The European Union has been in crisis mode for a decade now. Both the global economic and financial crisis of 2009 and, more recently, the so‐called "refugee crisis" have clearly revealed the serious institutional misalignments of the EU, its absence of intergovernmental solidarity, and the fragility of a European construction that has achieved little more than the creation of a common market. The EU's failure to successfully meet these challenges has led to a serious crisis of confidence, triggering widespread popular distrust of the EU and its institutions and suspiciousness towards politics and political decisions in general. At the same time, and somewhat paradoxically, Europeans still express support for the EU; furthermore, there are tangible shows of solidarity between European citizens. Thus, contrary to the common assumption, the lack of social integration matters considerably less than institutional misalignment and a failing process of system integration in accounting for the EU's current crises and challenges. Thus it seems important to look more closely at the type of social integration involved, given the uncertain institutional supports. The question facing Europe today is what kind of trust and affective European attitude and sense of belonging that will sustain over time


This paper has presented and compared seven different equations for determining the time to return from night or weekend setback. For nights that required cooling to return, the most accurate forecasts were obtained from a quadratic relationship between return times to both the outdoor temperature and the room temperature provided the best forecasts.


In the late 1990s, the construction industry was picking up momentum for the first time in many years. The 15 Euroconstruct countries achieved a real production growth rate of 3 percent in 1999, a substantial improvement over the 0.8 percent rate of 1997 and 1998. The expansion will slow down moderately in 2000, and more rapidly in the next two years: growth projections for the Western European construction industry are 2.6 percent in 2000 and 1.5 percent in each of 2001 and 2002. After noticeably contracting in the 1990s, the construction industry's contribution to GDP has recently been stabilising (10.2 percent in 1996), but will once again decline to 9.7 percent by 2002. In the CEE countries, construction is forecast to achieve accelerated growth rates in both 2001 and 2002. The relatively constant rise of construction output in 1999 and 2000 has been driven by a boom in non-residential building and civil engineering. New residential construction is similarly recovering. In Austria, the construction industry recorded a real growth rate of 1.3 percent in 1999, a loss over 1998, when production grew by 4.3 percent fuelled by strong demand for renovation and modernisation. The outlook for 2000 is similarly modest – production should grow by 1.5 percent in real terms, and by 2 percent in 2001 and 2002 respectively. With this, the construction industry's performance will lag far behind the expected overall growth rate of 2.8 percent (in 2000 and 2001) and 2.6 percent (2002). The unpropitious prospects for the construction industry are chiefly the result of ebbing demand for new housing and renovation. The market for new housing is largely saturated, and the expiry of tax breaks granted for dissolving the rental reserve, which became effective as of the end of 1999, has virtually eliminated incentives for investing in the renovation of private housing. Construction will thus depend on contracts for new office complexes, roads and rail projects, whereas demand will be rather weak in all other sectors.


AbstractWe used the popular, interactive, web-based "Wall Street Sports" game, which is a simulation of the exchange market for professional baseball players, to assess who better predicts players' performances: (1) management, measured by player salaries; or (2) the stock market, measured by the Wall Street Sports game prices. We found that the ex ante game price predicts objective measures of a player's performance, value over replacement player (VORP), more accurately than the player's salary. Hence, our results provide evidence that the market has superior predictive ability compared to the management. Our results also show that the game prices' predictive ability is not influenced by the industry, whereas the predictive power of management is significantly influenced by industry-wide considerations. Lastly, we found that stock market prices are better at predicting the players' performance measures towards the end of the season. Our paper joins the prediction markets research, which documents that prediction markets have relatively high predictive ability compared to skilled individuals or surveys. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper employing field experimental methods of prediction markets to investigate the asymmetric information between the stock market and management using the managers' ex ante evaluations.


MEL GRAY joined the Department of Social Work at the University of Newcastle in 1999, replacing Brian English who became (and remains) Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1997. She immediately appreciated the gem Newcastle had created and encouraged staff to write about what they had done so as to disseminate it more widely. This paper is part of this process as Jill and Mel have worked together to articulate the theoretical underpinnings of the model and to describe how it is implemented.


This study was designed to determine whether specific personality characteristics of group leaders and group members predict group members' evaluations of the group leader and of the group experience in self-exploration groups. Group leader and group member state anxiety, trait anxiety, and cognitive style were assessed prior to or at the beginning of the firstgroup session. At the end of the initial session and again at the end of the final session, the group members rated the specific session. At the end of the final session the group members also rated the overall group experience and the group leader. Forward multiple regressions yielded significant effects concerning initial group rating and leader evaluation. No effects were found for the final group session or the global group evaluation. Implications for group theory and research are presented.


The relic abundance of the lightest neutralino is calculated in the scheme of grand unified theories (GUT's) coupled to {ital N}=1 supergravity. We take {ital m}{sub 3/2}, {ital M}{sub {ital g}{ital X}}, and {ital m}{sub {ital s}{ital X}} as free parameters, where {ital m}{sub 3/2} is the gravitino mass, {ital M}{sub {ital g}{ital X}} the universal gaugino mass at the GUT scale, and {ital m}{sub {ital s}{ital X}} the supersymmetric Higgs-boson mass at that scale. Even after we impose the experimental and cosmological constraints, it is found that there remains some supersymmetric parameter region and the lightest neutralino with a mass below about 500 GeV can be the dark matter of the Universe. In particular, the abundance of the neutralino can amount to the critical density of the Universe and is consistent with the inflationary universe scenario which naturally solves the gravitino problem'' in supergravity theories.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to continue the discussion about the actual and potential role of clients in driving more innovation in the construction sector through interviews with some of the Australian construction industry's leading clients, contractors and consultants. Design/methodology/approach – This paper synthesises previously disconnected literature reports interviews with 46 of Australia's leading clients, contractors and consultants. Findings – The findings confirm the importance of client leadership, yet also shows that lowest price remains the dominant selection criterion in tenders. Many clients lack the insight and tools to play a leadership role and are unwilling and unable to employ strategies to foster better performance and more innovation because of internal governance constraints, a poor understanding of how built assets contribute to core business objectives and a narrow understanding of their central role in driving innovation. The authors conclude that in reality, the po...


A new method of sorbent-application therapy of purulent wounds has been worked out. It is based on using enriched ceolite which has high sorbent activity. The optimal compositions of medicine on the base of ceolite are suggested for using in different phases of wound process. The application of sorbent technologies is determined to increase significantly the effect of treatment: terms of wound purification are shortened, regenerative processes are stimulated, staying at an in-patient department is decreased.


This study investigates the breeding system and pollination biology of the native prairie perennial Sisyrinchium campestre (Iridaceae, blue-eyed grass) and the potential for the introduced plant Euphorbia esula (Euphorbiaceae, leafy spurge) to interfere with its pollination. Sisyrinchium was determined to be self-incompatible. Visit rates by pollinators were lower for Sisyrinchium near Euphorbia than for flowers greater than ten meters away, indicating competition for pollinator visits. However, supplemental hand pollinations of Sisyrinchium detected no evidence of pollen limitation of fruit or seed set either near to or far from Euphorbia. Although nearly one-fourth of stigmas sampled contained Euphorbia pollen, hand-pollination experiments detected no effect of Euphorbia pollen receipt on fruit or seed set, whether Euphorbia pollen was applied immediately or two hours prior to application of Sisyrinchium pollen. Overall, this study suggests that Euphorbia does not reduce Sisyrinchium's pollination success despite competing for pollinator visits and being a source of heterospecific pollen on Sisyrinchium stigmas.


Three-dimensional point cloud semantic segmentation plays an essential role in fine-grained scene understanding from photogrammetry to autonomous driving. Although recent efforts have been made to push the 3-D semantic segmentation forward, many solutions cannot generalize well to new data with different sensor configurations. For example, when transferring the segmentation model learned from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data to mobile laser scanning (MLS) data, the performance drops dramatically. Besides, rich-labeled data is usually required. However, labeling point cloud data is time-consuming and label-intensive in practice. In light of this, we propose SegTrans, an unsupervised domain adaption method for the point cloud semantic segmentation task, which largely improves the generalization performance from one labeled dataset (source domain) to another unlabeled dataset (target domain). Specifically, we first introduce a data selection module (DSM) to tackle the discrepancy between different datasets at the data level. Then an adversarial learning module (ALM) with an adversarial loss is iteratively implemented to align the domain-specific feature in both the source and target domains, which only consists of two fully connected layers. Experiments show the overall accuracy of the proposed method achieves 88% overall accuracy (OA) on the TUM City Campus dataset (MLS dataset) when trained on the Semantic3D dataset (TLS dataset).


Experimental data are reported on thickness dependence of the solar absorptivity (..cap alpha..) and infrared emissivity (epsilon) of coatings of a selective black paint. The paint consists of a pigment F6331 (Mangenese Ferrite Black Spinel from Ferro Corp.) dispersed in Silicone binder. The coatings were either dip coated or sprayed on aluminum thin foils. Both ..cap alpha.. and epsilon increase with increasing thickness but ..cap alpha.. increases more rapidly thus making these coatings spectrally selective. The optimal thickness of the coating is then calculated by maximizing the efficiency of a flat plate collector coated with the above selective paint for three different clear days of the year. A thickness of 2 ..mu..m was found to be optimal for all three days. A simple theoretical absorption model is proposed to interpret the experimental data.


The control effect of resistant cotton to the experimental population of cotton bollworm(Helicoverpa armigera)was studied using life table in the laboratory in 1998. The results showed that not only were the growth and development of the population which fed on resistant cotton suppressed, but also it's population survival rate and the reproductivity decreased, so the population in quantity was suppressed . In comparison with the population reared on susceptible strain Zhongwu 151 and popular variety CCRI 12, the developmental period of larvae and pupae of the population raised on Chuanmian 243 were prolonged, the weight decreased, the longevity and the oviposition period of moth shortened, the fecundity of moth reduced, the population survival rate decreased, and the population increase index, 161.7, was reduced by 52.6% and 39.4% than those of Zhongwu 151 and CCRI 12, respectively.


The left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) are commonly calculated based on the partial volume effect (PVE) of gated single photon emission computerized tomography (G-SPECT) due to limited SPECT resolution. This study compares the accuracy of LV volume and EF quantification from a standard low resolution (LR) SPECT/CT system and a high resolution (HR) SPECT/CT system. Six custom-made cardiac phantoms each with a different inner and outer cylinder were used to simulate a wide range of LV volumes. The LV cavity (inner cylinder) was filled with water and the space between the inner and outer cylinders mimicking the LV myocardium was filled with Tc-99m solution. The cardiac phantom was inserted into a large cylindrical container filled with water. Images were acquired using a NaI/LR-SPECT/CT system (FWHM: 16 mm, GE Infinia) and a CZT/HR-SPECT/CT system (FWHM: 10 mm, GE D570c), and were reconstructed via the maximum likelihood expectation and maximization algorithm with CT-based attenuation correction. No photon scatter correction and post-filtering were applied to the images. The 6 sets of static SPECT images were aligned and assembled into an image sequence using our home-grown software to create 11-bin pseudo G-SPECT for a full cardiac cycle. Phantom volumes and EF were quantified using 4 different commercial software packages: Yale-Wackers-Liu CQ, Invia-Corridor4DM, Emory-Cardiac Toolbox and Cedars-Sinai-QGS. SPECT-quantified phantom volumes and EF were compared to the true phantom volumes and EF to evaluate the SPECT quantification accuracy. Quantification of LV volumes and EF from HR-SPECT using the 4 SPECT quantification software resulted in a significant underestimation of EF as compared to that from LR-SPECT, and also caused an erratic variation in the LV volume estimation. These findings were consistent for all 4 software. Current SPECT quantification software predominately based on the PVE may need to be adjusted to compensate for the improved spatial resolution associated with new HR-SPECT imaging.


The increasing utilization of photovoltaic (PV) solar systems in distributed (or dispersed) generation systems imposes new requirements for the operation and management of the distribution grid, especially when high penetration levels are achieved. Under this scenario, the power electronics technology plays a vital role in managing an effective grid integration of the PV system, since it is subject to requirements related not only to the intermittent source itself but also to its effects on the grid operation. This paper proposes an improved structure of power conditioning system (PCS) for the grid integration of PV solar systems. The topology employed consists of a three-level cascaded Z-source inverter and allows the flexible, efficient and reliable generation of high quality electric power from the PV array. A full detailed model is described and its control scheme is designed. Validation of models and control schemes is carried out through digital simulations using the MATLAB/Simulink environment.


This booklet is essentially an inventory and description of higher plants native to arid and semiarid zones of the world, with commentary upon their medicinal uses, commercial possibilities, and a consideration of certain non-native plants that might profitably be introduced. Part I describes the anatomical, physiological, and ecological features of plants adapted to arid regions. Survival problems peculiar to such plants are briefly discussed. Twelve plant families, including about 37 genera and possibly 70 species, are discussed regarding their value as medicinal plants. A list (also serving as an index to species discussed) totalling 471 species of medicinal plants found in arid zones of the world is included. Part II considers the pharmacological aspects of plants in arid zones. The influence of aridity, soils, and climate upon the synthesis and concentration of active principles is discussed. Some specific examples are cited demonstrating the effects of aridity upon the production of


In this present research, acetone extracts of Avicennia alba and Aegialitis rotundifolia were investigated for the estimation of their total phenolic content. The amount of total phenol present was calculated by assaying it with Folin's Ciocalteau Reagent and spectrophotometric analysis. Gallic acid was taken as the standard compound and the total phenolic content of each of the plant sample was expressed as mg/g Gallic acid equivalent (GAE). The standard curve equation was found out to be y=0.0597x+0.0198; R 2 = 0.9536. The results showed that A. rotundifolia had higher total phenolic content (53.23 mg/g GAE) than that of A. alba (42.147 mg/g GAE).Since antioxidant property and total phenol content are directly related, these plant leaf extracts could be used for various medicinal and agroeconomic development.


Diabetes is an increasing epidemic and more than 500 million people are expected to have diabetes within the nearest 20 years (Whiting et al., 2011). The disease is poly-factorial, and both genetic and life-style factors contribute to the risk of developing the disease. The pathogenesis involves impaired insulin secretion and insulin resistance and is associated with both macroand microvascular complications. In the work by Zhou et al. (2013) in this issue of ACTA Physiologia, the therapeutic effects of adrenomedullin (ADM) on vascular calcification in fructose-induced insulin resistance rats have been investigated. Calcification of the media of the arterial wall is a common feature in patients with increased glucose levels and is associated with increased risk of nephropathy, retinopathy, coronary heart disease and mortality (Jeffcoate et al., 2009). The process includes active ossification and bone formation. The bone formation is initiated by bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) secreted from mesenchymal stem cells that activate transcription factors such as transcription factor core-binding protein (Cbafa1). BMPs belong to the TGF-beta family of proteins, and BMP-2 and BMP-4 are the BMPs suggested to be associated with vascular calcification. Calcification of the arterial wall also involves the cytokine osteopontin (OPN). Type 2 diabetes patients with calcification-related complications have been demonstrated to have higher circulating levels of OPN (Jeffcoate et al., 2009). Moreover, it was recently demonstrated that hyperglycaemia increases the level of OPN in smooth muscle cells (Nilsson-Berglund et al., 2010). In agreement with current published work, Zhou et al. (2013) demonstrate that increased calcification through fructose-induced insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia is accompanied by increased protein levels of BMP2, OPN and Cbfa-1. They further demonstrate that the levels of BMP2 and Cbfa-1 are reduced after addition of ADM, whereas levels of OPN continue to increase. Adrenomedullin is a member of the calcitonin gene– related peptide (CGRP)/amylin family. It is widely distributed in peripheral tissue and in the brain, where it has been shown to have both autocrine and paracrine effects. In type 2 diabetes, ADM has been associated with the pathogenesis of diabetic vasculopathy (Lim et al., 2007). Levels of ADM are increased in patients with heart failure and the precursor of ADM, proADM, has been investigated as a possible biomarker of cardiac heart disease (CHD) (Melander et al. 2009). In line with previous studies, Zhoe et al. demonstrate an increased level of ADM due to fructose-induced insulin resistance. This study further contributes by demonstrating direct beneficial effects of ADM on the levels of key proteins in the bone formation associated by arterial calcification. The work by Zhou is one of the first studies demonstrating the positive effects of exogenous added ADM on vascular calcification associated with insulin resistance. In addition, earlier studies have demonstrated that ADM reduces fructose-induced insulin resistance and associated myocardial hypertrophy (Zhang et al., 2011). Thus, the multiple positive effects make administration of ADM a most likely and favourable therapeutic approach for patients with diabetes, at least insulin resistance associated. The multiple positive effects make ADM reminiscent of incretins, such as GLP-1 and GIP. These endogenous produced hormones increase insulin secretion in beta cells and glucose uptake in target tissue. In addition, GLP-1 has been proven to increase cardio protection and cardiac function (Baggio and Drucker, 2007). Agonist of GLP-1 and antagonists of DPPIV (the enzyme that breaks down GLP-1 and GIP) are today widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes due to their effects on both insulin secretion and complications. Most of the genetic risk variants of type 2 diabetes discovered today is associated with insulin secretion and it remains to be investigated whether ADM, as the incretins, has beneficial effects also on insulin secretion. The work by Zhou et al. (2013) has added one piece to the large puzzle of ADM as a possible treatment for diabetes and its complications.


In this study the associations of expressed occupational fantasies and selection of college majors for 66 college students were analyzed. Implications for career counseling are discussed.


There has been much interest in the Sharing Economy in recent years, accompanied with the hope that it will change and specifically make better use of existing resources. It intuitively makes sense, from a sustainability point of view, that the sharing of resources is good. It could even be said that the Sharing Economy ought to align well with Computing within Limits and its underlying premises. In this paper however, we take a critical stance and will elaborate on the intersection between the Sharing Economy and Limits (including pinpointing potential conflicts) so as to identify and discuss a 'Limits-compliant Sharing Economy'. We argue that even though there are limits to the Sharing Economy today, it still has potential benefits for a future of scarcity---but only if the practice of sharing is approached with a dual focus on sharing and on limits at the same time. Finally we conclude that even though we have begun to explore the future of sharing, there is still a need to further develop ideas of how the underlying infrastructure for this movement will look.


This is an experiment on making autoclaved sludge fly ash bricks with reference to the technology of making autoclaved fly ash bricks. To probe into the feasibility of making autoclaved fly ash bricks with dewatered sludge, tests and analysis of the compressive strength, flexural strength, freezing resistance, drying shrinkage, carbonation, corrosion of the autoclaved sludge bricks as well as the dilution and solidification of heavy metals during the autoclaving process are carried out. The test results show that the compressive strength decreases with the increase of sludge content, and the flexural strength increases slightly with lime content increased. The freezing resistance, drying shrinkage and carbonation coefficient of autoclaved sludge fly ash bricks meet the quality requirements of fly ash brick MU20. The leaching liquid of the autoclaved sludge fly ash brick is non-corrosive. The heavy metals in sludge can be effectively solidified in autoclaved sludge fly ash brick and the leaching liquid meets the requirement of Class III water standard in China's "Surface Water Environmental Quality Standard" (GB3838-2002).


Cognitive radios opportunistically share the spectrum with the primary users. In this paper, we address the problem of detecting the presence of a primary user while a secondary user is transmitting data, in order to avoid harmful interference to the primary user. We have proposed an inband spectrum sensing technique utilizing the OFDM guard interval for scanning the spectrum. The spectrum sensing data from the discontiguous OFDM guard intervals is combined to obtain a long coherent data segment. We have shown that cyclostationarity can be exploited for the user detection even when the sensing data is discontiguous. The 'Listen-while-Talking' technique reliably detects the ATSC DTV signal in 8.5 ms when SNR is -21 dB. The inband spectrum sensing technique provides protection to primary users and saves the system capacity compared to the conventional system which uses idle period.


FIELD: chemistry; biochemistry. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to biotechnology and is a method of imparting auxotrophicity on L-amino acid to Methylophilus genus bacteria, involving the following steps: A) introduction of a DNA fragment into bacteria, where the said fragment contains a gene which codes heterogeneous permease, which can import the said L-amino acid into the cells of the bacteria; and B) blocking the biosynthesis path of the said L-amino acid in the said bacteria. The invention also relates to a method of obtaining L-amino acid by culturing the obtained bacteria. EFFECT: invention enables highly efficient production of L-amino acid. 14 cl, 3 dwg, 3 tbl, 6 ex


The unique nature of the commuter journey in the USA is due to the length and duration of such trips. The author traces the development from the 1920's of the private car as a means of transport with improvements in vehicle reliability and road surfaces. This growth led to the decline of public transport until World War 2 when shortages of fuel and spare parts resulted in urban public transport modes gaining in popularity. Passengers using public transport then declined after the war when ridership was less in 1970 than in 1910. Despite an emphasis on federally funded public transport programs, there has been only a modest increase in ridership with the development of rapid transit systems. Although past federal policies have favoured the automobile at the expense of commuter transport, increasing petrol costs and environmental considerations may lead to development of mass transit systems although political support for such investment is described as weak. It is thought that emphasis will instead be placed on environmental improvements for future energy-efficient cars.


It has recently been pointed out by Kowalski et. al.[Astrophys. J. 686, 749 (2008).] that there is 'an unexpected brightness of the SnIa data at z>1'. We quantify this statement by constructing a new statistic which is applicable directly on the type Ia supernova (SnIa) distance moduli. This statistic is designed to pick up systematic brightness trends of SnIa data points with respect to a best fit cosmological model at high redshifts. It is based on binning the normalized differences between the SnIa distance moduli and the corresponding best fit values in the context of a specific cosmological model (e.g. {lambda}CDM). These differences are normalized by the standard errors of the observed distance moduli. We then focus on the highest redshift bin and extend its size toward lower redshifts until the binned normalized difference (BND) changes sign (crosses 0) at a redshift z{sub c} (bin size N{sub c}). The bin size N{sub c} of this crossing (the statistical variable) is then compared with the corresponding crossing bin size N{sub mc} for Monte Carlo data realizations based on the best fit model. We find that the crossing bin size N{sub c} obtained from the Union08 and Gold06 data with respect tomore » the best fit {lambda}CDM model is anomalously large compared to N{sub mc} of the corresponding Monte Carlo data sets obtained from the best fit {lambda}CDM in each case. In particular, only 2.2% of the Monte Carlo {lambda}CDM data sets are consistent with the Gold06 value of N{sub c} while the corresponding probability for the Union08 value of N{sub c} is 5.3%. Thus, according to this statistic, the probability that the high redshift brightness bias of the Union08 and Gold06 data sets is realized in the context of a (w{sub 0},w{sub 1})=(-1,0) model ({lambda}CDM cosmology) is less than 6%. The corresponding realization probability in the context of a (w{sub 0},w{sub 1})=(-1.4,2) model is more than 30% for both the Union08 and the Gold06 data sets indicating a much better consistency for this model with respect to the BND statistic.« less


Searching for new technologies for improvement of organization, diagnosing and surgical treatment of patients with unstable damages of the pelvis is a serious scientific problem. In treatment of 21 patients with damages of the pelvis C-type (AO/ASIF classification) new technologies have been used. They included computer program of supporting of decision-making in diagnosing and treatment of damages of the pelvis (certificate №2006612850), external fixation device of our own construction (patent for invention №2159091, № 2234277) and original methods of osteosynthesis (patent for invention № 2306896, № 2306895). Two comparison groups included 25 patients treated with conservative method and 18 patients treated with traditional transosseous osteosynthesis. Restoration of anatomy and function allows coming to the conclusion that implementation of suggested technologies significantly improves the treatment results of patients with unstable damages of the pelvis.


The historical background of the isolation of the trachoma virus has been reviewed by Thygeson.' The present era of isolating virus by means of the chick embryo begins with the report in 1957 of T'ang et aL2 on the isolation of trachoma virus in the yolk sacs of 6to 8-day-old embryonated eggs inoculated with Conjunctival cells obtained from patients with clinical trachoma. The findings of the Peking investigators were confirmed and extended in 1958 by Collier and Sowa.3 Using the technique of yolk sac inoculation of Conjunctival scrapings combined with the use of streptomycin to control bacterial contamination, investigators have reported the isolation of virus from trachoma patients from many areas of the ~orld.4l~ This paper describes the isolation of viruses from 10 of 34 trachoma patients studied in three villages in the environs of Asmara, Eritrea, Ethiopia.


This article presents a research focused on a conformal coating used for printed circuit board (PCB) protection. Conformal coatings are an integral part of electronic assemblies to increase resistance to the effects of harmful environments and to improve reliability. An experiment for insulation evaluation is described in the article. The first objective of the proposed experiment is to identify the influence of the manufacturing process setting on the insulating properties. The second objective of the paper is to assess the influence of electrical stress on the insulation properties. The acrylic coatings were aged by AC voltage. The insulation resistance was measured by SIR test. The comparison of measured data and recommendation for practice is presented at the end of the article.


OBJECTIVE To observe the in vitro drug susceptibility and pathogenicity of the Trichosporon asahii(T.asahii)strains isolated from different specimen sources so as to provide evidence for the clinical data. METHODS The E-test was performed to determine the MIC value of 12isolates of T.asahii to 6commonly used antibiotics,then the in vitro drug susceptibilities were assessed,the median lethal dose of 7strains of T.asahii was calculated through the animal experiment,and the pathogenicity was evaluated.RESULTS The 12isolates of T.asahii were naturally resistant to flucytosine and anidulafungin,with instable susceptibility to amphotericin B, yet the strains were susceptible to azoles,voriconazole in particularly;the environmental strains were more susceptible to the azoles than the clinical strains.As for the pathogenicity,the pathogenicity of the clinical strains was significantly higher than that of the environmental strains,the clinical strains had 1to 3magnitude orders of median lethal dose greater than the environmental strains,the median lethal dose of BZP 07005was the highest,CBS 7137the lowest.There was also difference in the median lethal dose among the environmental strains or the clinical strains themselves.CONCLUSIONThe differences in both the in vitro drug susceptibility and the pathogenicity between the clinical T.asahii strains and the environmental strains are statistically significant,and the environmental strains have higher drug susceptibility and lower pathogenicity.


Background: Learning styles preferences play an important role in helping learners acquire knowledge. Because each individual establishes different learning styles, knowing students' learning preference may help instructors design appropriate teaching methods which aids students to achieve learning outcome more effectively.
Objective: To determine the learning styles in first-year residents of various medical specialties, using the VARK model.
Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study recruited all first-year residents of academic year 2021 to 2022, at Ramathibodi Hospital. Ninety-five residents gave their consent and submitted the VARK questionnaire. The results were classified into 3 groups of specialties, based on its major characteristics being surgery-based, cognitive-based, or diagnostic-procedure-based.
Results: The VARK preferences in the surgery-based group were as followed; 7.9% aural learners, 26.3% kinesthetic learners, and 65.8% multimodal learners, with none being visual and read/write learners. In the cognitive-based group, the VARK preferences were 7.7% visual learners, 19.2% aural learners, 3.8% read/write learners, 19.2% kinesthetic learners, and 50.0% multimodal learners. In the diagnostic-procedure-based group, the VARK preferences were 8.3% visual learners, 37.5% kinesthetic learners, and 54.2% multimodal learners with none being aural and read/write learners.
Conclusions: The VARK preferences showed that Ramathibodi's overall first-year residents were mostly multimodal learners with the surgery-based and the diagnostic-procedure-based groups having more kinesthetic preference learners in their specialties.


Pepper Yellow Leaf Curl Diseases [PepYLCD] one of the most damaging diseases in pepper and chili caused by a geminivirus. The coat protein of geminivirus plays an important role in encapsidation of the virus genome and also as a transmission mediator. This research aimed to predict the 3D structure and binding site of coat protein pepper leaf curl virus isolate Alahan Panjang, West Sumatera [PepYLCV-APWS]. The prediction was using swiss-model and chimera software for protein modeling. Furthermore, this study will be helpful to understand the similarity and the molecular-interaction to develop robust resistant strategies against geminiviruses in the nearby future.


This paper proposes a novel asynchronous differential measurement method to compute the time varying network induced delay which exists in each period of networked control systems. It is independent of the whole networked clock synchronization and can compute the real-time system delay during a single period. System structure is designed as a distributed network control system which consists of a network scheduling manager, many sensors nodes, and many controller/actuator nodes. Network model adopts Master/Slaver communication industrial Ethernet. Finally, a numerical experiment is given to demonstrate that, this method has strong potential to improve the performance of system with network induced delay and proves its validity and effectiveness.


PURPOSE: A display system, a display apparatus, and a method thereof are provided, which control alternation scanning of right eye image and left-eye image through video color deflection at a control unit based on adjusted controlled non-scanning time, and recognize a three-dimensional image. CONSTITUTION: An image processor(300) scans a three-dimensional image on a display unit(100). The three-dimensional image includes an external left-eye image or right eye image. If the three-dimensional image is inputted, a control unit(800) adjusts non-scanning time to preset reference time. The scanning of left eye image or right eye image is not proceeded during the non-scanning time. The control unit controls alternate scanning of right eye image and left-eye image through the video color deflection based on the adjusted controlled non-scanning time.


The petition to reform DSM-5 continues to gain momentum. In its first full week, more than 2300 people have already expressed their disapproval of the DSM-5 proposals and their desire to see dramatic changes. And the numbers are growing each day.


Our earlier work on linkage mapping between root growth and drought-stress tolerance in rice revealed that the "AK111796" is a potential gene responsible for drought-stress tolerance. Sequence analysis indicated that "AK111796" is a novel MADS-box-like gene which could be classified into the Mα subfamily, and the OsMADS64 is the "phylogenetically closely related" gene in the MADS-box family. To further investigate the physiological and molecular responses of "AK111796" to drought-stress, two contrast rice cultivars were analyzed. Seeds of drought-tolerant cultivar Taichung Sen 10 (TCSI0) and drought-sensitive cultivar Tainan 11 (TN11) were germinated with or without sorbitol to evaluate their morphological and molecular changes in root growth and expression patterns of "AK111796". With 3% sorbitol treatment, TCS 10 has shown a better total number of roots and increased root length than TN11. In TCS 10, gene expression analysis showed that germination increased the expression of "OsMADS23", "OsMADS25" and "AK111796", no matter treating with or without sorbitol. In contrast, gene expression of MADS-box did not change in TN11. Taken together, these results provide new clues about the possible role of "AK111796" and "MADS-box" genes in drought-stress response and root development.


Tanker oil outflow accident and nitric acid 2000 ton of our country T'aean offing fire etc. vessel sinking and the national treasure 1 good-natured person swunglyey bites to tell the truth the many misfortune occurred in recent times and the numerous casualty occurred. Consequently the righteousness where the preparation and misfortune will occur became the VIP where the preparation and misfortune will occur became the VIP where the information transmission which is quick is important about disaster. Consequently establishes the information transmission system which is quick in the area where the effect of misfortune is worried from observation perceives a disaster construction system development the merger of state radio network with under contributing which minimizes the loss of property and life of the citizen who is caused by with disaster damage boil.


In this paper, we firstly proposed a novel hybrid 3-dimensional (3D) printed and paper-based microfluidic platform and applied it for investigating the cell's apoptosis and intracellular cross-talk. The fabrication of 3D printed microfluidic chip is much easier than PDMS chip and can be applied in many common labs without soft-lithogrophy fabrication equipment. Moreover, 3D printed can be perfectly combined with paper-based chips which can provide 3D scaffold for cell culture and analysis. In addition, the paper chips can be disposable after using and it greatly reduce the experimental cost. We integrated "Christmas Tree" structure in the top layer of the 3D printed microfluidic chip to generate continuous concentration gradient, and the bottom layer contained paper-based chips as cell culture area. The two-layer structure allows the concentration gradient forming layer to be separated from the cell culture layer, which can simplify the planting of cells in the microfluidic chip and make sure the cells stay in the culture chambers and don't clog the microfluidic channels. Applying this hybrid platform we examined the effect of H2S on cancer cells. Continuous exposure to low concentration of H2S inhibited cancer cell SMMC-7721 proliferation by inducing cell apoptosis. We also found that two gaseous molecules H2S and NO have cross-talk in cancer cells, they formed bioactive intermediate polysulfides in cancer cells. It is expected that this novel hybrid 3D printed and paper-based microfluidic platform has widespread application prospects in cell's investigation.


A deepwater play off Trinidad & Tobago has eluded operators, resulting in several unsuccessful wells and relinquished holdings. Despite this disappointment, the country remains optimistic. Marshall DeLuca recaps the activity to-date and talks to the Trinidadian energy ministry about its deepwater hopes and plans for the future.


The seminar was designed to focus on the business aspects of developing Asian natural gas resources by inclusion of papers on natural gas markets, the role of banks, and financial case histories of existing projects, and papers on commercial and industrial natural gas utilization. The utilization of natural gas was addressed by papers that targeted small-scale, industrial and utility usage of natural gas in electric power production, and by papers on air conditioning and other applications. Each of these topics is important to the development of the Asian natural gas industry. Together, they formed a balanced program when combined with the opening keynote addresses from Tokyo Gas Company, Ltd., and PETRONAS and a panel discussion on gas pricing. All papers have been processed separately for inclusion on the data base.


In this paper, we discuss the prediction of future solar cell photo-current generated by the machine learning algorithm. For the selection of prediction methods, we compared and explored different prediction methods. Precision, MSE and MAE were used as models due to its adaptable and probabilistic methodology on model selection. This study uses machine learning algorithms as a research method that develops models for predicting solar cell photo-current. We create an electric current prediction model. In view of the models of machine learning algorithms for example, linear regression, Lasso regression, K Nearest Neighbors, decision tree and random forest, watch their order precision execution. In this point, we recommend a solar cell photocurrent prediction model for better information based on resistance assessment. These reviews show that the linear regression algorithm, given the precision, reliably outperforms alternative models in performing the solar cell photo-current prediction Iph


Abstract : Navy enlisted men completing first enlistments were divided into three categories: Those who were qualified to reenlist and did, those who were qualified to reenlist but did not, and those who were not qualified to reenlist. Linear discriminant analysis was applied to the problem of distinguishing the three groups using predictor variables that included demographic and biographical items, service history variables, job attitude (satisfaction) measures, and performance criteria. Group profiles were developed which discriminated well among the three groups and provided a basis for assessing reenlistment potential early in a man's career.


The invention discloses a sensor for detecting conditions of ions of sweat of sweat glands in a non-intervention manner. The sensor has the advantages that change of the conditions of the ions of the sweat of the sweat glands of the skins of human bodies can be easily and quickly detected in a noninvasive manner; the sensor comprises an active electrode pair and an inert electrode pair, the active electrode pair is used for testing electrochemical reaction conditions of the ions of the sweat of the sweat glands under the condition of external specific given direct-current voltages, and the inert electrode pair is used for correction under the conditions of external specific given direct-current voltages; the effective test areas of active electrodes and inert electrodes are not smaller than 0.1cm , and the areas of the active electrodes and the inert electrodes are in multiple relation with one another; a mirror surface is arranged on a test position contact surface of each electrode, required mirror surface roughness values Ra are smaller than 0.006 micrometer, and values Rz are smaller than 0.01 micrometer.


Human – wildlife interactions (HWIs) are increasingly common human disturbances as development continues to remove wildlife habitats. Documenting HWI is critical for environmental protection agencies to develop strategies and management decisions that meet the needs of both people and wildlife. However, evaluation of the frequency and types of HWI at broad spatial scales (e


In business today, traditional boundaries between industries are converging as existing companies enter new markets, and as existing markets merge, such as are happening with gas and electricity utilities. This changing paradigm means that keeping existing customers and gaining new customers becomes an extra challenge. Realising that loyalty is correlated with the high profitability of the supply organisation (Henry, 2000), businesses need to understand the extent to which customers are sticky or loyal to their supplier. Keaveney (1995, p. 80) found that some customers switched services even when they were satisfied with former providers because of 'convenience, competitive actions, or prices'. This paper will provide an exploratory investigation into the propensity to choose a service provider in a converging B2B market, by proposing a model to explain this concept. This paper suggests that service providers need to realise that loyalty is not necessarily an antecedent to an ongoing relationship with a customer. Variables such as price, satisfaction, shared physical and communication assets, and skills and knowledge can be more important. This insight will give marketers an understanding of the complexity of the decisions faced by a large, multi-site company, while emphasising the importance of non-loyalty factors in the decision process.


Deceleration of cars was measured, by means of 16 inductive detectors, when they were approaching a traffic-actuated signalized intersection on a four-lane divided road. Data were collected in two conditions: with a green-extension detector at a distance of 60 vs 80 m (appr 3 vs 4 s) from the stop-line. The typical stopping decelerations were 2.2 m/s/s and the maximum ones about 4.5 m/s/s. No conclusions could be drawn about the difference in the risk of a rear end collision in the two conditions. However, the red signal was violated more often when the extended call detector was closer to the crossing: 29% vs 16% of the drivers who could do it entered the intersection with the red light on. (TRRL)


ZrxTi1−x(Fey Mn1−y)z alloys, where x and y are 0 to 1 and z is 1 to 2, are found to have practically promising characteristics that their hydrogen equilibrium pressures can be adjusted to 0.1 to 1 MPa at about 400K by varying the three parameters.


Controlled introduction of oxygen vacancies in metal oxide based photocatalysts could improve their charge carrier separation efficiencies to enhance their photocatalytic performances. In this work, oxygen vacancies were introduced in Bi2MoO6 nanosheets through a postsynthesis etching treatment by NaOH aqueous solution at room temperature for the first time, which removed the requirement of high temperature treatment, chemicals of high cost and environmental hazardness, or specific apparatus for the introduction of oxygen vacancies in previous studies. Furthermore, the crystal structure, morphology, optical properties, and energy band structures of these Bi2MoO6 nanosheets were not changed by this approach, which allowed the separation and illustration of the charge carrier separation role of oxygen vacancies for the photocatalytic performance enhancement. With the increase of oxygen vacancies, Bi2MoO6 nanosheets demonstrated improved electron–hole separation efficiency and largely enhanced photocatalytic...


In the development of oil fields,fouling of oil wells is a common phenomenon because of the impacts of temperature and pressure changes and chemical insolubility of stratum water,especially the strontium sulfate scale difficult to remove,which has greatly affected the normal production of oil fields.Based upon the existing conditions of reduction of strontium sulfate scale in the oil fields,the disodium salt of EDTA,NHJ,the citric acid,and PAAS are compounded to find out the most effective formulation for removal of strontium sulfate.The impact of different factors such as compound ratio of scale removal agent,concentration,temperature,pH value,scale removal time,etc on scale removal performance are studied.The optimum performances are obtained for the following reaction conditions: mass ratio disodium salt of EDTA,NHJ,the citric acid,and PAAS = 1.5∶2.0∶1.5∶2.0,0.20 g/L dosage of scale removal agent,70 ℃ temperature,9 pH and t4 hours time.The compounding of disodium salt of EDTA,NHJ,the citric acid,and PAAS can improve the scale removal performance and the use of 1 gram agent can remove 0.2478 gram of scale.


The fourth generation wireless system provides the key technologies for the upcoming era of ubiquitous computing. Major obstacles facing 4G wireless system deployment involve (i) the mobile device's chipset for connecting to different frequencies and (ii) multi frequency base station units supporting various carrier frequencies communication. Some researchers have looked at the solutions for the first obstacle. Continuing on these efforts toward accommodating different radio interfaces with various carrier frequencies, a universal base station (UBS) with multi-carrier carrier interferometry (MC-CI) is introduced. The UBS customizes its radiation pattern by utilizing the principles of the (MC-CI) technology to match the mobile device's chipset carrier frequency. The proposed approach provides a novel framework to design a universal soft cell allowing interoperability between different wireless networks. Simulation studies have been carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The growth of the nationalist right in Europe and the United States has set off a debate over whether "economic anxiety" or "racial resentment" is at the root of this phenomenon. Examining the case of the French National Front, I suggest that this is a poor way of posing the question of the significance of class in explaining the rise of the nationalist right. Recent advances by the National Front—particularly among working-class voters—have tended to be attributed to the party's strategic pivot toward a "leftist" economic program and an embrace of the republican tradition. This in turn has been critically interpreted in two different ways. Some take the FN's strategic pivot at face value and see the party's success as the expression of a new political cleavage between cosmopolitanism and communitarianism. Others see the National Front's embrace of republicanism as a cynical ploy hiding its true face. Both interpretations, however, point to a strategy of "republican defense" as a means to counteract the National Front. I argue that this strategy is likely to misfire and that class remains central to explaining—and countering—the rise of the National Front, albeit in a peculiar way. Working-class support for the National Front does indeed appear to be driven primarily by ethno-cultural, not class, interests, but this is itself predicated on a historical decline in the political salience of class due to the neoliberal depoliticization of the economy. I argue that it was this disarticulation of class identity that helped deliver the working-class vote to the National Front and that any strategy for combating the nationalist right must thus find new ways to articulate a class identity capable of neutralizing racist and chauvinist articulations.


Titanium is extensively utilized in aerospace and medical scenarios owing to its outstanding mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Conventional machining of titanium alloys is challenging because of its innate characteristics like hardness, lofty reactivity, modest thermal conductivity and elastic modulus. Therefore, an attempt has been made to study the ease with which titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) can be machined using abrasive jet machining (AJM). Machining of holes in Ti-6Al-4V was executed by incorporating a group of input parameters—air pressure, abrasive grit size and standoff distance. The output responses such as material removal rate (MRR), circularity, radial overcut (ROC) and taper angle (TA) are chosen for the evaluation of the experiment. The machining parameters are optimized for higher MRR (case 1) and for lower ROC and TA (case 2) using multi-objective grey relational analysis to choose a moderate course among the output parameters.


Two aspects of aoudetermialltic auTilltry stack automata (NAexSA) are studied ia this paper. The amt is regarding the e.~preaaibilitU of NAuSA. More speeiieally, it is showa altar tie polyaomitl Beraw~hy caa be cht:actenzed in terms of AexSA with reeetree bouds. The second aspect is t dualitt/telatiou between NAuSA tad tlterz~tisg au~llary puhdowa automata (AIt-AuxPDA) conaectiag time bouds on the formel with tremise bouds oa the latter. 1 Introduct ion Ibans []b 71] proved that nondeter~,i~tic a~i~a~/stack automata (NAe~A) are extremely powedu] m~-hi-es. He showed that NAuxSA(S(n)) equals DTIME(2 ~ ~)). Alternating Tezin8 ma,-hlnes were introduced in [CKS 81]. Ladner, Lipton sad Stockme~ ILLS 84] studied the eferts of ~temation on a variety of models including a,~llary pttshdon sad stack automata They c h a r ~ space bounds on these models in terms of detev-i-i~tie time. However, the elects of ,ir-nltaneous tmouzce bounds on stack emtomats has not received much atteatioL Here, we ~ow that deepite thek power, NAexSA are semitive euough to capture AC~. We do so, by introducing s new resource c~ed scan to denote the anmhet of ~ a NAuxSA alteraates between the pmhdown sad ecau modes. The dem £O5~¢~£ ( d u e of languages NC t reducible to CFLs ) was f ~ characterized in [Su 78] as the d u e of languages accepted by NAexPeAspace,time Oogn, n°(t)). It is known that £~C~C and Af~ have ~imihr behaviou L i.e. they have Rimilaz characterizations on a vMiety of models. ]'or example, Runo [Re 80] showed that both have polynomial tzeesise on ATMs (they d/fez in the space they use), Venknteswaran We 87,Ve 88] proved that both have semi-unbounded 6rcuit chstacte~ations with identical depth, O(log n) (they direr in the size of the dzcuit). Not surprisingly they also have ~imlhr pebbling chazacteri,.atioas [VVV 90]. Jennet and Keufig [JK 88] showed that the dige~ce between AfT > and £0~C~r£ • V'itkg ~ofemr, Comlmef Sdeaee sad Aatomsti~ ladisa kstitate of Sdeaee, 1989. ~ ported by O~.R. gnat samba N00014-86-K-0e~9, LLSc. (GARP) Vhith~ Scieatists Gnmt, aad Miaistry of Humm Remmvu sad Developma Orsat IMS-NV.


The effects of Yunnan Bai Yao on blood platelets were studied at an ultrastructural level. This herbal drug is found to cause the release of platelet constituents which accounts for its hemostatic effects. The fine structural changes of platelets in response to this drug are also described.


Glycopyrronium 5 or 10 μg/kg was administered either simultaneously with, or 1 minute before, edrophonium 1 mg/kg in order to antagonise competitive neuromuscular blockade in 80 children. Both doses of glycopyrronium given before the edrophonium resulted in an initial significant (p < 0.01) increase in heart rate. Heart rate decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in all groups after the edrophonium was given, and only glycopyrronium 10 μg/kg administered before edrophonium prevented a substantial decrease below baseline. Initial heart rate responses to glycopyrronium or edrophonium are rapid, and measurements at intervals of 30 seconds may be necessary to record these changes.


Norouz holidays in Iran begins on March 20. Holidays last for two weeks, exactly equal to the time that a person is quarantined to determine whether he is healthy or not. It is an opportunity to contain the outbreak of coronavirus. If the officials get this opportunity to contain the virus they will save more lives and prevent more economic losses, otherwise they should brace for more consequences. While physicians are warning that people to take the virus seriously and stay at home, avoid inter-city travels, family visits, and traffic in the streets, President Rouhani just softly advises people to stay at home. Populism has always proven costly but in this case may prove too costly. Unfortunately, Rouhani, in another way, is proving another populist like his predecessor Ahmadinejad, who emptied the country of hundreds of billions of dollars gained from oil revenues through his populist economic policies. At the beginning officials refused to lock down the cities or provinces in which coronavirus first emerged. The Health Ministry even argued that quarantining cities is outdated, saying it dates back to the early 20the century in Europe. Now that coronavirus cases are found in every corner of Iran, it is extremely necessary to enforce a strict rule to contain the deadly virus. 2 Iranians to Western nations: We will never do what you did to us in hard days!


The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a motor vehicle stabilizer bar, wherein a stabilizer rod is formed as a hollow tubular member, characterized by the following process steps: comprises providing a steel strip of a high-manganese steel alloy, the TWIP and / or TRIP properties - - forming a tubular profile of the steel strip and longitudinal welding of the pipe section, - Turn the stabilizer bar, - further processing into a motor vehicle stabilizer.


True Shallot Seed (TSS) is an alternative source of shallot (Allium cepa var. ascalonicum) seeds. The constraint of TSS production currently being developed is bulb seeds availability which is limited in a timely manner, amount and quality. The study aim was to observe flowering response from bulb-to-seed method compared to seedling (seed-to-seed method). The study was conducted in Margahayu Experimental Field, IVegRI, Lembang (1,250 m asl) from February to December 2017. The randomized block design with 4 replications was used. The treatments include bulb seeds that are vernalized at 10 °C for 4 weeks, vernalized TSS then 6 weeks sowing, vernalized seedlings aged 4, 5, 6, and 7 weeks at 10 °C for 3 weeks, and non-vernalized seedlings aged 6 weeks. The variety used is Trisula. Observations included vegetative and generative parameters. Data were analysed with ANOVA and DMRT test at the 5% level. The results showed that TSS plant material resulted in higher flowering and TSS production compare to that derived from bulb. Six-weeks vernalized seedling produce the highest florets number per umbel, seed weight per umbel and per plant. Results of the experiment indicate that TSS from seedling showed potential for further development.


Abstract Pursuit formation control of double-integrator Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) is considered in this paper. To achieve a formation, a hierarchical control scheme is proposed in two layers. In the first layer, in a leaderless architecture, each agent pursues another one in a cyclic topology to achieve a regular polygon formation around a centroid, namely, pursuit centroid, and in the second layer, the agents agree on a pursuit centroid around which they pursue each other. Despite existing cyclic pursuit approaches in the literature which are based on agents with kinematic models and constant forward speeds, the proposed approach is based on agents with double-integrator dynamics without speed constraints. Numerical simulations for a team of six agents confirm the accuracy of the proposed control scheme.


Prevention and safety promotion programmes. Traditionally, in-depth investigations of crash risks are conducted using exposure controlled study or case-control methodology. However, these studies need either observational data for control cases or exogenous exposure data like vehicle-kilometres travel, entry flow or product of conflicting flow for a particular traffic location, or a traffic site. These data are not readily available and often require extensive data collection effort on a system-wide basis.

Aim: The objective of this research is to propose an alternative methodology to investigate crash risks of a road user group in different circumstances using readily available traffic police crash data.

Methods: This study employs a combination of a log-linear model and the quasi-induced exposure technique to estimate crash risks of a road user group. While the log-linear model reveals the significant interactions and thus the prevalence of crashes of a road user group under various sets of traffic, environmental and roadway factors, the quasi-induced exposure technique estimates relative exposure of that road user in the same set of explanatory variables. Therefore, the combination of these two techniques provides relative measures of crash risks under various influences of roadway, environmental and traffic conditions. The proposed methodology has been illustrated using Brisbane motorcycle crash data of five years.
Results: Interpretations of results on different combination of interactive factors show that the poor conspicuity of motorcycles is a predominant cause of motorcycle crashes. Inability of other drivers to correctly judge the speed and distance of an oncoming motorcyclist is also evident in right-of-way violation motorcycle crashes at intersections.

Discussion and Conclusions: The combination of a log-linear model and the induced exposure technique is a promising methodology and can be applied to better estimate crash risks of other road users. This study also highlights the importance of considering interaction effects to better understand hazardous situations. A further study on the comparison between the proposed methodology and case-control method would be useful.


This work focuses on the potential of expert System(ES) in solving complicated and Contradicting problems in the field of power system planning. Conventional optimization methods are inappropriate in many cases of optimization problem solutions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) albeit rather Convenient for solution of some optimization problems of power systems, however, the need for good starting point helps greatly for achieving proper and fast conversion. Experience of professional engineers is very crucial in reaching the optimal solution. In this paper we introduce ES technique as a helpful tool in Micro Power grid (MPG) planning by suggesting a strong starting point for optimization techniques in both conventional and AI methods. A knowledge base chain rules for two major problems are investigated; distributed generators(DG) and capacitor allocation. Effectiveness of the proposed knowledgebase is tested through the standard IEEE 14-bus system.


Hypophyses of four groups of 50 female rats (F0—nulliparous, F0—multiparous, F1—standard diet, and F1—low protein) were examined by light microscopy and immunocytochemistry by the avidin-biotin complex method. In pituitary glands of rats fed a low protein diet, the incidence of neoplasms of the pars distalis, the number of multifocal tumors, and the degree of neoplastic cellular atypia were significantly reduced. Pituitary adenomata in rats fed a low protein diet also caused significantly less brain compression at the time of necropsy than in rats fed a standard diet. All but two neoplastic foci from the 83 tumors stained for prolactin, and 14 of these also stained for growth hormone. No differences were found in the frequency of hemorrhagic or solid patterns of tumor. These findings may reflect a reduction in pituitary tumor initiation, promotion, and/or progression in rats fed a low protein diet.


The paper describes the tests carried out on twenty-four plain, reinforced and prestressed concrete beams under different combinations of biaxial bending moments, axial compression (prestress) and torsion. The ultimate strengths measured in the experiments have been compared with the calculated values based on a unified theory derived by a combination of the skew bending theory and the space truss theory. (Author/TRRL)


In order to protect private autonomy and maintain public order,public law is divided from private law according to normative nature difference.Therefore,random norms in civil law belong to private law while compulsive norms belong to public law.The nature of civil law is considered according to norms.Civil law has not only norms and systems of private law but that of public law.Civil law is the mixture of both public and private law since it regulates the relationship of private law and public law.


Advances in networking and firewall technology have led to the emergence of network censorship devices that can perform large-scale, highly-performant content blocking. While such devices have proliferated, techniques to locate, identify, and understand them are still limited, require cumbersome manual effort, and are developed on a case-by-case basis. In this paper, we build robust, general-purpose methods to understand various aspects of censorship devices, and study devices deployed in 4 countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia). We develop a censorship traceroute method, CenTrace, that automatically identifies the network location of censorship devices. We use banner grabs to identify vendors from potential censorship devices. To collect more features about the devices themselves, we build a censorship fuzzer, CenFuzz, that uses various HTTP request and TLS Client Hello fuzzing strategies to examine the rules and triggers of censorship devices. Finally, we use features collected using these methods to cluster censorship devices and explore device characteristics across deployments. Using CenTrace measurements, we find that censorship devices are often deployed in ISPs upstream to clients, sometimes even in other countries. Using data from banner grabs and injected block-pages, we identify 23 commercial censorship device deployments in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. We observe that certain CenFuzz strategies such as using a different HTTP method succeed in evading a large portion of these censorship devices, and observe that devices manufactured by the same vendors have similar evasion behavior using clustering. The methods developed in this paper apply consistently and rapidly across a wide range of censorship devices and enable continued understanding and monitoring of censorship devices around the world.


Polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are among emerging persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are widely present in a variety of consumer products. The typical approach for determination of volatile PFASs in ambient air is based upon the high-volume active sampling and solvent extraction (method A), which suffers from the poor portability, high noise level and significant loss of low molecular weight analytes. All these limitations have restricted its application in urban regions, especially in residential areas when conducting source apportionment analysis. In this study, method A was compared with another approach using low-volume air sampling and thermal desorption (method B). In general, method B showed a better repeatability and recovery, while method A demonstrated a lower detection limit. Application of both methods in the outdoor urban environment of Singapore indicated a higher time resolution, higher portability and lower noise level of method B. With these advantages method B appeared to be more suitable for the quantitative analysis of targeted PFASs in regions with concentrated point and variable diffusive sources.


The invention discloses an intelligent double-mould hydraulic tire curing press comprising a guide rod 1, a mould opening and closing oil cylinder 2, a mould locking mechanism 3, a pressurizing oil cylinder 4, a lower plate 5, a lower oil cylinder support 6, an upper plate 8, a locking nut 9, an upper oil cylinder support 10, a support 11 and a displacement detection device 12. A stroke and a stress application action for completely closing moulds, required by different heights of the moulds, are replenished through the extending stroke of a piston rod of the pressurizing oil cylinder 4, and the set position heights are detected by using an electrical control system PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and a displacement detecting device, so that digital, intelligent and automatic mould adjustment without a mould adjusting mechanism or artificial adjustment is realized. The intelligent double-mould hydraulic tire curing press is convenient to mount and easy to maintain and has the effects of improving the accuracy in closing an upper mould and a lower mould and the quality of a tire, reducing the manufacturing cost, saving the mould adjusting time and greatly increasing the production efficiency.


ABSTRACT The creep deformation behaviour of thermo-mechanically treated AlxCrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloys was investigated in the high-temperature range of 600–700°C. Compared with the Al-free CrMnFeCoNi alloy, the AlxCrMnFeCoNi alloys showed higher creep resistance under the same creep conditions due to strengthening contribution from elemental Al. The Al0.4CrMnFeCoNi alloy exhibited a stress-dependent transition from the low-stress region to high-stress region. The Al0.6CrMnFeCoNi alloy showed decreased creep resistance compared to the Al0.4CrMnFeCoNi alloy, which was ascribed to the higher activation volume and stacking-fault energy in the former alloy. Specifically, the intragranular formation of Cr-rich σ precipitation was widely found in the matrix grain among testing conditions, indicating a striking atomic diffusion process due to the limited entropic stabilisation in Al-containing CrMnFeCoNi alloys.


Little is known about how dopamine (DA) neuron firing rates behave in cognitively demanding decision-making tasks. We investigated midbrain DA activity in monkeys performing a vibrotactile frequency discrimination task that required comparing two frequencies presented sequentially in time. We found that DA activity was involved in reward prediction, motivation and working memory (WM). Further, DA phasic responses to the stimuli were greatly affected by a contraction bias. They were also related to motivated behavior on a trial-by-trial basis, exhibiting a larger engagement in more difficult trials. Otherwise, dopamine WM activity was neither tuned to the initial stored frequency nor affected by the bias, although it did code the motivation level and exhibited a ramp-like increase. This result is consistent with a DA role in stabilizing sustained activity, by increasing the gain of prefrontal neurons in a motivation-dependent way. All these DA responses could be potentially related to cognitive control.


An analysis of the centrally produced (cid:25) + (cid:25) (cid:0) and (cid:25) + (cid:25) (cid:0) (cid:25) + (cid:25) (cid:0) mass spectra from the WA76 and WA91 experiments is presented, which shows that in the (cid:25) + (cid:25) (cid:0) (cid:25) + (cid:25) (cid:0) channel there are two new states, the f0(1450) and f2(1900). There is another new state in the (cid:25) + (cid:25) (cid:0) channel with M = 1497 (cid:6) 30 MeV and (cid:0) = 199 (cid:6) 30 MeV, which is compatible with the f0(1520) observed by the Crystal Barrel experiment. Another interpretation is discussed, where the 1450 and 1497 GeV structures are explained as being due to an interference e(cid:11)ect between the f0(1365) and f0(1520). Submitted Phys.


Magnesium and its alloys are extremely susceptible to oxidation and fire due to their reactivity with oxygen. Therefore, special care should be taken while melting them. In this research, different types of fluxes were used to protect the molten magnesium from oxidation. These fluxes cover the molten magnesium surface and refine it. In this research, nine magnesium melting and refining fluxes were studied. Dow fluxes compositions were taken as a base to prepare five fluxes and another four fluxes were developed by varying the content of chlorides, fluorides, and oxide. The main purpose of this research is to increase the recovery of magnesium metal by melting in normal atmospheric conditions and develop a low-cost conventional melting practice. Decomposition behavior, mass change, and melting of these nine fluxes were studied by TG/DTA technique. After fusing, the surface morphology of these fluxes was studied by visual observation and scanning electron microscope. Magnesium was melted using these nine fluxes and for each flux, the weight loss of magnesium was calculated. From a thermal analysis study, it was confirmed that all the fluxes were fused before magnesium melting. Based on the flux layer which was generated during the melting and the weight loss analysis, flux 9 (250) was the best flux compared to other fluxes. The highest purity was obtained by using flux 2 with the highest tensile strength value.


In the past two years, advances in all-solid-state laser technology have made possible the generation of ultrashort pulses of unprecedented duration directly from a laser.1-5


THE BASIC LESION of endocarditis is a friable, verrucous three-layered vegetation. The inner and thickest layer consist of! fibrin, collagen and necrotic blood elements, the middle layer is made up of bacteria, and the outer layer of bac-teria and loose fibrin strands. Most cases of endocarditis are due to bacteria, but fungi and rickettsiae may be responsible. endocarditis. sterile in


The relevance of the article is that in today's conditions of instability of the national economy in the field of insurance, one of the key factors contributing to the national interests and priorities of Ukraine is economic security, which characterizes the state of the economy in which economic interests are reliably protected from internal and external threats. The development of integration processes in the world community contributes to the economic growth of the state, however, like any development process, it faces a number of negative factors and risks that pose a threat to economic security in the field of insurance. The global economic crisis has revealed serious shortcomings in the mechanism for managing the economic security of the state and domestic economic entities, which has been reflected in declining economic growth, gross domestic product, rising unemployment and other indicators. As a result, there is a growing focus on security and risk management tools at the macroeconomic level, as well as their effectiveness in the national context. World experience shows that ensuring economic security is a guarantee of state independence, a condition for stability and efficiency of society, and success. Therefore, ensuring economic security in the field of insurance is one of the most important national priorities. The article examines the mechanisms for ensuring insurance processes by law enforcement agencies, which are the basis for sustainable growth and functioning of the national economy as a whole. Various areas are considered: ensuring the safety of policyholders, private insurance companies, national institutions (government agencies, organizations). The article examines the mechanisms for ensuring insurance processes by law enforcement agencies, which are the basis for the growth and functioning of the national economy as a whole. Various areas are considered: ensuring the safety of insured persons, private insurance companies, national institutions (government agencies, organizations).


This thesis examines the development of mega events in the the modern era, such as International Expos, World Fairs, and Olympic Games, and their relationship to archaeology and heritage through comparing three significant examples from London's recent history: The Great Exhibition of 1851; the 1951 Festival of Britain's South Bank Exhibition; and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Taking a contemporary archaeological and critical heritage studies approach, I argue that such mega events – defined as a genre of large, transitory and internationally-focussed cultural spectacles – leave a unique set of traces upon their host societies and that, as a result, we can observe several key 'signatures' which characterise all mega events and their long term roles in society. These signatures include a quixotic and tense relationship with a variety of conceptualisations of the role of the past in the present – both in terms of mega event site histories and, more broadly, national and imperial 'stories'; a concern with their own historicity and a sense of exceptionality – the 'largest', 'the first' for example; and, despite their often future-oriented rhetoric, a key concern with using heritage narratives and the selective visions these can offer to legitimise an event's presence and to counter opposition. Each case study is examined in detail using a broad variety of archaeological and heritage methods using London's mega events as a prism through which to see the changing role of such spectacles in western modernity more broadly over the last two centuries. I demonstrate for the first time that such events must not be seen simply as one-off temporary spectacles, but rather are drastic and often devastating interventions in the urban environment that can have a dramatic impact upon a broad variety of forms of heritage over the long term. Overall I argue that, if we are ever to create a more ethically engaged model for the hosting of future events, mega events must be subjected to long-term critical examination, and that we must realise that even when events officially close for good, their continuing roles and importance should not be ignored.


Work in progress. Please do not cite without permission. * This paper is part of my dissertation research examining growth and change in the field of global philanthropy and its implications for international development. Abstract The past three decades have been coined the " global associational revolution " to describe the worldwide upsurge in private, voluntary, and nonprofit organizations (Salamon et al. 2004). At the forefront of this revolution is the modern philanthropic foundation. Foundations are increasingly looked to as key sources of public goods, yet little research has examined the global dimensions of foundations or philanthropy more broadly. This paper examines the rise of grantmaking foundations across the globe in recent period, with a particular focus on grantmaking organizations whose primary purpose is to give globally. Through a statistical analysis of the formation of grantmaking foundations in a large number of countries since 1970, I show how philanthropy is a social activity embedded in domestic and international structures and transformations that present an array of opportunities and constraints. I suggest that grantmaking foundations derive in part from ties to world society and the rationalization of the domestic philanthropic sector through " bridging " organizations. Foundations are also positively associated with the level of wealth and inequality in a society, as well as its legal structures and level of democracy. I also how grantmaking has replaced more traditional sources of aid, such as bilateral development assistance, as a dominant model for mobilizing private wealth for the public good in the neoliberal period. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the relationship between global philanthropy and global civil society.


: The main aim of this research article is to define a new information measure for quantifying fuzziness in the intuitionistic fuzzy set environment. For this purpose, we present R-norm intuitionistic fuzzy measure that quantifies the amount of vagueness or fuzziness of a particular fuzzy set. We prove that this measure is a valid measure of intuitionistic fuzzy entropy by making it satisfy essential properties. Also, some mathematical properties are used to check the validation of the measure. In the end, a practical example of decision-making is illustrated in terms of Multi Criteria Decision Making problem that presents the application of the proposed measure.


We discuss, in the framework of special Kahler geometry, some aspects of the "rigid limit" of type IIB string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold. We outline the general idea and demonstrate by direct analysis of a specific example how this limit is obtained. The decoupling of gravity and the reduction of special Kahler geometry from local to rigid is demonstrated explicitly, without first going to a noncompact approximation of the Calabi-Yau. In doing so, we obtain the Seiberg-Witten Riemann surfaces corresponding to different rigid limits as degenerating branches of a higher genus Riemann surface, defined for all values of the moduli. Apart from giving a nice geometrical picture, this allows one to calculate easily some gravitational corrections to e.g. the Seiberg-Witten central charge formula. We make some connections to the 2/5-brane picture, also away from the rigid limit, though only at the formal level.


The short stories of Eduardo Halfon (Ciudad de Guatemala, 1971) are published in collections that can be read not only as self-sufficient texts but also in a broader picture like a medieval altarpiece. This gives his stories a texture next to a kind of very common storytelling in contemporary film and literature which is characterized by the absence of linearity, structural complexity and the proliferation of plots apparently autonomous but interwoven by hypertexts and intertextual connections forming larger narrative structures or hypernarrations. Reading some of the stories included in the book Siete minutos de desasosiego (2007), El boxeador polaco (2008) and Manana nunca lo hablamos (2011) reveal different degrees in the creation of these non-linear hypernarrations interlinked through nuclei and narrative catalysis that give them a comprehensive sense on topics like the persistence of the Guatemalan indigenous cultures, the problem of fiction and reality in writing and on exploring alternative forms of expression of memory.


Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 2-3% of all malignancies. After surgical resection, approximately 40% of patients develop metastases. The 5-year survival probability for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma is less than 10% due to resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish novel therapies for the treatment of metastatic RCC. It has been reported that collapsin response mediator protein (CRMP), a cytoplasmic protein involved in the formation of neuronal axons, also contributes to the progression of malignant tumors. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of anti-CRMP2 antibody on the migration of Caki-2 RCC cells. The treatment with anti-CRMP2 antibody decreased the migration of Caki-2 cells. Our present study proposes the therapeutic potential of CRMP inhibition for prevention of RCC metastasis.


An electrically tuned phase shifter based on the single slot unit cell and liquid crystal for a reconfigurable reflectarray antenna was presented. The simulation and measured results obtained at the F-band were used to demonstrate that the dielectric properties of a nematic state liquid crystal could be exploited to realize a slot unit cell phase shifter for the reconfigurable reflectarrays antennas. By reducing the inhomogeneous of the external electric field in the liquid crystal layer, a lower control voltage and improved model accuracy was obtained. In the experiments test, the achieved saturation bias voltage (10 V) was smaller than the previously reported structure, and the phase shift of the reflectarray greater than 300° was achieved in the frequency range 121.5–126 GHz. The maximum phase shift of 306° occurred at 124.5 GHz.


This paper provides a theoretical model to address the issue of how industrialization affects the structure of international trade. Considering both horizontal and vertical product differentiation, the model shows that intra-industry trade increases when product quality improvement emerges in a developing country and when a difference in relative factor endowments between a developed and a developing countries shrinks. To promote understanding of the conclusions of the model, the paper also uses actual trade data between Japan and Indonesia and between Japan and Korea.


Bio-toilet is a type of dry toilet where human waste materials are decomposed by aerobic bacteria. In India, generally, most of the population construct a simplified version of toilets, in which waste collected and directly transferred to men holes, without any treatment. This causes contamination in both the soil and the environment. It is an eco-friendly waste management solution. It is affected by temperature, moisture content, amount of water, and oxygen availability.


This article represents a reflexive look at the role of the folklore ethnographer in field research and in writing. The author addresses the ethical and scholarly dimensions of a continued dialogue between ethnographers and subjects. She proposes to take the anthropological goals of "reflexive ethnography" even further in her elaboration of a new approach that she terms "reciprocal ethnography."


Surgical techniques in orthopaedics and traumatology: Vol 3,shoulder , Surgical techniques in orthopaedics and traumatology: Vol 3,shoulder , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز


ABSTRACT This article examines two figures from the early twentieth century beginnings of the Hebrew Israelite movement. Malinda Morris was a central, though forgotten, figure in William Crowdy's Church of God and Saints of Christ but her creation of an independent Church upon Crowdy's death has not so far been discussed. The strongest body of evidence regarding this Church is a booklet published by one of their Bishops, A.W. Cook, in Harlem, 1925. This booklet offers biographical, legal, constitutional, and theological information about Cook and his branch of Morris' Church. Situated at a crucial juncture, at the beginning of the second wave of Hebrew Israelite preachers and congregations, Cook's booklet offers some important insights into the development of foundational narratives of the movement, as well as allows us to reconstruct some of the life of this forlorn thinker and minister, and his leader Malinda Morris.


BRAC began piloting its pre-primary school program with 40 schools in 1997. The number of ongoing pre-primary schools stands at 950 at present. Another 484 schools have alre<tdy been closed. The present study is based on these pre-primary schools focusing on different stakeholders' perceptions ont the schools. The study was conducted in four schools from two BEP (BRAC Education Progranune) regions of Jarnalpur and Rangpur. Data were collected from parents, teachers. committee members, community people, BRAC staff. and learners. Data collection was done by focused group discussions, informal discussions, classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and a miniachievement test using checklists and a test instrument. Tite .findings revealed that almost all the respondents expressed a positive view· on the preprirnary education. There were no significant differences between the behaviour and the performance of ex-preprimary learners and those of formal primary learners. About 50% of the learners were found to be admitted into the formal schools after completing the preprimary education. However, around half of Utem could not continue their schooling regularly or dropped out of the formal schools after a few months. The study suggests that the preprimary school should be established within the catclunent area of fonnal primary schools and provisions should be made for a follow up by B~'\C staff regarding preprimary learners' admission into the formal primary schools. The study also suggests that teachers' salary should be increased where a further study would provide more in-depth information on the programme.


Habilitation services, notably prehabilitation and rehabilitation, are important components of patients' surgical care. Contrary to traditional reactive healthcare models, proactive healthcare in the form of prehabilitation has shown promise in facilitating surgical patients' recoveries beyond rehabilitation alone. This study examines prehabilitation from the perspective of seven healthcare professionals, and relies on their interviews to better understand prehabilitation and how technology can be integrated into its processes to aid patient-clinician communication. Specifically, we offer a descriptions for why patients participate in prehabilitation, how clinicians deliver prehabilitation, and how technology could be utilized during these processes.


I begin with an observation I made in the winter of 2007. On the bus going to downtown Minneapolis, I heard a young African American man talking about having been in jail because a minor offense became a major one in conjunction with something else he had done. He was warning his friend about how the racial economy of imprisonment works. On the trip home, I overheard a middle-aged African American woman tell her friend about how her doctor had suggested she lose weight and what she was doing to try. She was not apparently overweight, it seemed, but she had taken the advice very much to heart. Another conversation occurred between a Black and a White man who were discussing what different homeless shelters offer. The African American man said, "It's not right that a man can't get a place to live." The ways that the state and the institutions of society exercise the right to make live and let die include the technologies of threat and carceral violence, the discipline of homeless shelters, and the mechanisms to manage a population's weight, in addition to ways of counting those who do not survive. "In modernity, violence is sublimated" through the biological embodiment of inequality in higher morbidity and mortality rates of certain people (Nguyen and Peschard, 2003, p. 457). Michel Foucault (1997), in the final chapter of "Society Must Be Defended," suggests that racism is a process by which some are allowed to die in order that another group is regenerated or can live better. In multiple ways, biopower promotes the life of a White middle-class population in this country at the biological level. Globally, biopower requires the division between the living and those "for whom even simple survival would require too much effort and too many precautions" (Bazzicalupo, 2006, p. 113). Michael Brown's brilliant paper (2009) and his larger project with Larry Knopp will significantly enhance medical, urban, and political geography. In careful and elaborate detail, he shows the ways in which the episteme, techne, visibilities, identities, and ethos of venereal biopower knit together and unravel. Tracing the emergence of the public health and societal response to HIV/AIDS through the history of venereal disease (VD) preceding the epidemic is surely novel. The paper makes an important call: to study public health because it is a central part of urban geographies and to use the concepts


This paper is to explore the feasibility of TiN/Cu-based composite materials as electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrodes.The tool wear ratio (TWR) of EDM electrode directly reflects the machining precision. To reduce the tool wear ratio(TWR) of Cu electrode in the EDM processing, Inorganic mixture of different content of ceramic materials TiN powder and Cu powder are prepared , then pressed and sintered into EDM electrodes.Experimental results show that: in the six batchs of experiments, the tool wear ratio (TWR) of 35%TiN/Cu electrode is the least, which is about 4.98%, much less than that of commercial copper electrode . The microstructures of the TiN/Cu electrodes after electrical discharge machining (EDM) as well are analyzed in this paper.


Many drilling fluids are thixotropic, meaning that viscosity decreases with time when subjected to shear. Other fluids may show anti-thixotropic (rheopectic) behavior, i.e. viscosity increase with time when subjected to shear. In both cases it is important to have a consistent procedure for how to treat the fluids prior to rheological measurements. This is vital in order to be able to compare measurements of different samples, with different instruments and between different laboratories. In the oil industry, the ISO 10416/ISO 10414-1/2 standards are used for determination of viscosity and gel strength of fluids by use of direct-indicating viscometers (Fann 35 viscometers). However, these standards do not specify in detail how the fluids should be pre-treated before measurements. Further, if results from Fann 35 viscometers are to be compared to measurements done on a rheometer, it is even more important to have a consistent pre-treatment of the fluids before the measurements. A systematic study is performed in which the effects of pre-shearing and ageing history on the rheological measurements of model drilling fluids are investigated by using a Fann 35 viscometer and an Anton Paar MCR 302 rheometer. The results demonstrate the importance of consistent preconditioning of fluids before measurements. A test-procedure standard is proposed, enabling higher measurement precision and comparability of rheological measurements. INTRODUCTION Thixotropy is defined as the decrease with time of viscosity under constant shear rate or shear stress, followed by a gradual recovery when the sehear rate or shear stress is removed. Thixotropy is thus a reversible property, and many oil-field drilling fluids exhibit thixotropic properties as they are designed to be shear-thinning. However, rheological properties of drilling fluids may also change irreversibly over time due to degradation of the fluids over time due to pressure, temperature, shear history etc, and due to contamination with other fluids, particles and chemicals. It is therefore important to define consistent measurement methods, which can distinguish between viscosity changes caused by these different effects. Thixotropy originates from the microstructure of these complex fluids, and the state of this microstructure is dependent on the history of the fluid (shear stress/rate, pressure, temperature, etc). In order to be able to make reproducible experiments it is therefore necessary to recover the original microstructural state of the fluid. Different procedures have been defined in order to achieve this. A typical procedure is to preshear the fluid at some high shear rate immediately before the measurement, sometimes after a specified waiting time. Effect of Preconditioning and Ageing on Rheological Properties of Model Drilling Fluids Benjamin Werner, Bjørnar Lund, Birgitte Ruud Kosberg, Espen Johansen, Gunnar Lia Giil, and Jan David Ytrehus Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway SINTEF Petroleum Research, Trondheim, Norway ANNUAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE NORDIC RHEOLOGY SOCIETY, VOL. 25, 2017


METHODS: Height data were drawn from a longitudinal dataset evaluating female bone growth in 141 participants for whom SITAR-based aPHV had been calculated using ≥3 data points. Two subsamples were selected based on available repeated measures in target maturity ranges based on SITARaPHV and menarche: prePHV (-2.5 to -1.5yr), postPHV (+1.5 to +2.5yr); circaPHV (-0.5 to +0.5yr) & postMEN (0 to +1.0yr). Mirwald et al. and Moore et al. regression equations were used to calculate aPHV and MO, yielding MO1 and MO2 (respectively) for comparison against sitarMO. Bland-Altman plots evaluated agreement with sitarMO in each target maturity range. RESULTS: For prePHV and postPHV comparisons, n= 58, with mean sitarMO -2.1yr (sd 0.3) and +2.1yr (sd 0.3), respectively. For circaPHV & postMEN comparisons, n=108, with mean gynecological ages -1.1yr (sd 0.7) and +0.6yr (sd 0.3) and mean sitarMO -0.1yr (sd 0.4) and +1.6yr (sd 0.7), respectively. Except postMEN, on average, MO1 underestimated sitarMO [prePHV -1.5yr, postPHV -2.8yr; circaPHV= -2.3yr, postMEN= +0.5yr]. Mean discrepancies for MO2 vs. sitarMO were subtle, near zero [prePHV= +0.4yr, postPHV= +0.1yr; circaPHV= -0.1yr, postMEN= -0.01yr]. CONCLUSION: MO1 maturity estimates are flawed; <50% of estimates were within 1yr of sitarMO for assessed maturity ranges. MO2 provides better sitarMO estimates using cross-sectional data. However, it is unclear whether MO2 is an improvement over chronological age for most individuals, as MO2 effectively assesses whether girls are short or tall for their age. In many cases, height for age may primarily reflect genetic height potential rather than maturity status, particularly at older maturity stages.


Education in library and information science (LIS) in the first decade of the 21st century is reviewed and discussed in terms of changes, developments, and associated issues. Specifically, courses and concentrations newly added to the LIS curriculum are described along with a summary of what has been revised, including the core. Distance education in LIS is presented as a result of technology application while reposition, relocation, and closures of LIS schools are also examined. Of the organizational changes among LIS schools, the emergence of iSchools and related topics received particular coverage with data gathered recently. Issues persistent in LIS education (i.e., accreditation of LIS programs, library education crisis, and chasm between LIS education and practices) are revisited with analysis. The author believes on the basis of this review that the digital age has brought us in LIS education with opportunities greater than ever. LIS education will move forward and even thrive in this digital age when the field not only makes intelligent use of the technology but also changes in other dimensions as the society advances.