Facile C-O bond scission is essential for optimal product selectivity in industrially important processes ranging from Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to biofuels production. A grand challenge is that the C-O scission rate is several orders of magnitude slower than C-C and C-H bond breaking, rendering monofunctional heterogeneous catalysts (e.g., precious metals or reducible metal oxides) either not selective or not very active (temperatures >350 C needed). Multifunctional catalysts (Rh/ReOx, Rh/MoOx, Ir/ReOx, Ru/RuOx), developed recently, are capable of catalyzing selective C-O bond scission in oxygenates at moderate temperatures. Here, we elucidate the synergy of multiple active sites for C-O bond activation using a model reaction system: catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis of furfural on a Ru/RuO2 catalyst using 2propanol as a hydrogen donor. By combining density functional theory, microkinetic modeling, and electronic structure analysis, we gain insights into why neither Ru nor RuO2 phase alone are capable of catalyzing C-O bond hydrogenolysis. We expose a trifunctional catalytic mechanism involving both Ru and RuO2 sites that drives the high catalyst activity. The mechanism is in quantitative agreement with H/D tracing and kinetic isotope effect measurements, providing opportunities for reaction pathway and catalyst design.


Multiple stress resistance pathways were evaluated in the liver of Ames dwarf mice before and after exposure to the oxidative toxin diquat, seeking clues to the exceptional longevity conferred by this mutation. Before diquat treatment, Ames dwarf mice, compared with nonmutant littermate controls, had 2‐ to 6‐fold higher levels of expression of mRNAs for immediate early genes and 2‐ to 5‐fold higher levels of mRNAs for genes dependent on the transcription factor Nrf2. Diquat led to a 2‐fold increase in phosphory‐lation of the stress kinase ERK in control (but not Ames dwarf) mice and to a 50% increase in phosphorylation of the kinase JNK2 in Ames dwarf (but not control) mice. Diquat induction of Nrf2 protein was higher in dwarf mice than in controls. Of 6 Nrf2‐responsive genes evaluated, 4 (HMOX, NQO‐1, MT‐1, and MT‐2) remained 2‐ to 10‐fold lower in control than in dwarf liver after diquat, and the other 2 (GCLM and TXNRD) reached levels already seen in dwarf liver at baseline. Thus, livers of Ames dwarf mice differ systematically from controls in multiple stress resistance pathways before and after exposure to diquat, suggesting mechanisms for stress resistance and extended longevity in Ames dwarf mice.—Sun, L. Y., Bokov, A. F., Richardson, A., Miller, R. A. Hepatic response to oxidative injury in long‐lived Ames dwarf mice. FASEB J. 25, 398–408 (2011). www.fasebj.org


OBJECTIVE:To analyze the status quo and tendency of the use of antidiabetic drugs and to study diabetic patients' demands for drugs.METHODS: The antidiabetic drugs used in our hospital during 2003~2005 were investigated in regard to quantities,kinds of drugs,consumption sum,DDDs and DDC.RESULTS: Over the 3 years,the consumption volume of hypoglycemic agent increased year by year,and its kinds was increased as well,with sulfonylurea dominating the first place in consumption sum.Of the insulin preparations,the consumption volume of gene synthetic human insulin increased yar by year.Of the total oral antidiabetic drugs,acarbose took the first place in consumption sum.The constituent ratio of pioglitazone increased rapidly year by year.The daily cost of glibenclamid was the lowest.CONCLUSION: The demands for antidiabetic drugs increase year by year.Gene synthetic human Insulin and insulin sensitizer are especially favored by both doctors and patients,the demand for which is potential.


This study examined the relationship between the critical thinking disposition and problem solving ability as well as the influencing factors the problem solving ability in nursing students. The data was collected from 422 nursing students of 4 colleges and analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. The mean score of the critical thinking disposition was 3.42±0.42 and the problem solving ability was 3.84±0.50. A significant positive correlation was observed between the critical thinking disposition and problem solving ability. Multiple regression analysis showed that the predictors of the problem solving ability were the critical thinking disposition and interpersonal relationship. These findings suggest that there is a need to increase the critical thinking disposition and problem solving ability in nursing students. Theser esults should be reflected in an evaluation and development of the curriculum and learning method.


The aim of this study is to examine the effect of humble leadership and psychological well-being of employees on innovative work behaviors. In addition, the mediating effect of psychological well-being in the effect of humble leadership on innovative work behavior was examined in the study. In the study, the concepts of humble leadership, innovative work behavior and psychological well-being are explained and hypotheses formed by considering the theoretical and empirical relationships between the variables are included. Humble leadership, psychological well-being and innovative work behavior scales, whose psychometric properties were tested before, were used to measure the variables within the scope of the study. 209 blue-collar employees from a company operating in the IT sector in Istanbul participated in the research. According to the research findings, it has been determined that there is a positive and significant relationship between the humble leadership perception, psychological well-being and innovative work behavior. A positive and significant relationship was also found between innovative work behavior and psychological well-being. In addition, it has been determined that psychological well-being has a partial mediating role in the effect of humble leadership on innovative work behavior


Solution self-assembly of amphiphilic "rod-coil" copolymers, especially linear block copolymers and graft copolymers (also referred to as polymer brushes), has attracted considerable interest, as replacing one of the blocks of a coil-coil copolymer with a rigid segment results in distinct self-assembly features compared with those of the coil-coil copolymer. The unique interplay between microphase separation of the rod and coil blocks with great geometric disparities can lead to the formation of unusual morphologies that are distinctly different from those known for coil-coil copolymers. This review presents the recent achievements in the controlled self-assembly of rod-coil linear block copolymers and graft copolymers in solution, focusing on copolymer systems containing conjugated polymers, liquid crystalline polymers, polypeptides, and polyisocyanates as the rod segments. The discussions concentrate on the principle of controlling over the morphology of rod-coil copolymer assemblies, as well as their distinctive optical and optoelectronic properties or biocompatibility and stimuli-responsiveness, which afford the assemblies great potential as functional materials particularly for optical, optoelectronic and biological applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 1459–1477


Clavulanic acid, a product of Streptomyces clavuligerus with /Mactam structure, is a potent inhibitor of several /Mactamases. To study its pharmacokinetic and CSF penetration in patients without meningeal inflammation, a single oral dose of 250 mg of clavulanic acid was given to 21 patients. One patient was studied in a multiple dose schedule. Fifteen of these 21 patients had a diagnostic lumbar puncture and 3 neurosurgical patients had a continuous CSF drainage. Serum and urine concentrations of clavulanic acid were available from 22 patients. The mean peak serum concentration was 4'3 mg/1 and individual peak serum concentrations ranged from (M-95 mg/1 between 40 and 60 min after ingestion of clavulanic acid. Urinary recovery between 300 and 400 min ranged from 0"8-54'3% of the administered dose. The mean absorption half life was 0"26 h and the mean elimination half life was 0'9 h. Considerable degradation of clavulanic acid occurred in vitro at 37"C. In pooled human serum, phosphate buffer pH 7 and 5, an hourly loss of activity of about 10,7 and 10% respectively, was observed.


An apparatus for shrink wrapping a plurality of individually wrapped containers comprises a stacking station (100) for superimposing a pair of containers (10, 11) individually wrapped in a heat shrinkable film, a shrink tunnel (200), and a transfer device (120) for transferring a pair of superimposed containers (10, 11) from the stacking station (100) to the shrink tunnel (200). The transfer device (120) is adapted to engage and separate the pair of superimposed containers (10, 11) and to convey the pair of separated superimposed containers from the stacking station (100) into the shrink tunnel (200) .


Abstract a-C, a-SiC and Ti-C: H coatings were deposited on two steel substrates with different hardness by magnetron sputtering. Their mechanical properties were investigated by depth sensing indentation and dry sliding testing. Load – displacement curves were obtained using a NanoTest™ NT600 instrument equipped with a Berkovich indenter. The depth profiles of the mechanical properties (indentation hardness H, effective modulus Eeff, and also H/Eeff and H3/E2eff ratios) on both substrates are presented. The goal of this article is to compare the dependence of the real response of a coating/substrate system on the substrate. Regardless of substrate type the highest and the lowest values of hardness and modulus belong to a-C and Ti-C: H films, respectively.


The invention blend, and / or flowers as decorative board on the front of the board, by using a unit of puzzle blocks, as well as can exhibit a variety of characters such as Hangul, English, Chinese binder blend in the top surface of each unit of the puzzle block and to be able to, and even the rear side of the board is provided to binding the flowers can easily replace a natural flower, or a blend according to the season. You are around the unit block puzzle representing a character or appearance - applies a lighting device such as a neon Organization at night can get the effect of using ornaments.


Summary The use of radio-telephony in forest communications is discussed with special reference to fire protection. A short description of the equipment used by the Forests Commission of Victoria is given. Defects of the system are discussed, together with its advantages and disadvantages when compared with communication by land-line.


ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF A ONE-LEGGED HOPPING ROBOT THROUGH DYNAMICALLY EMBEDDED SPRING-LOADED INVERTED PENDULUM TEMPLATE Ismail Uyanik M.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Omer Morgul August 2011 Practical realization of model-based dynamic legged behaviors is substantially more challenging than statically stable behaviors due to their heavy dependence on second-order system dynamics. This problem is further aggravated by the difficulty of accurately measuring or estimating dynamic parameters such as spring and damping constants for associated models and the fact that such parameters are prone to change in time due to heavy use and associated material fatigue. In the first part of this thesis, we present an on-line, model-based adaptive control method for running with a planar spring-mass hopper based on a once-per-step parameter correction scheme. Our method can be used both as a system identification tool to determine possibly time-varying spring and damping constants of a miscalibrated system, or as an adaptive controller that can eliminate steady-state tracking errors through appropriate adjustments on dynamic system parameters. We use Spring-Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP) model, which is the mostly used, effective and accurate descriptive tool for running animals of different sizes


This paper aims to provide a contribution on how the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may reduce the gap between theory and practice on management control knowledge. The paper adopts a knowledge transfer (KT) approach grounded on Liyanage et al.'s (2009) framework. A project of management accounting (MA) implementation in a SME located in Umbria is presented and discussed following a strong interventionist research approach. The case demonstrates the knowledge management relevance on MA implementation, able to integrate and reinforce the influence of contingency variables and institutional pressures. It contributes to show how the MA implementation has been positively influenced by the SME absorptive capacity (AC) and willingness to learn (WTL), connected to some educational and technical conditions characterizing the entrepreneur and the organization. This paper provides a practical contribution for practitioners and SMEs involved in the implementation of MA tools, demonstrating that successful implementation requires gradual learning cycles and some organizational pre-conditions to bring successful results. It also contributes to scientific debate enhancing the active role of the actors in designing and implementing managerial control systems, as well as providing an original view that involves the supply and demand for innovation in managerial systems as sources and receivers of management control knowledge.


The adequate measurement of public sector efficiency, particularly when it concerns services provision, is a delicate empirical issue and the literature on it, particularly when it comes to aggregate and international data, is rather scarce. Even when public organisations are studied, this is seldom done in an international and more aggregate framework, and international comparisons of public spending performance and efficiency do not abound.1


ABSTRACT Democracy has successfuly promoted to international community through the process of Globalization. One of the process could be conducted through information transfer. International media known with its ability to set a certain agenda, while also enhance with the ability to multiply information. VOA Burmese as an international source of news intrinsively involved in spreading the value of democracy in one of the most secretive nation, Myanmar. Through the exposure of uncensored information, VOA Burmese has influenced the people of Myanmar on the issue of democracy and information transparency. Moreover, VOA Burmese has contributed in raising the awareness of democratric movement to the people of Myanmar. In this article, the author aims to describe the role of VOA Burmese in the democratization process of Myanmar, in 2000-2012. Kata kunci: VOA, Globalisasi, Myanmar, Demokrasi


The constitutive equation of fiber suspensions is established on the basis of fiber orientation tensors. The modified Orr-Sommerfeld stability equation is obtained further and numerically solved by aid of spectral method and finite difference method. The computational results of channel flow without fibers agree well with the experimental data with a higher degree of accuracy than previous numerical results. The results of the channel flow with fiber suspensions indicate that the presence of fibers attenuates the instability of flow, increases the critical Reynolds number, reduces the growth rate of perturbations and narrows the range of unstable waves. The extent of the effect of fibers on the flow stability is in direct proportion to the volume fraction and aspect-ratio of the fibers.


Ht=P 1⁄4 0.5 for the labyrinth weir at Boardman, which possesses almost the same geometric characteristics. This prediction contradicts the nature of curves shown in the authors' Fig. 3, in which the value of the coefficient of discharge decreases with increasing Ht=P value beyond 0.3. On the other hand, the prediction by the proposed Eq. (3) for the labyrinth weir at Carty conforms to the nature of curves shown in the authors' Fig. 3, because CL decreases with increasing Ht=P values beyond the value of 0.3.


Imagine an application environment in which subsecond response to thousands of events gives the user a distinct competitive advantage, yet transactional guarantees are important. Imagine also that the data ts comfortably into a few gigabytes of Random Access Memory. These attributes characterize many nancial trading applications. Which engine should one use in such a case? IBM FastPath, Sybase, Oracle, or Object Store? We argue that an unconventional approach is called for: we use a list-based language called K having optimized support for bulk array operators, and that integrates networking, and a graphical user interface. Locking is unnecessary when single-threading such applications because the data ts into memory, obviating the need to go to disk except for logging purposes. Multithreading can be handled for OLTP applications by analyzing the arguments to transactions. The result is a (private, size-reduced) TPC/B benchmark that achieves 25,000 transactions per second with full recoverability and TCP/IP overhead on an (167 Megahertz) UltraSparc I. Further, hot disaster recovery can be done with far less overhead than required by two phase commit by using a sequential state machine approach. We show how to exploit multiple processors without complicating the language or our basic framework. 1 A Brief Description of the K Language K is list-based language integrating bulk operators, interprocess communication, and graphical user interface facilities, designed and implemented by Arthur Whitney. It is extremely concise. For example, a simple spreadsheet has been implemented in about 100 characters, including the graphical user interface, as illustrated in Figure 1.


Introduction: Considering that BCG injection in newborns is part of TB control program in Iran many years ago, we aimed to compare prevalence of childhood BCG vaccination scar with previous study and asses influence of household crowding on TST result. Aims: Considering that over time there is likely to reduce the immune response, two groups of subjects were selected among young and middle aged. Methods and Material: This cross sectional study was conducted in Zia Abad of Qazvin (a province of Iran) during year 2008. 261 participants randomly were selected (139 asymptomatic children (12-16 y) and 122 adults (40-50 y)). A questionnaire was used to obtain prior histories of BCG vaccination, known exposure to tuberculosis, prior acquired of TB, symptoms of TB disease and household crowding. BCG vaccine scar was ascertained and all participants were tested with 5TU-PPD. Reactions of 10 mm or more were considered positive. Statistical analysis used: Using student t test, chi square and Fisher's exact test, the collected data was analyzed. Results: BCG scar was observed in 78.4% of participant (91.4% children vs. 78.6% adults) which the difference was significant. Twenty three (16.5%) of children and 24 (19.7%) of adults had tuberculin reactivity of ≥10 mm. In children and parent groups, positivity of TST had significant direct association with presence of BCG scar and crowding. Conclusions: Most vaccinated children had a scar. Our results demonstrate that a TST applied after BCG vaccination usually produces a reaction of <10 mm. In addition, there is a significant relationship between the tuberculin reactivity and both presence of BCG scar and crowding among children and adult groups.


This paper presents a newly developed fuzzy linear physical programming (FLPP) model that allows the decision maker to introduce his/her preferences for multiple criteria decision making in a fuzzy environment. The major contribution of this research is to generalize the current models by accommodating an environment that is conducive to fuzzy problem solving. An example is used to evaluate, compare and discuss the results of the proposed model.


The utility model discloses a pipe positioning tool. The pipe positioning tool comprises a pedestal, a left positioning assembly which is arranged at the left end of the pedestal and used for positioning the left end of a pipe, and a right positioning assembly which is arranged at the right end of the pedestal and used for positioning the right end of the pipe; and the left positioning assembly comprises an ejector sleeve which is ejected at the left end of the pipe and an axial regulating structure which enables the ejector sleeve to do axial reciprocating movements relative to the pedestal. The pipe positioning tool is simple and reasonable in structure; the pipes are precisely positioned axially and radially; the operation is convenient; and the pipes can be quickly regulated and positioned according to different lengths and internal diameters of the pipes.


Based on the empirical analysis of the bus accident data, this paper discusses the impact of bus priority on road safety. Based on the conclusions of road safety performance and the results of traffic accident research, the public traffic priority measures are proposed. Through the empirical analysis of the types of accidents, it has been found that the proportion of bus collision accidents involved in the bus priority measures is significantly reduced, which indicates that the bus will give priority to the collision with other vehicles. Mixed-effect negative binomial (MENB) regression model and BPNN neural network model were used to consider bus accidents that have more extensive impact on accident rates in some sections of the road. The results show that the safety benefits are more significant when providing bus priority measures. The sensitivity analysis performed on the BPNN model shows that the predicted values of the accident frequencies are basically the same between the two models. The performance of MENB model results shows that it is advantageous to use a mixed-effects modeling method to predict accident counts in practice because it can take into account the effects of specific factors. Therefore, research on the priority status of buses will help improve road safety. When implementing road programs, road management agencies should give priority to bus priority measures.


One of the important boundaries of the auroral region in the dusk-midnight sector is the equatorward boundary of the ion precipitation. In this region, on average, the ion precipitation region is equatorward of the electron precipitation region and is important in the overall energy budget. There are ground and satellite based measurement techniques to detect this important boundary but many of these measurements lack the temporal and spatial coverage required to study the dynamical features of this boundaries relationship with substorms. In this paper a review of a new ground based radar technique to determine the boundary and its limitations are presented. The new radar method is used to study the substorm growth phase dynamics. It found that on average, the boundary is located more equatorward during substorms than during non substorms. This implies that magnetotail stretching is a necessary condition for substorms. It is also found that statically there is no di#erence in the location of the boundary for substorms and non substorms in the +2 +3 hours magnetic local time sector. The equatorward expansion rate of the boundary shows clear distinction between substorms and non substorms: The equatorward expansion rate of the boundary is much lower during non substorms than during substorms. Implications of the results for substorm dynamics are also presented. key words: auroral ionosphere, auroral substorms, particle precipitation, SuperDARN


Transmission and scanning electron microscopy of food trapping filters or "mucous films" of several Ascidians reveal the same type of extensive net with elongate rectangular meshes. The ultrastructural appearance and mesh size varies only slightly within the group. Pore sizes from 0.2 to 0.5 μm in width and from 0.5 to 2.2 μm in length with a thickness of the filaments from 10 to 40 nm are probably representative for the nets under in vivo conditions. These observations corroborate earlier experimental results which indicate a remarkably high and constant efficiency of filtration in all species kept undisturbed.

Great quantities of water are evidently filtered through these nets at relatively low resistance and particles even below bacterial size (0.5 μm) are effectively trapped. Histochemical reactions indicate the presence of both mucoproteins and acidic polysaccharide components and that the filaments are probably made up of a peptide core surrounded by polysaccharides.


The modeling and performance analysis of concurrent systems using Petri nets is considered under a useful timing model: probabilistic (i.e. exponential) delay distributions. While the focus is on decisionfree concurrent systems, i.e. marked graphs (MG), generalizations are identified to allow limited choice. A tight state space is efficiently constructed, through hierarchical decomposition followed by composition, which defines the time evolution of the system. Efficient algorithmic solution techniques and tools are also presented. Interesting analogies to biological and physical systems are highlighted.


The flipped classroom offers benefits for students, faculty, and institutions. Yet, there are obstacles which sometimes prevent implementation of this pedagogical model. This article reviews existing literature and the authors' experiences to suggest that there are four common challenges which impede on the process of flipping a classroom. These barriers include: the time commitment, a lack of institutional support, fear of technology, and budgetary constraints. Overcoming these barriers is essential to successfully flipping a classroom, particularly in the area of video design. The authors review existing literature and offer suggestions for improving best practices to overcome these barriers and create a positive experience for students, instructors, and institutions. Specifically, we aim to offer suggestions for best practices in video design for a successful flipped classroom experience.


unilateral absence of the greater wing of the sphenoid bone is a distinctive but uncommon manifestation of Type I neurofibromatosis, which has until now been regarded as a developmental anomaly of mesodermal origin. A computed tomographic scan was obtained in a 4-week-old infant with an abnormal left eye. The scan demonstrated an intact ipsilateral sphenoid bone, except for minor expansion of the medial end of the left superior orbital fissure. Another computed tomographic scan was obtained 6 years later, when the child had café-au-lait patches, axillary freckling, Lisch nodules, and left phthisis bulbi. This later scan showed typical sphenoid dysplasia. Much of the greater wing was absent, and the anterior temporal pole was displaced anteriorly. In this article, we discuss the implications of this case in terms of the cause of this condition and the diagnosis of Type I neurofibromatosis.


The quality of beams generated with high power electron and ion diodes sensitively depends on processes in the diode acceleration gap. Although passive spectroscopy allows us to study many of the details of light-ion diodes, ions suitable for spectroscopy are often not present in sufficient quantities inside the gap. Active spectroscopy based on local laser resonance excitation of an atomic beam injected into the diode has already been successfully applied in electron diodes and may also be used as a diagnostic tool in ion diodes. To study an ion diode, we suggest injecting a Li atomic probe beam as a diagnostic, using active Stark spectroscopy.


With growing interest in the histogenetic stability of cells in advanced stages of differentiation has come increasing realization that our knowledge of the stability and capacities of cells at these stages is in fact most limited (Ephrussi, 1956; Trinkaus, 1956; Grobstein, 1959). Stability of cell behavior under certain conditions does not necessarily imply its stability under others, and individual cell characters may vary independently in their stability. Moreover, since the behavior of cells outside their own tissue or organ system may differ perceptibly from their behavior within the system, unknown or unsuspected capacities may not be revealed unless cells are released from the controls of the system and presented with new histogenetic cues. A method that has offered possibilities in this direction has been to dissociate cells of various tissues and organs, mix them together, and study their subsequent differentiation in mixed (heterotypic) aggregates (Townes and Holtfreter, 1955; Trinkaus and Groves, 1955; Moscona, 1956, 1957; Auerbach and Grobstein, 1958). With this procedure, individual cells are brought under the influence of surrounding cells of another tissue type. In order for this method to contribute information on cell differentiation, however, each cell must be distinguishable throughout the culture period (Trinkaus, 1956). Townes and Holtfreter (1955) took advantage of the melanin contained within ectoderm cells and the larger size of endoderm cells of Amblystoma neurulae; Moscona (1957) and Auerbach and Grobstein (1958) made use of the difference in nuclear size and stainability of chick and mouse cells (Wolff and Weniger, 1954); and Trinkaus (1961) used 36S to mark certain cells in aggregates of chick cells.t The results revealed impressive stability of character in cells of germ layers and of certain embryonic organs, under the imposed conditions. However, since the organs used in these experiments (Moscona, 1957; Auerbach and Grobstein, 1958; Trinkaus, 1961), e.g. liver, kidney, limb mesenchyme, eic., are composed of a number of tissues, information on the various tissue types was not available. For example, where limb mesenchyme cells were concerned it is not certain whether cartilage differentiated entirely from previous chondroblasts or whether other mesenchyme cells contributed; nor is .it certain in aggregates of mesonephric cells that epithelial tubular formations arose entirely from former epithelial cells. To be certain of cell origin on a tissue level, therefore, it is not sufficient merely to have marked cells; they must also be derived from a single tissue source.


This paper presents a novel approach for generating Attribute-based Access Control policies from a given Access Control Matrix (ACM). In contrast to the existing techniques for policy mining, which group the desired accesses in the ACM using certain heuristics, we pose it as a search problem in the policy space. A randomized algorithm is then used to identify the policy that best represents the given ACM. Our initial experiments show promising results.


Improvement of productivity and efficiency in the agriculture sector points towards the necessity of developing autonomous vehicles. Here, the detection and classification of objects plays a major role, which can be achieved by using camera sensors and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In order to train CNNs to perform correctly, good datasets are required. However, especially for the case of agriculture, datasets that contain relevant objects and are labeled (i.e. annotated with ground truth information) are not only scarce but also difficult to generate as this entails a high cost in resources and human labor. Therefore, we propose a different approach: using 3D simulation technology to generate relevant simulated sensor data which are implicitly labeled and a cost efficient solution to train neural networks. In this contribution, we assess the viability of training a CNN with simulated sensor data by comparing the achieved performance to a network trained with real sensor data. In addition, we evaluate the benefits of combining simulated data with real data for training CNNs, including complementary as well as Transfer Learning approaches. Finally, we show that using simulated sensor data for training CNNs is viable yet less accurate than using comparable real datasets and propose ways to improve simulations in this regard. To this end, we analyze various simulation factors in terms of their impact on the CNN performance and introduce further benefits of using simulated scenarios in general.


The present longitudinal study, which extends the one previously conducted by Haines and Arcand (1997), aims to revisit and analyse the evolution of the human resources profession over a period of three decades from a theoretical perspective of professionalization (Wilensky, 1964). To do this, the researchers took the approach of analysing the content of recruitment adverts for jobs in human resource management which appeared in the Saturday editions of La Presse newspaper in the "careers and professions" section in 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2005. The authors then put forward five hypotheses relating to the evolution of roles, and seven hypotheses relating to the development of skills of those professionals working in the human resources field. These hypotheses are, for the most part, confirmed. Hence, the results of the study demonstrate a marked development in the requirements that professionals have to meet, notably in terms of their roles and skills. More specifically, the findings show that the human resources profession has followed a path marked by the appropriation of a strategic role and skill diversification. Particularly significant during the thirty year period under review is the increase in the requirement for a master's degree, for work experience in the sector of the recruiting firm as well as greater requirements for knowledge, such as competence in information technology, language skills and having skills in areas such as fostering teamwork, communication and leadership. Considering the important role of human resource professionals in the firm, as well as in the industrial relations system, and current debates about the future of the profession and its social legitimacy (Kochan, 2007), the results highlight a number of findings that will be of interest to those people preparing to become human resource professionals as well as to teaching institutions and associations who bring human resource professionals together.


l'ALKS and articles on mental health and the all-round personality growth of the school child tend to be inspirational, exhortatory, and vague. It may be in part because of my training as a physician and psychiatrist that I visualize any health program as seeking out first the causes of ill health and eliminating them beWhat, then, are the fore going on to provide a hazards to mental health regimen that will make a that exist in the special normal degree of health classes for retarded chileven bette?'. Possibly that is dren? I can name four that why it seems so fruitless to have come to my attention me to hear teachers' groups in studying the personality devoting hours of discussion breakdowns in children. to such questions as, "How F~t there is the stigcan we measure the emomatization that arises from tional and social growth of the acknowledged and veri. our pupils?" or "How does fied fact of intellectual GOLl,IHG 8TUD10 the curriculum of my grade Alan Challman weakness in the child. I promote the physical, mensay acknowledged and tal, moral, emotional, and social growth verified because complete segregation of the children?" These are, to be of a subnormal group has the, effect of sure, excellent questions and very imcalling attention to the retardation. I portant, but there simply are not any used to think I was pretty clever at answers to them yet. Our knowledge diagnosing deficiency on ordinary life about growth is too scanty and the situation contact, but after we had a things we can measure, such as physical maid in our home for three months size and mental age, we do not seem to who later, I learned, had an IQ of 65 be able to influence much. Objectives without my suspecting less than 85 or of mental health will be approximated 90, my self-confidence dropped. Even


The article deals with new requirements for intraoperative monitoring. The requirements that allow increasing the safety of the patient's stay in the operating room are being expanded. Special attention is paid to patients in a sub- and decompensated state, patients with comorbid diseases. Monitoring is based on the recommendations of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, which were reviewed and updated in 2021.


This article looks at how the CPC directs China women's development through Marxist perspectives and continually develops its theories into practice.The result is the formation of Marxist women's theory with Chinese characteristics and the creation of contemporary women's liberation movement and development path.


Phase relations in the MnO–SiO2–Li4SiO4 subsystem have been investigated by X-ray diffraction after solid-state reactions in hydrogen at 950–1150 1C. Both cation-deficient and cation-excess solid solutions Li2+2xMn1 xSiO4 ( 0.2pxp0.2) based on Li2MnSiO4 have been found. According to Rietveld analysis, Li2MnSiO4 (monoclinic, P21/n, a 1⁄4 6.3368(1), b 1⁄4 10.9146(2), c 1⁄4 5.0730(1) Å, b 1⁄4 90.987(1)1) is isostructural with gII-Li2ZnSiO4 and low-temperature Li2MgSiO4. All components are in tetrahedral environment, (MnSiO4) 2 framework is built of four-, sixand eight-member rings of tetrahedra. Testing Li2MnSiO4 in an electrochemical cell showed that only 4% Li could be extracted between 3.5 and 5V against Li metal. These results are discussed in comparison with those for recently reported orthorhombic layered Li2MnSiO4 and other tetrahedral Li2MXO4 phases. r 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


I think it was Lord Halsbury, in the Scotch Church case, who stopped one of the advocates in his use of the word Church, saying that they as a Court had nothing to do with that, and that they could only consider the question as one concerning a trust. In other words, with a religious society as such they could not deal, but only with a trust or a registered company. This is only one instance of a fact exhibited in the whole of that case: namely, the refusal of the legal mind of our day to consider even the possibility of societies possessing an inherent, self-developing life apart from such definite powers as the State, or the individuals founding the body under State authority, have conferred upon them explicitly. In this view, apart from the State, the real society—and from individuals the living members of the State—there are no active social unities; all other apparent communal unities are directly or indirectly delegations, either of State powers or of individuals. To such a view the notion is abhorrent of a vast hierarchy of interrelated societies, each alive, each personal, owing to the State loyalty, and by it checked or assisted in their action no less than are private individuals, but no more deriving their existence from Government concession than does the individual or the family. In other words, these phrases of Lord Halsbury are but the natural expression of the concession theory of corporate life which sees it as a fictitious personality, the creation by the State for its own purposes, and consequently without any natural or inherent powers of its own. This theory is not so universally accepted as was once the case, but Professor Geldart's inaugural lecture on 'Legal Personality' shows how great are the obstacles still to be encountered by that theory of realism which is for most of us associated with the name of Gierke, and was popularised by Maitland. The latter, moreover, has shewn how this very English institution of the trust has preserved us from the worse perils of the rigid doctrinaire conception of the civilian. For under the name of a trust many of the qualities of true personality have been able to develop unmolested. But this has not been all to the good. It has probably delayed the victory of the true conception, by enabling us to 'muddle through' with the false one. Moreover, the trust is and assimilates itself always rather to the Anstalt or the Stiftung than to the living communal society, the true corporation, with its basis in the Genossenschaft; and consequently, as was proved in this Scotch case, the necessary independence of a self-developing personality is denied to it, and its acts are treated as invalid on this very ground—that it is only a trust tied rigidly to its establishing terms, and not a true society with a living will and power of change.


Chris T. Darimont , ∗ Paul C. Paquet, Adrian Treves, Kyle A. Artelle, and Guillaume Chapron Department of Geography, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada Raincoast Conservation Foundation, P.O. Box 2429, Sidney, BC V8L 3Y3, Canada Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 30A Science Hall, 550 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE – 73091, Riddarhyttan, Sweden


A fcc oxygen defect pyrochlore structure system Lu{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7-x} with x=0.40-0.65 was synthesized from the known fcc ferromagnetic semiconductor pyrochlore compound Lu{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7} which can be written as Lu{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 6}O{sup '} with two inequivalent oxygen sites O and O{sup '}. Rietveld x-ray diffraction refinements show significant Lu-V antisite disorder for x > or approx. 0.5. The lattice parameter versus x (including x=0) shows a distinct maximum at x{approx}0.4. We propose that these observations can be explained if the oxygen defects are on the O{sup '} sublattice of the structure. The magnetic susceptibility versus temperature exhibits Curie-Weiss behavior above 150 K for all x, with a Curie constant C that increases with x as expected in an ionic model. However, the magnetization measurements also show that the (ferromagnetic) Weiss temperature {theta} and the ferromagnetic ordering temperature T{sub C} both strongly decrease with increasing x instead of increasing as expected from C(x). The T{sub C} decreases from 73 K for x=0 to 21 K for x=0.65. Furthermore, the saturation moment at a field of 5.5 T at 5 K is nearly independent of x, with the value expected for a fixed spin 1/2 per V. Themore » latter three observations suggest that Lu{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7-x} may contain localized spin 1/2 vanadium moments in a metallic background that is induced by oxygen defect doping, instead of being a semiconductor as suggested by the C(x) dependence. We present evidence of magnetic granularity in Lu{sub 2}V{sub 2}O{sub 7-x} with increasing x, due to the random distribution of oxygen vacancies and associated Lu-V antisite mixing. For x=0.65, isothermal magnetization versus magnetic field M(H) and low-field M(T) measurements indicate the formation of interacting nanoscopic ferromagnetic domains below T{sub C}.« less


Most ancient Near Eastern prophetic texts were found in royal archives, and therefore, they largely deal with the figure and person of the king in his interaction with the world around him. There is a great emphasis on war and succession, two key crisis moments for ancient Near Eastern monarchs. While the Neo-Assyrian oracles focus on these two areas using a lot of metaphors, the Old Babylonian texts from Mari also show an interest in the diplomatic relationships of the king.


In all literary genres, the lyric poem is the least changeable. Its themes are rooted in the continuity of human subjectivity and from antiquity has assumed a connection between privacy and universality. Poetry reminds us of what we are inside; the facts of history tell us what has surrounded who we are. When I wrote "Pot Roast," I was reporting on what I saw out the window: no living thing. That was real. But other parts of the poem, like lifting my fork, never happened. Even tasting the things I say I taste . . . I never tasted them. I merely copied the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, which was the only cookbook my mother had in our house. So I did lean on the real, but the urgency of the poem doesn't really depend on it. – Mark Strand


A 3 dimensional (3D) error diffusion method based on edge detection for flat panel display (FPD) is presented. The new method diffuses errors to the neighbor pixels in current frame and the neighbor pixel in the next frame. And the weights of error filters are dynamically adjusted based on the results of edge detection in each pixel's processing, which makes the weights coincide with the local edge feathers of input image. The proposed method can reduce worm artifacts and improve reproduction precision of image details.


The accompanying illustration of a modification of the older gastro-enterostomy clamp is more or less self explanatory. The purpose of the shelf is simply to hold the bulging stomach away from the line of suturing, thus aiding in the actual performance of the gastro-enterostomy. For his aid in the design credit goes to Mr. Richard Grounds, who always has been cooperative in matters of this kind.


Aims. We study the links possibly existing between the lithium content of bright giant stars and their rotational velocity. Methods. We performed a spectral analysis of 145 bright giant stars (luminosity class II) spanning the spectral range from F3 to K5. All these stars have homogeneous rotational velocity measurements available in the literature. Results. For all the stars of the sample, we provide consistent lithium abundances (A Li ), effective temperatures (T eff ), projected rotational velocity (u sin i), mean metallicity ([Fe/H]), stellar mass, and an indication of the stellar multiplicity. The gradual decrease in lithium abundance with T eff is confirmed for bright giant stars, and it points to a dilution factor that is at least as significant as in giant stars. From the F to K spectral types, the A Li spans at least three orders of magnitude, reflecting the effects of stellar mass and evolution on dilution. Conclusions. We find that the behavior of A Li as a function of v sin i in bright giant stars presents the same trend as is observed in giants and subgiants: stars with high A Li are moderate or fast rotators, while stars with low A Li show a wide range of v sin i values.


This paper, in four sections, discusses four related aspects of the Shengmeng ge, a debate poem translated into Chinese by Giulio Aleni in collaboration with Zhang Gen in Fujian in 1637. The first section focuses on the formative stages of the Shengmeng ge and how its antecedents were later transformed into the Royal Debate in Britain, from which were taken the Latin original of the Shengmeng ge, generally known as the Visio Sancti Bernardi, yet written by an unknown British priest at the turn of the twelfth century, and its counterpart in Medieval English. The second section explores the translated text against the Visio Sancti Bernardi and finds that Aleni did translate it "roughly" primarily due to the limitations of Chinese prosody. The Visio Sancti Bernardi is generally supposed to be the most popular debate poem between the body and soul in Medieval Europe, and the Shengmeng ge can be taken as the first rendered and thus transported poem from England into China. The third section considers the reception of the Shengmeng ge in China and focuses on Chinese Christians' response to the translated poem as expressed in their prefaces and epilogues. The Christians' initial responses to this poem were highly influenced by traditional Chinese attitudes toward dreaming. Thus the Chinese topos of "life as a dream" is echoed in those readings of the Shengmeng ge. This notwithstanding, as Christian readers interpreted more closely the translated song, their views changed to more closely approximate Western understandings of the Visio Sancti Bernardi: The poem was composed primarily to reflect the Christian fear of the Last Judgment. The final section returns to the British development of the poetic debate between body and soul. In addition to comparing Chinese and Western dream literatures, this section relocates the Visio Sancti Bernardi in the context of English metaphysical poetry in the seventeenth century, since no translated debate poems other than the Shegmeng ge can be found in imperial China.


This paper deals with industrial application of numerical method to the prediction of aerodynamic load during the new rail vehicle development. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and professional CFD codes are used to obtain flow parameters to optimize lots of prototype designs. This approach allows simulating external and internal aerodynamics and flow through main components of new electric locomotive. This contribution is brief overview of both possibilities to modelling real locomotive traffic regimes and our results in simulation of existing aerodynamic and thermodynamic effects.


– A new theoretical approach was applied to model the Stark effect in the circular polarized electric field for rare gases He, Ne, Ar and Kr. Calculations of the shifts and splitting of the energy levels of rare gases in the electric field were carried out with computer program package STARKD. The regularities of the shifts and splitting of the energy levels in the circular polarized electric field are studied. Dependencies of the dynamic Stark effect on the frequency and strength of the electric field are investigated. The obtained results can be applied to the plasma produced by both a high-frequency discharge and an optical excitation.


[15933-59-2] C4H15NSi2 (MW 133.38)

InChI = 1S/C4H15NSi2/c1-6(2)5-7(3)4/h5-7H,1-4H3

InChIKey = NQCZAYQXPJEPDS-UHFFFAOYSA-N

(intramolecular hydrosilation of allyl alcohols, homoallyl alcohols, and homopropargyl alcohols for the regio- and stereoselective synthesis of polyols)

Physical Data: bp 99–100 °C; n20D 1.4040; d 0.752 g cm−3.

Solubility: common organic solvents.

Form Supplied in: neat liquid.

Handling, Storage, and Precautions: moisture sensitive but no special precautions necessary for handling in the air for a short period of time. May be stored under nitrogen in a tightly capped bottle in a refrigerator. Use in a fume hood.


Background. Data allowing to estimate the impact of postoperative radiotherapy on the possibility of prosthetic breast reconstruction with silicone implants or tissue expanders are mainly presented in single-level retrospective cohort studies.
Material and methods. We searched for scientific papers in English published from January 1, 2000 to September 30, 2018 in the PubMed/MEDLINE database. The study parameters included demographic data, the method of breast reconstruction, information about adjuvant radiotherapy parameters, the incidence of postoperative complications.
Results and discussion. Having studied the data about immediate prosthetic breast reconstruction with silicone implant or a tissue expander performed after mastectomy in 3,654 breast cancer patients. The complications after surgery were reported in 40% of all clinical observations. In 15% of cases, the specialists stopped the attempts to perform breast reconstruction. In general, the aesthetic results of immediate prosthetic breast reconstruction performed before postop radiotherapy are far from being perfect. Nevetheless, most patients are satisfied with them after the surgery.
Conclusion. Adjuvant radiotherapy has a negative impact on the results of immediate prosthetic breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Despite this, the need for radiotherapy should not be regarded as an absolute contraindication for the immediate breast reconstruction with silicone implants and tissue expanders.


There is a marked paucity of statistical evidence of endocrine incidence in general medicine. The intent of this publication is to offer data concerning the various types of glandular imbalance among delinquent children and the increase of these delinquencies as they occur at a most important and critical period of endocrine balance, namely, adolescence. By many it has been assumed that this association represents a direct causal relationship. At this time no attempt will be made either to confirm or disprove this contention.


This paper proposes a novel general label aggregation method for both binary and multi-class labeling in crowdsourcing, namely Bi-Layer Clustering (BLC), which clusters two layers of features - the conceptual-level and the physical-level features - to infer true labels of instances. BLC first clusters the instances using the conceptual-level features extracted from their multiple noisy labels and then performs clustering again using the physical-level features. It can facilitate tracking the uncertainty changes of the instances, so that the integrated labels that are likely to be falsely inferred on the conceptual layer can be easily corrected using the estimated labels on the physical layer. Experimental results on two real-world crowdsourcing data sets show that BLC outperforms seven state-of-the-art methods.


hand understood as pointing out factuality or presence: quod erat demonstrandum (386; cf. 13). Historically the language factor is found to explain how the resultant essentialist conception has occasioned the two recent extremes that have rendered being either meaningless or a mystery. Only through that historical study, the book concludes (386-87), will one come to understand why the problematic is not illusory and why the question about being cannot be made to vanish from philosophical inquiry. From the historical viewpoint one may well accept the author 's conclusions as incisive, convincing and important. Philosophically, however, a reader may be left wondering why the doctrine of Aquinas on being made so little impression, and why Aquinas was regarded merely as the promoter (der F6rderer, 295 ) o f Aristotelianism. One is tempted to ask if the author himself is not thoroughly in the grip of the univocity he traces so skillfully. Though recognizing (192) that with Aquinas the differentiating "modes" cannot be abstracted f rom the basic notion of being, he nevertheless regards the mind's initial object as "completely without analogy" (vollstiindig analogielos, 955), allowing no common core-meaning (ke/ne gemeinsame Kernbedeutung, 382) that would have importance. Analogy, for the author, seems always to presuppose a basic content and an added relation. But would not this mean that in analogy one basically univocal notion has to be related in various ways to its instances? With regard to being, would not the conception that what is most essential to a created thing lies outside the thing's finite nature, render ing the mind's most basic notion multisignificant in its own way f rom the start, be thereby lost? Perhaps it will inevitably be missed in any approach solely f rom language. In this perspective 'analogous' may be a deceptive term, suggesting as it does the two presupposed notions of basic content and subsequent relation. In any case, Aquinas' conception of being as the initial object of human intellection calls for much fur ther study. These remarks do not detract f rom the value of the book within its own set objectives. Limpid in style, its discussions are lively and stimulating from start to finish. The volume is neatly produced, and is almost entirely free from typographical errors. It is equipped with lists o f pr imary sources (389-94) and of secondary literature (395-41 o), and with indexes of persons (411-18) and of subjects (419-~3). JOSEPH OWENS Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies


I investigated foraging behavior and competition for food between Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) and Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) in southern Texas. Turkey Vultures usually located carcasses first, but often were displaced by later-arriving Black Vultures, which used local enhancement to locate the carcasses. Turkey Vultures occurred equally frequently at carcasses of all sizes, but Black Vultures were more likely to visit large carcasses (>5 kg) than small ones. In addition, at very large carcasses (> 100 kg), Black Vultures outnumbered Turkey Vultures. Turkey Vultures apparently depend primarily on small items, which they can consume quickly before Black Vultures usurp them. Both vulture species roost communally and it has been suggested that their roosts may function as information centers. However, because recent research indicates that the information-center hypothesis is unlikely to be a sufficient explanation for communal roosting in vultures, I explored other possible foraging benefits of communal roosting. Specifically, I incorporated field data col- lected on the foraging behavior of vultures into two simulation models designed to evaluate the possibility that communal roosting facilitates the use of local enhancement by roost members, either by promoting the formation of foraging groups (the assembly-point hy- pothesis) or by concentrating birds in space (the spatial-concentration hypothesis). I conclude that birds depending on spatial-concentration effects occasionally may forage more success- fully than noncommunally roosting individuals, but those that form foraging groups do best. Thus, communal roosting may be advantageous because it facilitates the formation of foraging groups. Received 29 September 1995, accepted 10 December 1995.


In the current Internet, the QoS of interactive applications is hardly guaranteed because of variable bandwidth, packet loss and delay. Moreover, VoIP which is becoming an important part of the information infra-structure in these days, is susceptible to network packet loss and end-to-end delay. Therefore, it needs error control mechanisms in network level or application level. The FEC-based error control mechanisms are used for interactive audio application such as VoIP. The FEC sends a main information along with redundant information to recover the lost packets and adjusts redundant information depending on network conditions to reduce the bandwidth overhead. However, because most of the error control mechanisms do not consider end-to-end delay but packet loss rate, their performances are poor. In this paper, we propose a new error control algorithm, SCCRP, considering packet loss rate as well as end-to-end delay. Through experiments, we confirm that the SCCRP has a lower packet loss rate and a lower end-to-end delay after reconstruction.


Photoacoustic (PA) effect is a sensitive spectroscopic technique for chemical sensing. In recent years, with the development of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), significant progress has been achieved for PA sensing applications. Using high-power, tunable mid-IR QCLs as laser sources, PA chemical sensor systems have demonstrated parts-pertrillion- level detection sensitivity. Many of these high sensitivity measurements were demonstrated locally in PA cells. Recently, we have demonstrated standoff PA detection of isopropanol vapor for more than 41 feet distance using a quantum cascade laser and a microphone with acoustic reflectors. We also further demonstrated solid phase TNT detections at a standoff distance of 8 feet. To further calibrate the detection sensitivity, we use nerve gas simulants that were generated and calibrated by a commercial vapor generator. Standoff detection of gas samples with calibrated concentration of 2.3 ppm was achieved at a detection distance of more than 2 feet. An extended detection distance up to 14 feet was observed for a higher gas concentration of 13.9 ppm. For field operations, array of microphones and microphone-reflector pairs can be utilized to achieve noise rejection and signal enhancement. We have experimentally demonstrated that the signal and noise spectra of the 4 microphone/4 reflector system with a combined SNR of 12.48 dB. For the 16-microphone and one reflector case, an SNR of 17.82 was achieved. These successful chemical sensing demonstrations will likely create new demands for widely tunable QCLs with ultralow threshold (for local fire-alarm size detection systems) and high-power (for standoff detection systems) performances.


DSM programs focusing on peak demand reduction in Korea have been implemented and at present time, try to reduce 4,000 MW amounting to 7% of 54,631 MW peak demand in 2005. The longterm power development plan is going to raise the goal of DSM program peak reduction to 11,000MW, 13% level of peak demand in 2020. Most of the DSM programs were focused on reduce peak demand in summer period using interruptible and voluntary programs. The current peak cutting programs consist of traditional billing incentive program and DLC for large customer. The latter is expected fundamental change in DSM programs during wholesale competition. In addition, this program initiated by government at the first stage will be moving towards DSM bidding in the electricity market during improvement of competition. The Korean government focus on maintain supply adequacy and mitigate price volatility in electricity market. So the DSM programs which obtaining demand-side resource are set as a priority of electricity policy. The key factors in DSM programs are evaluation of peak load potential by program during resource planning period. Most of peak load programs target cover large customer in commercial and industrial sector. At first, this paper suggest to approach analyze on demand resource assessment by end-use and identify achievable load potential by measures before implementation. And we estimate program potential during peak load period for the customer by several end-use like HVAC, lighting, driver, inverter, pump etc. And then we forecast DSM resource by suggesting methodologies by program during horizon years. Finally, we suggest the implementation process and DSM goal setting mechanisms considering program portfolio and cost effectiveness under constraints like supply option, budget etc. The objective of this paper is to assess DSM program potential for power development planning in Korea. This paper focused on demand reduction and energy saving estimation during the planning horizon more than 10 years. Our study relied on an analysis of historic annual data and demand forecast before DSM by government sources including in progress data of planning committee. The first step in the analysis is to develop a forecasting approach of peak reduction and energy saving by programs. Next is to conduct a simulation by alternative scenarios. Finally we suggest DSM performance target for long term resource plan. For these purpose new measurement & evaluation mechanism is being prepared for evaluating programs. It is required that the direction and goal of DSM programs should incorporate sustaining reduction of the peak load for preparing electricity supply/demand imbalance and expanding energy efficiency program for energy conservation and environment issues. Under this background, establishing goal and implementation mechanism of DSM should be preceded and developing effective program and strategy for achieving the above goals become major emerging issues in electricity industry. In particular, since the government wants to maintain adequate DSM resources through DSM investment, it is necessary to develop a new approach and program based on supply/demand balance analysis reflecting demand resource.


Since the passage of the welfare reform bill in 1996, the issue of moving single mothers from welfare to work has been a policy priority. Yet there has always been a formidable obstacle in attempting to achieve this goal the lack of affordable, dependable, and decent quality child care for such families. Examining this fundamental problem is the central theme behind Putting Children First by Ajay Chaudry. As Chaudry states, "With the changes following welfare reform leading to more single mothers working and with a continuing shortage of child care funds, what are low-income mothers doing about child care?" Chapter 1 begins by providing an overview and background of the study. The sample consisted of 42 low-income single mother families in New York City. They were evenly divided between African-American and Latina women. At the time of first contact, mothers had a child between the ages of 2 and 3, and all were employed at low wage jobs. They were then followed over the course of two to three years. During this time the women in the study moved in and out of different jobs as well as different types of child care arrangements. Chaudry conducted at least three semistructured in-depth interviews with each mother during the study period, along with more informal conversations and participant observation to document how their situations changed over time. The interview material is then used throughout the chapters in order to provide insight and understanding into the problems and issues facing these women as they juggle their child care needs with their employment needs. Chapter 2 looks at the types of child care arrangements that mothers made for their young children. Often times they had to settle for whatever they could find in a relatively short period of time, rather than what they would have preferred. Their options were severely constrained by the care that was available in their communities, what they could afford, and what they could quickly arrange as they transitioned to work. The types of child care most commonly used were kin and informal care, family day care, center-based care, and father care arrangements. Chapter 3 examines the spell dynamics of child care use. Chaudry finds that the length of each child care spell is relatively short 7.5 months on average. In addition, a majority of children experienced five or more primary nonmaternal care spells between the ages of 0 and 4. One of the major reasons for the frequency and short term nature of these spells was the inherent instability and changing circumstances that mothers faced at work as well as in other aspects of their lives. Throughout the book, Chaudry constructs several timelines that graphically illustrate the fluctuating circumstances of work, child care, and housing for specific families. Chapter 4 details the concerns that mothers expressed regarding their children's child care arrangements. These included having to start a child too early in care, the difficulty in finding a first child care arrangement, and children spending too much time in child care as well as being in too many different


Digital holographic interferometry using three different illumination directions is applied to quantify in full field of view the deformation of an elastic membrane under a given vibration frequency. The technique allows the separation of the object microdisplacements components in the x, y, and z directions, and the resulting data is used to find the membrane Young's modulus. The latter was compared with the result obtained using the theory of thin plates for a clamped circular membrane under a uniformly distributed load, reaching a 95% agreement. Validation of the results between these methods shows the reliability of DHI to measure the mechanical properties of an elastic material.


Frankincense preparations, used in folk medicine to cure inflammatory diseases, showed anti-inflammatory effectiveness in animal models and clinical trials. Boswellic acids (BAs) constitute major pharmacological principles of frankincense, but their targets and the underlying molecular modes of action are still unclear. Using a BA-affinity Sepharose matrix, a 26-kDa protein was selectively precipitated from human neutrophils and identified as the lysosomal protease cathepsin G (catG) by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) and by immunological analysis. In rigid automated molecular docking experiments BAs tightly bound to the active center of catG, occupying the same part of the binding site as the synthetic catG inhibitor JNJ-10311795 (2-[3-{methyl[1-(2-naphthoyl)pi-peridin-4-yl]amino}carbonyl)-2-naphthyl]-1-(1-naphthyl)-2-oxoethylphosphonic acid). BAs potently suppressed the proteolytic activity of catG (IC 50 of (cid:1) 600 nM) in a competitive and reversible manner. Related serine proteases were significantly less sensitive against BAs (leukocyte elastase, chymotrypsin, proteinase-3) or not affected (tryptase, chymase). BAs inhibited chemoinvasion but not chemotaxis of challenged neutrophils, and they suppressed Ca in human platelets induced by isolated catG catG released activated neutrophils. of defined frankincense extracts significantly catG activities in human blood ex vivo vs placebo. is a functional and pharmacologically relevant of BAs, interference with could explain some of the anti-inflammatory properties of frankincense. Journal of Immunology, 2009, 183: 0000–0000.


A high-frequency antenna unit for a magnetic resonance apparatus (10) includes a high-frequency antenna (22) and a shield unit (24). The shield unit (24), the high-frequency antenna (22), or a combination thereof is formed at least partially from a composite material. The composite material includes at least one electrically conducting material and at least one electrically non-conducting material.


Sulfur hexafluoride has been found to be completely inert toward O(1D2) even in the liquid state, thus being quite suitable as a solvent for reactions of the O(1D2) atom. The reaction between O(1D2) and C2H6 was studied in high-pressure as well as liquid SF6. The limiting quantum yield of C2H5OH was found to be 0.67 in the high pressure limit and as large as 0.88 in the liquid state.


Snow avalanches are among the most important disturbances that affect mountain eco- systems, influencing forest dynamics, establishment and mortality processes. At the same time, for- ests can affect the likelihood of avalanche release and can thus protect human settlements and infra- structures. The forest protective role is largely a function of forest stand structure, snow characteristics and topography. Starting from winter 2003/2004 the snowpack evolution within forested areas of the Aosta Valley (Italy) has been monitored, in order to increase the present knowledge on complex relationship between for- est and snowpack. Since 2005, a specific research was carried out focused on detection and analysis of those ava- lanches that released within forested areas. First, an analysis of the Regional Avalanches Cadaster of the Aosta Valley was done to determine the number of avalanches, about 5 %, with a starting zone located into forested areas. Afterwards, 15 sites were chosen to compare forest characteristics with neighbouring areas located at same altitude, aspect and slope, where no avalanches occurred. The resulting data were used to evaluate the minimum requirement for selected parameters (e.g. tree den- sity, basal area, canopy cover) that a forest must have in order to supply the protective function with respect to avalanche release and snowpack conditions derived from Avalanches Bulletin of Aosta Val- ley. By increasing the current data-base, it might be possible to relate forest structural characteristics to the reduction of snowpack instability. As defense measure from avalanches, in some cases it should be preferable to use sustainable practices such as suitable silvicultural approach instead of traditional and permanent defence structures.


We investigate the Kolmogorov entropy of a peculiar family of area-preserving mappingsfor which the magnitude a of the nonlinear perturbation and the number n of its Fouriercomponents are varied. For large n|a|, the numerical results are analytically explained.


Resveratrol is natural phytoalexin with pronounced therapeutic and prophylactic properties, it is part of the grape skin composition. However, due to the fact that it  is in a bound state, the use of it by organism significantly reduced. Therefore,  for the extraction of  resveratrol is a need to use the enzyme preparations. The purpose of this study is maximize the recovery of resveratrol from the grape skin.
During ripening of grape, the mass concentration of resveratrol increases, and the maximum value is reached in the Caberno Sauvignan variety - 467 mg / dm3. In all experiments on the extraction of resveratrol from grape squeeze by the strain Aspergillus awamori F-RKM 0719 and the enzyme preparation Pectinol F-RKM 0719 an increase in the quantity of resveratrol is observed. In experiments with Caberno Sauvignan, the amount of resveratrol was maximal and increased from 392.66 control sample, when using the strain Aspergillus awamori F-RKM 0719 - 497.66, and when resveratrol was extracted by the enzyme preparation Pectinol F-RKM 0719  - 699.62 mg / dm3 .
Studies have shown the possibility of using the Caberno Sauvienne grape variety and the enzyme preparation Pectinol F-RKM 0719, which significantly increases the amount of  extracted resveratrol.
Keywords: resveratrol, enzyme preparation Pectinol F-RKM 0719, strain Aspergillus awamori F-RKM 0719, fermented juice.


In this note we define circular k-successions in permutations in one-line notation and count permutations that avoid substrings j(j+k) and j(j+k) (mod n). We also count circular permutations that avoid such substrings, and show that for substrings j(j+k) (mod n), the number of permutations depends on whether n is prime, and more generally, on whether n and k are relatively prime.


Last two decades gad witnessed a lot of research in the field of Speech Recognition and in the field of Human Computer Interaction. At present time, Speech Recognition is spreading with a great speed in most of the fields like in daily use as well as in commercial use. At present time, research is mainly focused on its use in effective way so that this technology could be used with its full efficiency. Presented paper discusses all the main aspects of Speech Technology. Presented paper will help newcomers in this field in order to improve their knowledge related to this technology. Paper presents brief introduction to speech technology along with some of the approaches/techniques used. Paper also discusses some of the applications of this technology along with some its issues. Paper also discusses about Voice Command Based Interpretation. Paper helps in understanding the Speech technology and its different aspects related to different research areas.


This article expounded cotton textile industry need many kinds quality primary cotton.Analyse Chineese cotton varieties cruuent situation and problems from two aspects of exterior and interior quality.The shortcoming of interior quality is fibry quality kind single.fibre stregthen vuniversal low.The problems of exterior quality is dry and withered leaves and bud leaves stamied.The author put forward corresponding methods to counter these problems.


With the advent of the pandemic (e.g., novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19)), a tremendous amount of data about individuals are collected by the health authorities on daily basis for curbing the disease's spread. The individuals' data collection/processing at a massive scale for community well-being with the help of digital solutions (e.g., mobile apps for mobility and proximity analysis, contact tracing through credit card usage history, facial recognition through cameras, and crowd analysis using cellular networks data etc.) raise several privacy concerns. Furthermore, the privacy concerns that are arising mainly due to the fine-grained data collection has hindered the response to tackle this pandemic in many countries. Hence, acquiring/handling individuals data with privacy protection has become a vibrant area of research in these pandemic times. This paper explains the shift in privacy paradigm due to the pandemic (e.g., COVID-19) which involves more and detailed data collection about individuals including locations and demographics. We explain technical factors due to which the people's privacy is at higher risk in the COVID-19 time. In addition, we discuss privacy concerns in different epidemic control measures (ECMs) (e.g., contact tracing, quarantine monitoring, and symptoms reporting etc.) employed by the health authorities to tackle this disease. Further, we provide an insight on the data management in the ECMs with privacy protection. Finally, the future prospects of the research in this area tacking into account the emerging technologies are discussed. Through this brief article, we aim to provide insights about the vulnerability to user's privacy in pandemic times, likely privacy issues in different ECMs adopted by most countries around the world, how to preserve user's privacy effectively in all phases of the ECMs considering relevant data in loop, and conceptual foundations of ECMs to fight with future pandemics in a privacy preserving manner.


When infection of the respiratory tract occurs, it can be assumed that the organisms will generally have reached the recipient at the start of the incubation period of the disease, and have come from the nose or throat of another human being who is actively infected or is a carrier. The mechanism by which this transfer is brought about must be highly efficient because some at least of these diseases are extremely infectious. But although there are theories in plenty purporting to explain how they are transmitted, fiction rather than fact plays all too large a part in their formulation. It may, therefore, prove useful if I discuss the matter in some detail. I think we can assume that, however it is effected, transmission will almost always involve three distinct and largely independent steps: The first is the egress of the organisms into the outside world; the second involves their survival and transportation to the nasal orifices or lips of another person; and the third is their passage from these portals of entry to their site of multiplication in the nose, throat or lungs. I shall say very little about the third of these steps. For many years it was firmly believed that it followed contact between a contaminated object and-the nose or lips of the recipient. But although this can occur, it is more probable that the


[1] We present corrected computations of the infrared power and energy radiated by nitric oxide (NO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) during the solar storm event of April 2002. The computations in our previous paper underestimated the radiated power due to improper weighting of the radiated power and energy with respect to area as a function of latitude. We now find that the radiation by NO during the April 2002 storm period accounts for 50% of the estimated energy input to the atmosphere from the solar storm. The prior estimate was 28.5%. Emission computed for CO2 is also correspondingly increased, but the relative roles of CO2 and NO remain unchanged. NO emission enhancement is still, far and away, the dominant infrared response to the solar storms of April 2002.


Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders in the USA. Recent statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services indicate that approximately 7 million people suffer from this disease in the USA alone. Although GERD affects people during the day as well as at night, night-time reflux events can be more problematic than those in the daytime. This is mainly due to pathophysiological factors that are exacerbated when the patient is in the supine position and asleep. Interrupted sleep patterns, and increased risk of oesophageal and respiratory complications, can contribute to a poor overall quality of life. In addition, GERD can have a negative impact on work productivity. This issue, coupled with the rising costs of healthcare, can lead to a significant economic burden on society. The perspectives presented in this supplement to Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics represent the deliberations of the Therapeutics and Research in Gastroenterology's Emerging Topics (TARGET) Working Group, addressing these issues related to night-time reflux. In the first article of the supplement, the authors discuss the impact of night-time reflux on quality of life. The article details generic and disease-specific healthrelated quality of life tools, including the GERD-HRQL assessment, the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Gallup survey. They also briefly discuss the pharmacological effectiveness of proton pump inhibitors over H2-receptor antagonists for overall quality of life improvement. The second article addresses specific areas such as the pathogenesis of GERD, including transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxations, lower oesophageal sphincter pressure abnormalities, impaired mucosal defensive factors, the association between GERD and hiatal hernia, poor oesophageal clearance, delayed gastric emptying, and genetic predisposition in reflux disease. The third article in this supplement provides an in-depth view of the pathogenesis of the supra-oesophageal complications of GERD including asthma, laryngeal disorders, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic cough, frequent throat clearing, globus pharyngeus, and their optimal management. The fourth article provides a thorough review of sleep and its derangement in GERD. The article also explores physiological changes related to sleep that lead to longer oesophageal acid-clearance and mucosal-acid contact time during the nocturnal hours. The fifth article describes and compares the oesophageal complications due to night-time and daytime reflux events, including erosive and ulcerative oesophagitis, stricture formation and bleeding. Furthermore, the article provides thought-provoking information on the incidence of GERD and its relationship with Barrett's oesophagus, as well as the relationship between Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Finally, the effect of Helicobacter pylori on GERD and its possible complications are also discussed. The final article of this supplement explores the diagnosis and management of the consequences of night-time reflux events. The article provides an insightful discussion of GERD management approaches, including lifestyle modifications and the use of over-thecounter and prescription medications, as well as the difficulties in comparing the effectiveness of the various proton pump inhibitors. GERD continues to be a serious public health concern, thus it is important to raise awareness about its lessrecognized complications and disseminate newer information on its management and, as importantly, on specific issues such as the significant impact of nighttime reflux events on quality of life, as well as on the pathogenesis of oesophageal and supra-oesophageal complications of GERD. The TARGET Working Group hopes that this supplement provides a practical perspective on these issues and a useful guide to their diagnosis and management.


Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a disease of the hematopoietic system, characterized by the presence of the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein. The main characteristics of this disease include adhesion independence, growth factor independence, and resistance to apoptosis. Loss or mutation of the tumor suppressor gene, p53, is one of the most frequent secondary mutations in CML blast crisis. The transition between chronic phase and blast crisis is associated with increased resistance to apoptosis correlating with poor prognosis. This review focuses on the involvement of these two oncoproteins in the development and progression of the apoptotic-resistant phenotype in CML.


The concept of social responsibility of business entities is considered with special focus on responsibility to their own staff, customers and society as a whole. Examples are given of blatant social irresponsibility of marketing and advertising in the industrialized countries and Ukraine. Attention is drawn to the fact that especially great damage was inflicted on society by some major U.S. banks and EU countries, producers of beer and other alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, medicines, foodstuffs. A conclusion was drawn that the concept of socially responsible marketing, based only on business owners' growing awareness and social initiatives can not be implemented on a large scale without effective state regulation. The population is proved to be doomed to exploitation by socially irresponsible businesses, moral and physical degradation and even extinction in countries whose economies do not provide an adequate level of state regulation of social responsibility of business entities.


C 60 fullerene may crystallize from benzene solutions as thin yellow plates, whose morphology has suggested the existence of a hcp modification. By means of single crystal X-ray diffraction, we show that these plates crystallize in the cubic system. Surprisingly, these plates do not exhibit the phase transition near 260K. Nevertheless, the existence of a hcp variety cannot be discarded since scanning electron microscopy reveals the presence of hexagonal prims in a sample made of pure C 60 powder


As previously demonstrated, acute pancreatitis can be regarded as a hyper catabolism state and nutrition plays a key role in the treatment of this disease. When patient's food intake is limited because of pancreatic pain, organ failure or other, an adapted nutrition support should be initiated early in the management of acute pancreatitis in order to decrease mortality and morbidity. Numerous meta-analyses addressing this issue have been published and the most appropriate modalities for artificial nutrition are now wellestablished. Compared to parenteral nutrition, enteral nutrition has been shown to have a greater clinical benefit in patients with acute pancreatitis reducing the risk of developing both, pancreatic infections and multiple organ failure. Enteral nutrition may attenuate the mucosal barrier breakdown and subsequent bacterial translocation. It also may increase the intestinal motility and decrease bacterial overgrowth. The international guidelines recommend that enteral nutrition in acute pancreatitis should be administered via either the nasojejunal or nasogastric route but the choice of the location should not delay the nutritional support. Either elemental or polymeric enteral nutrition formulations can be used in acute pancreatitis.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the PTSD scale (K-PTSD) for measuring attitudes and knowledge of PTSD. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The K-PTSD scale consisted of 8 items for attitudes, 8 items for general knowledge of PTSD, and 3 items for knowledge of PTSD treatment; 211 nursing students and paramedic students participated. Content validity, item analysis, and factor analysis were used to examine the construct validity. Criterion validity was tested by using educational experience with PTSD as a criterion. Cronbach's α was used to identify internal consistency reliability in the attitude scale. Results: Construct validity of the K-PTSD was verified by exploratory factor analysis, with factor loadings for attitude ranging from .59 to .84. Criterion validity in comparing knowledge of PTSD (t=2.02, p=.044) and PTSD treatment (t=3.19, p=.022) showed a significant difference according to PTSD educational experience. Cronbach's α for the attitude scale was .79 and .59. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the K-PTSD is a valid and reliable tool that can measure attitudes and knowledge of PTSD among nursing and paramedic students. However, further study is needed to retest the verification of this scale with more diverse participants.


The use of antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP's) has become under pressure more and more due to the fear that their intensive use in the feed of livestock leads to the formation of resistance against pathogenic bacteria in humans. This increasing pressure and the decision of the European Union to reduce or even to ban AGP's, has initiated intense research on safe and efficient alternatives. Plant extracts, more commonly known as essential oils, have been used for centuries in Chinese herbal medicine. They have been used for many years also in human food, but now more and more they find their way into animal nutrition as possible alternatives for AGP's, although with inconsistent results (VOGT et al., 1989; LANGHOUT, 2000; SMINK, 2000; WILLIAMS and LOSA, 2001; CROSS et al., 2002; 2003; SIRVYDIS et al., 2003). Plant extracts are known to promote feed intake (mainly due to their appetizing flavour or aroma) and digestive enzyme production, to enhance the immune system as well as to destroy pathogens (bacteriostatic and fungistatic effects) (KAMEL, 2000; MELLOR, 2000). The concentration of bioactive compounds can vary significantly from one botanical source to another (KAMEL, 2000). So, it is believed that a combination of plant extracts provides their greatest effect. The effect of a homogeneous blend of natural and nature identical plant extracts, evenly distributed into micro-granules and protected by a double coating process, named RepaXolTM, was tested in the present trial. The plant extracts used in this product originated from oregano, cinnamon, thyme and capsicum with the main active components being carvacrol, cinnamic aldehyde, thymol, capsaicin and eugenol. Carvacrol is known to inhibit the metabolism of the microbial cell wall (SMINK, 2000). Cinnamic aldehyde and eugenol stimulate appetite and digestion and are antiseptic (KAMEL, 2000). An antioxidant activity is linked to cinnamon and thymol and capsaicin is found to act anti-inflammatory (KAMEL, 2000). Organic acids also have been examined as alternatives for AGP's. They have been used extensively for more than 25 years in swine production, but more recently also in


Painting of the central choir window at Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. Watercolor sketch by Edgar W. Jenny; The Assumption from the central choir window, Saint Maria Novella, Florence. Top third is reproduced in Charled J. Connick's Adventures in Light and Color, page 114, (and depicts scenes of the life of young Christ).


Abstract Monument Avenue, a national historic landmark in Richmond, Virginia, has long been famous for its grand portrait monuments honouring local Civil War "heroes." In 1996, the memorial landscape changed radically with the addition of a bronze portrait statue of Arthur Ashe, a black American who was honoured for his accomplishments as an international tennis star, an author, and a humanitarian. The location and the design of Ashe's portrait monument generated heated debate, and its ultimate inclusion on Monument Avenue was an attempt to challenge the traditional meaning of the space as a memorial to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. In this article I trace how the racialised narrative of Monument Avenue has been constructed, challenged, upheld, and mediated throughout its long and troubled history. I begin by looking to antiquity both as a framework for understanding how statues have historically worked to construct and challenge cultural narratives and as a means of placing viewer reactions to portrait monuments in a broader historical context. Against this background, I argue that the portrait statue of Arthur Ashe ultimately failed to establish an effective counter-narrative to the traditional interpretation of Monument Avenue as a celebration of a white, Confederate past. Finally, I suggest that repeated small-scale interventions, often in the form of graffiti, have been more successful in confronting, mediating, and challenging the visual message Confederate monuments continue to embody.


The potential bioterror agent Francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis (F. tularensis) is an intracellular human pathogen and the causative agent of tularemia. As an invasive pathogen, Francisella invades host cells; occupies and escapes membrane bound vacuoles; replicates in the host cytosol; then initiates their release to infect other cells. Tularemia begins when bacteria invade the phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells of the host. While nonphagocytic cell colonization contributes significantly to disease, the process is poorly understood. In this thesis, I identify and characterize key proteins in the invasion and vacuole escape stages of the non-phagocytic cell infection process. In chapter 2, I evaluated Francisella in vitro cell culture infection models present in the literature side-by-side with the model our lab developed using the murine surrogate of F. tularensis, F. tularensis subspecies novicida (F. novicida) and murine cultured hepatocytes. I found compared to other models, our model most accurately reflected colonization levels seen in vivo. In chapter 3 and chapter 4, I investigated bacterial proteins involved in invasion and vacuole escape. I screened a F. novicida transposon mutant library using our infection model for microbes deficient in bacterial replication. Using bioinformatics, I searched for invasion-deficient transposon mutants inactivated in Francisella surface proteins to screen for proteins that could interact with the host cell surface. I then tested ability of selected surface protein mutants to cause tularemia-induced mortality in mice. I showed that bacteria inactivated in two genes caused no disease in mice and protected mice as live-vaccines against a wild-type F. novicida challenge. One gene I identified as Francisella infectivity potentiator A (FipA). I presented evidence that FipA enables bacteria to escape the vacuole using both florescence and electron microscopy. The next gene I identified, characterized, and named Francisella virulence factor A (FvfA). I demonstrated that FvfA is a bacterial surface-exposed ligand that exploits host clathrin-mediated endocytosis for entry using functional assays and dot blots. Lastly, I crystallized FvfA and compared FvfA to its structural homolog, E. coli RcsF. Taken together, I described two virulence factors, FipA and FvfA, that are critical for the initial stages of the Francisella non-phagocytic cell infection process and consequently, tularemia-effected death.


The Hexabiblos is a manual of Byzantine civil law, written in the year 1345 by Constantinus Harmenopoulus. It was in vigour in Greece and had strength of law until the year 1946. The manual is divided in six books and is based on extracts from anterior Byzantine compilations, such as Basilio`s Procheiros Nomos or the Synopsis Basilicorum. Palabras claves: Promptuarium iuris civile, Hexabiblos, Constantinus Harmenopoulus, Procheiros Nomos, Synopsis Basilicorum, Grecia, Dere-


Simulation corresponding with experimental data for self-mixing velocimetry is demonstrated. A novel relationship linking optical feedback strength to harmonic levels in the self-mixing signal is presented.


The influence of continents and oceans plays conceptually the key role in the climate conditions of Europeans regions. Continentality is also an important phytogeographic factor of vegetation distribution in Slovakia. This study analysed continentality development at six meteorological stations in Slovakia during the periods 1951-2013, or 1961-2013. The results showed a slight nonsignificant increase of continentality index during the monitored period of 63 (53) years. Based on the results of CCM 2000 climate model we cannot expect significant changes of continentality by the end of 21 st century, but the climate change will be significantly manifested by the increase of maximum and minimum air temperatures.


This study aims to investigate the role of personal income in the income elasticity of tourism demand and, more specifically, the hypothesis that the richest and poorest individuals both tend to react less to changes in income than middle-class individuals, who tend to be more sensitive. To that end, this study applies different strategies within the context of a gravity model, using yearly data from 1995 to 2016 and bilateral tourism flows between 192 countries. Results show that income elasticity is determined to a significant extent by per capita income in the origin country and they confirm the inverted-U relationship between income elasticity and personal income. The study indicates that middle-income countries are more elastic than low- and high-income ones, while high-income countries display an inelastic or nonsignificant relationship.


Food sounds - sounds that certain foods make during eating through chewing, biting or licking - are key parts of the eating experience. They play an important role in establishing our perception about the palatability of food. We believe interactive technology offers unique opportunities to create novel playful experiences with food by playing with these sounds. In exploring this opportunity, we outline a structure on how we can explore playful sounds and present one case study of a novel interactive food experience: "The singing carrot". The singing carrot generates unique digital sounds while eating a carrot. Ultimately, with our work, we aim to inspire and guide designers working with interactive playful food sound.


The resistance of phase-change-memory (PCM) cells measured during RESET programming (dynamic resistance, Rd) is found to be inversely proportional to the amplitude of the programming current, as Rd = [A/I] + B. We show that parameters A and B are related to the intrinsic properties of the memory cell, and demonstrate by means of experimental data that they could be used to characterize the cell-to-cell process-induced variability of PCM cells.


Ultrasonic pulse measurements in the 3 to 10 mc/sec frequency range were made of shear and dilatational absorption and velocity for three samples of fine grained, homogeneous, and well compacted limestones at atmospheric conditions. The complex moduli of elasticity were calculated for two limestone specimens of different grain size and porosity. A "hysteresis" or "solid‐friction" type of loss for waves of dilatation was found in all three limestone specimens. Shear measurements made in one of the limestones also show a "hysteresis" type of loss. Comparison of the dilatational loss in a single crystal of calcite to the dilatational loss in the limestones indicates that the internal friction for the limestone specimens probably occurs at the grain boundaries.


Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy( LIBS) was used to detect the compositions of soil in the air, and the quantitative analysis model with genetic algorithm-partial least squares( GA-PLS) was established. A total of fifty-eight soil samples were split into calibration,monitoring and prediction sets.Eleven soil compositions including Mn,Cr,Cu,Pb,Ba,Al2O3,Ca O,Fe2O3,Mg O,Na2 O,and K2 O were quantitatively analyzed. The results demonstrated that,as a pretreatment method for optimizing the selection of spectral lines,GA could be effectively used to reduce the number of spectral lines for use in building PLS model,and hence simplify the quantitative analysis model. More importantly,for most of the soil compositions,GA-PLS could significantly improve the prediction ability compared with the conventional PLS model. Take Mn as an example, the root-mean-square error of prediction( RMSEP) was decreased from 0. 0215% to0. 0167%,and the mean percent prediction error( MPE) was decreased from 8. 10% to 5. 20%. The research provides an approach for further improving the accuracy of LIBS quantitative analysis in soil.