Administration in modern countries is largely comprised of planned administration, and administrative planning is a key means of so-called 'infrastructural administration' and the cornerstone of state activities in a country ruled by law. In general, administrative planning has a wide range of autonomy in selecting the means to achieve its goals, and legislatively, administrative planning laws and regulations require the relevant administrative agencies to select the means due to the need for technical expertise, responsiveness, and flexibility. There is no choice but to grant broad discretion. For that reason, the Administrative Planning Act is inevitably governed by a purpose-and-means structure, so prior regulation through legislation is bound to be insufficient, and there are certain limitations in judicial control ex post by the courts, etc. Nevertheless, as we enter the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the administrative planning legislation must be based on the momentum of 'sustainable development and harmony with the social and natural environment.' In order for the administrative planning legislation to respond to the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the use of spatial information, national land monitoring system, smart Although communities, etc. are being introduced, if we follow the national strategy of a leading economy or inclusive society that our country should pursue in the future, the Administrative Planning Act will enable more detailed, efficient, and sustainable management than large-scale development projects such as the conventional catch-up economy. There is a need to establish and implement. Meanwhile, appropriate control measures for these administrative planning laws and administrative plans must be prepared, and in order to achieve appropriate judicial control over administrative plans, it is necessary to construct planning-specific control laws. In this regard, the formation of legal principles such as the expansion of the disposition of plans, planning discretion theory, sentencing order theory and sentencing defect theory, preventive prohibition lawsuits, planning guarantees, and guarantees of abolition claims can be evaluated as a great development in administrative law theory. It is significant that participatory democratic prior control should be implemented from the plan confirmation stage before legal control is confirmed.


In recent years, as an important technology in deep learning, target detection has been widely used in all aspects of life. Aiming at the problem of occlusions in face recognition, this paper adopts SSD (Single Shot MultiBox Detector) deep learning target detection algorithm to classify and locate face occlusions. The average precision of all categories (mAP) reached 95.46% through the self-built data set of 7 types of common face occlusion. Experiments show that this method can effectively detect the face occlusion, which provides a new idea for automatic intelligent face recognition and has a broad application prospect.


During brain stem surgery, traction of cranial nerves and stimulation of nuclei and connecting pathways may cause severe alterations in blood pressure and heart rate, sudden respiratory drive, hiccuping, and emesis despite the surgical level of anesthesia. Extreme bradycardia and ventricular arrhythmia are life-threatening and must be treated promptly by immediate interruption of surgical stimulation before any pharmacological intervention. Abrupt arterial hypertension and bradytachycardia constitute an early warning of injury and may impede complete tumor resection. Effective anesthetic and vasoactive drugs should be readily available and administered immediately under strict multimodal monitoring. Patient positioning should be based on surgical team preference. When a sitting position is used, expert anesthetic management and monitoring can adequately prevent added complications, particularly decreased cerebral perfusion pressure and sequelae from air embolism. In the small area of the posterior fossa and the delicate structures of the brain stem, surgical approach and intraoperative and postoperative complications may depend on control of factors that cause edema and effective preservation of adequate parenchymal blood flow and vascular reactivity. There is currently no evidence of a superior anesthetic drug regimen. Small case series hinder the production of evidence-based results. Most information remains anecdotal, and further clinical studies are necessary to define better safe and best anesthetic regimens in relation to specific events caused by patient position and brain stem stimulation. Anesthesia for brain stem surgery can be safely performed if skilled neuroanesthetists are knowledgeable of cerebral pathophysiology and surgical approach. Anesthetic and surgical plans should be discussed preoperatively to obtain optimal interaction with the surgeon in preventing intraoperative autonomic derangement and complications, particularly during brain stem dissection.


Purpose: FES-Cycling can be used to assess neuromuscular performance, however the safety and feasibility of this evaluation method has never been investigated. Materials and methods: an observational prospective study was carried out. The FES-Cycling equipment was set in the evaluation mode. For safety determination, hemodynamic parameters and peripheral oxygen saturation were measured before and immediately after the evaluation protocol, as well as venous oxygen saturation and blood lactate. The creatine phosphokinase level (CPK) was measured before and 24, 48 and 72 hours after the test. The time spent to carry out the entire evaluation protocol and the number of patients with visible muscle contraction were recorded to assess feasibility. Results: Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not change after protocol evaluation, as well as peripheral and venous oxygen saturation (p > 0.05). Moreover, blood lactate did not change (p > 0.05). CPK did not change up to 72 hours after the test (p > 0.05). The time for evaluation was 11.3 (SD = 1.1) minutes. Furthermore, 75% of the patients presented very visible muscle contraction, 25% of the patients presented barely visible and no patients presented non-visible muscle contraction. Conclusions: FES-Cycling based neuromuscular evaluation method is safe and feasible. Keywords: FES-cycling, weakness, intensive care unit, safety, feasibility, muscle.


used a mixture of phosphoric acid and silica gel in solventas a catalyst for cyclization of citronellal, dimerization of 1,3-dienes andFriedel-Crafts reaction. The solid acids are safe, easy to handle environ-mentally, benign and have low cost and straight forward work-up.Theyprovide greater selectivity, enhanced reaction rates, clean products andmanipulative simplicity


The reinforced concrete constitution in the structure design proves to be important from the long term experiences of engineering practices.The text analyzes the principles of details of the reinforced steel,its relationship with the construction design,the computation model and the computation parameter,as well as the conceptual design.The research shows some conclusions are identical to the design specification,but others are not accordant with the specification and the handwork,which may be revelatory in the actual structure design.


Following September 11, 2001, considerable research focused on the well-being of disaster and recovery workers at the World Trade Center in New York. Yet police officers who assisted the families of victims have been neglected. These officers worked long shifts escorting families to the site of the attack, reviewing lists of the deceased, distributing death certificates and memorial urns, and collecting materials for DNA sampling. Intense work with traumatized individuals can result in secondary traumatization. Six months after the attack, 23% of a convenience sample of these officers (N = 74) had possible posttraumatic stress disorder, as measured by the Posttraumatic Symptom Checklist (Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993). Additional exposures to the attacks and being Hispanic were associated with more severe symptoms, while years of experience as a police officer with the NYPD had no effect. Recommendations for preventive preparedness training and early intervention for police officers who assist victims' families following disasters are presented.


The present invention relates to a gas incinerator apparatus which includes a combustion chamber (3) for generating a heater main body (5) of the combustion gas, a heater body (5) supplying cold air (9) to support combustion of the at least one fan (7a, 7b), and the mixture (13) for discharging combustion gases and the cool air exhaust stack (11), the device characterized in that the combustion chamber (3) in the exhaust stack installation (11) as follows so that the combustion chamber (3) and an exhaust stack (11) leaving an annular duct (21) flows from the at least one fan (7a, 7b) over cold combustion (9a) and / or cooling air flow, the combustion chamber (3) having a plurality of injection holes and / or tubes (29a, 29b), an annular duct for a portion of the cold air (21) flowing in the injection into the combustion chamber.


Abstract An extension of an earlier work by the present authors on the even-odd effect in smectic A-nematic (S-N) transition is presented. The earlier model showed too large an alternation in TSN. In the present work the mean field is modified by including the contribution from the orientation independent term of the Kobayashi pair potential. Numerical calculations on three homologous series with alkyl chains, namely 4-(4′-n-alkoxybenzylideneamino) biphenyls, (p'-n-alkoxybenzoyloxy) acetophenones and PAA show a marked diminution in alternation of TSN. The present mean field, though a definite improvement over the earlier one, is still found to be inadequate quantitatively, especially for samples with very small or virtually nonexistent alternation in TSN. It seems that a purely attractive pair potential may not be adequate in explaining this aspect of S-N transition. A possible role of repulsive interaction in suppressing this 'even-odd' amplitude is discussed.


There is a growing complexity in business interaction. Today there exist several models for studying business interaction. There are such models founded in the language action tradition and these models have shown to be fruitful. Existing models are however not comprehensive enough. In this paper we will develop a generic model, which is one step towards a more comprehensive model than the existing ones. This model, which takes the BAT model as starting point, will acknowledge different contractual levels as well as distinguishing between market and dyadic business interaction. Important characteristics of this new generic model are dynamic features such as dynamic capabilities, dynamic business relations as well as recurrent business transactions.


The array of 5 imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescopes (IACTs) deployed at the Canary Island of La Palma, and operated by the HEGRA collaboration, was used for the observations of the interaction region between the Monoceros SNR and the dense Rosette Nebula. At present, the performance of the IACTs array reveals the energy threshold of 500 GeV and the angular resolution of 0.1° for γ-rays. We have mapped the extended sky region of 2°×2° associated with the Monoceros SNR/Rosette Nebula, centered towards the hard spectrum X-ray point source SAX J0635+533 and which also contains the unidentified EGRET extended γ-ray source 3EG J0634+0521. Based on the Monte Carlo simulations we have studied the response of the IACTs array over its 5⋅10−3 str field of view with respect to the cosmic rays and diffuse γ-ray emission. We concluded almost constant array's sensitivity to the γ-ray fluxes (with the variation of ⩽10%) within the angular distance of 1 deg from the joint optical axis of the telescopes' array. Here we ...


In order to improve the control of riveted joints during rivet setting, a rivet setting tool is provided with a head part (2) for receiving a rivet (20), a device for gripping a riveting bolt, and a tensioning device which is connected to the device for gripping a riveting bolt. Said tensioning device also comprises a device for measuring the tensile stress thereof.


Studies have indicated that the Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BICMV) is a potential threat to cowpea production in Nigeria. There have been effort to develop cowpea cultivars resistance to BICMV in Nigeria but the viral disease is still prevalent. This study was then focused on screening some selected cultivars of cowpea to observe their response to the BICMV diseases infection.
Three cultivars of cowpea were mechanically inoculated with sap extract of BICMV on the field and the effect of the virus was observed on the agronomic growth parameters of the plant. All the tested cowpea cultivars were observed to be susceptible to BICMV infection but at different infection rate. Early infection of the virus on all the cultivars resulted in poor agronomic performance of the infected cultivars.
The infection rate was observed on the significant reduction in the leaf surface area and number of leaves which may result in the reduction of the photosynthesis leaf coverage area thereby reducing the rate of food formation due to the mosaic and chlorosis symptoms on the leaf caused by the virus infection symptoms.


DNA sequence of C-terminal domain of LRRN3, a member of neuron leucine rich repeat superfamily, was obtained by PCR. A 555 bp sequence was cloned into expression vector pET21 to construct the Mal and His fusion protein. The recombinant plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21 and the over expressed fusion protein of C-terminal domain was existed in inclusion bodies. The fusion protein was purified with Ni+ -NTA agarose. Fusion protein was testified by Western blotting using anti-His monoclonal antibody. The foundation was based by this work to do further investigation on the structure and function of LRRN3.


Employers who attempt to pay what others describe as a living wage may well undermine the opportunities available for migrants to experience economic flourishing. A market economy where profit is the prime motivation is an important contributor to the common good: this is clear in Catholic social teaching.


The works ordered by RENFE, and carried out at the ICCET, are described here. These works are for defining and caracterizing a presasted all-purpose monoblock sleeper
The work has two parts well different:
— The first one is the theoretical study that leads us to the sizing of the different sections of the sleeper.
— In the second one an experimental study is done in order to check the sizing as well as the basis used in the
calculation.


This report is based on 28 cases of typical absence, which were followed by the Department of Pediatrics of Keio University from January 1963 to September 1974. Typical absence is defined as follows: the attacks are characterized by a sudden and brief disturbance of consciousness lasting 5-20 seconds without aura and postparoxysmal symptoms, either with or without minor motor, automatic and autonomic components, accompanied by diffuse rhythmic 3 ~ / ~ spike & wave discharges in EEG during the attacks. The termination of the attacks is abrupt and the attacks occur frequently. The cases of typical absence during the period of observation totalled forty-three, but there were 35% (15 cases) of dropouts. The single or combined medication with ethosuximide, sodium valproate and trimethadione was used in all cases. Phenobarbital was combined with anti-absence drugs only in typical absence cases and both phenobarbital and diphenylhydantoin in cases of grand ma1 or those with a history of febrile convulsions (mixed form by Fukuyama) in addition to typical absence. However, diphenylhydantoin was given in a smaller dose as compared to maintenance dose because diphenylhydantoin may induce attacks of typical absence. Of the 28 cases, 12 (43%) were males


The interconnection of a photovoltaic generatorto a utilitycan be mademore costeffective by eliminatingthe need for an isolationor dedicated utilitytransformer. This paper reviewsthe currentrecommendations, analyzesthe issues,and proposesa schematic and controlrequirements thatcanmeet the concernsof dc injection, safety,and grounding.The schematic utilitizesa 3-wire connectionto the utility(witha greencaseground)to eliminate dc injection intocustomerloads. The analysis shows thata finitetimefor control(onthe orderof threeseconds)is availablebefore transformer core saturation occursand thus customeroutage. Thus a transformerless power conditioner can be interconnected, with other users, to a typical utilitypole top transformer withoutthe need for an isolation or dedicated transformer.


ABSTRACT
Objective
The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between mental health, marital status, social isolation and loneliness among a sample of older adults at an old age care facility.
Method
Older adults (N = 26)  above the age of 70 completed a survey for conditions of depression, isolation, social well-being, physical health, and marital status.
Results
There was no significant association found between poorer well-being and depression, p=.863. Marital status in older adults did not make a difference on levels of depression, p=.791. There was a significant association between higher levels of social isolation and higher loneliness and well-being, ps < .001.
Discussion
These findings suggest that even older adults who are socially isolated in a community home may experience poorer mental health and physical health outcomes.


In this paper, an organization with single grade subjected to exodus of personnel due to policy decisions taken by the organization is considered. In order to avoid the crisis of the organization reaching a breakdown point, a suitable univariate recruitment policy based on shock model approach and cumulative damage process is suggested. A mathematical model is constructed and a performance measures namely the mean and variance of time to recruitment are obtained. The analytical results are graphically   illustrated and the influence of nodal parameters on the performance measures are studied and relevant conclusions are presented.


The Hosoya polynomial is determined for thorn trees, thorn rods, rings, and stars, which are special cases of thorn graphs. By this some earlier results by Bonchev and Klein are generalized. Various distance{based topological indices, namely Wiener index, hyper{Wiener index, Harary index, and reciprocal Wiener index can thus be computed for the classes of graphs under consideration.


Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious and important public health issue to be addressed in India. Timely diagnosis of the drug resistance in tuberculosis is essential to ensure and initiate appropriate therapy. The detection of drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in cases of smear-negative and clinical diagnosed pulmonary TB. A prospective case-control study was conducted on 473 pulmonary samples received at the tertiary care center from January 2019 to December 2019. All specimens were processed for microscopy and culture. CBNAAT- Gene Xpert and LPA Genotype MTBDRplus (VER 2.0) was used to confirm in smear-negative samples. Among the pulmonary samples, 52% smear-positive, and 48% smear-negative, 183 (43%) were found to be culture-positive by Lowenstein Jensen medium (LJ) and MGIT 960, 267 (63%) were positive CBNAAT and LPA n= 216 (51%) samples positive for the TUB band. The use of CBNAAT-Gene Xpert, Line Probe Assay Genotype MTBDR plus(VER 2.0) can be done from the samples directly and the diagnostic performance are more specific for detecting MTB in smear-negative specimens. This study suggests that LPA also helps in the diagnosis of MDR rapidly and in initiation of earlier treatment.


For company, Brand Characteristic and Company Characteristic possess the use that
interrelated with brand confidence include prediction, reputation and competent. This
research is about Nokia mobile phone. Sample in this research using non probability
sampling method, with purposive sampling technique which is consumer have to know
and using Nokia mobile phone product. While the population in this research is peoples
that use mobile phone. Data analysis method in this research is double regression
method which is emphasize to classic assumption test consist normality test,
heteroscedasticity test and multicholinerity with SPSS v.12.00 assistance. Instrument in
this research adopted from Riana,2008 research. Based on hypothetic test indicated
brand characteristic and company characteristic influential on brand loyalty in the
amount of 54.8% and the rest is 45.2% influenced by another factor. While consumer
brand characteristic not influence on brand loyalty


On December 20' 76, 120 plank of Coleusblumei were propagated by cutting inserted directly in Jiffy Mix in three-inch pots. After rooting occurred, one female adult mealybug was transferred from an infested plant to each of the coleus plants, which were two inches tall. Counts were made on February 7'77 of all nymphs and adult females on each plant. The plants were divided into 3 groups according to their meolybug population and distributed so that each treatment consisted of the same approximate number of mealybugs. The average number per plant was 200. Each treatment of 7 insecticides consisted of one rate applied to 5 plants with a 1.5 gal Chapin compressed-air sprayer until run-off. The temperature was 68°F and the relative humidity was 20% at the time of application. A control consisted of 15 plants sprayed with water. The plants were laid horizontally on the ground, sprayed, rototed 180° and sprayed again, then placed upright and sprayed from the top. Another count of the nymphs and female adults was taken on each plant 7 days after spraying. The plants were inspected 14 days after spraying for phytotoxicity and a count of mealybugs was taken again. The plants were hand watered each day.


29 Flowering time is a vital trait to control the adaptation of flowering plants to different 30 environments. CCT-domain containing genes are considered to play an important role 31 in plants flowering. Among 53 maize CCT family genes, 28 of them were located in 32 the flowering time QTL regions and 16 genes were significant associated with 33 flowering time based on candidate gene-based association mapping analysis. 34 Furthermore, a CCT gene named as ZmCOL3 was validated to be a flowering 35 repressor upstream of ZmCCT which is one of the key genes regulating maize 36 flowering. The overexpressed ZmCOL3 could delay flowering time about 4 days 37 whether in long day or short day conditions. The absent of one cytosine in 3'UTR and 38 the present of 551bp fragment in promoter regions are likely the causal 39 polymorphisms which may contribute to the maize adaptation from tropical to 40 temperate regions. ZmCOL3 could transactivate ZmCCT transcription or interfere 41 circadian clock to inhibit flowering which was integrated in the modified model of 42 maize photoperiod pathway. 43


Thyroid dysfunction may occur in patients after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We report a
41-year-old gentleman who was investigated for bicytopenia in June 2012 after presenting with pruritus
and gum bleeding. His initial bone marrow aspiration (BMA) showed features of thrombocytopenia,
which persisted despite treatment with oral steroid. A repeat BMA a year later revealed hypocellular
marrow with full blood pictures showed persistent bicytopenia with presence of blast cells. Acute myeloid
leukaemia was later confirmed with subsequent BMA. First induction/consolidation chemotherapy was
performed in September 2013. He had persistent disease despite reinduction chemotherapy 6 weeks
later. He underwent allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) in March 2014.
His donor was his brother who has had no significant medical problems including thyroid disease.
The transplantation was complicated by neutropenic sepsis, which later resolved. Three weeks post
transplantation he was noted to have suppressed thyroid-stimulating hormone levels with elevated free
thyroxine levels and upper limit of free T3 (TSH <0.001 uIU/ml, fT4 24.59 pmol/l, fT3 4.1 pmol/l).
His TSH a month before transplantation was 0.27 uIU/ml. However, his free T4 dan T3 levels were
not available. He was otherwise asymptomatic. His thyroid antibodies later were found to be normal
(anti-thyroglobulin, ATG <20 IU/ml; anti-thyroid peroxidase, anti-TPO 15.8 IU/ml). As he remained
asymptomatic of thyrotoxicosis, he chose not to be treated medically and was given a follow-up in
the clinic. This case illustrates the possible thyroid dysfunction following haematopoietic stem cell
transplantation, which may or may not related to autoimmunity. Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) is
a recognised complication of autologous or allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
In a series, 10 cases of autoimmune thyroid disease were diagnosed among 721 HSCT recipients, with
three having features of hypothyroidism, five had hyperthyroidism and two had sequential hypo- and
hyperthyroidism. Significant risk factors included HSCT for chronic myeloid leukaemia, HLA B46 and
DR9 loci, the A2B46DR9 haplotype and female donors. Prior to the series, there were 17 reported cases
of AITD after allogeneic HSCT (12 had hyperthyroidism, 5 had hypothyroidism).


Apparatus will be described for measuring ultrasonic absorption in liquids using the modified radiation pressure method reported by McNamara. An amplitude modulated ultrasonic beam from a movable source is directed against a condenser microphone mounted in the bottom of a vertical tank. The membrane of the microphone responds to the variations in radiation pressure resulting from the modulation of the beam. The variations of capacitance of the microphone are used to frequency‐modulate a Franklin oscillator. After frequency multiplication and limiting, the FM signal is detected by a Foster‐Seeley discriminator from a commercial receiver. The low‐frequency signal corresponding to the modulation wave form is put through a preamplifier, a decade attenuator, and a tuned amplifier, and it is then measured with a peak‐to‐peak reading comparison voltmeter of high resolution. Some sample data will be given and the results compared with those from other methods. [This work was supported in part by the Office of Nav...


We study the phase diagram of a holographic model realizing a U(2) global symmetry on the boundary and show that at low temperature a phase with both scalar s and vector p condensates exists. This is the s+p-wave phase where the global U(2) symmetry and also the spatial rotational symmetry are spontaneously broken. By studying the free energy we show that this phase is preferred when it exists. We also consider unbalanced configurations where a second chemical potential is turned on. They present a rich phase diagram characterized by the competition and coexistence of the s and p order parameters.


Nonnative English speaking teachers' oral proficiency and instructional strategies are the significant factors to become effective language teachers where English is not used as a daily communication medium. The study focuses on improvement of EFL teachers' instructional strategies. The main goal of the study is to develop an EFL instructional framework. The framework consists of SIOP (Sheltered instruction observation protocol) and a backward teaching and learning cycle. The backward cycle is used as a frame to implement the SIOP Model and the reflective coaching. A pilot study is conducted with the Korean teachers who have taught five lessons in order to examine effectiveness of the framework. The preand post-evaluation survey data, preand postconference reflections, observation field notes, and five lesson plans are analyzed to see the effectiveness of the instructional framework. The survey results indicate that 26 of 30 items show greater means in the post-evaluation, and 2 items show the statistical significance in the t-test. The results from the five reflective coaching cases illustrate that both participants have reached the reflective thinking stage of experimentation, but only one has reached the evaluation stage, with a new conceptual schemata. Implications and future directions are discussed. Introduction Learning English as a foreign language or as an alternative language (Warschauer, 2000; Yoon, 2008) is crucial in many countries, as the world has become more globalized. Multicultural countries like India, Malaysia, Nigeria, and the Philippines use English either as an alternative or a second language in their daily lives along with their own native languages (Warschauer, 2000). In some countries, English is not used as a communication medium in daily life, yet learning English is linked to academic and career success. South Korea is one of these countries (Choi, 2008). The primary reason for this English learning enthusiasm in South Korea (here after Korea) is access to the leading universities and companies where English is an examination requirement. Because of this requirement, average Korean parents with school-age children spend


An increasing variety of methodologies, methods, techniques, and models can be considered as a methodological response to an increasing complexity, heterogeneity and turbulence of problem situations that managers must tackle in contemporary circumstances. Based on critical systems thinking, pluralism in systems thinking and practice tries to support creative dealing with the management problem situations from multiple perspectives of the key stakeholders and to facilitate the use of different methodologies in combination. In structuring the management problem situations in organizations, pluralism: a) must encourage flexibility in the use of the widest variety of methods, techniques, and models in any intervention; b) should encourage the combined use of different methodologies based upon alternative paradigms in the same intervention; c) must accept and manage a degree of paradigm incompatibility.


AIM: To explore the protective effects and mechanism of astragalus injection on asthmatic rats.METHODS: OVA was injected intraperitoneally and inhaled to produce the asthmatic model.Forty rats were randomly divided into five groups: control group,asthma group and astragalus groups of high,medium and low dose.The concentrations of IL-4,IFN-γ in BALF,the expression of IL-4 mRNA,IFN-γ mRNA and phospho-p38MAPK in lung tissues were respectively measured by ELISA,RT-PCR and Western blotting.The number of inflammatory cells in BALF and histropathology changes were observed.RESULTS: In asthmatic group,the number of inflammatory cells and the concentrations of IL-4 in BALF and the expression of IL-4 mRNA,phospho-p38MAPK in lung tissue were higher,but IFN-γ and IFN-γ mRNA were lower than those in normal control rats(P0.01).In astragalus group,the number of inflammatory cells,the concentrations of IL-4 in BALF and the expression of IL-4 mRNA,phospho-p38MAPK in lung tissue were lower,but IFN-γ and IFN-γ mRNA were higher than those in normal control rats(P0.01),and histropathology damage was alleviated significantly.The efficacies in the astragalus groups of high,medium and low dose were similar,which no significant difference was observed among them.There were positive correlations between the expression of phospho-p38MAPK and the number of eosinophil,the concentration of IL-4,IL-4 mRNA(r=0.63,r=0.69,r=0.71,P0.01),and negative correlations between the expression of phospho-p38 MAPK and IFN-γ and IFN-γ mRNA(r=-0.65,r=-0.68,P0.01).CONCLUSION: p38 MAPK may play a role in pathological process of asthma.Astragalus effectively treats asthma by inhibiting the expression of phospho-p38MAPK,correcting the inbalance of IFN-γ/ IL-4 and decreasing the number of inflammatory cells.


Purpose: of this paper was to examine the corrosion resistance of duplex stainless steels using electrochemical methods in 1M NaCl solution. The influence of powder mixes preparation and cooling cycle after sintering on corrosion properties was evaluated. Design/methodology/approach: In presented study duplex stainless steels were obtained through powder metallurgy starting from austenitic, martensitic base powders by controlled addition of alloying elements, such as Cr, Ni, Mo and Cu. In the studies behind the preparation of mixes, Schaeffler's diagram was taken into consideration. Prepared mixes have been compacted at 800 MPa and sintered in a vacuum furnace with argon backfilling at 1260°C for 1 h. After sintering two different cooling cycles were applied: rapid cooling with an average cooling rate of 245 °C/min and slow cooling of 5 °C/min in argon atmosphere. Produced duplex stainless steels have been studied by scanning and optical microscopy and EDS chemical analysis of microstructure components. Corrosion properties have been studied through electrochemical methods in 1M NaCl water solution Findings: According to achieved results, it was affirmed that applied sintering method as well as powder mixes preparation allows for manufacturing the sintered duplex steels with good corrosion properties which depends on austenite/ferrite ratio in the microstructure and elements partitioning between phases. Corrosion resistance of sintered stainless steels is strictly connected with the density and the pore morphology present in the microstructure too. The highest resistance to pitting corrosion in 1M NaCl solution was achieved for composition with approximate balance of ferrite and austenite in the microstructure. Research limitations/implications: According to the powders characteristic, the applied fast cooling rate seems to be a good compromise for corrosion properties and microstructures, nevertheless further tests should be carried out in order to examine different cooling rates. Originality/value: The use of elemental powders added to a stainless steel base showed its potentialities, in terms of fair compressibility and final sintered density. In addition a good microstructural homogeneity and first of all corrosion resistance was achieved, also working with cycles possible for industries.


Summary The 2015 Pb-Pb collision run of the LHC operated at a beam energy of 6:37Z TeV. The power of the secondary beams emitted from the interaction point by the bound-free pair production (BFPP) process reached new levels while the propensity of the bending magnets to quench is higher at the new magnetic eld levels. This beam power is about 70 times greater than that contained in the luminosity debris


*Assistant Professor, Sheth L.G. General Hospital, Maninagar, Ahmedabad Received: 18.11.2011; Revised: 24.07.2013; Re-revised: 19.08.2013; Accepted; 19.08.2013 Sir, H is characterised by marked increase in eosinophil count. In most cases it is reactive and found in association with parasitosis, al lergic manifestations, pulmonary inf i l t rates , mal ignancies , col lagen vascular diseases.1 It may be primary due to clonal proliferation of eosinophils. Some infrequent rare secondary causes should also be kept in mind while evaluating case of hypereosinophilia, l ike chronic active hepatit is , acute pancreatit is , chronic dialysis , post radiation and hypopituitarism.2 A 55 year old male patient, residing at Ahmedabad, was admitted in L.G. General hospital with distension of abdomen over a period of 20 days. Patient was chronic alcoholic since last 30 years. No history of previous blood transfusion, major surgery or exposure to multiple sexual partners. O n e x a m i n a t i o n , v i t a l s w e r e normal. Patient was pale. Respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous system examinations were normal. Per abdomen examination was suggestive of globular distension of abdomen with dilated veins on flanks. Liver and spleen were not palpable. A f t e r a d m i s s i o n r o u t i n e b l o o d investigations were sent. Haemoglobin was 5.8 Gm%, Total count was 51,000 cells/cumm, Neutrophil count was 36%,Lymphocyte count was 10%, Monocyte count was 01%, Eosinophil count was 53%, Basophil count was 00%. Platelet count was 1.35 lacs. Peripheral smear was suggestive of moderate hypochromia, anisocytosis, macro-ovalocyte, and eosinophilia. Random blood sugar, serum urea and serum ceatinine were within normal limits. S. bilirubin was 1.0 mg%, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase was 60 Chronic Active Hepatitis-Rare Association with Secondary Eosinophilia


Supporting the goal to develop the habitat for people to work and live safely and sustainably on the moon, the Lunar construction robot is typically designed with 3D printing system based on laser sintering technique with Lunar soil. Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) propose a novel robotic system for Lunar construction entitled CSM: the Chinese Super Mason , combining on-site prefabrication of bricks and arch segments with Lunar soil and multi-structural automated assembly processes. CSM consists of a compound fabrication system composed of 6-axis robotic manipulator and automated sintering fabricator carried on an autonomous limbed vehicle platform. As a case study, a 2.8-m-long, 1.6-m-wide prefabricated structure for Lunar Base was successfully assembled with an experimental platform. Benefits and limitations of CSM and its experimental platform were identified and analyzed. Finally, prospections and exploratory steps toward the future of Chinese Lunar Base are also discussed along with the proposed CSM applications for Lunar construction.


This paper is concerned with the set‐membership consensus of cooperation‐competition multi‐agent systems (CCMASs) with the round‐robin (RR) protocol. First, the relationship between cooperative and competitive agents is featured by the graph theory. Second, the RR protocol is used to relieve the burden of data transmission among agents due to the limited network bandwidth. Third, a novel concept of set‐membership consensus for CCMASs is presented to disclose the bound of consensus errors. In the framework of set‐membership filtering, a novel co‐design framework of set‐membership estimation and set‐membership consensus is provided to realize the desired cooperation‐competition consensus, where an ellipsoid is obtained to estimate the agent state. The controller and observer gains as well as the ellipsoid parameters are obtained by a recursive convex optimization algorithm. Finally, an illustrated example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


The prevalence rate for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension etc. caused by the increment of national income and the change of food life according to the globalization in Korea have been increased. Especially excess sodium intake may contribute to the development of hypertension, increasing cardiovascular disease risk. The objective of this study was to investigate sodium intake of nursery school meals in Gyeonggi-Do, and to construct database for lesser sodium intake policy. Survey consisted of 601 sample intakes of sodium in summer and in winter. A food weighed record method was used for measuring food intakes. Average intakes of ten children per nursery school were measured. The sodium contents of meals were analyzed by ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer) after acid digestion by microwave. The sodium contents on food groups showed that sources (693 ㎎/100 g), grilled foods (689 ㎎/100 g) and kimchies (643 ㎎/100 g) had respectively higher sodium contents and the average sodium intake per meal was 582±204 mg. The sodium contents of soups & hot soups and kimchies had 37.5% and 15.8% of total sodium intakes per meal, respectively. Sodium intakes per meal in summer and winter showed 572.3 mg and 592.3 ㎎, respectively. Regional ranking of sodium intakes showed the ascending order of apartment (514.3 ㎎/meal), rural region (540.5 ㎎/meal), multiplex house (635.9 ㎎/meal) and industrial complex (696.4 ㎎/ meal). A habit of excessive sodium intakes in childhood will threaten their health when they grow up to be adults; thus lesser intake of sodium per meal is needed for children in nursery school.


In this paper, we conduct research on the applications of flip mode technology in high bridge pier construction project and quality control. Double mode refers to the construction of the piers of the bridge with three template mutual disassembly, constantly improve pier height, use the crane cut large pieces of the template in the process to turn up, continuously casting continuously rise, turned up through such makes the circulation homework way rising piers. Our proposed approach performs well through the numerical simulation which will be meaningful and effective.


BACKGROUND
The goal of this study was to evaluate any association between blunt chest trauma and occurrence of ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

METHODS
Data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from 2010-2014, of patients over the age of 40, hospitalized for blunt chest trauma (ICD 959.11), with STEMI or NSTEMI, was used in this study. We performed a chi-squared test to analyze this association. We also performed a multivariant analysis adjusting for race, gender, and age.

RESULTS
We found that there is not an increased risk of STEMI/NSTEMI following blunt chest trauma, P > 0.05. We also found no correlation between STEMI or NSTEMI and chest trauma after adjusting for race, gender, and age. For STEMI after adjustments in 2010 (P=0.52), 2011 (P=0.19), 2012 (P=0.60), 2013 (P=0.88), and 2014 (P=0.14). For NSTEMI adjustments in 2010 (P=0.03), 2011 (P=0.06), 2012 (P=0.01), 2013 (P=0.21), and 2014 (P=0.03).

CONCLUSION
Both ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction were not significantly associated with blunt chest trauma.


The purpose of the research was to present a proposal for the design of a service-learning model for citizenship training in the area of Personal Development and Citizenship. The research methodology is basic, descriptive, non-experimental design, transversal, and propositional. The survey technique was used with a 35-question questionnaire instrument. We worked with a population of 144 students. The results obtained show that 61% of the students have knowledge of the use of service-learning at the middle level and 60% at the intermediate level for the citizenship training variable. To overcome this problem, a series of strategies have been proposed. It was concluded that the proposal of the model will allow to empower and stimulate the participation of school adolescents by integrating experiential learning and curricular content.
Keywords: Learning, service, citizenship training, active participation, community service.


Seven cephalopod species were identified from material collected during four exploratory cruises carried out in 1998 and 1999 along the upper shelf slope of the Colombian Caribbean at depths between 200 and 500 m. Semirossia tenera, S. equalis, Heteroteuthis dispar, Opisthoteuthis agassizii, Benthoctopus oregonae and Octopus burryi are first recorded for the area. S. tenera was the most common species, representing 75% of the total abundance.


The genus Bouteloua is native to America and is one of the most important groups in North America grasslands. Bouteloua juncea is one of the only two species of this genus endemic to the Antilles. However, B. juncea has erroneously been reported for Mexico due to a confusion between this species and B. triaena. The objective of this work was to review the nomenclature of B. juncea and B. triaena to clarify the origin of the confusion between both taxa. The names Dinebra cristata, Triaena racemosa and Triathera gracilis are lectotypified, a morphological description and a distribution map of Bouteloua juncea are presented, and taxonomic comments are provided on Bouteloua juncea and B. triaena to clarify the origin of the confusion between these two taxa.


Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) or so-called glycotoxin can be triggered by heated food in which the Maillard reaction occurs. One type of glycotoxins is CML. Accumulated N-Carboxymethyl-Lysine (CML) can cause inflammation of organs, e.g. liver. Rosella flowers contain anthocyanin compound that has anti-glycation and antioxidant effects. This study aimed to determine the effect of ethanol extract of Rosella on CML serum level, IL-6 level, and NF-ƙB activation in the liver of mice fed with baked food. This study used post-test design using 25 Wistar rats aged 3-4 months old that were divided into 5 groups, namely negative control group, positive control group, treatment groups given Rosella extract dose of 200mg.kgBW -1 , 300mg.kgBW -1 , and 400mg.kgBW -1 . Baked feed was given for 12 weeks, and Rosella ethanol extract was administered in the 9 th to 12 th week. The examination on CML serum and IL-6 of the liver was using ELISA method. Immunofluorescent staining was used to determine NF-ƙB activation in the liver using a confocal microscope. CML serum is proven to increase significantly (p = 0.000). The effective dose of Rosella flower extract to prevent CML Serum increase is 200 mg.kgBW -1 , whereas a dose of 400 mg.kgBW -1 can decrease IL-6 level and NF-ƙB activation. Ethanol extract of Rosella flower decrease the levels of N-carboxymethyl-lysine serum, IL-6, and NF-ƙB activation in the liver of rats given baked-food diet. Keywords:  Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs), Interleukin-6, N-Carboxymethyl-lysine, Rosella.


As Charles Darwin (1859) noted, the natural world is a complex and highly interconnected place (Figure 20.1). Conservation researchers have catalogued this complexity and studied the cascading impacts of species and habitat loss on remaining biodiversity (Karieva & Levin, 2003), and this biological focus has produced important insights. However, this work alone is insufficient for addressing the current extinction crisis because conservation planning and decision making is also a highly entangled process. This book has explored the trade-offs that conservationists make and has emphasized that these interconnections extend far into the political, social and economic realm. The chapters in this book have shown that trade-offs are a ubiquitous feature of conservation planning and action. In many instances trade-offs are unavoidable, and very often they are unconscious, hidden from view and not subject to technical or policy debate. This tends to have serious implications. It affects the efficiency of conservation, i.e. the ratio of effort


The success of DNNs is driven by the counter-intuitive ability of over-parameterized networks to generalize, even when they perfectly fit the training data. In practice, test error often continues to decrease with increasing over-parameterization, referred to as double descent. This allows practitioners to instantiate large models without having to worry about over-fitting. Despite its benefits, however, prior work has shown that over-parameterization can exacerbate bias against minority subgroups. Several fairness-constrained DNN training methods have been proposed to address this concern. Here, we critically examine MinDiff, a fairness-constrained training procedure implemented within TensorFlow's Responsible AI Toolkit, that aims to achieve Equality of Opportunity. We show that although MinDiff improves fairness for under-parameterized models, it is likely to be ineffective in the over-parameterized regime. This is because an overfit model with zero training loss is trivially group-wise fair on training data, creating an"illusion of fairness,"thus turning off the MinDiff optimization (this will apply to any disparity-based measures which care about errors or accuracy. It won't apply to demographic parity). Within specified fairness constraints, under-parameterized MinDiff models can even have lower error compared to their over-parameterized counterparts (despite baseline over-parameterized models having lower error). We further show that MinDiff optimization is very sensitive to choice of batch size in the under-parameterized regime. Thus, fair model training using MinDiff requires time-consuming hyper-parameter searches. Finally, we suggest using previously proposed regularization techniques, viz. L2, early stopping and flooding in conjunction with MinDiff to train fair over-parameterized models.


System and method for determining total mill flow (TMF) in a biofuel production process. Measured slurry flow and density values from a process fed by mill(s), backset, and at least one water source, are received. The slurry includes biomass solids and water. Measured backset flow and density values, and a backset composition value are received, as well as a slurry composition value indicating % biomass solids of the slurry. A quantity of biomass solids and/or water of the slurry is determined based on the slurry flow, density, and composition, and a quantity of the biomass solids and/or water of the backset is determined based on the backset flow and density, backset composition, and a system filter characterizing time delays and lags between measurements of the backset flow and biomass slurry flow. Total mill flow is determined based on the quantities of biomass solids and/or water of the slurry and backset.


The construction and demolition waste in many ways impact the environment: They pollute the soil, the water, and the air. They change the landscape among other degradations of the ecosystem. Chile generates over five and a half million tons of construction and demolition waste a year. This figure represents about 10% and 30% of the total urban country waste. Although in Chile there isn´t an appropriate normative or law to regulate this type of waste to lead to a right arrangement in terms of waste. This study presents an arrangement plan of construction and demolition waste to build Social Housing based on the constructive chasing of social housing done in Santiago, Chile. To do that, the main constructive waste generated were first identified, then the registry of quantity about the typology of material, also the national normative of management and the possible alternative of waste management based on the valuation of reusing, recycling and energetic valuation. The waste management plan looks for recovering the economic value and the usefulness that those wastes could have of which waste might shock negatively on our environment. The study gives advice, responsibility, and actions that should be taken by the different constructive actors. On the other hand, the environmental and the economic impact are determined to the respective constructive enterprise. It also hands over the present normative of construction to implement this plan


Small area estimation is a statistical inference method to overcome large variance due to a small sample size allocated in a small area. A shrinkage estimator obtained by minimizing relative error(RE) instead of MSE has been suggested. The estimator takes advantage of good interpretation when the data range is large. A semiparametric estimator is also studied for small area estimation. In this study, we suggest a semiparametric shrinkage small area estimator and compare small area estimators using labor statistics.


Extramedullary (EM) disease is an unusual manifestation of de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) occurring in less than 10% of patients at diagnosis. EM AML may manifest as cellular infiltrates of soft tissues (myeloid sarcomas), lymph nodes, skin (leukemia cutis) and leptomeninges, and is generally


The letters, to a large circle of correspondents, cover his whole writing life and provide a remarkable portrait of the poet.


Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia was one of the most popular books of the 16th century. First published in 1544, by its 1628 edition over 50,000 German copies of the book had been printed. And yet, to modern readers, Münster's book remains almost unknown. Even historians who refer to it have seldom taken the time to read it from cover to cover and are often content merely to dip in, especially for the more sensational descriptions of Plinian peoples or exotic others. As Matthew McLean indicates so aptly, this is an incorrect reading of Münster and we lose an understanding of the book, the author, and the era if we think Münster's interests were confined to (or indeed, particularly attracted to) these peripheral places and interests.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control system and the like, which can reduce the deterioration of processing performance.SOLUTION: A calculation processing system 18 includes: a control system 16; a garbage collector 3; a memory 4; and a memory management unit 5. A management unit 17 analyzes a memory area that is collected by the GC by referring to the memory area. The management unit 17 manages the memory area by changing a logical allocation for the memory area that is collected by the GC. The control system 16 reduces the deterioration of job performance by reading data required to process a job to the memory in advance.


There was male sterility Platycodon germplasm PA-1 discovered in the two-year colony.In succession,flowers of platycodon were observed largely in the diverse colony of platycodon.One after the other,12 individuals of male-sterility Platycodon were discovered,and were denominated severally from PA-1 to PA-12.Characteristic and behave of male-sterility plant were further studied.Results showed: to compare with the nature flower,the stamen of male-sterility flower was smallish,anther was atrophic and dust color.The shape of abortive pollens was anomalistic and I2-KI staining indicated that no pollens were stained.Corolla was slightly big,pistil and nectary was natural in abortive flowers.To compare with normal flower,there were the uniform effect in attracting pollinators.Its forced self-pollination rate was zero,however,its natural pollination and artificial pollination rate was normal.A new way was opened up for utilizing hybridization crossbreeding of germplasm resources since discovery male-sterile of platycodon.


Investigators analyze the behavior and strength of hot rolled beams and fabricated plate girders, which are subjected to localized edge loading in the plane of the web. Research conducted over the past 50 years has shown that failure occurs due to web crippling, which is characterized by elastoplastic postbuckling of the web plate accompanied by the formation of a plastic collapse mechanism in the flange. Tests have also revealed that ultimate loads are approximately proportional to the square of the web plate thickness, with other parameters like web depth, flange width and thickness, and even material yield strength being much less significant. Available test results are summarized and previously developed mechanism solutions for edge loading between vertical web stiffeners are modified to produce improved predictions of failure loads. The mechanism solutions are also reduced to simple closed form expressions for practical routine application, which are adapted to predict web crippling failures at simple end supports.


In this paper we report Re and Re-NiCr layers obtained by Thermoionic Vacuum Arc (TVA) technique. The films deposited onto copper, glass and ceramic substrates were characterized by XRD and AFM methods. We have found that Re film crystallinity is not dependent on substrate composition while Re-NiCr layer structure strongly depends on the substrate composition. The prepared films were found to be very adherent, pure and smooth providing that TVA is a good method to produce high quality coatings of refractory metals.


It's necessary to choose the optimal route in traffic network. Various foreign researchers have done a lot of research and improvement. The traditional optimal routing algorithms were represented by Dijkstra algorithm, and they all not only had high complexity but also had the disadvantage of not reflecting the dynamic very well. In this paper, a new algorithm about choosing the optimal routing problem based on ant colony algorithm was presented. Using the dataset to simulate the algorithm and compare with the classical algorithm. The result represented that it has much more advantages than the classical when the traffic network has more nodes and more complex routings. Keywords-Ant Colony Algorithm (ACA), Transportation Network, Optimal Routing


In this sense, as Fernández Martorell (2008) conveys in her article "Language as a treasure trove", "language is the [...] depository of everything human beings have been able to think and know, it is the 'treasure heritage of human experiences', the historical archive of what humans have been, keeps a memory of all their knowledge, of all their experiences.... To know the language is to know how the human being understands reality and creates a world around him, and how this construction is always in process, open to the new contributions that ABSTRACT


Significance
 He was appointed premier by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on July 13 in line with an order issued by the Supreme Court, which overturned Bhandari's May move to dissolve parliament and call early elections. Bhandari took that step after deeming that neither Deuba nor the premier at the time, KP Oli, had the support of a majority of MPs.

 Impacts
 Further political wrangling could distract Nepal from speeding up its COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.
 Oli's party will likely split formally, as its factional divide now appears intractable.
 India and China will each claim to be avoiding interference in Nepal's internal matters, but Delhi will be happier with Deuba in power.


PURPOSE: To provide a testing method which can easily test the guarantee documents in a wide range and with high reliability. CONSTITUTION: A guarantee junction body 3 buried into a guarantee document 1 consists of a film piece made of a polymer material having the piezoelectric and/or pyroelectric characteristic and is mechanically, thermally or pyroelectrically exposed. The effect that is caused by the piezoelectric and/or pyroelectric characteristic of the film piece is properly tested by a detector.


We report the experimental realization of highly efficient optical elements built up from metal nanostructures to manipulate surface plasmon polaritons propagating along a silver/polymer interface. Mirrors, beamsplitters, and interferometers produced by electron-beam lithography are investigated. The plasmon fields are imaged by detecting the fluorescence of molecules dispersed in the polymer.


Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of CdS and CdxZn1−xS nanoparticles from thermal decomposition of metal complexes in presence of long chain amines are presented. Thermal decomposition can be achieved by conventional heating process. The prepared samples were characterized by powder x‐ray diffraction and UV‐Visible spectroscopy. The absorption response in the UV region has been applied for the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine‐B dye. The photocatalytic degradation reactions were performed on CdS and CdxZn1−xS nanoparticles under UV light irradiation. CdxZn1−xS nanoparticles show better photocatalytic degradation activity compared to CdS nanoparticles. Our studies prove that with the appropriate particle size, CdxZn1−xS can efficiently decompose organic dyes under UV light irradiation with 415 nm.


Herein, we report an efficient catalytic system for the enantioselective addition of alkyl Grignard reagents to a broad range of aliphatic aldehydes with good yields and enantioselectivities. Remarkably, the challenging methylmagnesium bromide (MeMgBr) can also be added to a variety of aliphatic aldehydes, providing versatile chiral methyl carbinol units with unprecedented yields and enantioselectivities in a simple one-pot procedure under mild conditions.


Pediatric radial neck fractures account for 5 to 10% of all elbow fractures. The treatment of radial neck fractures in children varies according to the displacement, angulation, and skeletal maturity. Open reduction is advocated for comminuted fractures and cases where closed reduction has failed. Thus open reduction and temporary internal fixation of pediatric radial neck fractures have to be chosen selectively for apt indications. This study includes 22 children with fractures of the radial neck who were treated at SBMCH, Chromepet between January 2010 and December 2015. Fractures were classified according to the classification system described by Judet et al. The patients are evaluated using MEPS score and radiographs at 8-12 weeks and at 6 months. The patients were followed 12 60 months [mean of 24 months].According to MEPS score 7 [31.81%] had excellent results, 7[31.81%] had good outcomes and 8[36.38%] had fair to poor outcomes. Post op neck angle was excellent to good in 14 [63.64%] and fair to poor in 8[36.37%] patients. Our study established that contrary to other literature, that good results can be obtained in carefully selected cases with gentle manipulative surgery. Younger the age group and earlier the case taken up for surgery better are the functional outcome.


It is widely accepted nowadays that certain top-manager characteristics have great influence on corporate investment strategies and a firm's innovativeness. The present paper focuses on how top-manager origin is related to innovative firm activity. More specifically we discuss whether managers hired from outside the firm are associated with higher or lower innovative firm performance compared to internally promoted top-managers. Internally promoted managers can rely more easily on informal long term agreements and have more firm-specific knowledge whereas their externally hired colleagues have the advantage of broader outside experiences.


One of the most important pests of stored grains is Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), whose larvae feed primarily on germinal part of the kernels, causing a reduction of seed germination and seed viability. This is detrimental for seeds of high category. However, seeds of different species within the same taxonomic family have different morphology (thickness of seed-coat, presence or absence of palea, palea loose or firmly attached to the seed etc.), which affects the susceptibility of seeds to P. interpunctella attack. The hypothesis was that seed hardness and the absence of palea could also significantly influence the life history of this pest. We assessed the suitability of different seeds from family Poacae (maize, wheat, barley, oats, ray, forage sorghum (variety), forage sorghum (hybrid), Sudan grass and millet) for P. interpunctella development and seeds susceptibility to pest attack (expressed in Susceptibility index –SI). The following parameters were monitored: larval mortality, adult emergence, mean developmental duration (from egg to adult) and female fecundity. Observations were carried out weekly, for 49 days. Data were statistically analyzed using Duncan's multiple range Test. The highest larval mortality, the lowest number of emerged moths and the lowest fecundity were recorded on millet, Sudan grass and forage sorghum (variety and hybrid). However, the shortest larval development (27.8 days) and the highest fecundity (109.5-115.6 eggs) were on standard laboratory diet, maize and wheat. Morphometric measures of moths indicate that on unsuitable mediums like millet, Sudan grass, and different sorghum varieties the body lengths were statistically significantly shorter (0.5-0.6 cm) compared to other treatments (0.8-0.9 cm). According to the SI, the most susceptible were maize, wheat, barley, oats and ray, while moderately resistant were Sudan grass and millet. Testing kernel hardness and continuous improving of kernel resistance to storage insect pests could provide lower losses in stored grain quality and quantity.


Abstract This study was carried out to fortify the antimicrobial activity of yogurt by adding garlic juice to it. A raw garlic bulb wasgrated and heated with Glycyrrhiza uralensis to improve its antimicrobial activity a nd palatability. Yogurt was made with 0, 4,8, and 12% garlic juice, and was evaluated in terms of its lactic star ter growth, physico-chemical characteristics, growth inhi b-itory activity against Staphylococcus aureus KCCM 40510, and sensory charac teristics. The garlic juice significantly increasedthe growth of the yogurt starter ( p 0.05). To increase the antimicrobial activityof yogurt with the addition of garlic juice, further studies on the increase in the palatability of garlic juice are necessary.


The utility model relates to a combined type friction stir welding stirring head aiming at plates different in thickness. The combined type friction stir welding stirring head is characterized in that a center matrix is inserted in a sleeve coaxially; a threaded connecting column and a threaded connecting hole are respectively provided with an inner thread and an outer thread which are matched with each other; by the threaded matching of the threaded connecting column with the threaded connecting hole, the shaft shoulder of the center matrix is connected with a sleeve clamping body; and a matrix stirring pin is connected with a sleeve stirring pin coaxially. During processing, the center matrix is universal, only a series of sleeves with different size parameters need to be processed, without the processing of multiple whole stirring heads, therefore, processing materials are saved. If the stirring head is abraded during processing, only the sleeve needs to be replaced and the center matrix still can be used. The time for assembling and disassembling the stirring head is saved and the welding efficiency is improved. Simultaneously, the center matrix and the sleeve can be selected from dissimilar materials so as to be suitable for the welding of various materials.


ABSTRACT In her recent book, All Must Have Prizes, Melanie Phillips makes several claims about the 'disastrous' influence that John Dewey had on education in the UK. The problem is that Phillips gets Dewey quite wrong. She is, of course, not alone in her misreading of Dewey. Using Phillips as a point of departure, I present several misinterpretations of Dewey. Specifically, Phillips and others make the following claims: (1) Dewey promoted ahistoric and cultureless education; (2) Dewey sacrificed knowledge, facts, and subject matter to skills and processes; (3) Dewey rejected the authority of teachers. I point out how Dewey speaks explicitly to each of these assertions.


The interaction of ultra-intense focused laser beams with solid targets is a new field of research resulting in the production of exotic plasma conditions similar to the conditions which exist in the interior of some stellar objects. The lasers generate very high energy electrons and ions which can subsequently produce gamma-rays, positrons, neutrons and pions. The results obtained from these studies have major implications to fundamental plasma physics and high energy accelerator physics as well as important technological potential for the production of compact sources of neutrons, positrons and isotopes.


What exactly is known today about the impact of the adult form of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in society?: In a recent study to examine the societal impact of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 500 patients diagnosed with ADHD and 501 participants with no substantial signs or symptoms of ADHD were studied. Subjects were asked several questions about their quality of life, employment, job satisfaction, and other aspects of their well-being and functionality. Income, which is an important marker for the degree of productivity for an individual in society, was also assessed. ADHD can profoundly affect the performance of individuals in the workplace (Slide 1), and this study found that having ADHD reduced an individual's income by an average of ∼$10,000 per year. If that loss of income is extrapolated to all adults in the United States who have ADHD, it suggests that the economy is losing around $70 billion a year to $115 billion a year in productivity, as measured by loss of income. The range was broad because different models with varying assumptions were applied to project income loss over time. Nevertheless, based on these numbers, it is reasonable to estimate that the population is losing ∼$100 billion annually in productivity due to ADHD. Income loss was found at all levels of education, but it was greatest among patients who had advanced degrees of education; so it seems that the disease may have a more pronounced impact on income among those in the higher income brackets.


The new polyoxotungstate (NH4)6Na4[Ni4(H2O)2(AsW9O34)2] · 20 H2O (1) was synthesized in aqueous solution and characterized by IR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence and single-crystal X-ray analysis. It contains the tetra-nickel substituted [Ni4(H2O)2(AsW9O34)2]10− polyoxoanion, in which the four Ni atoms are in a common plane and form a regular rhombus. 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, space group P21/n with a = 11.849(2), b = 16.718(3), c = 21.243(4) Å , β = 100.48(3)◦, and Z = 2. The anions are linked via hydrogen bonds and sodium cations.


The Project "Estudio de viabilidad de implementacion de fuentes de energias
renovables en la hacienda El Guadual" is divided into two sections. On one hand there
is an analysis in terms of the needs related to electrical power, water heating and biogas;
as well as the study of resources available at El Guadual. On the other hand, the project
proposes all of the recommendations needed to undergo the actual building and
operation of the energy producing technologies in the site. The present work starts with
a presentation and description of Hacienda El Guadual, its current and future energetic
needs as the entire project foresees a lodging project. This work carries on with a
presentation of every resource available and a selection of the equipment to be installed
at El Guadual.


Introduction: Data on management of upper extremity deep vein thrombosis(UEDVT) in patients with cancer is limited. Patients in this subgroup were excluded from the large clinical trials that showed the efficacy of extended duration low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for cancer-associated thrombosis. Furthermore, risk factors for cancer-associated UEDVT in patients who do not have central lines in situ have not been well defined. The goal of our study was to determine the risk factors for cancer-associated UEDVT and to examine the approach to management of these patients in a real-world setting. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 200 consecutive patients who were assessed for cancer-associated UEDVT between January 2010 and June 2014 at a tertiary care center. Outcome measures were recurrent VTE, and major and clinically relevant non-major bleeding. Risk factors for recurrent VTE and bleeding were assessed using multivariable analysis. Results: Median duration of follow-up 11 months. Median age was 61.5 years and 55% were male. Cancer subtypes included colorectal (24%), lung (15%), breast (14%), lymphoma (10%), leukemia (5%), esophageal (4%), pancreatic (4%), head & neck (3%), sarcoma (2%), and others 17%. Metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis was present in 37% of patients and 7% of the study population had a previous history of VTE. Of the study population, 138 (69%) had line-associated UEDVT. Risk factors for UEDVT other than presence of a line after univariate analysis were lung cancer, breast cancer and extrinsic compression of vessels by local tumour on diagnostic imaging. The proportion of patients with UEDVT in the absence of a line according to cancer subtype was as follows: lung cancer (83%), pleural mesothelioma (66%), breast cancer (51%) and head & neck cancer (50%). Of these patients, greater than half had evidence of local mass effect on vessels on diagnostic imaging studies. Of the 138 patients with line-associated UEDVT, 20 (15%) had their line removed within one week of diagnosis for reasons unrelated to thrombosis and 107 (84%) had their line removed after completion of at least 3 months of anticoagulant therapy. Recurrent VTE was documented in 35 patients (17.5%), of which 16 (8%) were UEDVT (PE - 10, lower limb DVT-8, other-2). Recurrent VTE while receiving anticoagulants occurred in 23 (65.7%) of all recurrences and in 10 (62.5%)of UEDVT recurrences. Recurrent VTE occurred in 26 patients with a central line and in 9 patients without a central line. All of the patients with recurrent VTE had solid tumours, and 45% had metastatic disease. Multivariant analysis revealed that male gender(OR 2.42, 95% CI;1.1-5.1,p-value=0.02) and active cancer at the end of follow-up (OR 2.47, 95% CI; 0.1-0.9, p-value=0.04) were the only factors significantly associated with recurrent VTE (Figure 1 and 2). None of the following were significant risk factors for recurrence: type of antineoplastic treatment, accompanying PE, white cell count, initial UEDVT while anticoagulated, cancer stage, previous VTE, number of involved venous segments, removal of line during first week after index event or switching to a different anticoagulant. In the group with UEDVT without a venous catheter, the presence of radiologically proven extrinsic compression of vessels was not statistically associated with recurrent VTE. Patients were treated with LMWH for a median duration of 5 months. Six and 8 patients were switched to rivaroxaban and warfarin, respectively. Clinically relevant non-major bleeding occurred in 24 patients (12%), 61% of the bleeds were gastrointestinal and 83% of the bleeds occurred while receiving anticoagulants. On multivariate analysis, bleeding was significantly associated with ongoing anticoagulation (OR 5.6, 95% CI;1.6-19.3, p-value=0.006) and liver metastasis (OR 7.2, 95% CI;0.9-7.2, p-value=0.05). The use of concomitant clopidogrel or aspirin significantly increased the risk of bleeding (OR 6.6 and 5.5, respectively). Conclusions: While the presence of a venous catheter was the primary risk factor for UEDVT for the majority of our cohort, extrinsic compression of vessels by local tumour appeared to be equally important for certain cancer types. Furthermore, our finding that the majority of recurrent events did not occur in the upper limb suggests that UEDVT may be predictive of overall increased thrombogenic risk rather than just a local effect caused by the line. Disclosures Linkins:Bayer: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pfizer: Honoraria.


Accurate cumulative reaction probabilities and densities of reactive states have been obtained for the reactions F+H2→H+HF and F+D2→D+DF using the hyperspherical (APH) coordinate scattering method developed by Pack and Parker. Results for scattering energies ranging from threshold to 0.7 eV above threshold have been obtained using two different potential energy surfaces that have been proposed for this system. The predicted peaks in the densities of reactive states are due to the presence of scattering resonances. The characteristic steps in the cumulative reaction probabilities are used to identify the resonance peaks due to quantized dynamical bottlenecks. The trapped‐state or Feshbach‐type resonances are identified by narrow oscillations in the density of reactive states. The positions of these resonance peaks in the density of reactive states are in good agreement with the peaks in the Franck–Condon factors for the photodetachment of H2F− and D2F−. Significant changes in resonance types are found for ...


We demonstrate the validity of the current fluctuation theorem for a double quantum dot surrounded by four terminals within the Born-, Markov- and secular approximations beyond the Coulomb-blockade regime. The electronic tunneling to two fermionic contacts conserves the total number of electrons, and the internal tunneling is phonon-assisted by two bosonic baths. Adapted choice of thermodynamic parameters between the baths may drive a current against an existing electric or thermal gradient. We study the apparent violation of the fluctuation theorem when only some of the energy and matter currents are monitored.


Objective To inquire into the curative effects of combination of laproscopic cholecystomy and laparoscopic transcystic duct common bile duct exploration on cholelithiasis, cholecystolithiasis and cho-ledocholith. Methods The clinical data of 19 cases were retrospectively analyzed from Sep. 2006 to Jan.2009. Results All the operations were performed successfully. The operative time was 60~120 min, the drainage time was 3~5 d, and the postoperative hospitalization time 4~7 days. All of the patients were fol-lowed up from 3 to 6 months. No complications occurred. Conclusion Laparnscopic transcystic biliary duct exploration is safe, feasible and worth generalizing.

Key words:
chotelithiasis;  common bile duet calculi;  laparoscopy;  biliary tract surgical procedure


Mammals have circadian clocks, which consist of the central clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the peripheral clocks in the peripheral tissues. The effect of exercise on phase of peripheral clocks have been reported in rodents, but not in humans. Continuous sampling is necessary to assess the phase of the circadian rhythm of peripheral clock gene expressions. It has been assumed that the expression of the genes in leukocyte may be "an accessible window to the multiorgan transcriptome". The present study aimed to examine whether exercise affects the level and phase of clock gene expression in human leukocytes. Eleven young men participated in 3 trials, in which they performed a single bout of exercise at 60% O2max for 1 h beginning either at 7:00 (morning exercise), 16:00 (afternoon exercise) or no exercise (control). Blood samples were collected at 6:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00, 23:00, and at 6:00 the next morning, to assess diurnal changes of clock gene expression in leukocytes. Bmal1 expression level increased after morning and afternoon exercise, and Cry1 expression level increased after morning exercise. Compared with control trial, acrophase of Bmal1 expression tended to be earlier in morning exercise trial, and later in afternoon exercise trial. Acrophase of Cry1 expression was earlier in morning exercise trial, but not affected by afternoon exercise. Clock, Per1-3, and Cry2 expression levels and those acrophases were not affected by exercise. The present results suggest a potential role of a single bout of exercise to modify peripheral clocks in humans.


Visual programs for modeling dynamic systems have become popular because they simplify the construction and maintenance of math models. These products also offer an appealing variety of analytical tools that aid the evaluation of model performance. With the addition of code generators, these tools can convert their visual diagrams into source code that can run standalone or be integrated within an existing software product. The simulation industry has experienced a growing trend of integrating generated code with existing, simulation frameworks. Because the simulation framework and the auto-code generator are based on independent designs, developers must add software layers that overcome incompatibilities. Ideally, the developer strives to design a reusable interface for the visual-modeling product. This frees future projects from handling autocode integration issues. However, achieving a reusable interface may require customization of the visual modeling product and restrictive guidelines on its use. Many simulation customers at NASA Langley Research Center have selected Mathworks' Simulink® for visual modeling. Mathworks supplies a code generator for Simulink called the Real-Time Workshop® (RTW).


Dirichlet Multinomial Regression (DMR) and other supervised topic models can incorporate arbitrary document-level features to inform topic priors. However, their ability to model corpora are limited by the representation and selection of these features – a choice the topic modeler must make. Instead, we seek models that can learn the feature representations upon which to condition topic selection. We present deep Dirichlet Multinomial Regression (dDMR), a generative topic model that simultaneously learns document feature representations and topics. We evaluate dDMR on three datasets: New York Times articles with fine-grained tags, Amazon product reviews with product images, and Reddit posts with subreddit identity. dDMR learns representations that outperform DMR and LDA according to heldout perplexity and are more effective at downstream predictive tasks as the number of topics grows. Additionally, human subjects judge dDMR topics as being more representative of associated document features. Finally, we find that supervision leads to faster convergence as compared to an LDA baseline and that dDMR's model fit is less sensitive to training parameters than DMR.


From the Publisher:
Thirty authors from leading European companies discuss their theoretical and industrial experiences in this comprehensive overview of different software process improvement methodologies. Based on the results of three international conferences organized by the International Software Collaborative Network (ISCN), Better Software Practice for Business Benefit covers varied improvement methodologies in a thorough discussion of process improvement issues.. "Process groups, quality engineers, and consultants with a vital interest in structured evaluation and improvement as well as project managers on all levels will benefit from this overview of software business principles and practices.


Ketoprofen is a propionic acid derivative that has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyreticactivities. Transdermal patch delivery is the right choice for ketoprofen in an effort to minimize side effects, improving patient compliance and ensure the achievement of therapeutic targets.This study aimed to determine the effect of the combination of MC and HPMC polymers on physical properties, release and transport profileof the ketoprofen from transdermal matrix patch.
The results were analyzed using Design Expert software version 7 with simplex lattice model in order to find an optimal formula. Determination of the dissolution mechanism was analyzed using Solver based on goodness of fit between observation data and model prediction, meanwhile the transport of ketoprofen was analyzed using WinSAAM software based on compartement model.
The results provided information that a combination of MC and HPMC polymers had a significant influence on the increased the patch weight, patch thickness, loss on drying and dissolution efficiency and an insignificant effect against folding endurance. Release mechanism of ketoprofen transdermal patch following non-Fickian diffusion and an optimal formula is obtained by the combination of HPMC and MC (with ratio of 0,079:0,921) which produced the flux of ketoprofen in the range from 0.38 mg/hr up to 1.33 mg/hr, these fluxes would be expected to deliver ketoprofen with maximum plasma level (Cp max.)0.32 mg/L to 0.68 mg/L, respectively.


This study aims to determine the differences in the health level of Central Java banks and BPD DIY banks by using different tests and analyzing the health level of Central Java banks and BPD DIY banks in terms of Risk Profile, Good Corporate Governance, Earnings, and Capital in 2012-2016. The RGEC variable used in this study consists of NPL, ROA, and CAR. The data used in this study were obtained from the annual report of the Central Java bank and BPD DIY banks during the period 2012-2016 issued by each bank. The analysis technique used to see the comparison of the health level of Central Java banks and BPD DIY banks is a different test one sample test. The results showed that after analyzing it can be seen that from each variable NPL, ROA and CAR there are differences. While the variable rating of bank health level between Central Java banks and BPD DIY banks from each variable NPL, ROA, and CAR does not have a difference. Keywords: RGEC, Bank soundness level, One Sample Test.


ABSTRACT This paper investigates the enhancement in voltage stability margin as well as the improvement in the power transfer capability in a power system with the incorporation of Fixed Capacitors, Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) and Static VAR Compensator (SVC). A simple transmission line system is modeled in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. The load flow results are first obtained for an uncompensated system, and the voltage and real and reactive power profiles are studied. The results so obtained are compared with the results obtained after compensating the system using Fixed Capacitors, SVC and STATCOM to show the voltage stability margin enhancement. The results obtained after simulation demonstrate the performances of shunt capacitor, SVC and STATCOM when connected to a system on the verge of unstability. All the simulations for the above work have been carried out using MATLAB (SIMULINK) software. Keywords Voltage Stability, SVC, STATCOM, Fixed Capacitor, FACTS, Active Power, Reactive Power.


The importance of pediatric pharmacy practice cannot be overemphasized in a country with high morbidity in children. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of pediatric pharmacy among hospital pharmacists, Delta State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study of hospital pharmacists from 10 randomly selected hospitals was done with the aid of a self-administered questionnaire. Fifty- two of the 90 (57.8%) questionnaires were analyzed, 41 (78.8%) respondents had pediatric units in their facilities and 6 (11.5%) had undertaken specialized courses in pediatric pharmacy. The overall knowledge score of pediatric pharmacy among the respondents was 48%. Forty-seven (90.4%) knew children handle medicines differently from adults, 45 (86.5%) knew young and older children respond to medicines differently. Forty-three (82.7%) respondents provided incorrect responses on oral absorption of rifampicin and phenobarbitone and 39(75.0%) for penicillins; 49(94.2%) lacked knowledge as to whether weight is the most accurate method of dosage calculation. Nineteen (36.5%) had dispensed unlicensed medicines, 47 (90.4%) had engaged in extemporaneous preparation, 41 (78.9%) had access to pediatric-tailored drug information sources and at least 38 (73.1%) could advice on measurement of small volumes of oral dosage formulation. Overall knowledge of the respondents was below average score but practice was nonetheless encouraging.


Sonar or ultrasonic sensing uses propagation of acoustic energy at higher frequencies than normal hearing to extract information from the environment. This chapter presents the fundamentals and physics of sonar sensing for object localiza-tion, landmark measurement and classification in robotics applications. The source of sonar ar-tifacts is explained and how they can be dealt with. Different ultrasonic transducer technologies are outlined with their main characteristics highlighted. Sonar systems are described that range in sophistication from the low cost threshold based ranging modules to multitransducer and multipulse configurations with associated signal processing requirements capable of accurate range and bearing measurement, interference rejection, motion compensation and target classification. CTFM (continuous transmission frequency modulated) systems are introduced and their ability to improve the target sensitivity in the presence of noise are discussed. Various sonar ring designs that provide rapid surrounding environmental coverage are described in conjunction with mapping results. Finally the chapter ends with a discussion of biomimetic sonar that draws inspiration from animals such as bats and dolphins. Sonar is a popular sensor in robotics that employs acoustic pulses and their echoes to measure range to an object. Since the sound speed is usually known, the object range is proportional to the echo travel time. At ultrasonic fre


The amount of substance, expressed in the units of moles is an essential concept in chemistry and physics. Students entering physics courses usually possess a chemistry background. However, this study showed that their understanding of units of matter on the microscopic level is fragile, and needs improvement. Research shows that the complexity of interpretations of quantities expressed as ratios; molar mass or atomic mass makes formulating a dimensional analysis or proportion of these ratios unclear to students. Based on these findings, this study proposes applying equations of fundamental constants and proportional reasoning, instead of ratios, as the main building blocks to formulate conversion algorithms. In the line of that, a deductively designed lecture was delivered to a group (N=25) freshman college physics students. While on the pretest, only (N=4, 16%) correctly converted a mass of a substance expressed in kilograms to a number of moles, on the posttest the percentage of correct answers increased (N=20, 80%) suggesting that proportional reasoning coupled with fundamental constants brings clarity to the process and improves its understanding.


This paper has established a model describing dynamics of foaming system of rigid polyurethane with fluid dynamics and thermal mechanics. Using this model. we has simulated the process of foaming. forecasted the density and distribution of molded body. and discussed factors to affect the expansion, motion and leakage of vapor bubbles. the density and distribution of molded body. The model is reasonable. The results are believable. They will provide a direction to practical application, and a method to theoretical design of material.


The sympathetic nervous system exerts an important influence on fat metabolism in adipose tissue (Shapiro & Wertheimer, 1956). Depletion of fat from the interscapular pad of brown adipose tissue in adult mice is retarded by dividing the mixed nerves to the pad (Hausberger, 1934; Sidman & Fawcett, 1954) and it has been suggested that this is due to the division of sympathetic fibres running with the nerves (Beznak & Hasch, 1937; Clement, 1950). Stimulation in vitro of the nerves supplying the interscapular adipose tissue of adult rabbits produces a rise in the free fatty acid content of the medium (Correll, 1963). The present experiments were undertaken to study the effect of sympathetic denervation on the depletion of fat from brown adipose tissue in new-born rabbits and to investigate the role of the sympathetic nervous system in regulating heat production by the tissue. They show that section of the cervical sympathetic nerve or excision of the stellate ganglion retards the depletion of fat that normally occurs in the tissue when the animal is exposed to cold and that cervical sympathetic stimulation in vivo produces a rise in the temperature of the tissue. In the new-born rabbit heat production in response to cold exposure occurs principally in brown adipose tissue (Hull & Segall, 1965a) and is due to the local oxidation of fat (Dawkins & Hull, 1964). The conclusion is drawn that this response is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. A preliminary report of these experiments has been given (Hull & Segall, 1965b).


A prospective open labelled study was desinged to evaluate the efficacy of short course prophylactic zidovudine (ZDV) use in late prenatal-perinataI-7 days postnatal regimen and perinatal-6 weeks neonatal regimen. One hundred fifteen asymptomatic HIV-I infected pregnant women were enrolled. Breast feeding was not allowed. The perinatal HIV-I transmission rate was reduced from 20.63%  (13/63 ) before ZDV use to 7.69% (6/78) in late prenatal perinatal - 7 days postnatal regimen significantly (p 0.05). Gender, preterm, mode of delivery and birth weight did not influence the perinatal transmission.


Surface Assisted Chemical Vapour Transport (SACVT) methods have been employed to grow nanostructures of titanium disulfide (TiS2) and titanium trisulfide (TiS3). SACVT reactions occur bewteen titanium and sulfur powders to form TiSx species transported in the vapour phase to grow nanometric flower-like structures on titaniumcoated silica substrates. The evolution of structure and composition has been followed by powder X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. At 1:2 Ti:S ratios, the size and shape of the hexagonal 1T-TiS2 titanium disulfide structures formed can be varied from flower-like growths with "petals" formed from nanosheets 10 nm thick to platelets microns across. Increasing the proportions of sulfur (Ti:S 1:4) enables TiS3 flower-like structures composed of radiating nanoribbons to grow at elevated temperatures without decomposition to TiS2. TEM/SAED suggests that individual trisulfide ribbons grow along the [010] direction. Magnetic properties of the disulfide nanomaterials have been determined using SQUID magnetometry and Raman spectra for disulfides suggest that their crystal and electronic structures may be more complex than expected for bulk, stoichiometric, CdI2-structured TiS2.


In this paper, we investigate the exploitation of nonlinear behavior in ferroelectric (FE) materials in the realization of innovative transducers for detecting weak and low-frequency electric fields (E-fields). Specifically, we describe a nonlinear dynamical system based on FE capacitors coupled into a unidirectional ring circuit which, under the appropriate operating conditions, exhibits an oscillating regime of behavior in the response variable (the electric polarization). In this device, a weak target E-field induces a perturbation of the polarization of the FE material; in turn, the target signal can be detected and quantified via its effect on the coupled system response. Hence, the device entails the synergetic use of bistable FE materials, micromachining technologies that allow for addressing charge density amplification, and novel sensing strategies based on coupling nonlinear elemental cells. The "charge collector" strategy has been employed to detect the target field. An experimental characterization of the sensing device, including three cells (each cell corresponds to an FE capacitor) coupled in a ring configuration, is presented as a function of the charge collector configuration.


N o other society, to my knowledge, has made such a fetish of intelligence as has modern America. Indeed we have what philosopher Mary Midgley calls a veritable "cult of intelligence" administered by tribes of experts whose function is to measure it, raise it, write books about it, and make those purportedly without it feel inferior. But exactly what is intelligence? More to the point, what is intelligence as measured against the standards of biological diversity and human longevity on Earth? And what might such answers say about how we go about the work of conservation education?


55  Studies in Intelligence Vol 64, No. 4 (Extracts, December 2020) All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in this article are those of the author. Nothing in the article should be construed as asserting or implying US government endorsement of its factual statements and interpretations. Secrets and Spies: UK Intelligence Accountability after Iraq and Snowden Jamie Gaskarth (Brookings Institution Press, 2020), 147, notes, index.


The Centre for Workplace Leadership was invited by a major Australian retail
business to conduct research on the company. The CEO wished to have a solid basis of evidence on which to improve communication, innovation and decisionmaking in the company. The research took place over a year between mid-2014 and mid-2015. It involved interviews with staff at all levels, from CEO to frontline business staff.

Key Findings:
The analysis of communication, innovation and decision-making processes found three main issues that were impacting organisational effectiveness. These were:

• shifting to hierarchical leadership had reduced employee engagement;
• increased bureaucracy had reinforced organisational silos;
• top-down decision-making had crowded out collaboration and innovation.

Each of these findings is described in more detail below, along with quotes from the interviews.


Introduction. The green shelf life (GSL), which indicates the physiological deve- lopment of bananas at harvest, is a major quality standard for fruit export. In order to evaluate and to understand the variability of the existing GSL in production, a diagnosis survey was carried out at three banana producers in Martinique using the method of thermal sums as a decision tool for harvest. Materials and methods. For each banana producer, fruits were taken at the exit of the packing station from 10% of the bunches collected during one week. Then, these bananas were preserved at 14 °C in bags made of perforated polyethylene until the "changing green" stage of maturity. The GSL was defined in days by the time passed between the harvest and this stage of maturity. Results and discussion. The GSL varied between (18 and 69) days with an average of 42 days for all of the producers. Nearly 80% of the production had a GSL between (25 and 50) days and less than 4% below 25 days. The variability of the GSL was related mainly to the age of the fruits at harvest, expressed in thermal sums (R = -0.74). This varied between (600 and 1150) degree-days for all of the producers. The fruits contaminated by anthracnose wounds and tip rots presented a shorter GSL than the healthy fruits, and that independently of the harvest stage (p < 0.001). The origin of this contamination was discussed. For the same thermal sum, significant differences in GSL were highlighted according to the location of production (plot) (p < 0.001). Variations of more than 7 days on average were observed between plots from the same producer and located at the same altitude. The origin of these differences was also discussed.