technology is or what it means for us. In fact, I find her overall approach to be somewhat mechanistic. Her approach certainly reflects the dominant mode of public policy analysis, in which public policy is conceived of as a series of analytical categories interacting one with another-so that history exists as "preconditions" affecting "policy matrices" over time. I prefer, however, the historically and theoretically richer approach of Starr (1982). Thus, while I am quite impressed with the meticulousness of Foote's analysis in many parts of the work-and many parts are extremely valuable on their own terms-I am ultimately left less than completely satisfied with the work as a whole. Foote's analysis would have been strengthened if she had drawn on some of the literature that examines technologywithin given historical contexts and larger cultural horizons. Again, I would ask, what exactly are these technologies doingto us in terms of life expansion, health improvement, or cultural self-understanding? In developing a theoretically richer perspective, we might begin to look at technologies not as discrete sets of devices,but aspoliticalrepresentations. Thus, reproductive technologies cannot be considered as "devices" in the same way that artificial hearts are. The development of medical devices isevidence, then, of an important gender politics, along with a class politics that cannot be dissociated from an analysis of their distribution. Analyzing devices in terms of their political content can give us a clearer understanding of what the policymaking process means in the broadest sense. I would, in other words, have preferred for Foote to have written a more political book. The book she wrote makes a valuable contribution, but a somewhat different book might have made an even more important contribution.


Invironmental factors make an intentional intrusion into our personal space. This article is particularly relevant today, with the perceived amount of intrusion into our private lives. Reading the different blogs and articles about it shows that it is clearly a hot issue. This article looks at the topic of intrusion into one's personal environment from an Artificial Intelligence perspective and wonders if it can be stated scientifically, by relating it to a set of well-known AI theories. While the idea originated from the new media-based threats that we all know about, a more intentional environment could also be helpful to an unaware individual. It could therefore, be measured both ways.


This article gives a brief account of Washington State's integrated vegetation management (IVM) at the county level. The four major challenges to a successful IVM in this particular setting include: 1) excessive vegetation that may block visibility at intersections, 2) vegetation that may be a potential fire hazard, 3) many typical IVM methods can damage water supplies, and, 4) alien species are often more difficult to maintain than natives. Some of the solutions presented include the use of hand spraying for non-native plants, giving a 20 ft buffer zone for water sources with herbicides must be used, creating a 3 ft wide area free from tall vegetation roadside using a mower to avoid herbicide runoff, and trees and bush are not to be sprayed during the spring or summer months.


The aim of the present study was to determine the mechanical properties of bones. For this purpose, an ultrasonic method was used to determine acoustic parameters such as the longitudinal and transversal celerities. Waves propagating through bovine femoral bones were studied and the Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio v were deduced.


The science and discipline of management have undergone some remarkable changes in recent years. These changes affect virtually every part of organizations, including internal auditing. One impact has been an increase in what are known as special projects conducted by internal auditors. Notes three observations suggesting several unique challenges for internal auditors performing special projects. Observation 1 – Special projects are more likely to involve higher level strategy. Observation 2 – Special projects may lead internal auditors into unfamiliar organizational territory. Observation 3 – Special projects are more likely to occur in the context of larger projects. Outlines defining characteristics of special projects and analyses five issues related to the above observations: (1) how to ensure auditor competence; (2) how to gain senior management′s commitment to special projects by internal auditors; (3) how to determine objectives, expectations and deadlines; (4) how to schedule special projects; a...


This paper investigates a range of statistical, neural network and hybrid approaches for making one-step-ahead forecasts of a monthly water demand time-series on the basis of 108 historical data points. A uni-variate approach, using solely the water demand time-series, is taken to construct two stand-alone forecasting models: a backpropagation network and a statistical model. A bi-variate approach, in terms of noise ltering, data pre-processing based on the underlying components of the water demand series and use of an innuential external parameter, is taken to build a hybrid statistical and backpropagation network model. We benchmark the results of the models against the forecasting method currently used at Melbourne Water. It is found that when there is strong prior knowledge about the problem domain, neural networks can be used to improve traditional statistical forecasts even when faced with a relatively small amount of historical data.


Chapter 1 paves the way for the discussion of the nature and moral salience of individual virtuous emotions in subsequent chapters by (a) explaining and defending an Aristotelian componential view of what an emotion is; (b) addressing the distinction between 'virtuous emotions' and 'emotion(al) virtues'; and (c) explaining the salience, in an Aristotelian system, of emotion education. The author explains the debates that rage on these issues and takes a stand on them. Most importantly, Aristotelian emotions have a cognitive core. It is this cognitive core that underlies the assumption of responsibility for emotions, for we can typically be held accountable for, and evaluated morally with respect to, the content of our cognitions—unless those are the results of indoctrination or brainwashing. In general, this chapter paves the way for the discussion of the moral epistemology of virtuous emotions in Chapter 2, and the analysis of specific emotions to follow, by setting the discussion in the context of a general Aristotelian position on what emotions are correctly understood to be, psychologically and conceptually.


Aethina tumida, bumble bees, honey bees, stingless bees Journal of Apicultural Research 51(2): 214-215 (2012) © IBRA 2012 DOI 10.3896/IBRA.184.108.40.206 Small hive beetles (SHB), Aethina tumida, are parasites and scavengers of social bee colonies in their endemic range in Africa as well as in the USA and Australia (Neumann and Ellis, 2008; cf. Hoffmann et al., 2008; Halcroft et al., 2011). It is currently unknown whether adult SHB which have emerged from the soil but have not yet conducted any flights are attracted to neighbouring host colonies or conduct long range dispersal instead. Here we studied whether the presence of neighbouring host colonies distracts migrating SHB. We conducted a field trial (Experiment A) in the USA using a circle of alternating honey bee (Apis mellifera) and native bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies. In Australia (Experiment B), we also arranged A. mellifera and native stingless bee (Trigona carbonaria) colonies (Bombus spp. do not occur in mainland Australia) in a circle but within a greenhouse, to enforce host choice by SHB. In both experiments, all colonies remained in their original colony boxes (mating nuclei for A. mellifera, cardboard boxes for the bumble bees and wooden OATH hives (Dollin & Heard, 1999) for the stingless bees), but were placed in new unused standard single ten-frame Langstroth hive boxes to give them a similar external appearance. Honey bee mating nuclei were chosen to match the size of the bumble bee and stingless bee colonies, so as to provide a similar amount of odour cues for beetle orientation (Torto et al., 2005). We used laboratory-reared, 2-3 weeks old SHB adults (Neumann et al., 2001), which were maintained on a honey/pollen diet (Hoffmann et al., 2008). Those SHB had neither any prior contact with any of the tested host bees nor had a chance to conduct any dispersal flights whatsoever. The SHB were released at dusk from boxes (N = 3,000 each) in the centre of the circles (AE = ~15m). Twenty-four hours later, the release boxes as well as all colonies were sealed, transported to the laboratories, freeze-killed and thoroughly dissected for the number of bees and adult beetles. LED lights were used to detect the dark adult SHB inside of the nests, because their colour camouflages them, especially in used darkish honey bee combs or stingless bee nest constructions. The data clearly show that the presence of neighbouring host colonies does not distract adult SHB, which have previously emerged from the soil, from conducting long-range dispersal flights. The results further suggest that SHB seem to prefer B. impatiens over A. mellifera and A. mellifera over T. carbonaria host colonies (Table 1). This must be interpreted with caution, however, because the vast majority of SHB (>92% in both experiments) did not enter any host colony and instead either left the entire apiary or remained in the corners or at the ceiling of the greenhouse. The age and mating status of the tested SHB appears less relevant, because 2-3 week old SHB were used in both experiments, which were sexually mature and had probably already mated (casual observations during the laboratory rearing). The findings therefore strongly support that, indeed, adult SHB initially conduct long-range dispersal flights (Spiewok et al., 2008) regardless of the presence of host colonies in close proximity (<15 m). This appears adaptive in the light of destructive SHB mass reproduction, which can produce thousands of beetles in a given area, as well as absconding and the dispersed distribution of host colonies. SHB often, however, use cryptic low-level reproduction and beetle dispersal behaviour could differ under less crowded conditions and, thus, deserves further research.


Continental Asia has been recognized as one of the most important sources of atmospheric dust particles. Many investigators have pointed out the importance of the atmospheric processing of dust particles in the course of long-range transport. Such processing can potentially change their radiative properties and their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei. Three major factors that govern the processing of dust particles are dust mineral composition, relative humidity and concentration of acidic gas species. These factors are considered to be closely related with the height at which dust particles are transported. However, there has been no report so far on the direct comparison of the morphology and chemical composition of individual dust particles in the free troposphere and in the planetary boundary layer in the event of a same dust outbreak. The helicopter was employed as the airborne platform in this study. Aerosol particles were directly collected by aerosol impactor over Hakui city, Isikawa, Japan (36.9 N, 136.7 E) on March 19, 2013. Then, Dust event was observed western Japan by Japan Meteorological Agency. Morphology and elemental composition of the collected particles were later examined on individual basis under SEM-EDX (Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometry). Atmospherically processed dust particles (with apparent morphological modification) were hardly found in the free troposphere. On the other hand, large fraction of dust particles was found modified in the planetary boundary layer, showing spherical outline. High proportion of Calcium and Magnesium were detected from the modified particles. Also, dust particles collected in the planetary boundary layer contained Sulfur in higher abundance. It is suggested that the atmospheric conditions in the free troposphere are less favorable for the dust particles to be modified than in the planetary boundary layer, because the vertical supply of acidic gases and water vapor into free troposphere is generally limited by the temperature inversion layer.


ABSTRACT This article examines the 2015 Canadian federal election in which the Liberal Party took office under the leadership of Justin Trudeau. Celebrity was a dominant theme during the campaign, applied by the Conservative Party to discredit Trudeau by playing on his youthful good looks and 'new masculinity'. The Conservative campaign drew attention to Trudeau and its own aggressive tactics and entered into a spiral of negativity that the Liberals would capitalise on with optimistic and progressive themes. We argue that the effects of celebrity politics on elections must be studied within the context of national–cultural attitudes towards celebrity, media characterisation of candidates and political parties prior to the election campaign, previous campaigns, the duration of the official campaign as well as the existence of the 'permanent campaign' on the part of governments, and the dynamics of the celebrity theme as the campaign progresses. In the context of Canada, particular state–culture dynamics are at work that legitimate the celebrity politician.


Corresponding author: Ali J. Ali Email: email@example.com Department of General Surgery Aljamhory Teaching Hospital Mosul Iraq ABSTRACT Objectives: To define the value of Tamsulsine drug addition to antibiotics (Cefitrixon and Metronidazole) in conservative treatment of non-perforated acute appendicitis. Methods: The design of this study is prospective clinical study. Study performed in Al-Jumhuri Teaching Hospital, January 2010-January 2012. 102 adult patients 74 male and 28 females between 17-45 years of age complaining from acute appendicitis treated in our unit they were well interrogated and clinically examined, all are send for general urine examination, ultrasound, C-reactive protein and chest X-ray. Those who discovered to have perforated appendicitis or complications were excluded from the study. Then the patients were divided into two equal groups(A and B). Group A: were given 500 mg Ceftriaxone and 500 mg Metronidazole, both intravenously twice daily. Group B: were given in addition to the previous antibiotics regime Tamsulsine 0.4 mg orally once daily. If the patient showed good signs of recovery in the first 24 hours of the treatment, we continue the treatment for the further 5 days. If not we do immediate appendicectomy. Follow up for 4 months done to those who were discharged. Results: During the period of the study, Group A: 41 patients (out of 52) 78.89% got good signs of recovery and relieved within the first 24 hours, while 10 patients needed exploration and appendicectomy. Group B: 49 patients (out of 52)94.23% gave good signs of recovery and relieved within the first 24 hours only 2 patients needed exploration and appendicectomy(no response). Our index of recovery are decreasing and disappearance of abdominal pain and tenderness, good appetite and positive bowel sound. Those who were discharged after conservative treatment are followed for 4 months for recurrence of appendicitis we got 5 patients who got recurrence and needed appendicectomy in group A, while we got only 3 in group B. Conclusion: Conservative treatment of acute appendicitis with antibiotic is now accepted in many centers. Tamsulsine drug if added to the antibiotic treatment is safe and convey better and fast recovery of the patients and less recurrence rate.


This conference presentation looks at engineers as agents of change from the perspective of a politician. While the two professions - politics and engineering - are far apart - one deals with people's heads and hearts more than the things around them and the other tries to combine natural law with objects and elements in order to solve problems - there are, beneath the surface, rules which always operate. The rules of politics, in a representative government, are: (1) Voter education plus voter desire equals voter expectation; (2) Political success equals meeting voter expectations by the next election; (3) Energy against change always exceeds the energy in favor of change - thus a very small group of intensely passionate people can change everything; and (4) The only thing that can subvert and change any of the above rules is inspired political leadership which comes along occasionally.


A new study supports previous findings that finasteride prevents prostate cancer. However, like much research in prostate cancer, the study leaves us with as many questions as answers.


Database is everywhere in network world.How to make those databases work in cooperation is concerned more and more. A kind of mechanism of distributed multi-database cooperation is investigated deeply.Combined with operation feature of multi-database,a multi-agent-based multi-base cooperation technique is presented,so that these databases have more intelligence and activeness.This technique is applied to software development and good result is achieved.


Using comprehensive geographic information and firm-level data,this paper transforms discrete space into continuous distance,and employs improved agglomeration measurement methods to analyze the evolution of spatial agglomeration of 84 sub-divided manufacturing industries.It also studies the factors influencing industrial agglomeration by panel regression model.It shows that,from the perspective of small geographic region and sub-divided industry,intermediate input sharing is the most important factor influencing manufacturing agglomeration in China,and labor maturity and knowledge spillover also contribute to industrial agglomeration,confirming the importance of Marshall's externalities.The returns to scale have nonlinear effects on industrial agglomeration.In addition,the increase in openness and the reduction in transportation costs are advantageous to industrial agglomeration and a large share of state-owned enterprises is disadvantageous to industrial agglomeration.


Steel pipelines used in the transport of pressurized fluids may be weakened due to mechanical collisions with external objects, which may lead to leakage or rupture of the system and cause human, economic and environmental disasters. In the pipeline network, the malfunction of the compressor, the fracturing of the pipe or the sudden change in valve status (opening or closing) produces a rapid flow that induces a pressure wave that could trigger the pipe to vibrate and hence to burst. This phenomenon is known as water hammer. In order to model the water hammer effect induced by instant valve closure/ opening at the end of a tube, the Method of Characteristic technique (MOC) is applied to mathematical models that define the transient flow of three separate fluids conveyed by a pipe assumed to have linear elastic behavior. In the equation, small time intervals are used to model the pressure spectrum caused by the water hammer phenomena with good precision. These results show that the valve's quick closing / opening can have a significant effect on the pressure range in the pipe, which can cause pipeline failure particularly in the case of defect.


The H-02 Wetland Treatment System (Figure 1) is used to remove heavy metals (e.g., copper and zinc) from the H-Area process and storm water discharge. Routine flow enters an equalization basin by inlets on either the east (Location 1) or west end (Location 2). The west end influent constitutes 75% of the average flow into the basin which has an average residence time of approximately 3 days at low pool (i.e., 120 gal/min. through a volume of 0.5 million gallons). The water then exits via the basin outlet on the east end. Next, the water flows to a splitter box (Location 3) which evenly separates the flow between two wetland cells for a design flow of 60 gal/min. per wetland cell with a residence time in the cell of approximately 2 days. The wetland effluent is then combined (Location 4) and flows through a spillway before reaching the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) measurement point near Road 4. During initial operation, it was observed that the pH of the water leaving the equalization basin was elevated compared to the influent pH. Furthermore, the elevated pH remained through the wetland cells so that there was an average pH of 10 leaving the wetland cells during the daytime which exceeds the upper NPDES limit of 8.5. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the cause of the increase in pH within the equalization basin of the H-02 Wetland Treatment System. Possible mechanisms included algal activity and inorganic chemistry interactions (e.g., interactions with the clay and/or bentonite liner). Water quality parameters were evaluated throughout the H-02 Wetland Treatment system and over time in order to determine the cause of high pH values measured in the basin and wetland. Fluctuations in dissolved oxygen (DO) and accompanying changes in pH would be expected in systems where algae are an influencing factor. An unexpected increase or decrease in the concentration of inorganic substances may indicate operational changes or an inorganic chemistry influence on pH. In addition, alternative methods to alleviate or mitigate the pH increase were evaluated. This study documents the results of sampling activities undertaken and conveys the analytical results along with suggestions for operation of the H-02 Wetland Treatment System. The water samples collected and the water quality data generated from this activity are for analytical purposes only, and as such, were not collected in support of compliance activities.


For print lovers this will be a refreshing complement to the finest print library. Relief printing has played a major role in art in Australia from the 19th century forward. Here is the diversity of printmaking techniques through each period to today when prints are being made in enormous sizes or are produced not as multiples but as monotypes of densely layered works or across media. The artists shown, one to a page, have exhibited widely internationally and include early masters like Lionel Lindsay, Michael O'Connell and George Bell, Margaret Preston and Vivien Littlejohn. (National Gallery of Victoria)


Referred to by the Ministry of the Economy, the French Competition Council examined in its decision 06-D-06 of March 17, 2006 the practices implemented by the main French organization offering…


The of daily variation and the seasonal variation of transpiration intensity of different trees are analyzed. The regression model that explains the influence of illumination, air temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity and ground temperature on trees transpiration is set up. The results indicated that the water consumption for trees transpiration in the growth season of larch and locust is 107.9%~119.5% of the same term rainfall, the imported precipitation of the soil can not satisfy the needs of the consumption of the arbor, and hold up their normal growth. The water consumption for the transpiration of Caragana Korshinskii and Hippophae rhemnoides is 61.66%~66.1% of rainfall in the same tern, the imported precipitation of the soil can satisfy the needs of the consumption of shrub forest land.


Abstract Modern infrared (IR) thermography as a non-contacting, high resolution and full-field measurement technique offers a promising tool for various applications in experimental fatigue studies. Despite the tremendous advances in IR-camera, computer and data processing technology, infrared measurements have so far rarely been applied to the assessment of localized fatigue phenomena. The aim of this paper is to present basic considerations and experimental results of an application of infrared thermography for damage studies during fatigue tests on mild steel S355. For this purpose high-resolution infrared image sequences have been acquired during high cycle fatigue testing. The data is analyzed with respect to linear thermoelastic and nonlinear phenomena, which allows characterizing the local fatigue behavior. Experimental studies on unnotched, mildly notched, and welded specimens under different testing conditions are presented. The results confirm the high potential of the application of infrared thermography during experimental fatigue studies.


Band structure and electromagnetic properties of bands of 160,162,164Gd are studied theoretically upto high spin values using self-consisstent mean field theory. Predictions for the band structures are made. A K = 6− isomer at fairly low energy is predicted. Four quasi-particle bands involving i13/2 neutron and h11/2 protons are also studied.


In many applications like crime detection, health sector, taxation sector etc... record linkage is used to find out the matched data items from different data sources. Finding matched records from different data sources corresponding to same entity is referred to as record linkage. It provides data integrity, data quality and also the reuse of existing data for advanced studies. The complexity of finding matching records is high due to the increased size of databases. The proposed system contain the secure information retrieval after efficient record linkage with indexing. AES algorithm is applied for the secure transmission of matched data. The indexing step generates candidate record pairs that are to be compared in record linkage process. After finding the matched records, it is sent to the user using secure AES algorithm in-order to avoid the malpractices.


Objective To investigate the short term effects of prodromal angina pectoris on left ventricular function in diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction.Methods 222 patients with first acute myocardial infarction:95 without diabetes,divided into group A(with prodromal AP)and group B(without AP).Another 127 with diabetes were divided into group C(with prodromal AP)and group D(without prodromal AP ).The effects of IP on peak creatine kinase value and left ventricular function were analyzed separately.Results (1)The peak creatine kinase value and the peak creatine kinase MB fractions were significantly lower in group A than group B( P 0.01),at the same time,the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)was significantly higher in group A than group B( P 0.05),while there were no significant difference between group C and group D( P 0.05 for both comparisons).Conclusion prodromal angina pectoris limited infarct size,protect the left ventricular function in non-diabetic patients with acute myocardial infarction.However,such beneficial effects of prodromal angina pectoris were not observed in diabetic patients, suggesting that diabetes might prevent ischemic preconditioning. \[


The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a graphene-based pseudocapacitance type supercapacitor. The method comprises the following steps: dissolving a graphene material into a dispersion liquid to form a first mixture; mixing the graphene material and a pseudocapacitance electrode material with additives to form a second mixture; mixing the graphene material with additives to form a third mixture; coating a current collector with the first mixture, the second mixture and the third mixture in sequence, and drying, wherein the additives are polyvinyl alcohol, poly(vinylidene fluoride), polyethylene, polypropylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, poly-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, polyacrylamide or polyimide. According to the method for manufacturing the graphene-based pseudocapacitance type supercapacitor provided by the invention, the graphene-based pseudocapacitance type supercapacitor with high power density and high energy density can be prepared.


The U.S. is the first country that moved into the mass media era and has involved itself in most of the world's events or wars; hence the history of the U.S. has been intertwined with propaganda. Since WW II, American propaganda has been designed to target the opinion leaders and the general public of its enemy countries. During the Cold War, the powerful weapon of American propaganda or public/cultural diplomacy was VOA, which was credited with winning the struggle for minds and hearts. In post 9·11 era, American propaganda is faced with more challenges around the world. However, the arts and techniques of American propaganda have been bettered and updated throughout the past half century.


Isothermal compression of the TiNiFe shape memory alloy has been carried out on a Gleeble-3500 thermal simulation machine at the deformation temperature ranging from 1023K to 1323K, the strain rate ranging from 0.01s-1 to 10s-1 with total strain of 0.8. On the basis of dynamic material model, the processing map is established with two instability regions and a desirable domain which demonstrate optimum hot working conditions within the experimental parameters. By means of Electron Back Scattering Diffraction, we come to the conclusion that both dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization exist in the desirable domain with deformation temperature ranging 1123 K and strain rate 0.1s-1. The uneven deformation exits in the low deformation temperature with high strain rate area, such as 1023 K and10 s-1. And with 1323K and 0.01s-1 strain rate, the recrystallized grains are abnormal grow up.


Morphogenesis, a concept of developmental biology, means forming patterns of tissues and organs during embryo development. Its regulatory mechanisms provide an inspiring storehouse for swarm robotics. Though many swarm robot platforms and controlling methods have been developed, a reliable engineering methodology is still missing, which hinders the advances of swarm robotics. To address this problem, we present the MorphoSys, a platform integrating the research and development of morphogenesis in both swarms of cells and robots. MorphoSys includes three components: MorphoCell, MorphoSim, and MorphoBot. This MorphoSys enables us to quantitively investigate the governing principles of morphogenesis of cells and to translate these principles into controlling methods of robot swarms. Meanwhile, the robot swarms could serve as a physical model to study morphogenesis in cell swarms. Via enabling quantitative bio-mimicking, MorphoSys has the potential to develop a reliable engineering methodology for swarm robotics.


The corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 1M sulphuric acid solution by the ethanol extract of Commelina benghalensis (C. B) leaves was determined using gravimetric technique. Phytochemical analysis was carried out on the extract and the effect of extract concentration, temperature, immersion time and acid concentration on the corrosion process was determined. The corrosion inhibition efficiency of the extract increased with increase in the concentration of the extract and decreased with increase in temperature. Increase in temperature also increased the corrosion rate of mild steel in 1M sulphuric acid in the absence and presence of different concentrations of the extract. The adsorption of the plant extract obeyed Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The process of physical adsorption was proposed for the extract from the trends of inhibition efficiency with temperature and from calculated values of Gibbs free energy, activation energy and enthalpy of adsorption. Gibbs free energy values for the reactions were less than 20kJ/mol, indicating physical adsorption process and were also found to be negative, indicating that the adsorption process was spontaneous. The corrosion inhibition efficiency (% IE) of the plant extract was attributed to the phytochemical constituents (alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, phenolics, steroids and cardiac glycosides) present in them. The results showed that Commelina benghalensis can serve as a good corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in acid medium, since it reached a corrosion inhibition efficiency (% IE) of 91.91% at 2.0g/L extract concentration.


SUMMARY The Gulf of Thailand consists of a series of Tertiary age extensional basins. The reservoirs in these basins are predominantly fluvial channels and overbank sands. These reservoirs show rapid lateral changes and it is not easy to map them on the basis of conventional seismic data. Therefore, a geophysical workflow was devised to image sand distribution more effectively in the area using well log and seismic data from the Pattani basin in the Gulf of Thailand. Rock physics analysis was applied to well log data in or der to identify lithology sensitive rock properties. Rock physics analysis shows that P-impedance and Vp/Vs have limited lithology discrimination capability beyond certain depth and density can successfully differentiate sand and shale intervals at all levels. Model-based simultaneous inversion technique was used to create various data volumes in order to better image sand body geometries at reservoir levels of interest. The inverted data volumes of Pimpedance and density were compared at well locations. P impedance volumes are useful to depths of 1800 meters but at greater depths the density gave better sand body definition. The time and horizon slices from these data volumes successfully image fluvial sand systems.


This article introduces the calculation of balancing of compound guide lines in the control survey of road works and offers reference for the inside calculation of control survey in road works.


Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand‐gated ion channels present in the peripheral and central nervous systems. Pre‐ and post‐synaptic nAChRs modulate CNS functions, and ligands selective for nAChR subtype may form useful therapies for disorders associated with development and aging of the nervous system. We have developed a small sub‐group of 4,6 di‐substituted 2‐aminopyrimidines that interact with the acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP) and activate α7‐nAChRs. These agents show Kd and Ka values for both AChBP binding and α7‐nAChR activation between 10 and 70nM. To examine the structural basis of agonist selectivity, we employ measurements of ligand binding to AChBP, and analysis of ligand binding poses from X‐ray crystal structures, along with α7‐nAChR activation on intact cells in culture. Crystal structures suggest a distinct binding pose is required for α7‐nAChR activation enabling us to define the molecular determinants giving rise to activation and selectivity for the α7 subtype. By combining the picolyl substitution at the 4‐position of the pyrimidine and departing from the symmetry of the molecule, we are able to discriminate between α7 activation and generalized binding at the subunit interface. The 4,6‐disubstituted 2‐aminopyrimidines have high selectivity for α7‐nAChR. Crystallography studies using the soluble acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP), a surrogate protein of the extracellular domain of α7‐nAChR, reveal three distinctive binding interactions and poses of nicotinic agonists: 1) cation‐π interactions for quaternary amines and an aromatic nest of side chains at the subunit interface, 2) stabilization of secondary amines and imines by a hydrogen bond from its protonated basic nitrogen to the backbone carbonyl of a conserved tryptophan on the principal subunit face, 3) interaction of less basic multi‐ring pyrimidine‐pyridine heterocycles at the binding interface. This new family of 2‐aminopyrimidines enables us to define receptor subtype selectivity and achieve a structural landscape for α7 selective activation amongst a plethora of CNS nAChR subtypes.


Matrix elements and propagators of renormalizable field theories are defined in terms of indicatrices of maximal regularity. The relation of the indicatrix approach with analytic regularization and with the subtraction formalism is established. It is shown that the indicatrix formalism gives rise to well‐defined propagators and that the self‐energy of a particle vanishes on the mass shell so that no mass renormalization is necessary. The renormalization constant Z3 equals one without the theory becoming a free one. This implies that, within the frame of the indicatrix approach, convergence of the theory is assured and renormalization actually is superfluous.


Computational methods are used to link the molecular structures of 352 hydrocarbons and halohydrocarbons to their vapor pressures at 25 °C. The data are from the Design Institute for Physical Property Data (DIPPR) database. Vapor pressures of the compounds range from −1.016 log(VP) to +6.65 log(VP) with VP in pascals. Multiple linear regression was used to develop linear statistical models. A 7:3:1 computational neural network (CNN) was used to create a nonlinear model best suited for prediction of vapor pressure. The root-mean-square errors associated with the training, cross-validation, and prediction set compounds used for this CNN model were 0.163, 0.163, and 0.209 log units.


This paper analyzes the interaction between the incident electromagnetic wave and the metamaterial unit (the regular split ring pair) immerged in a low-loss liquid media, and interesting dynamic phenomena are observed. The resonance frequency shifts of the meta material unit exposed in air and immerged in polyalphaolefin (PAO) are experimentally investigated and compared, and such shift ranges in different acting times are also provided. The observed resonance shift is mainly resulting from the distance reduction between the two split rings because of the induced Ampere's force acting on the structure. Such findings can open a new research area in the metamaterial community and have many potential applications for the characterizations of the liquid media with metamaterials.


Nonlinear signal processing is an integral part of sensory transduction in the nervous system. Sensory inputs are analog, continuous-time signals with a large dynamic range, whereas central neurons encode information with limited dynamic range and temporal specificity, using fixed-width, fixed-height pulses. Sensory transduction uses nonlinear signal processing to reduce real-world input to a neural representation, with a minimal loss of information. An excellent example of nonlinear processing in sensory transduction occurs in the cochlea, the organ that converts the sound energy present at the eardrum into the first neural representation of the auditory system, the auditory nerve. Humans can process sound input over a 120-dB dynamic range, yet the firing rate of an auditory-nerve fiber can encode only about 25 dB of sound intensity. Humans can sense binaural time differences of the order of ten microseconds, yet an auditory-nerve fiber can fire at most once per millisecond. Using limited neural resources, the cochlea creates a representation that preserves the information essential for sound localization and understanding. Moreover, this neural code expresses auditory information in a way that facilitates feature extraction by higher neural structures. We are building silicon integrated circuits that model sensory transduction in the cochlea, both to explore the general computational principles of the cochlea, and to create potentially useful devices for sound understanding, for sound localization, and for cochlear prostheses. In this paper, we describe the architecture and operation of an integrated circuit that models, to a limited degree, the evoked responses of the auditory nerve. The chip receives as input a time-varying voltage corresponding to sound input, and computes outputs that correspond to the responses of individual auditory-nerve fibers. The chip models the structure as well as the function of the cochlea; all subcircuits in the chip have anatomical correlates. The chip computes all outputs in real time, using analog continuous-time processing.


Owing to the introduction of an energy-monitoring device called the "smart meter," a large amount of power-demand information regarding private houses is being stored around the world through the development of smart grids. Such electric consumption data include a variety of features related to the structure of the customer's home, as well as their family structure and lifestyle. To capture the meaningful features from the power-demand information, a proper extraction method should be considered such as a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) or discrete cosine transform (DCT). This paper proposes the use of two frequency analysis methods, i.e., DFT and DCT, toward power-demand information. The converted power-demand information is transformed using three expression methods. A power-demand dataset was gathered from more than 100 houses in Yokohama, Japan, over a two-year period. The numbers of feature values in these three expression methods were compared by estimating the floor space of each customer's house with two support vector classification (SVC) values using both linear and RBF kernels. As a result, the proposed expression method performed better than the other two feature expression methods. The mean accuracy of this expression method is better than the other two by 20%, and the highest level of accuracy in terms of the floor-space estimation is greater than 95% when using liner SVC (L2-SVC). The accuracy shows a distribution of 50% to 100% regardless of the number of selected frequencies transformed using a DFT and DCT.


On the basis of statistical mechanics of spin systems, we formulate the problem of inverse-halftoning using the maximizer of the posterior marginal (MPM) estimate for halftone images which are generated both by the threshold mask method and the clustered-dot dither method. Then, the Monte Carlo simulation for a halftone image clarifies that the MPM estimate works well for inverse-halftoning, if we appropriately set parameters of the Boltzmann factor of the ferromagnetic Q-Ising model used for the model prior. Also, we reveal the result that inverse-halftoning is achieved in inner area of the threshold mask more accurately than on the boundary


With the increasing popularity of the Internet and progress of online games,many young people become online game users and some of them get addicted to the Internet.Also,the games have some adverse effects on their world outlook,view on love and marriage as well as values,etc.As a result,the governments,manufacturers,operators,schools,families and youths themselves should join together,adopting positive measures so as to minimize the negative impacts of the games on teenagers to promote their growth and progress.


In the opinion of the Editor of the 2007 and 2008 volumes (Patricia J. Bauer) and the Associate Editors (James P. Byrnes & Maureen A. Callanan), these articles best exemplified the criteria that are used to evaluate submissions of the Journal: (1) the relevance of the work to issues of broad interest, (2) the substance of the argument (including methodological rigor and support for conclusions drawn), (3) the quality of expression, and (4) the ingenuity of ideas or approach.


The mixtures contained green tea extract and each drug exhibited lower antioxidant activity than the mathematical sum of the results obtained for individual components showing antagonistic effect. The results were obtained using isobolographic analysis and interaction factors also suggested the antagonistic type of interaction. Only when the concentration of the green tea infusion was relatively high (in comparison to the drug), an additive effect could be concluded.


In daily life, people usually rely on recommendations, traditionally given by other people (family, friends, etc.) for their most varied decisions. In the digital world, this is not different, given that recommender systems are present everywhere in such a way that we no longer realize. The main goal of these systems is to assist users in the decision-making process, generating recommendations that are of their interest and based on their tastes. These recommendations range from products in e-commerce websites, like books to read or places to visit to what to eat or how long one should walk a day to have a healthy life, who to date or who one should follow on social networks. And this is an increasing area. On the one hand, we have more and more users on the internet whose life is somewhat digitized, given than what one does in the "real world" is represented in a certain way in the "digital world". On the other hand, we suffer from information overload, which can be mitigated by the use of recommendation systems. However, these systems also face some problems, such as the cold start problem and their need to be more and more "human", "personalised" and "precise" in order to meet the yearning of users and companies. In this challenging scenario, personality-based recommender systems are being increasingly studied, since they are able to face these problems. Some recent projects have proposed the use of the human personality in recommenders, whether as a whole or individually by facet in order to meet those demands. Therefore, this thesis is devoted to this new area of personality-based recommendation, focusing on one of its most important traits, the curiosity. Additionally, in order to exploit the information already present on the internet, we will implicitly obtain information from social networks. Thus, this work aims to build a better experience for the end user through a new approach that offers an option for some of the gaps identified in personality-based recommendation systems. Among these gap improvements, the use of social networks to feed the recommender systems soften the cold start problem and, at the same time, it provides valuable data for the prediction of the human personality. Another found gap is that the curiosity was not used by any of the studied recommender systems; almost all of them have used the overall personality of an individual through the Big Five personality traits. However, psychological studies confirm that the curiosity is a relevant trait in the process of choosing an item, which is directly related to recommendation systems. In summary, we believe that a recommendation system that implicitly measures the curiosity and uses it in the process of recommending new items, especially in the tourism sector, could clearly improve the capacity of these systems in terms of accuracy, serendipity and novelty, allowing users to obtain positive levels of satisfaction with the recommendations. This thesis begins with an exhaustive study of the state of the art, where we highlight works about recommender systems, the human personality from the point of view of traditional and positive psychology and how these aspects are combined. Then, we develop an online application capable of implicitly extracting information from the user profile in a social network, thus generating predictions of one or more personality traits. Finally, we develop the CURUMIM system, able to generate online recommendations with different properties, combining the curiosity and some sociodemographic characteristics (such as level of education) extracted from Facebook. The system is tested and assessed within the tourism context by real users. The results demonstrate its ability to generate novel and serendipitous recommendations, while maintaining a good level of accuracy, independently of the degree of curiosity of the users.


FIELD: physics, computer engineering. SUBSTANCE: in a data structure for managing playback of graphic information, a first graphic information menu is stored in a first clip file separately from a second clip file which contains main audio/video data, and a second graphic information menu is stored multiplexed with the main audio/video data in the second clip file. The management area on the disc stores one or more PalyList files, which denote clip files to be played through the corresponding clip information (ClipInf) file. The playlist file contains at least one sub-play item (SubPlayItem), which contains navigation information for playing the said first clip file. The first graphic information of the interactive menu is displayed up request by a user. The second graphic information of the interactive menu is always displayed on the screen for the duration of the playback unit to which information of the second interactive menu is applied. EFFECT: structure enables a disc creator to provide different types of a pop-up menu suitable for data attributes of the playback unit associated with the menu. 25 cl, 8 dwg


Many organic compounds contain acidic and/or basic groups that dictate their physical, chemical, and biological properties. For this reason, the acid dissociation constant, Ka, a quantitative measure of acid strength in solution, is a fundamentally important parameter in organic (synthetic) chemistry and related fields. In this study, the thermodynamics, kinetics, and mechanisms of the proton reduction (hydrogen evolution) reaction at a platinum electrode have been investigated in the room temperature ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, using a range of nitrogen (RxNH) acids as the proton source. The formal potential of the H+solvated/H2 process (simulated by combining the classical Volmer and Tafel reactions) has been shown to be strongly dependent on the identity of the IL anion, making direct comparison of pKa data between ILs with different constituent anions impossible. Hydrogen evolution from weak nitrogen acids (protonated amines or sulfonamides) as the...


An embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle computer system for the construction of the wireless connectivity in the vehicle with a remote computer network, z. B. Internet. The system may include a processor in communication with a human machine interface (HMI) for control by a user. The processor may also with one or more wireless transceivers for wireless data transmission to communicate. The processor can with a personal computing device (eg. As mobile phone, PDA, etc.) are coordinated maybe that has wireless Internet connectivity. The processor may be configured so that it connects wirelessly with one or more personal computer devices in the vicinity of the vehicle and provides a wireless Internet access point to one or more personal computer devices of the wireless link and the Internet connectivity based.


In this article,the concept of risk management was introduced into preventing the marine oil spill ,a new set of risk management framework was provide. There were four parts in the risk management framework including risk identification,risk estimation,risk assessment and risk control. The risk management framework can realize the largest security guarantee with the least cost.


The Automatic Identification System Analysis Package (AISAP) enables acquisition, statistical analysis, and visualization of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from historic vessel position reports. The web-based AISAP software allows the users to choose which data they want to examine for a specific geographic area, time period, and vessel type(s). Built-in features provide vessel characteristics, arrival and departure information within a geofenced area, vessel travel time between two locations, vessel track line plots, and relative density plots of AIS data reports. AISAP accesses the Nationwide Automatic Identification System database hosted by the United States Coast Guard. This user manual provides training exercises for users to follow to familiarize themselves with AISAP procedures and workflows. These training exercises also provide examples of AISAP products.


The paper presents results of time-resolved measurements of fast deuterons emitted from high-current discharges of the Plasma-Focus (PF) type. The measurements were performed in a modified PF-1000U facility which is operated at the IFPiLM in Warsaw, Poland. The device was equipped with a fast-acting gas valve placed inside the inner electrode and oriented along the z-axis. The valve could inject a small volume of a chosen gas in front of this electrode. The PF discharges were initiated at the initial deuterium pressure equal to 1.6 or 2 hPa, with or without the use of the gas-puffing. Such discharges emitted intense beams of accelerated primary ions and X-ray pulses as well as products of nuclear fusion reactions. The reported measurements of the fast ion beams were performed by means of a Thomson-type spectrometer located at a chosen distance at the z-axis and equipped with miniature scintillation detectors. These detectors were placed in different points upon the deuteron parabola which corresponded to determined energy values. The detectors configuration allowed us to determine instants of the ion emission (using a TOF technique) and to compare them with instants of the X-ray emission. The collected data provided important information about emission characteristics of the modified PF-1000U facility.


Several results from bargaining and networks microeconomic literature are presented and their main insights and applications to bilateral market power and price formation in gas thin markets are discussed. Bargaining models encompass the bilateral Rubinstein negotiations, bargaining between a single seller and two buyer, both symmetric and heterogeneous and negotiations in bilateral oligopolies. Models of price formation both in fixed and in endogenously formed buyers-sellers networks are also discussed.


Abstract By computing the probability distributions of the velocity difference between cars a time-delay τ apart, the scaling properties of traffic flow can be analysed. These data display scaling behaviour thus confirming earlier results that have found 1/ fα -noise in traffic flow. Furthermore, the applicability of the scaling analysis for describing the two-point statistics of traffic flow is demonstrated, leading to an additional test for the dynamical properties of microscopic and macroscopic traffic flow models.


In Reply. —We thank Drs Kern and Patel for their thoughts as to why the FET as a diagnostic test of OAD proved better in our study than theirs. 1 Kern and Patel state that a limitation of our study was that the population was limited to preoperative subjects. We performed a cross-sectional, blinded study to evaluate the PET using a group of 400 consecutive subjects who presented to the pulmonary-function testing laboratory of a large hospital. Our subject population was representative of a clinic population using the services of a tertiary care hospital. In contrast, the study by Kern and Patel was limited to 229 plumbers who volunteered to participate in a screening examination for asbestos-related disease. The markedly different results probably reflect differences in study populations. In our population, we found a 55% prevalence of OAD. For diagnostic purposes, a FET threshold of 6 seconds or greater provides


Manifestation of biologic oscillations (e.g., body temperature 24-hour wave form) is the summation of the exogenous and endogenous response mechanisms of the biologic clock. Biologic rhythm asynchrony results from a rapid change in the environment presented to the time sensors. The destruction of noradrenergic terminals in a male Cebus albifrons by 6-hydroxydopa interrupted the transmission of information from the defined environment to the biologic clock as evidenced by removal of the exogenous components of the 24-hour deep body-temperature (DBT) wave form; i.e., decrease in DBT rhythm was no longer associated to lights off, and the level about which this rhythm fluctuated was reduced. In contrast the daily heart rate rhythm was less affected.


This paper presents an evolutionary approach to the finding of maxmin-fair solutions of the general network resource allocation problem. From the definition of maxmin-fairness, a general relation among real points is derived that can be used to replace the role of the Pareto-dominance relation in evolutionary multi-objective search algorithms. The approach has been demonstrated by modifying the SPEA2 algorithm in this manner and testing it on some problems with known fairness points. In all the studied cases, the algorithm could achieve the correct fairness points, and the search effort scaled moderately with increasing problem dimension. Since maxmin-fair points also belong to the Pareto-front, the approach is also of interest for multi-objective optimization in general.


[1] Annually resolved coral δ18O and Sr/Ca records from southwestern Puerto Rico are used to investigate Caribbean climate variability between 1751 and 2004 C.E. Mean surface ocean temperatures in this region have increased steadily by about 2°C since the year 1751, with Sr/Ca data indicating 2.1 ± 0.8°C and δ18O data indicating 2.7 ± 0.5°C. Coral geochemical records from across the tropics demonstrate that regional variability is important for understanding climate variations at centennial time scales. A strong multidecadal salinity signal in the oxygen isotope data correlates with observed multidecadal temperature variations in the Northern Hemisphere. Instrumental wind and precipitation data indicate that the most recent coral isotopic variations are caused by expansion and contraction of the steep regional salinity gradient, forced by trade wind anomalies through meridional Ekman transport. The timing of the fluctuations suggests that the multidecadal-scale wind and surface circulation anomalies might play a role in Atlantic temperature variability and meridional overturning circulation, but further work is needed to confirm this suggestion.


France and its Relations with the World in the 20th Century, by Robert Frank ; France's international position has deteriorated during much of the century. Two significant and constant strands run through this period : the obsession with security in the face of the "German danger", at least until the very decisive "choice in favour of Europe" made in 1950 ; and its often difficult relations with the English-speaking countries, which appear to want to contain French ambitions. But France's foreign policy also contains stances which serve more to reassure the French than to increase France's actual influence in the world. General de Gaulle's action after 1958 was a good remedy for the French syndrome after the 1940 defeat. Now that the French hâve been cured of this anguish, is it not time they exchanged their rhetoric of grandeur for a search for effectiveness ?


Spreading and exchanging agricultural information is a critical issue to allow researchers to access and use the knowledge in this sector. As a contribution to this goal, we propose a new approach that allows merging and integrating all information available on the Web about a specific agricultural topic by the usage of the most modern Linked Open Data technologies. We leverage on our previous work on AGRIS, a public domain database with nearly 3 million structured bibliographical records on agricultural science and technology. In this paper we illustrate a new Semantic Web platform, OpenAgris, which aggregates information stored in various sources available on the Web, providing much data as possible about a topic or a bibliographical resource.


Recently, resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) in transition-metal compounds at the transition-metal L (2p {yields} 3d) and M (3p {yields} 3d) edges has attracted considerable attention. In this technique, an incoming x-ray with energy {h_bar}{omega} excites an electron from a core level into the valence shell and one measures the energy {h_bar}{omega}{prime} of the outgoing x-ray resulting from the recombination of the core hole with a valence electron. Since there is no core hole in the final state, the energy lost by the scattered photon can be related to excitations in the valence shell.


*Dr Mani is Assistant Professor of International Law at the School. Doctrinal Perspective By the second half of the nineteenth century, the concept of public international organization had already started assuming concrete shape, a process which eventually culminated in the establishment of the League of Nations in 1919 and a more comprehensive global institution, namely the United Nations, in 1945.1 This process of international organization has been instrumental in opening up possibilities of some new sources from which norms of international law can emerge; for international organization provides a ready forum for interaction among states. Indeed it tends to institutionalize them and ensure their continuity and perma-


Identification of changes in biochemical parameters of liver functional activity during screening studies requires additional examination of the patient in order to determine the genesis of the disease. In recent years, in routine practice, the most frequently used is an isolated definition of the level of transaminases (ALT, AST), which does not allow timely detection of latent cholestasis syndrome. Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), previously referred to as primary biliary cirrhosis, is a relatively rare chronic autoimmune cholesthetic liver disease, predominantly affecting middle-aged women and prone to progressing liver cirrhosis. The recommendations of AASLD and EASL note the need for long-term monitoring of patients with ongoing UDCA therapy and regular diagnostic studies to identify signs of disease progression. A clinical example of successful treatment of a patient with PBC with the Russian drug Exhol® is described.


Abstract Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of stainless steel (SS) can be caused by the action of metal-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) in natural, relatively low-chloride waters. This type of ...


Characterizing geological heritage sites (geosites) available in Russia remains an urgent task. The present study focuses on two geosites from the vicinity of Kazan—a large city on the Volga River. They are attributed to the standardized geoheritage types and scored by means of several criteria. It is found out that the Pechischi geosite represents nine geoheritage types, from which the stratigraphical type (stratotype section of the Upper Kazanian regional unit of the Guadalupian) and the geohistorical type (history of the Permian System studies) are the most important. This geosite reaches 675 out of 750 maximum possible scores, and it is ranked globally. The Cheremushki geosite represents six geoheritage types, from which the stratigraphical type (reference section of the Urzhumian regional unit of the Guadalupian) and the paleontological type (locality of diverse fossils, including tetrapods) are the most important. This geosite reaches a score of 250 and is ranked nationally. The undertaken study allows for recommending several actions for the effective conservation and exploitation of these geosites. The innovative interpretation is that the presence of geosites at the urban periphery makes its general (not only geological) heritage value comparable to that of the city's center.


Hyperspaces are spaces of subsets of a given metric space. Convergences on hyperspaces are called set-convergences. Upper set-convergences are set-convergences with the property that every supset of a limit is a limit. Upper Vietoris, upper Hausdorfi, upper Attouch-Wets, upper bornological, upper Wijsman and upper Kuratowski convergence are examples of upper set-convergences. We study problems of existence and uniqueness of minimal limits for upper setconvergences. We show that for compact limits minimal limits do exist. As an applications we obtain results on existence of minimal upper semicontinuous compact-valued (usco) maps. In particular, we get the classical results for the Vietoris usco maps. References


538 Background: Axitinib is a next generation VEGFR inhibitor approved in the US in Jan 2012 for advanced RCC after failure of one prior systemic therapy. Post approval questions may arise in the medical community regarding clinical scenarios which may not have been addressed in the clinical trials. We present the most common inquiries for axitinib submitted to Pfizer US Medical Information (MI) during the first 18 months post FDA approval and review available information that addresses these questions. Methods: MI inquiries were analyzed during the 6-mo period immediately post FDA approval and a second 6-mo period approximately 1 yr later. To gain insight into real-world dosing patterns, de-identified prescription data from Feb 2012-July 2013 obtained from the 21 specialty pharmacies (SP) in the US that distribute axitinib (Inlyta) were analyzed. Algorithms were developed to define dose modifications using dosage strengths dispensed and time between prescription fills over 2 day and 14 day windows. Resul...


The current paper summarizes briefly the results obtained by comprehensive investigations of magnetron sputtered Cr2N thin films with small additions of silver, whereas the pure Cr2N is used as a reference material. The main aspects reported here are: growth rate of the films, their growth manner, phase constitution, mechanical properties being represented by Young modulus and nanohardness, adhesion on the substrate made from Cr-V ledeburitic steel having a hardness of 60 HRC, tribological performance and effect on the mechanical properties of the substrate.


A version of this paper was presented at the Third International Partners in Flight Conference, March 20-24, 2002, Asilomar Conference Grounds, California. Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2524 S Frontage Rd, Ste C, Vicksburg, MS 39180-5269. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. Defining the Demands and Meeting the Challenges of Integrated Bird Conservation


From 2002 to 2003, the birds in the Xiaozhaizigou Nature Reserve of the Sichuan Province were investigated. There are 306 species belonging to 15 ordes, 56 families, in which 156 species of criental birds (50.98%)、124 palaearetic (40.52%)and 24 epidemic (8.5%); in which 41 species are listed in the list of the Protected Wildlife of National Importance in China. In addition, the suggestions for strengthening the protection of bird diversity are made.


Due to the different curvature everywhere, the aspheric surface is hard to achieve high-precision accuracy by the traditional polishing process. Controlling of the mid-spatial frequency errors (MSFR), in particular, is almost unapproachable. In this paper, the combined fabrication process based on the smoothing polishing (SP) and magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is proposed. The pressure distribution of the rigid polishing lap and semi-flexible polishing lap is calculated. The shape preserving capacity and smoothing effect are compared. The feasibility of smoothing aspheric surface with the semi-flexible polishing lap is verified, and the key technologies in the SP process are discussed. Then, A K4 parabolic surface with the diameter of 500mm is fabricated based on the combined fabrication process. A Φ150 mm semi-flexible lap is used in the SP process to control the MSFR, and the deterministic MRF process is applied to figure the surface error. The root mean square (RMS) error of the aspheric surface converges from 0.083λ (λ=632.8 nm) to 0.008λ. The power spectral density (PSD) result shows that the MSFR are well restrained while the surface error has a great convergence.


It is predominantly known that history is written by winners. However, this statement is true when a conflict has a symmetric tendency. In the case of Syria, where the conflict has been widely considered asymmetric, history is being written by a regime/government that won the war by not losing it. This article investigates the interconnection between heritage and politics in Syria by scrutinizing heritage practices, uses, and abuses since the colonial period. First, this article examines regime/government-led post-conflict reconstruction projects in the aftermath of Syria's current conflict. Then the article moves on and explores the creation of war narratives and the selective memorialization of Syria's recent conflict by looking at the portrayal of contested war memories in the media and the production of oral history. I argue that heritage practices, uses, presentation, and promotion in Syria since the colonial period have produced a politicized, one-sided (hi)story influenced by political agendas. This history includes highly politicized, ongoing tangible and intangible heritage reconstruction works, freighted with cultural meaning and primarily intended to bolster the power and authority of the ruling regime.


Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are suspensions of micron sized ferromagnetic particles dispersed in varying proportions of a variety of non-ferromagnetic fluids. MR fluids exhibit rapid, reversible and significant changes in their rheological (mechanical) properties while subjected to an external magnetic field. In this paper, a double-plate magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) clutch with controllable torque output have been designed. Electromagnetic finite element analysis is used to optimize the design of the clutch by using the commercial FEA software ANSYS.


The discovery of the broad neuroprotective potential of erythropoietin (EPO), an endogenous hematopoietic growth factor, leaded to the new therapeutic avenues in the treatment of brain diseases. EPO has direct effects on cells of the nervous system that make it a highly attractive candidate drug for neuroprotection/neuroregeneration. EPO expression in the brain is induced by hypoxia. Practically all brain cells are capable of production and release of EPO and expression of its receptor. EPO exerts multifarious protective effects on brain cells. It protects neuronal cells from noxious stimuli such as hypoxia, excess glutamate, serum deprivation or kainic acid exposure in vitro by targeting a variety of mechanisms and involves neuronal, glial and endothelial cell functions. In rodent models of ischemic stroke, EPO reduces infarct volume and improves functional outcome, but beneficial effects have also been observed in animal models of subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury. EPO has a convenient therapeutic window upon ischemic stroke and favorable pharmacokinetics. EPO has been found by many investigators to be protective or regenerative and to improve cognitive performance in various rodent models of neurological and psychiatric disease. Results from first therapeutic trials in humans are promising, but will need to be validated in larger trials. This article reviews on the preclinical and clinical work on EPO for the indications neuroprotection/neuroregeneration and cognition.


The process of deformation and crack initiation of high temper (550℃) medium-carbon steel 40Mn has been investigated using smooth tensile specimens. The midgage length part of the specimen was spark cut into 0.3mm thick sheets. The direct transmission observation of thin foil specimens was carried out on TEM. The evolution of the dislocation structure with elongation in the steel of hardened and tempered condition was studied. In the lath ferrite, the feature of dislocation structure is irregular network. At the stage of comparatively small elongation (δ=0.2-2.7%), near the interface of ferrites and the ferrite-cementite interface, regular dislocation networks appear and the dislocation density increases. At the deformation stage of δ=4.7%, the dislocations tangle and desify. At the deformation stage of δ=6.8-10%, the feature of dislocation structure becomes elongated dislocation cells. The crack nucleation in hardened and tempered steel has been observed by SEM and optical microscope. When the deformation attains δ=4.7%, the submicroscopic cracks are initiated at interface of metal matrix and inclusion. At the deformation stage of δ=6.8%, the submicrocrack initiated at interface of lath ferrites and interface of ferritecementite. The submicroscopic crack propagated through the formation and joining up of void groups.


2036Background: GB is a malignant primary incurable CNS tumor with poor prognosis. RT + TMZ is standard treatment for newly diagnosed GB suitable for radical treatment. ErbB pathway dysregulation has a role in the pathogenesis of GB and EGFR activation contributes to RT resistance. The irreversible ErbB family blocker afatinib has a manageable safety profile and modest activity in recurrent GB. This Phase I study assessed the feasibility of first-line afatinib + RT ± TMZ in GB. Methods: This 3+3 dose-escalation study enrolled 36 pts with newly diagnosed GB. Treatment was stratified by MGMT promoter methylation status. Pts with promoter methylation received RT + TMZ + afatinib (20, 30, 40 mg/day) for 6 wks (RT period), then afatinib 40 mg/day + TMZ for up to 6 months before afatinib 40 mg/day until progression/undue AEs (maintenance period; Regimen M). As TMZ has limited benefit in pts with unmethylated MGMT, these pts received RT + afatinib then afatinib (Regimen U). Primary endpoint: MTD of afatinib + RT...


Background: Dental radiology had helpful assistant in the diagnosis and treatment of oral diseases. Dentists in their practice have to access benefits of dental oral radiographs against its hazards. They must aware from new radiation protection techniques and radiation dosage which daily receive. Present study was performed for radiation protection awareness in dentists of Yazd city and their knowledge about recent lowering radiation techniques. Materials & Methods: Present cross sectional study was performed on 102 medical dentists of Yazd city. Our study samples were participated in one Continues Medical Educations (CME) session. Knowledge assessment of study medical dentists was gathered with questionnaire which was given to study participants during CME session.
Results: Eighty nine percent of dentists had poor and 11% had moderate awareness about radiation protection techniques. There was no significant difference between mean of knowledge scores among study participants according their age groups, job experiences and genders. Conclusion: The knowledge of dentists about radiation protection techniques was very poor and they should implement recent and appropriate radiation protection techniques and guidelines.


The completely non-linear mathematical model of intercooled cycle gas turbine has been built according to the mechanism of thermal system modeling method, taking into account the impact on the gas turbine system such as rotational inertia, volume inertia, intercooler thermal inertia, and the relative dynamic simulation of the intercooled cycle gas turbine based on Matlab/Simulink has also been built. Through the research of sub-linear fuel supply rate curve, the best fuel supply rate curve of the intercooled cycle gas turbine was obtained.


This study aims to analyse the way in which modern techniques are used in the art of Japanese calligraphy (shodō). Known for its preservation of traditional values, over the years shodō has started to focus less on rigour of the form and more on the possibility to reflect the calligrapher's vision and thoughts. The article intends to highlight this shift by accentuating the impact that the evolution of writing in Japan has had on shodō and ultimately showcasing the way in which colour is used by calligraphers. The two aspects this study will bring forth will be the way in which the evolution of writing in Japan created an opportunity for innovation and how the novelty factor has evolved, currently opening new possibilities of using colour to convey deeper layers of meaning. In order to illustrate how the use of colour in shodō can transcend conventional practices, we analyse the work (物の)哀 The beauty of simple and ephemeral things created by the contemporary Romanian calligrapher Rodica Frențiu. We conclude by emphasizing the close link between traditional values and the calligraphers' expressivity and by underlining the fact that this approach can broaden the creative horizons of shodō in the future.


Abstract To facilitate forest management as part of climate change mitigation and adaptation, the Forest Environment Transfer Tax (FETT) was introduced in Japan in 2019, representing a form of payment for ecosystem services. In this study, we focused on the introduction of the tax and the status of its use based on an analysis covering Japan's 47 prefectures. This involved reviewing policy processes related to FETT and conducting a survey among relevant prefectural officers to identify how FETT is being used, with a focus on plans, policies, and systems related to forest data development and exchanges. The proportions of both total and FETT budgets used for forest data development were significant. Several prefectures are improving forest-related data in a two-way manner by coordinating with municipalities. Correlation analysis revealed that prefectures with greater proportions of privately owned forests allocated more budget to forest data development, which is in line with the FETT's intended purpose. This result suggests that the absolute size of such forestlands is less important, but that the proportion of privately owned forests carries political and social weight that could be a critical factor in budget allocation.


In this paper we present a new {ital Ansatz} for fermion mass matrices in the context of supersymmetric grand unified theories. We are able to fit the 13 parameters, associated with quark and lepton masses and mixing angles, and the ratio of Higgs vacuum expectation values (VEV's) which enters any supersymmetric theory, in terms of 8 input parameters; hence, we have 6 predictions. The top quark is predicted to have a mass in the range 176 to 190 GeV, where the upper bound results from the assumption of perturbative unification, and the lower bound is sensitive to the experimental value of {ital V}{sub {ital c}{ital b}}. Predictions are also made for {ital m}{sub {ital s}}, {ital m}{sub {ital s}}/{ital m}{sub {ital d}}, {vert bar}{ital V}{sub {ital u}{ital b}}/{ital V}{sub {ital c}{ital b}}{vert bar}, the ratio of Higgs VEV's, and the {ital CP}-violating phase of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix.


There is described a circuit arrangement for detecting the resistance of a coil of a solenoid valve with at least one solenoid valve (MV1 to MV n) with at least one to be driven valve spool, a current source (Iconst) for impressing a current into the at least one valve coil and generating a voltage drop at the at least a valve spool, and an evaluation circuit for outputting the voltage drop generated at the at least one valve coil as an output signal (Vmeas) of the circuit arrangement.


The best way to achieve higher energy of electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) is to increase the cell voltage because the energy density is proportional to the square of the working voltage. However, the maximum working voltage is limited by the potential window of Activated Carbon (AC) and electrolyte. AC electrodes are polarized, and polarization would reach to the decomposition voltage of electrodes and electrolyte. In this polarized situation, gaseous products are evolved and it leads to increased internal pressure of EDLC cells [1] [2]. Besides, not only gas evolution, but also the degradation process of AC, and SEI formation are possible to limit the working voltage. In this study, we first investigated the factors affecting failure mode process of EDLC electrodes and electrolyte thermodynamically and kinetically, as a function of voltage.


Solid bath soap is a cosmetic preparation to remove dirt from skin surfaces. Kaffir lime peel is a good natural ingredient for skin health. The aim of this study was to produce cosmetic preparation of solid bath soap from a thick extract kaffir lime peel with several concentrations. The thick extract of kaffir lime peel is made by maceration by dissolving 500 grams of powder with 96 % ethanol as solvent as much as 1,000 mL for 2x24 hours and concentrated using a rotary evaporator at 500 C. the method used in soap making is cold processing. The result of the study was a solid bath soap, smelling of fresh orange, bluish color to turquoise blue depends on the concentration of the active substance of kaffir lime extract, soft texture and homogeneous color, Formula 1 with concentration of kaffir lime peel extract of 1 % has pH 10.0, foam height of 5.0 cm, water content was 1.76% and free fatty acids was 2.51%. Formula 2 with concentration was kaffir lime peel extract of 3 % value pH 10.0, foam height of 5.0 Cm, moisture content of 1.95 % and free fatty acids was 2.51 % while formula 3 with an extract of 5 % has a pH 10.0 foam height was 5.0 cm, water content was 0.73 % and free fatty acid was 2.51 %. Solid bath soap with thick extract off kaffir lime peel meets the requirements of SNI number 3532 of 2016 for pH, and moisture content tests while the free fatty acid test does not meet these requirements of SNI


Abstract We present a review of the properties of Class I methanol masers detected in low-mass star forming regions (LMSFRs). These masers, henceforth called LMMIs, are associated with postshock gas in the lobes of chemically active outflows in LMSFRs NGC1333, NGC2023, HH25, and L1157. LMMIs share the main properties with powerful masers in regions of massive star formation and are a low-luminosity edge of the total Class I maser population. However, the exploration of just these objects may push forward the exploration of Class I masers, since many LMSFRs are located only 200–300 pc from the Sun, making it possible to study associated objects in detail. EVLA observations with a 0.2″ spatial resolution show that the maser images consist of unresolved or barely resolved spots with brightness temperatures up to 5 × 105 K. The results are "marginally" consistent with the turbulent model of maser emission.


Increased fire frequency in the Great Basin of North America's intermountain West has led to large‐scale conversion of native sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) communities to postfire successional communities dominated by native and non‐native annual species during the last century. The consequences of this conversion for basic ecosystem functions, however, are poorly understood. We measured net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and evapotranspiration (ET) during the first two dry years after wildfire using a 4‐m diameter (16.4 m3) translucent static chamber (dome), and found that both NEE and ET were higher in a postfire successional ecosystem (−0.9–2.6 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and 0.0–1.0 mmol H2O m−2 s−2, respectively) than in an adjacent intact sagebrush ecosystem (−1.2–2.3 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and −0.1–0.8 mmol H2O m−2 s−2, respectively) during relatively moist periods. Higher NEE in the postfire ecosystem appears to be due to lower rates of above‐ground plant respiration while higher ET appears to be caused by higher surface soil temperatures and increased soil water recharge after rains. These patterns disappeared or were reversed, however, when the conditions were drier. Daily net ecosystem productivity (NEP; g C m−2 d−1), derived from multiple linear regressions of measured fluxes with continuously measured climate variables, was very small (close to zero) throughout most of the year. The wintertime was an exception in the intact sagebrush ecosystem with C losses exceeding C gains leading to negative NEP while C balance of the postfire ecosystem remained near zero. Taken together, our results indicate that wildfire‐induced conversion of native sagebrush steppe to ecosystems dominated by herbaceous annual species may have little effect on C balance during relatively dry years (except in winter months) but may stimulate water loss immediately following fires.


Feuerbach's perceptual theory played an decisive part in Marx's whole philosophy system,however it was just through the transcendence of Marx's extended meaning from object to activity or from intuition to practice that could display the decisive function,meanwhile,it was just because of the transcendence that opened a path for Marx's philosophy revolution.


The theoretical relation between the amplitude distribution of noise and the resulting distribution of phase error in a sinusoid is developed for all values of the parameters. It is shown that the rms phase error can be determined directly from the noise amplitude distribution. The method is illustrated using experimental samples of atmospheric noise amplitude distributions observed in a particular receiving system for VLF timing pulses. For amplitudes well above manmade interference the atmospheric noise in these samples closely follows a 2¾-power law.


Although McLuhan asserted, in 1962, that television's effects would soon be 'easy' to theorize, nearly half a century later, teletechnology's defining treatise remains unwritten. TV, it seems, has long confounded the critical imaginary; while sociological analyses (Raymond Williams' Television) and moral indictments (Pierre Bourdieu's On Television) of television abound, they fail to explain the medium's psychic potency. Indeed, the question of how we 'watch TV' – and of what is at stake when we do – has, despite McLuhan's prophesying, as yet been unanswered (perhaps even unasked). Notably, it seems that television is traditionally 'read' as 'visual text' (Bondebjerg 2000, 1); efforts to privilege the written word as register of televisual analysis, however, come at the expense of the medium's 'audile-tactile' (McLuhan 1962, 39) dimensions. This oversight accounts for the ways in which television – despite its global reverberations – seems media theory's unassimilable 'Other'; its refusal to be transparently 'discursivized' suggests, as Mark Hansen notes, that 'textualism . . . [amounts to a] dogmatic reduction of technology' (2000, 21). In light of this observation, I argue that televisual participation proceeds primarily on aural (rather than visual) levels. By submitting TV to 'rhythmanalysis' (Lefebvre 1992, 1), I will highlight its acoustic ability to align social and biological time – to 're-sound', that is to say, the world in the 'home' (see interview with Derrida as quoted in Stiegler 1996, 12). This points, moreover, to processes of televisual engagement as embodied, affective phenomena; perhaps television affects us so profoundly because it speaks both to and from the body. Ultimately, our somatosensory responses to television support McLuhan's theoretical treatment of the TV set as a site of empathic exchange (1962, 39).


The Fifth International Conference on Home and Community Care for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will be held in December 17-20 2001 in Chiang Mai Thailand. Around 3000 participants from all around the world are expected to join the conference which is co-organized by the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Thai Red Cross Society. The conference will focus on access to quality care and support for PLWHA; stigmatization and discrimination; enabling environment; and positive living. This will be the first time the international event is held in Asia.


Candida albicans plays an important role in triggering infections in HIV+ patients. The indiscriminate use of antifungals has led to resistance to Candida albicans, which requires new treatment alternatives for oral candidiasis. Low-level laser therapy promotes a considerable improvement in the healing of wounds and in curing illnesses caused by microorganisms. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of laser radiation on the cell proliferation of Candida albicans in immunosuppressed patients. Six Candida albicans strains that had been isolated from immunosuppressed patients were divided into a control group and experimental groups, which received eight sessions of laser therapy (InGaAlP, λ685nm, P = 30mW, CW, Φ~6 mm and GaAlAs, λ830nm, P = 40mW, CW, Φ~6 mm) using dosimetries of 6J/cm2, 8J/cm2, 10J/cm2 and 12J/cm2 for each wavelength and power. The results were not statistically significant (Kruskal Wallis, p > 0.05), although the proliferation of Candida albicans was lower in some of the experimental groups. The dosimetry of 6J/cm2 (GaAlAs, λ830nm, P = 40mW) provided lower mean scores than the other groups for the growth of Candida. Further studies are required to confirm whetehr laser therapy is a viable option in the treatment of fungal infections.


Abstract The prospect of using micronized materials in various technical domains has stimulated, in recent years, their industrial production as well as the elaboration of adequate technologies. In this context, the obtainment of micronized (and microcrystalline) celluloses has become very important, due to the theoretical, and especially to the practical, applications of these materials.


This article reflects a fast method in order to reach the resonant velocity, at which, sequential traversing inertial loads produce resonant vibration state in a base beam. The method is developed through a couple of stages. Initially, the resolution of a beam with attached masses is paid attention, where, the approximation of the resonant velocity is conducted by the latter. Next, the precision is enhanced by noticing an average fundamental frequency concept. The true resonant velocities extracted from the parametric numerical explorations are comprised so as to scrutinize the accuracy of the presented technique.


The article elucidates the stylistic features of one-member sentences in the novel Maria by Ulas Samchuk. In modern theoretical studies on syntax, the issue of one-member sentences is still hotly debated and topical. The article characterizes one-member sentences from formal grammatical and semantic standpoints, describes the main types of these sentences. In the focus of this study is the originality of syntactic structure and functioning of one-member sentences in Ulas Samchuk's prose. The in-depth analysis of the semantic-syntactic organization of the novel Maria by Ulas Samchuk has revealed that the writer often uses one-member sentences, giving them a variety of aesthetic value. The most frequently used are definite-personal, indefinite-personal, impersonal, and nominative sentences. Using these one-word sentences, the author creates landscape sketches that serve as the background on which the events unfold. Ulas Samchuk fills his story with emotions and psychology. It is revealed that one-member sentences used in monologues and reflections of characters often help to reproduce their psychological state, to convey an assessment of the depicted events. U.Samchuk most often uses this type of sentences in depicting landscapes, in dialogues and monologues. Using these constructions, the author enriches the arsenal of visual and expressive means of artistic narration.


I would like to comment on just one point in Todd Landman's thoughtful review of Making Political Science Matter (Landman 2008). This is Landman's regret that Making Political Science Matter contains only two examples that demonstrate the utility of phronetic social science as practical research, namely Corey Shdaimah and Roland Stahl's case study of the Women's Community Revitalization Project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (ch. 5), and partly my own case study of urban politics and planning in the city of Aalborg, Denmark (ch. 3). In my judgement, Landman here puts his finger on exactly the area where phronetic social science is most in need of further development.


The idea for this special issue, exploring the history of cities and urbanism within the emerging transnational paradigm, originated in a discussion among the members of the North American Editorial Board of Urban History about what it means for cities to be global. Veering in many directions, spanning multiple centuries and stretching into much of the world, the conversation touched on the movement of people and ideas, the relationship of urban areas with their hinterlands and with each other, the importance of given technologies and industries for particular forms of urban development, the critical role of politics – at all levels – in that development and the ongoing and evolving role of global capital on those cities. Using the global Internet, members of the North American Editorial Board located in Montreal (Michèle Dagenais), Rochester (Victoria Wolcott), Irvine (Jeffrey Wasserstrom), Philadelphia (Lynn Hollen Lees), Miami (Robin Bachin), Mexico City (Hira de Gortari Rabiela), Hamilton (Richard Harris), Los Angeles (Philip Ethington and Janice Reiff), Amherst (Max Page) and Ann Arbor (Matthew Lassiter) generated a plan to issue a global call for papers for the IXth International Conference of the European Association for Urban History in Lyon, France in August of 2008. Nine scholars from Canada, the United States, France and Mexico pre-circulated their papers for a special bilingual double-long session, co-chaired by Michèle Dagenais and Phil Ethington.


In the world of  entrepreneurship  education,  it  is  important  for  educators  to  find  the  combination  of entrepreneurial teaching methods that relevant to the learning goals and students' needs. This quantitative research aims to get an overview from students' perceptions of Business Creation's teaching methods in Prasetiya Mulya University, S1 Business Program. The results of the study revealed that discussion about STDP, Marketing Mix and BMC perceived as three important topics in starting a business in the aspect of conceptual lecture. The first and final phases of the competition are perceived to have a positive impact to fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in aspects of competition simulation. Whereas in the aspect of group dynamics, the factors that greatly influence group performance are communication and collaboration. The most interesting discussion topics for students are Opportunity, BMC, and Operation Skill.


Over the past 15 years, European cohorts and collaborations have played a key role in developing our understanding of HIV progression and the effects of antiretroviral therapy, enabling European expertise to contribute directly to the advances in patient diagnosis and management worldwide, and providing a continued surveillance mechanism for detection of emerging problems at a European level. These collaborations now form the foundation of EuroCoord, a Network of Excellence, recently funded by the European Commission's 7th Framework Program for Health Research. EuroCoord currently comprises studies that jointly contain longitudinal data from almost 270,000 HIV-positive individuals across the European continent and beyond, both male and female, from neonates to geriatric populations, infected through sex between men, sex between men and women, injecting drug use, nosocomially and from mother to child, with and without coinfection with hepatitis viruses, of different ethnic and socio–economic backgrounds, f...


This chapter summarizes the conclusions of the book, and explores some possible implications for future study in various manuscripts and texts. The manuscript presentation of Piers Plowman for reading is compared to the presentation of The Prick of Conscience, and the resulting similarities and differences illustrate the value of studying the filtration of formal choices through habits in book production. The chapter considers the presence and absence of the marking of rhyme in copies of The Canterbury Tales, and then closes by examining the work of the compiler Robert Thornton as a case study which draws together many of the book's themes.


Heliaeschna species are dragonflies in the tribe Gynacanthini (family Aeshnidae, subfamily Aeshninae). Its members have at least one cross vein in the median space at the base of the wings, are dark green, or brown-black marked with green, possess an abdomen where the third segment is constricted in most species, where the females are slightly larger, with the abdomen only slightly constricted if at all, and the hindwing well rounded, possess long anal appendages but these are often broken off, and are crepuscular. Their life history is not well known, although it is apparent that they breed in standing water (Orr, 2003).


powers, and thereby make it possible for Austria to retain some control over their war aims. But the alliance and Austria's partial mobilization, which preceded it, were also meant to frighten Russia into accepting Western peace terms the Four Points which Austria had earlier submitted to her, but which she had flatly rejected. The treaty of alliance signed on 2 December 1854 has sometimes been interpreted as having enabled the Habsburg monarchy to extract special advantages from all sides. In point of fact, however, though Buol had the satisfaction of getting preliminary peace talks startedhe had at long last obtained Russia's unconditional acceptance of the Four Points-his success was only a fleeting one: owing very largely to Britain's intransigence the Vienna conference of March-June i855 ended in failure. By the time the military situation and an Austrian ultimatum had brought Russia once more to the peace table, and the treaty of Paris (3 ø March •856 ) had put an end to the war, a clear-sighted observer could no longer have doubted that Buol's policy of close co-operation with Britain and France was a fatal, though probably unavoidable mistake. While permanently alienating Russia, that policy had not gained Austria the friendship of the Western powers. Indeed, many of their leadersmen like Palmerston, Clarendon, Russell, and Napoleon niharboured an undying hatred of the Habsburg monarchy, and influential sectors of British public opinion appear to have shared their feelings. Thus while Buol had managed, for the time being, to spare his country the costs and risks of war, he had led it into. dangerous isolation; and within the next decade history was to exact a high price from Austria for her recent exercise in Concert diplomacy. The foregoing abstract does scarce justice to Professor Schroeder's work. This reviewer regrets more particularly that limitations of space have not permitted him to discussand heartily endorsethe views on the proper methods of diplomatic history which the author has so elegantly expounded in his Preface.