In the last week of February 2008, the University Assistants of Public Law from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland came together in Heidelberg for their annual conference to discuss "Security, Freedom and (the) Public(ity)." A better date for the meeting could not have been chosen; on the day the conference started, the German Constitutional Court declared online searches by German intelligence agencies to be unconstitutional and came up with a new dimension of human rights protection for the privacy of computer network systems. This pathbreaking jurisprudence was omnipresent at the conference; it had already been in the opening-speech by Justice Brun-Otto Bryde (Gießen), a member of the First Senate of the Constitutional Court, which was to render its decision the very next day. It was brought up in numerous discussions during the conference and it was the main topic on the panel discussion with Paul Kirchhof (Heidelberg), a former Justice in the same Senate who was known as the "Professor from Heidelberg" during Angela Merkel's 2006 election campaign, and Fredrik Roggan, a Berlin lawyer and chairman of the civil rights association "Humanistische Union," who argued the case before the Court. Perhaps it was all a coincidence, but questions of freedom and security have remained on the everyday agenda, in a political context as well as constitutional debates, ever since September 11, 2001.


Completely Decomposed Granite (CDG) is one of the most typical soils found in Hong Kong. However, limited attention has been given on the effect of fines content on its engineering properties. A series of laboratory tests was conducted to examine the effect of fines content, varying from 0 - 20%, on the engineering properties of CDG. Based on the results from the laboratory tests and the theory of unsaturated soil mechanics, the seepage behaviour and stability of homogenous CDG slopes with different fines contents under intense rainfall were examined using SEEP/W and SLOPE/W. Results showed that fines content plays an important role in the compaction characteristics and permeability of the soil. The coefficient of saturated permeability decreases as fines content increases in the CDG. In addition, an increase in fines content generally results in a decrease in the shear strength of the soil. Numerical analyses showed that the matric suction in the slope with a lower fines content will disappear more easily with faster advancement of the wetting front under intense rainfall. The initial Factor of Safety (FOS) of an unsaturated CDG slope is not much affected by the fines content. However, CDG slopes with a lower fines content shows a more significant drop on its FOS during infiltration process, whereas slopes with a higher fines content are more sustainable to the rainfall infiltration with less decrease in FOS under intense rainfall.


Background: Body's locomotor system, at any given age, need to be pain-free, agile, stable and energetic, symmetrical in joint functional system and muscle power. Joint Functional Screening (JFS) is a musculo-skeletal profiling program via a systematic clinical examination with clinical reasoning of the entire human joints' functional system, with or without causative limitation to derive a holistic analysis to give a health provider, the strength, flexibility, and stability indicators of the musculoskeletal system. Objective: The purpose of this study was to introduce a feasible and an affordable clinical examination package as Joint Functional Screening. Method: This package including clinical tools to analysis and screen all body joints which can determine muscular imbalances and body abnormalities. Conclusion: JFS is an innovation program to profile a normal musculoskeletal state to decode any underlying anomalies of the body, in an otherwise normal subject, who might be preparing to take up any sporty or gym activities in one's lifespan that could elicit or uproot an injury which could be otherwise prevented.


In recent years, the use of statistical analysis in academia and enterprises has been developing. Generally, students, professors, workers, and users are usually exposed to statistical analysis at some point. Sometimes, it is difficult to perform this type of analysis. Few people have theoretical knowledge to understand statistical analysis clearly, sometimes even the results given. Often, academic institutions or companies require users to provide reports but do not have time to explore or understand the results or tasks required for optimal data preparation. The statistical methods involved in conducting a study include planning, designing, collecting data, analyzing, deriving meaningful explanations and reporting the study results. The statistical analysis gives meaning to meaningless numbers, thus making life lifeless. Only by using appropriate statistical tests can the results and inferences be accurate. In this work, we provide a statistical overview of some accounting research conducted in various countries to reveal the importance of statistical analysis in completing accounting and finance research.


Aperiodic autocorrelation and power variance are two parameters that play an important role in PAPR reduction in OFDM symbols. In this paper, we have tackled the aperiodic autocorrelation factor and based on it, two algorithms have been proposed. In the first algorithm, called selective autocorrelation (SA), the value of first aperiodic autocorrelation coefficient is minimized to 1 for reducing the PAPR. In the second algorithm, called selected sequences with variable autocorrelation SLM (SSVA), multiple sequences are generated by modifying a fixed number of complex numbers. The one giving minimum PAPR is transmitted. Simulation results show significant reduction in PAPR. Further a novel technique based on data insertion is used to handle the side information generated by the two algorithms without degrading the PAPR performance.


The second joint EUPHA and ASPHER European Public Health Conference, held in Lodz last November, had a strong focus on the need to have an ecological perspective for public health and to develop necessary capacities for meeting the global environmental and health challenges in the 21st century. Programmes and policies are needed that respond to poverty; prevent the emerging epidemics of non-communicable diseases and address global environmental change, natural and man-made disasters. As pointed out by Prof. AJ McMichael in his plenary lecture, population health research, practice and policy making must, very soon, come to terms with the manifest fact, that our societies face a widening set of human-induced global environmental changes. These changes, including global climate change, unsustainable production, consumption and resource use, often act via disruption of natural and social systems, posing new unfamiliar types of risks to health. On the other hand, ecological perspective of public health also creates possibility and opportunities to highlight benefits of the nature, with its ecosystems, for human health and well-being. As underlined during the workshop of the European Environment Agency (EEA) entitled 'Towards Ecosystem Perspective', the value of the natural environment will depend on many factors including the quality, accessibility and community involvement.

To address these broad contextual issues in population health and to tackle the impact of global environmental change, there are many challenges facing scientists, policy makers, public health professionals and general public. This new perspective requires good information base, methods and tools, and broad cooperation between scientists, practitioners and politicians dealing with human health and environment, as well as with other stakeholders. Many disciplines are needed to help understand the links between environmental and social determinants of health and to provide evidence base for establishing public health policy. Health of the population cannot be achieved by a single …


A new inverse method is applied for the determination of interdiffusion coefficients in b- NiAl(Pt) and b-NiAl(Pd). The results show that substitution of Pt or Pd to b-NiAl accelerates the diffusion of aluminium. Within the studied composition range and for Al-poor aluminides, the cross coefficients are negligible except for high Pd contents


Despite our best efforts, we never get beyond totalitarianism. The word is as functional now as it was 50 years ago. It means the kind of regime that existed in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, the Soviet satellites, Communist China, and maybe Fascist Italy, where the word originated. As Michael Geyer notes in his thought-provoking introduction, it was the word preferred by dissidents. Who are we to tell Václav Havel or Adam Michnik that they were fooling themselves when they perceived their rulers as totalitarian? Or for that matter any of the millions of former subjects of Soviet-type rule who use the local equivalents of the Czech totalita to describe the systems they lived under before 1989? It is a useful word and everyone knows what it means as a general referent. Problems arise when people confuse the useful descriptive term with the old "theory" from the 1950s with its five (or was it six?) characteristics defining all such regimes. As a coherent framework that might account for development across space and time, totalitarianism has been dead for decades.1 I was surprised to see authors in this volume citing Friedrich and Brzezinski as though they still needed to be refuted, or claiming that no one had thought to


The invention relates to hydrogen and nickel, copper, by catalytic hydrogenation of isopulegol of racemic or optically active in the presence of a catalyst comprising a compound containing zirconium and molybdenum, racemic or optically to a method for producing the activity of menthol. The present invention is specifically, continuously catalytically hydrogenated to L- menthol L- isopulegol, to a method equivalent. .BACKGROUND


This is a short op-ed on Pacific Rim's CAFTA claim against El Salvador. It discusses the tension between stability and change in law and the role played by investment treaty arbitrators in resolving this tension.


Even though there have been several Information Systems Security (ISS) methods put forward, especially the ISS design theory framework and six kernel theories with distinctive principles of Siponen and Iivari (2006), these methods very often lack security features referencing the actual users themselves. This study proposes that, when developing secure systems without design principles focused on end users, efficient and effective secure system designs cannot be achieved. This study coalesces the principles of these works with the principles proposed by Siponen and Iivari (2006) in order to better understand the relationships among styles of thinking by end users in making systems security decisions. This is by nature an interdisciplinary undertaking, which in turn identifies those assumptions about the characteristics of systems thinking that can be used to design secure system, built upon end user considerations. And by focusing secure systems design principles on the end user, future ISS will be become more efficient and more secure.


In this study, NiFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles as adsorbent for zinc (Zn) were coated on sand particles. Adsorption studies were conducted to investigate the efficacy of contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage, initial zinc ion concentration and temperature on removal efficiency. To decide the most fitting kinetic model, the suitability of pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order model was compared and the most appropriate kinetic model was determined to be pseudo-second-order. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms were assessed and the most suitable isotherm was observed to be Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from Langmuir model was 57.14 mg/g. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicated the endothermic and spontaneous character of the adsorption process. In addition, the adsorbent can easily be removed by a simple filtration process.


Many suburban areas in Australian cities built between the 1930s and 1960s are facing major challenges from socio-demographic change, ageing housing, long-term disinvestment and entrenched pockets of social disadvantage. Yet despite emerging relative disadvantages, these middle ring or 'third city' suburbs are experiencing locally generated piecemeal market-led reinvestment and renewal. This paper explores housing, household and housing investment characteristics and trends in the older parts of Sydney's western suburbs drawing on analyses of socio-demographic and development application data. Policy options to achieve more appropriate urban renewal outcomes under broad social sustainability criteria are canvassed. Similarities and differences to the American 'first suburb' phenomenon are noted.


This thesis expounds the existence of arts education——network fictitious classes have great developing power and space because of their rich information,open time and space,wide and flexible use ness.Meanwhile,realistic arts classes have unique power because of on-the-spot experiences and face-to-face mutual practices.The author tries to analyze and compare the specialties and superiorities of network arts education and traditional arts education when they reach the goals of arts education.The author finds out they can't be replaced by each.We must adopt relevant teaching modes according to particular teaching circumstances,and we must employ many-sided superiorities to stimulate students' interests for studying arts,in that way,we can improve our teaching efficiency,achieve the best teaching effect,realize the aim of arts education.


We thank Gin-Ho Lo for taking interest in our study and for the comments.(1) Dr. Lo raises important points comparing the different adverse effect profiles of nonselective beta-blockers (NSBB) and variceal band ligation (VBL). Current guidelines still recommend the use of either NSBB or VBLfor the primary prevention of esophageal variceal bleeding and the debate is likely to continue.(2) In our systematic review and network meta-analysis, when compared toVBL, NSBB were associated with higher rate of overall adverse events, resulting in treatment discontinuation. On the other hand, VBL was associated with three times greater number of serious adverse events.(1) Therefore, NSBBs still represent a less invasive prophylactic measure with additional benefits beyond prevention of variceal bleeding in patients with cirrhosis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and real earnings management (REM) in response to Japanese regulatory changes. After the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of 2006 (J-SOX) was introduced in June 2006 in Japan, has been effective since the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2009. We shed light on the time lag between the introduction of SOX and J-SOX as a transition period. During this period, several regulatory bodies addressed the issue of internal control, considering both the SOX and the forthcoming J-SOX. This study, therefore, focuses on the J-SOX and a series of related laws and regulations in this transition period, and their effects on AEM and REM. Our results show that the level of AEM changes during the transition period before the introduction of J-SOX, while that of REM decreases after the introduction of J-SOX. The evidence generally supports the view that J-SOX and the series of regulatory changes before its implementation have an impact on the financial reporting quality of Japanese firms.


Real-time, integrated health monitoring of gas turbine engines that can detect, classify, and predict developing engine faults is critical to reducing operating and maintenance costs while optimizing the life of critical engine components. Statistical-based anomaly detection algorithms, fault pattern recognition techniques and advanced probabilistic models for diagnosing structural, performance and vibration related faults and degradation can now be developed for real-time monitoring environments. Integration and implementation of these advanced technologies presents a great opportunity to significantly enhance current engine health monitoring capabilities and risk management practices.This paper describes some novel diagnostic and prognostic technologies for dedicated, real-time sensor analysis, performance anomaly detection and diagnosis, vibration fault detection, and component prognostics. The technologies have been developed for gas turbine engine health monitoring and prediction applications which includes an array of intelligent algorithms for assessing the total 'health' of an engine, both mechanically and thermodynamically. This includes the ability to account for uncertainties from engine transient conditions, random measurement fluctuations and modeling errors associated with model-based diagnostic and prognostic procedures. The implementation of probabilistic methods in the diagnostic and prognostic methodology is critical to accommodating for these types of uncertainties.Copyright © 2000 by ASME


Besides the usual grammatical functions,the definite article "the" has a variety ones of transferring the meaning of a word and semantic meanings. So it is helpful to grasp the usages of "the" by concluding its transferable functions.


A bio-sensor is composed of six elements which include bio-receptor, transfusion element, chemically activeinterface, signal amplifier, signal processor and display. The analyze binds to the immobilized biologicalmaterial and forms a product. The product linked change is then converted by the transducer into electricsignals which can be amplified and measured. Oral fluid bio-sensors have the advantages of easy accessibilityand noninvasive sample collection, making them a novel method in disease diagnostics. However, itslimitations such as less sensitivity and specificity are overcome by the advent of new technologies such asmicrofluidics and nanofluidics. This review article discusses the concepts and applications of biosensors inthe field of dentistry.


Objective:To analyze volatile components in Rhizoma curculignis.Methods:Volatile components from Rhizoma curculignis were extracted by steam distillation(SD) and headspace injection(HS) respectively and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS).Results:There were certain differences between the volatile compounds extracted by the above methods;6 volatile chemical compounds were identified in volatile oil which obtained by SD;whereas 13 volatile components were identified in the herb with HS.Among the detected compounds in the samples prepared with different method,there were 4 mutual compounds with different relative contents.Conclusions:The two methods combined with GC-MS can be used for the analysis of volatile compounds in Rhizoma curculignis.


A 2-d finite element model is used to simulate the adult head. The effect of gross variations of skull thickness on the sensitivity of measurement pairs to areas within the model are obtained. The implications of these measurements for electrical impedance tomography of the adult brain are discussed. Inter-patient variability of the adult skull may be a key factor in electrical impedance tomography of the adult head.


Grids are emerging as the infrastructure for next generation computing. In Grid environments, the resources are heterogeneous and geographically distributed with varying availability and a variety of usage and cost policies for diverse users at different times and, priorities as well as goals that vary with time. The management of resources and application scheduling in such a large and distributed environment is a complex task. It is envisioned that the use of a distributed computational economy is an effective metaphor for the management of resources and we have developed an architectural framework called the Grid Architecture for Computational Economy (GRACE). To support the thesis that an economic-based Grid resource management and scheduling system can deliver significant value to users, resource providers and consumers, compared to traditional approaches, we have: • identified the key requirements that an economic-based Grid system needs to support, • developed a distributed computational economy framework called the GRACE, which is generic enough to accommodate different economic models and maps well onto the architecture of wide-area distributed systems, • designed deadline and budget constrained scheduling algorithms with four different strategies: cost, time, conservative-time, and cost-time optimisations, • developed a Grid resource broker called Nimrod-G that supports deadline and budget constrained algorithms for scheduling parameter sweep applications on the Grid, • developed a Grid simulation toolkit, called GridSim, that supports discrete-event based simulation of Grid environments to allow repeatable performance evaluation under different scenarios, • evaluated the performance of deadline and scheduling algorithms through a series of simulations by varying the number of users, deadlines, budgets, and optimisation strategies and simulating geographically distributed Grid resources, and • demonstrated the effectiveness and application of Grid technologies for solving real-world problems such as molecular modelling for drug design on the WWG (WorldWide Grid) testbed. The resource management and scheduling systems used in Grid environments need to be adaptive so that they can handle dynamic changes in availability of resources and user requirements. At the same time, they need to provide scalable, controllable, measurable, and easily enforceable policies for management of the aforementioned resources. To address these requirements, a resource broker called Nimrod-G has been developed. The Nimrod-G resource broker supports the deadline and budget constrained algorithms for scheduling task-farming applications on large-scale distributed systems. The use of a component-based architecture has enabled the Nimrod-G broker implementations for different middleware technologies such


This article describes our experiences of raising gender awareness among participants in the Bougainville Microfinance Scheme (BMFS) in its initial stages of development. Several articles in this volume discuss aspects of gender and microfinance and provide a solid context for our experience. BMFS was initiated by a cross-section of Bougainvillians in recognition of the need to encourage self-reliance and financial independence. Newsom (this issue) describes the background and development of the project; our focus is the gender and development (GAD) component. GAD seeks to promote equal opportunities for women and men as participants in and beneficiaries of development. The BMFS is funded by AusAID. For all AusAID-funded projects there are certain contractual obligations that the Australian managing contractor must fulfil in relation to GAD. Organisations awarded projects often find it challenging to understand or acknowledge the relevance of GAD issues let alone determine how they will meet their obligations. While GAD issues must be included in the project design that does not necessarily mean they will be taken seriously or included in any coherent way in the implementation phase. However BMFS project design was informed by GAD issues and there is a strong commitment by the Australian managing contractor (in this case Australian Volunteers International and Credit Union Foundation Australia) and the Bougainvillian team to implement this component of the project. (excerpt)


Different types of food additives have been discussed. I have discussed the role of food additives to preserve nutritional values and to maintain desired consistency of the product. The antioxidants and antimicrobials food preservatives have also been studied.


Background Asthma and COPD are among the most common respiratory diseases. To improve the early detection of exacerbations and the clinical course of asthma and COPD new biomarkers are needed. The development of noninvasive metabolomics of exhaled air into a point-of-care tool is an appealing option. However, risk factors for obstructive pulmonary diseases can potentially introduce confounding markers due to altered volatile organic compound (VOC) patterns being linked to these risk factors instead of the disease. We conducted a systematic review and presented a comprehensive list of VOCs associated with these risk factors. Methods A PRISMA-oriented systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Libraries between 2000 and 2022. Full-length studies evaluating VOCs in exhaled breath were included. A narrative synthesis of the data was conducted, and the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of included studies. Results The search yielded 2209 records and, based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 24 articles were included in the qualitative synthesis. In total, 232 individual VOCs associated with risk factors for obstructive pulmonary diseases were found; 58 compounds were reported more than once and 12 were reported as potential markers of asthma and/or COPD in other studies. Critical appraisal found that the identified studies were methodologically heterogeneous and had a variable risk of bias. Conclusion We identified a series of exhaled VOCs associated with risk factors for asthma and/or COPD. Identification of these VOCs is necessary for the further development of exhaled metabolites-based point-of-care tests in these obstructive pulmonary diseases. Tweetable abstract Several risk factors for obstructive pulmonary diseases, including smoking, diet and BMI, may affect volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles. VOCs linked to risk (confounding) factors should be carefully considered when interpreting exhaled breath profiles. https://bit.ly/3HhJ1EV


Focuses on the composition of TeamQuest products and TeamQuest model of software implementation of the basic process of capacity planning, and gives an example, analyses two targets of load prediction, and gets the conclusion by model analysis and calculation.


'suffered from a lack of historical studies' responding instinctively to 'a frantically contemporary agenda.' He compared this situation unfavourably with both British film studies and the study of television in the United States, noting that there is little that engages with 'historical scholarship on programme culture.' This was certainly accurate when it was written, but the picture is somewhat different now, particularly where the history of television drama is concerned, and, six-years on, we are seeing the kind of scholarship whose absence Corner lamented. The result is that the history – or, rather histories, since there is more than one in play – of television drama are coming into view in a new way, at a time when the technologies of dissemination and the conditions of television viewing are changing in profound ways. The following is indicative rather than comprehensive, but it is worth surveying some of the work that has been done. To begin at (or near) the beginning: early television drama has been thoroughly documented by Jason Jacobs, who demonstrated that drama from the era of live television had an aesthetic of its own and was not simply stage drama shoehorned into the studio. John Caughie, too, has revisited both the history of early television and the moment of the 1960s, the era of the BBC's 'Wednesday Play,' in its cultural and historical contexts. There have also been important era-specific accounts of early television, particularly Janet Thumin's study of the gendered nature of drama and its audiences in the 1950s, which Corner notes. (The influence of contemporary feminist scholarship on the construction of television histories more generally has been significant, especially in the area of popular drama and its audiences [see Charlotte Brunsdon]). The study of historical television drama has also begun to draw on the perspectives of practitioners and professionals. The collection edited by Jonathan Bignell, Madeline Macmurraugh-Kavanagh and myself contains essays dealing primarily (though not exclusively) with the 1960s and 1970s, and includes accounts by directors, writers and producers. This period, which is generally seen as crucial to the Some Thoughts on Television History and Historiography: A British Perspective


Second-order rate constants of the reactions of p-toluenesulfonyl chloride with p-substituted benzoic acids in the presence of triethylamine in acetonitrile/acetone under equimolar and pseudo-first-order conditions have been determined by the conductometric method using the Guggenheim principle at 25, 30, 35, and 40°C. The reactions follow second order with respect to the whole and first order with respect to each of the reactants. The order of reactivity of the substituents in benzoic acid is rationalized. Activation parameters are obtained by applying the usual methods. The Hammett plot has been found nonlinear, whereas the Bronsted plot shows good correlation. This may be explained on the basis of electronic effects of substituents on the reaction center. Kinetic data and the product analyses indicate that the reaction proceeds through direct nucleophilic attack on the sulfur center. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 41: 303–308, 2009


Objective:The clinical value of color doppler ultrasound diagnosis of breast tumors.Methods: Routine examination in 120 cases breast examination in patients with two-dimensional ultrasound,blood flow and carefully observe the tumor using blood flow,after analysis and comparison of test results.Results: 120 patients with pathologically confirmed,100 cases and the color doppler ultrasound examination results of conformity,the diagnosis rate was 83.33%.5 cases were misdiagnosed,the misdiagnosis rate is 4.2%.Conclusion: Color doppler ultrasound examination,is helpful in the early diagnosis,treatment and prevention of breast cancer,has high clinical significance,is worthy of popularization in clinical medicine.


This paper reports on the first implementation of an integrated programmable hybrid phononic crystal (hPC) for wave propagation control. At the core of the novel hPC is a newly developed and tested miniaturized array of virtual floating inductances with programmable properties. The inductance is the building block for a discrete programmable electrical transmission line aimed at wave propagation control in a 1D hPC. The hybrid characteristic is the result of the coupling between a mechanical waveguide in the form of an elastic beam, and an electrical transmission line. The medium features attenuation of mechanical wave motion due to an energy transfer to the electrical domain. Over the frequency range of wave attenuation the dispersion curves of the hPC are characterized by eigenvalue mode veering. An analytical model, based on the transfer matrix method is presented, to expeditiously calculate the dispersion curves of the hPC. Furthermore, this paper provides numerical and experimental transmittance results which validate the efficiency and tunability of the programmable electrical transmission line. The novelty of this contribution is an analytical model for calculating the dispersion curves of the 1D hPC, and a miniaturized programmable virtual inductance which gives way to a 'smart' material.


This study examines the original language and revisions to two Department of Defense policies governing the Stars and Stripes, a unique American newspaper serving overseas military members and families. At times, some of those changes have increased Pentagon oversight and stripped freedoms from the journalists or the newspaper, which is intended to provide reliable news and original reporting to the troops. Despite the newspaper's journalistic successes, the review finds that regular independent oversight is needed to protect the editorial freedoms of the newspaper.


The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between unemployment and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Republic of Macedonia. FDI is one of the explanatory variables, which also includes corruption, population size and inflation. Relationship assessment among variables is made by multiple linear regression analysis, using annual data for the period from 1999-2013. According to the empirical results it is concluded that FDI did not have statistically significant impact on the decrease of the unemployment. The impact of the inflation on unemployment is inverse, which means that increased inflation will reduce the unemployment in the economy. Also, reducing the corruption will contribute to the unemployment decrease as corruption had significant impact on the decrease of the unemployment.


Section 300/A/A of the Israel Penal Law, amended in 1995, deals with reduction of punishment for severe mental and/or intellectual disturbances insufficient to warrant a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The present version of the amendment allows the court total freedom in determining punishment, thereby creating a plethora of court decisions. In this article, we have attempted to provide an understanding of the mutual responsibility of the psychiatrists and the court, through presentation and discussion of several cases in Israel in which punishment was or was not reduced for psychiatric reasons. In addition, suggestions are proposed to enhance the clarity and pertinence of the amendment to specific clinical conditions. Article 19 of the Israel Penal Law follows English tradition, defining legal responsibility according to the McNaughton cognitive tests, and states that:


approved: Robert L. Beschta This study was undertaken to gain further understanding of the subsurface hydrology for a streamadjacent riparian area in Western Oregon's Coast Range. Spatial and temporal fluctuations of the free water surface of a toeslope, adjacent riparian area, and stream channel in a forested terrace reach were monitored over a period of one year. A total of 27 piezometers were installed (nine in each of three transects established perpendicular to the stream) in a stream-adjacent terrace and hillslope. These piezometers were monitored from September 26, 1989 to July 25, 1990. Results indicate that the direction of flow within a forested terrace can vary throughout the year. During the drier months of September and October, flow direction was generally towards the stream. However, by November the direction of flow for those areas closest to the stream had begun to change. In some cases the direction of flow changed up to 180° from the September direction. The location of influent/ef fluent zones along the stream (i.e., zones along the stream where the terrace has a lower or higher hydraulic head than the stream, respectively) also varied throughout the year. During October, 1989 the furthest upvalley stream-adjacent piezometer had hydraulic heads greater than the stream for the entire month, while two other stream adjacent piezometers did not. During normal precipitation in January, 1990 both furthest upvalley and the middle stream-adjacent piezorneters had hydraulic heads greater than the stream for the entire month. By July, 1990 only the middle stream-adjacent piezometer had a hydraulic head greater than the stream for the entire month, while the furthest upvalley piezomneter had a higher head for 33% of the month and the hydraulic head of furthest downvalley piezometer never exceeded that of the stream. For the Deer Creek study site, subsurface velocities were estimated to be in the range of 10-8 to 10-11 m/s resulting in a 3.8 year minimum travel time for storm water to reach the stream. Thus, soil matrix velocities using the Darcy equation were not sufficient to generate stormf low. However, no overland flow was observed during storm events, indicating that alternative subsurface flow pathways, such as macrochannels, are being utilized. Previous research has suggested that the release of water from terrace storage in small headwater streams is no.t sufficient to maintain baseflow. The results of the Deer Creek study support this conclusion. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that forested riparian areas are hydrologically complex with respect to both space and time and that oversimplification of these systems may lead to misinterpretation of other processes associated with subsurface water dynamics.


Sales are one of the existing factors which can generate profit in business; when the sale of goods is high, it will gain more profit obtains and the risk that might occur will be high as well. The establishment of audit on sales is expected to find out the information which free from fraud, so that it will increase efficiency and effectiveness of the sales of the company and the objective of the company can be achieved. This research is meant to develop the risk based audit method on sales at PT. United Motors Centre. With the risk based audit, when the risk is high and the attention that has to be given is getting great in order to ensure that the risk adequacy on a company can be managed in accord with the risk limit that has been determined by the company. This research is field study method and the technique applies observation, interview, and inspection. The result of this research shows that source of the risk is in the weak bond of a system and procedures (process, human resources, or internal control), environment and ways of working not conducive moreover some policies of the company are consider to be loose in dealing with the problems, and it has the potency to influence the security of the firm assets, statement reliability, and information that is related to financial, and functional efficiency and effectiveness in using the company resources. Keywords: Risk-based Audit, Sales, Risk Sources, Risk Potency.


This paper focuses on teacher attitudes to educational provisions for gifted and talented children in two countries. A questionnaire was distributed to 100 teachers in Sydney, New South Wales and to 100 teachers in Essex, England. Both groups represented a range of primary and secondary schools. Teachers had between 5 and 20 years experience and most were aged between 30 and 40 years. The common factor was acceptance of provisions within the comprehensive framework of education but rejection of any provisions that might be interpreted as elitist. It was also considered that there should be pre-service and in-service training in teaching methods for gifted education for all teachers so that the individual talents of children can be accommodated according to their needs within the comprehensive system.


A343 JESOCI, Volume 4, Abstract Supplement, 2020 of skeletal and neurological symptoms. Little is known about the mechanism of neurologic involvement, but it may result from inefficient hydrolysis of vitamin B6 (pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, PLP), which is involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and is markedly elevated in HPP. However, it remains unknown what PLP levels are in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with HPP. We report two cases: (1) one with preand post-treatment CSF PLP levels and (2) one with pre-treatment CSF PLP and neurotransmitter levels. Case 1: A 30-year-old woman with extensive fracture history presented with seizure-like activity. Laboratory evaluation while on no B6 supplementation was notable for low ALP (14 U/L, ref: 40-150), high plasma PLP (362 mcg/L, ref: 5-50), and high CSF PLP (16 mcg/L), with a low CSF/ plasma PLP ratio (0.04, ref: 0.1-0.7[1]). Genetic testing showed a pathogenic variant of TNSALP (Het c.1133A>T, p.Asp378Val, rs 121918008). After initiation of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), her plasma and CSF PLP levels normalized to 6.3 and 1.4 mcg/L, respectively, with a ratio of 0.23. She reported improvement in energy level and seizure-like activity after several months of ERT. Case 2: A 34-year-old man with no history of skeletal pathology presented with diffuse musculoskeletal pain, weakness, and loss of sensory function attributed to generalized peripheral neuropathy. Laboratory evaluation while on no B6 supplementation was notable for low ALP (23 U/L), high plasma PLP (496 mcg/L), and high CSF PLP (17 mcg/L) with a low CSF/plasma ratio (0.03). CSF neurotransmitter levels were also low, including 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (40 nmol/L, ref: 67-140) and homovanillic acid (115 nmol/L, ref: 145-324). Genetic testing showed heterozygous expression of a catastrophic frameshift mutation of TNSALP (c.662del, p.Gly221Valfs*56). ERT is being considered at this time. Conclusions: We report the novel findings that in these patients with HPP: 1. CSF PLP levels are markedly elevated, though to a much lesser extent than plasma levels. Elevated CSF/plasma ratios suggest that transport of PLP and its metabolites across the blood brain barrier may be impaired in HPP. 2. Decreased CSF neurotransmitter levels, as seen in our patient, may contribute to neurologic symptoms of HPP. 3. Enzyme replacement therapy normalized both CSF and plasma PLP in case 1. Further studies are needed to understand how these changes affect patient symptoms and prognosis. Citation: 1. Albersen, M., et al., Vitamin B-6 vitamers in human plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Am J Clin Nutr, 2014. 100(2): p. 587-92


A retractable fiber optic sensor has been installed to control a robot for the task of cleaning metal castings with a plasma-arc torch. A number of other sensor types were considered, and rejected, for this application. A single-pass search-and-cut method was successfully demonstrated, using a specially designed control interface.


For dilute aqueous solutions of organic adsorbates it has been common to assume adsorbate activity proportional to its concentration (Henry's law) to avoid activity measurements.


This article presents materials on the role of the rice weevil (lat. Sitophilus oryzae) in the process of transmission of Mycobacterium of tuberculosis. The relevance of the study is conditioned by the rapid spread of tuberculosis around the world and the need to develop more advanced methods for diagnosing this disease, which, for its part, is impossible without expanding knowledge on all possible reservoirs of the causative agent of infection. Long-term research around the world has proven that insects are carriers of various microflora, including pathogenic ones. Therefore the purpose of study was to establish the epizootological role of the rice weevil as a reservoir for Mycobacterium bovis in the process of occurrence and spread of tuberculosis. The study determined the duration of transfer and isolation of Mycobacterium of tuberculosis in the external environment by infected beetles. The museum dissociative strain of Mycobacterium bovis (118 passage) was used for the study, the subject of the study was rice weevils. For the furtherance of this goal, the culture, microscopic, and statistical studies were conducted, and the viability of mycobacteria was determined after passages through the beetle body by evaluating colony-forming units. The epizootological role of the rice weevil in the development and spread of tuberculosis has been established. It is proved that the beetle can keep mycobacteria in its body for 50 days with a gradual decrease in their number and is then able to secrete the pathogen for another 30 days, contaminating environmental objects. When evaluating colony-forming units of mycobacteria in the dynamics of the experiment, a decrease in their viability after persistence through the body of beetles was revealed from 5.3*108 in 1 g of the original crop up to 1.4*108 in 1 g of crop that grew from beetle homogenisate for 30 days. These study results will allow developing and improving existing measures for the prevention of tuberculosis and prevent the introduction of this infection into safe territory


Ras is best known for the ability of regulating cell growth,proliferation and differentiation.Mutations in Ras are associated with abnormal cell proliferation,resulting in the incidence of all human cancers.Mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signaling pathways are the most well described pathways in carcinogenesis,which has been identified as a key downstream effector in Ras signaling as well as playing important roles in prognosis of tumors.Recently,evidence has gradually accumulated to demonstrate that mutation in Ras or aberrant expression of MAPK has profound effects on the incidence of esophageal carcinoma,and applications of some chemotherapeutic drugs can not lead to the expectant function.Further understanding of the relevant molecular mechanisms of Ras-MAPK signaling pathways will be helpful for development of efficient targeting therapeutic approaches to the treatment of esophageal cancer.In this article,the advances of Ras-MAPK signaling pathways in esophageal carcinoma are reviewed.


The van der Waals three-body force shell model (VTSM) has been developed by modifying the three-body force shell model (TSM) for the lattice dynamics of ionic crystals with cesium chloride (CsCl) structure. This new model incorporates van der Waals interactions along with long-range Coulomb interactions, three-body interactions and short-range second neighbour interactions in the framework of a rigid shell model (RSM). In the present paper, VTSM has been used to study the lattice dynamics of thallous bromide (TlBr), from which adequacy of VTSM has been established. A comparative study of the dynamical behaviour of TlBr has also been done between the present model and TSM, the model over which modification has been made to obtain the present model VTSM. Good agreement has been observed between the theoretical and experimental results, which give confidence that it is an appropriate model for the complete description of ionic crystals with CsCl structure.


Prior research has established effective and reliable ways to measure the coherence of student's repertoire of energy ideas with respect to specific contexts (Lee, et al., in press; Liu, Lee, Hofstetter, & Linn, 2008) and there are promising options for extending these methods of measurement to new open-ended assessment formats (specifically, Energy Stories and MySystem (Ryoo, this session). This poster explores cumulative learning for dyads and methods for resolving individual trajectories of cumulative learning.


First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Hendrik Schürmann is first author on ' Analysis of monocyte cell tractions in 2.5D reveals mesoscale mechanics of podosomes during substrate-indenting cell protrusion', published in JCS. Hendrik conducted the research described in this article while a medical doctoral student in Timo Betz's lab at Institute of Cell Biology, University of Münster, Germany. He is now a research associate/physician in the lab of Jens Siveke at Bridge Institute of Experimental Tumor Therapy (BIT)/Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Essen, Germany, investigating using imaging-based screenings to predict treatment responses using preclinical cancer models.


The Performance of a microstrip antenna integrated with an electromagnetic band gap substrate is described. Electromagnetic Band Gap (EBG) substrate is used as antenna structure to improve the performance of the patch antenna. The antenna structure is made from common FR-4 substrate and operates at the 2.486 GHz wireless band. The design of the microstrip patch antenna, band gap substrate, and their integration is presented. The band gap array consists of 7x7 elements and improves the antenna gain. In this paper the antenna performance in terms of resonance frequency, return loss, radiation pattern, antenna gain, directivity, bandwidth and efficiency is observed. KeywordsMicrostrip Patch Antenna, Resonance frequency, Electromagnetic band gap (EBG) substrate, Gain, Return loss, Directivity. __________________________________________________*****_________________________________________________


The retrogradation retardation effects in Garaetteok, after storage for 28 days at 4C, by the addition of the wheat flour into the steamed rice powder on a 0.8% (w/w) basis at different temperatures were analyzed. In the X-ray diffraction pattern, the control and 95°C treatment showed mixed Band V-type patterns. The peaks were sharp with their size having increased after storage, whereas the 55 and 75C treatments showed a single peak throughout the storage period. In addition, enthalpy changes (∆E) measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) thermograms of Garaetteok were minimized with the 55C treatment. Concurrently, the blue values in the starch increased during storage. The optimum temperature of the wheat flour, based on the textural hardness and chewiness of Garaetteok, was found to be 55C after storage.


Submitted for the APR05 Meeting of The American Physical Society IBM-2 calculation with configuration mixing for Ge isotopes ELIZABETH PADILLA-RODAL, OCTAVIO H. CASTAÑOS, ROELOF BIJKER, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, ALFREDO GALINDO-URIBARRI, Physics Division, ORNL — Recent results on Coulomb excitation experiments of radioactive neutron-rich Ge isotopes at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility allow the study of the systematic trend of B(E2; 0+ → 2+) between the sub-shell closures at N = 40 and the N = 50 [1]. The new information on the E2 transition strengths constitutes a stringent test for the nuclear models and has motivated us to revisit the use of Interacting Boson Model in this region. We show that the IBM2 with configuration mixing is a successful model to describe the shape transition phenomena that take place around N = 40 in stable germanium isotopes, as well as the predictions given by this model about the evolution of the structure for the radioactive 78,80,82Ge nuclei. [1] E. Padilla-Rodal Ph.D. Thesis UNAM; submitted for publication. Elizabeth Padilla-Rodal Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM Date submitted: 16 Feb 2005 Electronic form version 1.4


Information regarding the association of immune‐related factors with pneumonia in children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is scarce. This study aims to summarize the immune‐related factors and their association with pneumonia in children with COVID‐19.


Efforts to reduce the clean water crisis do research in Karimunjawa. Research in Karimunjawa at UTM coordinates 437524.656 m Easting and 9351066.022 m Northing aim to describe the location groundwater, distribution of brackish water and freshwater conditions so that could make as a consideration in making well drill or the usual later could reduce clean water crisis. Research in Karimunjawa uses the geoelectric resistivity method of the Schlumberger configuration. Schlumberger configuration was used to get focused data by vertical to know groundwater's presence and the layer's amount. The results were obtained in this study using the Schlumberger configuration. The first track, the groundwater aquifer, was found at KJ-08 to KJ-15, with a depth from the surface of 66.7 m with a distance of less than 1050 m. The second track of the groundwater aquifer was only found at a depth not enough from 10 m with a distance of less than 903 m. The third track of the groundwater aquifer was only found at less depth than 10 m with a distance of less than 563 m. In the fourth track, the groundwater aquifer was found at KJ-09 to KJ-12 with a depth from the surface to a depth of 66.7 m with a distance of less than 494 m.


We consider an extremal problem for the functional where X is a Banach spase, μ is a smooth measure on X, Ais a.map from a functional space B 1(X) to a functional space B 2(X), and extend the main results of classical calculus of variations to the case under consideration. The infinite-dimensional analogs of the Euler-Lagrange equation, the Noether theorem, the canonical Hamilton system are obtained. The illustrations of these results for (where z(x) is a vector field) are given. The example related to the stochastic optimal control theory is considered


Research results on the diversity of traditional products of animal origin from certain areas of the Republic of Serbia, provides an opportunity to become part of the sustainable quality development, which would be based on their promotion and protection of local resources. Traditional products of animal origin are different and inseparable from the local identity, typical for nation and its food culture. Through confidence-building, and protection from oblivion, the value of domestic products, had preserved trough centuries-old tradition. Nowadays, each domestic product has its own recognisable taste, representing climate of the Republic of Serbia, from which it comes. Universally accepted model of rural institutional structure does not exist. Instead it accommodates and develops in accordance to needs, possibilities and area specific characteristics. By the efficient protection rural models becomes an investment incentives and contribute to general economic and industrial prosperity of the society.


This chapter presents a conceptual argument that positions two broad areas of educational scholarship—the moral and ethical dimensions of teaching and social justice education—as being quite separate, different, and ultimately antithetical, despite contemporary trends towards merging them in both theoretical and practical ways. It argues that an emerging tendency in social justice education to position its political agenda as a moral or ethical endeavor, especially within teacher education, is problematic in that it complicates, rather than enhances, the conceptualization of teaching as moral practice; it further distracts teachers and student teachers from fully engaging with the ethical aspects of their daily professional work.


In recent years, applications of neural networks with Clifford algebra have become widespread. Clifford algebra is also referred to as geometric algebra and is useful in dealing with geometric objects. Hopfield neural networks with Clifford algebra, such as complex numbers and quaternions, have been proposed. However, it has been difficult to construct Hopfield neural networks by Clifford algebra with positive part of the signature, such as hyperbolic numbers. Hyperbolic numbers are useful algebra to deal with hyperbolic geometry. Kuroe proposed hyperbolic Hopfield neural networks and provided their continuous activation functions and stability conditions. However, the learning algorithm has not been provided. In this paper, we provide two quantized activation functions and the primitive learning algorithm satisfying the stability condition. We also perform computer simulations and compare the activation functions. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


90 alcoholics were examined at Bjornebekk kursted, As, Norway. 5 patients had chronic otitis media, 2 had been treated with streptomycin in major doses, and these were not included in the survey. Among the remaining 83 patients 14 were found to have hearing losses, 9 of those had been exposed to noise and 2 to detonation injury It is discussed, whether alcohol adds to the susceptibility of the organ of Corti and so makes it more vulnerable to acoustic trauma, or whether special occupations in the present group of patients might account for an incidence of occupational deafness higher than that which is found in the average population. There was no case of hearing loss to be explained as due to the effect of alcohol only.


An algorithm for automatic classification of land surfaces from multifrequency polarimetric SAR data is presented. Discriminations among different classes of agricultural land surfaces have been carried out on the basis of calibrated backscattering coefficients measured for each field. Nine classes of agricultural surfaces have been identified with a very low error rate.


The present study was aimed to formulate MP sustained release tablets by liquisolid compacts and to study the effect of PEG on release of MP from PEG liquisolid compacts, the effect of combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic polymers. In the different techniques liquisolid compacts is a recent promising technique to sustain the release. Different formulations were prepared by using Polyethylene glycol-400 as a non-volatile liquid vehicle, HPMC K15M was used as carrier material and nanosized silica was used as coating material. To the better formulations with PEG (F3 and F4) PEG in different proportions were added to study the effect on release rate. MP liquisolid tablets were characterized for different physical parameters to comply with pharmacopoeial limits. In vitro dissolution profiles of the liquisolid formulations were studied and compared with matrix formulation in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer and the optimized formulation F12 showed 99.48% in 24 hrs. It was found that liquisolid tablets with PEG and PEG combination is better to produce sustained release in low proportions of polymer. The drug release from above formulation followed zero order profile and non-fickian diffusion or anomalous diffusion. The MDT was higher for formulations with increasing proportion of PEG compared to alone PEG. DSC and FTIR spectral studies showed that there is no interaction between the drug and excipients. In conclusion, development of MP liquisolid tablets using combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic polymers is a good approach to sustain the release rate in low proportions to overcome frequent administration and gastric complications.


In this study, 67 mothers of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Taiwan were recruited to investigate their perceptions of stressors embedded in the Chinese culture, Chinese cultural values and maternal well-being when caring for their son or daughter with ASD. Mothers completed self-administered written questionnaires and participated in a semi-structured interview. Taiwanese mothers reported experiencing high levels of strain caring for their son or daughter with an ASD. About one-third of the mothers perceived that stressors had negative impacts on caregiving burden and depressive symptoms when raising their son or daughter. Chinese cultural values may help some Taiwanese mothers reappraise the stress and motivate them to engage in the caregiving tasks. This study explores how mothers care for adolescents and adults with ASD within a Chinese cultural context.


This paper describes our codesign between the Internet healthcare enterprise information portal (HEIP) and hospital information systems (HIS) inside the hospital intranet environment at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). In fact, the hospital customer relationship management (CRM) can be categorized and managed through a single sign-on information portal. NTUH implemented an HEIP to serve the hospital customers and to enhance the affiliation relationship strength of the healthcare enterprise. First of all, an overall description on the current hospital status and problem is presented. Then, the data flows and exchange mechanism between the HEIP and HIS are illustrated. At last, the future HEIP blueprint with CRM oriented for long-term care field is also described. Related effects on the information system integration and engineer impacts are also discussed.


The invention discloses a weeding composition containing fentrazamide and cyhalofop-butyl, which comprises common auxiliaries, fentrazamide and cyhalofop-butyl, wherein the mass part ratio of fentrazamide to cyhalofop-butyl is (10:1)-(1:10), preferably 3:1. By compounding fentrazamide and cyhalofop-butyl, an obvious synergistic effect is realized, and the dosage of the active ingredients of the compound drug is obviously reduced from that of separately using fentrazamide and cyhalofop-butyl. The pesticide composition of fentrazamide and cyhalofop-butyl is applicable to the early stage of seeding in a rice dry-nursery bed when the annual weeds do not come up, and a spray process or a poisoned soil process can be adopted. The composition disclosed by the invention is applicable to the annual weeds of the rice dry-nursery bed.


In this paper, we extend purely non-local Hamiltonian formalism to a class of Riemannian F-manifolds, without assumptions on the semisimplicity of the product ○ or on the flatness of the connection ∇. In the flat case, we show that the recurrence relations for the principal hierarchy can be re-interpreted using a local and purely non-local Hamiltonian operators and in this case they split into two Lenard-Magri chains, one involving the even terms, the other involving the odd terms. Furthermore, we give an elementary proof that the Kohno property and the ∨-system condition are equivalent under suitable assumptions and we show how to associate a purely non-local Hamiltonian structure to any ∨-system, including degenerate ones.


An actin gene (CfACT1) was cloned by using RT-PCR, 3 and 5RACE from hemocytes of the sea scallop Chlamys farreri. The full length of the transcript is 1 535 bp, which contains a long 3 un-translated region of 436bp and 59bp of a 5 un-translated sequence. The open reading frame encodes a polypeptide of 376 amino acids. Sequence comparisons indicated that CfACT1 is more closely related to vertebrate cytoplasmic actins than muscle types. Phylogenetic analysis showed that molluscan actins could be generally divided into two categories: muscle and cytoplasmic, although both are similar to vertebrate cytoplasmic actins. It was also inferred that different isotypes existed in muscle or cytoplasma in mollusks. The genomic sequence of CfACT1 was cloned and sequenced. Only one intron was detected: it was located between codons 42 and 43 and different from vertebrate actin genes.


A batch experiment was conducted to study the adsorption of copper,lead,cadmium and nickel by bentonite in single component and binary systems.The results showed that adsorption capacity of copper and lead are higher than that for cadmium and nickel.The order of adsorption capacity was as follows:Pb2+Cu2+Ni2+Cd2+.The single ion equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms.The adsorption isotherms in binary-component systems showed that there were competition between copper and lead,copper and cadmium,copper and nickel.Adsorption of copper was depressed by the presence of lead in the adsorption solution,but adsorption of lead was depressed little by the presence of copper.Adsorption of copper was also depressed by the presence of nickel and cadmium,however adsorption of nickel and cadmium were completely depressed by the presence of 100 mg/L Cu2+.Equilibrium data for the binary adsorption of copper and lead were analyzed by using Ideal-Adsorption-Solution(IAS)and Langmuir-Competitive-Adsorption models,but these equations weren't fitted to data for the mixed solutions.The Modified LCA model fits the binary adsorption equilibrium data satisfactorily and adequately.Finally,binary-component competitive adsorption of copper and lead was simulated by Modified LCA model in computer.


Last decades, phenomena of consciousness, discussion of which enables to uncover new meanings and senses in the wide system of psychological knowledge, is the unified basis of development of domestic and foreign scientific psychological thought. Taking it into consideration, the different approaches to definition and structuring of consciousness are analyzed in this article, and it is marked that, existing in the Russian psychology, scientific approaches to solution the problem of consciousness group in the directions of natural-science and humanitarian tradition; reconsideration of criteria of scientific character recently is marked. Special attention is given to foreign approaches, differing from Russian one by predominance of the analysis of the appearance causes of consciousness and its connection with a physical world that has been studied enough in domestic psychology from dialectic and historical materialism position.


In view of problem of hidden danger of coal bunker,taking super products bunker of one coal preparation plant as example,the paper introduced design methods in term of electrical safety prevention,electrical energy-saving and modular design of the bunker.The actual application showed that the design methods ensure safe and continuous production of coal preparation plant.


Thermochemical relaxation influence on shock heated plasma gases via heat transfer experiments on ionized Ar, molecular nitrogen and carbon dioxide


Our objective was to determine if Chinook weather conditions in the Calgary area increase the probability of headache attacks in migraine sufferers.


Through her experiments with extremely light materials, Christina von Bitter has developed an exciting series of three-dimensional translucent objects. This volume provides an insight into the multifaceted work of a sculptress who primarily resorts to paper and wire when creating sculptures which seem to defy gravity.


In this paper, we present the design of a novel quasi-passive motor-free orthosis that realizing the compensation of knee joint supporting force during the weight acceptance phase and almost free motion during the swing phase. We explain that the normal knee landing motion is approximately a linear spring through the motion curve, so a suitable linear spring for the knee joint in parallel can achieve an approximate natural response. We show a compound mechanism based on ratchet and cam, which makes springs with different stiffness parallel in support and swing phases, and explain how to design mechanism parameters in switching process. This mechanism is a passive motor-free exoskeleton with automatic switching spring stiffness. It is lightweight and has no energy consumption.


Content-addressable memory (CAM) is a searching memory which provides the address of the search key in a single clock cycle. High speed lookup operation of CAM makes it extremely attractive in security, in-memory computing, distributed systems and networking applications. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are famous for hardware-like performance and software-like re-configurability, but it does not have built-in CAM. Researchers have used different hardware components, like Block random-access memory (RAM), distributed RAM, flip-flops etc., to emulate the functionality of CAM inside FPGAs. This paper presents the design space exploration of gate-based area efficient ternary content addressable memory (G-AETCAM) which uses flip-flops as memory elements on FPGA and can be configured as binary as well as ternary CAM. By configuring G-AETCAM as binary CAM, due to the redundancy of masking bits, half of the resources on FPGA are saved. We have implemented different sizes of G-AETCAM on Xilinx Virtex-5, Virtex-6 and Virtex-7 FPGAs and provided the results in detail for the designers to choose according to the application's requirements. Throughput, as a critical performance metric, is improved by 28\% compared to other FPGA-based TCAM counterparts. Moreover, scalability is shown as a trade-off of G-AETCAM due to the routing complexity of the architecture and the factors limiting the largest possible size on each FPGA device are reported in this work.


Redwing Turdus iliacus breeds from Iceland to eastern Russia and winters mainly in Europe, east to the Caspian (Collar 2005), with some birds migrating up to 7,000 km (Clement & Hathway 2000, Milwright 2003). It is a winter visitor to Greenland (Clement & Hathway 2000) and a vagrant to both coasts of the USA and Canada (ABA 2002). Vagrants reach North America via two routes. Those on the north-east Atlantic coast have apparently crossed the North Atlantic to reach Greenland, Newfoundland and the USA. Other than a doubtful record at Jamaica Bay, New York, in February 1959 (Young 1959), the first documented record in North America was at St. Anthony, Newfoundland, on 26 June–11 July 1980 (Vickery 1980, Hall 1981, Montevecchi et al. 1981). Subsequent records are from Newfoundland, Quebec and Pennsylvania, all of singles in February (Clement & Hathway 2000, Denault 2000, Kasir 2005). On the Pacific coast there are fewer records, and these birds presumably arrive via the Bering Sea (Clement & Hathway 2000, Gibson et al. 2012), in Olympia, Washington, in December 2004–March 2005 (Mlodinow & Aanerud 2008) and Seward, Alaska, in November 2011 (Gibson et al. 2012). In East Asia, T. iliacus has wandered south to Japan, in January (Oozeki et al. 2004).


In Australia's Bicentennial year 1988, which marked 200 years of European colonisation, an important artistic collaboration occurred between Ian de Gruchy and Krzysztof Wodiczko. Their site specific installation Humpy commented on the ongoing politics of Indigenous dispossession and loss of place. They are artists who helped to develop the practice of projecting large-scale images onto architecture. While the work was critically ignored at the time, it has become increasingly relevant as historians, architects and artists research and reference Indigenous architectural forms. The ongoing currency of the artist's political commentary on Indigenous loss of place is another important element of the work's continuing resonance.


OBJECTIVE
This study was done to compare costs, operating and recovery times, safety, and patient acceptance between (a) minimally invasive laparoscopic tubal ligation under sedation and local anesthesia and (b) conventional laparoscopic operating-room-based tubal ligations under general anesthesia.

METHODS
Fourteen women desiring sterilization were randomized between tubal ligation under sedation/local analgesia versus general anesthesia. Procedures were performed by supervised residents previously unfamiliar with the minimally invasive technique. Hospital charges were used as a surrogate for cost. Operating or procedure room times, surgical complications, and recovery times were recorded. Patient acceptance was assessed using satisfaction surveys administered in the recovery room and again 1 week postoperatively.

RESULTS
The cost of minimally invasive tubal ligation was significantly lower than for the conventional technique ($1,615+/-$134 vs $2,820+/-$110, p < 0.001). Surgical times were not different between the two procedures: 40.4+/-15 min for the conventional technique versus 32.9+/-10 min for minimally invasive surgery. However, the total in-room time required in the operating room significantly exceeded that for the procedure room technique (84+/-10 min vs 60+/-2 min, p < 0.05). Likewise, recovery time for the general anesthesia technique was longer (48+/-6 min vs 14+/-7 min, p < 0.03). No complications were encountered with either surgical method. Patient satisfaction for pain, fatigue, and days of missed work was similar between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of minimally invasive surgery to perform tubal ligation is advantageous over conventional laparoscopic tubal ligation under general anesthesia with regard to cost and time utilization. The minimally invasive technique appears to be easy to learn, safe, and well tolerated.


Counterstreaming ions embedded in hot isotropic ions are found at the front of fast earthward plasma flows in the recovery phase of substorms in the Earth's magnetotail. The counterstreaming ions are present only when the northward component of the magnetic field increases in the equatorial plane. Hybrid simulations of magnetic reconnection have been carried out. It is found that counterstreaming ions form in the leading edge of jetting plasmas produced with magnetic reconnection, where the magnetic field lines pile up due to the pre-existing stationary plasmas. These counterstreaming ions originate from cold ions on the northern and southern tail lobe field lines, and earthward transport of the reconnected field lines makes these cold ions flow into the equatorial plane. The present observations provide strong evidence of magnetic reconnection in the recovery phase of substorms at the kinetic level.


What would our ideas about this basin be if we hadn't thought about exploring it until this year? Would we develop different criteria for judging our chances of exploration success than we have today, and could we do a better job of exploration than we actually have? More importantly, can new perspectives help us do a better job of working the modern frontier of the Gulf of Mexico?


We propose an end-to-end trainable approach for multi-instance pose estimation, called POET (POse Estimation Transformer). Combining a convolutional neural network with a transformer encoder-decoder architecture, we formulate multiinstance pose estimation from images as a direct set prediction problem. Our model is able to directly regress the pose of all individuals, utilizing a bipartite matching scheme. POET is trained using a novel set-based global loss that consists of a keypoint loss, a visibility loss and a class loss. POET reasons about the relations between multiple detected individuals and the full image context to directly predict their poses in parallel. We show that POET achieves high accuracy on the COCO keypoint detection task while having less parameters and higher inference speed than other bottom-up and top-down approaches. Moreover, we show successful transfer learning when applying POET to animal pose estimation. To the best of our knowledge, this model is the first end-to-end trainable multi-instance pose estimation method and we hope it will serve as a simple and promising alternative.


Every theory of justice requires a first-order theory specifying principles of justice, and a second-order view explaining why those principles constitute the correct principles of justice. According to John Rawls, political liberalism is committed to the two principles of justice specified in its first-order theory, "justice as fairness." Justice as fairness, according to Rawls, in turn presupposes the second-order view that justice is a political conception. A political conception of justice treats the principles derived from the fundamental ideas in the public political culture as the correct principles of justice. Political liberalism, however, nowhere offers a defense of the view that justice is a political conception. Indeed, it even strives to avoid the admission that it presupposes that justice is a political conception by stating only that it uses a political conception of justice, while allowing that justice might not actually be a political conception. As to the truth of its second-order presupposition, political liberalism chooses to remain agnostic. Rawls claims that political liberalism has no choice at all. To do otherwise, he argues, would lead to an internal contradiction. A number of critics have remarked on the consequences of doing political philosophy without making metaphysical and epistemological commitments. But no one has questioned Rawls's claim that political liberalism must remain agnostic about its own truth. I will argue that political liberalism can claim and defend its own truth without pain of internal contradiction, and that the central ideas of reflective equilibrium and stability already contained within the theory can be formed into such a defense.


The purpose of the research is to provide a comprehensive analysis of approaches to the organization of
events for the implementation of Moscow's development programs, from the point of view of strengthening
public health. Materials and methods. The methods of the study are: the integrated assessment of data of
industry statistical reporting, the method of descriptive statistics, the method of content analysis. Approaches
to the organization of events of the state programs of the city of Moscow, from the point of view of strengthening
public health, are defined. It is shown that the state programs include areas related to strengthening public
health, their implementation is carried out jointly by various departments and is of an interdepartmental nature.
Urban planning policy and development of the territories of the city of Moscow is carried out in accordance
with the analysis of the environmental situation, demography, and social needs of citizens. Correlation between
the state of public health in Moscow according to the results of clinical examination and ongoing activities of
state programs of Moscow, shows the relevance of interagency measures to enhance public health and promote
a healthy lifestyle. Results. The results of medical examinations in 2017−2019 show that it is necessary to
strengthen interdepartmental measures aimed at strengthening public health in the city of Moscow.


ABSTRACT Objective: Reliable change methods can assist neuropsychologists in determining whether observed changes in a patient's performance are clinically meaningful. The current study sought to validate previously published standardized regression-based (SRB) equations for the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Indexes and subtests. Methods: Duff and colleagues's SRB prediction equations, developed from 223 cognitively intact primary care patients, were applied to an independent sample of robustly cognitively intact (n = 129) community-dwelling older adults assessed with the RBANS twice over a one-year period. Results: Results suggest that the cognitively intact participants in the current validation sample possessed significantly better Observed Follow-up scores than was predicted based on Duff's developmental sample across most RBANS Indexes and many RBANS subtests, though significantly lower Observed Follow-up scores were observed for the Visuospatial/Constructional Index than was predicted. As a result of these findings, the current study calculated updated prediction algorithms for the RBANS Index and subtest scores from the sample of 129 cognitively intact participants. Conclusions: Duff's 2004 and 2005 SRB prediction equations for the RBANS Index and subtest scores failed to generalize to a sample of cognitively intact community-dwelling participants recruited from senior living centers and independent assisted living facilities. These updated SRB prediction equations – being developed from a more medically "clean" sample of cognitively intact older adults who remained stable over 12 months – have the potential to provide a more accurate assessment of reliable change in an individual patient.


Background—Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a life-threatening disease. Prognostic assessment is an important factor in determining medical treatment and lung transplantation. Whether cardiopulmonary exercise testing data predict survival has not been reported previously. Methods and Results—We studied 86 patients with PPH (58 female, age 46±2 years, median NYHA class III) between 1996 and 2001 who were followed up in a tertiary referral center. Right heart catheterization was performed and serum uric acid levels were measured in all patients. Seventy patients were able to undergo exercise testing. At the start of the study, the average pulmonary artery pressure was 60±2 mm Hg, average pulmonary vascular resistance was 1664±81 dyne · s · cm−5, average serum uric acid level was 7.5±0.35 mg/dL, and average peak oxygen uptake during exercise (peak &OV0312;o2) was 11.2±0.5 mL · kg−1 · min−1. During follow-up (mean: 567±48 days), 28 patients died and 16 underwent lung transplantation (1-year cumulative event-free survival: 68%; 95% CI 58 to 78). The strongest predictors of impaired survival were low peak &OV0312;o2 (P <0.0001) and low systolic blood pressure at peak exercise (peak SBP;P <0.0001). In a multivariable analysis, serum uric acid levels (all P <0.005) and diastolic blood pressure at peak exercise independently predicted survival (P <0.05). Patients with peak &OV0312;o2 ≤10.4 mL · kg−1 · min−1 and peak SBP ≤120 mm Hg (ie, 2 risk factors) had poor survival rates at 12 months (23%), whereas patients with 1 or none of these risk factors had better survival rates (79% and 97%, respectively). Conclusions—Peak &OV0312;o2 and peak SBP are independent and strong predictors of survival in PPH patients. Hemodynamic parameters, although also accurate predictors, provide no independent prognostic information.


In second language acquisition (SLA) research, some form of measurement is frequently used to produce empirical evidence for hypotheses about the nature and development of communicative competence. For example, SLA researchers test learners to investigate such aspects of interlanguage vocabulary as the acquisition of semantic (Kellerman 1978) and syntactic (Ard & Gass 1987) features of words, the structure of the L2 lexicon (Meara 1984; Singleton & Little 1991), lexicon size (Nation 1993), strategies associated with vocabulary use (Blum-Kulka & Levinson 1983), and automaticity of lexical access (Chitiri, Sun, Willows, and Taylor 1992). Tests are used for investigating vocabulary, as well as for SLA research in general, to elicit learners' performance in a defined context. In other words, taking the complement to Douglas's (Chapter 6, this volume) view of language tests as SLA elicitation devices, I consider SLA elicitation devices from the perspective of two principles that underlie language testing: construct definition and validation. These principles are important in SLA research because learners' performance on elicitation devices – like performance on language tests – is used to make inferences extending beyond the observed performance. For example, inferences are often made concerning the learner's underlying competence, which is a construct. Justification of the inferences made on the basis of performance is validation. On SLA elicitation devices, researchers would seldom rely on a single observation of performance to make inferences. Instead, performances are typically summarized across observations to produce scores or other descriptions of performance consistency.


The multi-sized and layered (Tix,Nb1−x)C surface-reinforced layer (MLRL) was fabricated on the surface of the high temperature TiNb alloy via an in situ solid-phase diffusion reaction. The MLRL is formed by the diffusion of carbon atoms that diffuse from gray cast iron into the TiNb alloy. During the diffusion reaction, the MLRL is gradually formed in situ on the surface of the TiNb alloy. Thus, there is a good bonding interface between the MLRL and the substrate. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis indicates that the MLRL is composed of three layers; the outer layer is micro-nano carbide particles, the middle layer is multi-sized carbide particles, and the inner layer is gradient micro-nano carbide particles. EDS results indicate that the different particles have different ratios of Ti/(Ti + Nb). The XRD results indicate that the MLRL is mainly composed of (Tix,Nb1−x)C particles; the diffraction peaks are located at 2θ positions between the corresponding peaks of TiC and NbC. Nanoindention test results show that the hardness of the MLRL obviously increases (compared to that of TiC or NbC); the highest micro-hardness of the MLRL is nearly 2366 HV0.05. Benefited from the solid-solution strengthening, the multi-sized and layered structures, the relationship between the strength and toughness of MLRL can be improved. Meanwhile the high hardness and volume fraction of (Tix,Nb1−x)C will obviously enhance the wear resistance of the reinforced layer.


Objective To analyze the levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)-IgM immune complexes,a new marker of hepatic carcinoma,in the pregnant women.Methods Serum levels of AFP-IgM immune complexes,free AFP and beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin(β-HCG) were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay,respectively,in 145 pregnant women,74 patients with primary hepatic carcinoma and 126 healthy women.Results Serum levels of AFP-IgM immune complexes in the pregnant women at early,middle and advanced stages were not statistically different each other(P=0.760),nor with the levels in healthy women(P0.05).However,serum AFP levels significantly increased and serum β-HCG levels slightly decreased in the advancement of gestational period.There was no correlation between AFP-IgM and AFP or β-HCG in the pregnant women,but there was negative correlation between AFP and β-HCG(r=-0.305,P0.001).Conclusions Serum AFP levels increase significantly during pregnancy,and serum AFP-IgM immune complexes levels have no change with the pregnancy stages.It shows that determination of serum AFP-IgM immune complexes could be useful in the diagnosis of the pregnant women suffered from liver cancer.


This work presents a novel direct active and reactive powers command (DARPC) scheme based on fuzzy super twisting algorithms (FSTAs) of an asynchronous generator (ASG) integrated into dual-rotor wind power (DRWP) systems. The DRWP has two sets of blades. So it is more efficient for collecting power from wind in comparison to a traditional wind turbine. The scientific works indicate that a DRWP could extract additional 20-30% power compared to a traditional wind turbine.  The conventional DARPC control scheme using the conventional integral-proportional (PI) regulators (DARPC-PI) has considerable reactive and active power oscillations. In order to guarantee an effective DARPC technique for the ASG-based DRWP system and minimize these oscillations, FSTAs are used in this work. Both DARPC strategies are presented and simulated from two tests using Matlab software. Simulation results showed the effectiveness of the designed DARPC control technique especially on the quality of the provided active and reactive power comparatively to the traditional DARPC control scheme with PI controllers.


The rise of television as Americans' primary news source has often been decried as a blight on representative democracy. In this article the authors outline three interpretations of media coverage of presidential campaigns. The authors dismiss the first of these (the "vast wasteland" interpretation) because it assumes, contrary to much existing evidence, that there is a fundamental difference between television and the print media in campaign coverage. The authors then undertake a content analysis of newspaper coverage of the presidential campaigns of 1888,1908, 1928, 1948, 1968, and 1988 as a test of the two remaining interpretations. According to the "videostyle" interpretation, television has revolutionized presidential campaigns and the way campaigns are covered. By contrast, the "the more things change ... " interpretation holds that, while television may have altered the style of presidential campaigns, it has not changed the substance of campaign coverage, which focused on hoopla and the horse race rather than on serious issues long before the arrival of television. The content analysis indicates some changes during the post-World-War-II era that are consistent with the "videostyle" interpretation, but over the full course of the last century these changes have been of quite a limited scope, consistent with the "the more things change ... " interpretation.


Objective To investigate the application of vacuum sealing drainage(VSD) for the incision decompressions in osteo-fascial compartment syndrome(OCS) of leg.Methods The 16 patients with OCS of leg from March 2010 to December 2011 were enrolled,male 10,female 6,aged 17-62 years old,mean age 34.6 years old,which with 26 decompressed incisions.The 16 leg-injured OCS patients were treated by incision decompressions with VSD,and the closed incisions time was based on VSD-removed surface of wound.Results Decompression of all the leg was effective.VSD was removed after 7-day,20 wound was closed by direct suture,6 wound was closed after second VSD therapy.No wound infection occurred in all patients.Conclusion It is demonstrated that VSD could cover the wound rapidly after incision decompressions in OCS of leg,prevent infection,promote capillary and granulation tissue growing and is favorable for wound repairing.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate an individual 10-session cognitivebehavioral programme for the treatment of adult female victims of sexual assault. 138 Victims (107 recent and 31 non-recent victims) participated in the study voluntarily, and 84 completed treatment. Participants were assessed with the PTSD Severity Scale, the STAI, the MFS-III, the BDI, the HDRS, the Self-Esteem Scale and the Misadjustment Scale. Independent assessments were made at pretreatment, post-treatment and 1, 3, 6 and 12-month follow-up. In the treatment completers the success rate in PTSD was of 100% and of 65.6% and 60%, respectively, in emotional trouble and in sexual avoidance at the post-treatment assessment. The results were maintained at 12-month follow-up. When recent


We present specifications for transmission of code-division-multiple-access (CDMA) signals over an optical link, and demonstrate that unisolated, uncooled Fabry-Perot lasers can meet these requirements. Since full testing using a CDMA base station is not practical, a simple test using two tones to simulate the RF channel has been developed and used.


Smart metering utility network (SUN) is an emerging wireless technology for achieving intelligent control and information transfer in smart grid applications. However, the operation of SUNs on unlicensed bands is very sensitive to external interferences generated from other networks working on the same spectrum bands, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs). This paper aims to analyze packet error rate (PER) performance of a victim SUN receiver under the interferences of one or more WLAN transmitting nodes. To deal with a scenario leveraged by multiple random variables, such as offset between desired SUN data packet and WLAN packet, duration of WLAN data packet, and time interval between two consecutive WLAN packets, we propose a segmented packet collision model with the help of the probability theory. We first divide all the packets into small segments and then calculate the collision probability of each segment to acquire a more accurate bit error rate (BER). Then, based on different BERs in distinct segments of the desired SUN packet, average PER of the victim SUN receiver is obtained. Finally, the proposed analytical model is validated by simulations as an effort to evaluate PER performance of a SUN receiver under the WLAN interferences.


Accounting environment is the general name of politics,economics,law,cultural education,scientific technology and natural environment in the society in which the accounting lies.The quality of accounting information means what kind of features that the accounting information possessesor reaches in the course of achieving the specific or basic objectives.This article lays special stress on analysing the relative effect of China's Accounting environment on the quality of accounting information under the conditions of both planned and market economy,and reveals the inner reason that affects the quality of accounting information.It not only provides the basis for the quality enhancement of accounting information but also lays a foundation and provides conditions for the theoretical construction of the quality features of accounting information


Direct seeding is becoming an important alternative of rice transplanting and spreading rapidly in Haryana due to labour shortage and escalating cost of production. Present study is an attempt to analyze the economics of direct seeded and transplanted methods of rice cultivation in Haryana. It was revealed that the use of human labour, machine labour and irrigation water were saved by 13.16, 41.34, and 11.88 per cent, respectively, in direct seeded rice as compared to the transplanted method of rice production. The expenditure incurred on machine, irrigation and human labour was substantially lower by 41.34, 22.45 and 6.62 per cent, respectively, in direct seeded rice than transplanted method. Direct seeded rice technology enabled farmers to increase net return and save crucial inputs.


Fertilization promoting peptide (FPP; pGlu‐Glu‐ProNH2), which is found in seminal plasma, promotes capacitation but inhibits spontaneous acrosome loss in mammalian spermatozoa in vitro. Adenosine, known to modulate the adenylyl cyclase (AC)/cAMP pathway, elicits these same responses whereas FPP + adenosine produces an enhanced response, leading to the hypothesis that FPP and adenosine modulate the same signal transduction pathway but act via different receptors. TCP‐11, the product of a t‐complex gene, is the putative receptor for FPP: Fab fragments of anti‐TCP‐11 antibodies have the same effect as FPP on mouse spermatozoa and Gln‐FPP, a competitive inhibitor of FPP, also competitively inhibits responses to the Fab fragments. In the present study, specific binding of 3H‐FPP to sperm membranes was significantly inhibited by 200 nM Gln‐FPP and anti‐TCP‐11 Fab fragments (1/25 dilution), thus confirming that FPP, Gln‐FPP, and Fab fragments compete for the same binding site. In addition, spermatozoa treated with A23187 to induce the acrosome reaction bound significantly less 3H‐FPP than untreated cells, suggesting that a large proportion of the FPP binding sites are associated with the acrosomal cap region; TCP‐11 is located in this region. In other experiments, 100 nM FPP significantly stimulated cAMP production in mouse sperm membranes, permeabilized cells and intact cells. Furthermore, Gln‐FPP inhibited production of cAMP in response to FPP but not to adenosine (10 μM) or its analogue NECA (100 nM), supporting the involvement of two different receptors. Finally, anti‐TCP‐11 Fab fragments (1/25 dilution) significantly stimulated cAMP production, whereas low Fab (1/200; nonstimulatory when used alone) plus adenosine (10 μM) significantly enhanced the stimulation of capacitation by adenosine. These results support the hypotheses that TCP‐11 is the receptor for FPP and that FPP↔TCP‐11 interactions modulate AC/cAMP. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 51:468–476, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Improvement of the output parameters of 2.3 mum GaSb-based laser diodes was observed with increase of the quantum-well compressive strain. A continuous-wave (CW) power of 1.15 W and quasi-CW power of 1.4 W were obtained at room temperature from 2 mm-long single emitters with a 100 mum-aperture.


The South African qualification for social work was transformed in 2003, along with other transforming post-apartheid policies and practices since the first democratic government was elected in 1994. The educational collective was committed to outcomes-based approaches which were legislated by statutory bodies emphasising redress of previous inequities. The new Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) is accordingly criterion-based and measured by 27 exit level outcomes, giving direct guidance which assists historically disadvantaged students and facilitates entry to qualifications as intended by the current South African reform. The BSW replaces the previous Bachelor of Arts in Social Work [BA (SW)] which was norm-based and relied on good students educated in historically advantaged institutions. The political history and context for the new qualification is presented and typical difficulties experienced during the first year are referenced. With the BSW being due for revision in 2012, a research project on its teaching and learning in the first year was commissioned in 2010 by the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions. A section of this project is presented here. Consistent with the international literature, human and material resources emerge as very important in providing academic support. Tension between policies and practice should provide a good basis for revising the BSW.


The above-ground phytomass stocks and annual production according to the III-VII age class artificial small-leaved lime forest fraction were studied. Regressive equations of bioproductive tree indicators dependences from the square of diameter on the height product are resulted.


Hemophilia A is a bleeding disorder disease caused by missing or defective coagulation factor VIII (FVIII), a clotting protein. It's a X‐linked recessive genetic disease, mainly due to gene mutation. Magnetic nanoparticles have been used for various biomedical applications, including tumor‐targeting drug carriers, magnetic resonance imaging etc., but was rarely utilized in the field of inherited disease. Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) formulate with iron oxide nanoparticles is concerned as a potential material in biomedical therapy with highly biocompatible. The aim of this research is to establish a non‐viral gene therapy approach to cure hemophilia A. In this study, B6;129S‐F8tm1Kaz/J knockout mice were used as the animal model which mimic sever hemophilia A patients. The biocompatible material‐ IO@DPPC (DPPC‐Fe3O4) was used as a DNA carrier to bring human B‐domain deleted FVIII cDNA (10 μg/mice) into hemophilia A mice by tail vein injection. C57BL/6 mice were used as a normal control and untreated hemophilia A mice as a negative control. Activated partial thromboplastin time results revealed that the blood clotting activity significantly improved in the treatment group when compared to negative control (P<0.05). Furthermore, approximately 75% of IO@DPPC and the FVIII‐eGFP plasmids entered the hepatocyte nuclear and expressed green fluorescent protein. Moreover, this therapy did not cause any liver injury from the histology examination in the safety test. In this research, injecting 10 μg/mice of FVIII‐eGFP plasmids showed a promising therapeutic effects on hemophilia A mice, but the therapeutic levels only maintain until two weeks. To prolong the therapeutic efficacy for more than 6 months, we intend to use higher dosage of FVIII‐eGFP plasmids (20 to 50 μg/mice). Taken together, we have successfully improved the bleeding disorder in hemophilia A knockout mice, that provide a potential novel gene therapy approach in the clinical use of hemophilia A patients.


Activation of bis-o-phenylene tetrasulfide to render it a practical benzodithiete equivalent for [4+2] cycloadditions with alkenes has been achieved with catalytic amounts of Mo(tfd)(2)(bdt) (tfd = S(2)C(2)(CF(3))(2); bdt = S(2)C(6)H(4)). Substituted 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodithiins are produced.