Foundationalism, which he refutes as self-referentially incoherent. Thus Plantinga opens up the possibility that belief in God may be "properly basic," that is, acceptable without other basis or evidence. Plantinga goes to lengths to answer possible objections (indeed objections raised against earlier versions of this argument). He insists that acceptance of belief in God as a basic belief does not open the gates to attempts to construe any belief as basic, does not insulate belief in God from examination and argument, and is not fideistic. Plantinga does not (as he admits) give a full account of proper basicality (although he believes he can cite clear cases as examples). Plantinga also argues that some Reformed Theology rejects apologetics in part because this theology rejects classical Foundationalism and views belief in God as properly basic. Plantinga has argued before that belief in God is basic and met with considerable criticism. He has only begun to respond to that criticism here. In a somewhat similar vein Wolterstorff argues that belief in God can be "immediate" and without other basis. He offers a latitudinarian criterion of rational belief which judges beliefs to be rational in the absence of serious counter-evidence. The entire position is more complex than this summary indicates but it does regard beliefs as "innocent until proven guilty." Mavrodes' essay seeks to distinguish two senses of "rational": (1) that which fulfills intellectual responsibilities and is thus permissible and (2) that which follows procedures likely to lead to truth. Mavrodes argues that Plantinga and Wolterstorff are really concerned about whether belief in God is rational in the first sense; Mavrodes urges a shift of focus to the second question. He begins to develop the groundwork for the latter inquiry. Alston's paper is a meticulous argument that some experiences of ordinary believers can provide some grounds for belief in God. He argues that some philosophical criticisms of this position have applied overly stringent criteria of justification (so stringent that they would also reject perceptual beliefs based on sense perceptions) and that some criticisms fail to respect the unique character of religious experiences and claims and thus judges them by irrelevant standards. Alston then presents a plausible case for the reliability of beliefs based on certain religious experiences. Alston argues his case within carefully drawn limits. It is difficult to determine the intended audience of this diverse collection. Its essays would interest many professors of theology; the four essays in philosophy of religion would be of great interest to anyone teaching philosophical theology or philosophy of religion. Some essays could be read profitably by graduate students and philosophically sophisticated undergraduates.


Rates of developmental delay, autism and mental illness in deaf children are higher than in hearing children. Early language acquisition (signed or spoken) is a protective factor against mental disorder. Deaf children and their families are often given conflicting messages and advice about their upbringing and many are unable to access generic child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). We describe the National Deaf CAMHS, a service that has been set up to answer the needs of this group of patients. It uses specialist intervention which incorporates some aspects of Deaf awareness to empower deaf children and reduce the burden of mental health problems that are likely to accompany them into and throughout their adulthood.


On the basis of the active element of Ti3+:Al2O3, the possibility of converting solar energy into laser radiation energy is investigated. By the computer simulations, it was shown the possibility of reducing the threshold pump power by choosing the optimal geometry of the crystal parameters for end-pumping scheme of concentrated solar radiation.


Operation. A mass of adhesions were found about the pylorus, preventing any investigation of this region. The gastro-enterostomy stoma was in good order, with no thickening or signi of ulceration; the efferent loop was dilated and hypertrophied, and about three inches from the stoma the jejnnum and transverse colon were intimately adherent, this evidently being the site of the fistula, a fact which was confirmed by opening the jejunum distal to the adherent portion and introducing a finger, which passed through the fistula into the colon. Separation of the two pieces of gut, which were greatly thickened at the site of apposition, was carried out with some difficulty, and after being effected the hard edges of the old ulcerated areas were excised, and the openings into the two pieces of gut were clcsed by means of two layers -of catgut stitches, without noticeable lessening of the lumen in either case. As an adlditional precaution an omental graft was applied to each suture line. The abdomen was then closed.


Objective To identify differently expressed genes and pathways between Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) cartilage and healthy cartilage,and to explore the mechanism of articular cartilage lesions of KBD.Methods Cartilage specimens were collected from 9 patients with KBD and 9 healthy controls.Total RNA was extracted from cartilage specimens,and transcribed into cDNA.KBD and control groups were labeled by Cy3 and Cy5,respectively.Agilent genome-wide microarray was applied to compare the expression profile of KBD cartilage and healthy cartilage.The microarray data was analyzed by single gene and pathway expression analysis to identify differently expressed genes and pathways between KBD and healthy controls.Results ①Tweenty nine genes were significantly up-regulated in KBD group (averaged ratio =6.68 + 1.98,P < 0.05),mainly involved in apoptosis,metabolism,extracellular matrix,cytoskeleton and cell movement.Additionally,extracellular matrix-related FBLN1 gene was down-regulated in KBD group(ratio =0.14 + 0.06,P < 0.05).②Five apoptosis and 6 hypoxia-related pathways presented higher expression levels in KBD compared to healthy controls(all P< 0.05).Conclusions We find significant expression differences of apoptosis and hypoxia-related genes and pathways between KBD cartilages and healthy cartilages,suggesting that hypoxia might contribute to chondrocytes apoptosis of KBD.Further studies may be needed to investigate the relationship between hypoxia and articular cartilage lesions of KBD.

Key words:
Kashin-Beck disease ;  Anoxia;  Apoptosis ;  Genes ;  Oligonucleotide array sequence analysis


A commercial preparation of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] lipoxygenase (EC 188.8.131.52), an enzyme that catalyses the formation of fatty acid hydroperoxides, was covalently immobilized on a commercially available carbonyldi-imidazole activated support. The degree of protein loading on to the support and the subsequent activity of immobilized lipoxygenase were found to be independent of the pH at which coupling was performed. Dialysis of lipoxygenase prior to immobilization did not enhance the coupling yield. As protein bound to the support increased, the specific activity of lipoxygenase decreased. The reusability of immobilized lipoxygenase was tested in an aqueous buffer and in an octane/ aqueous buffer medium using linoleic acid as the substrate


In an article published several years ago,1I pointed out the value of injecting oxygen into joints before subjecting them to roentgen-ray examination. I indicated how this method may be employed to advantage in various joints, described a simple technic and reported specific instances wherein this procedure aided in establishing a diagnosis or was the only means that enabled us to recognize and define the pathologic changes. So far, pneumarthrosis has proved of greater and more frequent benefit in the study of the knee than of any other joint. For want of more accurate information, we have been compelled in the past to group many obscure lesions of the knee joint in the category of internal derangements. As our knowledge in differential diagnosis improved, we removed from this class cases of loose internal semilunar cartilage, injury of the crucial ligaments, fracture of the tibial spine, chronic hypertrophic villous synovitis,


BACKGROUND
Although we have insufficient knowledge about the effects of Trendelenburg positions on various hemodynamic parameters, these positions are frequently used to influence cardiac output and blood pressure in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the effect of Trendelenburg and modified Trendelenburg positions on five dependent variables: cardiac output, cardiac index, mean arterial pressure, systemic vascular resistance, and oxygenation in critically ill patients.

METHODS
In this preliminary study subjects were 23 cardiac surgery patients (mean age, 55; SD, 8.09) who had a pulmonary artery catheter for cardiac output determination and who were clinically stable, normovolemic and normotensive. Baseline measurements of the dependent variables were taken in the supine position. Patients were then placed in 10 degrees Trendelenburg or 30 degrees modified Trendelenburg position. The dependent variables were measured after 10 minutes in each position. A 2-period, 2-treatment crossover design with a preliminary baseline measurement was used.

RESULTS
Five subjects were unable to tolerate Trendelenburg position because of nausea or pain in the sternal incision. In the 18 who were able to tolerate both position changes, no statistically significant changes were found in the five dependent variables. Changes in systemic vascular resistance over time approached statistical significance and warrant further study.

CONCLUSIONS
This preliminary study does not provide support for Trendelenburg positions as a means to influence hemodynamic parameters such as cardiac output and blood pressure in normovolemic and normotensive patients.


One of the main aspects of designing and operation prediction of any power system is to simulate its Electromagnetic Transient's (EMT) performance. Among the available power line models, Universal Line Model (ULM) is an efficient and accurate model for this purpose. There are random system parameters which affect the quantities of EMT output qualities. This paper presents a novel global sensitivity and uncertainty analysis techniques to determine the effect of these uncertain factors on the variation of the EMT outputs.


You'll assist and empower people to overcome limitations in their daily lives and occupations. Our program has special focus on occupational therapy in rural and remote settings and being equipped to handle the unique challenges of these areas.


We shall introduce the approximate representability and the Rohlin property for coactions of a finite dimensional $C^*$-Hopf algebra on a unital $C^*$-algebra and discuss some basic properties of approximately representable coactions and coactions with the Rohlin property of a finite dimensional $C^*$-Hopf algebra on a unital $C^*$-algebra. Also, we shall give an example of an approximately representable coaction of a finite dimensional $C^*$-Hopf algebra on a simple unital $C^*$-algebra which has also the Rohlin property and we shall give the 1-cohomology vanishing theorem for coactions of a finite dimensional $C^*$-Hopf algebra on a unital $C^*$-algebra and the 2-cohomology vanishing theorem for twisted coactions of a finite dimensional $C^*$-Hopf algebra on a unital $C^*$-algebra. Furthermore, we shall introduce the notion of the approximately unitary equivalence of coactions of a finite dimensional $C^*$-Hopf algebra $H$ on a unital $C^*$-algebra $A$ and show that if $\rho$ and $\sigma$, coactions of $H$ on a separable unital $C^*$-algebra $A$, which have the Rohlin property, are approximately unitarily equivalent, then there is an approximately inner automorphism $\alpha$ on $A$ such that $\sigma=(\alpha\otimes\id)\circ\rho\circ\alpha^{-1}$.


Objective To study the analgesic effects of melatonin(MT) and its joint administration with pethidine(PD).Methods Totally 60 Kunming mice were randomly divided into six groups: control group,MT1(40 mg/kg) group,MT2(80 mg/kg) group,MT3(160 mg/kg) group,PD(40 mg/kg) group and the combined injection(MT 80 mg/kg,PD 40 mg/kg) group,with 15 in each group.Half an hour after intraperitoneal injection of 1.2 mL drug was given to each mouse,the pain threshold of the hind feet was determined by Von Frey dolorimeter.Then all the groups except MT1 group were given the medication for five consecutive days.Meanwhile pain was measured and the tolerance of the drugs' analgesic effect was observed each day.After another day's injection,naloxone was injected immediately and withdrawal reactions were observed.The times of defecation were recorded daily to observe the effect of the drugs on the gastrointestinal tract.Results MT had a significant analgesic effect in a dose-dependent manner.The analgesic effect of MT(80 mg/kg) and PD(40 mg/kg) was not significantly different(P0.0087),but the joint use of MT and PD obviously increased the analgesic effect.Tolerance presented in MT groups and PD group,but was lower in MT groups(P0.05).A significant withdrawal reaction occurred in PD group(P0.05),but not in MT groups,the combined injection group or control group(P0.05).The times of defecation were significantly higher in PD group than in the control group(P0.05) and were almost the same in the other groups.Conclusion MT has an obvious analgesic effect and a synergic effect with PD.It produces certain tolerance but no dependence,and can reverse the physical dependence and gastrointestinal side effects of PD.Our study has provided animal experiment evidence for research on development of MT as an analgesic.


Affect bursts, which are nonverbal expressions of emotions in conversations, play a critical role in analyzing affective states. Although there exist a number of methods on affect burst detection and recognition using only audio information, little effort has been spent for combining cues in a multi-modal setup. We suggest that facial gestures constitute a key component to characterize affect bursts, and hence have potential for more robust affect burst detection and recognition. We take a data-driven approach to characterize affect bursts using Hidden Markov Models (HMM), and employ a multimodal decision fusion scheme that combines cues from audio and facial gestures for classification of affect bursts. We demonstrate the contribution of facial gestures to affect burst recognition by conducting experiments on an audiovisual database which comprise speech and facial motion data belonging to various dyadic conversations.


Internet and communication technologies have lowered the costs for communities to collaborate, leading to new services and collectively built infrastructures like community networks. Community networks get formed when individuals and local organisations from a geographic area team up to create and run a community-owned IP network to satisfy the community's demand for ICT, such as facilitating Internet access and providing services of local interest. To address the limitation and enhance utility of community networks, we deploy collaborative clouds in community networks that allow interesting applications to be developed for serving local needs of communities. Such collaborative clouds employ resources contributed by the members of the community network for provisioning infrastructure and software services, and adapt to the specific social, economic and technical characteristics of the community networks. We need to support mechanisms that provide assistance in cloud service selection while taking into account different aspects pertaining to associated risks in community clouds, quality concerns of the users and cost limitations specifically in multi-clouds ecosystems. This paper proposes a risk-cost-quality based decision support system to assist the community cloud users to select the most appropriate cloud services meeting their needs. The proposed framework not only increases the ease of adoption of community clouds by providing assistance to users in cloud service selection, but also provides insights into the improvement of community clouds based on user behaviour.


Magnetism in $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-NdIr${}_{2}$Si${}_{2}$ single crystals has been probed through specific-heat, magnetization, magnetic susceptibility, and electrical resistivity measurements as a function of temperature, under an applied magnetic field, and for the magnetization curves under high hydrostatic pressures. Neutron diffraction experiments performed with powder and single-crystal samples were focused on microscopic aspects. Two collinear (Nd moments along the $c$ axis) antiferromagnetic phases are found at low temperatures: a longitudinal sine-modulated structure with the magnetic propagation vector k $=$ (0 0 5/6) at temperatures 18.2(2) K $lTl$ 32.3(3) K ($+{T}_{N}$) and a simple AF1-type structure; k $=$ (0 0 1/2) for $Tl$ 18.2(2) K ($+{T}_{t}$). Both of the magnetically ordered phases can be destabilized by applying a strong magnetic field along the $c$ axis. The character of the unusual magnetic-field-induced phases is discussed, and the complex magnetic phase diagram is constructed. Applied hydrostatic pressure yields an increase of both ${T}_{N}$ and ${T}_{t}$. The determined physical properties of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-NdIr${}_{2}$Si${}_{2}$ are discussed in the context of behavior of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-PrIr${}_{2}$Si${}_{2}$.


The corrosion failure reasons of furnace tubes in a refinery were analyzed,based on test results of macrographic observation,mechanical test,metallography,SEM and X-ray Spectrum.Improvement measures of material selection,structure design and manufacturing process are also recommended.


The invention relates to an air preheating system of a thermal power generator set, in particular to an air pre-heating system and method performing steam extraction by utilizing a steam turbine. In the system, a primary air preheating subsystem and a secondary air preheating subsystem are coupled with a boiler system and a steam turbine system of the thermal power generator set to form a novel boil feed water preheating system. Primary air is heated by a four-stage air heater and a first-stage drain water cooler to reach primary air rated temperature. Secondary air is heated by a five-stage air heater to reach a secondary air rated temperature. The air preheating system effectively solves the air leakage problem, reduces operation power consumption of a primary fan, a forced draught blower and an induced draft fan and improves the generating efficiency of a coal-fired power plant. In addition, the primary air temperature and the secondary air temperature can be flexibly adjusted by adjusting steam extraction volume of the air heaters and opening degree of a drain water by-pass valve.


Correct, scientifically-substantiated price fixing for collective farm produce is extremely important for furthering the economic relations between town and country and for ensuring the profitability of collective farm production. In the hands of the Soviet state prices are a powerful instrument for exercising planned influence on socialist economic development.


Twitter is a popular means to disseminate information and currently more than 300 million people are using it actively. Software engineers are no exception; Singer et al. have shown that many developers use Twitter to stay current with recent technological trends. At various time points, many users are posting microblogs (i.e., tweets) about the same topic in Twitter. We refer to this reasonably large set of topically-coherent microblogs in the Twitter space made at a particular point in time as an event. In this work, we perform an exploratory study on software engineering related events in Twitter. We collect a large set of Twitter messages over a period of 8 months that are made by 79,768 Twitter users and filter them by five programming language keywords. We then run a state-of-the-art Twitter event detection algorithm borrowed from the Natural Language Processing (NLP) domain. Next, using the open coding procedure, we manually analyze 1,000 events that are identified by the NLP tool, and create eleven categories of events (10 main categories + "others"). We find that external resource sharing, technical discussion, and software product updates are the "hottest" categories. These findings shed light on hot topics in Twitter that are interesting to many people and they provide guidance to future Twitter analytics studies that develop automated solutions to help users find fresh, relevant, and interesting pieces of information from Twitter stream to keep developers up-to-date with recent trends.


A variety of technologies are being used to replace or supplement the face-to-face learning process, including the World Wide Web. We present AulaNet, an environment for creating, updating and attending Web-based courses. We illustrate some dynamics of three experiments of course development and delivery with AulaNet, pointing out their features. We discuss how easy and how difficult it is to orchestrate technology for educational purposes.


Introduction The precise, unambiguous identification of residual impurities and defects in Float Zone (FZ) silicon is an essential prerequisite for their control and reduction, during and after the FZ growth process. To this end, a comprehensive study of defects and defect complexes in a FZ Ultra High Purity single crystal silicon (UHP-Si) ingot has been undertaken. This paper focuses on the identification and annealing behavior of the dominant observed defect, Vacancy-Phosphorous complex (V-P).


Atrst glance, there would appear to be no relationship between Bell's (1988) concept of one-switch utility functions and that of a stronger measure of risk aversion due to Ross (1981). We show however that specic assumptions about the behavior of the stronger measure of risk aversion also give rise to the linex utility function which belongs to the class of one-switch utility functions. In particular, this utility class is the only one that satises a stronger version of Kimball's (1993) standard risk aversion over all levels of wealth. We apply our results to consider nth-degree deteriorations in background risk and their eect on the demand for insurance.


Networked communications accord the voice renewed spatial significance. How does the mobile phone influence the use and design of spaces? The conventions for modulating the voice in face-to-face exchanges are well established. But in the case of mobile communications the voice may be raised to abnormal levels. The raised voice overcomes ambient interference, and spatial distance. The voice is also the quintessential means of issuing a summons, a call, "come here," and hence invoking action at a distance, across space. Rousseau, one of the earliest theorists of communication, links voice and space in this way, as amplified in the case of children brought up in the countryside.


We present a theoretical investigation of the energy transfer efficiency between quantum systems placed in the vicinity of a doped graphene layer using a Green's tensor formalism. The direct interaction, Förster mechanism, between donor and acceptor dipoles dominates when they are close to each other, but is modified from its free-space value due to the presence of the graphene monolayer. In particular, the Förster radius, R0, is modified from its free space value of R0 = 19nm and can reach values of 100nm. As the donor-acceptor distance is increased the direct interaction is overshadowed by the interaction via the propagating graphene plasmon mode. Due to the large propagation length of the surface plasmon mode on graphene, energy transfer efficiencies as high as 50% can still be achieved for distances as large as 300nm. The interaction via the surface plasmon mode of a graphene monolayer can be tuned.


9521 Background: Accurate understanding of prognosis among terminally ill patients and their informal caregivers is necessary for informed medical decision-making. We report on the relationship between physician prognostic discussions and prognostic accuracy of advanced cancer patients and their caregivers. Methods: Coping with Cancer is an NCI/NIMH-funded prospective, longitudinal study of advanced cancer patients and their informal caregivers. Baseline interviews conducted at seven outpatient oncology centers throughout the United States between September 2002 and August 2008, asked patients and caregivers if they had discussed prognosis with a physician and to estimate the patient's life expectancy. Results: 240 patient-caregiver dyads were identified. Median survival was 3 months. 39% (94/240) of dyads offered a numeric estimate of prognosis; the remainder answered: "I don't know." 12% of patient and 29% of caregiver estimates were accurate (+/- 3 months of survival); 34% of patients and 31% of caregi...


Objective To explore the method of repairing facial pitting defect.Metho ds Abdominal fat was as pirated with10ml common s yring e.The as pirated fat was douched and concentrated repeatedly,and then reinjected into the pitting defects on the face.Res ults The fat g ranule g rafting technique was applieed in12cas es.All cas es were s ucces s ful and all defects were leveled up at one s tag e with no complication.Conclus ion The operating of injection g rafting technique of the fat g ranule is s imple,and need not make incis ion,s o there is no operation s car and les s pain for the patients.The g rafted fat g ranule is les s abs orbed,s o operating res ult is ideal.It is a s imple and ideal method for repairing facial pitting defects.


e19129 Background: Current treatment guidelines advocate the use of first and second line therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but suggest entry into a clinical trial or best supportive care beyond this. We sought to examine whether such recommendations remain valid with the availability of modern chemotherapeutics agents Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on patients with stage IV NSCLC who received systemic treatment at UAB from 2002 to 2012. The details of systemic therapy and overall survival were recorded for each patient. We excluded patients originally treated with adjuvant treatment who did not receive systemic treatment upon recurrence and those receiving first line treatment on a clinical trial and no further therapy. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and SAS software and calculated using log-rank testing. Results: 409 cases of NSCLC were included in this analysis. 239 (58.4%) patients received second line chemotherapy, 102 (24.9%) received third ...


Ceramic-metal composites such as WC-Co are attractive for cutting-tool applications as they have high hardness, chemical inertness and resistance to heat. The properties and performance of these composites can be enhanced by keeping the size of the components on a manometer scale. Synthesis of WC-Co nanocomposites generally involves gas-phase carburization. The authors have developed a novel approach in which a polymer precursor such as polyacrylonitrile serves as an in situ source for carbon. The WC-Co nanocomposites formed are characterized by x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The synthesis and processing conditions such as firing temperature, time and atmosphere play a critical role in obtaining phase-pure products.


This article is part of a post-doctoral project that developed at the University of Lisbon, with financial support from the CNPq, with the aim of understanding the process of organizing education in Brazil and Portugal, as well as analyze the actions taken by the respective States and the Catholic Church, in addition to political and ideological intentions of these instances of promoting education. As a result there is the redefinition of strategies in public and religious authorities in  the period of struggle for re in the two countries, there is a plurality of Catholics in the assumption of ideological and partisan preferences in a competitive election.


Тhe article is dedicated to legal principles of using civil arbitration decrees information in economic crimes criminal trial proving. The increasing role of private branches of law in regulation of social relations makes civil trial information most essential. Previous crimetrial acts were requised to consides such information as prejuditional, that is already enacted without any checking. In spite of this modern criminal law legislature has refused inter-branch prejudiciary.


Extended Abstract How can students leverage the historical learning reflection data collected from former students in design, build, and test courses to tutor themselves in their own learning through reflection on doing? University of Oklahoma (OU) offers a course named AME4163: Principles of Engineering Design. In the course, students learn by reflecting on doing in an immersive authentic environment[1]. After taking the course, the students need to write learning statements. A learning statement is a structured [Experience|Learning|Value] text-based construct for students in AME4163 Principles of Engineering Design to record what they learned by reflecting on authentic immersive experiences throughout the semester. The immersive experiences include lectures, assignments, reviews, building, testing and a post-analysis for design of an electro-mechanical system to address a given customer need. Over the past four years. at the University of Oklahoma, we have collected almost 32,000 learning statements from about 600 students. In this paper, we look at the data from the students' perspective and focus on demonstrating how students can utilize the former students' learning statements as a knowledge base to tutor themselves in their own learning through reflection on doing. We developed a self-tutoring system that allows students to compare their own learning statements to that of the former students in three ways, namely, Experience, Learning, and Value. The core of the self-tutoring system is a semantics-based similarity metric that enables the automatic searching of historical learning statements with similar experience, learning, or value at the semantic level. To show how our self-tutoring system can benefit students, we use a subset of the learning statement database to build the self-tutoring system and input learning statements which are not in the subset. The results prove that students can learn from the self-tutoring system in different ways. When students entering a learning statement, they can get learning statements with similar


Objective:To investigate the expressions of CD133 in human esophageal carcinoma (EC) and analyse their clinical significance. Methods:The expression of CD133 was detected in 90 EC specimens with immunohistochemical staining. Results:CD133 was correlated to infiltrative depth,clinical stage,and lymphatic invasion (P0.05).The 5-year survival rate of the patients with CD133 expression was lower than that of the patients with negative expression (P0.05).There was no evidence indicating which was relative with differentiation degrees(P0.05). Conclusion:CD133 could play significant roles in the generation and evolution of esophageal carcinoma and might be used as useful indicators for clinical assessment of tumor biological behavior and prognosis in patients with esophageal carcinoma.


ABSTRACT This piece provides a reflection on the changing political context for planning ideas and practices over the past thirty years. This period has seen the rise and now serious questioning of a neo-liberal pre-occupation with economic growth which gave little space for shaping futures through a focus on place qualities and co-ordinating the spatial dimensions of action, the core of the spatial planning project. Current concerns with promoting inclusive social well-being, reducing adverse impacts on global climate and the environment, and reviving democratic practices create new opportunities for planning understood as strategic guidance for shaping collective futures. Such a project involves not just expertise as developed in the planning field, but needs to draw on many other knowledge fields. And since many futures may evolve from present instabilities and uncertainties, it needs to adopt an active voice in promoting collective attention to spatial co-ordination and place qualities in ways which advance the values of environmental sustainability, inclusive social well-being and richly democratic modes of policy-making.


The Multi-mode Teaching based on project and case driven is established on the basis of constructivism theory. This paper discusses the teaching modes for Java programming course. Moreover, it elaborates the teaching philosophy, practical applications and the necessary attentions of the new teaching method. This teaching stimulates students' interest, increases the perceptual knowledge and improves students' analysis, summary and application ability.


Memorandum presenting an altitude investigation to determine the basic mechanism by which J65-W-4 turbine rotor-blade failures were occurring in service. The engine was installed in an altitude test chamber and a series of controlled engine throttle bursts, with and without inlet-air distortion, over a range of altitudes, flight Mach numbers, and inlet-air temperatures. An examination of the data obtained during the investigation indicated that the danger of turbine failure could be eliminated without any appreciable sacrifice in engine acceleration time.


This large hospital was built in a notably short time, and all the construction stages were completed in accord with a precise time schedule.
The hospital overcomes in a highly effective manner the urgent need for many medical facilities which were lacking in the Valencia province. The planning of this medical centre incorporates the experience gained in designing similar centres in other parts of the country: it includes every type of technical advance, involving materials and installations, which, year by year, are being rapidly improved and developed. In the initial design requirements, much emphasis has been given to three basic premisses: functionality, research and training facilities.
The full program for the hospital, which includes 1,100 beds, comprises seven well differentiated zones: the general hospital; rehabilitation centre; maternity hospital; children's hospital; nurses school; central laboratories for research and experimental surgery; and general services (heating plant, washing department, incineration, mortuory, etc.).
The standard hospital room has been most carefully planned, aiming to achieve maximum adaptability, minimum cost, most comfort, optimum circulation facility for the nurses, and least intermixing of various types of patients. The rooms to be attended by the same nucleus of general services have been rationally grouped together.
Three subsequent issues of «INFORMES DE LA CONSTRUCCION» will describe in considerable detail this important project, which exemplifies the huge effort by the Spanish Health Service to reach the forefront of the world in state hospital facilities.


For future broadband-ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is designed not only to support a wide range of traffic classes with diverse flow characteristics (e.g., burstiness, bit rate and burst length), but to guarantee the different quality of service (QOS) requirements as well. The QOS may be measured in terms of cell loss probability and maximum cell delay. The authors consider the ATM network in which the virtual path (VP) concept is implemented. By applying the Markov modulated deterministic process method, they develop an efficient algorithm to compute the minimum capacity required to satisfy all the QOS requirements when multiple classes of on-off sources are multiplexed onto a single VP. Using the result, they then propose a simple algorithm to determine the VP combination to achieve the near optimum of the total capacity required for satisfying the individual QOS requirements. Numerical results are also presented to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm when compared to the optimal total capacity required.<<ETX>>


Accurately recording the social and mating behavior of wild animals is necessary to test hypotheses regarding the evolution of monogamous behavior but documenting the behavior of most wild animals is challenging. Social network analyses can use patterns of spatial and temporal co-occurrence to describe the social associations of individuals within a population, such as which opposite-sex individuals are found together more frequently than others as an indicator of their degree of social monogamy. Social networks generated using automated radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking systems may provide insights into the social behavior of secretive animals because they enable the automated and continuous tracking of the social associations among individuals, which can address many of the limitations with studying these kinds of species. We assessed the potential for social networks generated using an automated RFID tracking system to describe the social behavior of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) in semi-natural enclosures. Our aim was to assess whether social networks generated using the RFID system provided meaningful insights into the social behavior of voles by comparing this method to other methods that have been traditionally used in laboratory (partner preference tests) or field (degree of home range overlap) studies to study social monogamy in prairie voles. In partner preference tests conducted in the field, females spent more time with males with which they had stronger social network associations. Voles that had stronger social network associations also had home ranges that overlapped considerably more than dyads with lower social network associations. In addition, social networks generated from live-trapping and RFID data were comparable but social networks generated using data from our RFID system recorded almost twice as many social associations overall. Our results show that social association metrics derived from social networks generated using the RFID tracking system reflect other commonly used measures of social monogamy in prairie voles. Overall, this suggests that patterns of spatial and temporal co-occurrence are meaningful measures of social monogamy in wild animals.


The article argues that the theoretical framework presented by the Copenhagen School is currently unsuited to empirical studies outside the West owing to two factors. First, the presence of the 'Westphalian straitjacket' has prevented explicit interrogation of the normative concepts underlying the framework: there is a presumption that European understandings of society and the state are universal. Second, the centrality of the speech-act for securitization to the exclusion of other forms of expression, such as physical action, results in the theoretical framework producing a Westernized description of a given situation. The extent to which these factors limit the utility of the concepts of securitization and societal security in a non-Western setting is illustrated through the case of the overthrow of the government in Kyrgyzstan in March 2005. This example forms an empirical critique to highlight how theoretical shortcomings result in a simplified and Westernized description of the situation that does not take into account the specific local socio-political context. The article concludes that if the Copenhagen School's theoretical framework is to be considered suitable for universal application, future theoretical developments must explicitly address the issues discussed to enable progress in escaping International Relations' Westphalian straitjacket.


. This study presents a research model that combines rational action, represented by perceived usefulness, subjective norm, continuance intention and empirical response to shape external auditor's continuance behavior using a particular technology. By collecting primary data through surveys on continuance behavior using information technology at independent auditing firms, we have demonstrated that this relationship is cross-functional, complementary and inter-dependent. Hence, this article implies that future studies need to examine the difference when approaching the theory of behavior using information technology in the first and subsequent time on many aspects, including: objective and subjective reasons of the individual and facilitating conditions of the organization.


The effects of billet temperature on the maximum punch load,microstructure and mechanical properties of the extrusion of AZ31 cast magnesium alloy were investigated.It is found that with the temperature decreasing,the microstructure of extruded sheets is more homogeneous and the grains become smaller.The grain refinement does little effect on the strength of the material but significantly affects the elongation.When the billet temperature is kept constant at room temperature,the elongation of the billets is up to 23%.The mechanical properties at extrusion direction(ED) and transverse direction(TD) were also investigated.The differences of the properties between ED and TD are not obvious.


After the first extensive internal use of naturally radioactive compounds in man by Proescher and others, 1 , 5 Seil, et al., 6 estimated that from 40% to 60% was lost from the body, chiefly through the feces. A progressive diminution in the rate of excretion was indicated by Schlundt and his group, 7 who found that patients retained 4.3% 6 months after administration and 1.9% 6 months later. Sehlundt and Failla 8 found 24 μgm. and 14 μgm. respectively in 2 women 12 years after oral ingestion of radium, with respective coefficients of excretion of .005% and .0025%. Prolonged retention has been reported in many cases of industrial radium poisoning. 9 , 10 Following the announcement by Curie and Joliot 11 of the preparation of an artificial radioactive isotope of nitrogen in 1934, Lawrence and his co-workers 12 produced relatively large amounts of radioactive isotopes of many elements using their magnetic resonance accelerator. Radio-sodium became available for clinical study at the University of California Hospital in the Spring of 1936. It was felt that many of the disadvantages of internal radium therapy could be avoided by the use of radio-sodium, since this latter substance does not tend to become fixed in the body tissues and the duration of its effect is limited by its short half-life of only 14.8 hours. Initial investigations were made of the clinical effect and the rate of excretion of the radio-sodium following its intravenous administration to 2 human leukemic subjects.∗ An approximately isotonic solution of sodium chloride was used in each experiment. Each sample was measured with an electroscope just prior to administration and periodic determinations of the degree of activity of the patient's body was carried out. At the same time all the stool and urine samples were collected and their activities measured. The activity of 100 cc. of blood from the second patient was determined. The first patient received 13 mc.e. (milli-Curie equivalents) of radio-sodium and in Fig. 1 are shown the measured and theoretical decay curves in the upper portion of the chart. The theoretical values were computed from the first measurement of the patient's activity.


Facing the era of knowledge economy,we must develop our concept of higher education,and only the new breakthrough in the concept can promote the reform in higher education.This article believes that 10 new concepts in higher education should be established as soon as possible.They are:(1) nationwide value of high education,(2) quality education of higher education,(3) comprehensive knowledge education,(4) concept of noted colleges and noted teachers,(5) concept of a strategically industrialized higher education,(6) combination of industy,(7) concept of popularized higher education,(8) pluralistic concept of higher education,(9) internationalized higher education,(10) sustainable development of higher education.


In this second text, the author examines the state of affairs in 2010, fifty years after decolonization. He responds to the throbbing questions that he poses with an uncompromising observation. For him, there are five portentous trends. The first is the absence of a reflection on democracy that could provide a real alternative to the predatory model that is present almost everywhere. The second is the pushing back of the perspective of radical social revolution on the continent. The third is the growing senility of Black leaders. The fourth is the paralysis of whole sections of society and the irrepressible desire of millions of people to live anywhere other than where they live now—the generalized desire to defect and desert. A final dynamic joins them: The emergence of a culture of extorsion, of bloody riots and no future.


Corresponding author: email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com Revision 2 1 Equation of State and Hyperfine Parameters of High-Spin 2 Bridgmanite 3 4 Zhu Mao1*, Fan Wang1, Jung-Fu Lin2,3*, Suyu Fu1,2, Jing Yang2, Xiang Wu4, Takuo 5 Okuchi5, Naotaka Tomioka6, Vitali B. Prakapenka7, Yuming Xiao8, Paul Chow8 6 7 1Laboratory 8 Planetary Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 9 230026, China 10 2Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University 11 of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA 12 3Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), 13 Shanghai 130012, China 14 4State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China 15 University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China 16


Excerpt First, may I express my thanks for the honor you have done me in asking me to give your Harvard Lecture. For subject I have chosen certain aspects of the fundamental question, "What makes u...


Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. Corporate Raves, Weeklies, Underground Parties, and More: Defining the Rave- Club Culture Continuum 3. Loyalists, Spillovers, and Other Party People: Personal and Collective Identities in the Post-rave Era 4. From 1990s Massives to Raves' Death?: Forces of Cultural Change 5. "Players and Their Tracks": Types of Cultural Work in the EDM Scene 6. EDM as a Vibrant Global Scene 7. Twenty- First- Century Scenes, Sounds, and Selves Appendix: Methods Notes References Index


IN BRIEF
People with diabetes are at high risk from coronary artery disease (CAD), tend to present late, and have silent ischemia. Early detection and intervention may improve survival. How to identify these patients is the topic of this review, which will discuss cardiac stress testing in diabetic patients with and without known CAD. The authors discuss who should be tested and review the modalities available for detection of CAD and for risk stratification.


We studied a typical failure model of a Mooney-Rivlin–type silicone energy harvester, illustrated the allowable area under equal-biaxial and unequal-biaxial conditions, calculated the energy generated in one cycle of an energy harvester, designed a new harvester, and conducted its primary tests. When the ratio between principal planar stretches p=1 (λ2=pλ1) and the material constant ratio k=0.1 (C2=kC1), the energy density generated by the harvester is 6.81 J/g. We think that these results can be used to facilitate the design and manufacture of dielectric elastomer energy harvesters.


Background The assessment of disease activity of Takayasu arteritis (TA) is difficult if symptoms and serum inflammatory marker were not detected. Even in those conditions, relapses were frequently observed during the dose reduction of corticosteroid and immunosuppressant. There is accumulating evidence that 18F-fluolodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and PET/ computed tomography (PET/CT) is useful for monitoring patients with TA when TA was clinically active. However, it is not clear the significance of FDG accumulations when TA was inactive. Objectives To investigate a quantitative predictor in FDG-PET or PET/CT scans for the relapse of TA. Methods We retrospectively investigated 76 FDG-PET or PET/CT scans and extracted 37 scans which were performed in inactive status. These scans were divided in two groups according to relapse of TA for 5years. The relapse was defined the increase of CRP and steroid dose or addition of immunosuppressant. FDG accumulations in aortic wall lesions of TA was evaluated by semi-quantitative index; the standardized uptake value (SUV). In addition to SUVmax in the aortic wall, we also calculated SUV ratio of maximum aortic wall uptake to mean lung uptake (ratio Lu), SUV ratio of maximum aortic wall uptake to mean liver uptake (ratio Li), and SUV ratio of maximum aortic wall uptake to mean aortic blood pool uptake (ratio BP). We compared groups using these parameters. We also determined the cutoff levels, sensitivity, and specificity of 4 sets of SUVs (SUVmax, ratio Lu, ratio Li, and ratio BP) for the prediction of relapse using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Moreover, Kaplan-Mayer analysis for the long-term relapse-free survival was performed to assess the reliability of these cutoff levels. ResultsTable 1. Characteristics of two groups Relapse (−) (+) # 17 20 Age (yr) 47 [30–72] 28.5 [14–68] CRP (mg/dl) 0.13±0.03 0.13±0.03 Steroid dose (mg/d equivalent to prednisolone) 15.6±2.4 17.7±3.6 Immunosuppressant 2/17 7/35 Duration until relapse (Days) 702.5 [4–1769] In 37 total PET and PET/CT scan examinations, non-relapse and relapse groups included 17 and 20 scans, respectively. Relapse group had more immunosuppressant users than non-relapse group. Although CRP level and SUVmax were equivalent, ratio of SUV, especially ratio BP of relapse group was higher than that of non-relapse group (p=0.09) (Figure top panel). The cut-off level of these parameters was calculated as follows; SUVmax 1.4, ratio Lu 5.31, ratio Li 1.01, and ratio BP 1.41, respectively. Using these cut-off level, relapse rates of below and over cut-off level were as follows; SUVmax 50% vs 54%, ratio Lu 43% vs 62%, ratio Li 43% vs 69%, and ratio BP 31% vs 67%, respectively (Figure middle panel). Using Kaplan-Mayer analysis, relapse rate of these two groups divided by ratio BP was not significantly different (p=0.268) though these two curves looked different (Figure bottom panel).Figure 1 Conclusions Our data suggest that ratio BP at stable condition, which represents relative FDG accumulation of the aortic wall lesions to aortic blood pool, could be a promising predictor to assess the relapse after successful treatment. Disclosure of Interest None declared


In this article, we outline the need for and role of undergraduate human factors education, describe several activities for teaching human factors, and identify the benefits associated with offering the course. The results of a survey of psychology undergraduates (N = 111) revealed that they were unfamiliar with, yet interested in, human factors issues. A human factors course can inform students about the profession, meet their interests, and provide a variety of useful skills. We present 6 successful hands-on activities for teaching about human factors. Students reported that they enjoyed these activities and gained a greater understanding of the principles. Students also noted that the course increased their knowledge about the profession and provided new perspectives for examining systems and applying the principles.


Based on providing protection to the occupants of armoured vehicles a NATO standard is under implementation (STANAG 4569). The aim of this agreement is to standardize protection levels for armoured vehicle occupants to ensure that: a. Commanders in the field can select the right equipment to fulfil a mission under a given threat b. Nations have a planning guide to deploy the appropriate equipment to address theatre specific threat c. Nations can develop and upgrade their equipment to match given threats. The Team of Experts worked on the procedures for evaluating the protection levels are published for KE and Artillery threat, mine threat and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) threat. The protection level is based on a 90% probability of providing protection to the occupants at a given threat. The phases of qualification and the assessment method will be explained. The National Authorities have an important role in the qualification process of a vehicle. The paper will describe the main topics of the Allied Engineering Proposal for KE and Artillery threat (AEP 55, Volume 1), for mine threat (AEP 55, Volume 2) and for IED threat (AEP 55, Volume 3, when officially available) with the focus on occupant safety. The injury criteria and tolerance levels for vehicle blast mine protection are defined within NATO/RTO Human Factors Panel 090 – Task Group 25 and the follow-up HFM 148/RTG.


In this paper, the question whether stress and relaxation have an impact on errors or not is investigated. The material is taken from a prevoius study which explored whether stress and relaxation a ...


Among the syndrome of many dangerous diseases in the human digestive tract ulcer is one of the most common. Diagnosis of small intestine ulcers cannot be detected by using other procedures of endoscopy. For visualizing these ulcers, wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) technique is excessively being used. In WCE system a huge amount of images are achieved which is very much difficult and time erosive for physicians to check manually. So, for helping the physicians it is very much needed to provide an automated computer-aided system. In this paper, an automated computer-aided diagnosis system is mentioned for detecting ulcer from WCE images achieved from the capsule endoscopy video footage. In the first stage, we convert the source image into LAB color spaces for taking features. Then quadratic support vector machine (Q-SVM) classifier has been applied for separating the ulcer and non-ulcer images. Our achieved experiment results 90.39% accuracy and 99.00% sensitivity, validating the effectiveness of the proposed method. Therefore, results of the advanced methodology are given and statistical comparisons are also given related to the other works.


Fabric is an important material, which is applied in the entire process of textile manufacturing, such as spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, and finishing, and garments manufacturing. As defects on the surface of the fabric are inevitable in the process of fabric production, the defect detection of fabric is significant for fabric manufacture. The current CNN-based defect detection methods face several challenges when tackling the fabric defect with a tiny shape, the low grayscale difference with background, and ambiguous defect type. To deal with the problem, we proposed a novel fabric defect detection network – AMTFNet based on the attention mechanism and multi-task fusion module in this paper. On one hand, the attention mechanism module forced networks to pay attention to defects. On the other hand, the multi-task fusion module helps AMTFNet to further improve the classification effect using feature concatenated. The experimental result indicates that the precision-score, recall-score, and F1-score of AMTFNet reach 0.980, 0.994, and 0.987, respectively. The proposed method can be successfully applied in the detection of industrial fabric material.


The salt titration of goethite((?)-FeOOH)aqueous suspension had been carried out with the addition of solid NaCl at several different star- ting pH values and the point of zero charge(pzc)was estimated.Then the electrophoretic mobilities of positively charged (?)FeOOH particles dispersed in NaCl solution were measured as a function of pH to obtain the isoelec- tric point(iep).The two parameters were compared.


The invention discloses a method and a device for storing a mirror image document. The method comprises the steps of: acquiring an order mirror image document set corresponding to the current cloud application environment; and storing each mirror image document in a cloud storage space, a sharing storage space or a local storage space in sequence according to the document attribute of each mirror image document in the order mirror image document set. According to the method and the device provided by the invention, the mirror image documents are stored in the cloud storage space, the sharing storage space or the local storage space in sequence according to the document attributes of the related mirror image documents in the current cloud application, the mirror image documents which are stored in the sharing storage space or the local storage space can be run directly and do not need to be copied, so that the starting running speed of the mirror image documents in the cloud application is quickened; and the mirror image documents occupy spare resources in the sharing storage space or the local storage space, so that the storage space utilization is also improved.


This annotated' bibliography provides a descriptive te resentatior of selected literature cn black families. It id nti ies some of the research concerns used in studying, .iervicing, and for ulating social policies towards black families in ae United States. Among the subject areas addressed are the 'following; (1) dynamic and functions of the black family; (2) child sccia4ization; (3) black mill s and child welfare services; (4) social welfare service delivery to black families and ccomunities, especially as related to racial composition of the worker/client dyad and treatment techniques, for black clients; and (5) issues in conceptualizing services for black families. The latter issues include research, policy, planning, and education for service providers. References are presented in alphabetical order, by author. Alsc cited inthis work are additionalbibliographies. (Author/AM)


This paper analyzes the status quo of water resources development and utilization in Qiqihar Fulaerji Area and posese the existent problems,reasonable ideas and suggestions for developing water resources.


A parametric study of blade skew for unsteady propeller thrust in the wake of an underwater vehicle (BB2) is presented. Unsteady thrust forces transmit via the propeller shaft and produce undesirable noise and vibration, particularly at frequencies corresponding to multiples of the
 blade number. The effectiveness of blade skew in reducing noise and vibration has been reported in previous studies, though not for underwater vehicles. The amplitudes of the dominant harmonics of the unsteady propeller thrust are determined using a Fourier series. The balanced skew reduces
 the dominant fifth harmonic more significantly than the biased skew at identical total-skew angles. The total-skew angle strongly influences the unsteady propeller thrust magnitude for balanced skew designs, whereas the effect of the maximum forward-skew angle is negligible. Significant fluctuations
 in one-blade loads are observed when the blade passes through the downstream wake of the vehicle's sail and casing. Increasing the blade total-skew reduces the blade load fluctuation when the blade approaches the top dead centre position, but has limited influence on the fluctuations when
 the blade moves away from this position. The nominal wake distribution at the propeller plane is analysed, and the fifth harmonic is identified as having the largest amplitude. This suggests that an increase in the number of blades would reduce the unsteady propeller thrust of the full-scale
 BB2 underwater vehicle.


The authors of this book are veterans of their trade; Anthony Burton has been writing about canals and Derek Pratt has been photographing them for many years. For canal cognoscenti the book contains little that is new, but it does not setout to break new ground and the authors should be congratulated for producing a good, if slightly well trodden, read. This is a book that will appeal to those who may be coming to the subject for the first time. If you are about to set off along one of England's early (late 18th-century) canals, then you could start here. The opening chapters chart the origins and pioneering development of inland waterways. The Exeter Canal, the Duke of Bridgewater, James Brindley, the Grand Trunk (Trent & Mersey Canal), the Cross (Staffs & Worcester, Coventry and Oxford canals) are all here. There is some interesting discussion of the use of local building materials, including a reference to the use of 'bad mortar' in the brickwork of the first Harecastle Tunnel. Then, as now, using lime-based mortar required skill and knowledge. Chapter 5 contains some good descriptions of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, interspersed with discussion of boats and reservoirs (for those who do not realise that canals have to be constantly supplied with water). Derek Pratt's photographs capture some of the BCN's astonishingly rural corners and include a bucolic image of Stourbridge Locks and a 'seaside shot' of Rotten Park Reservoir, taken in the 1995 drought. The book continues in guided tour vein, along the Pennine-crossing Leeds & Liverpool Canal (which cost £1,200,000 to build) before heading away west and south to a cluster of less well-known canals. Chapter 7, entitled 'Loose Ends', describes the Droitwich, the Stroudwater, and the Thames & Severn canals. These are all currently undergoing restoration and are ,part of a huge nation-wide effort to re-open Britain's disused waterways. The Stroudwater and Thames & Severn will eventually form an historic route through the Golden Valley and across the Cotswolds a part of the country not often associated with canals. From the quirky architecture of the Cotswolds canals the book leaps away northwards again to the Chesterfield Canal, which is also being restored and is the subject of much archaeological recording. This activity is revealing much new information about the anatomy of 18th-century canals, especially locks and water control devices. The chapter concludes with a brief excursion along the old Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal), the short Huddersfield Broad Canal and the Erewash and Cromford Canals. A short gazetteer lists the more interesting sites covered in the book, but there is no map accompanying it, which would have been useful. And although the photographs throughout the book are often atmospheric, a number of them, including several colour photographs, are old and quite a few are blurred. This spoils an enthusiastically written book that is just the thing for the uninitiated to take on their first canal holiday.


The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science and Technology Decontamination and Decommissioning (DD and is now currently undergoing active environmental restoration, including removal of major process facilities. As observed during the D&D of Fernald's Plant 1, the baseline method for removing piping required laborers to work above the floor on ladders, scaffolding, ardor man-lifts with hand-held power tools. The pipe must first be rigged to prevent falling when cut. After cutting, the pipe is manually lowered to the ground and placed in a storage/disposal container. The Mobile Work Platform (MWP) consists of a mobile chassis, telescoping arm and a dual crimper/shear ''end-effecter''. It has the capability to grab and hold a pipe, crimp and shear the pipe (up to a ten-foot section) on either side of where it is being held and then lower and place the pipe section into a storage/disposal container. The MWP can crimp/shear up to a 6-inch diameter, schedule 401, carbon steel pipe. A single operator using a radio remote control operates the MWP. The paper will describe the results (productivity, safety advantages and lessons learned) during the Mobile Work Platform demonstration at Fernald.


The molecular dynamics simulation studies on the microstructure evolution properties of liquid Ca-Mg alloys during the rapid solidifications have been performed. The simulated structure factor S(q) of Ca7Mg3 is well agreed with the experimental data. Results indicate that the glass transition temperatures of CaMg2 and Ca7Mg3 are 590 K and 550 K respectively with the cooling rate of 1×1012 K/s. It also found that icosahedron is much easier to form in CaMg2 system, and Ca-Mg alloys with more Mg content indicate higher glass forming ability.


Scant evidence is available on the discordance between loneliness and social isolation among older adults. We aimed to investigate this discordance and any health implications that it may have.


We analyze the limits that quantum mechanics imposes on the accuracy to which (4+n)-dimensional spacetime geometry can be measured. Using physics of computation and the light sheet concept we derive explicit expressions for quantum fluctuations and explore their cumulative effects for various spacetime foam models.


The sealing performance of aircraft engine pipeline connection was investigated under the tensile load in two aspects.Firstly,the contact force change of the pipeline connection sealing surface was studied to make a mechanical analysis of the sealing performance,by establishing the equivalent rigid model and the force balance equations of the pipeline connection under tensile load.Secondly,the multi-body contact elastic model of pipeline connection was established and the numerical simulation was made by finite element method(FEM) under the pre-tightening force and tensile load,whilst the contacts with initial penetration were established to realize the implementation of preload.On the basis of the simulation results,this paper made a detailed quantitative analysis of pipeline connection's sealing performance,through investigation of contact forces,contact area and contact stress on the sealing surface.


The electrolyte of macromolecule nanometer polymer used in lead acid storage battery and its preparation method were related in this invention. It relates the area of lead acid storage battery. According the weight ratio, the electrolyte is mainly made up of the raw materials as following: ligand agent 0.1-1.5%, complexing agent 2.5-4%, catalytic agent 0.01-0.5%, stabilizing agent 2.3-3.8%, conditioning agent 0.1- 0.5%, antifoam agent 0.01-0.5%, sulfuric acid 36-45%, the others is water. It is characterized in that the content of silicon dioxide is low, the dosage is little and the cost is also low. And in that a steady colloid can be formed in the electrolyte which can elongate the gelatum time. Used in the minitype encapsulation lead acid storage battery, the capacity can increase greatly, the operational life can be elongated and the low temperature resistance can also be enhanced. The gel in the electrolyte can avoid the overflow of acid liquor. Otherwise, the electrolyte also has the merits of little inherent resistance, high capacity, longevity and good thixotropy and so on.


The biological membrane is a multiphasic, polyionic, regionally differentiated structure, the constituents of which are closely linked to the physiological and metabolic processes of the entire cell. Knowledge of the types of molecules, their orientation, and the relative importance of them for transport processes is still very fragmentary. The information at present available on the composition of the protoplast membrane, the red cell membrane, and the neuronal membrane is brought together and discussed in terms of the possible role in transport processes. A labile phosphate attached to protein or specific phosphatides or shared between them as a lipo-phosphoprotein complex is suggested as the intermediate in the active transport of sodium. The rapid phosphorylation of these constituents by ATP through the activity of membrane ATPase and their subsequent dephosphorylation could lead to rhythmic transitions in the configuration of membrane proteins and control active cation transport.


The developments of generative adversarial networks (GANs) make it possible to fill missing regions in broken images with convincing details. However, many existing approaches fail to keep the inpainted content and structures consistent with their surroundings. In this paper, we propose a GAN-based inpainting model which can restore the semantic damaged images visually reasonable and coherent. In our model, the generative network has an autoencoder frame and the discriminator network is a CNN classifier. Different from the classic autoencoder, we design a novel bottleneck layer in the middle of the autoencoder which is comprised of four dense-net blocks and each block contains vanilla convolution layers and dilated convolution layers. The kernels of dilated convolution are spread out and result in an effective enlargement of the receptive field. Thus the model can capture more widely semantic information to ensure the consistency of inpainted images. Furthermore, the multiplex of different level's features in each dense-net block can help the model understand the whole image better to produce a convincing image. We evaluate our model over the public datasets CelebA and Stanford Cars with random position masks of different ratios. The effectiveness of our model is verified by qualitative and quantitative experiments.


Article is devoted to consideration the main problems of personnel effective management and the reasons braking the enterprises developments. Influence of collective thinking on labor productivity is established. The author is offering the sequence of drawing up and a form of individual balanced scorecard. The author recommended the system of artificial administrative intelligence which helps to raise labor productivity and competitiveness of the Russian companies.


In this paper,the existent problems in teaching of building mechanics for architectural speciality are analyzed,the thinking and practice on teaching reform of building mechanics are introduced.


The convergence properties of LS conjugate gradient method are discussed. It is shown that the LS conjugate gradient method for solving unconstrained optimization can work for a twice continuously differentiable function with a bounded level set using Curry's step size rule. Based on the comparison principle, some general convergence properties of LS conjugate gradient method with other three kinds of step size rules are established.


An actively-controlled resonant-type force generator 20 is adapted to be attached to a structure 21, and includes a mass 23 mounted for movement relative to the structure and a plurality of springs 22, 24 operatively arranged between the mass and the structure. A servoactuator (26) is arranged to controllably excite the mass-spring system. The actual force (Fa) transmitted from the mass to the structure is compared with a commanded force (Fc) to produce a force error signal (Fe). The actuator is caused to produce a velocity as a function of the error signal. The gain of the closed force loop is selected so that the resonance of the mass-spring system has an effective damping ratio ( zeta ) greater than about 0.5, and preferably about 0.7. Thus, the mass-spring system will not be substantially resonantly excited by vibrations of the structure near its resonant frequency ( omega n) The actuator may be in series (figs. 1, 2, 6, 7) or in parallel (fig. 8) with the mass and spring or springs and may be hydraulic (figs. 1, 2, 6, 7) or electromagnetic (fig. 8, 9). The mass may be mounted on a level (fig. 16) and the invention has particular application to helicopters (figs. 13 and 14).


The article examines the role of the avant-gardes in the philosophy of Alain Badiou. In Badiou's book The Century the avant-gardes prove to be a two-fold structure: on the one hand, they combine an artistic procedure with a political procedure, on the other, they are driven by the will to produce a notion of the present. Badiou's philosophy – being oriented towards the contemporary situation, in which a notion of the present is lacking – finds a paradigm in the avant-gardes as a method to produce the new. But any reaffirmation of the avant-garde can only be a reaffirmation of their split character, and an affirmation that is itself split. Thus, in the contemporary situation one needs to distinguish between a regressive continuation of the avant-gardes and a progressive affirmation that repeats their formal act against contemporary neo-classicism.


As technologies such as autonomous driving, AI, and robots develop as the era of the 4th industrial revolution arrives, robot development is accelerating as it has been proven that the introduction of robots in service industries and fields improves productivity. HRI design is an important element that enables smooth communication between humans and robots to create friendly emotions, and is a meaningful research topic for humans and robots to coexist in the future society. To this end, in this paper, we propose the design of human-robot interaction (HRI) with objectivity through user analysis. For this study, the user perception was accurately investigated by comparing two robots that have a common category in the autonomous driving patrol robot field and have different interaction ranges such as appearance, color, and display, which are visual elements. As a result of the survey, the three keywords derived for the recognition of autonomous driving crime prevention robots were cute, soft, and friendly. We set the emotional expression HRI design direction focusing on three keywords, and proposed 16 kinds of emotional expression expression designs according to use cases. In addition, various interactions will be designed for smoother communication through follow-up research, and a usability test will be conducted.


Samples of palladium decomposed onto TiO[sub 2] particles were prepared by two methods: the dispersion of a PdCl[sub 2] solution followed by thermal decomposition, and the photodecomposition of PdCl[sub 2]. The addition of palladium to all samples increased their photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of 1,4-dichlorobenzene. This increase was optimized and compared for these two preparative methods. Palladium was also decomposed onto TiO[sub 2] thin films by the photodecomposition of PdCl[sub 2]. The addition of palladium to the films increased their photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of salicylic acid. 35 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs.


Detailed analysis of the trapped-flux memory cell 1 and other superconducting film devices will depend on a complete description of the magnetic field configurations under given operating conditions. This note describes a sensitive, high-resolution apparatus which uses a conical vapor-deposited probe for plotting the magnetic field distributions of superconducting films. The use of highresolution bismuth-wire probes has been reported by Meshkovsky and Shalnikov.


The ubiquity of the influence of the internet community has its special reasons.The internet community positively affects social politics,economic management and culture;it negatively affects social institutions,social stability,culture and people's daily life.The regulation of the double edges of the internet community is conducive to its development and its more active role in society.


OBJECTIVE
This in vivo (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study examined levels of glutamate, glutamine, and N-acetylaspartate in patients experiencing their first episode of schizophrenia.

METHOD
Localized in vivo (1)H spectra were acquired at 4.0 T from the left anterior cingulate and thalamus of 21 never-treated patients with schizophrenia and 21 comparable healthy volunteers.

RESULTS
The level of glutamine was significantly higher in the left anterior cingulate cortex and thalamus of the patients with schizophrenia than in the healthy subjects. No differences were found between groups in the levels of other metabolites in the anterior cingulate or thalamus.

CONCLUSIONS
Higher than normal glutamine levels in the left anterior cingulate and thalamus provide in vivo evidence of greater than normal glutamatergic activity proposed by glutamatergic models of schizophrenia. In contrast to other studies in chronically ill patients, no differences were seen in the levels of N-acetylaspartate in either location, suggesting that the findings in patients with chronic schizophrenia may be related to the effect of medication or the progression of the illness.


This research has shown that financial flexibility is a crucial aspect for the functioning of the emission trading system. However, economic interdependence has to be embedded in a regime network of agreed values in order to avoid malfunction. Incentives for technological innovation are essential for future development, yet these can only be sustained within the system of auctioning. With respect to the Clean Development Mechanism we can see that it implies more hazards for abuse than the emission trading system and the Joint Implementation System leaves out essential factors of sustainability. Therefore, emission trading enhances cooperation best as long as a system of checks and balances is integrated. Linkage plays an essential role in intertwining these mechanisms and motivating emitting countries to invest in cleaner production. On the path to these developments the growth of scientific knowledge has played a pivotal role. Despite the withdrawal of the largest emitters, the Kyoto Protocol can still be seen as a functioning system because it inherits a social learning process, inspires the creation of new pathways and provides sufficient flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the 21st century. With regard to the issue of historic responsibility and how the process of adaptation and mitigation has to be handled, joints efforts of the global North and South have to be taken. The common but differentiated responsibilities are significant for finding collaborative strategies and mutual beneficial results.


Distributed photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems are being rapidly deployed worldwide, causing technical problems such as reverse power flows, voltage rise and abnormal operation of voltage control devices in distribution feeders, and real and reactive power transients that affect the operation of the bulk transmission system. To fully understand and address these problems, extensive computer simulation studies are required. As a prerequisite, modeling of PV generation with satisfactory spatial and temporal resolution plays a key role. To this end, this dissertation sets forth a fractal-based cloud shadow and irradiance model that can be used to recreate the power generation of rooftop PV systems embedded in a distribution feeder, or that of a utility-scale PV power plant, during days with low-altitude cumulus clouds. Because of its clearly defined edge and the deep shadow it creates, the cumulus cloud is considered as the cloud type that contributes the most to fluctuations of power output from distributed PV systems, which is a primary concern of system engineers. Realistically shaped cumulus cloud shadows are modeled as fractals. Technical details of the model development, validation and tuning are presented. A case study that focuses on impacts to Load Tap Changer actions demonstrates the potential of the developed model in power system analysis with high penetration of photovoltaics.


(cid:151)In a simple clausal logical structure, a set of clauses determines models, each of which is a subset of some predetermined set G and represents a possible state of a world. A multiple-world clausal logical structure is an extension of a simple clausal logical structure, wherein multiple worlds are considered simultaneously. Each world model may be related not only to its corresponding set of clauses, but also to other world models. We de(cid:2)ne a method for multiple-world extension of a clausal logical structure. By applying this extension, we propose a new multiple-world clausal logical structure for S-expression atoms with de(cid:2)nitions of several concrete constraints, which together provide rich expressive power including function variables and concepts such as argmax and negation.


Review(s) of: Honours and awards of the army, by Maj Gen Gordon Maitland, Playbill, 2014, ISBN 9780 992515409, 258 pages includes index and 40 pages of colour photographs. $31.99.


Abstract Objective: Examine whether dichorionic (DC) and monochorionic (MC) twins exhibit different rates and severity of preeclampsia. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 695 twin pregnancies from 2002 to 2007. DC pregnancies were compared to MC pregnancies, with the primary outcome of interest being development of preeclampsia, and the secondary outcome being severity of preeclampsia. Chi square test compared proportions and multivariable analyses controlled for potential confounders. Results: Any preeclampsia developed in 21.1% (104/492) of DC and 10.8% (22/203) of MC pregnancies (p = 0.001), mild preeclampsia in 13.8% (68/492) of DC and 4.9% (10/203) of MC pregnancies (p = 0.001) and severe preeclampsia in 7.3% (36/492) of DC and 5.9% (12/203) of MC pregnancies (p = 0.506). DC pregnancies showed higher odds of mild preeclampsia compared to MC pregnancies (aOR 5.85, 95% CI 1.31–26.13) after controlling for several potential confounders including gestational age at delivery. Conclusions: A statistically significant larger proportion of women with DC twins developed any preeclampsia, and specifically mild preeclampsia, compared to those with MC twins. Additionally, after controlling for several potential confounders, women with DC pregnancies demonstrated higher odds of developing mild preeclampsia compared to those with MC pregnancies. Mechanisms of preeclampsia development may differ by twin chorionicity.


Dumki is an Upazila of Patuakahli District of Bangladesh, is more vulnerable to climate change. It is being affected almost every year by natural disasters like cyclones, floods and storm surges due to climate change. The aims of the study are to find out the community perception and experience in climate change adaptation related to water and environment, local adaptation techniques of the defined study area. To fulfill the aim semi-structure individual interview methodology are used. The key findings of the study are climate change impact on agriculture, fisheries, water, environment, livelihood and copping strategies such as use floating garden, homestead gardening, rearing poultry, crop diversification, raising water pump, pond embankment, use cyclone shelter to cope with climate change in the study area. Present study showed that climate change increased in the recent years. The community is affected by water borne disease owing to climate change. Proper action to adaptation should be taken in times so that the local community people ensure their survival.


Phenotypic variation within species provides the raw material acted upon by natural selection and other evolutionary mechanisms. As such, the range and variation of morphology within a species can play an important role in determining the tempo of evolution. The range and variance of aspects of cranidial morphology for nine lower Paleozoic trilobites were measured to identify microevolutionary correlates of macroevolutionary patterns. Comparisons were made among sets of homologous landmarks or upon partial warp vector matrices containing similar proportions of variance. Rarefaction and bootstrap analyses helped estimate the effects of sampling. Levels of variance and range of morphology differed considerably within and among time periods. There is no significant temporal decline in the variance or range of morphology, suggesting that developmental or genomic constraints may not have been the primary factors controlling the tempo of trilobite macroevolution. The spatial distribution of cranidial variance differed considerably among taxa, suggesting that a complex set of developmental processes governed the morphogenesis of cranidia within trilobites.


While studying the history of the Liber figurarum by Joachim of Fiore, I have used the distinction among his followers between Joachimist and Joachites,1 that is between the pupils who respected Joachim's ideas and the ones who re-created his message, combining his ideas with other apocalyptic themes borrowed from different authors or traditions. Both groups considered Joachim to be a starting point in the history of the Church, but in a dissimilar way: this break sometimes encouraged conflicts and struggles. The meeting between Franciscanism and Joachimism was influenced by such quarrels and perhaps stimulated them. Both the Florensians and the Franciscans divided themselves roughly between Joachimists and Joachites. This fluctuation of opinions becomes clear if one follows the diffusion of the Liber figurarum and the transformations in the cycle of illustrations linked to Joachim's ideas. The Liber figurarum represents the swan song of a civilization based on figurae, which expressed itself in many forms during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Joachim's iconographic tradition is actually perfectly in tune with the early medieval tradition of Southern Italy, rooted in the iconography of late antiquity. The key word to describe its most profound essence is "kaleidoscopic."2 This word, used by Reeves to define Joachim's outlook, shows the method and the merit of Joachim's images, grafted onto the


Rhizoma imperatae has two thousand years history in prevention of disease and health care,and has been widely applied in health care products development in recent years.Some developments have been made in study of chemical constituents,medicinal function of Rhizoma imperatae,but there was no specific quality control method in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010 edition.A systematic study of the relation between chemical constituents and biology action is needed to establish an integrated quality control system of Rhizoma imperatae.


Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with 0.1 and 0.4 mg Pt cm−2 cathode catalyst loadings were separately contaminated with seven organic species: Acetonitrile, acetylene, bromomethane, iso-propanol, methyl methacrylate, naphthalene, and propene. The lower catalyst loading led to larger cell voltage losses at the steady state. Three closely related electrical equivalent circuits were used to fit impedance spectra obtained before, during, and after contamination, which revealed that the cell voltage loss was due to higher kinetic and mass transfer resistances. A significant correlation was not found between the steady-state cell voltage loss and the sum of the kinetic and mass transfer resistance changes. Major increases in research program costs and efforts would be required to find a predictive correlation, which suggests a focus on contamination prevention and recovery measures rather than contamination mechanisms.


6-Hydroxy-(4E)-sphingenine-containing ceramides were found recently in human skin. We present here the first synthesis of the 6S and 6R diastereoisomers 2 and 3, which represent analogues of (2S,3R)-ceramide (1) having two allylic hydroxyl groups. Chiral propargylic alcohols 8 and 11, which were prepared by asymmetric dihydroxylation of alpha,beta-unsaturated ester 13 and allylic chloride 22, respectively, were employed as precursors of 2 and 3. Nucleophilic addition of lithiated TBS-protected propargylic ethers 25 and 32 to l-serine-derived aldehyde 26, respectively, afforded oxazolidine intermediates 27 and 33. Acid-mediated deprotection of the oxazolidine, followed by N-acylation and Birch reduction, completed the syntheses of 2 and 3.


This paper expounds the orientation and the basic task of the quality-oriented education in college, and points out the weak point of the traditional education model according to the major course education. This paper also poses a new teaching fashion after educational practice.


This article is a part of special work which is devoted to detailed description of phonetic characteristics in making of the tense forms in Chechen and Ingush languages. In the article are researched the processes of confluences vowels in making of the tense forms from monosyllabic verbs in Chechen, Ingush languages and Chechen dialects in comparative-historical view relying on the works of famous researchers of phonetic system of nah languages and Chechen dialects as D. I. Imnaishvili, A. D. Timaev, I. G. Arsahanov etc. The processes of confluences vowels are analysed on the concrete factual material in reviewing languages and Chechen dialects marking out theirs common and distinctive features. More interesting is the process of confluence vowels in making the first tense group form monosyllabic verbs with rout "иē", which is given in Ingush language and Chechen dialects which is detailed analyzed by the author of this work.


The statistics of shear peaks have been shown to provide valuable cosmological information beyond the power spectrum, and will be an important constraint of models of cosmology in forthcoming astronomical surveys. Surveys include masked areas due to bright stars, bad pixels etc., which must be accounted for in producing constraints on cosmology from shear maps. We advocate a forward-modeling approach, where the impacts of masking and other survey artifacts are accounted for in the theoretical prediction of cosmological parameters, rather than correcting survey data to remove them. We use masks based on the Deep Lens Survey, and explore the impact of up to 37% of the survey area being masked on LSST and DES-scale surveys. By reconstructing maps of aperture mass the masking effect is smoothed out, resulting in up to 14% smaller statistical uncertainties compared to simply reducing the survey area by the masked area. We show that, even in the presence of large survey masks, the bias in cosmological parameter estimation produced in the forward-modeling process is ≈1%, dominated by bias caused by limited simulation volume. We also explore how this potential bias scales with survey area and evaluate how much small survey areas are impacted by the differences in cosmological structure in the data and simulated volumes, due to cosmic variance.


Algorithms are proposed for determining the coordinate pairs of radiation sources using the data of two orthogonal linear antenna arrays and matrix-type arrays. One-dimensional and two-dimensional data matrices are used to estimate the coordinates. An algorithm is given for estimating the number of sources and the coordinate pairs regardless of the ratio of the signal powers.


TTQS(Taiwan Train Quali System,TTQS) is appraisal system of human resource training and development, which produces contribution degree to the target of organizational vision and operational plan through continuous improvement of training process. In recent years, the growth and development of most non-profit organizations, such as associations and clubs with members as their foundation, were limited by insufficient resource. Therefore, the major issue we are facing now is to cultivate and improve organizing ability of non-profit organizations, especially through the cultivation of talents to effectively explore, integrate and apply all kinds of resources, then gradually enter "professional service" and "enterprise management". A set of efficient training quality plan is of great concern of organizations' survival and development. Hence, the establishment of talent training industry not only consolidates the training results and becomes the important basic job for the improvement of the competitiveness of training institutions, but also is the source of non-profit organizations' sustainable operation and growth in vocational training. Thus, improving the training quality is the only way to ensure they can deal with the constantly changing marketing environment. This study aimed to explore the problems of handling vocational training business after individual cases import system through the experience of individual participating in corporation the Spiritual Development Association On Tainan which possessed the experience of TTQS operation. Then based on the evaluation of five stage- PDDRO to deeply understand and make plans for relevant executive process; I-P-O Model — "Input", "Process" and "Output" — was utilized as application tool of problem analysis to deduce practical executive plans and effectively output training results and quality with "the link between training results and training targets" and "promotion of organization's performance" as the main discussing topic. When discussing these executive plans, this study would use living examples of cases to illustrate their feasibility and efficiency. This study found, when the case conducted training business in the past, most of the training results couldn't effectively connect with training targets, and the staffs were also unable to systematically commit system and collect training results; through the I-P-O Model analysis, many systematic processes were promoted to produce training results that connected with training targets, define training value. And the improvement of conducting training capacity and the recognition of training quality both increased government-commissioned training business. We believe it has high reference value to commit TTQS through I-P-O Model, and the results of this study can be the reference for other non-profit organizations' introduction of TTQS.


Flow optimization of an atmospheric distillation unit based on a flow simulation software,Aspen Plus,was completed to increase the annual profit.Based on the flow simulation,the article given constraint conditions,optimization decision variables,then optimization model is established.The optimization model is solved on Aspen Plus platform.Good optimization result is achieved.The profit's contribution of products and cost of pump work,heat or cool duty,and steam consumption to annual profit of the atmospheric distillation unit and the influence of these factors on the annual profit were analyzed in detail.At last we get the processing parameters under the maximum annual profit.


Using of winter wheat(Triticum aestivum L.)cultivars(Zhoumai18 and Jimai20)as experimental material,dry matter(DW)accumulation and partitioning pattern,water-solution carbohydrates content(WSC)and yield factors including grain number(GN)and thousnd-grain weight(TGW)were investigated under well watered(W1),slight drought(W2)and severe drought(W3)conditions at Fenqiu Agro-Ecological Experimental Station of Chinese Academy of Sciences in year 2005-2006.The results showed that DW accumulation significantly decreased while the partitioning coefficient values increased for leaf,stem and sheath at the pre-anthesis stage,and for spike at the post-anthesis stage under drought stress.The stem WSC decreased at the jointing stage,but leaf,sheath,stem and root WSC increased during the booting and anthesis stages.The TGW of both cultivars was positively correlated with stem and root WSC at the booting and anthesis stages,and with leaf DW at anthesis atages(P0.05).The GN was positively correlated well with stem WSC at the jointing stage(P0.01),and with stem and leaf DW at the anthesis stage(P0.05).These results reach a conclusion that the jointing stage appeared to be a crucial water-requiring phase.Drought stress led to photosynthate translocation toward growth centers.Stem WSC appeared to be a indicative parameter for drought resistance breeding work.


This paper presents an alternative procedure for computing the steady state probability vector of an M/M/1 queue with randomly varying arrival and service rates. By exploiting the structure of the infinitesimal generator of the underlying continuous-time Markov chain, the approach represents an efficient adaptation of the state reduction method introduced by Grassmann for solving problems involving M/M/1 queues under a random environment. We compare computational requirements of the proposed approach with the method of Neuts and block elimination under different rush-hour congestion patterns while keeping the overall traffic intensity constant as well as under different traffic intensities. We demonstrate that the proposed method requires minimal computing time to reach convergence and moreover the time requirement does not change much when traffic intensity increases.


Background: Development and persistence of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria is considered to be one of the biggest threats to public health worldwide. Development of new antimicrobial agents and alternatives to the conventional antimicrobial agents to control the menace of AMR is the need of the hour. Plants based products can be effectively explored as potential antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antiquorum sensing agents against major bacterial pathogens of human and animals. This present study was conducted to explore the antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antiquorum sensing activity of aqueous and methanol extracts of leaf, flower, fruit and stem of Melastoma malabathricum against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.Methods: E. coli and S. aureus were isolated and identified from diarrhoeic pigs and poultry and mastitic milk of cattle of Mizoram, respectively. Leaf, flower, fruit and stem of M. malabathricum were collected from Mizoram and extracted by methanol and aqueous solvents. The antimicrobial activity and MIC was determined by using well diffusion method and 96 wells microtiter plate method, respectively. Antibiofilm activity of plant extracts was determined in 96 well tissue culture plate. Antiquorum sensing activity was determined by disc diffusion method.Result: Methanol leaf extract exhibited antimicrobial activity against E. coli but not against S. aureus with 18 mm and 6 mm zone of inhibition at 200 mg/mL and 12.5 mg/mL, respectively. Methanol flower extract showed antimicrobial activity against S. aureus but not against E. coli with 14 mm and 6 mm zone of inhibitions at 200 mg/ml and 12.5 mg/mL, respectively. Similarly, the aqueous leaf extract showed antimicrobial activity against S. aureus but not against E. coli with 12 mm and 6 mm zone of inhibition at 200 mg/mL and 100 mg/mL, respectively. The MIC of M. malabathricum methanol leaf extract against E. coli was 3.125 mg/mL, whereas the MIC value of methanol flower and leaf extracts was 6.25 mg/mL against S. aureus. Antibiofilm activity of M. malabathricum methanol leaf, methanol flower and aqueous leaf extracts was recorded only against S. aureus isolates with maximum inhibition at 0.05 mg/mL concentration. Good antiquorum sensing activities was exhibited by the M. malabathricum methanol leaf, methanol flower and aqueous leaf extracts against S. aureus isolates at 200 mg/mL concentration.