: In order to further develop topical dosage preparation and transdermal drug delivery sys-tems (TDDS) as a convenient DDS, it is necessary to fully understand the skin structure and the percutaneous absorption of drugs. Here, the author explained skin penetration pathway of drugs and ki-netics aspect for the percutaneous absorption of drugs as well as skin concentration profiles, which are important especially for evaluation of topical dosage preparation. In addition, the author explained about the use of skin-penetration enhancers and physical means to increase the skin permeation of drugs, which are important in practical application. Great progress of AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (internet of things) may derive completely new types of TDDS in the near future. That is why it is time to look back on the past for the sake of the future.


This paper uses the insights from the Optimal Speed of Transition literature to inquire the causes of relatively higher unemployment rate in a transition context. We study whether local variation in unemployment rates is related to labor turnover. In addition, the paper aims to assess the relative impact of inflow and outflow from unemployment on the dynamics of the local unemployment rate. The empirical analysis is based on a newly available unique dataset from the employment registry of a transition economy (Poland), encompassing nine years of monthly data (from 2000 to 2008) at a county (poviat) level. We find that turnover, as well as inflows and outflows separately, are ceteris paribus positively related to the unemployment level. This general conclusion is robust to stratification, model specification as well as spatial effects. We find that elasticity is larger in the case of the inflow rate than for the outflow rate. Finally, we demonstrate that these effects are stronger in low unemployment regions.


Objective To understand the performance and value of chemiluminescence immunoassay(CMIA) in the determination of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide(BNP) and serum troponin I(TPI),myoglobin(MYO) and creatine kinase(CKMB).Methods Abbott i2000SR chemiluminescence analyzer was applied to test and evaluate the precision,accuracy,linearity,anti-jamming capability,carryover,sensitivity to evaluate and verify the reference value range.Results(1) When CMIA was applied to test the within-and between-batch precision of TPI,CKMB,MYO and BNP,the CV values of within-batch precision were lower than 5.5% and the CV values of between-batch precision lower than 7.5%.(2) The bias between determined accuracy value of TPI,CKMB,MYO,and BNP and the target value was 0.6% to 4.8%.(3) The linear verification recovery rate of BNP,TPI,CKMB and MYO was between 90%~110%.(4) When three myocardial markers and BNP were tested with high bilirubin,high concentration Hb and high concentration TG in terms of anti-jamming capability,the three myocardial markers manifested high anti-jamming capability and the recovery rates were all within the acceptable range.The determination of BNP was much affected and the recovery rates were beyond the acceptable range.(5) In carryover experiment,the 4 projects all showed good anti-pollution ability.(6) i2000SR analysis sensitivity for the detection of the 4 projects(detection limit) was within the range provided by the manufacturer;the reference interval of the validation was are in line with the reference range provided by the manufacturer.Conclusion The performance of CMIA method in determination of BNP,TPI,CKMB,and MYO shows fine results in precision and accuracy,linearity,anti-jamming capability,carryover,sensitivity,and can well meet the clinical requirements.


Abstract1. Hippuric acid (12·3% of the dose) and catechol (1·0% of the dose) were found as urinary metabolites when (-)-quinic acid (100 mg) was administered orally to rats. Neither protocatechuic acid nor vanillic acid was detected.2. No significant differences in the extent of urinary excretion of hippuric acid and catechol were found when the quinic acid was given at the end of two successive 24-day periods during which the rats were fed a purified diet containing 1% quinic acid.3. Incubation of quinic acid with rat caecal microorganisms resulted in the formation of benzoic acid under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Catechol was not found in these incubates but small amounts of protocatechuic acid were detected when aerobic conditions were employed.


PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the barriers to the implementation of blockchain technology in construction supply chain management in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a quantitative research approach through a questionnaire survey that was conducted among professionals in the Nigerian construction industry using the snowball sampling method, which resulted in a selection of 155 respondents. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), while Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability.FindingsThe analysis revealed that all barriers ranked above the average mean item score. It also revealed that all professionals have a convergent opinion on the barriers. EFA was used in clustering the identified barriers into two categories: technological and socio-political barrier.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was carried out in the Southwestern region which is one of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria using a cross-sectional survey method.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable insights into the barriers to the implementation of blockchain in supply chain management for professionals and practitioners in the Nigerian construction industry.Originality/valueThe research categorised the barriers into technological and social-political barrier and identified that lack of digitalisation is the major barrier to the implementation of blockchain technology in construction supply chain.


The novel coronavirus COVID-19 originally identified in December 2019, based on the data issued by March 30, 2020 daily report, the epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 so far has caused 693224 cases and resulted in 33106 deaths in more than 200 countries. Referring to the data reported, World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic. We considered the chain-binomial type of the model which involves short stages of high infectivity and approximately constant incubation periods. This research paper is to study and analyze the COVID-19 Virus spreading statistics on the examples of the cases from the different counties. High correlation coefficients (91.64%) and determinants (83.98%) between the total volumes of virus spread and recovery are considered to be high and indicate the correctness of the Bailey model. Thus, as of March 30, with the results of statistical and mathematical data processing, it is difficult to predict the future spread-reduction variables of the pandemic.


Objective: To observe the effect of 70% ethanol extract from Huanglian Jiedu Decoction on expression of S180 tumor cell apoptosis factor in MDR model mice, and to research the molecule biology base fot directing clinic. Methods: simulate Clinic PFC project was simulated, the mice model of multi-drug resistance of S180 tumour cell was established. 70% Ethanol extract from Huanglian Jiedu Decoction were given for 10 days. The flow cytometry was used to observe Fas, Trail, CD54.,et al. Resluts: 70% Ethanol extract from Huanglian Jiedu Decoction can increase expression rate of Fas, Trail and improve apoptosis of S180 cell, at the same time it can decrease expression of CD54.Conclusions: 70% Ethanol extract from Huanglian Jiedu Decoction improve high level expression of apoptosis factor, and it maybe one of pass reverse multi-drug resistance of tumour.


OBJECTIVES To evaluate the role of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and MIB-1/Ki-67 immunohistochemical expression in predicting lymph node metastasis and survival in primary penile squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS We conducted a retrospective evaluation of 125 patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma submitted to primary tumor treatment, with information on lymph node status. Clinical and pathologic data for PCNA and MIB-1/Ki-67 expression in the primary tumor were analyzed. Correlations between these data and lymph node metastasis risk and survival were calculated. RESULTS In univariate analysis, low MIB-1/Ki-67 expression, the presence of lymphovascular permeation, clinically positive lymph nodes, tumor thickness greater than 5 mm, and infiltration of cavernous bodies were correlated with lymph node metastasis. However, the independent factors for lymph node metastasis risk were PCNA and MIB-1/Ki-67 immunoreactivity, lymphovascular permeation, and N clinical stage. Independent variables for disease-free survival were urethra infiltration and the presence of lymph node metastasis. For death risk evaluation the independent variables were age, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage. CONCLUSIONS There was a correlation between PCNA and MIB1/Ki-67 immunohistochemical expression and the presence of lymph node metastasis. However, PCNA and MIB1/Ki-67 immunohistochemical expression did not have a relationship with survival and death risk. UROLOGY 70: 137‐142, 2007. © 2007 Elsevier Inc.


Using an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope, we observed the oxygen vacancies, profiled the concentration in the SnO2−δ nanocrystals on an atomic scale, and estimated the amount of oxygen vacancies to be ca. 3.3 atom%. The SnO2−δ nanocrystals show much improved initial Coulombic efficiency, rate capability and specific capacity compared with stoichiometric SnO2 when used as an anode material for lithium ion batteries.


The nickel-hydrogen (Ni-H/sub 2/) battery system is used extensively in the aerospace industry for power storage in Earth-orbital satellites for communications, observation, scientific and military applications. The Ni-H/sub 2/ system offers potential cycle life unequaled by any other system. A new technology 5.5 inch diameter Ni-H/sub 2/ cell is being developed for aerospace applications. Based on extensive individual pressure vessel (IPV) technology heritage accumulated from millions of hours of on-orbit performance, the large diameter cell will demonstrate increased specific energy and energy density as well as reduced weight, cost and design risk for the new generation of high power satellites requiring capacities greater than 200 ampere-hours (Ah). In this paper, the authors discuss design features and concepts. Design and production issues and details are discussed with regard to similarities and differences from smaller diameter IPV cells currently in production. They present data from development cells which are currently undergoing life cycle testing to assess the reliability of the product as well as acceptance testing which provides meaningful information about lot to lot consistency achieved in production. Planning and execution of cell and battery qualification testing is discussed. Additionally, the next step in large diameter, high capacity Ni-H/sub 2/ IPV cells is presently being developed. This paper discusses design features and examines preliminary test data from that advanced development program.


High magnetic fields may be generated by means of one or more concentric plane helical solenoids. The paper discusses the mechanical stresses in these solenoids when they are mechanically homogeneous and isotropic and compares them with the stresses that result when anisotropy is introduced. Under a wide range of conditions the introduction of anisotropy significantly reduces the maximum stress. The use of these principles in the ANU 30T magnet is described.


The Uygurs, the ancestors of today's Uygurs, are one of the ethnic minorities in China. The primitive beliefs of the Uighurs experienced a gradual process, from primitive worship to shamanism to Manichaeism. In its primitive worship, the worship of heaven is extremely important, in addition to the Wolf as the protection of the clan and the symbol of the totem. With the development of the Uighur society, the class relations changed and the class struggle intensified. Shamanism, unable to meet the needs of the development of the Uighur society, gradually collapsed and was replaced by the emerging Manichaeism.


It is necessary requirement for enterprise transformation to adapt to environmental changes during economic structural adjustment.At the same time,there must be new knowledge input as enterprise development supplement during the emterprise transformation.In the process of enterprise transformation,what knowledge transfer strategies to take are vital to the success of knowledge transfer.The strategies taken are linked to both their own behavior and purpose and the behavior of partners.The paper analyzes the process of knowledge transferring during enterprise transformation with Bayesian theory and then draws the conclusions and proposes the countermeasures.


ABSTRACT Xu, Z.-L.; Zhai, S., and Qian, C.-F., 2019.The impact of green financial agglomeration on the ecological efficiency of marine economy. In: Gong, D.; Zhu, H., and Liu, R. (eds.), Selected Topics in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 94, pp. 988–991. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Compared human capital with marine economic and technological efficiency, the contribution of physical capital to the marine economy is greater. During the sample period, the marine economic and technical efficiency of China's coastal areas showed an overall upward trend. After entering the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", the growth rate of marine economic and technological efficiency accelerated significantly. From the perspective of the region, the efficiency values of Shanghai and Guangdong are always in the higher efficiency range. Tianjin, Shandong and Jiangsu rise from the medium efficiency range to the higher efficiency range, and Hebei rises from the lower efficiency range to the medium efficiency range.


The fractional-order Hammerstein system is a cascading system composed of a static nonlinearity followed by a fractional-order linear dynamics, which is a typical nonlinear system satisfying the local Lipschitz condition, and exhibits quasi-linear properties. This paper combines the fractional-order iterative learning control (FOILC) and the fractional-order iterative learning identification (FOILI), which is applied to the perfect tracking control of fractional-order continuous Hammerstein systems. A novel order learning strategy is proposed to estimate the differentiation order accurately. A practical and robust identification based FOILC scheme is derived so that the convergence speed can be optimized accordingly. Two illustrated examples are provided to validate the above concepts.


age, gender, and geographical region. Exposure to isotretinoin was assessed in the 12 months prior to the fi rst IBD diagnosis for cases, or in the fi rst 12 months of enrollment for controls. Exposure status was compared among cases and controls using conditional logistic regression to adjust for the matching variables. Results: Our sample contained 8,189 cases and 21,832 controls. Amongst cases, 3,664 (45%) patients had a diagnosis of Crohn's disease, 4,428 (54%) had a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, and 97 (1%) had indeterminate IBD. Prior isotretinoin use was present in 60 subjects (24 cases and 36 controls). Th e odds ratio (OR) of IBD for isotretinoin use was 1.68 (95% confi dence interval (CI) 0.98, 2.86), adjusted for age, sex, and geographic region. Increasing number of prescriptions was associated with higher risk: 4 or more prescriptions was associated with an OR of 2.67 (95% CI 1.32, 5.41). In subgroup analyses, ulcerative colitis was strongly associated with prior isotretinoin exposure (OR 4.36, 95% CI 1.97, 9.66). However there was no apparent association between isotretinoin exposure and Crohn's disease (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.28, 1.68). Conclusion: In this case-control study from a large administrative claims database, IBD was associated with prior isotretinoin use. When stratifi ed by manifestation of disease, this association holds for UC, but not CD. Th e OR increased with higher numbers of Accutane prescriptions, indicating a possible dose-response curve. Future studies are indicated to confi rm this fi nding in other populations, and to elucidate possible biological mechanisms by which Accutane may lead to IBD.


The objective of this exploratory study was to describe changes in body composition and resting energy expenditure (REE) in adult women during weight reduction. A total of 69 client records were collected retrospectively from a 25 week commercial weight loss program that restricted calories to 90% of measured REE. Data analyzed included total body mass (TBM), fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) from air displacement plethysmography; measured REE from indirect calorimetry; and predicted REE from linear regression. From baseline to week 25, there were significant declines in TBM (95.0 ± 24.1 kg to 87.2 ± 22.9 kg; P < 0.001) and FM (47.5 ± 18.5 kg to 39.9 ± 17.6 kg; P < 0.001). During the same time period, FFM remained unchanged (47.5 ± 7.3 kg to 47.2 ± 7.0 kg; P ≥ 0.05). REE was signify- cantly lower at weeks 13 (6595.2 ± 1312.1 kJ) and 25 (6608.2 ± 1404.6 kJ) compared to baseline (7117.4 ± 1471.5 kJ) (P < 0.001); however, REE at weeks 13 and 25 were similar (P ≥ 0.05). At weeks 13 and 25, predicted REE (6992.7 ± 1065.7 and 6939.2 ± 1056.0 kJ, respectively) was significantly higher than measured REE (6595.2 ± 1312.1 and 6608.2 ± 1404.6 kJ, respectively) (P < 0.001). The results of this study suggest that significant reduction in TBM is possible without the loss of FFM and that metabolic adaptation may occur during the process.


We evaluated out-of-band distortion of OFDM signals caused by LNBs for FSS systems, which might be also important for spectrum sharing between the IMT-Advanced system and FSS expected from the result of WRC'07. The evaluation results show that the input power of interfering signals should not exceed −60dBm to make ACLR less than −50dB. The results also show that the AM-AM characteristic is the dominant factor to decide spectral properties, while AM-PM characteristics might be important for accurate estimation of out-of-band distortion by a part of non-linear amplifiers.


Background Education level is considered as an important factor for post-stroke functional outcome. Our previous study confirms the feasibility of SMART program to improve adherence of secondary stroke prevention in China. Aims We aim to investigate whether this program can influence the impact of educational level on post-stroke functional outcome in this sub-group analysis of SMART study. Methods We enrolled 3722 patients with acute ischemic stroke from multicenter (n = 47) SMART cohort. Patient's educational level was categorized as three: illiterate, 6th grade or lower, and 7th grade or higher. Functional outcome at six-month post-stroke was assessed by Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and categorized as favorable (mRS: 0–2) or poor (mRS: 3–5). Binary logistic model, adjusting for age, gender, stroke history, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, educational level, and NIHSS was performed, respectively, in SMART group and usual care group to evaluate the effect of the SMART program on stroke functional outcome among different educated patients. Results In both groups, logistic regression analysis showed that poor functional outcome was independently associated with older age [OR(95% CI):1.81(1.41–2.33), p < 0.001(SMART); OR (95% CI):1.38 (1.09–1.73), p = 0.007(usual care)], higher baseline NIHSS [OR (95% CI): 2.90 (2.38–3.53), p < 0.001(SMART); OR (95% CI): 2.82 (2.32–3.44), p < 0.001(usual care)], and diabetes [OR(95% CI):1.88 (1.18–3.00), p = 0.008(SMART); OR (95%CI):1.68 (1.03–2.73), p = 0.037(usual care)]. Compared to illiterate, higher educational levels were independently associated with favorable outcome in usual care group [OR (95% CI): 0.43 (0.20–0.93), p = 0.032 (6th grade or lower) and OR (95% CI): 0.40 (0.19–0.84), p = 0.016 (7th Grade or higher)], but not in SMART group (p = 0.806 and p = 0.889, respectively). Conclusions This study demonstrates that implementation of SMART program may improve post-stroke functional outcome among illiterate. This suggests special attention should be paid to illiterate patients with intensive education in order to improve post-stroke disability.


In this study, using bus probe data, we developed the program, which can remove the influences at bus stops, in order to calculate the link travel speed of general vehicle, as the method to grasp accurate and detailed traffic situation in the urban area. Moreover, we verified the necessity to remove those influences. And we proposed estimation formula of travel speed for general vehicle using bus probe data. In addition, it became possible to grasp a more precise traffic situation by considering the roadsid situation.


This paper presents the implementation of direct power control(DPC) for the rotor side converter of doubly-fed induction generator(DFIG) connected to the wind generation system, as an alternative to the classical vector control(VC). In this paper, DPC is based on space voltage vector and the active and reactive power controllers. SVM (Space Vector Modulation) is applied to compose fixed-switching-frequency DPC strategy, which replaces the lookup-table method in conventional DPC. DFIG's mathematic model and the two control strategies are given, and the simulations of DFIG based on DPC and VC are made separately by MATLAB/Simulink. The control performance of the two control strategies are discussed based on the simulation work. And the differences of them are compared on the aspects of steady, dynamic and transient characteristics. This study makes a detailed analysis and provides evidence to the research of DFIG's control system. It sets up the foundation for the research of the DFIG's short circuit characteristics as well as the related protection configuration. And some useful suggestions about the selection of these two control strategies under different conditions are provided. (6 pages)


Purpose – This paper aims to examine motivations for young consumers' internet use, how these motivations relate to children's privacy concerns and, subsequently, children's willingness to disclose personally identifiable information.Design/methodology/approach – The strengths of three common internet usage motives (information seeking, entertainment, and socializing) in predicting disclosure behavior are examined via survey research with a sample of children aged 10‐12.Findings – Two of the motives – information seeking and socializing – are found to influence privacy concerns, which in turn, are shown to affect willingness to disclose information. Information‐seeking motivations were positively related to privacy concerns, while socializing motivations were negatively related to privacy concerns. Direct incentives are also found to increase disclosure.Originality/value – The findings suggest that the uses and gratifications theory is useful for understanding children's privacy behaviors relating to info...


We point out that the amplitudes for the decays B-bar{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +}D{sub s}{sup -} and B-bar{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sup +}D{sup -} have no factorizable contributions. If one or two of the D-mesons in the final state are vectors (i.e D* 's) there are relatively small factorizable contributions through the annihilation mechanism. The dominant contributions to the decay amplitudes arise from chiral loop contributions and 1/Nc suppressed tree level. We predict that the branching ratios for the processes B-bar{sub d}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +}D{sub s}{sup -}, B-bar{sub d}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +}*D{sub s}{sup -} and B-bar{sub d}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub s}{sup +}D{sub s}{sup -}* are all of order (2 - 3) x 10-4, while B-bar{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub d}{sup +}D{sub d}{sup -}, B-bar{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub d}{sup +}*D{sub d}{sup -} and B-bar{sub s}{sup 0} {yields} D{sub d}{sup +}D{sub d}{sup -}* are of order (4 - 7) x 10-3. If both D-mesons in the final state are D*'s, we obtain branching ratios of order two times bigger.


A hybrid optical fiber structure sensor for simultaneous measurement of temperature and low pressure based on Fabry–Perot (FP) interference and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed. The FP cavity is fabricated with a capillary pure silica tube, whose one end is surface processed to result in an open FP cavity. The measurement of refractive index change of different pressures has been achieved by monitoring the wavelength shift of the interference pattern in the reflection spectrum. The FP cavity is integrated with the FBG to obtain temperature measurement simultaneously.


II—the later Ptolemies appear with a designatory number one less than normal. Ptolemy Euergetes II Physkon is no longer Ptolemy VIII (but VII), Soter II no longer Ptolemy IX (but VIII), and so on. Although this represents a return to earlier practice—Physkon was Ptolemy VII for Bouché-Leclerq and E. Bevan, A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty (London, 1927)—an attempt to reform current practice does seem somewhat perverse. There is an argument in favour of convention, if only for the sake of recognition. Similarly, with the Kleopatras. Kleopatra Tryphaina is Kleopatra V in the CAH XII2, as in Whitehorne, Cleopatras (London and New York, 1994); for Huss she is Kleopatra VII. Time will tell if these innovations are here to stay. The level of production of this book is particularly high. The maps are useful and though some visual illustration might seem desirable, this would be out of line with the general historical approach, adding to both size and cost. Beck have produced a handsome book; the bound-in bookmark is a notable advantage in such a large volume.


This series of lectures gives an introduction to K-theory, including both topological K-theory and algebraic K-theory, and also discussing some aspects of Hermitian K-theory and cyclic homology. They also include a survey of several contemporary developments and applications. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 19-01 Secondary 19-02


The understanding of noise and efficiency characteristics of fan motor systems is important for all engineers developing air movement systems whether they are for stand-alone ventilation systems or for air movement solutions incorporated into broader systems. The volume of air flow and air velocity through static pressure resistances are the main and vital variables controlling system performance in air movement. However if these characteristics are not controlled, then turbulence causes losses and low system performance. The paper explores the noise characteristics of typical fan types. As the most common fan types, fluid flow characteristics of both axial fans and single inlet centrifugal backward curve fans without housing (plug fans) are detailed and design improvements discussed. Installation characteristics for improved noise are explored and recommendations for system design improvements are given including performance improvements in condensers and air handling units. Conclusions for mechanical engineers working on building systems are shown and recommendations and design principles given.


This paper examines the effect of the Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) case frequency and determinations against Canada and Mexico, respectively. These free trade agreements (FTAs) may have affected U.S. AD/CVD activity both through increased trade volumes and through the establishment of new Chapter 19 dispute settlement procedures to review national AD/CVD decisions when requested. Using a panel database of U.S. AD/CVD activity from 1980 through 2000, the paper generally finds no evidence that either increased import volumes or Chapter 19 dispute settlement activity affected the frequency of U.S. AD/CVD cases or affirmative determinations against Canada and Mexico. An exception is evidence that cumulative remands by Chapter 19 dispute panels to review U.S. decisions against Canada have led to fewer new affirmative AD/CVD decisions against Canada. These results have implications for future negotiations of PTAs and WTO rounds.


Ahoy! Clear the deck! (or lilt ip & Shore shirts at YE1'I1I First command iI , get into ~ (suits and skirb] and stllnd at alt!Dtlon when YOU ~ that YETm h,lVe their campI!!! spring selecti~ II Ship & Shore mu. Ilere in time (or 1111 to tuck them 'w your spring !lm! . . . 'neath 1111t sweater ... undl! that suit! You'U Imt the long and ih«t eve styles in white and pullk, u'll SEe the salutes you'll III len you flaunt the strlP!d. irts ... regulUl' pin-stripes. And "la t will please your molhlr . they're all ;unforized shrur.k! ices $1.29-$2.49.


ABSTRACT Lime-based renders have been used since the earliest periods of antiquity. Amongst them, hydrated lime renders set and harden almost entirely through carbonation; this is a slow chemical reaction, which hinders the wider use of the aforementioned composites. The present study focuses on hydrated lime renders that have been modified through the addition of nano-sized dolerite quarry waste and olivine basalt. Both ultrafine rock additives were added to the mixtures at a percentage of 15% (w/w in partial replacement to the binder). Thermogravimetric (DTA/TG) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, as well as the phenolphthalein indicator test, demonstrated that the degree of carbonation of the modified lime renders was notably enhanced. This has a positive effect on the setting and hardening time of the nano-modified end-products, which could therefore be adopted not only for restoration purposes, but also in contemporary sustainable construction.


Abstract Introduction A Class II malocclusion is a common orthodontic problem that may affect social acceptance and the self-esteem of the patient. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of functional appliance therapy on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) of patients presenting with a skeletal Class II malocclusion due to mandibular deficiency. Methods Forty-nine patients (11 to 14 years old) with a Class II malocclusion due to mandibular deficiency were included as the experimental group. A control group of 49 subjects was selected from school children without malocclusion. The Child Oral Impact on Daily Performance (Child-OIDP) index was administered, repeated and differences were evaluated following functional therapy using the Clark Twin Block appliance. Results At baseline, the most common oral impact on daily performance in the experimental group was emotional stability (35 patients, 71.4%) and smiling without shame (34 patients, 69.4%), which respectively decreased to 12.2% (six cases) and 20.4% (10 cases) after functional therapy. The mean (±SD) of the Child-OIDP Overall Impact score in the experimental group at baseline was 25.94 (±17.84), which significantly decreased to 2.77 (±2.09) after therapy (p < 0.001). Conclusion Functional therapy using the Clark Twin Block appliance had a significant effect in improving OHRQOL of children presenting with mandibular deficiency.


Abstract : The Apache was the first helicopter of its kind to fly with the tail rotor blade offset by 55 degrees as opposed to the traditional 90 degrees. Current balancing methods approximate the rotor system as a traditional 4 bladed, same plane system with different weight sensitivity coefficients for each set of blades. The Apache tail rotor computer model was built using the Rotorcraft Comprehensive Analysis System (RCAS) program. The objective was not to develop solutions for the sensitivity coefficients, but to identify predictive trends that result from the tail rotor blade location. Currently, sensitivity coefficients applied to the adjustment algorithms of the Aviation Vibration Analyzer (AVA) processor are broken down into an outer blade coefficient and an inner blade coefficient. Evidence from the computer simulation results computed in this research showed that the sensitivities depended on the quadrant the phase fell into, not the relationship between the inner and outer blades. That would mean every blade would have two sensitivity coefficients, one for the adjacent 55 degree quadrant and one for the adjacent 125 degree quadrant. Information collected from RCAS provides enough validation that changes should be made in the process and the next steps should be taken to determining more accurate sensitivity coefficients for the Apache tail rotor balancing procedures.


Olanzapine is a widely prescribed second generation antipsychotic (SGA) that can lead to metabolic syndrome. SGAs are not a homogeneous class, and differ from each other in many ways. The risk for metabolic syndrome is significantly higher with olanzapine than other second generation antipsychotics. It is neccessary for prescribing doctors to be aware of this risk in order to prevent it; and/or manage it appropriately. Psychiatric patients face numerous barriers with regard to access and quality of medical care. They especially receive poorer care for chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. This leads to an increased risk of premature death. Addressing the physical needs of mentally ill patients needs to be given priority. Guidelines such as those arising from the Consensus Development Conference on Antipsychotic Drugs and Obesity and Diabetes, have been formulated for monitoring metabolic status. The current study aimed to establish the extent to which metabolic and cardiovascular screening and monitoring was undertaken on patients prescribed olanzapine in a specialist psychiatric hospital setting. The hypothesis was that screening was suboptimal (i.e. less than 100%).


The affective domain is the main focus of social studies as a subject. This should be reflected in the teaching and assessment of social studies. It would appear that, there is a cognitive orientation to the teaching and evaluation of the subject among social studies teachers in Junior Secondary Schools in Nasarawa State. This paper sets out to find, if social studies teachers generally assess the affective domain to an acceptable level and the proportion of teachers who meet the acceptable level of evaluation as specified by the study. Keywords: Assessment, Social studies, Competence, Secondary school.


These pictures are a portrait of Mary Champ. There are three pictures. This print was made from the original glass plate negative, which is housed at Virginia Historical Society.


In this work, AdaBoost and C4.5, are employed for classifying Skype direct (UDP and TCP) communications from traffic log files. Pre-processing is applied to the traffic data to express it as flows, which is later converted into a descriptive feature set. The aforementioned algorithms are then evaluated on this feature set. Results show that a 98% detection rate with 6% false positive rate for UDP based Skype and a 94% detection rate with 4% false positive rate for TCP based Skype is possible to achieve.


Researchers have proposed numerous techniques to improve the scalability of coherence directories. The effectiveness of these techniques not only depends on application behavior, but also on the CPU's configuration, for example, its core count and cache size. As CPUs continue to scale, it is essential to explore the directory's application and architecture dependencies. However, this is challenging given the slow speed of simulators. While it is common practice to simulate different applications, previous research on directory designs have explored only a few—and in most cases, only one—CPU configuration, which can lead to an incomplete and inaccurate view of the directory's behavior. This article proposes to use multicore reuse distance analysis to study coherence directories. We develop a framework to extract the directory access stream from parallel least recently used (LRU) stacks, enabling rapid analysis of the directory's accesses and contents across both core count and cache size scaling. A key part of our framework is the notion of relative reuse distance between sharers, which defines sharing in a capacity-dependent fashion and facilitates our analyses along the data cache size dimension. We implement our framework in a profiler and then apply it to gain insights into the impact of multicore CPU scaling on directory behavior. Our profiling results show that directory accesses reduce by 3.3× when scaling the data cache size from 16KB to 1MB, despite an increase in sharing-based directory accesses. We also show that increased sharing caused by data cache scaling allows the portion of on-chip memory occupied by the directory to be reduced by 43.3%, compared to a reduction of only 2.6% when scaling the number of cores. And, we show certain directory entries exhibit high temporal reuse. In addition to gaining insights, we also validate our profile-based results, and find they are within 2--10% of cache simulations on average, across different validation experiments. Finally, we conduct four case studies that illustrate our insights on existing directory techniques. In particular, we demonstrate our directory occupancy insights on a Cuckoo directory; we apply our sharing insights to provide bounds on the size of Scalable Coherence Directories (SCD) and Dual-Grain Directories (DGD); and, we demonstrate our directory entry reuse insights on a multilevel directory design.


Recent studies on social computing such as massively-multiplayer online games (MMOGs), have attracted the attention of many researchers in the world. This emerging field has been developed in close collaboration between social and computer scientists. In this area of science, "computation" is used as a mechanism for conducting the "social science" researches. Due to the increasing growth of MMOGs both in terms of economic activities and social interactions, the necessity of focusing on social computing in digital games industry is apparent. The MMOGs provide mechanisms to extend social activities among gamers such as creation and formation of groups, tribes, clans, corporations, etc. Data collected from the MMOGs provides an excellent insight in order to study the gamers' social behavior. This article is the first survey on the study of the gamers' behavior using Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches and other relevant interdisciplinary methods. In this paper, at first, we highlight the importance of studying the behavior of users of MMOGs, and then, we categorize the former studies into five broad classes including: "gamer modeling", "gamer experience modeling", "gamer incentive modeling", "social relationship analysis", and "human gamer behavior and automated agents (bots) detection". We also draw the trends of future researches in this area.


A linearized MOSFET-C lowpass filter suitable for a baseband channel selection filter for a direct conversion receiver is presented. Using polysilicon resistors instead of MOSFET resistors in the input and output part, the filter achieves very high out-of-band linearity but keeps the original transfer function of the filter under a continuous on-chip cutoff tuning scheme. The filter achieves -1.8 dBV in-band IIP3, +27.8 dBV out-of-band IIP3, +93.8 dBV out-of-band IIP2 and 46.7 /spl mu/Vrms input-referred noise.


This book provides a first-hand account of policymaking and implementation in the real world. The author, whose distinguished career in the government and the Central Bank of Korea spanned more than thirty years, brings to life the many competing forces that influence virtually any economic policy decision. He describes his experiences in: 1) identifying policy issues; 2) evaluating international experience; 3) assessing national constraints on policy implementation; 4) selecting policy options; and 5) sustaining policy implementation. The memoirs also illustrate how institutional mechanisms, such as the recruitment, promotion, and motivation of a dedicated civil service, can contribute to socioeconomic development.


A study by National Health Unit - U.S.S.L. 32 on 28 patients suffering from manic depressive psychosis has shown the great importance of social and environment factors in the treatment of this disease. In two test groups given the same quantity of lithium salts, the one also receiving a social and environmental assistance revealed a net reduction in the number of hospital admissions for manic symptoms whereas no significant improvement was obtained in the other group.


Tilting train is the best solution to provide faster passenger service on conventional railway lines without too costly modification of infrastructure. Kinematic envelope gauging is very important when applying tilting trains to conventional railways with limited clearance. Due to tilting motion, the kinematic envelope of tilting train is larger than that of non-tilting train. This study was done to estimate the maximum dimension of tilting train being suitable for Korean conventional lines. In this study the two worst cases of tilting train movement was assumed and related suspension displacements, geometrical overthrow of train on curve, wear of wheel & rail were combined to determine kinematic envelope.


Computational models facilitate investigation of arrhythmias. In this study, geometry, fiber orientation and radiofrequency ablation lesion location are extracted from optical coherence tomography images to develop structural models of the atria.


This paper proposes a 3D computational Finite Element model of a shear wall test that includes the test device with the tested concrete slab. A modified Drucker-Prager model was used for the modelling of the nonlinear behaviour of the concrete. The condition of plasticity is formed from two criteria with which it is possible to realistically describe the strength of concrete under pressure, tension and shear stress. The simulation results are compared to measured data.


Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a member of eosinophilic gastrointestinal (GI) diseases and is characterized by the accumulation of eosinophils within the GI tract. Common symptoms of eosinophilic gastroenteritis are vomiting, abdominal pain, dysphagia, and weight loss, but rare fever in neonate. This report describes a 10-day-old boy who developed fever, bloody mucoid stool, and bilious vomiting resulting from eosinophilic gastroenteritis, mimicking sepsis. Sigmoidoscopy and pathologic findings revealed mucosal edema, small hemorrhagic spot, and segmental erythemoid edema in the colon and increased number of eosinophils in the lamina propria with intraepithelial eosinophils. After breast milk feeding with restriction of milk from the mother for 6 months, specific immunoglobulin to milk was class 0 (class 3, previous). The boy restarted formula feeding, and he had no fever and GI symptoms.


Thyroid pathology has a leading position in clinical endocrinology. Diseases of the thyroid gland in terms of prevalence are comparable with diabetes mellitus, and far ahead of other endocrine disorders. Current treatment approaches of hypothyroidism are rarely based on the pathogenesis, and are reduced to hormone replacement therapy. The purpose of this study is to determine the general hematological parameters after correction of experimental hypothyroidism with an extract of the root of the plant R. semenowii both alone and in combination with potassium iodide. As a result of the study, we found that in the experimental treatment of hypothyroidism, the extract of the root of R. semenowii B. with a predominant content of rhodioflavonoside has a pronounced therapeutic effect, expressed in the normalization of the level of pituitary and thyroid hormones. The obtained results indicate the absence of toxic and damaging effects such as activation and inhibition of hematopoiesis after enteral administration of the root extract of R. semenowii.


Objective: This project aims to enhance the occupational health insurance for coke oven workers. Methods: A total of 136 coke oven emissions workers and 61 oxygen plant workers were recruited to receive physical examinations. The coke oven emissions concentration at the workplace was measured by weighing method. The CC16 concentration was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Logistic regression analysis revealed that exposure to coke oven emissions was correlated with CC16. Correlation analysis revealed that CC16 was related to some physical examination indicators. Multivariate general linear models showed that CC16 was indeed positively correlated with albumin after adjusting for confounding factors. Conclusions: Coke oven emissions affected multiple tissues and multiple systems. The blood system might be the earliest system affected and could be detected by the CC16 protein concentration.


THE finding of high blood-ammonia concentrations following the injection of massive doses of L-phenylalanine (40 mMolesjKg.) (du Ruisseau et al. 1956) has given currency to the view that the biochemical simulation of phenylketonuria, produced by the administration of excess phenylalanine to experimental animals, results in ammonia intoxication (Bessman 1966). The amounts injected, however, were 6--12 times greater than those customarily administered to rats when producing blood-phenylalanine levels consistent with phenylketonuric concentrations. The larger dose was sufficient to cause death in 99.9 per cent of the animals so injected (Gullino et al. I956), whereas. in our experience, all animals survive an injection of 3-6 mMo1es;Kg. of L-phenylalanine. Although an extreme amino-acid excess seriously compromises the ability of the organism to maintain normal ammonia levels, metabolic response to a more moderate aminoacid load remains uncertain. In the present investigation blood-ammonia concentrations under conditions of experimentallyand genetically-induced hyperphenylalaninemia have been compared, using appropriate controls. Sprague-Dawley rats 1-8 days of age were injected i.m. with 0.5-0.7 mg. of L-phenylalanine per g. birth-weight and weanlings (25-30 days of age) received 1 mg. of L-phenylalanine per g. BW i.p. After thirty minutes the animals were sacrificed by decapitation and blood obtained from the severed neck vessels. The blood collected in chilled (4" C.), heparinized tubes was centrifuged immediately and the blood-ammonia determined within 15 minutes by selective absorption on an ion-exchange resin, using a commercially available test kit.* Phenylalanine determinations were performed on each plasma sample using the McCamanRobins ( 1 962) fluorimetric method. For comparison, blood samples from normal human subjects and n o n x u and PKU retardates (8-25 years of age) were obtained three hours postprandially and treated as above. The Table shows that moderately high circulating levels of phenylalanine, whether experimentally or genetically induced, do not result in significant elevations of blood ammonia. Furthermore, as Navazio and his co-workers (1961) pointed out, it takes at least a 20-fold increase in the basal blood-ammonia concentration to increase brain-ammonia levels significantly in the


Voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) has been used repeatedly in single‐center studies to investigate regional gray matter (GM) atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS). In multi‐center trials, across‐scanner variations might interfere with the detection of disease‐specific structural abnormalities, thereby potentially limiting the use of VBM. Here we evaluated longitudinally inter‐site differences and inter‐site comparability of regional GM in MS using VBM. Baseline and follow up 3D T1‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 248 relapsing‐remitting (RR) MS patients, recruited in two clinical centers, (center1/2: n = 129/119; mean age 42.6 ± 10.7/43.3 ± 9.3; male:female 33:96/44:75; median disease duration 150 [72–222]/116 [60–156]) were acquired on two different 1.5T MR scanners. GM volume changes between baseline and year 2 while controlling for age, gender, disease duration, and global GM volume were analyzed. The main effect of time on regional GM volume was larger in data of center two as compared to center one in most of the brain regions. Differential effects of GM volume reductions occured in a number of GM regions of both hemispheres, in particular in the fronto‐temporal and limbic cortex (cluster P corrected <0.05). Overall disease‐related effects were found bilaterally in the cerebellum, uncus, inferior orbital gyrus, paracentral lobule, precuneus, inferior parietal lobule, and medial frontal gyrus (cluster P corrected <0.05). The differential effects were smaller as compared to the overall effects in these regions. These results suggest that the effects of different scanners on longitudinal GM volume differences were rather small and thus allow pooling of MR data and subsequent combined image analysis. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Objective The objective of this study was to identify differences in voiding trial success rates between delayed (postoperative day 1) and day of surgery catheter removal ("fast track") among women undergoing benign gynecologic surgery. Rates of urinary tract infection, patient satisfaction, and lower urinary tract symptoms were compared between catheter management schemes. Methods Women undergoing benign gynecologic surgery were randomized to either "conventional" delayed urinary catheter care removal on postoperative day 1 or day of surgery catheter removal (fast track) 4 hours after surgery. Subjects were asked to complete a brief survey recording bladder function before and during their hospitalization and satisfaction with their catheter management. Subjects were contacted by phone 2 to 3 weeks after the index surgery to survey their bladder function including symptoms (eg, dysuria) or treatment indicative of a bladder infection. Results The median dwell time for Foley catheters in the "fast-track" group was 8.15 hours (SD = 375 minutes), whereas the median dwell time in the conventional group was 20.6 hours (SD = 265 minutes), which was significantly different (P < 0.001). Overall, 153 (93%) patients passed their voiding trial with significantly more patients passing their voiding trial in the conventional management group (P = 0.01). There was no difference in the Urogenital Distress Inventory scores at 2 weeks between catheter management cohorts (P = 0.81). Conclusions Foley dwell time is significantly reduced in the fast-track cohort. Voiding trial failure is higher with same-day catheter removal but that rate of failure rate is low. Patient satisfaction, the Urogenital Distress Inventory score, and postoperative urinary tract infection rates are not significantly different between cohorts.


The principal role of acetylcholinesterase (AChE)is the termination of nerve impulse transmission at the cholinergic synapses by rapid hydrolysis of acetylcholine (ACh). Inhibition of AChE serves as a strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Several acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) are used for the symptomatic treatment of AD A potential source of AChE inhibitors is certainly provided by the abundance of plants in nature. The aim of this article is study the effect of some plants and pesticides on acetylcholinesterase. Several plants considered as a source of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and pesticides special organophosphorus. Cholinesterase inhibitors are the only approved drugs for treating patients with mild to moderately severe Alzheimer's disease, a disorder associated with progressive degeneration of memory and cognitive function. The memory impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease results from a deficit of cholinergic function in the brain. The most important changes observed in the brain are a decrease in cortical levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and associated enzyme choline transferees. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors can restore the level of acetylcholine by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. Principal role of acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) is the termination of nerve impulse transmission at the cholinergic synapses by rapid hydrolysis of acetylcholine (ACh). Inhibition of AChE serves as a strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), senile dementia, ataxia, myasthenia gravis and Parkinson's disease (Kumar et al., 2011). There are a few synthetic medicines, e.g., tacrine, donepezil and the natural product-based rivastigmine for treatment of cognitive dysfunction and memory loss associated with AD. There are two types of cholinesterase, AChE and butyrylcholinestrase (BuChE). The AChE is found primarily in the blood and neural synapses. The BuChE is found primarily in the liver. The biggest difference between the two is the substrates. The AChE hydrolyzes acetylcholine (ACh) more quickly and BuChE hydrolyzes butyrylcholine (BuCh) more quickly. The BuCh is a synthetic compound used to distinguish AChE receptors from BuChE receptors. Many of the drugs that are available for treatment of AD target both AChE and BuChE but some are more (Mehta et al., 2012). These compounds have been reported to have their adverse effects including gastrointestinal disturbances and problems associated with bioavailability, which necessitates the interest in finding better AChE inhibitors from natural resources. In traditional practices numerous plants have been used to treat cognitive disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases and different neuron pharmacological disorders.


According to the characteristics of ZPMC automated container terminal operation system, this paper investigates the equipment distribution problem among transportation system, and establishes the scheduling solution of mathematical model for single ship with the shortest total loading/unloading time. Using an improved particle swarm algorithm as the experimental solving method, results show that the proposed model and algorithm are effective and practical.


Abstract Let P be a prime ideal of the ring of continuous real-valued functions on a completely regular frame L, i.e., L. We study many new results about the residue class domains L/P with an emphasis on determining when the ordered L/P is a valuation domain (i.e., when given any two non-zero elements of L/P , one divides the other). A prime ideal P of L is called a valuation prime ideal if L/P is a valuation domain. A frame L is called an SV-frame if every prime ideal of L is a valuation prime ideal. We introduce and study two new generalizations of the SV-frames. The first is that of a quasi SV-frame in which every real maximal ideal of L that is not a minimal prime ideal contains a non-maximal prime ideal P such that L/P is a valuation domain. In the second, we define a frame L to be an almost SV-frame if every maximal ideal of L contains a minimal valuation prime ideal. A point I ∈ Pt(βL) is called a special βF -point if O I = {δ ∈ L : coz δ ∈ I} is a valuation prime ideal of L. It is shown that I is a special βF -point if and only if the pseudo-prime ideals of L containing O I that are not primary form a chain under set inclusion.


This study examines retirement plan participation and savings behavior for American public and private sector employees using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data set. This paper also examines the determinants of preference for a diversified portfolio within the retirement plans. The findings of this study indicate that the population's plan participation increases with age, income, and education level. The public sector employees are more likely than others to participate in defined benefits plans. Conversely, they are less likely to participate in the defined contribution plans. Also, the public sector employees who participate in defined contribution plans hold lower amounts within their retirement accounts. The public sector employees are more likely to diversify their retirement portfolios or allocate them in bonds or annuities and are less likely to hold all or most of their wealth in stocks. Preference for diversification also increases with age, income and educational attainment.


153 Angiogenesis, also called neovascularization, is the formation of vessels from pre-existing ones. Angiogenesis is a tightly controlled process that is essential for normal physiological events such as wound healing, but is also indispensable for tumor growth and metastases. Endothelial cells form the inner surface of the blood vessel that, upon activation by for instance growth factors, cytokines or inflammatory cells, penetrate their basal membrane and subsequently migrate and invade into the extracellular matrix (ECM), surrounding the blood vessel and proliferate to form neovessels. During wound healing, fibrin initially forms the provisional matrix and once endothelial cells express the proper integrin receptors, they invade this temporary matrix and start to synthesize a permanent matrix. Although the role of fibrinolysis during angiogenesis in wound healing has been challenged, a role for the plasminogen activators uPA and tPA as well as for plasmin, has been demonstrated. These proteases are also modulators of the angiogenic process as their activation affect the formation of neovessels. TAFI has also been described as a modulator of fibrinolysis in angiogenesis as it may act as a direct inhibitor of plasmin generation. Although the role of TAFI in cutaneous wound healing has been shown, it still remains to be explained why TAFI-deficient mice display normal angiogenesis. Integrins are cell adhesion molecules that support the binding of endothelial cells to ECM components such as fibrin, fibronectin and vitronectin. In particular the αvβ3and α5β1-integrins received special attention, because they are expressed on angiogenic endothelial cells. Cross talk between integrins as well as compensatory responses by other integrins display the complex mechanism of action and currently the exact role of angiogenesis is a matter of controversy. Nevertheless, pre-clinical trials with anti-integrin molecules were promising and have led to ongoing clinical trials. Besides their role in cell adhesion, integrins also serve as transmembrane receptors that link the inner cell surface with the outside of the cell. In this way integrins modulate cell signaling pathways that lead to cytoskeleton reorganization and eventually cell motility, that is required for angiogenesis. The work described in this thesis comprises the different aspects of angiogenesis that in general can be divided into 3 parts. The first part describes the role of fibrin as the most important ECM component during wound healing. The second part describes modulators of the angiogenic process that include plasminogen as well as TAFI, but also integrins as their expression and their subsequent activation also affect angiogenesis. In the third part a closer look at cell signaling pathways that are involved in angiogenesis has been taken, in particular the ones that affect cytoskeleton reorganization.


How to design the interfacial properties is a significant fundamental issue in the field of the composite materials, while little work was concerned with the mechanical design of the interface for the fiber reinforced polymer. In the present work, a fiber bundle embedded in the matrix was described as a transversely isotropic material. Based on the imperfect interface conditions, the interface parameters were derived to satisfy the neutral conditions for the composite materials reinforced by the elliptical cross-section fiber bundle. It is found that the interface parameter is not always associated with the applied loading in the case of the anti-plane shear. In the state of equal-biaxial tension, the normal interface parameter is merely related to the mechanical properties of components except for the shape of the fiber bundle, but independent of the loading magnitude. In the other cases of pure shear and uniaxial tension, the neutral interface does not exist except that the fiber bundle has a circular cross-section. It is also found that the interface parameters can be expressed in the forms similar to that for an isotropic inclusion by using Kolosov constant in the in-plane deformations.


A variant of the Health Outcomes Sur vey, the Medicare Health Outcomes Sur vey-Modified (HOS-M) is a brief mixed mode annual survey (mail with telephone followup) specifically designed to collect functional status information from enroll ees in the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations or in the dually eligible beneficiaries demon strations. CMS uses the HOS-M results to adjust Medicare capitation rates paid to these plans, taking the frailty of the enroll ees into account. The frailty adjuster is applied in conjunction with the CMS-Hier archical Coexisting Condition model and is based on activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations. After a brief description of the HOS-M and the PACE program, we pre sent the results from the 2006 HOS-M to describe the health status of the PACE enrollees that participated in the survey.


Recent studies on the declining fertility rate of Japanese women have revealed that a considerable part of this can be explained by deferral of marital timing, as well as a declining fertility rate among married couples. In this paper, a possibility is demonstrated that late marriage is in part due to the adversity that the Japanese young must face after their educational career. In fact, the payback of education is not significantly good enough even for the highly educated, as a result of the seniority wage system in Japan. Additional evidence shows that those with no experience at living apart from their parents, that is with possible family support, tend to be able to marry earlier. This suggests that those without family support have more difficulties to marry.


The corrosion fatigue behavior of duplex stainless steel (DSS) was studied at different cyclic stress levels in 3.5%NaCl (mass fraction, so as the follows) solution (pH = 7) at 50℃. The results showed that DSS was susceptible to pitting Corrosion and Corrosion fa- tigue. Both Intergranluar Corrosion cracking and transgranlular corrosion cracking initiated at the bottom of pitting holes. Furthermore, the corrosion fatigue properties of DSS in 3.5%NaCl solution may be relatived to complex electrochemical and mechanical coupling effects between the three phases (austenite, ferrite and medensite), where martensite and ferrite were anodic in the corrosion cell and could be prone to cracking under certain condition.


Genomic instability at the level of chromosomal structure (chromosomal instability) plays an important role in cancer progression. It has been suggested by several studies that chromosomal instability could facilitate large leaps in the fitness landscape during adaptation to a novel environment with less mutational steps than single-nucleotide substitution mutators. This is because chromosomal instability generates structural changes in chromosomes (chromosome rearrangements) with the ability to not only affect genetic sequences of particular genes but even interfere with the order of regulatory elements, thus changing gene expression patterns. Studies addressing the evolutionary dynamics of mutators for chromosomal structure are currently lacking in the literature and are utterly necessary to understand the extent to which the higher intrinsic evolvability of these mutators could be beneficial or deleterious. It has been hypothesized that in a constant, non-stressful environment, chromosomal instability is expected to pay a cost due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations. However, during adaptation to a novel environment or under fluctuating environments, mutators of chromosomal structure can provide the genetic variation necessary for the population to adapt and the positive fitness effects contributed by individual rearrangements may exceed the detrimental effects. The aim of this work was to ascertain the evolutionary trade-offs that drive evolution of chromosomal instability. Through an experimental evolution approach, we studied the short-term adaptation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe unstable strains to two environmental conditions: a constant non-stressful environment and a fluctuating environment. The instability phenotype of the strains used in this work is given by a set of mutations in the capping of telomeres and in DNA repair mechanisms that ultimately lead to patterns of gross chromosome rearrangements, including translocations, inversions, deletions, amplifications and aneuploidy. After short-term adaptation to a constant environment, the fitness of mutator strains increased and adaptation was accompanied by phenotypic divergence, revealing a complex fitness landscape with many local peaks. Furthermore, adaptation under a fluctuating environment revealed a trade-off in the ability to exploit alternative carbon sources. Altogether, our results indicate that the short-term evolutionary dynamics of mutators for chromosomal structure is highly complex and dependent on the environmental conditions.


Introduction. The main goal of the effective medical management is to provide patients with medical services quality at all stages of providing medical care. The process of strategic management of health care is based on the tasks of improving the quality of medical services.
The purpose of the article is to form the theoretical foundations of strategic management of medical services quality in modern business conditions.
Results. The analysis of normative information support of scientific, theoretical and practical components of strategic management of medical services quality is carried out, the results of which will allow to study more deeply the problem of improving the quality of medical services for a particular patient and health care in general. The regulatory and legal support of strategic management of medical services quality was investigated. Certain elements of the quality management system of medical services in the modeled strategic management act as variables and are filled with a lot of information that characterizes the process of providing and effectiveness of medical services. Thus, the use of tools, measures and statistical methods to measure and predict the quality of health services will provide a system of strategic management in the field of health. Effective strategic management of health services quality requires timely, objective, unbiased and sound information about changes that occur in the process of providing health services. It confirms the feasibility of using the tool of strategic management in health care - monitoring the quality of health services. The main fundamental approaches to the targeted effectiveness of the socio-economic system in the field of health care are studied. The process of assessing the quality of medical services is analyzed.
Conclusions. According to the results of the study, it is proved that the analysis of the quality of medical services should take into account their compliance with the currently established national standards, expectations and needs of consumers. The basis of strategic quality management of medical services is the process of continuous improvement of the quality of medical services.
Keywords: health care, quality of medical services, quality assessments of medical services, strategic management, strategy, health care institution, standardization.


With the invention of MPLS and the Improvement in traffic engineering, multipath packet forwarding and dynamic load control has become a reality. A dynamic load control, while it can improve network efficiency by controlling loads between paths according to the network state, can lead to unstable and oscillating state because of the staleness of the state information. In this paper, we propose a efficient load control scheme which remains stable. The proposed scheme introduces prediction to reduce the staleness of state message and to prevent oscillation.


Hollow nanospheres with a particle size of less than 25 nm have been successfully fabricated using an ethylene-, phenylene-, and 1,4-diethylphenylene-bridging silane precursor with F127 as a soft template under an acidic medium. As the size and flexibility of the bridging organic group increases, it is more and more difficult for the formation of hollow nanospheres. The organic additive, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, could finely tune the particle size of the nanosphere from 12 to 25 nm. It was found that silane precursors with hydrophobicity and slow hydrolysis rate favor the formation of hollow nanospheres and hydrophilic silane precursors such as tetramethoxysilane induce the formation of mesostructured bulk materials. Under the current synthesis conditions, carefully tuning the interaction between templates and silica species, organosilica hollow nanospheres with controlled composition can be successfully obtained.


This study investigates the relationship between depressive affect and restraint and family and friendship variables in 103 unselected sixth graders (56 girls). Family measures included family structure (intact vs. two-parent families) and four family processes; communication with father, communication with mother, family cohesion and family adaptability. In addition, friendship support was assessed. Family structure was related to depression, but not after family processes were partialled out. Stepwise multiple regression models indicated that family cohesion and friendship support accounted for more than 50 percent of the variance in depressive affect. A high risk group for depressive affect was identified: Adolescents from single parent families with low friendship support had scores in the clinically depressed range. Restraint was best predicted by gender and mother-adolescent communication in the regression models, whereas family structure and friendship support did not account for further variance. Both depression and restraint were related to the number of stressors. The implications for the etiology of depressive affect and behavior problems were discussed.


Excerpt To the Editor:In their letter ( 1 ) on the use of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) in pregnant women with antiphospholipid antibodies and a history of fetal loss, Francois and coll...


A decomposed Fourier-series solution to Prandtl's classical lifting-line theory is used to examine the effects of rigid-body roll and small-angle wing flapping on the lift, induced-drag, and power coefficients developed by a finite wing. This solution shows that, if the flapping rate for any wing is large enough, the mean induced drag averaged over a complete flapping cycle will be negative, that is, the wing flapping produces net induced thrust. For quasi-steady flapping in pure plunging, the solution predicts that wing flapping has no net effect on the mean lift. A significant advantage of this analytical solution over commonly used numerical methods is the utility provided for optimizing wing-flapping cycles. The analytical solution involves five time-dependent functions that could all be optimized to maximize thrust, propulsive efficiency, and/or other performance measures. Results show that, by optimizing only one of these five functions, propulsive efficiencies exceeding 90% can be attained. For the...


Coral cays are low-lying Island which is formed by the gravel on the coral reef, in this position slightly higher than a field. In past research, there were reported that formed and disappeared by short-term of high waves. But many parts of the mechanism are unknown because of difficulty of observation data acquisition. In this study, we investigated the mechanism for topographic change by laboratory model experiment and field surveys on Barasu Island near the north side of Iriomote Island. In order to understand the topography change mechanism of coral reef cays, the field survey of Barasu Island and model experiment were conducted. Topographic change of deposition, erosion, and movement was repeated by the strong external force at the time of a typhoon, And, it turned out that the move direction of Barasu Island is qualitatively in agreement with the excellence direction of the external force. Moreover, although it was erosive in the external force of one direction, when the external force of two directions was received, it checked that Barasu Island was expanded.


ABSTRACT: Lamb carcasses were subjected to low-voltage electrical stimulation (ES; 28 V, 60 Hz) within 5 minpostmortem (PM). After ES, the longissimus thoracis (LT) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles were removed toinvestigate subsequent biochemical changes. The pH values of the ES muscles declined rapidly until the 1 st 3 h PM(p < 0.05). The activities of m -calpain and calpastatin in ES muscles decreased significantly after 10 h PM (p < 0.05).Both ES LT and SM muscles tended to have lower shear-force values, which suggested ES might accelerate activationof calpains as well as glycolytic rate, thereby improving muscle tenderness. Differences in titin and troponin-Tdegradation between treatments were also observed with time PM.Key Words: low-voltage electrical stimulation, calpains, glycolytic rate, tenderness, titin, troponin-T Introduction P OSTMORTEM ELECTRICAL STIMULATION (ES) HAS RECEIVED considerable attention as a tool to improve meat qualitytraits such as tenderness; flavor; lean color; marbling setup; andreduced dark, coarse-band formation (Savell 1979). ES was origi-nally used to prevent the toughening effect of cold-shortening(Carse 1973) and to provide an additional tenderizing effect(Savell and others 1981; Dransfield and others 1992). Four theo-ries have been proposed to explain how ES improves tender-ness: (1) The rapid decline of available ATP in muscle acceleratesrigor-onset before chilling produces effects of cold-shortening(Chrystall and Hagyard 1976; Davey and others 1976); (2) thefast pH decline while carcass temperature is still relatively highprovides favorable conditions for the action of naturally occur-ring lysosomal enzymes (Dutson and others 1980); (3) physicaldisruption of muscle tissue improves tenderness (Savell andothers 1978); and (4) ES accelerates activation of calpains andsubsequent proteolysis of myofibrillar/cytoskeletal proteins,which results in improvement in tenderness (Ducastaing andothers 1985; Uytterhaegen and others 1992; Geesink and others1994) since the rate constants for the postmortem decline incalpain and for tenderization were similar, suggesting the loss ofcalpain activities is inversely related to tenderization.Conversely, the voltage, the frequency, and duration of ES,and the method of application are important factors influencingthe degree of tenderization. High-voltage ES has been appliedto achieve a very rapid pH decline that results in more desirablelean color and improved marbling scores (McKeith and others1981; Smith 1985). Many researchers have also demonstrated asimilar effect from low-voltage ES on pH decline and improve-ment of quality (Bouton and others 1980; Taylor and Marshall1980; Eikelenboom and others 1985). Low-voltage ES may bemore desirable under commercial conditions due to its practical-ity and safety of application.The objective of this study was to investigate the effects oflow-voltage ES during the very early postmortem period on ac-celeration of proteolysis and improvement in tenderness.


Wheat is a major food that can trigger life-threatening systemic anaphylaxis. Mechanism of sensitization to wheat anaphylaxis is not completely understood at present. For example, whether or not skin exposure to saline-soluble wheat protein (SSWP) can cause sensitization is unknown. Here we tested the hypothesis that transdermal exposure (TDE) to SSWP from durum wheat results in IgE response and clinical sensitization for anaphylaxis. Groups of Balb/c mice weaned onto a plant free diet received six TDEs with SSWP (1 mg/mouse/week) or saline over a 6 week period without adjuvant. Blood was analyzed for IgE responses by ELISA, and anaphylaxis and mucosal mast cell protease (mMCP-1) release upon challenge were quantified. Spleen tissue was analyzed for cytokines using a protein microarray system. Results showed significant IgE response, hypothermia shock response and elevation of mMCP-1 upon challenge. Spleen analysis showed significant elevations of IL-4/5/7/10/17B,E,F, and TSLP and significant reductions of IL-1a and IL-6. The following cytokines were not significantly altered: IL-1b/2/9/13/17A/22/23, IFNg and TNFa.


In the realistic market,moral hazard and adverse selection are the prevalent problems for managers.For reducing the agent cost,a primary strategy is compensational incentives.The empirical analysis of listed companies shows that the dispersion of pay-performance sensitivity for executives is high,lacking obvious rules and alignments.Much compensation award for executives of listed companies presents wage rigidity.The relationship between the sensitivity and company's performance is not obvious.When restructuring the compensational incentives,the above problems should be carefully considered.


ap_state = discrete airplane state (see text) axcg = body x–axis acceleration deviation from trim value, at center of gravity, not including gravity (ft/s) axcgnet = body x–axis acceleration at center of gravity (ft/s) ayxg = body y–axis acceleration deviation from trim value, at center of gravity, not including gravity (ft/s) aycgnet = body y–axis acceleration at center of gravity (ft/s) azcg = body z–axis acceleration deviation from trim value, at center of gravity, not including gravity (ft/s) azcgnet = body z–axis acceleration at center of gravity (ft/s) g = acceleration due to gravity (ft/s) h = altitude at center of gravity (ft) hdot = altitude rate at center of gravity (ft/s) p = roll rate (rad/s) q = pitch rate (rad/s) r = yaw rate (rad/s) u = body x-axis velocity (ft/s)


Effective teaching leads to engaged and intelligent learning; it may be defined as showing or helping students to learn how to do something, giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge, besides causing to know and understand. The main objective of the present study is to study the influence of age, teaching experience, management on the attitude of teachers towards teaching learning material. Attitude towards teaching learning material questionnaire was developed by Ranjit Kumar, M. (2007) was adopted. A sample of 200 teachers representing all categories of schools is selected in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh by following the standardized procedures. 't' – test and ANOVA ('F' – test) were employed for analysis of the data. Age, teaching experience, management have significant influence on the attitude of teachers towards teaching learning material.


One of the perspective directions in high-energy-density physics is the creation of powerful electro physical facilities capable to form megampere current pulses with short front. This paper presents test results of the device based on five-element disk magnetocumulative generator DMCG480 and an explosive current opening switch. The current pulse of 15 MA with characteristic rise time of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim 0.8~\mu \text{s}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> was obtained in the equivalent multiwire array load of 17 nH at circuit breaking with the current of 32 MA.


The peaks over threshold method (POT method) is an alternative to the block-maxima method for estimating return levels (these are the levels that are exceeded by a daily precipitation, resp. by a daily average discharge, only with a given small probability; in statistical language they are called high quantiles) when the studied series are not long enough. The paper compares both methods for precipitation and discharges series of Northern Moravia. It is shown how to overcome problems in the POT method caused by autocorrelation and seasonality.


Like most vaccines, the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines developed so far is not 100% and a small percentage of fully vaccinated individuals still develop symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. 1 In addition, the emerging of novel mutations is likely to help the virus evade vaccines especially in regions with low vaccination coverage. 2 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Automatic modulation classification (AMC) is one of the important parts in cooperative and noncooperative contexts. This paper approaches the AMC problem by using deep learning. We propose a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based AMC to classify the modulation type of received orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal and analyze its classification performance. CNN model is trained by using received OFDM signals for different modulation types and signal-to-noise ratios, and then classification accuracy is validated through computer simulations.


The paper presents Finite Element (FE) methods for classical vibroacoustics as well as computational aeroacoustics. Therewith, we can handle different grid sizes in different regions and ensure a correct coupling at the interfaces by applying the Mortar FE method. Furthermore, we can fully take into account free radiation by a new Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) technique, which is stable even for long term computations. The applicability of our developed numerical methods will be demonstrated by simulation results of the human phonation.


A cognitive radio network consisting of multiple energy harvesting spectrum sensors is considered. The goal of this paper is to design an optimal sensors allocation strategy to maximize the sum detected channel availability probability. The sum detected channel availability probability maximization problem is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem. A Greedy algorithm is proposed to solve the non-convex optimization problem. Simulation results show that our proposed method achieves a significantly higher spectrum sensing performance than the random allocation scheme.


Eliciting a broadly neutralizing antibody response against the HIV‐1 membrane‐proximal external region (MPER) mimicking the activity of 4E10 and 2F5 monoclonal antibodies remains a major challenge. In this study, two novel tetra‐branched peptide immunogens, 4E10‐ and 2F5‐MAP4, were designed and synthesized using a MAP system. Guinea pigs were immunized with either of these two synthetic immunogens emulsified in an oil‐phase adjuvant at 3‐week intervals. After four immunizations, epitope‐specific antibody responses were induced successfully, and moderate neutralizing activities against tier 1 (clades B, BC, AE) and tier 2 (clade C) HIV‐1 pseudoviruses were detectable in unfractionated sera and purified IgGs. The synthetic gp41 membrane‐proximal external region peptide mimetics, 4E10‐ and 2F5‐MAP4, assisted by an appropriate adjuvant, are promising prophylactic vaccine candidates potentially capable of eliciting broadly neutralizing antibody responses against HIV‐1. Copyright © 2013 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Telescoping path optimization (TPO) of single-cylinder pin-type multisection boom (SPMB) is a practical engineering problem that is valuable to investigate. This article studies the TPO problem and finds the key of TPO is to obtain the maximum retraction backmost combination. A mathematic model on the basis of the quadratic penalty function of a Hopfield neural network (HNN) is constructed. Two strategies are presented to improve the performance of TPO model: one is proportional integral derivative (PID) strategy that adaptively adjusts the parameter λ of the constrained term and the parameter γ of the optimization objective term by controlling the value of constraint violation gk and the other is efficiency factor strategy that an efficiency factor is introduced in model for prioritizing the constrained term over the objective term. Data test shows that compared with the path of boom length changing before optimization, both the number of sections that need to be moved and the total travels of cylinder can be reduced by 10%-30% after optimization. Both the PID strategy and the efficiency factor strategy achieve good optimization effects. The efficiency factor strategy is excellent at moderating the conflicts between the constrained term and the objective term; thus the generations of the valid and the optimal solutions get well improved.


Disintegrated by NH_4F,HCL and HNO_3 in an acidic medium,Ag,Cu,Zn were resolved at the same time with NaCl as complex.The background absorption was strong and could not be removed when using the atomic absorption spectromtry.Choosing the thiourea as complex,to make Ag as a stable colorless complex:Ag[CS(NH_2)_2]Cl, the solution was avoided to forming AgCl settlings,and the acidity was reduced efficiently while determining.The sampling,resolving and determination of Ag,Cu, Zn could be finished at the same time in one sample by the method.The range of determination of the method are Ag 0.n×10~(-6)~5 000.0×10~(-6);Cu 0.00n%~n.000%;Zn 0.00n%~n.000%.


Roger Clegg and Lucie Slceaping, with dance appendix by Anne Daye. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2014. Illus. Music. Bibliog. Index. ISBN 978-0-85989-878-2.130.00 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a very interesting and enjoyable book. I must confess that I wanted to read it quickly and get this review written but I found myself regularly slowed down by sheer delight and the interest of both the dramatic jigs and the writings of the authors about them. This is a very worthwhile book which may be read by anyone interested. in early modern drama, song and popular music, and social history, and by those concerned with contemporary performance of historical material. There is a good. discussion of the confusing complexities of the term 'jig'. As with other dance- and music-related terms, it has multiple and. sometimes conflicting meanings: is it a dance, is it a type of tune, is it a play, is it a popular term for having sex? It is all those things and more besides. To avoid confusion the authors tend to use the term 'dramatic jig', which they define as 'a musical sung drama sometimes featuring dance'. As an end-piece or sometimes an interlude in plays, dramatic jigs flourished from about the 1570s, lasted through most of the seventeenth century, and had an ongoing influence on some forms of dramatic production such as pantomime. I think there is one interesting descendant that the writers do not mention, the medley. This was a form of comic song that used a number of different tunes in the construction of a performance piece, usually sung by just one person. It was popular from the seventeenth down to at least the mid-nineteenth century, when singer-comedians such as Sam Cowell and Ned Corvan made use of it. The dramatic jig is a fascinating form, but as with the reconstruction of many past art forms, what we have in these texts is a mere shadow of what the thing was when performed, a ghost of the vehicle on which the actor-comedians rode. There is nothing wrong with exploring and performing these lively texts, but there is an irony in the fact that the more we bring them to life with our stage business, singing, and dancing, the further we get away from the actions and quips that enlivened the performances of Richard Tarlton, Will Kemp, and others. Those actor-comedians were praised in their day for their ability to respond to an audience and for their 'extemporising wit'. It is to the writers' credit that they are aware of this (p. 288), and it is for this reason that the appendix on 'dance instruction' (by Anne Daye) is the least convincing part of the book: 'extensive experience of reconstructing sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century dances' is no guarantee of the veracity of what is reconstructed. When it is asserted that the value of recreative procedures has been widely accepted' (p. 296) one must ask, by whom? Certainly not this writer! As Daye writes, 'we can never have more than a partial understanding of how our ancestors danced' (p. 296)--and we could well add, or how they sang and performed music. There is a close connection between the theatrical jigs and broadside ballads. The form and tunes of broadside ballads were extensively used for theatrical jigs. Some broadside ballads, usually in dialogue form, were called jigs and could be performed dramatically. Like ballads, theatrical jigs could be made for libellous uses and the book contains some fascinating cases of scripts that survive only in court records. …


The colonies of Aeromonas hydrophila and Edwardsiella strains were cultured on nutrition broth medium for 24 h at 28℃,the strain solution was colleted and inactivated with formaldehyde solution for 2 days for the preparation of inactivated oil-adjuvant vaccine,inactivated bacterin and bait-absorbed vaccine.The tilapia was immunized with three inactivated bacterin for two weeks and injected with live strain solution of Aeromonas hydrophila and Edwardsiella.The results showed that the immune effects of inactivated oil-adjuvant vaccine and inactivated bacterin were better than that of bait-absorbed vaccine.Out of all treatments,injecting 0.1 mL inactivated bacterin and 0.3 mL normal saline injected to Aeromonas hydrophila and 0.4mL inactivated oil-adjuvant vaccine to Edwardsiella were found to be the best at 85.0% and 90.0% of vaccine protective rate,respectively.The antibiotics therapy testing showed that florfenicol,enrofloxacin,ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin had good therapeutic effects on tilapia infected with Aeromonas hydrophila and Edwardsiella for decreasing the incidence rate and death rate,and among them,20 mg/kg H2O florfenicol was found to be the best in controlling these two pathogens.


Corporate governance and disclosure practices of listed firms having global exposure, such as subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) as well as domestic cross listed firms, are different from firms having only domestic exposure. Domestic listed firms are listed only in the home country and are governed by the local environment of their home country. However, this may not be the case for globally-exposed firms as they are governed by the institutional, legal and regulatory environment of home country as well as the host country where they are listed. This study seeks to identify whether corporate governance and disclosure practices of MNC subsidiaries and cross-listed firms are significantly different, by studying a sample of firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, India, comprising MNC subsidiaries listed in India as well as cross-listed firms listed in the US/Europe. The research provides insight into the question of how a country's institutional, legal and regulatory environment may influence the effectiveness of firm-level corporate governance mechanisms. The findings shed light on the governance and disclosure practices of MNC subsidiaries and cross listed firms, in the legal institutional environment of India versus US/Europe.


With the developing of the compute game industry and virtual reality technology, people need realistic effect in 3D scene in the runtime interactive system, such as game software, simulation of fly and simulation of battle. To improve the realistic effect in complex 3D scene, we study geometry scene, material and illumination. This paper focuses on illumination model. Deferred lighting and HDR technologies are analyzed, and a combination approach is proposed. Experimental results show that HDR-based deferred lighting technology can help to represent more detailed scenes. Even though this approach slows down the rendering speed, it is still above 25FP/s.


A method of mixing the first and second video signals, the method in the mixing device, the method comprising: receiving a first video signal, receiving a second video signal, first the video signal is divided into a transparent area and the non-transparent regions of the conversion receiving conversion information signals representative of the spatial relationship between the first and second video signals, the second video signal and converting according to the information signal, the non-transparent area of the first video signal, comprising the steps of combining a portion of the converted second video signal, a portion of the converted second video signal is first It is drawn in a transparent region of the video signal, and a step of bringing.


Neuroendocrine tumors of the colon and rectum are also called hindgut carcinoids. They are slow growing and usually become symptomatic late in the course of the disease. Current incidence is about one per 100,000. Tumors are graded into three levels based on tumor cell proliferation. Appendiceal carcinoids are usually found incidentally on pathology following an appendectomy. Colonic NETs present late, as large tumors, often with extensive metastatic disease when the diagnosis is made. Rectal NETs can be found incidentally when patients are undergoing a colonoscopy but can present with hematochezia or anorectal symptoms like tenesmus. Tumors with locoregional involvement have the best outcomes with resection whenever possible. Optimal management requires a multidisciplinary approach and systemic therapy is limited.


Green manufacturing is an important means to alleviate the pressure of world resources and environment and promote the transformation of manufacturing industry. This paper analyses the main application of green manufacturing and the future development direction of green manufacturing, and is available for suggestions for the future development of green manufacturing. Green manufacturing promotes the formation of circular economy model and the sustainable development of human society. It is an indispensable part of implementing sustainable development strategy.


A fast implementation of the quantum imaginary time evolution (QITE) algorithm called Fast QITE is proposed. The algorithmic cost of QITE typically scales exponentially with the number of particles it nontrivially acts on in each Trotter step. In contrast, a Fast QITE implementation reduces this to only a linear scaling. It is shown that this speed up leads to a quantum advantage when sampling diagonal elements of a matrix exponential, which cannot be achieved using the standard implementation of the QITE algorithm. Finally the cost of implementing Fast QITE for finite temperature simulations is also discussed.


Based on the pounding phenomenon at expansion joints of a long-span multi-tower suspension bridge,subjected to longitudinal earthquake,a complex nonlinear model considering elasto-plastic behaviors of piers and pound responses between main span and approach span was developed.The effects of some pounding parameters,such as,pounding stiffness,and initial gap at expansion joints were studied.The results indicated that the pounding stiffness is not a senstive parameter and its effect on pound responses is not obviously;but the initial gap at expansion joint has important effects on pounding,it has obvious effect on relative displacement between main span and approach span and the displacement of main girder.


The present study seeks to examine the experiences and perceptions of pre-service teachers from three different English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teacher-education programs regarding an online collaborative lesson-planning experience throughout the practicum. Thus, the emerging themes in pre-service EFL teachers' reflections and feedback on the lesson plans were examined. According to the data analysis, it was observed that the differences in pre-service EFL teachers' training backgrounds had a significant effect on their perceptions and achievements in the process of lesson planning and implementation. Additionally, the challenges of the online collaborative lesson-planning experience were time management and lack of professional responsibility. The results indicated that the online collaborative lesson planning experience provided pre-service EFL teachers with opportunities to explore a variety of EFL practicum contexts and lesson planning practices with their peers. Keywords: online collaborative lesson planning, EFL teacher education, practicum DOI: 10.17240/aibuefd.2018..-363887


A 14-year-old autistic girl presented with severe, chronic head-banging, some relief being obtained by restraint harnesses. Withdrawal of her straitjacket resulted in extreme SIB. Exhibition of fluphenazine relieved the condition.


Studying the differences in water purification services under land use/cover changes at different spatiotemporal scales is of great significance. The basin of Hongfeng Lake, Baihua Lake, and Aha Reservoir (referred to as two lakes and one reservoir) in Guiyang City is an important economic development area in the middle reaches of the Wujiang River, so human activities may affect the water quality of this area in a variety of ways. Based on the land use data in 2000, 2010, and 2020, the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model was applied to sim ulate the spatiotemporal patterns of total nitrogen export and total phosphorus export from the basin of two lakes and one reservoir and quantitatively revealed the response relationship between land use changes and water purification services. Through multiangle analysis, the ecological and hydrological processes in the basin of two lakes and one reservoir are revealed to some extent, and the research results can provide a scientific basis for the optimization and adjustment of land use patterns, water quality protection, water pollution control, and measures for water ecological restoration in the basin of two lakes and one reservoir.


Two profile recognition methods based on 3D scattering center model are proposed.The first method uses the global 3D scattering center to resume the profiles of each viewing angle and train the classifier,and then tests the target profile.Another method projects the global 3D scattering center model to each viewing angle to obtain the 1D scattering center templates,extracting 1D scattering centers from the profiles to be recognized using the extracting method and matching to the scattering center templates to decide the type and attitude of the target.Due to the training data and matching templates are both created by the 3D scattering center online,the two methods are good at memory consumption.The validity of the two methods are verified by simulation test using dark-room measured data and the electromagnetic computing data with scale models.


Abstract The intra-arterial administration of 0.5 µg of angiotensin immediately prior to renal angiography may increase diagnostic accuracy in cases of renal and renal pelvic carcinoma. As cysts and neoplasms may coexist in the same kidney, the authors recommend the injection of angiotensin to reveal tumor vessels.