According to the results of probabilistic analysis of the "Apollo" and "Luna" drilling and sampling,the probability of drilling rock on the Moon is ≤5% and the possibility of drilling lunar soil is about 95%,therefore the lunar soil is selected as the major drilling object on the Moon.On the basis of the drillability of rock on the Earth,physical and mechanical properties of lunar soil is analyzed,the angle of internal friction and cohesion as the important parameters are selected to build a calculation model of the drillability of lunar soil.According to the "Apollo" and "Luna" drilling,the drilling methods,bit materials,drilling depths and the speeds are compared and analyzed to obtain the preliminary evaluation of the drillability of lunar soil.


Experimental sprays were applied to 4-tree plots arranged in a randomized complete block design. Each plot contained the following cultivars: Delicious, Golden Delicious, Stayman, and Rome Beauty. Each treatment was replicated 4 times. Each plot was surrounded by an adjacent 4-tree plot that was treated twice during each brood with a combination of Lannate 1.8 L plus Asana XL to prevent TABM larvae from dispersing onto the treated trees. The trees were planted to a spacing of 12 × 35 ft. Treatments were applied with a truck-mounted John Bean sprayer, 35 gal/min pump, equipped with a handgun to thoroughly wet the trees. Approximately 4.2 gal of spray was applied/replicate tree (ca. 430 gal/acre). Dates of application for the fenoxycarb treatments were: 19 May, 8 Jun, 27 Jul, 16 Aug; for the Guthion treatment: 5 and 19 Jun, 3 Jul, 1, 14, and 28 Aug. During the experiment, general maintenance sprays of the fungicides Rubigan and Dithane M-45 and calcium chloride as well as 4 alternate-row applications (9, 14, and 23 Jun, 5 Jul) of Swat 8 E (for aphid control) were applied to all plots. Three alternate-row middle applications of Carzol 92 SP, Vendex 4 L and Omite 6 E were made on 26 May, 11 Jul, and 4 Aug, respectively. The effect of the treatments on mites was evaluated by counting the mites several times during the season on samples of 25 leaves/tree (cv Delicious only), 100 leaves/treatment. The effect of sprays on the mite predator S. punctum was evaluated by 3-min counts of adults and larvae around the periphery of the test trees. Effectiveness of chemicals on the tufted apple bud moth was assessed by scoring for injury all drops after 1 Jul and one picked sample of approximately 300 apples/tree on all cultivars in late Sep and early Oct. Apple samples averaged 331 apples/tree, 1324 apples/treatment. Pest pressure was heavy.


Abstract Objective To assess the agreement between self-reported and parent-reported dietary and physical activity habits in children; and to evaluate the socio-economic determinants of healthier habits (Mediterranean diet and physical activity) among children. Design Cross-sectional analysis of children recruited to a cluster-randomized controlled trial (Program SI!). Information about children's and parents' dietary and physical activity habits was obtained through validated questionnaires (Program SI! questionnaires, Kidmed, Krece Plus and Predimed scores). Setting Twenty-four schools in Madrid, Spain. Subjects Children (n 2062) aged 3–5 years and their parents (n 1949). Results There was positive agreement between parental- and self-reporting for three of the six children's habits examined. Parents' dietary and physical activity patterns were associated with those of their children. The main determinants of higher scores in children were higher parental age, the mother's scores, Spanish origin and higher awareness of human health (P<0·005). Children from parents with a low educational level had lower odds for scoring positively on items such as using olive oil (OR=0·23; 95 % CI 0·13, 0·41) and not skipping breakfast (OR=0·36; 95 % CI 0·23, 0·55), but higher odds for meeting the recommendations for consuming pulses (OR=1·71; 95 % CI 1·14, 2·55). Other habits being influenced by parental socio-economic status included the consumption of vegetables, fish, nuts, avoidance of fast food, and consumption of bakery products for breakfast. Conclusions Children's habits may be influenced by their parents' health awareness and other socio-economic characteristics. These findings suggest that intervention strategies, even in very young children, should also target parents in order to achieve maximum success.


ion and a new argument for the Esse is Percipi thesis by David Drebushenko In his Treatise concerning the principles of human knowledge the Irish clergyman and philosopher, George Berkeley, alleges that his most important metaphysical principle, the esse is percipi thesis, is linked with the doctrine of abstract ideas. In the Introduction to this work, he goes to great lengths to show that such ideas are impossible. In light of these facts one might believe that Berkeley's attack on abstract ideas is relevant to a defense of esse is percipi or, possibly, an argument for it. However, some of Berkeley's expositors have expressed difficulty in seeing a connec tion between abstraction and the esse is percipi principle (or cer tain other elements of Berkeley's metaphysical views).1 Other stu dents of Berkeley have recently argued that the attack on abstrac tion is of vital importance to Berkeley.2 As I see the matter, Berkeley's chief aim in demolishing abstraction is tied to securing a premise in an argument for the esse is percipi thesis and so I agree with the general point made by the latter set of commenta tors. Nevertheless, I do not believe the details concerning a link 1 Those who have expressed difficulty in seeing a link between abstraction and esse is percipi or immaterialism include: David Armstrong, Berkeley's philo sophical writings (New York, 1965) 47; Jonathan Bennett, Locke, Berkeley, Hume: central themes (Oxford, 1971) 45 and J. O. Urmson, Berkeley (Oxford, 1982) 29. 2 See, for example, M. R. Ayers, George Berkeley: philosophical works (London, 1975) xx and A. C. Grayling, Berkeley: The central arguments (La Salle, 1986): 31-34, as well work by other scholars mentioned below. See also Robert Muehlmann's fine work Berkeley's Ontology (Indianapolis, 1992: 115 16, 164, and passim. Muehlmann thinks that, within the Principles of human knowledge, Berkeley's anti-abstractionism is confined to undercutting repre sentative realism. I will urge, however, that Berkeley sees his anti-abstraction ism as a main line of support for idealism and ultimately the esse is percipi the sis. See also M. Glouberman, 'Berkeley's anti-abstractionism', British Journal for the History of Philosophy (1994, No 1): 145-163. Glouberman contends that the connecion between Berkeley's denial of abstraction and esse is percipi is 'oblique'. 'He takes aim at 'analytic reconstructors of Berkeley's position' and argues that the denial of abstract ideas is 'neither sufficient nor necessary for E=P [esse is percipi].' In what follows I hope to make a credible case that Professor Glouberman is mistaken. This content downloaded from 220.127.116.11 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 06:45:02 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 36 David Drebushenko between the attack on abstraction and Berkeley's central meta physical tenet are well understood. In particular, it is not clear just how the connection between abstraction and esse is percipi is to be explained. In Part I, I begin with some passages in which Berkeley speaks of a connection between abstraction and the denial of his thesis that the esse of physical objects consists in being perceived.3 I then explain and critically evaluate a propos al, developed by George Pappas, that is aimed at uncovering the connection between abstract ideas and esse is percipi. The Pappas proposal is arguably the most elaborate account in the literature on the relation between abstraction and esse is percipi. On his account of these matters, the notion that existence can be seper ated from perception is highlighted. It is thought, in particular, that abstraction permits one to separate the existence of a sensi ble object from perception and, thereby, to conceive a sensible object existing unperceived. Conversely, if Berkeley can show that such abstractions are impossible, then his claim that it is impos sible to conceive a sensible thing existing unperceived would be given some support. My aim in criticizing this proposal is to sup port the assertion that the details of this relation are imperfectly understood. In Part II, I offer an alternative account of Berkeley's thinking which, I believe, deepens our understanding of how he was able to connect the attack on abstraction with an argument for the esse is percipi thesis. My account departs significantly from the Pappas line in that I draw on text wherein Berkeley is concerned to show that secondary qualities cannot exist apart from primary qualities. So, in my treatment of Berkeley's thought, there is no consideration of conceptions that involve the separation of existence from perception. Indeed, I would argue 3 It is worth noting that Berkeley sees connections between abstraction and other topics. He links abstraction with moral knowledge in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Section 100 (hereafter the Principles). Abstraction and absolute space are connected in Principles 116 and in New Theory of Vision, 122-23, abstraction and the heterogeneity thesis are linked. In Principles 143 he says that abstract ideas have created confusion in our thoughts about spirituality, while in De Motu 43 he says that abstract ideas have perplexed the concept of motion from antiquity to his day. In view of these connections I do not want to suggest that Berkeley's only interest in the refutation of abstract ideas is linked with esse is percipi. See The works of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, edited by A. A. Luce and T. E. Jessop, (Edinburgh, 1948-57) (hereafter the Works). This content downloaded from 126.96.36.199 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 06:45:02 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms A new argument for the Esse is Percipi thesis 37 that Berkeley's thoughts along such lines are deeply confused and that, accordingly, they ought not to be given much attention.


The adsorption of Cu2+ions on activated carbon based canarium schweinfurthii impregnated with ZnCl2 was studied. The shells of canarium schweinfurthii were impregnated with ZnCl2 at varying ZnCl2 concentrations, temperature, residence time while keeping the heating rate fixed at 10 °C / min and the ratio of impregnation of 1:1. The activated carbon with the highest surface area in term of iodine number of 860,817 mg/g, the highest methylene blue of 741,6 mg/g and 74,66 % of yield of carbon was obtained at 650 °C, 60 % ZnCl 2 and 30min. From the batch adsorption studies, the equilibrium time was found to be 40 min. Analysis of equilibrium isotherm models revealed a good correlation of the experimental data with the Tempkin (R 2 = 0.909) model. This confirms a high affinity of the activated carbon for Cu 2+ ions on the heterogeneous surface. The value of energy obtained from the Tempkin model was 60,606 J/mol and the presence of pics between 487 cm-1 to 871 cm-1 indicating that physisorption and chemisorption were taking place during this sorption. The pseudo-second order kinetics(R 2 = 0.999) governs the adsorption of Cu2+ions on this activated carbon.


San Qu and Ju Qu of Yuan Dynasty have differences in their literary functions. Although both are able to enlighten their readers, they vary in some other functions. As for the function of acquaintance for the readers, San Qu focuses on the acquaintance for people themselves, while Ju Qu focuses on the acquaintance for the social life. As for aesthetic functions, San Qu tends to entertain the writer himself, while Ju Qu tends to entertain the readers. Therefore, this paper, based on the above, analyses the cause of the phenomenon and its significance.


Abstract Between January 2000 and June 2008, the FAO food price index rose by 96%. Besides the magnitude, the price rise was remarkable for the broad range of commodities affected; prices of agriculture commodities, energy, and metals all rose and fell together. These dramatic developments coincided with a massive inflow of investment in the commodities futures market, and the rise of commodities as an investment class. In this paper, I study causal links between the increase in the co-movement between commodity prices and financialization of the commodities futures market. I extract common factors from a group of 40 commodities using the PANIC method and include it in a factor-augment VEC model along with a proxy of financialization. Results show that financialization of the commodities futures markets can explain the recent rise in co-movement between commodity prices, after accounting for macroeconomic variables.


We investigate how market participants react to corporate executives' strategically blaming the economy or industries for poor firm performance. In the quarters subsequent to earnings conference calls, we find that the ``blame sentences", which capture executives' blaming tactics, predict negative and non-reverting abnormal returns, negative earnings surprises, and analyst recommendation downgrades. These blaming tactics also reduce the sensitivity of executives' turnover to their past performance. Our findings imply that executives strategically inject into the blame sentences the negative value-relevant information which market participants can digest by combining distinct categories of information (e.g., firm-specific vs economy-wide), leading to delayed market reactions to the blame sentences.


Abstract. Remote sensing image change detection (CD) is a technical method to analyze and compare remote sensing images covering the same area with different phases to determine the process of surface change, which has important application value in natural resource management, land monitoring, and natural disaster monitoring. At present, the commonly used supervised remote sensing image CD technique requires a large number of labeled samples to train the network, which brings a large human and material cost. In contrast, the unsupervised remote sensing image CD technique does not require the construction of labeled samples; however, there is no direct correspondence between the unsupervised learning task and the downstream CD. To address the aforementioned issues, a self-supervised remote sensing image CD method based on a high frequency feature enhancement module (HFFEM) and gate attention-guided optimization unit (GAGOU) Siamese-like network is proposed. First, the network is trained using a self-supervised learning diagram to extract features that are beneficial to remote sensing image CD and better serve the downstream CD task. After that, a clustering loss function and a contrastive loss function are used to optimize the network. Second, to enhance the feature extraction capability for change edges and to address the degradation of network performance due to the entrainment of redundant features during feature fusion, HFFEM and GAGOU are proposed, respectively. Finally, comprehensive simulation experiments were conducted on the IKONOS multi-spectral datasets Mina and Riyadh, the open CD dataset Onera satellite change detection (OSCD), and the heterogeneous dataset Shuguang, showing the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms based on evaluation metrics, such as overall accuracy, kappa coefficient, and F1 score.


To the Editor. —We cannot agree with the JAMA editorial by Trimble 1 that phenytoin produces greater impairment of cognitive functions than either carbamazepine or valproate sodium. The studies cited by Trimble have both methodological and statistical shortcomings that limit the confidence with which conclusions can be drawn, and his literature review selectively omits contradictory results. Thompson et al 2,3 examined the effects of phenytoin and valproate on healthy subjects in separate studies and concluded that phenytoin produces greater functional impairment. However, results from these reports cannot be compared directly since they were not derived using identical approaches to data analysis (ie, treatment minus baseline difference scores for phenytoin 2 and drug vs placebo contrasts for valproate 3 ). To directly compare results from these studies, we calculated the Student t tests from their data. Comparing phenytoin with valproate treatment, we observed significant differences for both color ( P


The synaptic properties of the immature mammalian cerebellum were studied with a focus on the nicotinic modulation of synaptic transmission. Synaptic currents in Purkinje neurones were recorded using whole‐cell patch electrodes applied to cerebellar slices (200 μm thick) obtained from newborn rats at postnatal days 5–10 (P5–P10). When the membrane potential of a Purkinje cell was held at −40 mV, spontaneous synaptic currents occurring in the cell comprised both inward and outward components. The former was glutamatergic and the latter was GABAergic, as confirmed by measuring reversal potentials and by using the specific glutamate and GABA blockers, 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoziline‐2,3‐dione and bicuculline, respectively. Application of ACh (0.1–1000 μm) from a 'Y tube' enhanced the occurrence of both glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic currents in Purkinje cells. These responses appeared within 1 s after the application of ACh, and they were mimicked by nicotinic agonists (10 μm nicotine, 10 μm cytisine, 10 μm 1,1‐dimethyl‐4‐phenyl‐piperazinium iodide, or 10 nm epibatidine), but were sensitive to a specific nicotinic antagonist (1 μm dihydro‐β‐erythroidine). When the generation of action potentials by cerebellar neurones in the slice preparation was blocked by the addition of TTX (1 μm) to the external saline, these ACh‐induced responses almost disappeared. This indicates that the enhanced synaptic activities in Purkinje cells are induced via presynaptic nicotinic receptors on the excitatory and inhibitory interneurones, presumably on the proximal axons or somatodendritic domains of granule cells and basket cells in the cerebellar cortex. Interestingly, these nicotinic effects were remarkable in immature rats (P5–P10), but were barely detectable in older rats (more than 10 days of age), indicating that nicotinic ACh receptors are regulated developmentally and may play a novel role in the maturing cerebellum.


The aim of this thesis was to explore dietetic notes in Swedish patient records regarding content, language and the meaning of standardization.Firstly, an audit instrument for dietetic notes in pat ...


This work present a propagation loss model developed for cluster GSM base station at 2100 MHz in a suburban environment. The measurement of path loss and receive signal strength at various distance for ten base station in Lagos Nigeria were collected through drive test. COST 231 HATA model was used in analysis with the measured path loss using MATLAB. Results of different comparisons showed that measured and modeled path loss were closest at site 3225-3048 with RMSE of 11.25 and correlation of 0.9931.


The open-source Virtual Reality Scientific Toolkit (VRSTK) facil-itates designing and conducting user studies in immersive virtual reality (VR) environments within the Unity 3D real-time development platform. Features include recording and reviewing scenes, collecting and evaluating user-specific data from sensors or in-Vr questionnaires, and remote and multi-user setups. In this paper, we describe the core features of the VRSTK by guiding the reader through a hypothetical user study.


To identify risk factors of hearing decline between 9 and 13 years of age. The risk factors examined included sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle‐related factors.


Interpretation of brands and marketing communications has become increasingly problematic in the contemporary commercial environment, largely due to an overabundance of available cultural meanings and interpretive perspectives, and the instability of social categories. This problem has implications for segmentation and the positioning of brands, and for the strategic consistency of marketing messages. In response to this question, this article adopts a reader-response perspective. The purposes here are the following: to advance the theoretical constructs of interpretive communities and interpretive strategies; to present conceptual issues relating to doing brand or subcultural ethnographies in consumer research; and to demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of interpretive communities and strategies to the theory and practice of marketing.


This paper examines the centrality of the family, both nuclear and extended in the Italian postwar migratory process to Canada and in their post-migratory adjustment. In a series of interviews with first generation immigrant children, two themes emerged: the necessity of keeping the nuclear family together and the importance of intergenerational ties and commitments. The respondents tended to view their parents' decision to migrate as one primarily motivated by familial considerations. That is, it was seen as a decision based on their future as a family, whether for reunification, or for greater opportunities for the children. For these respondents, family ties have not only survived migration but have been fortified by it.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The fascial anatomy of the anterior midline of the abdominal wall is permanently altered by the vertical plication of the rectus abdominis muscles commonly performed during abdominoplasty. In order to achieve safe and expeditious peritoneal entry in patients undergoing laparoscopy after a previous abdominoplasty, a modification of the standard midline open technique was developed. This not only facilitates entry and insufflation, but it also provides an acceptable cosmetic result following the laparoscopic surgery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A modified midline open Hasson technique of laparoscopic peritoneal entry that addresses the anatomical distortion created by a previous midline fascial plication was used in 24 consecutive patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy and is described herein.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
This modified entry technique consistently allowed safe and expeditious peritoneal entry in 24 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery after a previous abdominoplasty.


This study examined the synthesis of gold nanoparticles using a non-ionic surfactant, polysorbate 80, and KAuCl 4 in water. The gold nanoparticles, which were well dispersed in water, were analyzed by UV-vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, the SRY(sex-determining region Y) gene of the Bos taurus specific primer was designed, and this primer solution was mixed with the aqueous gold nanoparticles solution. The binding ability of DNA and gold nanoparticles was identified by polyacryllamide gel electrophoresis. The products of DNA linked with gold nanoparticles were also characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy and TEM.


Olive tree growth and reproduction are severely affected by temperature extremes, compromising fruit yield. In that aspect, the olive varieties "Koroneiki" and "Mastoidis" were employed in a mild cold stress experiment, imitating night frost incidents to assess their biochemical, physiological and reproductive functions in relation to genotype. The physiological performance of the stressed plants was not significantly altered, suggesting that both cultivars were well adapted to mild cold night stress. The biochemical response of the plants, regarding antioxidant enzymes, H2O2 and TBARS accumulation, confirmed that both cultivars could cope with the stress applied. The mRNA levels of the PPO gene, which participates in hydroxytyrosol biosynthesis and plant defense, were elevated after 24-h stress at 0 °C, in both cultivars with "Mastoidis" plants exhibiting higher levels for a longer period. Three more genes involved in hydroxytyrosol biosynthesis upregulated their expression levels as a response to cold stress. The numerous plant phenology aspects measured reinforced the conclusion that both cultivars responded to the stress applied. The results of the present study may contribute to better understanding olive tree adaptive responses to low temperature events, an abiotic stress condition that is often present in an open plantation, thus assisting farmers on breeding and cultivar selection.


As an important part of DC circuit breaker, isolated power supply transformer belongs to AC/DC hybrid equipment. It is necessary to adopt appropriate field types in the electric field check of isolated power supply transformer to ensure the accuracy of the results. In this paper, the difference between electrostatic field and constant electric field is analyzed from the basic electromagnetic field theory. The electric field joint checking method for this kind of AC/DC hybrid equipment is put forward. The finite element model of 535kV isolated power supply transformer is constructed, and the method of outsourcing entity is used to partition. The solution is completed in electrostatic field and constant electric field. The influence of air conductivity on electric field calculation results is also considered in constant electric field. The results show that the surface electric field strength of fittings in electrostatic field is greater than that in constant electric field. And in constant electric field, surface electric field strength of metal fittings and other conductors almost does not change with the change of air conductivity, but the surface electric field strength of external insulating materials such as post insulator will decrease first and then increase with the increase of air conductivity. It is suggested that the electrostatic field calculation results should be used in the electric field check of fittings, and the constant electric field calculation results considering the change of air conductivity should be used in the external insulation electric field check according to the actual environment.


In 1901, A. Brown Kelly 1 described, for the first time, a clinical condition which he chose to call "sclerotic hyperplasia of the pharynx and nasopharynx." It existed in a 34-year old Scotsman who pre sented three striking feaurtes: 1) a greatly enlarged uvula, 2 ) very thick bands descending in each half of the posterior pharyngeal wall, 3) thickening of the roof of the nasopharynx making the lumen quite small. Histologically, a marked interstitial hyperplasia was seen. The diagnostic differentiation rested between rhinoscleroma, tertiary and hereditary syphilis.


This work introduces and demonstrates the concept of Lab-on-a-Printer whereby microfluidic components are integrated with inkjet dispensers. This concept allows for multi-functional microfluidic materials processing to be performed on chip and direct post-process printing of those materials enabling printing of programmable gradients and more generally structures with programmable composition. This concept is demonstrated with a disposable PDMS device that integrates an inkjet dispenser technology with a microfluidic mixer.


For your convenience and enjoyment, the Manasquan Tourism Commission proudly presents the "Summer of 2016 Calendar of Events." Whether you are a year 'round resident, from a neighboring town, or one of our many vacationing visitors, we are sure that these fun-packed events will keep everyone entertained and busy. The events scheduled for this season provide a variety of activities for all ages and interests. We strongly suggest that you also consult our local newspapers for information on additional events or scheduling changes. We are sure your stay in our community will be very enjoyable. Should you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact our Borough Clerk at 732-223-0544. SPECIAL EVENTS


A 32-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with the sudden onset of low back and cervical pain during a hemodialysis session at a local hospital. She had been on hemodialysis because of progressive renal failure due to lupus nephritis. There were no external signs of trauma on physical examination. A few hours after admission …


Using a learning media adapted to the characteristics of students who like to play, designed through the application of PowerPoint presentations, is a solution for students' PAI learning outcomes. This research used a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group design. The research sample consisted of 18 students: 9 in the experimental and 9 in the control classes. The research focused on student learning outcomes before and after using learning media based on PowerPoint games in third grade of SD Negeri 294 Lempa. The results showed that students' learning outcomes experienced an increase after using learning media based on PowerPoint games, as shown in the test results. The indicators can be seen from the pretest-posttest results. In the experimental class, the average pre-test score was 62.68, which increased to 81.1 after the post-test. In the control class, the pre-test score was 48.22 to an average of 50.66 after the post-test. The result of calculating the N-Gain Score for the experimental class was 59.40, which was categorized as quite effective, while the control class's N-Gain Score was 38.16, classified as ineffective.


This paper is concerned with the existence of solutions for the periodic second order dierential inclusion with convex and locally Lipschitz potentials. Under some reason- able assumptions upon the potentials, we check the nonsmooth PS-condition for the energy functional which can be represented by the sum of a convex and a locally Lipschitz functions, and prove the existence of the generalized critical points of the energy function. Our approach involves the nonsmooth minimum theorem.


Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) has been reported in various degrees among patients with persistent allergic asthma (PAA). Currently, there is no gold standard approach for diagnosis of ABPA.


Negro parent-teacher associations like the white organizations of this name are closely allied with the public schools. Parent-teachers associations, according to Lyman Bryson, "-are closely related to public schools in their thinking and dependent upon public schools for their operation."' Further, the P.T.A. is usually looked upon as the chief medium of homeschool cooperation. According to Rivlin and Schueler, "In a great many schools, the chief agency for carrying out a program of home and school cooperation is a parent association of some kind."2 In his study of the activities of Parent-Teacher Associations, Holbeck points out that "Educators must accept responsibility for keeping parents informed of what is going on in the school."3 The P.T.A. is most probably the best means whereby such information may be disseminated. There are twenty-one state Negro parent-teacher associations affiliated with the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers, an over-all organization similar in nature, purpose, and function to the National Congress of Parents and Teachers (white). The above organizations represent the sev-


The medical quality control commission for Nuclear Medicine in Bavaria started work approximately seven years ago. The medical quality control commission is an statutorily regulated institution to maintain quality control. Therewith representing an essential part of quality management in both in- and outpatient Nuclear Medicine and defines herself as an instrument to objectify the performance and competence of Nuclear Medicine specialism. A highly qualified advice to optimize the individual quality standards is offered that should not be given an account of burdensome or bureaucratic tutelage. The scope of duties of the medical quality control commission for Nuclear Medicine and the criterions according to the technical and clinical quality control are presented.


The Didcot power station is situated near Oxford and operates four coal fired boiler/turbine units, with a generation capacity of 500 MW per unit. The authors describe the refurbishment of the control and instrumentation (C and I) system using computer based desk technology with touch screens. This improves flexible operation and also saves time.


The emergence of multicore and heterogeneous architectures requires many linear algebra algorithms to be redesigned to take advantage of the accelerators, such as GPUs. A particularly challenging class of problems, arising in numerous applications, involves the use of linear algebra operations on many small-sized matrices. The size of these matrices is usually the same, up to a few hundred. The number of them can be thousands, even millions. Compared to large matrix problems with more data parallel computation that are well suited on GPUs, the challenges of small matrix problems lie in the low computing intensity, the large sequential operation fractions, and the big PCI-E overhead. These challenges entail redesigning the algorithms instead of merely porting the current LAPACK algorithms. We consider two classes of problems. The first is linear systems with one-sided factorizations (LU, QR, and Cholesky) and their solver, forward and backward substitution. The second is a two-sided Householder bi-diagonalization. They are challenging to develop and are highly demanded in applications. Our main efforts focus on the same-sized problems. Variable-sized problems are also considered, though to a lesser extent. Our contributions can be summarized as follows. First, we formulated a batched linear algebra framework to solve many data-parallel, small-sized problems/tasks. Second, we redesigned a set of fundamental linear algebra algorithms for highperformance, batched execution on GPU accelerators. Third, we designed batched


Unlike physical and economic considerations, social relationships on the local, national, and global levels receive insufficient attention in studies of urban development. This paper suggests that the concept of governance, with its emphasis on social and power relationships among stakeholders, can contribute to urban development by unpacking these multi-layered social relationships. The paper argues that an understanding of urban development must include a study of the relational aspects of governance articulated within and among the macro level, the intermediate level, and the micro level. Ideas of responsibility and authority fill an important gap in understanding the relational aspects of governance, which in turn is an important concept for understanding urban development. In this study, the concept of governance is used to understand the relationship among stakeholders in an urban development project. The paper draws on narratives by individuals, on development project examples, and on examples from...


Purpose: To assess the percentage of ocular hypertensive patients who progressed to glaucoma ,during a period of three years. Design: Retrospective study. Materials and Methods: Data of patients with ocular hypertension, in a tertiary eye care hospital of Bangalore, between January 2007 to January 2009 were analysed. Family history, medical and treatment history (systemic or ocular) were noted. At presentation visual acuity, refractive status, intraocular pressure, gonioscopy, visual fields, vertical cup disc ratio and central corneal thickness were noted. Follow up period was 36 months. On follow up, necessary examinations were done. Visual fields were repeated as and when deemed necessary. Depending on the risk factors, some patients were started on antiglaucoma and the rest were kept under observation. Patients who developed glaucoma at the end of 36 months in each group were noted. Results: Total patients were 24, 12 males and 12 females. Mean age was 57.83 years. 6 were started on antiglaucoma medications due to various risk factors and the rest were kept under observation. 1 patient (17%) in the treatment group and 2 (11% ) in the observation group developed glaucoma eventually . There was no significant difference in the number of patients developing glaucoma in both the groups[ p=0.100]. Conclusion: The decision to treat ocular hypertension should depend upon many factors which should be judiciously analysed and then the treatment should be started by the ophthalmologist.


Oxygen and nitrogen ion implantation have been applied, for the first time, to C-doped Al 0.35 Ga 0.65 As layers produce high resistivity regions (p s ≥ 1×10 10 Ω/□) that are stable after annealing at 900 oC. A dose threshold for stable compensation for both O and N ions was found above 8×10 13 cm -2 for samples doped at 2×10 18 cm -3 . Although O implantation has been reported to form stable compensation in Si-doped and Be-doped AlGaAs, the ability of nitrogen implantation to produce thermally stable compensation has not been previously reported and may be due to a C-N complex. The existence of this C-N complex is supported by results for O- and N-implants into C-doped GaAs where N formed thermally stable compensation but O did not. Sheet resistance data versus anneal temperature and estimates of the depth of the defect levels are reported. This result will have application to heterojunction bipolar transistors and complementary heterostructure field effect transistor technologies that employ C-doped AlGaAs or GaAs layers along with high temperature post-isolation processing.


The paper reports and evaluates observations from Western Spitsbergen in relation to the structure of the polar Hammada, rock weathering, foliation and formation of salt crusts, the role played by fine grain material and relative stability of geomorphological features. These convergences (similarities) of minor landforms and geomorphological processes are not simply the outcome of comparable con ditions of aridity. Similarities of forms are not necessarily brought about by identical causes. It can be shown that in the complex of geomorphologically effective climatic ele ments some factors are interchangeable without influencing the final geomorphological outcome. Especially in denuda tion processes climate frequently acts merely indirectly. It gives rise to certain soil characteristics which in turn in fluence the type of denudation. The effect of fluviatile processes always exceeds that of wind; this is so in polar desserts as well as in the desserts and extreme desserts of the global dry belt. For a true appreciation of interrela tionships between climate and landforms detailed micro geomorphological and micro-climatic investigations play an important role.


Energy is the basic need of human to survive in this dynamic world. The whole world is toiling hard to meet its energy demands. Every country in this world has high energy demand owing to its increasing population which is posing a threat to energy sustainability. Generally, Energy is consumed in Agriculture, Residential and Transportation sector in which transportation sector has a high percentage of energy consumption. Conventional fuels which are used to power vehicles are having limited reserves. In the present scenario, Petroleum reserves are depleting at a faster rate and causing environmental pollution. It has inspired the researchers to develop new alternate fuels. Alternate fuels are having significant energy content and lower emissions as compared to conventional fuels.  Alcohol, Biodiesel, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Hydrogen are the alternate fuels which are being used today. CNG is being used extensively all over the world. CNG is having low laminar burning velocity which makes it more prone towards knocking. Hydrogen has high laminar burning velocity which makes it a better supplement to CNG. The blend thus obtained by mixing Hydrogen and CNG is known as Hythane or HCNG. Hythane has the advantages of both the parent fuels which make it a promising fuel for automotives. This paper includes the effect of Hydrogen addition to CNG which is tested on a single cylinder, four-stroke, water cooled SI engine.  Determination of optimum percentage of Hydrogen in CNG and emissions analysis is also included in the paper. Article DOI:  https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/mijst.2017.32.6479 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.


While human error analysis and product design based on usability have been studied and performed in this decade, paper test for educational purpose keeps its typical form though it weighs in evaluating learners' achievement. In order to improve test design both in structure and appearance, it is necessary to demonstrate the mechanism that brings errors to learners. This paper aims to reveal why error occurs and how human makes mistakes through considering examinations or paper tests in English class. To inspect this issue, 119 1st graders in Nagaoka National College of Technology were examined using their TOEIC-Bridge score, 1st mid-term and final examination in 2008. According to the result shown in the bubble chart, it developed that unsuitability of test planning, direction for examiners and form design can bring errors besides learners' faults and shortage of preparation. Not only examiners, the user of a test consists of also researchers, makers, providers, markers, utilizers, and managers. To improve usability of paper test, it is inevitable to consider its design as human interface and reduce or eliminate errors brought by unsuitability and human fault.


Immunostaining for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is important in the contemporary therapeu- tic strategy of colorectal carcinomas. We tried to increase detection sensitivity, and compared the high-sensitivity EGFR immunostaining with a worldwide standard, EGFR PharmDx TM (Dako). In order to pursue high-sensitivity EGFR detection, deparaffinized sections were pressure-cooked in 1 mM EDTA solution, pH 8.0. Two mouse monoclonal antibodies against EGFR, clone EGFR2.5 and DAK-H1-WT, and six kinds of secondary detection reagents, includ- ing biotin-free catalyzed signal amplification (CSA II), Simple Stain MAX-PO, PolyVue, Novolink, EnVision TM FLEX+,


WC-Co-Cr powder was mixed with 5 % micron sized TiC powder to form blended powder. The blended powder was deposited on 16/5 martensitic stainless steel (16/5 MSS) by high velocity oxy fuel process. The microhardness of the blended coating, WC-Co-Cr and 16/5 MSS was found to be 1271, 1081 and 337 VHN respectively. The coated specimen and 16/5 specimen were examined for slurry erosion test for 48h. The weight loss of the coated and coated specimen was measured after every 6h. WC-Co-Cr coating has the maximum erosion resistance behavior followed by blended coating and 16/5 MSS. The volume loss of modified coating due to erosion was found to be 65% less in comparison to 16/5 MSS. The enhanced erosion resistance of the blended coating is attributed to higher hardness of the coating w.r.t 16/5 MSS.


Telecom operators have begun to use a heterogeneous mix of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for providing services to mobile subscribers. This development has emphasized the need for improved inter-working among diverse RATs in the Fifth Generation (5G) wireless networks. In this article, we provide a brief overview of ongoing efforts towards utilizing Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) for control and management of heterogeneous RATs in 5G wireless networks. In addition, we also propose a novel SDN/NFV based architecture for unified control and management of heterogeneous RATs in 5G wireless networks. The proposed architecture is scalable and offers improved network performance over existing Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) architectures. Finally, we present experimental results and highlight a few open research problems in this area.


The Doctor on the Stage: Medicine and Medical Men in Seventeenth Century England, by HERBERT SILvErrE, ed. by Francelia Butler, Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, 1967, pp. viii, 290, $7.50. This volume is the fruit of Dr. Silvette's leisure reading of about 500 plays of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period, yielding a rich harvest of quotations on medical and paramedical topics, arranged in chapters under main subject headings. With such a nucleus, this could have been an important addition to the history of medicine, but the selected extracts, made some thirty or more years ago, are presented by an editor who gives little evidence of familiarity with all that has been written and published on the subject since that time. Nevertheless, the book is very well produced and offers a most useful array of relevant literary quotations for those who may be delving more deeply into the medical and scientific ideas and practices of the period.


Arginine (ARG) metabolites are interrelated and are involved in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease. Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) appears to correlate with cardiovascular outcomes. We investigated the relationship between ARG metabolites, and their combined ratios in urine, and the ABPM profiles of children and adolescents with CKD. This cross-sectional study included 45 children and adolescents (age, 5‐18 years) with stage 1 to 4 CKD. Each child underwent office blood pressure (BP) measurements, 24-hour ABPM, and urinary ARG metabolite determinations. Seventy percent of children with CKD had abnormal 24-hour ABPM profiles, including nocturnal hypertension, increased BP load, and nondipping nocturnal BP. The urinary ARG-to-asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) ratio was lower, and the ADMA-to-symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) ratio was higher in children with advanced CKD (stages 2‐4) than those with stage 1 CKD. CKD patients with BP abnormalities also had reduced urinary ARG and dimethylamine (DMA) levels. The higher urinary (ADMAþSDMA)-to-ARG ratios were correlated to ABPM abnormalities, including increased systolic BP load and non-dipping nocturnal BP. ABPM abnormalities were significantly associated with a high urinary (ADMAþSDMA)-to-ARG ratio, suggesting the possible involvement of methylated ARG in the development of hypertension among children with CKD. J Am Soc Hypertens 2012;6(6):385‐392. 2012 American Society of


''Living'' anionic polymerization offers a readily feasible preparation of very well‐controlled homo‐ or copolymers in a wide range of molar masses and chemical structures. Such samples are vital in experimental polymer physics and the technique presented here offers self‐sufficiency with such samples. The technique of anionic polymerization performed under inert atmosphere is presented here. The components of the setup are described in detail. Purification procedures for glassware and chemicals for specific polymerizations are given. Illustrative examples and results are presented.


Currently, very little technology is used in real-world demining activities. Active programs by the U.S. Army in both land mine detection sensor development and systems integration are evaluating new technologies, incrementally improving existing technologies, increasing the probability of detection, reducing the false alarm rate, and planning out usable deployment scenarios. Through iterative design/build test cycles, and blind and scored testing at Army mine lanes, steady progress is being made.


fi-l-Sina a wa-l-Funun (The Unknown Feat in the Arts and Crafts) (1883) by Jirjis Tannus Awn, among others, and contributed to the emergent practice of sitting portraiture. By the same token, his analysis of the well-known portraits of Palestinian notable Wasif Jawhariyya by such photographers as Armenian-Palestinian Garabed Krikorian and one of his chief competitors Khalil Ra d, who came from Bhamdoun, Sheehi opens up undiscovered pockets of Ottoman-Arab cultural, intellectual, and commercial life. But such personal and family portraiture—primarily the province of elites, at least in this earlier period—was not the only expression of photographic modernity in the Ottoman and Ottoman-Arab worlds. Sheehi shows how the fascination with the carte de visite, a new medium that precipitated a kind of "Ottoman Arab cartomania" (perhaps this is a bit of purposeful hyperbole?), helped to bring portraiture out into the light, transforming the photograph into "an object with social currency and a social role" (p. 55), one that "maps the contours of growing class and social relations." But if "the alleged absence of the carte de visite among peasants may attest to the fact that these social groups were outside of the social networks of exchange" (p. 60), one wonders how historians of the material culture of the nahd. a are capable of definitively tracking the impact of this cartomania in the rural Ottoman world. Sheehi has a plausible answer to this problem, which comes through in his discussion of treatises on the science and technical aspects of photography. In his view, "the photograph is not an icon like a painting but an index. . . . It is the signs, props, backgrounds, poses, clothes, demeanor, sharpness, and format" (p. 93). In other words, rather than getting bogged down in the difficult (and perhaps unanswerable question) of reception of and participation in the photographic medium in rural parts of the late-Ottoman and Ottoman-Arab worlds, historians may be left to read representation for its own silences and gaps that both obscure and reveal subaltern life worlds. In this regard, however, it bears restating that the nahd. a was not a frictionless cultural development or intellectual space. Indeed, one of the persistent difficulties in making sense of the nahd. a concerns the dialectical tension between a discourse of authenticity and an impulse towards worldly cosmopolitanism. Nahd. a intellectuals were caught between the desire to celebrate and rejuvenate Arabic language, literature, and culture even as they articulated new modes of political, cultural, and intellectual engagement. Sheehi concludes with a critical analysis of how "the tribal," "the sectarian," or "the primitive" is captured by the photographic lens. The photographic archive or "image-screen" examined in The Arab Imago also contains traces of the nahd. a's others. As one of the primary documentary sources in his study, Sheehi concludes, "the studio portrait is an imprint of the Arab imago that undergirds a variety of class, gender, sectarian, and national subject positions" (p. 199). Given his turn toward particularistic forms of identity near the conclusion of the book, at times Sheehi seems to run the risk of reinscribing this binary that opposes the provincial to the cosmopolitan. It would be worthwhile for historians to more fully flesh out the ways in which such tensions surrounding relations of class, gender, sectarian, and national difference inhere in both discursive and material aspects of the nahd. a as well as other projects of modernity around the Middle East.


Abstract Current Information Systems Audit principles, methods and techniques are based on a paradigm formed in the 1970's. We argue that changes in the technological and organizational landscape and the abundance of data necessitate a paradigm shift, with Information Systems Auditors transforming into data scientists.


Objective To discuss the procedures and techniques of pleural decortication in the treatment of patients with chronic empyema.Method The clinical data of 73 patients with chronic empyema who received pleural decortication from June 2005 to June 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.Result All the 73 cases obtained satisfying results on operation time,volume of blood loss and postoperative recovery.Conclusion Pleural decortication with some techniques can get better results in the treatment of chronic empyema.


It has been known for some time that Monday mornings are the peak period for heart attacks but, it seems, this is only among the working population. The author outlines what the general practitioner can do to assist with workplace stress for themselves and for their patients. (non-author abstract)


In India where the state is mandated to provide free, compulsory and quality education to all children up to the age of fourteen years, parents still chose to send their children for the private tutoring with the hope of high academic achievement. There has been repeated reference to the adverse effects of this shadow system of education, but students still continue to access these services. Moreover, there is a sudden increase in demand of this shadow with the massification of school education. Specially at the secondary stages, which are considered most crucial for a student, defining his eligibility in global job market at this early stage itself. The study examines the perceptions of parents and students studying in higher secondary classes, residing in New Delhi towards the need of private supplementary tutoring. Additionally, the study also aims to uncover the impact of the supplementary tutoring(if any) on the academic performance of these students. Attempt has been made to study the nature and demand of private supplementary tutoring through semi-structured interview schedule presented to students and parents; of government and private schools alike. The data gathered reveals answers to three key research questions: the individual and household related factors affecting the demand for private supplementary tutoring; the reasons for rise in demand of supplementary tutoring at higher secondary levels; and the students' perception on the impact this typical tutoring model has on their academic achievement. The four A's- Accessibility, Availability, Affordability and Acceptability are also important factors associated to the study of individual and household need and choice of private supplementary education scenario.


Objective : To examine the relationship between Osteoprotegerin gene polymorphisms, and bone mineral density (BMD). Methods : Restriction fragment length polymorphisms at the Osteoprotegerin , , gene site, and BMD at the lumbar spine and proximal femur were analyzed in 229 postmenopausal Korean women (81 normal, 111 osteopenic and 37 osteoporotic patients). BMDs were measured by DEXA. The subjects were divided in normal, osteopenic and osteoporotic on the basis of the T-score values according to the classification of the World Health Organization (WHO). Results : The genotype distribution of , and polymorphisms in all postmenopausal women was as follows: AA 54.6%, AG 37.1%, GG 8.3%, T/T 17.5%, T/C 44.1%, C/C 38.4%; GG 52.4%, GC 38.0%, CC 9.6%, respectively. Significant differences in the distribution of A/A and A/G genotype among osteoporotic group were observed. No significant differences in the distribution of and genotypes among three groups were observed. After adjusting for potential confounding factors such as age, BMI, and menopause duration, polymorphism was significantly associated with BMD at the lumbar spine in normal and osteoporotic patients and BMD at the femur neck and wards triangle in normal patients, and polymorphism BMD at the trochanter in all groups and BMD at the femur neck in osteopenic and osteoporotic patients, and BMD at the wards triangle and trochanter in osteoporotic patients. But There was no relationship between gene polymorphism, and BMD. Conclusion : These findings suggest that osteoprotegerin gene polymorphisms may be an important contributor to the variation of BMD among postmenopausal Korean women.


In 2007 and 2008,the behavioral characteristics of breeding pairs of blue-eared pheasants Crossoptilon auritum were studied by scan sampling in Zecha Forest,Gansu province.The results showed that foraging(34.39%±1.83%)and guarding(29.62%±1.93%)were the main behaviors in the male,followed by moving,resting,standing,other behaviors and driving.The female spent most of the time foraging(53.23%±2.19%),followed by moving,guarding,resting,other behaviors and standing.In mutual behaviors,the male spent more time guarding than the female(P0.01);however the male spent less time foraging and on other behaviors than female.During the day,mean distance between the male and female was(2.59±0.07)m(n=535),and the foraging efficiency of the female obviously higher than that of the male.


The field of intelligent tutoring systems has seen many successes in recent years. A significant remaining challenge is the automatic creation of corpus-based tutorial dialogue management models. This paper reports on early work toward this goal. We identify tutorial dialogue modes in an unsupervised fashion using hidden Markov models (HMMs) trained on input sequences of manually-labeled dialogue acts and adjacency pairs. The two best-fit HMMs are presented and compared with respect to the dialogue structure they suggest; we also discuss potential uses of the methodology for future work.


ABSTRACT The development of exchange rates, inflation and unstable interest rates can influence the development of the Indonesian economy. The Indonesian economy is also visible from the rise and fall of stock prices and it also becomes one of the standards for investors in making investments. This research is aimed to test the influence of independent variables i.e. exchange rate, inflation, and interest rate to the stock price at property and real estate sector companies which are listed (IDX) in 2012-2016 periods. The population in this research is 55 property and real estate companies meanwhile the samples have been obtained by using purposive sampling method based on the predetermined criteria so 10 companies have been selected as samples. The dependent variable is stock price whereas the independent variables are exchange rate, inflation, and interest rate. The analysis technique has been done by using multiple regressions model with analysis test which consists of classic assumption test, model feasibility test, determination coefficient and hypothesis test. The result of the research indicates that the exchange rate and Inflation gives significant influence to the stock price on property and real estate sector companies which are listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange whereas the interest rate does not give any significant influence to the stock price of property and real estate sector companies in Indonesia stock exchange. Keywords: exchange rate, inflation, interest rate and stock price


Through the analysis of the meaning and the core ideas of TCM culture,strengthen the understanding of the culture of Chinese medicine. By means of the analysis of traditional Chinese medicine culture characteristic and function,make people understand the culture of traditional Chinese medicine the importance of international communication, international communication of TCM culture the main way to generalize analysis,adopt some strategies to promote the spread of culture in the world of traditional Chinese medicine.


Purpose This is to provide essential data for training necessary for sweeping through the analysis of muscle activity generated at this time and how much sweeping and what trajectory moves the stone when the movement of the stone is controlled through sweeping. Methods To check and record the distance between the stones by checking the stop position of the stone made by sweeping each section, the length (progress distance) and width (progress direction) were recorded using a reference table and a record preparation table. With the EMG attached, a total of 60 sweeps were made 20 times each from the beginning of the section to the end of the section. Sweeping subjects were asked to sweep as much as possible under the same conditions in all three sections. Results As a result of the study, the muscle mobilization patterns of the 1st and 2nd sections of the stone with the faster speed and the 3rd section with the stone's slower speed appeared differently. It was confirmed that the sweeping motion of curling is a motion that is used evenly among the muscles of the upper extremity, and it can be verified that it is a suitable item for the development of upper body muscles. Also, the right deltoid's muscle activity rate during push and the right triceps brachii during pull was high. Conclusion Each section of the stone's sweeping effect is an exercise that has many variables, such as changes in atmospheric temperature and humidity, changes in ice temperature, temperature-size-number of pebbles, and the edge state-resilience of stones, etc. It is judged that experience can cope with these variables and requires training.


Simple Summary The association between poor performance and respiratory disease in Thoroughbred racehorses that do not have a structural abnormality of the respiratory tract is often based on anecdotal evidence. We examined peer reviewed publications to determine if there was scientific evidence to link conditions such as inflammation of the airways, asthma, tracheal mucous, and exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) with decreased athletic performance. This is a complex field and studies have yielded conflicting results as to the impact of such conditions on performance. For example, some investigators found a significant association between poor racing performance and low-grade EIPH and mild to moderate asthma. In contrast, others have suggested that they may represent a normal response to training and the stabling environment. The key outcome of the review was that there is a dearth of studies unequivocally linking non-structural airway disease with poor performance, and there is a lack of an internationally harmonised approach to the assessment of racehorse performance. Improved investigations providing better quality evidence would facilitate comparison across studies, increase our understanding of the conditions associated with poor performance, safeguard horse welfare, and assist trainers to achieve their goals. Abstract The association between poor performance and respiratory disease in Thoroughbred racehorses that do not have a structural abnormality of the respiratory tract, is often based on anecdotal evidence. The objective of this scoping review was to examine the scientific evidence for such associations. Publications were selected based on a search of three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and CAB Direct), in English and without date restriction, followed by a screening process to exclude non-relevant papers, duplicates, and reviews. This process identified 996 publications of which 20 were analysed using the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool. The results indicated that the evidence supporting the relationship between proposed diagnostic indicators and poor performance is variable. There is a need for better quality evidence. In particular, there are conflicting reports relating to the impact of equine asthma and EIPH on athletic performance. Furthermore, a lack of standardisation in the measurement of racehorse performance makes it difficult to compare findings from different studies. The industry would benefit from high-level guidance concerning the design of controlled performance studies in Thoroughbred racehorses to collect comprehensive data and facilitate targeted interventions.


Direct membrane separation using hollow fibers was applied to wastewater treatment in an activated sludge process. A membrane module with a pore size of 0.1 micron was immersed in the aeration tank and treated water was filtered through the membrane by suction. Various operational modes were applied to investigate stable flux conditions as well as organic and nitrogen removal. The stable treatment with a detention time of 4 hours could be kept for about 120 days at a volumetric organic loading of 1.5 kg COD/(m 3 day) using intermittent suction with a low pressure of 13 kPa (1.3 m as water head). The COD removal was higher than 95% and more than 90% of COD supplied was oxidized to keep MLSS almost constant in the reactor without sludge wastage, which suggests that total oxidation of influent biodegradable materials can be achieved in this system. Up to 60% of nitrogen could be denitrified by intermittent aeration. The critical organic loading was estimated as 3 to 4 kg COD/(m 3 day) in order to keep both stable flux and aerobic condition. The clogging in the membrane was inevitable to some extent, however, the intermittent suction and low pressure operation without cleaning could prevent the unrecoverable clogging and dead end of operation.


Ability tracking creates a homogenous learning environment within the classroom, by segregating high-performing and low-performing students into different groups. This paper exploits a unique policy change in South Korea combined with comprehensive micro dataset to measure the causal consequences of ability tracking, compared to the allocating students to mixed ability groups. Before the policy change, high schools selected students according to their prior academic achievement, whereas under the new policy, students are randomly assigned to high schools. Variations in the timing of the policy implementation across districts provide a difference-in-difference research design. We find that tracking benefits high performing students who study more and gain from a superior learning environment, with the expense of the academic achievement of the low-performing students. The transition to the ability mixing system caused a reduction in the students' probability of getting into top-tier colleges. The distribution of the academic performance of the students under the non-tracking system converged to the mean, and the variance in college entrance test score across students declined. The underlying mechanism behind these results is that the positive benefits of having better peers dominate the tailored guidance of teachers. This paper emphasizes the importance of the design of the education policy in human capital development of a country.


The reaction of 3CH2 with O2 was investigated in incident shock waves for pressures near 1 bar and temperatures from 1000 to about 1800 K. 3CH2 source was diazomethane. The concentration time curves of CO and CO2 were obtained from infrared emission, the OH profiles by laser absorption measurements. Data for O and H atom formation in this reaction were reported recently. – The measurements show that about a quarter of the reaction proceeds by forming radicals directly. Three quarters of the reaction form stable products only. Main reaction product is CO with a CO to CO2 ratio near 4:1. Direct formation of OH does not exceed a few percent. A reaction channel distribution is given. – Rate constants for the total reaction 3CH2 + O2 obtained by computer simulation of the product profiles in the temperature range mentioned are below the data extrapolated from measurements performed by Vinckier et al. and Bley et al. in the temperature range around room temperature. A rate expression fitting the measured date over the whole temperature range is reported.


The objective of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity to change of the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (score, 0–40) in Friedreich's ataxia.


The Rev-erb and retinoic acid-related orphan receptors (ROR) are two related families of orphan nuclear receptors that recognize similar response elements but have opposite effects on transcription. Recently, the Rev-erbα gene promoter has been characterized and shown to harbor a functional Rev-erbα-binding site known as Rev-DR2, responsible for negative feedback down-regulation of promoter activity by Rev-erbα itself. The present study aimed to investigate whether Rev-erbα gene expression is regulated by RORα. Gel shift analysis demonstrated thatin vitro translated hRORα1 protein binds to the Rev-DR2 site, both as monomer and dimer. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that binding of RORα to this site also occurred in vivo in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The Rev-DR2 site was further shown to be functional as it conferred hRORα1 responsiveness to a heterologous promoter and to the natural human Rev-erbαgene promoter in these cells. Mutation of this site in the context of the natural Rev-erbα gene promoter abolished its activation by RORα, indicating that this site plays a key role in hRORα1 action. Finally, adenoviral overexpression of hRORα1 in HepG2 cells led to enhanced hRev-erbα mRNA accumulation, further confirming the physiological importance of RORα1 in the regulation of Rev-erbα expression.


Membraneless compartments known as biomolecular condensates are thought to form through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). When forces are applied to the fluid interfaces of these condensates, surface fluctuation are generated, a phenomenon known as capillary waves. The spatiotemporal dynamics of these fluctuations, characterized by the amplitude and velocity, reflect the physical properties of condensates. Moreover, unraveling the nature of fluctuations near the critical point is crucial for understanding the universal physical underpinnings of phase transitions. Although fluid condensate interfaces are ubiquitous within living cells, little is known about their surface fluctuations. Here, we quantify the interface fluctuations of light-induced synthetic and endogenous nuclear condensates, including nucleoli and nuclear speckles, in real and Fourier space. Measured fluctuations align with a theory assuming thermal driving, which enables measurement of surface tension and effective viscosity. The surface tensions fall within the range of 10−6 to 10−5 N/m for all tested condensates; in contrast, we find significant difference of fluctuation velocities, highlighting much higher viscosity of nucleoli 104 ∼Pa ·s, compared to synthetic condensates and nuclear speckles. We further find that the interface fluctuations become enhanced and slower as the system nears the critical point. These findings elucidate key aspects of intracellular condensate properties, and suggest that the critical trend of surface tension is more consistent with theoretical predictions by the mean-field model than those by the 3D Ising model.


A dynamic model was developed to estimate the effect of hydraulic pressure gradient on the variation of air-water mixture density. The results showed that the density increases linearly with depth in the air-water mixture. The density variation was found to be greater at higher air flow rates.


ABSTRACT International relations (IR) studies on humanitarian intervention have debated both the nature and strength of intervention norms. This article contributes to this debate by exploring under what conditions individuals are willing to support military humanitarian intervention (MHI) and the psychological factors that influence whether, and the degree to which individuals support MHI. Taking a psychological approach, we hypothesized that individuals' decision to support MHI is influenced by in-group favoritism and emotional responses to in-group suffering. We tested our theory with two experiments, each of which recruited roughly 200 American participants. Both experiments centered on the ongoing Syrian civil war and assessed Americans' willingness to support intervention to protect different civilian groups. The results suggested that support for intervention was widespread, but not a majority view in most cases. The findings also suggested that participants exhibited slightly higher rates of support for intervention when those suffering were Christian, as opposed to Muslim. Furthermore, we found that the dynamics of support for intervention changed when chemical weapons were introduced into the scenario, which reframed the the crisis as a national security issue. Overall, our results suggest that individuals' decisions to act upon norms can be influenced by the context of a crisis and individual level psychological factors, which have been under explored in IR scholarship on norms.


To the drawbacks of the support vector machines can not distinguish the different loss by different miscarriage of justice,the vario-risk support vector machines is proposed,redesigned the optimum classified face,to make it be true of actual condition.It is applied in the fault diagnosis of the diesel engine successfully.


Objective To investigate the clinical and neuroimaging features of hypoglycemic encephalopathy(HE).Methods The clinical and neuroimaging data of 49 HE patients were analyzed retrospectively.Results Among all the HE cases,26 cases had conscious disturbance;19 cases had spiritual and behavior disorder;6 cases had epileptic seizure;10 cases had inarticulate speech and diminished response;5 cases had hemiplegia or monoplegia;3 cases had decerebrate rigidity seizure.There was no abnormalities except 10 cases with cerebral infarction or cerebral atrophy in the 23 cases scaned by CT.In 13 cases scaned by MRI,7 cases were found abnormalities.3 cases of them had abnormalities of the diffusive cerebral cortex and hippocampus(2 cases had widespread involvement in the basal ganglia,1 case only involved unilateral cortical,and MR spectroscopy revealed no evidence of abnormal lactate in the affected cerebral cortex);2 cases of them involved in the splenium of corpus callosum(1 case recovered 10 d later,and 1 case spreaded to posterior limbs of the internal capsule bilaterally);1 case of them involved in the putamen;and the other case was involved in the corona radiata.There were isointense or hypointense abnormalities on T1WI and hyperintense abnormalities on T2WI and DWI in the lesions,with the value of apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)reduced.Conclusions There is no specific clinical manifestation in HE.MRI reveal highly selective lesions in HE.DWI is more sensitive than conventional MRI to define the lesions.


The production of d-glycerate from l-tartrate was investigated with cells of Pseudomonas sp. group Ve-2, which produce l-tartrate decarboxylase. The production with intact cells had several advantages over production with the cell extract; no addition of NAD+ is required, the substrate inhibition for the reaction is diminished, and the reaction can be done at higher temperatures than the reaction with cell extract. The culture conditions and the reaction conditions were optimized. The maximal activity was obtained when the cells were cultured at 30°C for 24 hr in a medium containing 1.0% potassium l-tartrate, 0.05% NH4NO3, 0.2% yeast extract, 0.3% K2HPO4, 0.01% MgSO4 · H20, and trace elements (pH 7.5). The amount of d-glycerate produced reached 106 g/1 at 45°C after incubation for 45 hr, with a molar yield of almost 100%.


This paper proposes maximum torque control of IPMSM drive using multi model reference adaptive fuzzy controller(MFC) and artificial neural network(ANN). This control method is applicable over the entire speed range which considered the limits of the inverter's current and voltage rated value. For each control mode, a condition that determines the optimal d-axis current id for maximum torque operation is derived. This paper considers the design and implementation of novel technique of high performance speed control for IPMSM using multi-MFC and ANN controller. The hybrid combination of neural network and fuzzy control will produce a powerful representation flexibility and numerical processing capability. Also, this paper proposes maximum control of IPMSM drive using approximation method. This method is decreased the burden of digital signal process(DSP) in calculation of optimal current. This paper proposes the analysis results to verify the effectiveness of the MFC and ANN controller. Also it verifies the validity of maximum torque control of IPMSM drive with approximation method.


ABSTRACT We present methods for modeling and estimation of a concurrent functional regression when the predictors and responses are two-dimensional functional datasets. The implementations use spline basis functions and model fitting is based on smoothing penalties and mixed model estimation. The proposed methods are implemented in available statistical software, allow the construction of confidence intervals for the bivariate model parameters, and can be applied to completely or sparsely sampled responses. Methods are tested to data in simulations and they show favorable results in practice. The usefulness of the methods is illustrated in an application to environmental data.


There are many empirically determined influential factors known to control the organic food purchase behaviour. Of these known factors‐ health, product quality and concern for natural environmental degradation are seen as the major motives behind the organic food purchase. We, therefore, attempted to investigate the most prominent reason(s) for buying organic food, using the meta‐analyses of studies published during the last 25 years as our basis for conviction. Multilevel meta‐analyses was applied to the studies in review, in order to find the major reason(s) for the purchase of organic grocery, milk, fruits and vegetables. Although the three motivational factors mentioned above have been echoed throughout the history of organic food purchase research, the health factor has always topped the priority chart. The study in its overall empirical scale contributes to managerial implications and sets an agenda for future research.


Fault diagnosis of rolling bearings is essential to ensure the efficient and safe operation of mechanical equipment. The extraction of fault features of the repetitive transient component from noisy vibration signals is key to bearing fault diagnosis. However, the bearing fault-induced transients are often submerged by strong background noise and interference. To effectively detect such fault-related transient components, this paper proposes a probability- and statistics-based method. The maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) estimator combined with probability density functions (pdfs) of the repetitive transient component, which is modeled by a mixture of two Laplace pdfs and noise, were used to derive the fast estimation model of the transient component. Subsequently, the LapGauss pdf was adopted to model the noisy coefficients. The parameters of the model derived could then be estimated quickly using the iterative expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm. The main contributions of the proposed statistic-based method are that: (1) transients and their wavelet coefficients are modeled as mixed Laplace pdfs; (2) LapGauss pdf is used to model noisy signals and their wavelet coefficients, facilitating the computation of the proposed method; and (3) computational complexity changes linearly with the size of the dataset and thus contributing to the fast estimation, indicated by analysis of the computational performance of the proposed method. The simulation and experimental vibration signals of faulty bearings were applied to test the effectiveness of the proposed method for fast fault feature extraction. Comparisons of computational complexity between the proposed method and other transient extraction methods were also conducted, showing that the computational complexity of the proposed method is proportional to the size of the dataset, leading to a high computational efficiency.


Multi-channel confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the structure of K2Si4O9 and hydrous NaAlSi3O8 (H-Ab) glasses at high pressure (⩽15.2 GPa) and room temperature, and at ambient pressure and high temperature (⩽1246 K). The high-pressure and high-temperature data have provided insights into the structures of these glasses. For K2Si4O9 glass, the observed increase in the relative intensity of the 592 cm−1D2 'defects' band above 3.8 GPa and above Tg at 1 atm indicate that Si—O—Si linkages with small bond angles, similar to those found in three-membered rings, contribute to the D2 band. Pressure and temperature dependences of the Raman bands of K2Si4O9 glass in the 900–1200 cm−1 region indicate that a significant amount of five- and sixfold coordinated silicon atoms occurs only at P⩾7.7 GPa. Raman spectra of H-Ab glass were measured in both the low-wavenumber (100–1200 cm−1) and the O–H stretching (2700–3800 cm−1) regions. At 1 atm, the spectrum of H-Ab glass shows a broad band near 900 cm−1 and a doublet consisting of broad bands near 1000 and 1100 cm−1. The pressure and temperature dependences of the intensities of the 900 and 1000 cm−1 bands indicate that the 900, 1000 and 1100 cm−1 bands of H-Ab glass result from distorted TO4 (T=Si or Al) tetrahedra, in which the usual triple degeneracy of the antisymmetric stretching mode is lifted. In the O–H stretching region of the H-Ab glass, the presence of numerous hydrated species (e.g. OH−, H3O+and H2O) is indicated by the splitting of the broad 3548 cm−1asymmetric band into two bands at 2.1 GPa with peaks at 3481 and 3562 cm−1, and by their respective shifts in the negative and positive directions with increasing pressure.


This review article is a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the discovery of YBa2Cu3O7-delta high-temperature superconductors (HTSCs). As a result of this discovery a family of (RE)Ba2Cu3O7-delta (RE stands for "rare earth") HTSCs has found great practical use. The review article consists of a brief history of how YBa2Cu3O7-delta was conceived and five sections describing the family of compounds: crystallography, phase diagrams, manufacturing techniques, main superconducting properties, and fields of application.


The fluctuation of the mutual fund's Net Asset Value has becoming the major concern by investors in investing their fund in the mutual fund. The example of the collapsed of the mutual fund Net Asset Value last September 2005 was confusing many investors. Based on the result of the Quantitative analysis which has been done by using the SPSS, the collapsed of the Net Asset Value was due to the increasing world oil price which cause the risen of exchange rate between US Dollar and Indonesian Rupiah. This affair resulted in the mounting level of interest rate which made the government had nothing option left to choose except increasing the level of interest rate in order to push down the level of interest rate and make more Rupiah circulated in the market than US dollar. Many of them did not really know what was going on at that time.


In an earlier study (1) I asked sixty-one directors of elementary education in the central cities of metropolitan areas in the United States why their school districts changed from manuscript to cursive handwriting. Forty-one percent of these school executives reasoned this was done because cursive handwriting was "better preparation for an adult occupation"; 91.8 percent believed cursive handwriting to be "traditionally the accepted form," while 62.3 percent saw this style to be "demanded by society" (1). Since there has been little if any published evidence of the opinions of the general population or of employers as to the relative merits of the two styles of handwriting, these educators' statements must perforce be taken as a subjective evaluation. Further investigation of this matter seems needed.


The Archaeology, that is a science scourge, adoptes of the computer science all that is related to success. As example we did a study in this article about the programs too important to archaeology: the datdabases, the G.I.S., and the reconstructions virtuality of excavations.


Purification and characterization of CD38/ADP‐ribosyl cyctase in the rat lung tissue was performed with microsomes solubilized in Triton X‐100 and the ADP‐ribosyl cyclase was then purified using sequential column chromatography. Partially purified rat lung ADP‐ribosyl cyclase was analyzed by immunoblotting using an antibody raised against a recombinant rat CD38 and showed the presence of monomer (42 kDa) and dimer (85 kDa) under non‐reducing conditions but under reducing conditions, only the monomer was detected. Both the monomer and dimer could be eluted out in a stable manner from SDS‐PAGE and the enzymatic activity was retained by the two different forms of CD38/ADP‐ribosyl cyclase. Immunohistochemical staining showed the presence of CD38 on the bronchial epithelium and the alveoli.


Query by Image Retrieval uses image content features to search and retrieve digital images from a large database. Visual feature extraction methods are commonly employed techniques for searching purpose. However, their usefulness is limited by computational time, inefficient indexing and retrieval performance. In this paper, we present a simple and efficient image retrieval model based on the semantic features that uses histograms and Gabor wavelet techniques for extracting the features of the image. The proposed method is tested through simulation in comparison with the existing approaches and the results are encouraging.


ABSTRACT This study looks at purposeful and legitimizing types of performance information use in local governments. Drawing on a survey of Austrian mayors who are at the politico-administrative apex of local government, the paper shows that purposeful and legitimizing uses of performance information coexist, but they appear to be negatively associated. In exploring the contextual and organizational conditions under which legitimizing uses prevail over purposeful ones, the analysis shows that oversight (coercive) and political (normative) pressures, hierarchical culture, and low-performance information availability foster the dominance of the legitimizing use type over the purposeful one.


It is hardly an exaggeration to sum marize the history of four hundred years by saying that the leading idea of a con quering nation in relation to the con quered was, in 1600 to change their re ligion; in 1700 to change their laws; in 1800 to change their trade; and in 1900 to change their drainage. May we not say that on the prow of the conquering ship in these four hundred years first stood the priest, then the lawyer, then the merchant, and finally the physician? Status of Sanitation


Business angels dominate early-stage investment in firms, but research on their effects on firms is scarce and limited by sample selection. To address sample selection, we propose using population data and we develop an algorithm for identifying business angel investments in such data. We illustrate this novel approach by applying it to detailed and longitudinal total population data for individuals and firms in Sweden. In our application, we focus on a subset of business angels—active business angels who are themselves successful entrepreneurs with a profitable exit. We then study active business angels' effects on firm performance, using population data. Employing a quasi-experimental estimator, we find that the business angels invest in firms that already perform above par. There is also a positive effect on subsequent growth compared with control firms. However, contrary to previous research on business angels, we cannot find any impact on firm survival. Overall, the paper underlines the need to address sample selection when studying business angels and suggests using population data for identification.


● Abstract● Objective: The Amplatzer vascular plug (AVP) is a new embolic device with advantages in embolization of high-flow vessels. We report a case involving implantation of an AVP into the retromandibular vein and coil-embolization of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF). Case presentation: We present the case of a 31-year-old woman with an external carotid artery (ECA)-retromandibular vein AVF. She complained of pulsatile tinnitus after a sagittal split-ramus osteotomy. The high-flow left ECAretromandibular vein AVF was depicted in the arterial phase using selective external carotid angiography (ECAG). Endovascular embolization treatment of the fistula using an AVP and coils was planned. We initially intended to introduce the AVP into the fistula via a transvenous route through the left external jugular vein, but could not pass the 5-Fr guiding catheter round the hairpin curve between the fistula and ECA. We therefore changed treatment strategy, placing an 8 mm AVP into the retromandibular vein. Fistula closure was almost obtained after implantation, but shunt flow from a narrow channel remained. We then embolized the fistula using coils, from the AVP to the fistula inlet. The fistula was occluded using five coils. Conclusion: We treated the patient with implantation of an AVP in the retromandibular vein and coil-embolization of the AVF. Advantages of the AVP are its stability for high-flow vessel occlusion and its cost-effectiveness when compared with coils. However, this device has disadvantages in the ease of its delivery to distal vessels. Therefore, using this device in craniofacial lesions needs technical refinement.


4 5 A RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 154-2018, THE 6 PERMITTING FEE SCHEDULE; CONFORMING FEES TO NEW LAWS 7 AND STATE HEARING OFFICER FEES; ELIMINATING 8 ADMINISTRATIVE FEES; CREATING FEMA FLOODPLAIN APPEAL 9 FEES; CHANGING REVISION FEES; ALLOWING STAFF TO REMOVE 10 FEES UNCOLLECTABLE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN IMPLEMENTATION 11 DATE 12 13 WHEREAS, the County protects life and safety through review of construction 14 plans and inspection of construction work as provided by the Florida Building Code; and


A research that the influence of combustion chamber's construction parameter on performance of diesel-natural gas dual fuel engine has been done, which is based on a dual fuel engine of diesel-natural gas. The heat release rate of dual fuel engine is calculated and analyzed via the indicated work diagrams of three kinds of different combustion chamber's structural parameter. The research results demonstrate that the shape of combustion chamber and the compression ratio has great effect on a dual fuel engine's combustion pressure, pressure rise rate and heat release rate etc. It has obvious effects on combustion process when increases compression ratio and reduces the caliber of combustion chamber properly. The replacement ratio of natural gas may be raised and the performances of dual fuel engine may be enhanced.


Private enforcement of securities laws enhances incentives for issuers and other market participants to comply with their statutory and regulatory obligations, especially their disclosure obligations. Assessing the effectiveness of a jurisdiction's private securities law enforcement regime requires not only quantitative evaluations of enforcement intensity, but also a nuanced consideration of the qualitative institutional context within which the jurisdiction's enforcement regime has developed and operates. This article contextualises the regime for civil enforcement of securities law in Canada, focusing principally on statutory civil liability for continuous disclosure violations. The development of this statutory remedy, its apparent strengths and acknowledged weaknesses are considered not only within the context of Canadian public enforcement mechanisms, but also within a broader institutional context, including an examination of complementary developments relating to class actions and lawyers' contingency fees and key shareholder-friendly provisions of Canadian corporate law.


Abstract To study once-daily antimicrobial prophylaxis of urinary tract infections, we gave trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (40 mg/200 mg), trimethoprim (100 mg), nitrofurantoin macrocrystals (100 mg...


A counseling dramatization represents one effective means of learning about ourselves and others. The similarities between counseling and drama become obvious when one considers some of the essential elements common to both: problem, choice, crisis, climax, and resolution. It is not surprising, therefore, that drama readily lends itself to the counseling process. The counseling playlet "The Search" was specifically designed for use by counselors, teachers, parents, and students. It focuses on the motivation, risks, and consequences involved in changing behavior. The theme reflects the problems that occur when negative behavior is overemphasized and the positive is overlooked. The playlet's structured format and thematic questions provide built-in direction while allowing for spontaneous interaction and expression. Group involvement in the production of the playlet encourages participants to experience and reveal how their thinking, feelings, and behavior affect themselves and each other. The primary goal of the counselor and teacher is to facilitate self-awareness through a reflection and sharing of feelings; both should avoid falling into the role of drama coach or stage manager. The total performance time is approximately 10 minutes, followed by discussion questions that guide and reinforce learning. The use of props and costuming is optional. The classroom with minor modifications may provide the most natural setting. The curtain now rises for the production of:


This article is devoted to study of metaphors in online health communication. Health communication is a process of knowledge transfer and knowledge acquisition between statusand competence-unequal participants (a doctor and a patient), who verbalize their knowledge in different ways. For metaphor is one of the key ways of categorization and conceptualization of experience, it reflects an individual's knowledge about the world and his place in it. Hence, it can be assumed that participants with asymmetric levels of knowledge represent information about the same event by using different metaphors. Understanding of the mechanism of metaphorization helps to optimize communication between an expert and a non-expert. In this paper we present a review of studies concerning the cognitive theory of metaphor, metaphorical modeling, metaphor in discourse, peculiarities of professional communication, knowledge communication within medical discourse. Here is considered one of the types of metaphors a direct metaphor, whose distinguishing feature is a direct reference to the source-domain in the text using marker words, which simplifies identification of this type of metaphor in discourse. Results of the study made it possible to implement metaphorical modeling and draw appropriate conclusions relating to the source-domain concepts usage.


1. Introduction. 2. Enhancing Creativity at Work. 3. Psychological Approaches to Creativity. 4. Group Processes and Innovation. 5. The Antecedents of Organizational Innovation. 6. The Innovation Process. 7. Organization Development. 8. Resistance to Change. 9. Future Directions for Practice and Research. Bibliography. Index.


In order to meet the challenge of complexity, a term that describes morethan any other the current epochal change, school is called to deeply reviseits own educational choices and to define methods and procedures thataim to implement a comprehensive training of the individual, within aprospective that simultaneously promotes cognitive, social and relationalskills. Prosociality is an integral part of that path, as it refers to a set of skillsthat are based on reciprocity, and thus allow the individual, once acquired,to establish positive relationships with others, by activating cognitive specificprocesses while contributing to building a learning conducive environment(Roche, 2002; Caprara, 2014). Based on these premises, the work describesa path of prosocial teaching proposed to students belonging to twosecondary school classes and implemented according to the methodologyof cooperative learning, as indicated in Johnson's Learning Together (1987;1996) and in Kagan's Structural Approach (2000).


Reports of hypoxic conditions (oxygen <1.5 ml L−1) off the U.S. west coast over the last two decades led us to investigate hypoxia in the Southern California Bight (SCB) and its potential impacts on fisheries. The secular trend in hypoxia in the SCB over the last 57 years is not monotonic, and reversed trend in the mid‐1980s, bringing oxygen concentrations back to levels measured in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Thirty‐seven percent of the rockfish (Sebastes spp.) habitat in the Cowcod Conservation Area at 240–350 m depths suffers exposure to hypoxia in the summer of normal years. If current trends in shoaling of low oxygen water continue for another 20 years, rather than reversing as happened previously, we predict loss of 18% of the habitat with 55% of the total habitat exposed to hypoxia.


There are several techniques for image recognition. Among those methods, application of soft computing models on digital image has been considered to be an approach for a better result. The main objective of the present work is to provide a new approach for image recognition using Artificial Neural Networks. Initially an original gray scale intensity image has been taken for transformation. The Input image has been added with Salt and Peeper noise. Adaptive median Filter has been applied on noisy image such that the noise can be removed and the output image would be considered as filtered Image. The estimated Error and average error of the values stored in filtered image matrix have been calculated with reference to the values stored in original data matrix for the purpose of checking of proper noise removal. Now each pixel data has been converted into binary number (8 bit) from decimal values. A set of four pixels has been taken together to form a new binary number with 32 bits and it has been converted into a decimal. This process continues to produce new data matrix with new different set of values. This data matrix has been taken as original data matrix and saved in data bank. Now for recognition, a new test image has been taken and the same steps as salt & pepper noise insertion, removal of noise using adaptive median filter as mentioned earlier have been applied to get a new test matrix. Now the average error of the second image with respect to original image has been calculated based on the both generated matrices. If the average error is more than 45% then a conclusion can be made that the images are different and cannot be matched. But if the value of average error has been found to be less than or equal to 45%, an effort has been made to use the artificial neural network on test data matrix with reference to original data matrix thereby producing a new matrix of the second image(test image). The total average error has been calculated on generated data matrix produced after the application of artificial neural networks on test data matrix to check whether proper identification can be made or not. It has been observed that the value of average error is less than that of test image without application of artificial neural network. Further it has been observed that the test image is matching and recognized with respect to original image.