1080, 116, 355, 227 respectively. The corresponding values for A–D and Atosiban are 30, 4.2, 4.3, 2.6 and 37. With the exception of peptide 6¯, the remaining seven peptides exhibit 3–18‐fold gains in anti‐OT (in vivo)/anti‐V1a selectivity with respect to Atosiban, peptides 1¯–8¯ exhibit anti‐OT (in vivo)/anti‐V1a selectivities of 22, ∼82, ∼82, 147, ∼83, 11, 31 and 42. By comparison, Atosiban exhibits an anti‐OT (in vivo)/anti‐V1a selectivity=8. With an estimated in vivo anti‐OT pA2 value=7.19±0.06, peptide 4¯ is equipotent with Atosiban (pA2=7.05±0.05). However, with its significantly reduced anti‐vasopressor potency, pA2=∼5, it is ∼18 times more selective for OT receptors with respect to VP V1a receptors than Atosiban. Since we have shown that V1a antagonism could be an unwanted side‐effect in tocolytics, peptide 4¯ and some of the OT antagonists reported here have advantages over Atosiban and thus may be suitable candidates for evaluation as potential tocolytic agents for the treatment of preterm labour. Copyright © 2001 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The study provides a practical solution to the concern of detecting safety gear compliance in construction. This is imperative given that safety in the construction work environment is one of the greatest global concerns, and advancements in deep learning algorithms, especially in the area of machine learning and database management, enable the possibility to address this challenge in construction. This study developed a framework to recognize construction personnel's safety compliance with PPE, which is designed to be implemented into an organization's operational procedure. The Convolutional Neural Network model was constructed by employing machine learning to a basic version of the YOLOv3 deep learning model for the study. On the testing data, the detection method generated an F1 score of 0.9299, with a mean precision-recall rate of 92.99 %. The purpose of this study is to testify to the viability and applicability of machine vision-based methodologies for automated safety-related compliance processes on construction sites.


"Disinfection is the destruction, inactivation or removal of those micro-organisms likely to cause subsequent infection of people. Wastewater disinfection refers to the use of a process designed specifically to reduce the numbers of viable, infectious microbial organisms in an effluent, ..." (Wright, 1997). Because of its high oxidation potential and specific lethality, ozone is the most effective disinfectant (killing bacteria, inactivating viruses and protozoa).


Objective We aimed to explore the relationship among the duration of constipation at 30 days after thoracolumbar fracture surgery, self-efficacy, and anxiety or depression in patients with constipation after thoracolumbar fracture surgery. Methods In this descriptive correlational study, 108 patients with thoracolumbar fracture undergoing pedicle screw fixation surgery were recruited from January 2015 to May 2017 in our hospital. From the day of surgery, we conducted a 1-month follow-up investigation. We evaluated the pattern of defecation, stool consistency, and incidence of defecation-related problems using a structured interview. Clinical data were obtained using a patient intake form, and we applied the Health Behavior Self-Efficacy Scale (HBSES), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results Approximately 83.3% of patients experienced postoperative constipation, and most exhibited normal defecation by postoperative day 13. Self-efficacy and anxiety and depression were graded at a medium level in most patients. The average HBSES score was 74.39 ± 11.08, and the mean HADS score was 7.97 ± 4.08. The duration of postoperative constipation was negatively correlated with self-efficacy and positively associated with anxiety or depression. Conclusions Self-efficacy, anxiety, and depression are important sociopsychological factors associated with the duration of postoperative constipation.


Unstable vibrations of railway vehicle wheels generate the curve squeal noise in tight curve. This squeal noise has to be reduced in order to increase the service quality of railway system by eliminating the main factors that make the wheel unstable. In this paper, main parameters which affect the stability of railway vehicle wheel are introduced and the stability analysis is carried out using those parameters in frequency domain. Time domain analysis is also performed. In the time domain analysis, using a conventional Korean subway vehicle model, transient time response of a wheel is analyzed when the vehicle is running in curved track. Finally, the results are compared and discussed.


The present manuscript on studying sediment budget in the Lake Tana Watershed in Ethiopia was reviewed. The topic is attractive but does not fit to the context well. To me, the manuscript suffers from many deficiencies which discourage me to accept it. There was no comprehensive reviewing of literatures. No justification has been given on the necessity of the work while at least 5 very good paper written by Setegn et al. for the same area. The entire manuscript is very sparse and not connected to each others well. The study is mainly based on models which either need very complicated inputs or very sophisticated to be conceptualized for the study area. The rates given for soil erosion and sediment yield seem to me abnormal and even not corresponded with the data resulted from bathymetric studies. In overall, the present manuscript looks a general report which does not deserve publication in a scientific journal. I hope my comments and suggestions would help authors in their future works. Best Wishes


[From the introduction]. There is no small nation without a great history. Montenegrin people are a perfect example to confirm this rule. However, this paper is not about the thousand-year history of Montenegro, the fierce struggles this small but fearless nation had during its fights for freedom and independence. It is about the most important features of the political situation in Montenegro after the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and of the different unions with Serbia. This paper deals with the origins of the independence movement in Montenegro in the last decade, tries to explain the arguments in favour and against independence, as well as the possible implications of the process, looked upon from different perspectives inside and outside of Montenegro. Furthermore, it deals with the European Union's involvement in the issue, the reasons behind the specific EU policy towards Montenegro and its effects.


The notions, close to meaning, in work of Byron and Fitrat are considered. Words of Lucifer in drama Cain by G. Byron and words of Satan in the drama The Revolt of Satan against the God by Uzbek dramatist Abdurauf Fitrat, have the common meaning and difference by means of which the main idea of both dramas are revealed by the authors.


To determine the operation parameters of the expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor treating actual domestic wastewater at ambient temperature of 15-26°C, the effects of influent flow, HRT, recycle ratio,Vup and temperature on the performance of the EGSB reactor were investigated in this paper. The results indicated that when treating actual domestic wastewater, the EGSB reactor could support high influent flow and low HRT. For 9L.h-1, 11L.h-1, 15L.h-1, 24L.h-1 influent flow, with the optimal recycle ratios of 1.6-2.5, 1.2-1.6, 0.4-0.8, 0.0, the COD removal efficiencies could attain to 86-90%, 88-89%, 83%, 83%, respectively. For lower influent flow, higher Vup could slightly increase COD removal, but accordingly higher recycle ratio need to supply. Meanwhile, for higher influent flow, higher Vup will damage the granular characteristic and thus cause the decreasing of COD removal, and thus for the EGSB reactor treating actual domestic wastewater, 2.7-3.0m.h-1 optimal Vup should be employed. The EGSB reactor could work well at ambient temperature of 15°C-26°C. The optimal influent flow and Vup were 15-24L.h-1 and 3.0m.h-1. High average OLR of 18.6kgCOD.m-3.d-1 and high average COD removal efficiencies of above 81.4% could achieve, and only very low recycle ratio of 0.0 to 0.4 need employ.


In this era of easy jet travel, as this text emphasizes, one's next heart patient may suffer from Chargas cardiomyopathy, scorpion venom cardiomyopathy, or Argemone mexicana poisoning! With the fuel shortage, hypothermia may soon contribute to some heart disease in elderly patients living in poorly heated hovels. In some patients, immunosuppressive drugs, emetine, daunorubicin, lithium carbonate, or other agents may induce cardiomyopathy. The nature, history, and classification of the primary cardiomyopathies and the well-known secondary cardiomyopathies caused by alcohol, drugs, bacterial, viral, parasitic diseases and infestation are detailed in this book. Part 1 discusses primary cardiomyopathies; part 2, secondary cardiomyopathies in humans and animals. An excellent three-page differential classification of cardiomyopathies at the beginning and complete author and subject indices at the end are special features. The photographs are excellent. The chapter on spontaneous and acquired cardiomyopathies in wild and domestic animals is valuable to veterinarians and offers interesting opportunities


We establish a model of market competition between large and small firms and investigate the way in which demand substitutability affects how the entry of big firms impacts incumbents. We focus on the relative strength of two opposing effects of entry on large incumbent firms' demand: the direct substitution effect among large firms (negative) and the indirect feedback effect through the change in small firms' aggregated behavior (positive). If the substitutability between large and small firms is sufficiently high, the indirect effect dominates the direct effect and large incumbents' equilibrium prices and profits increase. We show that welfare effects are ambiguous, which calls for careful assessment when regulating large firms' entry.


The composite photocatalysts composed of Cu2O and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were prepared using a simple chemical method. The SEM, XRD and Raman spectrum indicate that graphene is well loaded to the surface of Cu2O. The UV-vis DRS spectra results reveal that the Cu2O had absorbed more visible light by recombination with graphene. The PL intensity of pure Cu2O is decreased by the loading with rGO. The BET of pure Cu2O is enhanced 3.6 times via the loading with rGO. The obtained Cu2O/rGO composites exhibit higher photocatalytic activity that is 4.32 times larger than that of Cu2O. The enhanced photocatalytic property of the rGO/ Cu2O composites is ascribed to the increasing of charge transfer and specific surface area.


The background of this research background by the lack of activity on the students' learning Citizenship Education. This study aimed to describe: (1) an increase in activity asks students VII.3 in learning civics class with methods of problem solving, (2) an increase in activity VII.3 grade students answered questions on the civics learning with problem solving methods, (3) an increase in activity VII.3 discuss student in learning civics class with methods of problem solving, (4) an increase in the activity of the subject matter concluded VII.3 grade students in learning civics with methods of problem solving. This research is a classroom action research. The instrument used is the observation sheet, Catan field and documentation. Application of the method of problem solving in the classroom learning Citizenship Education in Padang 29 VII.3 SMP can improve students' learning activities which include: First, the activity asks students in the first cycle of 61.11%, then on the second cycle increased to 83.33%. The second activity students answered questions on the first cycle of 61.11%, then on the second cycle increased to 86.11%. Third activity students discuss the first cycle of 62.50, then on the second cycle increased to 91.66%. The fourth activity of students in the learning material concluded in the first cycle of 65.28%, then on the second cycle increased to 88.88%. Results of this study is the activity of students in the first cycle and the second cycle increased. Key words: improvement, activity, problem solving method in civic subject.


This paper shows adaptive control using RHPC (receding horizon predictive control) with an equality constraint which is applied to an electric furnace. Monotonic weighting and prefiltering are introduced, which improve the closed-loop characteristic of the RHPC system. These methods are effective even if the system has the uncertainty (unmodelled dynamics) which often occurs in real processes. We can observe the performance of RHPC through the experiment of the electric furnace. Also, we confirm the practical aspect of RHPC in the experiment of the electric furnace with unmodelled dynamics. This paper shows the actual control performance of RHPC, verifying it for a real process.


This paper aims at finding the relationships between the structure of ManㆍJungㆍ Sak Daeyup's tune(만ㆍ중ㆍ삭대엽 악곡) and their song's words. Since a series of Daeyup's tune is continued for more than 4 centuries, It is an axiom to be some degree of permanence and transition. Through score to extract these two sides and to pursue how these influence on the song's words, one can get some results as followings
1. At first the kagok(가곡) sets out free verse with five lines and then manage to have the pattern of standardization, organizing two halves in winch the fore is large, the back small
2 while the 1ㆍ2 lines Ideal for antithesis, the 4ㆍ5 lines, modulating superbly the distribution of syllables, contribute to increase the aesthetic sense of the song's words
3. The boundaries of poetry's feet and music's clauses mesh together. This fact demonstrates that the music uruts were involved deeply in the dividing of the song's words.
4. Nearer the late relative importance is given to the conveyance of talking than tune. In respect of the talking winch was chosen to write upon song book It show the attitude respecting the score's words On the ground of these discussions a problem is rinsing hereafter winch has to reconstruct the course of defining the 4 feet 3 lines of Sijo's metre(시조 율격)


Stress and alcohol misuse can negatively impact skeletal muscle, and unfortunately, stress can often precipitate alcohol misuse. Due to their catabolic nature, the combination of these factors may lead to significant dysregulation of skeletal muscle signaling involved in preservation of muscle mass. The aim of the current study, therefore, was to examine the unexplored effects of repeated bouts of ethanol consumption and an acute stressful event on markers of muscle protein synthesis and degradation. We hypothesized stress and alcohol individually would decrease rates of protein synthesis and related signaling along the Akt-mTOR pathway and that the combination of these factors may cause further disruption. To test this hypothesis, male C57BL/6 mice (9-10 weeks old) underwent a modified Drinking in the Dark (DID) protocol. Mice had limited voluntary access to 20% ethanol or water for 4 days. Three days later, half of the mice were exposed to 100 inescapable tail shocks, allowed to recover for 3 days, then completed 10 more days of DID as before. This design resulted in 4 groups: No stress-water, stress-water, no stress-ethanol, and stress-ethanol (n=9/group). On the final day of drinking, gastrocnemius muscle was excised and frozen for western blot analysis. Although 2 weeks post-stress, rates of muscle protein synthesis were significantly reduced by stress exposure ( P=0.008) as was the phosphorylation of Akt ( P=0.039). There was a significant interaction between stress and ethanol on the phosphorylation of mTOR ( P=0.032) and ethanol tended to decrease mTOR phosphorylation in non-stressed mice ( P=0.079) by ~41%. Furthermore, there tended to be an interaction between stress and ethanol ( P=0.067) on P70S6K phosphorylation, and ethanol significantly reduced P70S6K phosphorylation ( P=0.033). Phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, interestingly, was unchanged with stress or ethanol. Myostatin, which can influence both muscle protein synthesis and degradation signaling, was unchanged with by stress or alcohol consumption . Ubiquitination of proteins and markers of the Ubiquitin Proteasome Pathway, involved in protein degradation, were also unchanged by the individual or combined effects of stress and ethanol. Interestingly, HSP70, a protein whose expression is increased as a response to cellular stress to maintain muscle fiber health, was profoundly increased ( P<0.001) by stress exposure. In conclusion, it appears that a single acute stressful event results in prolonged reductions in rates of protein synthesis and signaling along the Akt-mTOR pathway. Ethanol consumption, in the form of binge-pattern drinking, modestly reduced phosphorylation of several proteins along the Akt-mTOR pathway, but did not exacerbate the effects of acute stress exposure. No funding to report. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.


Electronic system is easy to be destroyed in high-power electromagnetic environment,which rests with the weakness electronic components.Getting electromagnetic susceptivity of electronic components can provide reference for damage analysis of electronic system.The characteristic of high-power electromagnetic environment and effect of electronic components in the environment was introduced.The effect test of electronic components was emphasized.


In higher education the attention is paid to the effectiveness of the teaching and learning but, very little attention has been given to students' attitude, belief and experiences. Students are the main stakeholders in the higher education. Students' satisfaction is an important element that decides the fate of the organization in the long run. Their satisfaction indicates the overall service provided by the institute which in turn, increases student enrolment and retention.


The U.S. trucking industry is large and fragmented. Due to the sheer volume of carriers, the strategies for evaluating and choosing freight in the spot market are numerous and relatively unexplored. This project proposes a framework that disaggregates carrier strategies into decisions on specific characteristics of available loads. By testing different ways of prioritizing these characteristics in a computerized simulation model, we identify strategies that enhance operational success, as measured by revenues earned and utilization achieved. These strategies produce improvements in average revenue per mile of up to 16% over the performance of current actual carriers. Our findings can be used to improve the operating procedures of the key stakeholders in the spot trucking market: shippers, carriers, and freight brokers.


This paper presents a concept for a highly automated vehicle which allows for adaption to and cooperation with a human driver. This addresses the problem of vehicle automation level 3, as defined by the NHTSA, where a vehicle is capable of being driven automatically, but the human driver is still in charge from a legal point of view.


The gas bladder is essential to the submunition delivery system, performing high-temperature and high-pressure gas scouring and ablation. In this paper, a new gas generator device containing wire mesh is designed to prevent ablation and breakage of the gas bladder. To verify the cooling effect of the device, simulation software is used to simulate the gas flow process and the gas cooling effect of the gas generator. The comparison with the experimental results shows that the error of the calculation results is small and the simulation model is accurate and reliable. Based on the method mentioned earlier, simulations were conducted for different wire porosities and filling thicknesses. The results showed that the cooling effect of the gas generator increased and then decreased with the thickness of the wire mesh and the cooling performance of the wire mesh was the best when the filling thickness was 10 mm. When the filling thickness is 10 mm, the temperature drop and the pressure drop decrease with increasing wire porosity.


Energy storage devices have become an important part of many mobile applications, such as conventional, electric or hybrid electric vehicles. For an optimal and efficient system design, simulation models have become an inevitable tool. Accuracy over a wide range of operating conditions is very important. However, electrochemical storage devices are strongly nonlinear and often show inhomogeneous current distribution leading to performance and lifetime limitations.


In January 2011 it will be 190 years since an outstanding Scottish scientist James Croll was born. He was versatile researcher interested both in life science and humanities (for instance, philosophy). He made the most contribution for the development of the orbital theory of paleoclimate, but it seems that this achievement is not recognised enough yet.


This paper shows an analysis of accessibility tothe Oswaldo Cruz Foundation attending population centersservices, in Rio de Janeiro. Routes available to the HealthCentre Germano Sinval Faria, Hospital Evandro Chagasand Souza Araujo Outpatient Clinic were analyzed. Theseare reference centers for serving local population as well aspeople with specific diseases and under diagnostic study.Physical barriers on the way to the buildings were listed andassessed. GUT method was used for assessing seriousness,urgency and tendency of physical barriers accessibility.Construction of the new Outpatient Souza Araujo has takenthis experience for carrying out several improvements onbuild way accessibility. However, in order to put physicalbarriers away several actions are still needed.Index Terms ⎯  Acessibility, health centers, Fiocruz.


Two-year technical colleges are post-secondary educational institutions that provide practical training in diverse fields ofengineering. Given the central role of teachers in the learning process, the study described in the paper characterized thefactors driving in-service teachers to teach electronics at a leading two-year college in Israel. The study, which made use ofquantitative and qualitative tools, found that the teachers are primarily motivated by their interest in teaching (intrinsicmotivation) and by the recognition of its inherent value (identified regulation). According to self-determination theory,these findings could be explained by the fulfillment of the three basic needs (the needs for autonomy, competence, andrelatedness) in most of the teachers. Comparison of the results to the distribution of motivational factors in electronicsstudents studying at the same college reveals a significant gap between the intrinsic motivation of the two groups. This gap,in favor of the teachers, indicates a relatively low level of perceived autonomy among the students.


The leg amputation caused by calf trauma still occupies the first place of amputation in recent China.Over the past 20 years,with the development of theory and technology of orthopedics,especially microsurgical anastomosis,flap amputation rate has obviously decreased.But the medical disputes are caused by many reasons,such as the existence of cognitive difference.Especially when patients experienced the pain of limb-salvage,they must face amputation again.Beginning with a medical dispute caused by the treatment of calf trauma,we analyze the reason of medical disputes through the angle of philosophy,and point out the approach to prevent or reduce them.


The landscape of ICOs and its underlying Blockchain technology needs more clarity, given that several overlapping and opposing views exist from governmental institutions, institutional investors, economists, and academia. Those positions stem from confusion, bias, and vested interest. Having consensus from the pioneer entrepreneurs who define Blockchain technology usage, and its marketplace address this need. Furthermore, an agreement on the problems blockchain is solving from the industry perspective would further the understanding of the technology direction and its "raison d'être." or "reason of existence". The paper analyzes 4367 businesses that requested funding using ICO whitepapers and raising more than $20 billion US dollars during the most active ICO period. Using Latent Semantic Analyses (LSA), the paper identifies a one-factor solution that explains 98.15% of all ICOs. The paper conducts a second-order analysis that generates an 18-factor solution. Through the empirical analysis, the paper presents its findings as an ICO marketplace stacked layer model. The model is comprised of four layers: (1) Trust; (2) Value exchange; (3) Automation; and (4) Applications to enable value exchange, and an era of new business models. The paper then presents an unbiased, unified entrepreneurial definition of the Blockchain technology usage.


(TYPE=abstract) Our theoretical chemistry
group has one central theme of research: The
theory of molecular reaction dynamics. In cooperation with international
theoretical and experimental partners, we carry out time-dependent quantum
and quantum-classical-hybrid simulations of elementary chemical processes
such as laser-induced dissociations, ionizations, associations,
isomerizations, twist intramolecular charge transfer in molecules or
clusters in the gas phase, at surfaces or in the condensed phase.
The group consists of ca. 20 members, including 3 visiting scientists,
3 Habilitanden, 9 Ph.-D. students, 3 student helpers, 1 Akademischer Rat
(responsible for our computers), and 1 fantastic secretary.


Making early warning on network public sentiment according to network warning sign indicators is the key to prevent the social community events caused by network information broadcast in modern society.Based on the established network warning sign indicator system,this paper raises the concrete procedure of grey early warning evaluation on network public sentiment from the grey features of network warning sign indicator system,and gives a related evaluation example.


Probiotics have been used in various branches of animal husbandry for a long time, effectively replacing feed antibiotics. Specialists actively use the property of probiotics to show antagonism to pathogenic strains that have gained resistance to antibiotics. Their eff ectiveness is manifested in the possibility of obtaining environmentally safe products, has a metabolic and antiinfl ammatory eff ect, as well as stimulating local immunological protection. The purpose of the research was to identify the eff ect of probiotic drugs on economically useful and biological indicators of bee colonies under the conditions of the Udmurt Republic. In order to increase the natural immunity of bees and their productive indicators, probiotic drugs developed by LLC "NVP "BashInkom" such as ApiVrach, SpasiPchel, produced on the basis of bacteria of the genus Bacillus Subtilis, and PcheloNormoSil containing Lactobacillus, Enterococcus and yeast-saccharomycetes were used as stimulating additives.Studies have been conducted to determine the stimulating eff ect of the studied drugs, the positive dynamics of the growth of the number of worker bees, the increase in the strength of bee colonies to the main honey collection have been revealed, which indicates the eff ectiveness of the use of stimulating feed additives based on probiotic bacteria. As a result of their use the production volumes of gross and marketable honey, wax productivity increased, increased resistance of individuals to diseases was revealed. It was found that the use of probiotic drugs had the positive eff ect on economically useful and biological indicators of bee colonies under the conditions of the Udmurt Republic. The use of the probiotic drug ApiVrach in combination with PcheloNormoSil showed maximum eff ectiveness.


Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) whose spread has accelerated in the last 20 years in Venezuela and currently holds an important place among STI statistics more experienced by adolescents in Tachira. The research aimed at assessing the impact when implementing the strategies of teaching and learning to raise awareness among teenagers Third year Section "C" of "Santa Barbara" College Municipio San Cristobal Tachira state about the high risk of transmission of HPV. Framed in the research method action, descriptive field design level. Eight 8 key informants, we applied a dash of semi-structured interview, field notes and diaries reflective, constant triangulation of data, categorized and saturated, allowed evidence the diagnosis in adolescents studied little knowledge about sexuality, STD, and HPV To this end, educational institutions must emphasize this issue to raise awareness among students about it.


This paper presents the results of a performance analysis of a novel dynamic element matching technique for low harmonic distortion digital-to-analog converters. The technique promises to be suitable for applications such as direct digital synthesis systems, wherein low hardware complexity is essential in addition to low harmonic distortion. As the main result of the analysis, the DAC can be designed such that the hardware complexity is reduced to a minimum while still providing a given least required spurious-free dynamic range.


Iron oxide is a mineral compound which occurs in different forms like hematite, magnetite and maghemite. Fe-based nanoparticles act as new generation environmental remediation technologies, and provide cost-effective solutions to the most demanding environmental cleanup problems. The synthesis of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) has been intensively developed not only for its fundamental scientific interest but also for its many technological applications, such as targeted drug delivery, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), gas sensing, photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant, etc. In this review, different methods like sol-gel, co-precipitation, micro-emulsion, thermal decomposition to prepare iron oxide nanoparticles have been described. Characterization of iron oxide nanoparticles is done by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), Transmission electron microscopy(TEM), X-ray powder diffraction(XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR). Also various applications of iron oxide have been detailed in this article.


What is coordination and how is it achieved? This chapter begins with a discussion of the concept and key features of dynamic coordination. Next, its relation to cognitive functions and learning processes are explored, as is the role of neural oscillations in different frequency bands for dynamic coordination. Thereafter, modulation of coordination at the systems level is reviewed, and the relation of the mechanisms discussed to neuropsychiatric disorders is pursued. The purpose of this chapter is not to delineate all properties of coordination or all of its different manifestations. Instead, our intent is to portray the multifaceted problem that stands before us.


A coherent optical imaging system consisting of recording a digital hologram by a CCD array and numerical reconstruction of the complex wavefield by the convolution method is subjected to a frequency analysis. The point spread function of such a system is a sinc function whose width depends on the aperture defined by the CCD array and parameters of the transfer function used in the reconstruction. A narrow point spread function and thus a sharp reconstructed image can be obtained by the numerical concept of cascaded free-space propagation, which is introduced and demonstrated.


We tested whether experimentally enhancing nutrients around the kelp Hedophyllum sessile would increase growth, tissue nitrogen, or allocation to phenolic compounds. Packets of time‐released fertilizer were anchored adjacent to fronds in the field, and algae were monitored for several months. Although fertilizer packets increased the concentration of ammonium, nitrate, and phosphorus adjacent to treatment algae by an order of magnitude, there was little evidence that this increased frond growth or size. Hedophyllum individuals showed no tendency to alter allocation patterns in response to nutrient addition. Tissue carbon and nitrogen was unchanged by the nutrient manipulation; most H. sessile had tissue nitrogen concentrations in excess of 2.0% of dry mass. Additionally, the concentration of phloroglucinol equivalents was also unaffected by the presence of increased water column nutrients. Although nutrient concentrations in the water column surrounding the study site show relatively high mean values for ammonium, nitrate, and phosphorus, they are characterized by high spatial and temporal variation. Nonetheless, these data suggest that this intertidal kelp is not limited by nitrogen or phosphorus in wave‐exposed areas in the northeast Pacific Ocean.


In this study, a novel solution algorithm which takes advantage of the relationship between traveling salesman and assignment problems which are famous problems of combinatorial optimization area is proposed. By using the Hungarian Algorithm, which provides the optimal solution for the assignment problems, initial solutions were obtained for the symmetric traveling salesman problem. The obtained initial solutions were solved using the Nearest Neighbor and 2-Opt (NNH_2-Opt) heuristics. The proposed approach has been analyzed with the frequently used traveling salesman test problems and compared with the results of some studies in the scientific literature. As a result, it has been shown that the proposed method is superior to the other methods with regard to solution speed and quality. In particular, as the size of the problem increases, the solution times of the compared methods are getting longer, while the proposed method can also provide fast solutions for large-scale problems.


: The present-paper entitled 'Philosophy of Management of Henri Fayol' is an attempt to present the complete-thoughts and philosophy of Henri Fayol regarding management. Fayol was from France. His philosophy of management is widely known as Fayolism. This paper is divided into five-parts. First-part is introduction of Henri Fayol. Second-part presents the concept of management of Henri Fayol. Third-part elaborates the principles of management. Fayol presents fourteen-principles of management. Fourth-part presents management-functions. Fayol presents notions upon overall fourteen management-functions namely, planning, organizing, commanding, coordination, controlling. objectives, leader/leadership, communication, staffing, managerial-job, manager-subordinate-relations, discipline and morale, motivation, training and development. Last-part is conclusion.


As the focus of microbial metabolic engineering shifts to include bulk commodities, two aspects of this research have become increasingly important. One is the requirement for high production titers in order to make the process economically viable. The second is to engineer microbes that are tolerant to these target products, many of which are toxic to cell growth. This review focuses on recent advances in the bacterial production of bulk products such as biofuels, the resources available to aid in targeted strain engineering and future directions being pursued for such efforts. ARTICLE


The paper deals with the design of reduced-order observers for Lipschitz nonlinear time-variant systems. Under the assumption that a differential Riccati equation has a positive definite solution, we put forward a design method of reduced-order observer whose output can approach to the true state with exponential convergence. The gain of the observer is computed based on the solution of the differential Riccati equation and it is non-constant. The simulations to an actual model show that the proposed observer has a good performance.


NHL with BRCA2 N372H AC and CC variants compared with the AA variant, and no evidence of any association between NHL and the RAG1 K820R polymorphism (Table 1). Risks for B-cell lymphoma, and the 2 major diagnostic subgroups of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma (data not shown), were similar to those for total NHL for both variants, while risk estimates were elevated for T-cell lymphoma, but were not significant (Table 1). Risks were generally similar among men and women, and varied little by age (data not shown). However, for T-cell lymphoma, men who carried at least 1 copy of the BRCA2 N372H C allele had a significantly increased risk (OR 2.30, 95% CI, 1.08-4.87 based on 23 patients and 194 control participants with the C allele compared with 11 patients and 208 control participants), while women were at decreased risk (OR 0.43, 95% CI, 0.17-1.06 based on 7 patients and 176 control participants with the C allele compared with 17 patients and 179 control participants) (test for interaction: 2 8.42, P .004). Our data suggest that there is little association between NHL and either of these 2 polymorphisms. However, we cannot exclude the possibility of an association, and further investigation is required using larger datasets to elucidate the role of these polymorphisms in determining the risk of developing NHL.


Two novel 9,9‐difunctionalized fluorene‐type monomers, 9,9‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl‐ and 4‐aminophenyl)‐2,3:6,7‐dibenzofluorenes, are synthesized by the reaction of dibenzenzofluorenone with phenol and aniline. These monomers are used for the preparation of polyester and polyimide as the typical polymers to evaluate the property change such as thermal stability caused by the benzene rings fused to the fluorene skeleton with keeping good solubility, in comparison with the polymers derived from simple fluorenone. In fact, these two new polymers have the fairly enhanced thermal stability and refractive index value along with satisfactory solubility in organic solvents, enough to emphasize the fusion effect. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 2602–2605


: 3D printing cementitious composites require special rheological properties, which are affected significantly by the materials constituents. In this work, a novel mixture of 3D printable fiber reinforced cementitious composites (3DPFRCC) was developed. The rheological performance, setting-time, and mechanical properties were characterized, a printing test was carried out as well to test the buildability and pumpability. Results indicate that the new material possesses appropriate rheological and mechanical performances. Rheological properties are designed based on previous practical printing test. The static and dynamic yield stress are 3289 Pa and 314.7 Pa, respectively. The plasticity viscosity is 32.5 Pa·s. The initial setting time is 59.2 minutes. The flexural strength and compressive strength are 8.6 MPa and 71.2 MPa, respectively at 28 days. Then, a 78 × 60 × 90 cm (L × W × H) structure was printed successfully in 150 minutes, which demonstrates that this novel 3DPFRCC possesses excellent buildability and pumpability, which is capable of large-scale printing. on Perrot et al.'s research, Weng et al. proposed a modified method to predict and directly verify the buildability for 3DPCM. All these research results prove that optimizing


Although Late Cambrian microbial build‐ups were recognized in the Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Formation in Central Texas (USA) nearly 70 years ago, only a few studies focused specifically on the build‐ups themselves. This study focuses on the interpretation of the regional (15 measured sections described in literature representing an area of 8000 km2) and local (field and drone photogrammetry studies in a 25 km2 area from within south Mason County) microbial build‐up occurrence, describes their growth phases and details their interactions with the surrounding inter‐build‐up sediments. The study establishes the occurrence of microbial build‐ups in the lower and upper Point Peak members (the Point Peak Member is informally broken up into the lower Point Peak and the upper Point Peak members separated by Plectotrophia zone). The lower Point Peak Member consists of three <1 m thick microbial bioherms and biostrome units, in addition to heterolithic and skeletal/ooid grainstone and packstone beds. One, up to 14 m thick, microbial unit associated with inter‐build‐up skeletal and ooid grainstone and packstone beds, intercalated with mixed siliciclastic–carbonate silt beds, characterizes the upper Point Peak member. The microbial unit in the upper Point Peak member displays a three‐phase growth evolution, from an initial colonization phase on flat based, rip‐up clast lenses, to a second aggradation and lateral expansion phase, into a third well‐defined capping phase. The ultimate demise of the microbial build‐ups is interpreted to have been triggered by an increase of water turbidity caused by a sudden influx of fine siliciclastics. The lower Point Peak member represents inner ramp shallow subtidal and intertidal facies and the upper Point Peak member corresponds to mid‐outer ramp subtidal facies. Understanding the morphological architecture and depositional context of these features is of importance for identifying signatures of early life on Earth.