The invention provides a computerized numerical control rolling machine for torsion shaft rolling process. The rolling machine can roll the excircle and the tooth root of a torsion shaft to improve the efficiency of the rolling process. The rolling machine comprises a main machine body, a cylindrical rolling head, a tooth-root rolling head, a built-in center, an internal spline sleeve, a connection mechanism, a measurement system, a numerical control system and a hydraulic system. During excircle rolling, the torsion shaft is needed to rotate, so the torsion shaft is tightened by the sleeve and rotates together with an air chuck, so that excircle rolling can be realized. During tooth-root rolling, the torsion shaft is fixed, and then is tightened by the sleeve so that tooth-root rolling can be realized. The rolling machine is capable of realizing excircle rolling and tooth root rolling for the torsion shaft, so that the rolling efficiency is improved, the floor space is reduced and the cost is reduced.


Researchers of the agglomeration theory have called for investigation of the paradoxically fact that many firms reside outside of industry clusters despite the apparent benefits of economic agglomeration. This study examines the how geographically isolated firms can tap into agglomeration benefits by building linkages to key institutions in the industry center. The longitudinal data of the Ontario wine industry (1999-2009) reveal a negative impact of geographic remoteness on firm performance, and that the impact is stronger for firms without institutional linkages. The study contributes to the agglomeration research by demonstrating that institutional embeddedness can help isolated firms overcome location disadvantage, and thus provides a possible explanation of why many firms reside, often persistently, outside of industry clusters.


ion of the hydrogen atom from tributyltin hydride to produce (148) is an intermolecular process and occurs at a much slower rate than an intramolecular process. The dilute reaction conditions also discourage intermolecular reactions. Abstraction of 1 1 6 a hydrogen atom from the carbon of the C=N is via a less favourable seven-membered transition state and still results in the presence of a very energetic, rapidly inverting, sp2 hybridised radical so that there is little or no energy gain in this process. If, however, the radical attacks the C=N of the oxime ether, an sp3 hybridised radical results which is much lower in energy. The radical on the nitrogen is flanked by an oxygen with two lone pairs of electrons. The single electron in a p-orbital on the nitrogen overl^s with one of the lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen resulting in stabilisation of the radical.


The paper analyzes the marketing circumstances for the operation of medium-sized and small hospitals under a market-oriented economy and gives an account of how the hospital the author works with has treaded the path of rapid and healthy development by actively changing marketing concepts, implementing marketing strategies in the light of local conditions, promoting one-to-one marketing, and persisting in people-oriented services. The experiences will hopefully shed light on the survival and development of medium-sized and small hospitals.


The survival of exponentially growing JTC-11 cells, derived from ascites tumor cells, was enhanced when these cells were continuously treated with dibutyryl cyclic AMP for at least 6 hr before and 3 hr after X irradiation. While the Dq did not change, the Do increased compared to that of the irradiated JTC-11 cells not given dibutyryl cyclic AMP treatment or given only preirradiation treatment. Because of the increased Do value, the enhanced survival is probably a form of repair of potentially lethal radiation damage (PLDR), and the postirradiation treatment is important for this recovery. The recovery was not seen in mouse L cells. Since the manner of growth inhibition by dibutyryl cyclic AMP differed between JTC-11 cells and mouse L cells, the induction of the recovery from potentially lethal damage seen with application of the drug may involve a repair


Background

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis with unknown pathogen, and the formation of coronary artery lesions/aneurysm (CAL/CAA) is the most common sequela. Environmental and genetic factors have been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of KD. Human testis development related 1(TDRG1) is a newly identified long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) which stimulates the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between genetic polymorphism of TDRG1 and the risk of KD.
Methods

A total of two cohorts from Guangzhou (988 KD patients and 1054 controls) and Beijing (564 KD patients and 1221 controls) were enrolled in the present study. Rs8506 of TDRG1 was chosen for TaqMan genotyping assay.
Results

Logistic regression suggested that lncRNA TDRG1 rs8506 C > T polymorphism was not associated with the risk of KD in both Guangzhou and Beijing cohort (dominant model and recessive model: P > 0.05). Moreover, we also did not observe a significant association between the lncRNA TDRG1 rs8506 C > T polymorphism and the risk of KD patients with different ages, gender or coronary artery outcomes in both Guangzhou and Beijing cohort.
Conclusions

The present study revealed that the lncRNA TDRG1 rs8506 C > T polymorphism might not be associated with susceptibility to KD in Chinese children. Future research with a larger sample size should be performed to confirm these results.


The essential oil from the seeds of Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen(Leguminosae) from China was obtained by simultaneous distillation and extraction(SDE) and petroleum ether-ultrasonic wave extraction(PE-UW) . The chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry(GC-MS) . 31 and 81 compounds of the essential oil were characterized respectively. SDE:Major components identified were P,P,P-triphenyl phosphine imide(35.3%) ,bis(1-methylethyl) peroxide(16.4%) ,1-methyl-1H-pyrrole(5.2%) and 3,3,6-trimethyl-1,5-Heptadien-4-one(4.7%);PE-UW:Major components were alpha.-hydroperoxy diethyl ether(28.7%) ,11,14-eicosadienoic acid methyl ester(6.3%) ,Hexadecanoic acid(5.5%) and γ-Tocopherol(5.4%).


Silk fibroin filaments are natural proteins produced by silkworm, Bombyx mori, which is bounded by sericin polymers in silk thread used in the cocoon. Fibroin gene expression and antioxidant enzymes were studied in the midgut of Bombyx mori larvae when reared on tropical mulberry plant varieties (Jorhat, TR10, BC2-59, and Hmute). In this study, the B. mori strain FC2 x FC1 showed a high expression of fibroin at both mRNA and protein levels when reared on four plant varieties. B. mori strains FC1 x FC2 (reared on Local, Jorhat and BC2-59) and CSR4 x CSR2 (reared on Jorhat, TR10 and BC2-59) had a higher level of expression of fibroin protein. The strain FC2 X FC1 showed relatively higher SOD and moderate catalase activities. This study reveals the differential expression of fibroin and tolerance to stress in B. mori strains which might justify the rationality of using the most suitable host plants and economically viable strains (FC2 X FC1) for producing commercially the best quality silk threads.


The study of resuspension process and its mechanism of surface sediment is of difficulty but the key to marine sedimentary dynamics.On the basis of the measurement of suspended sediment grain size parameters and current velocity in the Jinghai Bay and its adjacent waters,the characteristics of grain size distributions and resuspension process of suspended sediment are analyzed.The results show that the mean grain size of suspended sediment decreased from the west to the east of the study area,and it was slightly coarser from the bottom to the top in vertical.The relationship among mean grain size,suspended sediment concentration and current velocity was significant.There were two resuspension processes during a tidal cycle.The grain size of resuspended sediment was between 100~300μm,and the mean content of the suspended sediment generated by resuspension was 1.49×10-3~6.66×10-3kg/m3 at the bottom layers.


The steroid hormones present in many generations of combined oral contraceptives (COC) can act as endocrine disruptors inducing changes in the behavior and physiology of fish. In this context, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of steroid hormones present in COC on behavioral parameters of Betta splendes, an aggressive ornamental fish used in the aquariophily. Adult males were observed with the ad libitum method to develop an ethogram and were divided into five groups, Control and exposed to hormones: 17β-estradiol (E2), levonorgestrel and ethinylestradiol (LEA - 2nd COC generation), gestodene and ethinylestradiol (GEA - 3rd COC generation) and drospirenone and ethinylestradiol (DEA - 4th COC Generation). Fish were exposed for 30 days to a final concentration of 10ng/L. The behavior was evaluated by scan sampling and animal-focal methods, and feed intake. In the scan sampling method, the Resting behavior showed the highest value (54.4±10.1%) in E2 group (P<0.05). The aggressive behavior Rush (16.1±3.6%) and Back and Rush (16.4±5.1%) showed the highest values in the control group, compared to the other groups (P<0.05). Animals in the E2 group showed higher frequency of inactive behaviors (76.1%) compared to other groups. Furthermore, the atypical behavior Erratic swimming was not observed in the control group, but it was observed in the experimental groups. The E2, LEA, GEA and DEA groups showed reduction in aggressive behavior (10%) compared to the control group by the animal-focal method. Moreover, no difference was observed in the exhibition of these behaviors and feed intake comparing animals exposed to the different generations of contraceptives. It can be concluded that 17β-estradiol has caused more effects on fish and different generations of COC showed similar toxic effects in the observed behaviors.


............................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Study ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statements of the Problem ....................................................................................... 7 1.3 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................ 8 1.4 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................ 8 1.5 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 8 1.6 The Significance of the Study .................................................................................. 9 1.7 Basic Assumptions of the Study .............................................................................. 9 1.8 Limitations of the Study........................................................................................... 9 1.9 Delimitation of the Study ....................................................................................... 10 1.10 Definition of Significant Terms Used in the Study ............................................. 11 1.11 Organization of the Study .................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................... 14 2.


This paper looks at memory, autoethnography and analytic authoethnography as a methodology in the context of narratives of learning, through an outline of a research study into the professional identities of university-based teacher educators in England. The research took an autoethnographic approach in examining the author's own narrative experience alongside those of six other teacher educators. Within educational research, autobiographical, life-history and narrative methodologies have moved from the margins to become established, although not unchallenged. Pioneering studies with teachers in various contexts by, for example, Ball and Goodson (1985), Elbaz (1990), Huberman (1993), and Erben (1998) among others, combine to form a rigorous and widely-respected foundation in demonstrating the valuable insights that are gained into teachers, students, schools and pedagogy through the examination of participants' life-histories. Through her longitudinal study of primary school teachers Nias (1989) demonstrated that practitioners' lives are not easily separated from their craft, making the now well-established arugment that 'the self is a crucial element in the way teachers themselves construct the nature of their job' (Nias, 1989, p.13).


Using a recoupling technique with close-coupling spin-free calculations de-excitation rate coefficients are obtained among hyperfine transitions for He colliding with N 2 H + . Arecently determined potential energy surface suitable for scattering calculations is used to investigate rate coefficients for temperatures between 5 and 50 K, and for the seven lowest rotational levels of N 2 H + . Fitting functions are provided for the Maxwellian averaged opacity tensors and for the rotational de-excitation collisional rate coefficients. The fitting functions for the opacity tensors can be used to calculate hyperfine (de)-excitation rate coefficients among elastic and inelastic rotational levels, and among the corresponding magnetic sublevels of the hyperfine structure. Certain dynamical approximations are investigated and found to be invalid.


As a method of supporting idea generation in automobile product development, the authors have constructed the Automobile Color Matching Model (ACMM), which is a model for matching automobile exterior and interior colors while taking into account consumer preferences. The actual approach for the research was to first determine the parts relevant to automobile color matching by using an eye camera and an electroencephalograph to observe the responses of women in their twenties, who were the subjects of the research. Next, a customer preference survey was conducted and the research subjects' preferences were analyzed by using cluster analysis to categorize the research subjects according to their preferences and using principal component analysis to identify sensory words that describe requirements for automobiles. Then, color surveys were conducted for each preference group, and the obtained data was analyzed using quantification method type III to identify key colors. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was then used to conduct automobile color matching. The effectiveness of the resulting Automobile Color Matching Model (ACMM) has been verified and the required results have been attained.


Teens present a unique challenge for the childbirth educator. A committed educator must find creative teaching strategies that will ease an adolescent's tension and provide a safe environment where a teen can "own" the message of her body's ability to give birth. The author of this column presents one of her own strategies for teaching relaxation techniques to adolescents.


For spot inspection data from the equipment of coal separating plant,it studied a method to store them,the handheld instrument based on STM32 microcontrollers collected and stored data in the SD card,and then transmited them through the USB interface to the host computer data management system developed based on VB,through the system,and finally realized the data classified and stored to the database developed based on SQL Server2000. The results show that the tally data stored in frame cutting way in dealing with a large amount of data available use less time; vibration data and image data path is stored in the database,solving the problem of the database access slow; Digital data and image data combining way of data storage,overcoming the limitations of traditional tally system lacking of image information.


In this paper,Magnesium hydroxide was modified with different modifiers. And investigated the modification effect of magnesium hydroxide by different modifiers. The influence of magnesium hydroxide on flame retardancy and mechanical properties of polyvinyl chloride were studied. The results showed that: zinc stearate was a better modifier,oil absorbed value was 33. 39%. The technique of infrared and scanning electron microscope was used to characterize the surface properties of product. With dosage of magnesium hydroxide was increasing,its oxygen index increased,but mechanical properties decreased gradually. It exhibited better comprehensive properties by adding 40 phr of modified magnesium hydroxide.


The dockless bike-sharing system provides a convenient transfer option for metros, which can solve the "last mile" problem for passengers. However, the quality of bike-sharing transfer services around metro stations and its influencing factors are still unrevealed. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the bike-sharing transfer services for different metro stations considering spatial heterogeneity. First, the transfer ridership of bike-sharing around each metro station is calculated based on the trip data of the Mobike in Shanghai. Then, a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is used to analyze the relationships between the transfer ridership and built environment features around each metro station. Given the GWR model, a spatially varying benchmark is established to independently evaluate the bike-sharing transfer service of each metro station based on the deviation between the actual transfer ridership and its benchmark. In this case, the metro stations whose actual bike-sharing transfer ridership is below the benchmark are identified as the objects that need to improve their bike-sharing transfer services. The results show that the benchmark derived from the GWR model varies from station to station depending on the metro ridership, population density, and cycleway density around the metro station. In addition, bike-sharing transfer services around metro stations are better in Xuhui District, Minhang District, and Huangpu District, and worse in Pudong District and Qingpu District. Therefore, this study is helpful for the government and operators to better optimize the connection between dockless bike-sharing and metros.


Dimension stones have been used in many different environments, like airports, shopping malls, commercial buildings and houses, due to their beauty and quality. However, the choice of the ideal material for application in a given environment is a challenging decision. Esthetic patterns determine the choice in most of the cases, instead of the physical and mechanical properties, which can cause damages and even accidents. Thus, this research aims to propose a quality index using technological characterization lab tests established by international and national regulations. This index can be used to help practitioners in the choice of the proper dimension stone for a given environment, minimizing pathologies. An extensive database encompassing many lab tests for technological characterization of dimension stones was used in this research.


Abstract Over the years, an enormous amount of experimental results have been reported on damage accumulation (e.g. void swelling) in metals and alloys irradiated under vastly different recoil energy conditions. Unfortunately, however, very little is known either experimentally or theoretically about the effect of recoil energy on damage accumulation. Recently, dedicated irradiation experiments using 2.5 MeV electrons, 3.0 MeV protons and fission neutrons have been carried out to determine the effect of recoil energy on the damage accumulation behaviour in pure copper and the results have been reported in part I of this paper (Singh et al., 2001, Phil. Mag. A, 80. 2629). The present paper attempts to provide a theoretical framework within which the effect of recoil energy on damage accumulation behaviour can be understood. The damage accumulation under Frenkel pair production (e.g. 2.5 MeV electron) has been treated in terms of the standard rate theory (SRT) model whereas the evolution of the defect microstructure under cascade damage conditions (e.g. 3.0 MeV protons and fission neutrons) has been calculated within the framework of the production bias model (PBM). Theoretical results, in agreement with experimental results, show that the damage accumulation behaviour is very sensitive to the recoil energy and under cascade damage conditions can be treated only within the framework of the PBM. The intracascade clustering of self-interstitial atoms (SIAs) and the properties of SIA clusters such as one-dimensional diffusional transport and thermal stability are found to be the main reasons for the recoil-energy-dependent vacancy supersaturation. The vacancy supersaturation is the main driving force for the void nucleation and void swelling. In the case of Frenkel pair production, the experimental results are found to be consistent with the SRT model with a dislocation bias value of 2%.


1 Because chronic activation of the renal sympathetic nervous system promotes sodium and water retention, it is conceivable that long‐term exposure of the kidney to the sympathetic neurotransmitter noradrenaline upregulates the expression of key renal epithelial transport systems. 2 To test this hypothesis, we used immunoblotting of renal cortical and medullary tissue to investigate the abundance of major transport systems expressed along the renal tubule in response to long‐term (15 days) infusions of noradrenaline (600 ng/min) in rats. 3 Mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate were significantly elevated in rats receiving chronic infusions of noradrenaline (128 ± 10 mmHg and 492 ± 16 b.p.m., respectively) compared with animals treated with saline only (89 ± 3 mmHg and 376 ± 14 b.p.m., respectively). 4 Chronic infusions of noradrenaline also increased the protein abundance of the cortical Na+/H+ exchanger isoform 3 (NHE‐3; 2.5‐fold; P = 0.0142), the cortical sodium–bicarbonate cotransporter NBC‐1 (2.5‐fold; P = 0.0067), the bumetanide‐sensitive sodium–potassium–chloride cotransporter BSC‐1/NKCC2 in the inner stripe of outer medulla (threefold; P = 0.0020) and aquaporin‐2 in the inner medulla (twofold; P = 0.0039). 5 In contrast, noradrenaline did not significantly affect expression of the thiazide‐sensitive Na+–Cl− cotransporter in the cortex, Na+/K+‐ATPase‐α1 in the cortex and inner stripe of the outer or inner medulla, the inwardly rectifying K+ channel (ROMK‐1) in the inner stripe of the outer medulla or aquaporin‐1 in the cortex or inner medulla. Noradrenaline did significantly, but modestly (less than twofold), increase aquaporin‐1 in the inner stripe of the outer medulla. 6 We conclude that noradrenaline‐induced increases in the expression of NHE‐3, NBC‐1, BSC‐1 and aquaporin‐2 are likely to play an important role in the regulation of salt and water transport by noradrenaline in the kidney and may explain, at least in part, the altered renal sodium and water handling associated with overactivation of the sympathetic system.


This article focuses on the shift strategy of hydro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission. A computer simulation is carried out to investigate the shift strategy, and the simulation results are verified by the test data. There are four typical working conditions in the continuous shift process, among which the shift process from F2(N) to F3(P) plays a decisive role in shift quality. The shift strategy based on the physical parameters from F2(N) to F3(P) is lower engine rotating speed, smaller load torque, lower main circuit pressure, and larger speed valve flow rate. The shift strategy based on the shift time from F2(N) to F3(P) is to switch the third group of clutches first, then disengage the first group of clutches, and engage the second group of clutches at last. The results show that the shift quality of hydro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission can be improved greatly by the optimization of physical parameters and shift time.


Shakespeare dramatizes in Richard II and Measure for Measure his belief that public service is not merely a description of the purposes of public administration, but is also an aspirational ideal that implies commitment to professional standards and qualities of character. This ideal, however, is fragile because of weaknesses in human nature that interfere with development of ideal character, especially power and ambition. These are made worse by the awareness of the inevitable decay common to the human condition. Despite these challenges and limitations, the concept of a public service ethic should not be abandoned, but should instead be supported through professional and institutional norms. Shakespeare implies that these norms are not likely to emerge without extensive and deliberate commitment to ethical governance. This article shows how Shakespeare develops his theme of the fragile and precarious nature of public service and how he displays skepticism about the emergence of durable ethical norms. In order to counter this skepticism, the article concludes with some suggestions for how modern managers can overcome the obstacles Shakespeare presents and thereby help sustain the ideal of public service.


Three widely used antibiotics from the rifamycin family, rifamycin SV sodium salt, rifampicin and rifaximin, have been characterized by resonance Raman (RR) and surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERRS). SERRS spectra were recorded using aqueous silver colloidal dispersions prepared with two reducing agents, sodium borohydride and hydroxylamine hydrochloride, for a range of pH values to identify the SERRS-active substrate surface most suitable for each of the three antibiotics. Rifampicin was found to give intense SERRS signals only for the borohydride-reduced colloid and only at pH < 7.7, whereas the hydroxylamine HCl-reduced colloid was the best substrate for rifaximin, giving considerably more intense SERRS spectra than the borohydride colloid. SERRS spectra of rifaximin were observed only at pH < 7.0. It is proposed that the marked pH dependence of the SERRS enhancement results from a transition from an anionic to a neutral zwitterionic state. SERRS spectra of rifamycin SV were not observed for any experimental conditions. The antibiotics display remarkably contrasting SERRS behaviour, reflecting differences in the nature of the substituent groups on the chromophore ring. A vibrational assignment of the RR spectra and detailed comparison between the RR and SERRS data have given insight into the mechanism of adsorption of the antibiotics onto the Ag surface. Rifampicin and rifaximin adsorb adopting an approximately similar vertical orientation of the chromophore ring with respect to the surface; however, rifampicin adsorbs by direct chemical interaction with the Ag whereas rifaximin does not form a direct bond with the Ag surface. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In the light of the overpass characterized by more box structures,a demolishing scheme mainly applying hydraulic blasting was designed,and was optimized by numerical simulation.The result of engineering practice showed that by using hydraulic blasting,the blasting cost of overpass demolition was lowered effectively,the duration of the project was shorten,and blasting harms such as blasting dust and so on were controlled successfully,so the blasting demolition of the overpass provided a reference for similar projects.


An immunologic method based on the specificity of delayed type skin reactions in guinea pigs has been used for comparing nine strains of Mycobacterium gastri and 17 strains of M. kansasii. The nine strains labeled M. gastri formed a homogeneous group that was distinct from M. kansasii. Within the latter species, the five strains belonging to the weakly catalase-active variety were slightly different from seven strains belonging to the strongly catalase-active variety and five strains of the album variety. The strongly catalase-active strains and the album strains of M. kansasii could not be distinguished by the immunologic method.


Ammonia is considered the main agent responsible for the neurological alterations in hepatic encephalopathy. It was suggested that ammonia toxicity is mediated by activation of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The aim of this work was to assess, by in vivo brain microdialysis in freely moving rats, whether acute ammonia intoxication leads to activation of NMDA receptors in the cerebellum of the rat in vivo. We measured the effects of ammonia intoxication on the neuronal glutamate–nitric oxide–cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway, by measuring the ammonia‐induced increase of extracellular cGMP. Ammonia intoxication increases extracellular cGMP, and this increase is prevented by (5R,10S)‐5‐methyl‐10,11‐dihydro‐5H‐dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten‐5,10‐imine hydrogen maleate (MK‐801). There is a good correlation between the increase in cGMP and the seriousness of the neurological symptoms elicited by different doses of ammonia. Ammonia doses inducing coma did not affect extracellular glutamate, while doses leading to death increased it by 349%. The time courses of ammonia‐induced increases in extracellular ammonia, cGMP, and glutamate indicate that NMDA receptor activation occurs before the increase in extracellular glutamate. Ammonia‐induced increase in glutamate is prevented by MK‐801. These results indicate that ammonia intoxication leads to activation of NMDA receptors in the animal in vivo, and that this activation is not caused by increased extracellular glutamate. The possible underlying mechanism is discussed.


The effect of columnar defects on the critical dynamics of superconducting Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 (Tl2212) film has been investigated. The Tl-2212 film was irradiated at 0 C by 1.3 GeV U-ions along the normal of the film surface. The dose of 6.0 x 10 ions/cm of the Uion irradiation corresponds to a matching field of 1.2 T. The in-plane longitudinal resistivity of the irradiated Tl2212 has been measured as a function of magnetic field H and temperature T. The extracted fluctuation part of the conductivity σxx(T, H) of the unirradiated sample exhibits 3D-XY scaling behavior that reveals dynamic critical exponent z = 1.8 ± 0.1 and static critical exponent ν ≈ 1.338. The results indicate that the weak interlayer coupling along the c-axis of Tl-2212 significantly influences static critical exponent ν and does not change dynamical critical exponent. After the irradiation, the fluctuation conductivities are enhanced by the strong pinnings and do not exhibit the same 3D-XY scaling behavior as for the unirradiated Tl-2212. Particularly at the low magnetic field values near the matching field of 1.2 T, the fluctuation conductivities show a clear deviation from the critical dynamics, suggesting that the pinning effect on the critical dynamics is significant.


In this paper an extended version of the Bejan model of irreversible power plants is proposed using a log-mean temperature difference (LMTD) representation for both the high and low-temperature heat exchangers. The analysis focuses on minimizing the irreversibilities associated with the hot and cold heat exchangers. The results indicate that the maximum power output, external conductance allocation ratio, and second law efficiency are functions of the number total heat exchanger transfer units (N), and are asymptotic to Bejan's original results as N {yields} O. This asymptote represents a global power output maximum and occurs for either extremely high cycle flow rates or cycle phase change processes in both heat exchangers. The LMTD representation also shows that under optimal conditions, more conductance should be allocated to the low-temperature heat exchanger as N increases.


Double liner systems are now required for new hazardous waste landfills and impoundments to prevent groundwater contamination caused by leachate. However, uncertainty always exists about the longevity of the synthetic flexible membrane liner, and the compacted clay components of the liner system may release some seepage in time under a sustained hydraulic head. The mechanisms of contaminant retention by clay minerals are not fully understood, and the attenuation capacity of any containment system is finite. In addition, diffusion through the clay liner under a concentration gradient may increase the rate of contaminant migration into the environment above that owing to advection alone. Electro-kinetic counterflow may be an effective measure to stop the migration of contaminants under a hydraulc gradient. An electro-kinetic fluid flow barrier can be created by the continuous or periodic application of an electrical gradient across a compacted clay liner. A coupled flow theory to describe the simultaneous flows of water, electricity, and contaminant ions under the influences of hydraulic, electrical, and chemical gradients has been developed by using the formalism of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. An experimental testing program demonstrated the existence of electro-osmotic flow in partly saturated compacted clay and provided a basis to evaluate the validity of the theoretical predictions. An electrical gradient may move some inorganic species in soils much more effectively than hydraulic gradient. An electro-kinetic flow barrier halted the migration of the cation but accelerated that of the anion under laboratory testing conditions.


Maintenance activities in manufacturing industry is aiming to improve the effectiveness of existing machinery and equipment as optimally as possible by taking care of existing machinery and equipment from damage to machinery and equipment is always in the best condition.
PT.PETRONIKA is a company chosen as the object of study is a manufacturing company that produces chemicals Diocthyl types Phthalate (DOP).
Where the problem occurred on his maintenance activities that have been applied to the machine Centrifugal Pump.
Age Replacement and Minimize Downtime is the development of preventive maintenance, is a method that can be applied to determine the preventive replacement intervals and inspection of the machine and its critical components.
By using these methods, a company can schedule routine
maintenance to the machine by calculating and processing the data available historical damage.
Based on the results of data processing and analysis has been done on the scenario get treatment every 60 hours with increased reliability value of 47.2% for coupling components, an increase of 59.17% formechanical seal components, an increase of 51.13% for oil seal components and an increase of 50.92% for bearing components with a total downtime of 12 hours.

Keywords: Replacement Age, Downtime, Reliability


Objectives: Sleep quality is directly related to the health, quality of life and working capacity and is affected by age, gender, exercise, life habits. Gender dissimilarities in sleep quality are acknowledged. However, the gender difference in the quality of sleep in shift workers was not well known. Our aim was to study the less known gender differences in the quality of sleep of shift workers.
Methods: 1,008 study subjects aged between 21 and 57 years among these, 637(525 male and 112 female workers) were daytime workers and 371(253 males and 118 female workers) were shift workers. Sleep quality was measured by self-report through the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index(PSQI) and fatigue was measured by using the Chalder Fatigue Scale(CFS). All data was analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 program. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute.
Results: Overall, sleep quality was found to be worse in shift workers than in daytime workers and in female than in male. Fatigue in shift female workers was significantly higher than in daytime female workers and shift male workers. In Spearman correlation analysis results, fatigue were significantly associated with gender, drink habit, regular exercise, working hours and sleep quality. With group male workers as the reference, the odds ratio(OR) for having a CFS was 2.115(β value=0.749, p<0.01), and subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, daytime dysfunction and PSQI were 1.541(β value=0.432, p<0.05), 2.297(β value=0.831, p<0.001), 1.798(β value=0.587, p<0.01) and 2.224(β value=0.799, p<0.01), respectively.
Conclusions: Shift work played an important role in lowering the quality of sleep, and the effect was more pronounced in female workers than in male workers. Sleep quality was related to fatigue, especially sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction were significantly related. Therefore, to improve fatigue and sleep quality of shift worker, it is necessary to improve healthy habits such as regular exercise, smoking cessation, and limited drinking. In particular, it is urgent to develop and implement a regular exercise program to reduce fatigue and improve the quality of sleep in workplace.


Calculation and measurement of the overhead power lines electrical parameters is common practice in today's electrical engineering industry; however, there is very little data to actually compare these two approaches because measured data in such detail are mostly unavailable for academic purposes. Based on the very detailed model of an overhead power line in MATLAB Simulink environment and conducted experimental measurement, this article specifically covers the exact evaluation of the impedance of the investigated overhead power line. Differences between calculation and experimental measurement are shown and discussed accordingly, where, surprisingly, the biggest deviation was observed in the positive resistance parameter. The connection between different measurement techniques (multiple single-phase and three-phase methods), as well as the power line asymmetry reflection in the impedance matrix is explained as well as compared to expected values from the computations. The complete mathematical approach for electrical parameters evaluation from different measurement methods is explained step-by-step, and the final equations are introduced for each method. Proposed methods of obtaining the electrical parameters of the power line are then concluded as the ones with great accuracy and wide usage in practical applications. It shows the great importance of correct input data for the electrical parameters' theoretical computations and the need to know the measurement methodology and apparatus perfectly to process the measured data and interpret them correctly.


Eu(2+) singly and Eu(2+), Mn(2+) co-doped Sr(2)Mg(3)P(4)O(15) exhibit not only the well known blue emission band of Eu(2+) peaking at 448 nm but also a new band at 399 nm in violet. They are attributed to Eu(2+) on different Sr(2+) sites. The Eu(2+) for the violet band can transfer energy to the red emitting Mn(2+) more efficiently than Eu(2+) for the blue band. The new Eu(2+) band could enable Sr(2)Mg(3)P(4)O(15):Mn(2+), Eu(2+) to be a promising phosphor for enriching the red component of white LEDs.


The invention discloses an intelligent information exchange method and an intelligent information exchange system The method comprises the following steps of: performing entity authentication of a user to finish checking the identity and the personal information; starting an information transmitting and receiving terminal and logging in to check the identity; selecting an information exchanging mode, inputting a matching condition to the information transmitting and receiving terminal, and transmitting the matching condition to other information transmitting and receiving terminals which are searched in a wireless coverage area and have the same function through a wireless module; and returning reply signals of the other information transmitting and receiving terminals to the information transmitting and receiving terminal of the search party; logging in the Internet through communication software for communication to learn about more detail information of the opposite party and initiate a conversation with the opposite party; and mutually evaluating the two conversation parties on a user information management centre. By the method and the system, the authenticity of the information is guaranteed; due to opened content matching options, the timeliness for the user to acquire the information is ensured; and as the login user is required to pass the identity checking of a password and a fingerprint, the content of the information is guaranteed to correspond to the owner, and the information privacy of the user is protected.


• In many instances we see the beautiful parks, water fronts, boulevards and gardens of well planned cities which have sought, as an objective, the beautification of many acres and many miles that should rightfully be preserved as common property for the heritage of the coming gener ations. We see upwards of four hundred thou sand acres of beautiful citrus groves, well kept and bearing delicious and healthful fruits. We admire the celery lands, the berry farms, the vege table plantations, the fields of grain, the farms and the great chain of highways connecting and bind ing us together into a commonwealth of neigh bors.


As Speaker of the House, Jim Wright led the fight against the Reagan administrations efforts to arm the Nicaraguan contras. Wright explains the peace process and the ethics investigation that led him to resign.


The invention concerns the association of the CB1 receptor antagonist and a sibutramin, pharmaceutical compositions containing same and use thereof for treating obesity.


A method of manufacturing a flexible display is provided, which includes forming a gate line including a gate electrode on a substrate, sequentially depositing a gate insulating layer covering the gate line, and a semiconductor layer, firstly etching the semiconductor layer; secondly etching the semiconductor layer, forming a data line including a source electrode, and a drain electrode on the semiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer; and forming a pixel electrode connected to the drain electrode.


A vortex tube is a simple device that can separate a single stream of compressed air into two streams, one at a temperature higher than the inlet gas stream and the other at a temperature lower than the inlet stream. Vortex tubes are widely used in cooling applications where compactness, safety, and low equipment cost are basic factors. To better understand gas separation performance, a 3D model of vortex tube was designed using Ansys Workbench, a commercial CFD package. The turbulent flow within the device was modeled using the k-e model. Since the aim of this study was to investigate geometric modifications and their impact on the performance of the vortex tube, several changes in the vortex tube geometry was examined. Model validation was achieved using a base vortex tube model and compared to published results. Then the effect of the number of inlet nozzles, Length to tube Diameter ratio (L/D), Cold Diameter to tube Diameter ratio ((Dc/D) and Cone valve inner diameter (Dco/D) variation on the performance of the vortex tube were studied. This was followed by examining the introduction of vortex chamber and the effect of the non-dimensional chamber diameter ((Dch/D) on the performance of the vortex tube. Experimental validation tests were also conducted on vortex tube currently on the market and the CFD results were compared.


Objective To explore the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and the application effect in clinical examination. Methods A clinical laboratory staff with professional knowledge and rich experience was specified, using ECLIA, ELISA respectively(anti-HBc) test completed 100 cases of hepatitis B blood samples of patients with hepatitis B virus core antibody. The positive rate of anti–HBc of the two methods was detected and record, gives statistical analysis conclusion. Results The positive rate of anti-HBc ECLIA was up to 98% in 100 cases of hepatitis B patients, it was significantly higher than those of detected by ELISA(81%), comparison of the results was statistical significance(P 0.05). Conclusion Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay method can significantly improve the accuracy of clinical test results, provide the reliable basis for the diagnosis for clinicians, enable patients to timely diagnose the disease and get the correct treatment, ensure the therapeutic effect and prognosis.


ABSTRACT This paper aims to advance the understanding of the experience-satisfaction relationship and the impact of the event context on such a relationship. In particular, there is an interplay between four dimensions of experience (i.e. affective, cognitive, physical, and novel) and satisfaction. The current study builds upon a primary dataset consisting of 1599 responses obtained from visitors attending two leisure activities, namely, a sport event and a music festival in Norway. The results show that the four experience dimensions' direct effects on satisfaction differ between the two types of activities. The impact of affective engagement on satisfaction is significantly higher at the music festival than at the sport event, and the impact of cognitive engagement on satisfaction is significant at the sport event but not at the music festival. This paper highlights the importance of carefully managing events and festival engagement profiles to improve visitor satisfaction. Furthermore, it contributes to the literature by showing that the values assigned by respondents to cognitive, physical, and novel engagement differ significantly between sport events and music festivals and are contextually dependent.


Standard ant colony algorithm(ACO) easily leads to premature convergence in solving university path problem.To overcome this shortcoming,improved ACO is proposed.The ACO introduces a certain percentage reverse ant colony and self-balancing strategy to judge whether ACO starts to a local optimum solution.And a modified state transition operator will guide the ant colony transfer to effectively improve the performance and increase the diversity.There use C++ programming of Visual Studio2005.net.The results show that this algorithm can not only effectively solve the university shortest path problem,but also has high convergence precision and overcomes premature convergence effectively.


Abstract This paper investigates the direction software systems should go using, as a case study, the XYZ GeoBench. The XYZ GeoBench (eXperimental GeometrY Zurich) is a workbench for experimental geometric computation. We identify three areas of the GeoBench where extensions have been most fruitful: Interactive usability, random- and test-data-generation and interfaces to the outside world. Furthermore we report some of the current uses and applications. We believe that these areas are also important for other software systems created in academia if they want to reach a wider audience. The XYZ GeoBench software for the Macintosh including documentation and source code (for non-commercial purposes) is available by anonymous ftp from neptune.inf.ethz.ch (220.127.116.11) in directory XYZ.


We propose a numerical method to obtain the drift velocity and the diffusion coefficient for ions moving in neutral gases using random walk theory. This method can be applied to the experimental study of ion swarms very efficiently. We verified the validity of our method with computer simulation and the analysis of the experimental result obtained by Takebe et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 73 (1980) 4071]


As networks circle the globe and become "networks of networks", they hold the potential to transform economic, political and social institutions. This work examines global networking and convergence in the contexts of technology, economics, policy and social applications.


Blind equalization performance can be improved by controlling the equalizer adaption step-size according to the region in which the received signal lies in the constellation plane. A simple technique based on this principle is proposed as a modification to blind equalization algorithms, and its effectiveness is demonstrated by simulation. As an example, the algorithm of Picchi and Prati (1987) is considered since it is simpler and converges faster. The proposed modification is applied to the zero-forcing (ZF) algorithm. >


MOTIVATION When you come from school, you feel hungry and want to eat something. You want to eat because there is a force which compels you to have food. Likewise if a question is asked why do you want to join a college? The answer can be given in various ways like you want to learn or you need a degree to get a good job. You may want to join college to have lot of friends. This basic question of the 'why of behaviour' or factors which compel us to do certain activities makes us study the psychological process called motivation. In this lesson you will study about the nature of motivation, types of motives, intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation, conflict, and frustration. Understanding motivation helps us to have insights into the dynamics of action.


the press under wartime conditions and for adding a helpful introduction. Both Seton Lloyd and Fuad Safar are to be congratulated on recognizing at once the importance of the site and on their skill and judgment in its excavation. They are to be specially commended for their attention to small details and ' minor ' finds (e.g. animal bones) of a kind too often neglected by excavators in the Near East. The comparatively small sounding has established definitively the culture sequence, and that not only with a couple of museum pieces and some basketfuls of sherds and flints, but with a wealth of detail that enables us to compare the life of this Mesopotamian village with the systadial village of Sialk in Iran or Merimde in Egypt. Nevertheless, with monumental remains of such early cultures SO wonderfully preserved and yet so near the surface, more extensive operations should yield still more valuable results. It should be then possible to estimate the population of a protochalcolithic village on the steppe (a calculation by the way that would not be without practical value to legislators concerned with the carrying capacity of the area) and to give a more complete and reliable picture of its economic and social organization. An enlargement of the very small area on virgin soil actually examined might bring about a revision of the excavators' tentative conclusions as to architecture and economy, Then, while the excavators have bestowed unusual and commendable attention to stone implements, they are forced to admit that there ' are no experts in the Department with sufficient experience to comment authoritatively on the stone, flint and obsidian artifacts '. Now we hope that the young Iraq State recognizes the moral and even economic value of the varied antiquities contained in the national soil, and that its citizens will themselves undertake their study as Fuad Safar is already doing so well. To qualify them some suitable students should be sent to Europe and encouraged to master at least the general principles of the classification of flint implements. After all Iraq contains palaeolithic as well as later remains. But the clay of the jars and bins must almost certainly contain at least casts of grains the nature of which could be determined by the techniques so successfully applied by Jessen and Helbaek in Denmark. The biological section of the royal Iraqi Hospital generously undertook the examination of animal remains but was obviously handicapped by a lack of comparative material. On all these points additional information is needed before the results already attained can be fully evaluated. V.G.C.


This study was conducted at Meti Site of Haro Oromia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the adaptability and growth performance of different multipurpose trees/shrubs species and select or screen those best performed and adapted to the area. For this seedling of: Acacia senegal, Pinus patula, Callistemon citrinus, Olea africana and Spathodea nilotica were out planted on a plot of 14m*14m. The space between block of each species was 3m and Spacing between rows and within row was based on the recommendations of each species. In order to fit the given objectives growth parameter data of trees/shrubs (height, root collar diameter (only for trees< 1.3m in height), diameter at breast height (for trees ≥1.3m height) and survival rate) were collected by an interval of 6 months and Analyses of variance and LSD tests were employed to assess the results at p=0.05 using Minitab 17. As a result, the higher mean height growth was observed on Callistemon citrinus ( 2.59 m) , Spathoda nilotica ( 2.48 m) and Pinus patula ( 2.34 m). Again Gains in root collar diameter (RCD) was significantly highest on Pinus patula (37.75cm, 2.81cm) and Spathodea nilotica (32.08cm, 3.52cm).The Mean survivals of all trees grown at site were good ranging from 85.36% ( Pinus patula) to 100% ( Spathodea nilotica ( 100%). Generally this finding may help forest managers (stakeholder) to allocate species into the site that grow and adapt well. To select the most adaptable ones for such areas , use them at wider scale and increase their importance in the overall agricultural productivity (soil conservation, timber production, shading purpose, etc) and in general multifunction purposes in the area, further testing of provenances of the best performing species is recommended.


Mossbauer Spectroscopy, the recoil-free resonant absorption of γ-rays, is really suitable for the study of local electronic structure. Its hyperfine parameters, the isomer shift δ and quadrupole splitting A, respectively proportional to the s electronic density at the nucleus and to the electric field gradient, allow one to characterize the oxidation state and coordination of the probed element. Several examples illustrate the capabilities of this powerful technique for different elements (Sn, Fe, Sb) in tin oxide glasses as electrode materials for Li-ion batteries, iron phosphate glasses used for the treatment of inorganic waste and antimony chalcogenide glasses for optoelectronic applications.


A new algorithm for the simulation of one‐dimensional liquid infiltration into variably saturated porous media is presented. The present model, which is based on Richards' equation, tracks the infiltrating front position by adding, at each time step, one spatial grid point to the edge of the infiltrating liquid. Fluxes are computed using the Kirchhoff transform, which allows one to handle the step change of the pressure head encountered at the front location. The algorithm performance was tested for three published cases: (1) an analytical solution of the water infiltration problem valid for homogeneous dry soils, (2) experimental nonaqueous phase liquid infiltration data obtained in a laboratory column, and (3) water infiltration into a dry, layered soil system. The results of the test cases demonstrate the computational efficiency of the algorithm and its ability to handle steep pressure gradients and front discontinuities with relatively coarse grids and without sacrificing numerical accuracy.


Abstract We examine culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy (CRP) and its extensions–culturally based and culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy–focusing on Native American/Indigenous education. Teasing out the roots of these pedagogies in Indigenous education systems, we follow their "footprints" in contemporary education practices. How might these models of Indigenous CRP help nurture diverse learner assets, foster students' critical engagement with power and privilege, and (re)imagine and act for a socially just world?


The biologic and histologic characteristics of the abdominal sebaceous gland pad of the gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) are described. This pad occurs on the midline of the abdomen, attains greater size and appears earlier in the male than in the female. Pregnant mares' serum gonadotropin stimulates sebaceous gland pad growth in males and females, but only in the presence of the gonads. Exogenously administered progesterone, estradiol-17β and testosterone propionate stimulate the juvenile sebaceous gland pad of immature female gerbils. Hydrocortisone and ACTH do not. The response to testosterone is dose-related and is not altered by the simultaneous administration of progesterone, hydrocortisone or estradiol-17β. Histologic examination shows that testosterone stimulates growth of individual sebaceous units of the glandular pad. It is concluded from these and other studies, including those on glandular cholesterol and free fatty acids synthesis, that actual weight increase of the glandular pad is the most e...


The following is the first of three brief reports summarizing recent findings from the Oregon Youth Authority's (OYA) ongoing work concerning the juvenile justice feeder system (e.g., Braun 2014, 2015). OYA's feeder system research is focused on identifying youth at risk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system using individual and family-level records from collaborating social service agencies. OYA's first feeder system analysis addressed the question of whether opportunities exist to intervene earlier in the lives of children and youth to prevent future OYA involvement. Results showed that 90% of youth committed to OYA between 2000 and 2013 were involved with at least one Department of Human Services (DHS) or Oregon Health Authority (OHA) program as early as 6 years before commitment—demonstrating that opportunities for intervention and diversion exist. The second feeder system study asked whether agencies serving the largest concentrations of high-risk youth could be identified and targeted for enhancement. Findings suggest that the client populations served by Child Welfare, Mental Health Treatment Services, and Alcohol and Drug Treatment Services are most likely to experience future OYA commitment. The current series of studies are focused on identifying the individual/family-level characteristics and service utilization patterns within these client populations that impact the probability of OYA involvement. This information can be used to develop programs intended to divert youth from coming to OYA.


Accountants and auditors are key role players in the financial world and society at large and as such can play a vital role in fostering awareness of sustainability and creating sustainable business practices. The issue of sustainability in accounting education is a rather new theme, and academics are still exploring how to incorporate the concept into their curricula and finding the best ways to teach it. The objective of the paper is twofold: it aims, firstly, to provide a brief overview of the development of corporate governance, sustainability and corporate citizenship, and the higher education developments surrounding this, and secondly to provide evidence regarding the teaching of these aspects. This was done through a literature review and supported by empirical evidence obtained from questionnaires sent to the accountancy departments of the universities accredited by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. The study found that although the concept of sustainability is generally well established and researched, limited research has been done to date on how it is covered in accounting education, and the empirical findings further indicate that room for improvement exists on how accounting departments incorporate this into their curricula, teaching and assessments.


There are about 102 000 people with a stoma in the UK (Black, 2009). There are three main types of stoma that the community nurse may encounter: colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy (Burch, 2008). The community nurse is not expected to be an expert on stomas and can contact the stoma specialist nurse in the local hospital for assistance with issues that do not resolve. However, it is possible that some common complications may be resolved without specialist stoma nurse input. This article aims to provide up-to-date information to assist the community nurse in caring for this patient group. If stoma accessories are appropriately applied, the community nurse may be able to reduce the overall prescription cost of products used. The colostomy is the most common type of stoma and is formed from the colon, usually to treat rectal cancer. The most common position for a colostomy is the left iliac fossa, between the navel and the hip bone. A colostomy is usually red or pink, is minimally raised above the skin by a few millimetres and is warm and moist to the touch. The output from a colostomy is formed faeces and flatus collected and contained in a closed stoma appliance. An ileostomy is formed from the ileum, often in order to treat people with inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis. The most common position for an ileostomy is the right iliac fossa. An ileostomy appears as a small spouted stoma (Cronin, 2013) of about 25 mm, and the output is loose faeces and flatus collected and contained in a drainable stoma appliance. An ileostomy appliance is generally replaced on a daily or alternate-daily basis and is emptied four to six times daily. A urostomy or ileal conduit is formed from the ileum and can be surgically formed to treat bladder cancer, for example. When the bladder is removed, the ureters attaching the kidneys to the bladder are cut away from the bladder and stitched onto a small segment of ileum. One end of the ileum is attached to the skin as the urostomy and the other end is oversewn to prevent urine from leaking into the abdomen. The urostomy has the same appearance and is in the same position as an ileostomy, but will pass urine and a small amount of mucus into a drainable bag with a bung or tap fastening. The urostomy appliance is generally replaced on a daily or alternate-daily basis and is emptied four to six times daily.


This dissertation is divided into two parts. Part I consists of the formulation of a simplified method of superposition of configurations of Weiss for the calcula tion of detachment potentials for systems with two electrons outside a closed core. The simplification does not impair the accuracy of the results. For the detach ment of potentials of Be, Liand Na~ all agree with Weiss to within 0.01 eV. It has the further advantage of the ease of constructing projection operators used in deter mining autoionization states for e"-alkali atom systems, similar to the method proposed by Hahn, O'Malley and Spruch. For Li three autoionization states have been 2 2 found below the Is 3s level and four below the Is 3p level. Only one autoionization state is found for Na. Part II deals with an optical potential method for the calculation of the elastic scattering of positron from hydrogen atom. The single-particle states of the electron are chosen to be the hydrogenic solutions while the positron states are obtained by using a model polari zation potential. Various models are investigated and a choice is made which effectively maximizes the calculated phase shifts through second-order in the perturbation expansion of the optical potential. Phase shifts thus obtained yield approximately 67%-80% of the difference between the static Hartree results and the variational vii results of Schwartz.


Objective
To observe the effect of a novel pressure controlled water jet used in transurethral resection of bladder tumor.

Methods
Clinical data of 12 patients who underwent a transurethral resection of bladder tumor by using a novel water jet was retrospectively analyzed.

Results
All 12 cases were successfully operated. Estimated blood loss during operation was less than 5 ml. Operation time was 20-45 minutes (median was 28 min), time of water injection was 8-15 minutes (median was 12 min). There were no significant complications. All patients were followed up for 4-10 months, and tumor recurrence or progression was not found by cystoscopic examination.

Conclusion
Transurethral resection of bladder tumor by using a novel pressure controlled water jet is advantageous with favorable safety and feasibility.

Key words:
Bladder neoplasms; Water jet; Transurethral surgery; Pressure controlled


The role of mobile devices as Web Service consumers is widely accepted and a large number of mobile applications already consumes Web Services in order to fullfill their task. Nevertheless, the growing number of powerful mobile devices, e.g. mobile phones, tablets, ... even raise the question whether these devices can not only be used as Web Service consumers but at the same time also as Web Service providers. Therefore, this paper presents an approach that allows to deploy Web Services on mobile devices by the usage of the well-known protocols and standards, e.g. SOAP/REST and WSDL.


Plants are usually used for isolating ascorbate-oxidizing enzyme and a highly purified one has been obtained from Cucurbita moschata (Powers et al., 1944). Endocarp was taken from 40 kg pumpkins and ground with electric meat grinder. The oxidase was prepared with ammoniumand Mg-sulfate according to the procedure proposed by Powers. The amount of enzymic protein was about 1 g after freeze-drying. Measurement of oxidase action was performed with 2,6-dichlorophenol-indophenol as described by Shen et al. (1945). The activity of enzyme from Japanese pumpkin was lower than that reported by Powers. In addition, as the oxidase contains copper as essential constituent, its content was estimated by the method of Poillon and Dawson (1963). The quantity of Cu in our preparation was 0.008 %.


Geothermal resources are abundant in the city of Linqing.Hot water is mainly exploited in the geothermal reservoir of the Guantao formation.Chemical compositions,isotopes and hydrogeological characteristics and encrustment and erosion of geothermal water in the Guantao geothermal reservoir in the Linqing area are examined based on the analysis of current research results.The results show that the geothermal water is of Cl-Na type,has high TDS,and is a kind of weak alkalescent water.The hot water is characterized by a kind of land leaching water,and is of meteoric origin.The groundwater age ranges from 5 to 48a.The geothermal fluid in the Guantao formation is of strong causticity,but doesn't encrust.


MRI is in general superior to CT for neuro-ophthalmic indications. A CT study, however, might be useful [under certain circumstances].


Thermal decomposition of sodium chlorate with oxygen evolution in the NaClO 3 -CaO-Mg and NaClO 3 -CaO 2 -Mg systems was studied. NaClO 3 decomposition in a ternary system occurs at a lower temperature than in binary systemsof magnesium or of calcium oxides. Complete and concurrent NaClO 3 decomposition and metal oxidation occur for a certain molar proportion of the components of the system and within a narrow range of temperatures lying ca. 150°C below the temperature at which magnesium melts and oxidizes in air. The combustibility of sodium chlorate mixtures with calcium peroxide and magnesium was determined as a function of the ratio of the components. The low-magnesium boundary of the field of combustible compositions lies at 2.3 wt %.


Abstract : The United States Army is going through a force structure change because of a decreased operational tempo and fiscal constraints emplaced by the Budget Control Act of 2011. This change is referred to as the Army 2020 and in this new structure; the sustainment capabilities within the ABCT are being reduced. The capabilities to conduct water purification, bulk fuel delivery, and provide transportation are being moved from the Brigade Support Battalions to the Combat Service Support Battalions located within the Sustainment Brigades. This reallocation of assets created an increased reliance on units operating outside the command and control of the division. The primary purpose of this study was to identify the risks associated with these organizational changes and provide DOTMLPF recommendations to reduce risk and enhance capabilities of the sustainment force. The research identified qualitative differences between the Army's current modular force and the Army 2020 construct using the Army's sustainment principles as evaluation criteria. To validate the qualitative findings, the researcher conducted a quantitative analysis of the reduction of fuel assets within the BSB. To further validate the outcome of this model the researcher created an experiment using the operational parameters established in 3rd Infantry Division's operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom I to establish the control variables, the change in fuel capabilities as the independent variable, and the effect on operational endurance as the dependent variable. This provides a definitive example of the impacts of the Army 2020 changes in sustainment force structure. The results from this study show assigning the sustainment brigades and CSSBs to the division negates several of the negative impacts of the Army 2020 changes. It also proposes changes at the BSB staff level to increase efficiency in operations.


The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has developed a simple and flexible methodology for measuring relative public transport accessibility levels (PTALs), using a formula which takes account of the key variables affecting the level and quality of public transport service provision and operation. An important objective, in developing the formula, has been an attempt to identify, and to reflect, the empirical factors facing people when making choices about using public transport. The formula allows comparisons to be made of the relative PTALs at different locations within the Borough. It also allows the effects of proposed/actual changes in the level/quality of public transport provision to be assessed in terms of relative changes in PTALs. The subsequent "in-house" development of a computer programme, utilising an Ordnance Survey grid base, has made it possible to directly print out "contour" maps identifying the PTALs of different locations/areas within the Borough for both existing, and proposed alternative, levels of public transport service provision/operation. The paper explains the derivation of the formula and the development of the computer programme, and includes an identification of the assumptions made. Consideration is then given to the potential uses and applications of the methodology, particularly with regard to development control (such as modal split identification, acceptability of development intensity/car-parking levels, need for additional public transport provision, and other factors, and as a basis for negotiating with developers), the provision and operation of public transport (such as local impact of proposed service changes, comparison of options, etc. and as a basis for negotiating with operators) and the equalities aspects of public transport accessibility (such as differential PTALs as they affect women, people with impaired mobility, and as a basis for decision- making). For the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 859645.


Creative thinking and innovation consciousness is the basic premise condition and activities.If a person has no desire for innovation and motivation,could not go on innovative thinking and innovative activities.No innovative consciousness and innovative enthusiasm,creative activities are not any.Therefore,teachers in teaching activities to cultivate the students'innovation conscious-ness,arouse students'enthusiasm innovation.


The paper describes the application of multi-criteria optimization to monohull and multihull yacht configurations. The paper outlines the process (involving concept exploration, formal optimization and simulations), key techniques, employed software tools and results. The analyses combine efficient low-fidelity design exploration with high-fidelity CFD simula-tions for accurate results. The process allows advancing unconventional designs in relatively short time exploiting the power of parallel computing and virtual prototyping. For yachts, "performance" improvement encompasses besides energy efficiency also aspects of passenger comfort. Examples, sometimes anonymized, from industry practice are used to illus-trate approach and possible achievements.


As part of the top management actions, business diplomacy involves keeping the relations of the multinational corporations with foreign government representatives, NGOs, coalitions and other entities that are not companies, with the purpose of building business relations in an international environment. The research aims for better describing the actions and consequences on a decisional level for the managers that act as business diplomats within the companies they represent. Since it is not clear how the multinational corporations conduct business diplomacy, a term often confused or mixed with corporate diplomacy, the article will use an extensive business literature review, in order to define any similarities and differences in practice, specific for the international business environment. The results will show that the international relations among the two environments studied, corporate and other representatives, show a strong dependence on the company mission and organizational behavior, as well as the national and international law, but also of the manager's background and international experience.


As the power grid structures and power sources is growing rapidly,the power systems are growing bigger and bigger,hence unexpected incidence could happen anywhere at anytime.Therefore,it is obviously important to have solutions and preparations which can be used to deal with unexpected incidences in the system.This article tried to discuss the feasibility of blackstarts at SDIC Yunnan Dachaoshan Hydropower Station,and aimed to provide references for hydropower station blackstarts.


It's the necessary request for the government to construct resources- conservation society. The important means is to build energy management system,make energy- conservation plan and object,establish energy consumption assess system,invest necessary funds and technology,and strengthen personnel consciousness of energy-conservation ingovernmeut agencies. The key points are air- conditioning, heating, illumination, office device and building energy- conservation. It can be implemented by entrusting energy service companies by means of contract energy management.


ABSTRACT: Mouse monoclonal antibodies against the type-specific polysaccharide antigen of type II group B Streptococcus may be divided into two general groups based on their antigen-binding properties. One group of antibodies binds to both intact and desialylated type II antigen and the binding can be inhibited by β-galactopy-ranosides. The second group of antibodies react only with intact type II polysaccharide and are not inhibited by β-galactopyranosides. The binding of antibodies of the firs group can also be inhibited by carbohydrate components of normal human secretions that share structural similarities with the type II polysaccharide. The binding of antibodies of one specificity precluded the binding of antibodies of the other specificity, apparently by competing for binding sites within a combining area that includes both determinants


An immunohistochemical study was carried out on 28 cases of giant cell tumor of tendon sheath. Although this tumor has been considered to be of histiocytic origin on the basis of light and electron microscopic findings, there remains some debate about the histogenesis of the tumor. To clarify this point, by using the PAP method, each surgical specimen was stained for α1‐ antitrypsin, a1‐antichymotrypsin, lysozyme, ferritin, neuron specific enolase, and S‐100 protein. Tumor cells in fifteen out of 28 cases were positively stained for α1‐antitrypsin, 19 for α1‐antichymotrypsin, 23 for lysozyme, 22 for ferritin, 22 for neuron specific enolase, but no case for S‐100 protein. These results suggest that this tumor is composed of cells with histiocytic character. In addition, from the immunohistochemical point of view, at least two types of giant cells seem to exist in this disease. ACTA PATHOL. JPN. 36:1487‐1494, 1986.


Based on the theory of sequence stratigraphy,we have carried out a detailed research on the stratigraphic framework and sedimentary system of Talahaxi.According to the seismic profile's and lithology-electrical materials' characteristics of the sequence boundary,the intended zone which were member 4 of Quantou formation to member 3 of Nenjiang formation was divided into two second-order sequence,six third-order sequence and seventeen fourth-order sequence.Comprehensively using the core,well logging and seismic materials,we determined the sedimentary characteristics in the sequences.Comprehensively analysis indicated that the facies of the intended zone are mainly delta deposition and lacustrine sediments.According to the characteristics of the sequences,we determined the plane distribution rule of the intended zone.The facies of the western research area are mainly delta plain facies,distributary channel sand,sheet sand and river mouth bars,but mainly littoral and shallow lake,semi-deep lacustrine in the eastern.By the analysis of the characteristics of the system tracts in the sequence,we know that the formation mainly consisting of sandstone in sand group is obviously under the control of the fourth-order sequence boundary,the sequences and the sand groups have good corresponding relationship.


. We present a neural network approach for approximating the value function of high-dimensional stochastic control problems. Our training process simultaneously updates our value function estimate and identifies the part of the state space likely to be visited by optimal trajectories. Our approach leverages insights from optimal control theory and the fundamental relation between semi-linear parabolic partial differential equations and forward-backward stochastic differ-ential equations. To focus the sampling on relevant states during neural network training, we use the stochastic Pontryagin maximum principle (PMP) to obtain the optimal controls for the current value function estimate. By design, our approach coincides with the method of characteristics for the non-viscous Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation as the dynamics become deterministic. Our training loss consists of a weighted sum of the objective functional of the control problem and penalty terms that enforce the HJB equations along the sampled trajectories. Importantly, training is unsupervised in that it does not require solutions of the control problem. In our numerical experiments, we compare our method to existing solvers for a more general class of semi-linear PDEs. Using a two-dimensional model problem, we demonstrate the importance of the stochastic PMP to inform the sampling. For a 100-dimensional benchmark problem, we demonstrate that our approach improves accuracy and time-to-solution.


Restrictions to participation attract skepticism to ordinary citizens' capacity to be engaged in the political decision-making process in a democratic society. Social media platforms address these skepticisms by outlining features of social media that facilitate discourses, quality civic engagement, and responsibility, necessary in preserving democratic ideals and practice in society. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, including algorithms and artificial intelligence, are regarded as better media to be trusted with political decision-making as they remove constraints of bias, accessibility, discrimination, and power imbalances usually found in precarious settings like face-to-face deliberations and of political representations. Employing analysis of secondary data from peer-reviewed journals and dissertations enabled us to harvest insights needed to substantiate the arguments and conclusions made in this article. This paper demonstrates the arguments for the ubiquity of social media as an ideal for the decision-making process in a democratic space. However, the presence of impediments as provided for by the social media platforms and governments including censorship, regulation, and legitimacy must be recognized for the merit it attaches to quality deliberations through social media. Using the normative ideals of inclusivity and epistemic value of participation, social media indeed is an ideal for decision-making particularly when the conditions under which the biases are developed and explained are held. In the end, accepting social media as an ideal to decision-making in democracy should not be accepted as is, unless theorization of the role of social media and justification of its merits is made. Without such, we may fail to account for what we seek in social media to support democracy.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study thermal stability, curing kinetics and physico‐chemical properties of polyurethanes systems for application in in‐mould decoration (IMD) ink.Design/methodology/approach – The thermal stability of three Polyurethane (Pu) systems A, B, C were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The kinetic parameters of the curing reaction of Pu system C were calculated using non‐isothermal curing kinetics analysis, including the activation energy Ea, the reaction rate constant K(T), the reaction order n, the initial curing temperature (Ti), the peak temperature (Tp), and the finishing temperature (Tf). Additionally, physico‐chemical properties were also evaluated such as flexibility, impact resistance, pencil hardness, adhesive attraction and solvent resistance.Findings – TGA showed that thermal decomposition temperature T5 (5 wt.% weight loss), T10 (10 wt.% weight loss) and Tend (decomposition termination temperature) of Pu system C was 344°C, 363°C, and 489°C, re...


Abstract The stability of coastal and underwater slopes and seafloor sediments is of major importance for waives, breakwaters, pipelines, jacket platforms, and gravity platforms. A major source of instability in cohesionless sediments is the result of the liquefaction. This paper explores the various mechanisms causing liquefaction in the marine environment and then reviews a large number of case studies.


CENTER FOR SOCIAL THEORY AND COMPARATIVE HISTORY ANNUAL COLLOQUIUM SERIES: THE MEANING OF THE MARKET THEORY AND HISTORY M i c h i o Morishima Department o f Economics London School of Economics The Dilemma o f Durable Goods Tuesday, 25 A p r i l 1995, 2:00-6:00 p.m. H i s t o r y Conference Room, Bunche 6275 UCLA


Reliability prediction in power electronic converters is of paramount importance for converter manufacturers and operators. Conventional approaches employ generic data provided in handbooks for random chance failure probability prediction within useful lifetime. However, the wear-out failures affect the long-term performance of the converters. Therefore, this article proposes a comprehensive approach for estimating the converter reliability within useful lifetime and wear-out period. Moreover, this article proposes a wear-out failure prediction approach based on a structural reliability concept. The proposed approach can quickly predict the converter wear-out behavior unlike conventional Monte Carlo-based techniques. Hence, it facilitates reliability modeling and evaluation in large-scale power electronic-based power systems with huge number of components. The proposed comprehensive failure function over the useful lifetime and wear-out phase can be used for optimal design and manufacturing by identifying the failure prone components and end-of-life prediction. Moreover, the proposed reliability model can be used for optimal decision-making in design, planning, operation, and maintenance of modern power electronic-based power systems. The proposed methodology is exemplified for a photovoltaic inverter by predicting its failure characteristics.


The petroleum industry has been faced with the problem of flow-related erosion and corrosion during oil production and transportation for decades. In this paper, to characterize the flow behavior inside a pipe elbow, the RNG k-ε turbulence model with MUSCL discretization scheme is applied to the simulation. The calculation results are analyzed and conclusions can be drawn from these analyses: The simulations predicted value for the diametrical pressure coefficient is in excellent agreement with published correlation obtained from experimental data; The simulations indicate that the maximum wall shear stress occur near the inner corner wall, just downstream of the entrance to the elbow; At the entrance of the elbow, it is clear that the faster moving fluid starts out displaced towards the inner radius and the wall shear stress taking on its maximum value there; just downstream of 45°plane, the flow separates from the inner radius and a large separation vortex is formed that extends downstream.


THE Tullio phenomenon consists of_the production of vestibular symp-toms and/or signs by an acoustic stimulus 1926; Huizinga, The effect depends upon the functional integrity of the vestibular labyrinth only, and is reproduced in animals when the cochlea has been ablated. Bleeker and de Vries (1949) have shown that a microphonic (analogous to the cochlear microphonic) can be recorded from the crista of the fenestrated semicircular canal of the pigeon and the frequency response curve of this cristal microphonic parallels the frequency response curve for the Tullio phenomenon. This vestibular microphonic can be recorded from any of the vestibular end-organs al., 1951) and it has been observed in fishes reptiles and amphi-bians


The near field of uninsulated dipole antenna in a dissipative dielectric medium is important in microwave hyperthermia and geophysical applications. In this paper, the electric field near an insulated dipole has been calculated by the direct numerical evaluation of a surface integral over the insulation. The computed results are compared with those previously obtained by an approximate numerical calculation.


University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.December 2018. Major: Plant and Microbial Biology. Advisor: Gary Muehlbauer. 1 computer file (PDF); xxv, 239 pages + 2 zip files of supplementary tables.


Introduction Patients with factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors, defined by the presence of autoantibodies to the FVIII molecule, present clinically with mucosal, soft tissue, and systemic bleeding episodes. Most cases are idiopathic, but up to 50% may be associated with autoimmune diseases or malignancies or may occur in the postpartum period (1,2). Associated autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and, rarely, primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) (3,4). We describe here a case of FVIII inhibitor in a patient with primary SS and its successful treatment with rituximab, a chimeric, monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody.


The article presents results of measurements of antioxidant activity of phospholipid emulsion of sunflower oil amperometric technique at their dehydration in a new design rotational-film apparatus.


Kappa-opioidergic and nociceptinergic systems both inhibit the mesolimbic reward circuitry but their role in mechanisms of addictive behavior still is not well understood. Objective of the study was to compare expression of kappa opioid and nociceptin receptor genes (OPRK1 and OPRL1, respectively) and their endogenous ligands, preprodynorphin (PDYN) and prepronociceptin (PNOC), in the mesolimbic areas of rats with high and low voluntary alcohol consumption. Methods. Individually housed male Wistar rats were given a 25-daylong two-bottle (10% ethanol/water) free choice trial. mRNA levels were measured using the real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results. Alcohol preferring rats progressively increased their ethanol consumption over the course of experiment while non-preferring, lowdrinking animals controlled their alcohol intake near the baseline level. Alcohol non-preferring rats were identified to have significantly higher levels of PDYN and PNOC mRNA in the striatum and OPRK1 and OPRL1 mRNA in the amygdala compared to ethanol preferring animals. Conclusion. We suggested that higher levels of the "anti-reward opioid system" gene expression in mesolimbic structures may blunt the hedonic response to alcohol and thus preclude the increase in alcohol preference and uncontrolled excessive alcohol intake.


Research object: to detect the influence of qualitative and quantitative factors involved into ICP formation. Material: the research is based on the clinical observation, instrumental diagnostics and 147 disabled children with ICP aged under 4 rehabilitation campaign results analysis. Comparison group was composed from 39 children of similar age who were registered for observation by pediatric polyclinics neurologists and were rehabilitated. Results: 2 algorithms formed as decision trees, that were built using multivariate analysis methods were suggested and can be used in pediatric polyclinics for children with ICP formation threatening detection. Conclusion: the ICP formation can be forecasted in 93% of cases wrt prematurely born children with convulsive and hypertensive-hydrocephalic syndromes in aggregate with periventricular leukomalacia


The Peninsula dwelling in Long Beach, California by LeMaster Architects displays an original Modern Home Design architecture and a compact form. The notion for this single family house "hinges on the relationship between three intersecting volumes and...


The successful implementation of Software Process Improvement SPI depends not only on the abilities of practitioners to identify processes modifications that may help to increase organizations capabilities to develop software, but also abilities to overcome barriers that can jeopardize the organizational change process provoked by SPI initiatives. The literature reports show that SPI practitioners must have experienced skills to overcome common social-cultural factors that pose as critical barriers for successfully implementing SPI. Nevertheless, there is no consensus in the area about what the critical success factors are for conducting SPI implementation initiatives. This work presents a study based on Grounded Theory methodology to acquire knowledge about SPI critical success factors. The main product of this study is a theoretical knowledge framework consisting of a set of inter-related categories grounded on a set of propositions that explains the phenomenon associated to the success of SPI implementation initiatives.


Objective: Illness perception represents how a patient perceives his or her health and illness. The Brief Illness Perception Scale (BIPQ; Broadbent et al. 2006) is often used to assess illness perception. However, the factor structure of the BIPQ is inconsistent across studies. The present study aimed to confirm the factor structure of the BIPQ in diabetic patients and to examine its impact on depression and anxiety.
 Methods: Patients with diabetes (N = 340, type 1: 39. type 2; 296, others: 5) provided demographic and clinical information and completed the Japanese version of the BIPQ, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder -7. This research was conducted with the approval of Waseda University's Ethics Review Committee on Human Studies (Accreditation Number: 2021-351).
 Results: We eliminated one item on the timeline because of the ceiling effect. Then, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis and adopted a two-factor structure. Moreover, a confirmatory factor analysis with the same two-factor structure indicated the sufficient model fit (GFI = .93, AGFI = .86, CFI = .87) Furthermore, from multiple regression analyses, assessed the effects of "Impact on daily life" and "Sense of control", the two factors we named, on depression and anxiety indicated a significant coefficient of determination (R 2 = .31, p < .001, R 2 = .30, p < .001). Additionally, the Impact on daily life (β = .36, p < .01, β = .29, p < .01) and the Sense of control (β = - .29, p < .001, β = -.23, p < .001) had significant effects on depression and anxiety.
 Conclusion: The results supported the two-factor structure of the BIPQ, similar to that for cancer survivors (Hata et al., 2020), even though we eliminated one item. Illness perception in patients with diabetes consists of the impact of the disease on their daily lives and their sense of control over diabetes and its symptoms. Improving these perceptions would reduce depression and anxiety.

 E. Tajima: None. K. Hata: None. S. Suzuki: None.

 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (19J22933)


Message layer security is necessary to ensure the end-to-end security of Web services. To provide confidentiality against the intermediaries along the message path, XML encryption is used to partially encrypt the message. Because the data structure is changed by the partial encryption, the encrypted message is no longer valid with respect to the original schema definition. Thus, problems occur regarding the processing of the schema validation and the data binding by the intermediary. In this paper, we discuss two possible methods to solve these problems. The first method is to transform the original schema definition. The second is to transform the received message. We examined these methods by applying them to demonstration experiment of Web services. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 91(5): 26– 32, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10112


According to the new characteristics of air-to-ground missiles in combat circumstance under the condition of the system of systems( Sos) combat,the major system constitute of both sides and the main influence factors to combat efficiency of TV-guided missiles are analyzed,the significance of effectiveness analysis to air-to-ground missiles under the condition of the Sos combat is expounded,and the target destruction probability model is built under the concept of object with equivalent vulnerability. The combat efficiency under the condition of smog interference and electron confront is calculated using the target destruction probability,and the influence of enemy firepower-confronting to combat efficiency of airto-ground missiles is analyzed.


Migratory behaviour of the Ya Ha Tinda (YHT) elk population is diminishing while the number of residents remaining on the YHT winter range year-round is increasing. Previous research addressing the fitness consequences of each migratory strategy assumed there was no advantage to either segment when they shared the YHT winter range. In testing this assumption, I found no spatial segregation of migrant and resident home-ranges during winter. Both groups were exposed to similar forage resources and residents were exposed to higher nighttime, but not day-time predation risk. Residents were better than migrants at reducing the foraging costs of vigilance and increased vigilance in areas of high wolf predation risk, but not near human activity because of habituation. Migrants were not habituated to humans and exhibited more constant vigilance regardless of spatial variations in risk. My results do not support the previous assumption. Instead, I found residents may be at an advantage on the winter range while forage is abundant and no snow is present. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank my field assistants Diana Lukinuk and Maria Didkowsky who graciously put up with a winter behavioural study in the mountains that required long, tedious observations often enduring high winds and subzero temperatures. I would like to extend extra thanks to Maria who first introduced me to the Ya Ha Tina, taught me what elk observations are all about, and provided insightful guidance while collecting data in the field. I also thank the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch staff, particularly Rick and Jean Smith, for being so hospitable to me over the last few years and always making me feel welcome during my visits to the Ranch. I must also thank Holger Spaedtke (who may as well have been Ranch staff) not only for teaching me how to catch and handle elk, but also for providing me with his expert knowledge of the Ya Ha Tinda elk population throughout the process of developing this thesis. I thank Parks Canada, in particular Cliff White, for allowing me to conduct my Masters research in a place as gorgeous and in a system as interesting as the Ya Ha Tinda. I thank the YMCA for allowing me to rent the very accommodating camp leader's cabin at Camp Chief Hector for the duration of my field season. I also thank the Parks Canada fire crew for helping me stock pile wood, which kept the cabin warm all winter. I thank my committee members, Dr. Colleen Cassady-St. Clair, Dr. Robert Hudson and Dr. Cliff White for providing helpful feedback during the development of my research questions, field methods, and analytical techniques. I sincerely thank my supervisor, Dr. Evelyn Merrill, for accepting me as a graduate student, providing me with the opportunity to work at the Ya Ha Tinda, and for her great efforts toward the development, implementation, and now completion of this thesis. I also my fellow graduate students in the Merrill lab, particularly Darcy Visscher and Phil Dewitt, for providing creative ideas and intellectual support during the data analysis phase of this project. I thank my family for visiting and giving me an opportunity to get away from Edmonton and the hardships of life as a graduate student. I thank all of the great friends I made during my time as a student at the University of Alberta, who provided me with weekend (and sometimes weekday) distractions from my academic endeavors; the life-long friendships I made while completing this degree are more valuable than the piece of paper I will get when I'm finished. Finally, I thank Brandi Mogge for not giving up on me while enduring my lengthy career as a graduate student. Funding for this project was provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation.


In western philosophy, metaphysics has ever been identifying with ontology, but by the concept 'transcendence' Levinas differs form them. He thinks ontology is in fact a theory of power generated from 'ego'. Metaphysics not only escapes power but also founds the possibility of ethics, for it is a thought beyond ontology that starts from 'the other'. This paper argues that Levinas idea shows us an important sense for understanding the contemporary western philosophy because western philosophy has despairingly been falling into the ontology and the theory of knowledge. Furthermore, it has greatly affected the postmodern philosophy.