During the years 1998 to 2000, 22 maize cultivars (varieties, hybrids and populations) were evaluated in 45 environments of the Brazilian Northeast region, in order to know the adaptability and the stability of those materials for recommendation purposes. The experimental design was random blocks with three repetitions. The combined analysis of variance showed inconsistency in the behavior for the cultivars due to environmental variations. The hybrids showed better adaptation than the varieties and populations, especially Cargill 333 B, AG 1051 and Zeneca 8501, which are viable alternatives for farmers that invest in modern technologies. The varieties Sertanejo, AL 25, Sao Francisco, Sao Vicente, Asa Branca and BR 106 are indicated to the farming systems of the small and medium farmers.


3 feet in from the wall. The posts were in several cases packed with stone and four of the holes produced sherds of the Bronze or Iron Age. There is no evidence of a central post or of a fireplace. Two good stake holes suggest that one part of the outer ring was cut off by partitions running between the posts and the wall. One of these stake holes is overlaid by a later hearth with some paving alongside. This was associated with traces of iron working and is of later date. The finds include a saddle quern, two mullers, various rubbers and whetstones, flints, beach pebbles and several spindle whorls of a very gritty pottery. These were found at a low level and resemble some from Plumpton Plain.5 Over 300 sherds were found at various levels, including fragments of the Late Bronze Age (Deverel-Rimbury type) and Iron Age A pottery like that from Dainton, Devon.6 Huts of this type, with an inner ring of posts supporting the roof have been found on a number of Iron Age sites including Maiden Castle.' In Cornwall they are characteristic of the latest pre-Roman settlement at Castle Dore.8 The form of the roof is well illustrated by the reconstructed drawing reproduced by Dr Peate.9 This more primitive Finnish example shews a conical roof of poles supported on horizontal timbers carried by the upright posts. At Bodrifty they would have rested on the inner edge of the hut wall as in the black houses of the Hebrides.lo D. DUDLEY West Cornwall Field Club. THE ORIGIN OF MAIZE In ANTIQUITY No. 99, p. 157, I made some comments on Mr Carter's article on this subject. In it he mentions a paper by Stonor and Anderson which he regards as striking at the root of the problem. I now wish to call attention to a reply to this paper, which I believe to be a complete refutation of it, by P. C. Mangelsdorf and D. L. Oliver, (Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, vol. 14, no. 10, 1951, pp. 263-91) entitled ' Whence came maize to Asia ? ' Mangelsdorf is well-known as one of the foremost authorities on the origin and genetics of maize, and Oliver is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Harvard. On the botanical side, the main points on which they differ from Stonor and Anderson are as follows :(I) The maize found in the Assamese Hills is not unique among living varieties and comparable only with American fossil varieties. It is still found in America and elsewhere. There is no record of maize in Asia before 1492. The distribution of the varieties of maize in Asia does not imply that it was there before 1492. It can be explained better on the hypothesis of a more recent introduction. (4) The resemblances between sorghum and maize from Assam and from Bat Cave are superficial and of no significance in the argument. On the ethnological side they show that the evidence quoted by Stonor and Anderson to prove the antiquity of maize in Assam has been misinterpreted and does nothing of the kind. G.H. S.B. The lower ends of the poles there rest on the ground.


From the Middle Ages until today Korea and Vietnam have shared a relationship based on the cultural synesthesia of a common script (Chinese characters) and religion (Buddhism) that they both shared with central China and its outlying regions. Prince Ly Long Tuong was a descendant of Vietnam's Ly dynasty who fled to Goryeo when the Ly dynasty was overthrown. Through the historical records and legends about Prince Ly in Ongjin Prefecture in Hwanghae Province, we can gain an insight into the blood ties that bound the two countries together. We can also infer the advanced state of the relationship between the two countries from the fact that a Vietnamese traditional drama also mentions Goryeo in its introduction. Through the legends and historical records related to the flight of the Vietnamese prince to Goryeo, we can realize that this was not simply an event that took place in the past with no bearing on the present. Just as Prince Ly Long Tuong went to Goryeo, Vietnamese people today are choosing to live in Korea and in this way the two nations are becoming one as they move forward into the future. Just as Prince Ly Long Tuong adapted to the Goryeo army and became a high-ranking general who drove back the Mongol forces in the past, today Korea and Vietnam are together overcoming physical impediments that threaten peace, and by communicating with each other, are embracing the common purpose of establishing a central axis for East Asia. The history and legends concerning this Vietnamese prince's arrival in Ongjin Prefecture in Goryeo provide us with important lessons on how to actualize this common purpose.


The Oxford English Dictionary defines nation as "a distinct race or people, characterized by common descent, language or history, usually organized as a separate political state and occupying a definite territory." Nationalism in turn may be defined as a sense of identity as a people, and the efforts resulting to foster this and to obtain recognition as a distinct population, bound by common historical, cultural, linguistic, political, religious or other ties in the eyes of the larger society. While in the broadest sense the term "nation" may apply to a non-politically autonomous ethnic group consisting of only a few hundred individuals (cf. the West African or Native American use of the word as an equivalent to "tribe"), it is most often used synonymously with the notion of an actual country, the existence of an independent geographical homeland being an integral part of its interpretation. However, as the dictionary definition indicates, this is usually, and therefore by implication not invariably, a defining criterion. There have been nations of people lacking a homeland (or a homeland allowing them access or control) throughout history. The pre-1948 Jewish population, for example, or the Palestinians in the present day. Bloody wars have been fought because of the existence of nations of people lacking their own autonomous territory. It is into this latter category that the Romani nation fits and, though the efforts to secure a geographical homeland were central to the nationalist movement, especially during the 1930s and 1940s, the price paid for not having one has been heavy.


The aim of this study was to investigate the release of inorganic and organic phosphorus species from particles in rivers and estuaries during resuspension events such as storm, wind and tidal induced turbulence. To achieve this aim, laboratory beaker experiments were designed with autoanalyzer 3 (AA3). The study first investigates phosphorus equilibration in ultra-pure water (UHP) water, biotic river water and abiotic river water under short term and long term conditions. Then, three typical organic and inorganic phosphorus compounds were selected (orthophosphate, phytic acid (PTA) and β-D-glucose-6-phosphate monosodium salt (G-6-P)) to simulate the effect of addition input to river and estuaries in the time period of 150 h. The results show that in a turbulent river, dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) will reach equilibrium between the particulate matter and the water column within 24 h. Additional input of DIP or DOP to the river, has different effects to the river nutrients balance. The buffering capacity of the suspended particulate matter (SPM) plays an important role and behavior difference to the inorganic and various organic phosphorus compounds.


With the rapid development of the fisheries industry,fisheries legislation has been gradually improved in China.But at the same time,we cannot avoid the problems of fisheries legislation.The author analyzed the current situation of China's fisheries legislation from two aspects of the basic situation of fisheries legislation and the forms of fisheries legislation.And there are some problems of fisheries legislation in China is pointed out.Finally,some suggestions were put forward.


Conventional approaches to acoustic source localization simply based on the received microphone signals, are often vulnerable to adverse acoustic conditions, such as low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or high reverberation. But, approaches based on Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning Technology can increase accuracy to locate source in adverse acoustic environment. The advantage of the algorithm is that it requires no calibration of microphone arrays. And Naive Bayes Classifier is simple, fast, and has a small error rate. This paper proposed an improved localization algorithm based on classification of cross-correlation functions (GCC). The weighted cross power spectrum of GCC is smoothed by a smooth filter to formed smooth generalized cross-correlation (SGCC). Then, the classifier model is obtained in each location and form the feature vector. Finally, acoustic source location is estimated by Naive- Bayes classifier. We also proposed in this study the source localization system that based on merely two microphones to input sound signals, combined with improved and optimal methods proposed above. Real-data experiments have demonstrated that algorithm with SGCC has higher localization accuracy than with GCC by 20% in the proposed system at least. The system has good ability to acoustic source localization.


A number of research studies have looked into consumer buying behaviour as regards wine. However, as yet no-one has focussed specifically on the factors which pertain to consumers buying wine to offer as gifts. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to identify which factors affect the decision of the wine buyer in this context. A further aim is to develop a number of hypotheses which will form the basis of a future quantitative study. The research methodology begins with a review of the relevant literature. From this a research design using projective methods in the interviews was considered as being the most appropriate way to proceed. After a pre-test, the methodology was refined and then conducted using a research group of twelve persons. This group was selected according to gender, age and whether they were considered to be 'connoisseurs' or 'laypeople' as regards purchasing and consuming wine. A total of nineteen hypotheses were then developed which will form the basis of future avenues of research. The findings suggest that a good portion of the factors which influence buyers when purchasing wine as a gift are exogenous and can be found in existing literature. The influence of these factors in the context varies, however, depending on the knowledge of the purchaser, the perceived risk, as well as the relation to and social status of the recipient. A further important factor is the specific requirement of the gift situation e.g. as a birthday or retirement present. The existing study highlights the fact that the purpose of an acquisition is of overriding importance when buying wine as a gift – dominating all other influencing factors which are subsequently only subject to it. Extrinsic or intrinsic cues vary strongly in importance as a function of the specific purchasing context the buyer faces.


The study investigated the principal-staff relationship for effective secondary schools administration in South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was two thousand five hundred and eighty-nine (2.589) principals and forty-two thousand, nine hundred and sixty (42,960) secondary school teachers. Stratified random sampling technique was used to draw a sample of fifty (50) principals and five hundred (500) secondary school teachers from each state in the zone. These summed to three thousand three hundred (3300) respondents. Principal-staff relationship and effective school administration questionnaire (PSRESAQ) was used to gather data. The instrument was validated and a reliability index of 0.86 was established through the test-retest method. Some major findings which emerged from the study were that:- there is effective school administration when principal-staff relationship is devoid of envy and strife, intimidation, pride and non-challant attitude over staff and students' welfare. Effective communication, collective decision-making, compliance to staff code of conduct, principle of fair-hearing and demonstration of sympathy and empathy were found to be useful qualities of principals-staff that enhance effective secondary school administration in the zone. Some recommendations were also proffered viz; principals-staff should communicate effectively to each other; members of staff should be allowed to participate in decisions affecting them and the school; there should be cordial relationship devoid of envy, strife, intimidation, self pride and non-challant attitude among principals and members of staff and above all people should develop positive attitude to their job.


To clarify the pathogen species of apple leaf spot caused by Alternariasp.in Gansu province,two main strains A1 and A2 were isolated from infected leaves of apple tree in different areas of Gansu.The pathogen species were identified and its cross protection was studied in this study.The morphology identification results showed that the colony of A1 on PCA medium was black,with a distinct commutatively concentric rings,and the number of conidia were produced by 3.5×105 cfu/mL after 7 days,and the average size of conidia was 38.8μm×9.6μm.The colony of A2 was dark green,but the aerial hyphae were stronger than A1,the number of conidia were produced by 3.0 ×105 cfu/mL after 7 days,the average size of conidia was 35.2×9.4μm.Meanwhile,they could cause similar symptoms in the field while were inoculated in vitro,but the pathogenicity of A1 was stronger than A2.The molecular identification results revealed that the sequence homologous rates of A1 and A2 were 100%,compared with A.mali.Combination of mor-phological,pathogenic characteristics and ITS sequence,the strain of A1 was identified as virulent strain and the pathogen of apple Altemnariablotch,and A2 was identified as attenuated strain and the pathogen of the ring spot of apple.The cross protection results showed that A2 has obvious cross protection effects on A1,and significantly reduced its infection.


The chubby baby who eats well is desirable in our culture. Perceived low weight gains and feeding concerns are common reasons mothers seek advice in the early years. In contrast, childhood obesity is a global public health concern. Use of coercive feeding practices, prompted by
maternal concern about weight, may disrupt a child's innate self regulation of energy intake, promoting overeating and overweight. This study describes predictors of maternal concern about her child undereating/becoming underweight and feeding practices. Mothers in the control group of the NOURISH and South Australian Infants Dietary Intake studies (n = 332) completed a self-administered questionnaire
when the child was aged 12–16 months. Weight-for-age z-score (WAZ)was derived from weight measured by study staff. Mean age (SD) was 13.8 (1.3) months, mean WAZ (SD), 0.58 (0.86) and 49% were male. WAZ and two questions describing food refusal were combined in a
structural equation model with four items from the Infant feeding Questionnaire (IFQ) to form the factor 'Concern about undereating/weight'. Structural relationships were drawn between concern and IFQ factors 'awareness of infant's hunger and satiety cues', 'use of food to
calm infant's fussiness' and 'feeding infant on a schedule', resulting in a model of acceptable fit. Lower WAZ and higher frequency of food refusal predicted higher maternal concern. Higher maternal concern was associated with lower awareness of infant cues (r = −.17, p = .01)
and greater use of food to calm (r = .13, p = .03). In a cohort of healthy children, maternal concern about undereating and underweight was associated with practices that have the potential to disrupt self-regulation.


This paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions for a compensator to be designed so that the transfer function matrix of the closed-loop system obtained by adding the compensator to a plant, agrees with that of the given model and so that the closedloop system (the model following system) becomes stable. Also, a method is shown of constructing a stable model following system without going through trial and error. the existing method [5] constructs an internally stable model following system first by constructing a model following system without considering the internal stability, and then by testing whether or not from that, an internally stable model following system can be constructed. Hence, in this method all the model following systems must be constructed, which, at present, is very difficult. the results of this paper permit one to test whether or not an internally stable model following system can be constructed directly from given system parameters. Thus it is better than the existing method [5].


In this paper, a bi-level energy management framework based on Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) and game theory is presented in the context of different ownership of multiple microgrid systems (MMGS) and microgrid aggregators (MAs). The energy interaction between MMGS and MAs can be regarded as a master–slave game, where microgrid aggregators as the leaders set the differentiated tariff for each MG to maximize its benefits, and MMGS as the follower responds to the tariff decision specified by the leader through peer-to-peer (P2P) energy sharing. The P2P energy sharing of MMGS can be regarded as a co-operative game, employing asymmetric Nash bargaining theory to allocate the co-operative surplus. The Conditional Value at Risk model was used to characterize the expected losses by microgrid aggregators due to the uncertainties of renewable energy resources. The Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions, Big-M method, and strong duality theory were employed to transform the bi-level nonlinear model of energy management into a single-level mixed integer linear programming model. The simulation results show that when MGs adopt the P2P energy-sharing operation mode, the total operating cost of MMGS can be reduced by 7.82%. The simulation results show that the proposed co-operative optimization framework can make the multiple microgrid systems obtain extra benefits and improve the risk resistance of microgrid aggregators.


This paper proposes a novel technique to detect the main moving trajectory of indoor pedestrians. Based on Long Short- Term Memory(LSTM) Network, this deep learning network is capable of learning the trajectory of human beings using indoor Wi-Fi positioning data. The data is collected by Wi-Fi detectors densely installed in a public building in the urban area, which can ensure the detection of any portable devices as long as the Wi-Fi module is turned on. Then the model works in the form of sequence modeling to learn the trajectory of the main stream extracted from massive pedestrian positioning data. In compare with methods like Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and Gated Recurrent Unit(GRU), there is an obvious performance improvement of this method.


Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the dynamical stability of an elastic tube bundle placed in a cross-flow which is governed by the Navier-Stokes equations. The stability of this coupled system is derived from the study of a quadratic eigenvalue problem arising in the linearized equations. The instability occurs when the real part of one of these eigenvalues becomes positive; the steady state is then replaced by a time-periodic state which is stable (Hopf bifurcation phenomenon).


In the "Internet plus education" era, university teachers' educational technology training courses in China need to be updated and improved. Under the guidance of "National University Teachers' Educational Technology Ability Guidance", and combined with the actual demand, the authors developed a new curriculum content system for the training course in a pharmaceutical university in Guangdong province in China, and implemented the training courses based on Lanmoyun class platform. Then carried out an investigation research(N=153,Cronbach's Alpha= 0.961) to explore the factors affecting teacher adoption of mobile learning in the teachers' educational technology ability training, an extended version of model was developed based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which was estimated using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).


In this letter, we present a novel discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based channel estimator for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The conventional DFT-based estimator zeroes out noise-dominant values in the transform domain, which suffers from a poor performance in the presence of channel leakage. Some improved estimators have been proposed, but these estimators all focus on reducing the leaked energy. We propose to estimate the channel leakage by using the partial minimum mean square error (MMSE) filtering. When the channel delay is sufficiently less than the duration of an OFDM symbol, the partial MMSE filtering can be simplified. Simulation results show that the proposed channel estimator achieves much better performance than conventional estimators and well approaches the MMSE estimator.


Abstract A large number of methods have been developed for estimating time-series regression parameters. Students and practitioners have a difficult time understanding what these various methods are, let alone picking the most appropriate one for their application. This article explains how these methods are related. A chronology for the development of the various methods is presented, followed by a logical characterization of the methods. An examination of current computational techniques and computing power leads to the conclusion that exact maximum likelihood estimators should be used in almost all cases where regression models have autoregressive, moving average, or mixed autoregressive-moving average error structures.


Within the apparel industry, new technologies, environmental concerns and even a global pandemic have significantly altered how fashion products are developed, merchandised and purchased. The expanding e-commerce segment of the industry is requiring that brands reimagine how consumers
 choose products to purchase without a physical garment to touch, feel and try on their bodies. Communicating product information accurately, especially fit, is necessary as fit has been established as a critical component of customer satisfaction and reduces costs of returned product. Returns
 in the apparel industry have increased significantly due to the increase in online sales, suggesting that improved product fit and size communication is needed to improve consumer trust and satisfaction as well as increase profit margins and reduce environmental impact. Technology such as
 virtual fitting rooms, custom consumer avatars and body-scanning are all possible solutions to clearly convey fit and size information to the consumer before purchase. Brands within the lingerie and foundations market have been some of the earliest adopters of these virtual fit technologies
 with varying degrees of success, as they allow consumers to shop in privacy and offer an opportunity to educate the customer in less intrusive formats such as videos and charts. In this article, several of these early adopters in the lingerie e-commerce market will be evaluated to identify
 what has affected their successful or failed implementation and consumer acceptance to outline possible future improvement and application.


The efficacy of the anterior hypophysis in producing precocious development of the reproductive system in lower vertebrates has been shown by the recent studies of Burns and Buyse, 1 , 2 , 3 and Burns, 4 who used as subjects larvae and recently metamorphosed salamanders. Reptiles have rarely figured in pituitary investigations. Herlant 5 found that injections of anterior lobe extract caused a general hypertrophy of the reproductive system of Lacerta, Noble and Bradley 6 state that hypophysectomy delays moulting in Hemidactylus, Schaefer 7 reports testicular atresia in Thamnophilis following hypophysectomy, with a partial restoration of the testes to the normal condition following several hypophyseal implants, and Houssay 8 produced ovulation in a single female snake, Xenodon, after similar implantations. All of these experiments were carried out with mature animals. In the present work, the immature alligator, Alligator mississipfiensis, was chosen for study. The average total length of the first group of animals used was 24 cm., and their approximate age at the beginning of the experiment was 4 months. Intraperitoneal injections into 10 animals of 0.5 cc. per animal of the Parke, Davis & Co. sheep whole gland alkaline aqueous extract were made 3 times a week, a similar group of 10 animals serving as controls. Gross examination after 6 weeks of injections, showed a great hypertrophy of the testes of the single male member of the experimental group. A slightly less, but still striking, hypertrophy of the gonads of the injected females was observed, together with lengthening and increased convolution of the oviducts. Due to lack of external evidences of sex in the immature animals, the ratio of males to females in this series was purely fortuitous, but a second series (see below) showed a preponderance of male animals, thus approximately equalizing the total number of males and females in the two series.


This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis among women of age 20 to 59 years at Sarawak General Hospital by examining the conventional Pap smear. The prevalence of this infection was studied among the five main ethnic groups comprising the Iban, Chinese, Malay, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. Microscopic screening of 300 conventional Pap smears which had been processed and stained with the Papanicolaou staining method was conducted. Based on the information provided in the Pap smear screening form, the clinical manifestations were observed which may provide some indications on the kind of infection. The details of the clinical manifestations were very important because in an infection or inflammation, Pap smears would usually demonstrate changes on the cyto-morphology of the epithelial cells. The age factor among the different ethnics also played important role in the assessment of the infection frequency. Trichomonas vaginalis was detected in 7.7% (23/300) of the specimens. This infection occurred in all ethnic groups and the infections were more frequently seen among 20 to 29 years age group. All the cases presented with clinical signs and symptoms. The results of this study revealed the importance of undergoing Pap smear screening for Trichomonas vaginalis infection detection besides screening for the early detection of cervical cancer.


The purpose of this study is to develop the 3-dimensional(3D) trajectory of golf ball impacted by the various club head speed. The prediction of golf ball trajectory is very difficult for the air turbulence during the golf ball flight. This golf ball experiences the dragging force, lifting force and gravitational force(weight) during the flight in the air. These forces control the flight motion or trajectory of golf ball, these forces also determine the carry distance and run distance of golf ball. The developed KH Golf Profiler is examined by the very large data of PGA and LPGA measured by the golf ball radar Trackman during the last 4 years, the KH Golf Profiler has shown less than 3% differences compared with the PDA and LPGA data for 11~12 golf clubs.


The denoising and deblurring of images are the two essential restoration tasks in the document image processing task. As the preprocessing stages of the processing pipeline, the quality of denoising and deblurring heavily influences the result of subsequent tasks, such as character detection and recognition. In this paper, we propose a novel neural method for restoring document images. We named our network Skip-Connected Deep Convolutional Autoencoder (SCDCA), which is composed of multiple layers of convolution followed by a batch normalization layer and the leaky rectified linear unit (Leaky ReLU) activation function. Inspired by the idea of residual learning, we use two types of skip connections in the network. One is identity mapping between convolution layers and the other is used to connect the input and output. Through these connections, the network learns the residual between the noisy and clean images instead of learning an ordinary transformation function. We empirically evaluate our algorithm on an open and challenging document images dataset. We also assess our restoring results using the optical character recognition (OCR) test. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed algorithm by comparing with several state-of-the-art methods.


Considerable effort has been made to understand the degradation mechanisms of PEM fuel cell components under different accelerated stress tests (ASTs) [1-3]. Previously, we have looked at performance degradation under idle conditions [4]. In this study, we report our preliminary results on MEA degradation under open circuit voltage (OCV). The fuel cell tested was a single cell with an active area of 5cm. A Teledyne Test Station was used to perform the 256 hours of degradation under OCV. The materials used were a Gore 57 catalyst coated membrane (CCM) and SGL gas diffusion layers (GDLs). Before and after every 50 hours of operation under OCV, polarization curve, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) data were measured using the Teledyne Test Station, a Solartron 1260 frequency response analyzer, and a Solartron 1287 electrochemical interface. Figure 1 shows the cell potential change during the 256 hours of degradation under OCV. It can be seen that the final OCV of each 50-hour session decreases gradually. The initial OCV of each session also decreases except the last one due to a reactivation process completed after 206 hours of operation by cycling the cell at 0.6V, 0.3V, and OCV for 90 cycles with each step lasting 60s. The overall degradation rate is approximately 0.55 mV/h, which is considerably larger than under idle conditions (0.1mV/h) [4].


Glass Shoes drama musical is an alternative whose made by director for attract the public's attention to watching theatrical performances. Based on facts found in the field, the theater has now lost its audience. Therefore, theater artist must make a new breakthrough in giving understanding to the audience, through the work he created. Musical dramas that carry children's tales are based on the importance of providing educational values to character formation. The combination of music, dance and vocals will provide different sensations and provide entertainment for the audience. Koreo and songs created based on the script will convey a sense that is not conveyed by words. This relates to a musical drama featuring three main objects, namely dialogue, dance and singing. The making of dances and songs is done carefully and intensely so as not to stick to one another. The Glass Shoes drama musical uses mobile settings that can be moved and moved quickly as needed. Penyesuaian video art di setiap adegan dapat memberikan visual yang menarik . perpaduan antara setting mobile dan video art serta unsur lainnya akan mewujudkan multi disiplin ilmu yang sejalan. Adjustment of video art in each scene can provide interesting visuals. a combination of mobile settings and video art and other elements will realize multi-disciplines that are in line. The Glass Shoes drama musical using the method from Bertold Brecht will flavor the storyline during the show. The purpose of using the method of Bertold Brecht is to make the audience aware and give a break so that the audience can immediately digest the content delivered in the show. This method is in line with the desire of the worker who has entertainment concepts in the show.


Advanced in healthcare technology, medical sciences and health care system have resulted in considerable prolongation of life. Ageing population is increasing globally. An old age is a period of the individual suffers losses in physical appearance, strength, role and status, which resulted in increase on their disability and physical illnesses. Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) contributes to factor causing elderly to become dependent. Consequently, this demands the caregiver to care and assist with their daily activities. To explore the experiences of family caregiver in caring dependent elderly in Brunei Darussalam. This qualitative descriptive study employed phenomenology approach. Interviews with eleven family caregiver of dependent elderly were conducted from 2017 to June 2018. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was performed. Data analysis revealed three main themes. This includes; The demands and cost of caring, Cultural expectation and obligation and finally, Coping mechanisms and strategies. Caring for dependent elderly by family caregivers has both positive and negative impacts and considered a burden to them. This study highlighted the importance of family involvement, the support from others and various coping mechanism used to cope with their caring duties in caring for the dependent elderly.


ABSTRACT The high accuracy of infrared dim and small target detection in complex backgrounds is of great relevance for infrared identification and tracking systems. Traditional infrared dim and small target detection methods suit scenes with a single and homogeneous continuous background. However, human vision system methods suffer from an undetectable or high false alarm rate in complex scenes with dim small targets. To address this shortcoming, this paper proposes an infrared dim and small target detection algorithm based on frequency domain differencing (FDD). The proposed algorithm consists of a spectrum residual module and a Gaussian greyscale difference module. Firstly, the target enhancement image is constructed by using the spectrum residual module to highlight small targets and suppress background noise. Secondly, the local contrast of the image is enhanced by the Gaussian grayscale difference module, which accurately depicts the edge information of small targets and locates them. Finally, the target enhancement image and Gaussian grayscale difference image are fused to detect infrared dim and small targets. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has higher accuracy under the evaluation metrics of local signal-to-noise ratio gain (LSNRG), signal-to-clutter ratio gain (SCRG) and background suppression factor (BSF). At the same time, compared with other algorithms, the detection rate of the proposed algorithm is higher for infrared dim and small targets in complex scenes. Code is available at https://github.com/m156879/FDD-module.


This paper presents and analyzes a switching strategy for multiple-input converters (MICs). With this technique, the effective duty ratio of each switch is an integer multiple of a common-duty-ratio (CDR), which is generated at a higher frequency by frequency division. In general, the frequency of the common duty ratio is dictated by power-budgeting requirements—a higher CDR frequency corresponds to more flexibility with respect to power budgeting. Switching functions can then be generated with relative ease for MICs that have a large number of input legs. Another benefit of this scheme is that it allows an MIC's output voltage to be stabilized by adjusting all the effective duty ratios of its input-leg switches at once. This stabilization is achieved by employing the CDR as the only control variable, irrespective of the number of input legs. Essentially, the strategy transforms an MIC into an equivalent single-input single-output (SISO) system for analysis, which simplifies controller design. Without loss of generality, this technique is demonstrated by analyzing a multiple-input buck-boost (MIBB) converter. A PI-controller is shown to stabilize the MIC's operating point. The analysis is verified by simulations and experiments.


In the case of state space models with an unknown initial condition, the diffuse Kalman smoother can be used to obtain smoothed state estimates. When the full initial state is not estimable because the available data are insufficient, some linear combinations of the states can still be estimable. This brief note provides a simple method to determine whether a linear combination of a state is estimable.


Although diagnostic ultrasound has been widely applied for various clinical conditions and diseases, its clinical effectiveness remains less well defined. Technology assessment can be applied to ultrasound and includes several criteria such as techologic capability, range of possible uses, diagnostic accuracy, impact on health care providers, therapeutic impact, and patient outcome. A review of each of these criteria is provided to raise sonographer awareness as to the need for further reserch in this area.


The author sets out a possible model of providing renewed, effective library services in small villages. Readers are presented the process through which, with the help of the county library, a new library and information service providing centre - also offering a venue for other community activities - is set up in a small village. The professional, cost-effective services are operated by the county library and are essentially based on the utilization of computers and the Internet. The village library becomes part of the integrated system of the county library and benefits from professional support and quality services. The service system is financially supported out of state funding provided for the so-called small districts", small administrative units based on the partnership of several villages for the purpose of joint development projects.


Ridge regression is one of penalized regression methods. Penalized regression methods  are usually used for solving the problem of multicollinearity. The best model in ridge regression has been chosen by some previous techniques. In the techniques there is bias-variance trade-off.  In this paper, Schall algorithm will be applied for choosing the best model. Schall algorithm is faster because it only needs a few iteratives to be convergence.


We consider probabilistic models for sequential observations which exhibit gradual transitions among a finite number of states. We are particularly motivated by applications such as human activity analysis where observed accelerometer time series contains segments representing distinct activities, which we call pure states, as well as periods characterized by continuous transition among these pure states. To capture this transitory behavior, the dynamical Wasserstein barycenter (DWB) model of (Cheng et al., 2021) associates with each pure state a data-generating distribution and models the continuous transitions among these states as a Wasserstein barycenter of these distributions with dynamically evolving weights. Focusing on the univariate case where Wasserstein distances and barycenters can be computed in closed form, we extend (Cheng et al., 2021) specifically relaxing the parameterization of the pure states as Gaussian distributions. We highlight issues related to the uniqueness in identifying the model parameters as well as uncertainties induced when estimating a dynamically evolving distribution from a limited number of samples. To ameliorate non-uniqueness, we introduce regularization that imposes temporal smoothness on the dynamics of the barycentric weights. A quantile-based approximation of the pure state distributions yields a finite dimensional estimation problem which we numerically solve using cyclic descent alternating between updates to the pure-state quantile functions and the barycentric weights. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed algorithm in segmenting both simulated and real world human activity time series.


Heavy flavor measurements in high multiplicity proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions at collider energies enable unique insights into their production and hadronization mechanism because experimental and theoretical uncertainties cancel in ratios of their cross-sections relative to minimum bias events. We explore such event engineering using the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective field theory to compute short distance charmonium cross-sections. The CGC is combined with heavy-quark fragmentation functions to compute $D$-meson cross-sections; for the $J/\psi$, hadronization is described employing Nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD) and an Improved Color Evaporation model. Excellent agreement is found between the CGC computations and the LHC heavy flavor data in high multiplicity events. Event engineering in this CGC+NRQCD framework reveals a very rapid growth in the fragmentation of the $^3S_1^{[8]}$ state in rare events relative to minimum bias events.


The embodiment of the invention provides a recognition rate determining method and apparatus. The method comprises steps of acquiring a character string recognized by a voice recognizing device, and a standard recognition result corresponding to the character string, segmenting the character string to generate a character sequence, segmenting the standard recognition result to generate a standard recognition result sequence, calculating a minimum editing distance between the standard recognition result sequence and the character string sequence, and determining recognition rate of the voice recognizing device according to the calculated minimum editing distance. The standard recognition result contains phonetic characters and Chinese characters. According to the technical scheme, the recognized character string and the Chinese characters (and numbers) and the English words in the standard recognition result work as an evaluating unit; one English word is viewed as an integral body, so a problem that each character in the word is viewed as an element is avoided and error rate increase during calculation can be avoided; and calculation accuracy can be improved.


Given a surjective ideal of operators, we undertake a new general procedure to construct an ideal of polynomials. The relation with the ideal of polynomials obtained by the well-known method of composition is established. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 46G20; Secondary 46B20, 46G25.


Objective: To determine the contribution of the genetic risk component for multiple sclerosis (MS) on age of onset (AOO). Background: AOO is a strong predictor of MS evolution independent of disease duration. Factors influencing AOO are not well known though HLA-DRB1*15:01 (DR2), the primary MS genetic risk factor, has been consistently associated with earlier onset. Design/Methods: The study population included 1,076 non-Hispanic white MS cases with detailed epidemiologic and genetic information. AOO was age of first symptom indicative of MS. Genetic data for 201 putative MS risk variants were genotyped on a customized Illumina iSelect Platform by the International MS Genetics Consortium. A tagging variant for HLA-DRB1*15:01 (DR2) was available (rs3135388). AOO was natural log transformed to meet normality assumptions for linear regression models that included each risk variant (coded with respect to MS risk) as a predictor, adjusting for gender, MS subtype, birth year, education, and DR2 carrier status. A genetic risk score (GRS) was also investigated and was the sum of all alleles for the 201 variants. Results: As expected DR2 carriers had a younger AOO. A single risk allele increase in the GRS was associated with a 0.3% decrease in AOO (p=0.0036). When we compared quantiles of the GRS distribution, those with the greatest genetic burden were 7.2% (p=0.0018) younger at onset than those in the lowest burden. On average, the predicted AOO was 3.8 years earlier for DR2 carriers with the highest GRS quantile burden (30.5 years) versus DR2 non-carriers with the lowest GRS quantile burden (34.3 years). Among the genic variants, those in CLEC16A (which regulated DR2 expression) were most associated with earlier AOO: rs12708716 (2.9% earlier per risk allele; p=0.012) and rs1985372 (2.6% earlier per risk allele; p=0.02). Conclusions: The MS genetic risk component significantly predisposes MS susceptible individuals for earlier onset. Disclosure: Dr. Briggs has nothing to disclose. Dr. Davis has nothing to disclose.


This paper discusses the the 27.5 kV capacitive pressure electroscope examine the electrical dead catenary reason, combined with the actual job catenary, proposed some countermeasures and suggestions so as to prevent accidents.


Taking yellow Bracteantha bracteata as materials,the anthocyanin extraction conditions and physicochemical properties are compared in this paper. Using distilled water as extraction agent and on the basis of single factor experiment,the pigment extraction temperature are optimized by the orthogonal experiment.The best condition is extract the anthocyanin for 30 min with the ratio of material and liquid of 1: 11. 1( g /mL)at 80℃. The physicochemical properties show that different temperature and pH value have a great influence on the color of pigment. Light stability and antioxidant ability of the anthocyanin are weaker,pigment has a good thermal stability and reducibility resistance ability but weaker of light stability and antioxidant ability.The Na+,K+,Ca2 +,Al3 +ions play a little effect on the stability of pigment,but Cu2 +,Fe3 +has a great effect on it.


This paper considers the enigmatic figure of the Strange Woman in Proverbs, her appearance and role, with particular attention to what happens to her in the Septuagint translation and then in Ben Sira and in the grandson's Greek translation. She first meets us with profile in Proverbs in association with Woman Wisdom...


Early climate change ideas warned of widespread species extinctions. As scientists have probed more deeply into species responses, a more nuanced perspective emerged indicating that some species may persist in microrefugia (refugia), including in mountainous terrain. Refugia are habitats that buffer climate changes and allow species to persist in—and to potentially expand under—changing environmental conditions. While climate and species interactions in refugia have been noted as sources of uncertainty, land management practices and disturbances, such as wildland fire, should also be considered when assessing any given refugium. Our landscape scale study suggests that cold-air pools, an important type of small-scale refugia, have unique fire occurrence, frequency, and severity patterns in frequent-fire mixed conifer forests of California's Sierra Nevada: cold-air pool refugia have less fire and if it occurs, it is lower severity. Therefore, individuals and small populations are less likely to be extirpated by fire. Active management, such as restoration and fuels treatments for climate change adaptation, may be required to maintain these distinctive and potentially important refugia.


The 21st century is the era of knowledge-based economy.The conditions of economic and social development depends not only on the quantity and structure of talent,but also depends on the talent of the creative spirit and innovative ability.At the 21st century,police higher education reform practice pays attention to cultivate overall quality of university students,at the same time,in accordance with the talents training modes of knowledge,ability,quality coordinated development,we should highlight and strengthen the university students innovative knowledge,innovation and innovative quality to bring our country to adapt to the era of knowledge-based economy,and meet with the need of fostering talents of building a harmonious socialist society,which is a very important task.


Er3+-Yb3+ codoped hexagonal NaYF4 nanocrystals were prepared via a method of thermal decomposition of stearate precursor. Their crystal structure, morphologies and photoluminescence (PL) properties were characterized by XRD, SEM, and fluorescence spectra. The hexagonal NaYF4:Er3+, Yb3+ nanocrystals could be well dispersed in cyclohexane to form a clear solution. Under 980 nm excitation, the solution of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped NaYF4 nanocrystals emits bright green upconversion fluorescence.


The central concern of this exploratory qualitative claims in collecting and analyzing the opinion of some expert teachers and class teachers who instruct the 1st to 4th grade education, so as coordinators and school principals. The goal is to evaluate the action of specialist teachers in these series. 8 teachers were interviewed experts in physical education, 8 classroom teachers, 6 coordinators and directors of 6 schools in the state public school located in the south. The interviews did not reveal the quality classes taught by specialists. In so far have taught classes only for students in the later series of elementary school these professionals had difficulty in the courses for the first grades of elementary school. The classroom teachers, coordinators and directors interviewed said the importance of having a professional school health, however, show that these classes are being offered with quality. In this sense, the data obtained from the experts interviewed pointed to the need for refresher courses in continuing education and a more integrated with the school staff so that they can take with quality, physical education classes in early grades of education fundamental, so that they fulfill their true purpose, main point that will differentiate the lessons taught by classroom teachers.


Background: Influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) are the important manifestations in day today clinical practice in COVID era. A number of clinical investigations including haematological parameters are used for the risk stratification of the patients. This study was undertaken in order to find the applicability of platelet to lymphocyte ratio in risk stratification.Methods: A prospective study was undertaken in Victoria hospital and Bowring and Lady Curzon hospitals attached to BMCRI tertiary care hospitals in Bangalore for a period of one and half years. All the patients were subjected for clinical and haematological evaluation and appropriate ratios were calculated. A total of 266 patients were enrolled in the study, out of which 144 were COVID negative and 122 were COVID positive. The data was analyzed using appropriate statistical methods using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 24.Results: The mean age of the COVID negative patients was 43.37 years and COVID positive patient was 49.08 years. Males outnumbered females. There was statistically significant difference in mean platelet to lymphocyte ratio between the COVID positive and negative cases (226.4 versus 399.38). The area under curve was 0.614 for the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with severe and non-severe ILI and SARI cases. Majority of the haematological parameters were significantly different in SARI patients who were COVID positive and negative.Conclusions: PLR can be used as an indicator for risk stratification in ILI and SARI patients.


Modeling of the growth process is required for the synthesis of III–V ternary nanowires with controllable composition. Consequently, new theoretical approaches for the description of epitaxial growth and the related chemical composition of III–V ternary nanowires based on group III or group V intermix were recently developed. In this review, we present and discuss existing modeling strategies for the stationary compositions of III–V ternary nanowires and try to systematize and link them in a general perspective. In particular, we divide the existing approaches into models that focus on the liquid–solid incorporation mechanisms in vapor–liquid–solid nanowires (equilibrium, nucleation-limited, and kinetic models treating the growth of solid from liquid) and models that provide the vapor–solid distributions (empirical, transport-limited, reaction-limited, and kinetic models treating the growth of solid from vapor). We describe the basic ideas underlying the existing models and analyze the similarities and differences between them, as well as the limitations and key factors influencing the stationary compositions of III–V nanowires versus the growth method. Overall, this review provides a basis for choosing a modeling approach that is most appropriate for a particular material system and epitaxy technique and that underlines the achieved level of the compositional modeling of III–V ternary nanowires and the remaining gaps that require further studies.


This paper presents a reasoning algorithm for FPN using query technique. FPN model is mapped relation data model, a FPN model is transformed into two datasheets. Only basic database technique is applied . The algorithm is simple, high-powered and universal. Specially, it fits reasoning for the large-scale FPN model.


An intramolecular tetrakis-4-hydroxypiperidinol ligand is developed and successfully used to catalyze the Suzuki—Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of aryl halides and iodo-lactones to produce a variety of biarlys and heterocyclic analogs.


This study aimed at assessing the impact of asset quality management on the financial performance of commercial banks in DR Congo from 2010 to 2020. This study had one specific objective which was to assess the relationship between the NPL and the performance of commercial banks in DR Congo. After analysis made by SPSS; After analysis the table n°3 shows that the asset quality as assessed by the NPLR has a negative impact on financial profitability because the return on assets decreases by 0.190 monetary units for every unit rise in nonperforming loans   (Y=-0,190x1+1,351 ). In actuality, a non-performing loan is a loss, and the higher it is, the less profitable it is. Since the sig value is 0.00, or less than 5%, the negative link between the two variables is statistically significant. Moreover, the NPLR had a negative impact on financial profitability (ROE), as the return on assets decreases by 1.717 units of money for every unit of money that the nonperforming loan increases (Y= -1,717x1+13,157)  . In actuality, a non-performing loan is a loss, and the higher it is, the less profitable it is. Since the sig value is 0.00, or less than 5%, the negative link between the NPL and ROE is statistically significant.


The remote laboratory experiments in engineering education became a useful tool as a great challenge for specialists. Setting up a new educational platform with remote laboratory experiments, many students from many countries can access them in order to complete, enhance their education in engineering. This paper presents a new and full functionally remote laboratory in electronic engineering field and some criteria for technical evaluation in order to be integrated in engineering education


The present invention relates to a microbial fertilizer particle comprising: a core layer, the core layer contains 4-8 parts by weight of the stalk of the pulverized uniformly mixed, 2-6 parts by weight of pulverized wood chips, 10-12 parts by weight clay, and cellulose degrading bacteria, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, and each type of nitrogen-fixing bacteria for each of the two strains, wherein the number of the core layer of each strain per gram of a mixture of 1 × 105 ~ 6 or more; and a wrapping layer, the parcel dried layer is formed by a wrapper 3% to 6% of the outer core layer is a gelatin solution. The present invention further relates to a method for preparing the above-described microbial fertilizer particles and the corresponding microbial fertilizer granule carrier. Microbial fertilizer particles of the present invention overcomes the prior microorganism microbial fertilizer can not be stabilized in the colonization of the soil is insufficient, and the biological material is advantageously of the waste difficult to handle in agricultural production were reused.


This paper addresses the effects of focus-marking (i.e. nun -marking) on the scope of quantified expressions in Korean negation constructions and shows how these inform the analysis of Korean negation constructions generally. Specifically, highlighting the "Rigid Scope" properties of Korean (in contrast with English), focus-marking in Korean negation constructions eliminates quantifier/negative scope ambiguities. In all cases but one, a focus-marked element has scope over all others. The anomalous case involving contrastive focus of object universal quantifiers brings the semantics of quantifiers into opposition with the semantics of contrastive focus.


This article presents the development of a children's book about sustainability and other environmental issues. Inspired by the classic story of Don Quixote de la Mancha, it was created a quasi-homonymous character, Dom Lixote, who advocates the reuse of materials and other ecological causes, no more fighting windmills, but the villains that plague the contemporary world, like the improper disposal of waste, the privatization of drinking water sources, the excessive use of packaging and the depletion of natural resources. The graphic design of the book also enfolds these causes and seeks to contribute both under the literary aspect, disseminating this idea, and the design and sustainability, using reused paper for the printing of the copies. The result is twice as satisfactory, since it is a book that deals with reuse of materials and has its graphic design guided by the same guideline, which gives coherence and consistency to the project. In addition, the project seeks to contribute to the development of an aesthetic and formal culture that takes into account and values the peculiarities of projects with a focus on sustainability.


The enrollment expansion of higher education makes the employment of college graduates a big problem in China.Under the ever-changing and complicated situation,college graduates face greater pressure in finding jobs.The state employment policies have a great impact on job growth.This paper analyzes the factors influencing the evolution of employment policies and the colleges' role in the transformation of those policies so as to improve the employment situation for college graduates.


Children playgrounds are very significant places, not only for kids but also for society. Their qualities in both design and construction are a sign of city's civilizing and an expression of city's image. In this paper, the author firstly depicted four types of them in different belongings and functions respectively. And then, the author analyses and summarizes six principles indicated by safety, health, attractiveness, edutainment, balance and participation adopted in Danish playground design. Finally, the author explores its multifarious artistic characteristics for its layout which included concentrative and separation, symmetry and asymmetry, simplicity and delicateness, theme and no-theme, naturalness and convention, and modern and tradition.


The present invention provides one pack system tmb substrate concentrates and the preparation method and application thereof, in concentrate described in every 1ml: glycerol 0.1ml, polyethylene glycol 2000 (PEG2000) 0.1g, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) 0.1ml, TMB 0.013g, beta-cyclodextrin 0.02g, ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) 0.0024g, lemonade 0.02g, hydrogen peroxidase 10 .22%, propyl alcohol 0.05ml, fumaric acid 0.01g, remaining is deionized water, and the concentrate pH value is 3.6 ± 0.2, it is obtained by hybrid mode, the solubility with high stability and TMB.


The invention provides a method for preparing nano-gold, which comprises the following step of: reacting chloroauric acid with a primary-amine-containing compound and an aldehyde-containing compound to obtain the nano-gold. The invention provides a method for preparing the nano-gold through reductive amination reaction. The aldehyde-containing compound and the primary-amine-containing compound which participate in the reductive amination reaction cannot reduce the chloroauric acid into the nano-gold under the reaction conditions, the reductive amination reaction makes a reaction system have the capability of reducing the chloroauric acid, and is accompanied with the generation of the nano-gold, other reducing agents and a stabilizer for the nano-gold are not required to be added, and the reduction speed and the generation speed of the nano-gold can be regulated by controlling the conditions of the reductive amination reaction. The method for preparing the nano-gold is simple, the speed is controllable, and a new way is provided for preparing the nano-gold.


The paper presents results of performance tests of download services of Czech Office of Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre according to INSPIRE  requirements. Methodology of testing is explained, including monitoring performance  of reference servers. 26 millions of random requests were generated for each monitored operation, layer and coordinate system. The temporal development of performance indicators are analyzed and discussed. Results of performance tests approve the compliance with INSPIRE qualitative requirements for download services. All monitored services satisfy requirements of latency, capacity and availability. The latency and availability requirements are fulfilled with an abundant reserve. No problems in structure and content of responses were detected.


Due to the ever growing mobile broadband data traffic over the cellular networks, the small cell deployment is seen as a promising solution for the network operators to increase their network capacity at low cost. This in turn would lead to an increase number of handovers (HOs) for the mobile users, which could affect the device power consumption. In this context, this paper investigates the impact of the HO process on the device energy consumption while performing VoD over a real LTE Small Cell experimental environment. Subjective tests are carried out to study the impact of the video quality on the user perceived QoE. The results show that by changing the quality level of the multimedia stream the energy can be greatly conserved while the user perceived QoE is still acceptable. Furthermore, by adapting to a lower quality level during the HO process, up to 56% energy savings could be achieved.


The article examines the being of philosophy (science – education – ideology) in the Russian provinces during the Soviet period of the nation's history. Theoretical analysis is supplemented with evidence f the immediate participants of the process. The article is based on the monograph published under the rant of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation [1].


The space complexity of constructing cycle-like Traversal Sequences for(undirected) Connected Components (TSC) is studied.A new notion of log-space Cook reduction is put forward to analyze the relationships between TSC problem and the undirected connectivity and universal transversal sequence problems.It therefore implies that the TSC problem and traversal of undirected graph problem are equivalent and both solvable in log-space.The analyzing process produces a general approach of constructing TSC for any undirected graph.Finally,a specific but more efficient TSC construction algorithm for trees is also given.


Depth dependence attenuation measurement was conducted at a uniformly planted orchard of horse chestnut trees to determine the excess attenuation of radio signals at 2 GHz and 11.2 GHz with increasing foliage depth in the signal path. The paper presents propagation models for predicting the excess attenuation experienced by radio signals propagated through paths obscured by vegetation forms. In support of the experimental study, a theoretical model based on the radiative energy transfer (RET) theory which considers the vegetation medium as a statistically homogeneous medium of discrete, lossy scatterers is used to assist in interpreting the experimental measurement results. The paper discusses the experimental measurement result and evaluates the performance of some of the available propagation models against measurement data.


We discuss the use of the beta-binomial distribution for the description of plant disease incidence data, collected on the basis of scoring plants as either «diseased» or «healthy». The beta-binomial is a discrete probability distribution derived by regarding the probability of a plant being diseased (a constant in the binomial distribution) as a beta-distributed variable. An important characteristic of the beta-binomial is that its variance is larger than that of the binomial distribution with the same mean. The beta-binomial distribution, therefore, may serve to describe aggregated disease incidence data. Using maximum likelihood, we estimated beta-binomial parameters p (mean disease incidence) and θ (an index of aggregation) for four previously published sets of disease incidence data in which there were some indications of aggregation [...]


Characterization and appraisal tests include the measurement of activity in raw waste and waste packages. After conditioning, variations in density, matrix composition, and geometry make evaluation of the radionuclide activity in a package destined for storage nearly impossible without measurements and with a low uncertainty. Various nondestructive measuring techniques that use ionizing radiation are employed to characterize waste packages and raw waste. Gamma spectrometry is the most widely used technique because of its simple operation and low cost. This technique is used to quantify the beta-gamma and alpha activity of gamma-emitting radionuclides as well as to check the radioactive homogeneity of the waste packages. Numerous systems for directly measuring waste packages have been developed. Two types of methods may be distinguished, depending on whether results that come from the measurements are weighted by an experimentally determined corrective term or by calculation. Through the MARCO and CARACO measuring systems, a method is described that allows one to quantify the activity of the beta-gamma and alpha radionuclides contained in either a waste package or raw waste whose geometries and material compositions are more or less accurately known. This method is based on (a) measurement by gamma spectrometry of the beta-gamma and alphamore » activity of the gamma-emitting radionuclides contained in the waste package and (b) the application of calculated corrections; thus, the limitations imposed by reference package geometry and matrix are avoided.« less


We experienced a case of oral squamous cell carcinoma of the mandible with scattered distant metastases. After neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, the patient underwent segmental resection of the right mandible and right radical neck dissection. Surgical specimens confirmed remarkable nodal metastases. Unfortunately, the patient experienced a rapid fatal outcome, and numerous distant metastases were detected on autopsy. Moreover, postoperative 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose- positron emission tomography/computed tomography detected systemic distant metastases in this case. In our opinion, the use of preoperative FDG-PET/CT should be considered for patients with suspected poor prognoses.


Visual inspection of famous tea(bud-tea,a bud and one leaf,a bud and two leaves)category mainly relies on subjective judgment, which is time-consuming and hard to give an objective evaluation criteria. In order to solve the problem, a novel method based on machine vision was proposed. Firstly, the original image is cut and pretreated. Secondly, the feature of twelve species(harshness,contrast ratio,direction degree,smoothness,consistency and so on) is gotten through the gray co-occurrence matrix and Tamura method,and the principal components analysis method is used to build an effective reduction features library. Finally,tea classification was realized with the neural network according to the image characteristics. Simulation experimental results can achieve ideal effect.


Abstract Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has been enormously used in medical practice, especially for the management of various orthopedic and musculoskeletal disorders. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy has favorable effects on stimulating callus formation, inducing angiogenesis and bone regeneration and relieving pain. Studies also indicated that extra corporeal shock waves have a significant bactericidal effect on bone- and implant-associated infections. The present article reviews the various applications of extra corporeal shock wave therapy in the field of dentistry and the possibility of inculcating the useful properties of shock waves in improving the treatment outcome.


The Asian summer monsoon is one of the most important atmospheric circulation systems of the Earth, as the typical monsoon rainfalls are crucial for agriculture and economy in Asia. One key component of the Asian summer monsoon is the South Asian High (also referred to as the Tibetan anticyclone) - a large-scale anticyclone which covers South Asia and parts of the Middle East during boreal summer at upper tropospheric-lower stratospheric altitudes. As shown, for example, in satellite measurements, the Asian summer monsoon affects the chemical composition of the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere via the South Asian High. Thus, the Asian monsoon gains importance beyond the regional scale as its infl uence on the composition of the stratosphere has the potential to affect climate change. Consequently, in times of a changing climate and increasing emission in developing countries in Asia, detailed knowledge of the processes in the upper troposphere-lower stratosphere in the Asian monsoon region is important. In this thesis, reanalyses and observational data are employed to investigate the
dynamical features of the South Asian High. Previously, based on 5-day mean data, the South Asian High centre was identified to be located preferentially above the Iranian and the Tibetan Plateau. It is shown, that this so-called bimodality is most likely an artefact of one particular reanalysis data set. Moreover, the connection of convection and the location of the South Asian High is investigated. Multiannual backward trajectories are analysed to investigate the transport processes from the planetary boundary layer to the South Asian High. It is found that east-west shifts of the South Asian High on interannual timescales are not notably related to the source region composition of the anticyclone's air masses. With respect to the debated
transport from the Tibetan Plateau to the South Asian High, it is found that this transport pathway is favourable mainly in August, as the subtropical jet is located above the Tibetan Plateau and thus hampers transport of air from the Tibetan Plateau to the anticyclone in earlier stages of the monsoon season. Finally, chemistry-climate model simulations in various set-ups are evaluated with respect to their capability of reproducing chemical and dynamical features of the South Asian High on a climatological basis. Therefore, satellite observations and reanalyses data are employed. Based on these results, an outlook on the Asian summer monsoon and the South Asian High in the future is presented.


Carbon nitride polymers were prepared for the first time by the pyrolysis of 3,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-triazole derivatives, namely, 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole [1] and 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol [2], in bulk as well as in LiCl/KCl salt melts. The reaction of [1] and [2] in bulk yields condensed heptazine-based polymers, while in LiCl/KCl eutectics it leads to the formation of well-defined potassium poly(heptazine imides), according to the results of 13C NMR and XPS investigations, whose formation resembles that of emeraldine salts of polyaniline. The density functional calculations supported the structural model suggested for potassium poly(heptazine imide) polymer. Owing to the specific reaction path, the products obtained from triazoles therefore show electronic properties rather different to known carbon nitrides, such as band gap and conduction and valence bands positions. With the degree of crystallinity of the reference materials, triazole-derived carbon nitrides are characterized by almost comple...


Objective: To describe a case of super-refractory epilepsy caused by smoking synthetic marijuana ("spice"/"K2") that was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasmapheresis (PLEX). Background: CNS toxicity from the use of synthetic marijuana is known to cause paranoia and hallucinations. Previous case reports have also implicated its use in causing new-onset seizures in patients without other seizure risk factors. Design/Methods: Case report Results: A nineteen year old right-handed Caucasian male with Hepatitis C, prior intravenous drug use, and recent "spice" use was transferred to a tertiary referral center with status epilepticus. Patient had three seizures in the last six months prior to hospitalization in the context of smoking "spice", which he had been using for one year. Routine urine and serum toxicology were unrevealing. Extensive serum and cerebrospinal fluid testing for infectious, inflammatory, autoimmune, paraneoplastic, and mitochondrial etiologies were unremarkable. Patient had no abnormal lesions on MRI brain and full-body PET. He was in refractory status epilepticus and treated with midazolam infusion for eight days with the addition of six antiepileptic drugs. One month after discharge to acute rehabilitation, patient was readmitted for status epilepticus after report of recurrent "spice" use. Patient remained in status despite a trial of ketamine infusion and pentobarbital-induced coma. Due to poor clinical response, he empirically received a course of high-dose methylprednisolone, three courses IVIG (four days each), and seven days of PLEX. Additionally, patient was randomized for SAGE-547 trial for super-refractory epilepsy and received either study medication or placebo. Four months after patient's readmission, his seizures were finally controlled. Conclusions: Epilepsy attributed to the use of synthetic marijuana poses both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Clinical vigilance and history are key to diagnosis as synthetic cannabinoids are not detected by routine urine and serum toxicology screening. For super-refractory status epilepticus, immunomodulating therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin and plasmapheresis may be necessary. Disclosure: Dr. Zhang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Patel has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dani has nothing to disclose.


GPS devices generate a large amount of trajectory data. However these data do not contain the user-level notion of "place". A location is a pair of coordinates without any significance to the user whereas a place represents a meaningful location, such as "home", "work", based on the observation of routines and their embedded semantic meaning. One of the available mechanisms to extract knowledge from these data is through the application of clustering techniques. Clustering is a process to group objects based on their similarity, which in our case will allow us to detect intentional stops. Detecting intentional stops allows us to understand where the user spends most of his time, and, thus, to model mobility patterns. Recent clustering algorithms integrate both trajectory sample points and background geographic information. The main drawbacks of the existing approaches are: the user has to specify which physical spaces (places) he considers relevant to its trajectories; and geographic information is used to constrain the clustering algorithm and not to create a physical representation of a place. Location-based Social Networks (LBSN), like Foursquare and Twitter, support hundreds of millions of user-driven footprints. Those global-scale footprints provide a unique opportunity to model human activity understand how social aspects can affect human mobility patterns and geographical areas by means of place categories. The aim of our proposal is the creation of a robust spatio-temporal, i.e. density and time based, clustering algorithm for discovering intentional stops from the trajectories of users, in presence of noisy data. We also incorporate background geographic information enriched with semantic labels gathered from Foursquare to create a physical representation for the discovered intentional stops. Finally, we characterize aggregate activity patterns by finding the distributions of different activity categories over a city geography and study how social aspects can affect human mobility patterns.


This article proposes to utilize linear-quadratic tracking (LQT) control to reduce the air brake system response time and vehicle stopping distance, and hence, to significantly improve the system performance of a commercial vehicle air brake system equipped with electro-pneumatic proportional valve actuators. The nonlinear dynamic model of the air brake system, consisting of a control actuator (a proportional valve) and braking actuator (the brake chamber), is developed and linearized using the $q$ -Markov COVariance Equivalent Realization ( $q$ -Markov Cover) method in our early work. Based on the linearized dynamic model, an infinite horizon LQT controller is designed along with Kalman state estimation at each linearized operational condition. To apply the LQT control law over a wide operational range to track the target pressure, the designed controller was interpolated between the neighboring controllers to have a control law cover the entire operational range. To validate this control law, the control scheme is implemented into a dSPACE unit and validated through bench tests under different supply and reference pressures. The LQT control performance is also compared with the PID (proportional-integral-derivative) one. The bench test results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.


The materialization of multidimensional structures is a common way to speed up mostly aggregation queries. Its proper selection has triggered a huge variety of proposals. Any algorithm that aims to solve the cube selection problem needs a way to estimate query and maintenance costs, as minimizing costs is the objective function. This estimation is harder if a distribution of multidimensional structures is concerned, as algorithms as to deal with an additional dimension -space -translated as a set of spatially distributed storage and processing nodes, interconnected with a communication network. In this paper we present some algorithms especially designed to estimate query and maintenance cost at a MultiNode OLAP system in time units, using a distributed non-linear generalized cost model.


The Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology (JBCPP) has been published by De Gruyter for 4 years now, and since then it has been expanding and developing at a fast rate. In 2014, the Journal will publish 57 articles, which is more than double the number of articles compared to 2011, and the number of published pages has increased from 144 in 2011 to 450 in 2014. This development was and is only possible due to the increasing acceptance of the Journal worldwide which is also being reflected by the increasing number of submissions. Consequently, we were able to considerably improve the quality of the Journal by raising the rejection rate. The current rejection rate is 48%. In light of the growing interest in our Journal and its dynamic development, we have decided to increase the number of issues published per year from 4 to 6, with approx. 85 pages each, starting in 2015. This means a further increase in content for our readers. From mid 2014, we have introduced article categories to make the table of contents clearer and give our readers a clearer overview. In addition to the well-known categories such as review, mini review, short communication, case report, and editorial, original articles have been categorized into: – Cardiovascular-Pulmonary Interactions – Nephrology and Renal Physiology – Oxidative Stress – Metabolism – Inflammation – Immune Response – Hematological Profile – Phytotherapy


Modern radiologists have a new cap to wear-The New Newsman of the Millennium- thanks to the rapid advances in this field in the last fifty years or so. These advances have literally shifted our specialty from the confines of the "dark room" to the full glare of the "front stage" when in the much happening world of doctor-patient relationship. With the changing trends in healthcare sector, a final diagnosis is rarely reached without any back up from the field of radio-diagnosis. Many times, Radiologist is the first one to pinpoint the diagnosis or raise a suspicion of the most probable diagnosis in any given scenario. Everything is good and satisfactory when giving a disclosing a diagnosis which has a definite cure. This modern newsman is then welcomed and profusely thanked by the patient as well as the referring doctor. But things are not easy when delivering bad news. When the Radiologist diagnoses a patient to have incurable ailment like cancer or genetic disease the new newsman as well as the patient and referring colleague land into emotional turmoil. This turbulence can take a toll of the emotional health of this bearer of bad news. Hence there is a need to follow a scientific approach towards breaking bad news and specifically developing the communication skills we lack on this frontier. Nothing can make bad news good. But a proper method of conveying it to patients or their relatives can ease the emotional shock and make it more acceptable. This article focuses on the yet unfocussed role of Radiologist as the new newsman of the millennium and reviews various strategies that can them to wear this hat with satisfaction and to deliver good as well as the bad news with courage and confidence. Key words: Medical Education Technology, Communication Skills, SPIKES, BREAKS, Educational Model, Bad News, Doctor-Patient relationship, Cancer, Malignancy, Ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, Prenatal Diagnosis


Polymeric nanocomposites are being used more frequently to replace traditional insulation because they offer superior mechanical and electrical qualities. An efficient and successful diagnostic method based on time domain measurement is Polarization and Depolarization Current (PDC) measurement, which tracks the behaviour of the dielectric. Finding novel materials with improved dielectric properties is one of the key goals of research in the field of polymer nanocomposite dielectrics. This study uses the Polarization and Depolarization Current (PDC) measuring technique to examine the conductivity variation of LLDPE nanocomposite for formulations of HDPE blends nanocomposites made from polyethylene filled with nanoparticles of Al2O3. The goal of the experiment was to determine each sample's individual conductivity fluctuations and PDC pattern. The optimal composition for HV insulation in terms of lowest polarization and depolarization current values and lowest conductivity was discovered to be LLDPE/HDPE- Al2O3at 5%wt of nanofiller. The findings indicate that adding a certain amount of nanofiller to LLDPE/HDPE-based materials improved the materials' dielectric strength.


The frequency and levels of infestation of the bat fly Trichobius corynorhini Cockerell on its normal host Plecotus townsendii Cooper are examined. A direct relationship between winter host density and levels of bat fly infestation is demonstrated. Frequency and levels of infestation are greatest on females. No differences in frequency or levels of infestation are shown for solitary and clustered female hosts, although clustered males are more frequently and heavily parasitized than solitary males. It is hypothesized that higher frequencies and levels of bat fly infestation on males in winter are coincident with a shift from a solitary behavior of males in summer to an increase in cluster frequency and association with females in autumn and winter. Apparent movements of bat flies from more heavily infested females to male hosts may reduce intraspecific competition and thus permit optimal utilization of food resources (blood) when both sexes of the host are together in hibernation and blood from the host is potentially limiting due to a decrease in peripheral circulation. Evidence from the disproportionate frequencies and levels of infestation on males and females in clusters suggests the existence of a host factor produced by females which may attract flies and thus enhance their hostfinding success. This may be necessary to insure reproductive success of flies in the warm summer months owing to the propensity for males to roost singly at this time and for females to form nursery aggregations.


Neutron diffraction techniques have been used to determine the magnetic structure of Fe in monoclinic a-Li3Fe2(PO4)3. Rietveld analysis of the room temperature powder diffraction pattern confirms the monoclinic structure of the sample and is in agreement with previous studies. At low temperatures a paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition is observed at TN 1⁄4 30:0K. Our analysis shows that at T 1⁄4 4K the two inequivalent Fe sites have antiparallel magnetic moments that are aligned along the a-axis. The average magnetic moment, gS 1⁄4 5:0 mB indicates homogeneous Fe (S 1⁄4 52). r 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Existing research recognizes the important role aspect plays in the interpretation of modal readings. This paper presents an empirical approach to this area of study, based on corpus material. The investigation described here is part of the author's large-scale corpus research into modality-aspect interfaces. It traces patterns of interaction as exhibited in the Kratzerian semantic field of the English modal auxiliary can and the grammatical aspects which follow it within matrix predicates. The analyzed language samples were extracted from The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The study demonstrates patterns of interaction between the modal readings of can and the grammatical aspectual forms of the main verb. Moreover, it also shows that when modality concerns past events expressed through the perfect aspect, it tends to take epistemic conversational backgrounds. In addition to this, this research has also revealed the interaction of modality with subjectival negation.


We consider the conditions within a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) emission region that is Poynting flux dominated. Due to the enormous magnetic energy density, relativistic electrons will cool in such a region extremely rapidly via synchrotron. As there is no known mechanism that can compete with synchrotron it must be the source of the prompt sub-MeV emission. This sets strong limits on the size and Lorentz factor of the outflow. Furthermore, synchrotron cooling is too efficient. It overproduces optical and X-ray as compared with the observations. This overproduction of low energy emission can be avoided if the electrons are re-accelerated many times ($\gtrsim 5\times 10^4$)during each pulse (or are continuously heated) or if they escape the emitting region before cooling down. We explore the limitations of both models practically ruling out the later and demonstrating that the former requires two different acceleration mechanisms as well as an extremely large magnetic energy to Baryonic energy ratio. To be viable, any GRB model based on an emission region that is Poynting flux dominated must demonstrate how these conditions are met. We conclude that if GRB jets are launched magnetically dominated they must dissipate somehow most of their magnetic energy before they reach the emission region.


A series of 6-mono-, di-, and trifluoro analogs of S-phenyl 2,3,4-tri-O-benzyl-D- or L-thiorhamnopyranoside has been synthesized and used as donors in glycosylation reactions, with activation by the 1-benzenesulfinyl piperidine/triflic anhydride system. The stereochemical outcome of the glycosylation reactions was found to depend on the electron-withdrawing capability of the disarming substituent at the 6-position, i.e., on the number of fluorine atoms present. The results are explained with regard to the increased stability of the glycosyl triflates, shown to be intermediates in the reaction by low-temperature 1H NMR experiments, with increased fluorine content.


This paper suggests ways of improving rotor flow patterns in centrifugal compressors, thereby hoping to raise overall efficiency. The experimental work of Fowler is compared and contrasted with theoretical predictions by Stanitz and others. Based on these, design proposals are made to counter the effects noted.


Globalization leads to an extension of the performance content demanded of employees. Consequently, the latter are confronted with an increase of requirements to fulfil, of obstacles to overcome, and, in this context, it seems that to consider oneself capable to respond to such demands is as important as one's objectively possessed abilities. Numerous research has shown the beneficial aspects of a high perceived self-efficacy. These beneficial aspects and the variable distribution of the level of this feeling among populations led us to hypothesize the normative nature of this perceived self-efficacy. Three populations (line managers, non-managerial employees and students) have responded to a questionnaire on perceived self-efficacy. The executives were asked to indicate, for each item, whether they would appreciate (or not) an employee adopting the behaviour listed in the item; the non-executives were required to indicate the degree to which each proposal corresponded to their usual behaviour, and the students were asked to select the items that an employee should tick off in order to be well seen (vs. badly seen) by their supervisor. Our results confirm our hypothesis: managers significantly appreciate employees who show a high level of perceived self-efficacy (SEP). We also note that adopting such behaviours is effective among non-executives, meaning that, if we take into consideration the fact that self-presentation with neutral instructions often produces socially desirable responses, the employees are aware of this valorisation. Finally, we see that such awareness is directly confirmed by our third population, i.e., by the fact that the future employees, in this case the students, are indeed aware of this valorisation.


The reactivity profile of allylic bromides (derived from the Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction) towards thiourea derivatives and further transformations of the resulting isothiuronium bromides are described. Isothiuronium salts, prepared in near quantitative yields, undergo a selective acetylation or a base-promoted intramolecular cyclization to give 2-amino-1,3-thiazin-4-ones in good overall yields. Besides the simplicity of the reaction, conditions, and purification steps, the methods presented here furnished high-purity products. The structural characterization of representative compounds was unequivocally confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis.


Hemoglobin vesicles, which encapsulated concentrated hemoglobin (Hb) with a bilayer of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine/cholesterol/palmitic acid, were prepared under various preparation conditions in order to decrease the number of bilayers (n) constructing the vesicle and increase the Hb concentration in the interior of the vesicle ([Hb] in ). n decreased when the surface potential of the bilayer became more negative because of the electrostatic repulsion between the bilayers, while with a changing ζ-potential of Hb from positive to negative, [Hb] in showed a precipitous fall because of the electrostatic repulsion between Hb and the surface of the bilayer. A temperature decrease leads to a quality increase in the Hb vesicles ([Hb]/[lipid]) in spite of the [Hb] in decrease by the viscosity increase of the Hb solution. This is explained by the effective reduction of n due to the reduction in membrane fluidity and the protonation of Hb.


0 My mother always encouraged me to go outside or down in the cellar whenever I wanted to play by ear. In the house we always played from notes. I was about seven or eight at the time, and it wasn't that she didn't like to hear the songs that I tried to work out on my trumpet; some were her favorites. I think the idea of music not carefully printed and safely placed on the music rack made her just a little uneasy. And I think that everyone of my generation learned


prevent the creation of obstacles to the free expression activities as a result of the creation or strengthening of a dominant position. The concept of concentration includes transactions that result in lasting change of control of the undertakings, which reflects in market structure. The benefits aim require market players to recourse to the changes and continuous development. The market implies a close relationship between its actors, and the changes that occur within it influence all market actors, and the final consumer. Lasting changes such as merger may distort the functioning of markets, affecting effective competition. Moreover, market shares, in case of mergers, are factor that directly influence on the dimension of the merger effects. This paper presents an analysis of the impact of economic concentrations particular for food retail markets in Republic of Moldova. The merger effects measures through market shares held by companies taking part to the concentration. Distortion of competition following concentrations can be expressed through the establishment or strengthening of dominant position, coercion final consumer product choice, price coordination, creating barriers to entry, etc.


Comics as a Cultural Record: between Humorous and Serious Representation – keynote by Professor Jane Chapman: Comics themselves are a 'democratic' art form – both as popular culture and in their use by social movements. As a cultural record they should be included in the palette of primary sources that academics use for the study of the past – especially unknown or neglected contemporary strips. Using a range of examples, this keynote presentation demonstrates how both humourous and serious comics can be analysed according to four different categories of cultural record. Similarly, humour theory helps our understanding of light-hearted comics, which were sometimes created as a diversion from violence and death in war time. Between humorous and serious representation a liminal space exists that is sometimes populated by comics as an important form of collective identity.


This document reports the work being performed on the conversion of COBRA IV from CDC-7600-compatible FORTRAN to IBM-360/195-compatible FORTRAN. Details are given of the modifications that have been completed through the FIX12 version of COBRA IV.


Time series is very ubiquitous in both the industrial environment and real-life. Capturing the time dependency is very useful for time series analysis. Although the one-dimensional local binary pattern (1D-LBP) can analyze the Univariate time series, it cannot effectively handle the multivariate time series (MTS). The UTS can be considered as zero-order tensor time series (TTS), while the MTS can be considered as one- or higher order TTS. Each variable in MTS depends not only on its past values, but also on the other variables. In this article, we propose a temporal tensor LBP (TTLBP) operator to extract the discriminative temporal features from TTS by extending 1D-LBP operation from the scalar-wise to the tensor-wise. The TTLBP is discriminative and can handle the TTS effectively and straightforwardly. To the best of our knowledge, TTLBP is the first LBP variant for TTS analysis. Furthermore, we also propose a stricter uniform TTLBP to improve robustness and to reduce the high dimensionality. We apply the proposed TTLBP in the edge intelligence-assisted video anomaly detection system. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed TTLBP.


CONTEXT
Endo-PTC are used during endodontic treatment; however, until now no study evaluated the cleaning of dentin walls after use of different Endo-PTC formulations.

AIMS
The aim of this study was to assess qualitatively, by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, the cleaning of dentin walls of root canals after chemomechanical preparation (CMP) using Endo-PTC cream and Endo-PTC light associated to 2.5% sodium hypochlorite and 17% ethylenediamine tetraacetate (EDTA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty single-rooted human maxillary central incisors with straight canals and fully formed apex were selected. The specimens were randomly divided into four groups depending on the type of Endo-PTC and the final rinse with 17% EDTA. After CMP, all specimens were sectioned and processed for observation of the apical thirds by using SEM. Three calibrated evaluators attributed scores to each specimen.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED
The differences between irrigation protocols were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons. The significance level was set at α = 0.05.

RESULTS
The use of Endo-PTC cream or Endo-PTC light did not influence the smear-layer (SL) removal (P > 0.05). When EDTA were used, it was obtained the best cleaning results with no significant difference between the substances (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded that EDTA is essential to promote SL removal which was not affected by the type of Endo-PTC formulation.