Abstract Twin-screw extrusion is a crucial method for the direct inserting of carbon micro- and nanomaterials into a polymer matrix using a dry procedure. The study aimed to determine the influence of the parameters of the twin-screw extruder plasticizing system on the dispersion homogeneity and distribution of graphite filler in the polylactide polymer matrix and overall quality of the composite. As a filler, a graphite micropowder with a 5 μm lateral size of platelets was used at concentration of 1 wt.%. Three configurations of screws with different mixing intensity and various types segments were considered in the extrusion experiments. Morphology and chemical structure of the obtained composites were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy – attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) and Raman spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and melting flow rate measurements (MFR) were used to asses thermal and rheological properties of the composites. Samples of the polylactide/graphite composites were also subjected to mechanical tests. The results show that the selection of the mechanical parameters of twin-screw extruder plasticizing system plays a key role in the preparation of the homogeneous PLA/graphite composites. Incorrect selection of the screw geometry results in poor mixing quality and a significant deterioration of the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites. Optimised mixing and extrusion parameters can be the starting point for the design of efficient twin-screw extruder plasticizing system for fabrication of PLA composites with carbon nanotube and graphene fillers.


Simple Summary Nanoparticles (NPs) are not widely used in semen preservation procedures due to their potential toxicity as well as limited knowledge regarding safe NP doses. Turkey sperm loses its fertilizing potential when it is stored for more than several hours. Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of interest in novel procedures for improving the storage of turkey semen. The addition of zinc to the extender may improve progressive sperm motility, viability, membrane integrity and DNA stability. The viability, membrane integrity, motility and osmotic balance of sperm can also be enhanced through the addition of manganese, which exerts antioxidant effects. Despite the fact that the influence of NPs on sperm is not fully understood, their biological effects can be harnessed to enhance the quality of sperm cells during semen preservation. Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the effect of semen extender supplementation with 25 or 50 μM of zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) or manganese nanoparticles (MnNPs) on turkey spermatozoa preserved in a liquid state. Twenty turkey ejaculates were obtained from twenty healthy males. The collected semen was preserved at 4 °C for 48 h with or without NPs. Selected qualitative and quantitative parameters of sperm (motility, plasma membrane activity, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and the percentage of sperm demonstrating NO and SOD activity) were examined after 2, 24 and 48 h of storage. Sperm motility and MMP decreased in semen preserved with ZnNPs at each time point of the analysis. However, all spermatozoa remained viable throughout storage. In contrast, membrane integrity and mitochondria activity (p ≤ 0.05) increased, and the highest SOD activity (p ≤ 0.05) was observed in semen preserved with MnNPs. The addition of MnNPs to the semen extender could potentially improve the parameters of turkey semen during prolonged storage.


Biogas, which consists of the two main components methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), has been used as an energy source for quite some time. In industrial nations such as Germany, there have been three phases to date in which the technical production of biogas has experienced an upswing. The first technical biogas plants built in the 1950s were shut down after a short period of operation due to decreasing oil prices. During the 1973 oil crisis, biogas was increasingly used again for energy provision, but due to the subsequent sharp drop in crude oil prices, the technology was not further developed. The third upswing period began in the early 1990s and can be linked to changed framework conditions in the waste and recycling industry. Due to the politically forced expansion of renewable energy, Germany has seen the strongest increase in biogas plants in the world to date. However, this increase is currently slowing down as a result of political changes in monetary compensation. Despite the decelerated growth in the construction of new plants, the potential of energetic biogas use is far from being exhausted. However, undesired side effects of agricultural energy crop production and lack of public participation led to a poor image of biogas plants in large parts of the population in the past years. This could at least partly be counteracted by increasingly using residual materials for biogas production, as there is no competition for land use and no emissions associated with cultivation. Among others, reed grass is such a waste substrate with relatively high potential due to its strong distribution together with high crop yields. For example, Phragmites australis, one of the most widely distributed wetland plant species worldwide, has an above-ground potential ranging from around 3 to 30 t ha 1 a . The global harvestable aboveground biomass from reeds is estimated at 10 million t a . However, biogas production from reed is currently not widespread due to various constraints. In most regions, the harvest is usually done in winter. This minimizes conflict with nature conservation (e.g., breeding birds) and is easier and cheaper when the ground is frozen and therefore accessible for agricultural machinery. However, reed straw harvested in winter contains fewer nutrients as their largest share is transported to the rhizomes at that time. Furthermore, the aboveground biomass is more lignified at that time, which reduces the anaerobic degradability. Moreover, the translocation of nutrients to the rhizomes leads also to lower content of inorganics, making this organic material rather suitable as a solid combustible due to reduced ashing problems. Low nutrient contents can be compensated in anaerobic fermentation, e.g., by cofermentation with more nutrient-rich substrates. To allow anaerobic fermentation of lignin-rich biomass under commercial conditions, a pretreatment in which the recalcitrant material is broken down is necessary. Several technologies are currently available to achieve this goal. These can be assigned to different groups, e.g., there are biological, physical, chemical, and thermal processes. One specific advantage of thermal processes is that M. Scherzinger, Prof. M. Kaltschmitt Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics (IUE) Eissendorfer Strasse 40, 21073 Hamburg, Germany E-mail: email@example.com M. Thoma Bauer Resources GmbH Bauer-Strasse 1, 86529 Schrobenhausen, Germany


A numerical modeling study of the time variability of acoustic propagation through a Gulf Stream meander and eddies is presented. Both a cold‐core (cyclonic) eddy and a warm‐core (anticyclonic) eddy are included. Time periods of 2, 4, and 7 days; a frequency of 25 Hz; source and receiver depths of 150 m; and propagation out to 180 km are considered. Propagation conditions assumed an absorbing bottom and no azimuthal coupling of energy. Results indicate that variations in the locations and propagation loss levels of convergence zones (CZ) in 2 days can be significant. In the first CZ, the losses can change by more than 5 dB and shift in their pattern range location by as much as 10 km. Changes in the environment over a 2‐day period can be such that perturbations to the acoustic field caused by the environment within the first CZ can be nullified by the environment between the first and second CZs. The differences between propagation with the eddies present and not present were also observed for ranges out ...


A child with cerebral palsy, who shows spasticity in the lower extremities, is unable to bear correct weight on the lower extremities. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of standing and walking with legs by behind the knee splints on flexor muscles tonus and knee flexion deformity of children with diplegia spastic cerebral palsy. Among children with cerebral palsy in Ardabil, 10 children with diplegia spastic cerebral palsy who had the desired characteristics noted by the researcher were participated in the study and were practiced for 8 weeks and studied by MODIFIED ASHWORTH, checkered surface, goniometer, and centimeter ruler criteria. Data analysis was performed by using paired t-test (correlated). The highest mean of knee flexor spasticity was reported in the initial evaluation 3.06 and in the secondary evaluation 2.12 and for the ankle plantar flexor (3.375, 2.625) respectively. Also the average distance from the heel to the ground were (5.62, 4.8), and the foot contact with the ground were (250.375, 273) respectively. Results from statistical analysis indicate that the knee flexor muscle spasticity, plantar flexion of the ankle, and the distance from the heel to the ground decreases. Also, the contact area of the foot to the ground increases. The results of this study show that the use of behind the knee splints on flexor muscle tonus can improve motion function of lower extremities more effectively.


male in four rose above the status of common laborer."11 0 Stampp was wrong. "The discovery [sic]," assert F+E, "of the relatively high average level of pecuniary payments to slaves not only calls into question the traditional interpretation of the incentive system, but also the traditional explanations for the relatively low incidence of rebellions on the part of the slaves.""'1 Elkins was wrong, too. "No one could live," F+E write after summarizing the Elkins model of slave society, "under so brutal a machine without succumbing to it." The "typical plantation slave" was not Sambo: "docile but irresponsible, loyal but lazy, humble but chronically given to lying and stealing." These historians, among others, reveal the "power of ideology to obliterate reality." "The myth of black incompetence in American historiography," we are told, "is racism." 112 (Martin Duberman's response to this allegation is on target. ". . . [T]he accusation of 'racism'," writes Duberman in his review of T/C, "is double-edged: it makes just as much sense to apply the epithet to those who argue that blacks were so without internal resources, common sense, and self-respect that they would dutifully fulfill the role of worker heroes in a system designed to perpetuate their bondage."')113 The "greatest achievements" of enslaved Afro-Americans, according to F+E, were not "such proficiencies as stealing, shirking responsibilities, and feigning illness." Nor were the enslaved "the pitiful victims of a system of slavery so repressive that it undermined their sense of family, their desire for achievement, their propensity for industry, their independence of judgment, and their capacity for self-reliance..."114 And that was so because the typical plantation owner managed his enterprise well, prescribing for his slaves the proper dosage of positive and negative labor incentives. "Pecuniary incentives," after all, "were as integral a part of slavery as punishment."115 The ordinary slave himself understood the value of these pecuniary incentives because as he looked about him he could see that "so many" other slaves held "preferred occupational positions." Did they?


Mental Health Advisory Team IV has had a profound impact on military policy, public opinion, and interventional strategies. As an experienced combat veteran, the author characterizes the impact Mental Health Advisory Team IV has had within the military mental health community, as well as on community mental health overall. Language: en


Abrasive flow machining (AFM) is a process for the production of excellent surface qualities of inner profiles that are difficult to access and outside edges, as well as for deburring and edge rounding. The grinding medium used in AFM consists of a polymer fluid, the so-called base, in which the abrasive grains are bound. The grinding medium is pressed along the contours at a defined pressure and temperature. Depending on the respective machining task, different specifications of media are used. The description of process-related metrial removal mechanisms requires the knowledge of material removal mechanisms in AFM. Based on findings in flow mechanism, analyses have been made on material removal mechanisms. The objective of the investigations at the Institute for Machine Tools and Factory Management IWF in Berlin is to trace correlations capable of influencing the work result.


The approximately spherical and the fine particle's precursor of(Ni0.8Co0.2)2(OH)2CO3·4H2O was synthesized by controlled crystallization method using NH3·H2O as the complexing agent.LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 powders with orderly layered structure were obtained by sintering the precursor after second stage drying and LiOH·H2O in air atmosphere at high temperature after being ground.Orthogonal experimental study to optimizing the iufluence factors such as reaction time and various Li/M ratios had been done;Meantime characteristics of XRD,EIS and SEM for LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 were carried out.The results showed that given the sintered temperature of 750℃,The LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 cathode materials which were obtained with 1.05 Li/(Ni+Co)for 15h possess the best electrochemical property with the initial discharge specific capacity of 179.2mAh/g at 0.1C constant current between 2.7-4.3V,and change into 167mAh/g after 10 cycles with capacity retention of 93%.


The purpose of this paper is to single out and generalize about the essential features and properties of synchronization and to argue in favour of the idea of designing and developing fault tolerance for distributed computer system on the basis of a multilevel synchronization system. We propose to consider designing and developing a hierarchical system of synchronizing redundant components in these systems the first and foremost stage in providing fault tolerance in application systems. The general peculiarities of using synchronization system for this end are considered.


This article is first piece of series of double verb sentences' adverb research,and it is the conclusion.First,we list 13 kind of double verb sentences according to the semantic relations between double verb;Second,we proposed there is at least one element to govern double verb in adverbs;Then pointed out the adverb in three situations of double verb have,either alone present or together present,positive and negative interlocks,seven kind of situations which appears.Finally,we explained the relations and differences of syntax structure and the semantic structure.


In PWM inverter fed induction motor system, with the increase of the switching frequency, the negative effects on the motor and the electromagnetic compatibility problem to the peripheral equipment produced by the common-mode voltage have been focused. This paper presents a three-phase four-leg topology, and adopts NZPWM control strategy to suppress common-mode voltage, at the same time, this paper analyses the topology structure of the three-phase four-leg and the principle of suppressing the common-mode voltage by NZPWM control technology, and provides the control strategy of the fourth leg. Further more, based on Matlab simulation platform, this paper make the simulations with SVPWM and NZPWM control strategies on the traditional three-phase three-leg, and it also simulates the new three-phase four-leg with NZPWM control strategy. The simulation results show that three-phase four-leg topology combined with NZPWM control strategy can restrain common-mode voltage and common-mode current effectively.


Apparently, the international competition seems to be moved to the area of investments in new technologies waiting for results in the near future. Nanotechnology is by far the most wanted by investors. The last twenty years the investments in nanotechnology became the priority for all the developed states and this trend was followed by the less developed countries. At the opposite side, there are countries as Romania that seem to lose the start in front of those very active in this field. This paper tries to present the role of the Romanian Research and Development activity to reshape the textile industry through new technologies and nanotechnologies especially. To gather the proper information, the in-depth interview method was used. The conclusions reveal that state keeps the key for a good research activity by offering stable and consistent support. At the same time, a lot of measures or recommendations could be a pragmatic solution to take seriously the role of the research activity to bring its contribution for this big challenge.


In this article, we prove the following version of the weak Borisov-Alexeev-Borisov (Weak-BAB) conjecture for $3$-folds in $\operatorname{char} p>5$: fix a set $I\subseteq [0, 1)$ which satisfies the descending chain condition (DCC) and an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic $p>5$. Let ${\mathfrak{D}}$ be a collection of klt pairs $(X, \Delta )$ satisfying the following properties: (1) $X$ is a projective $3$-fold, (2) $\Delta $ is an ${\mathbb{R}}$-divisor with coefficients in $I$, (3) $K_X+\Delta \equiv 0$, and (4) $-K_X$ is ample. Then the set $\{\operatorname{vol}_X(-K_X) \ | \ (X, \Delta )\in{\mathfrak{D}}\mbox{ for some }\Delta \}$ is bounded from above.


Using uniform design method to design the experiment of the emulsion treatment with microwave radiation.Through the fitting of experimental data,the empirical formula among the microwave power P,radiation time T,moisture of emulsion A and the dehydration ratio after treatment S are obtained,and the regular of microwave to the demulsification and dehydration is studied.


A technology for obtaining instrumental corundum ceramic based on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} + (Ti{center_dot}W)C having good working characteristics and thermal stability is developed. It is shown that acoustomicroscopic measurements enable nondestructive methods to be used to detect subsurface microdefects, enable the uniformity of the specimens to be determined and enable the technological process by which the ceramic is obtained to be monitored.


The effects of topographically forced planetary wave breaking on eddy transport in the stratosphere are examined for zonal wavenumbers 1 and 2. Zonally averaged basic states representative of Northern Hemisphere (NH) and Southern Hemisphere (SH) winter conditions are used. Waves 1 and 2 each have significant wave breaking effects in the extratropical stratosphere during NH winter, whereas only wave 1 is important during SH winter. During NH winter, eddy mixing is dominated by wave 2 in the lower stratosphere and by wave 1 in the upper stratosphere and at the tropopause at low latitudes. The eddy diffusion effects due to the combined influence of waves 1 and 2 are much stronger in NH winter than in SH winter.


Information operations, psychological operations: two terms
very often articulated in the context of hybrid warfare,
irregular warfare, information warfare etc. Western democracies
and NATO try to define carefully what these terms mean to
promote as much transparency as possible. Nevertheless, we
suggest that current definitions do not reflect the reality,
probably because the Western approach differs from that of the
West's adversaries, the ones who actively develop and deploy
such operations in the modern age. Therefore, this article
discusses and highlights the main issues and weaknesses related
to the Western understanding of information and psychological
operations, and also reflects on the gap in civil-military
affairs. We witness intense discussions about the protection of
society against the influence of information and psychological
operations, but these reflect only civil society. Military and
security representation is missing from this discussion.


Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) causes acute neuromuscular weakness. Severe cases are life‐threatening and many are left disabled. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and plasma exchange (PE), along with supportive care, are the mainstays of treatment. Treatment choice is influenced by multiple factors. The clinico‐epidemiological features of GBS in Australia have not been reviewed in 30 years and few studies have assessed contemporary treatment choices.


The hardships faced by asylum seekers in Australia, due to the government's policy that denies them access to health care and a source of income is discussed. An example of the family of three-year-old Sanara is provided. Late last year the Department of Immigration released a draft paper that examined the basic conditions for asylum seekers in Australia. It focused on the denial of permission to work for asylum seekers at various stages of their protection application process. It proposed some promising changes. Under these changes, Sanara's family would have permission to work and therefore to access Medicare. However, Sanara's father would receive no employment support, nor would he be eligible for income support if he could not find employment.


It has long been known that females of the ovoviviparous Poeciliid fishes retain viable spermatozoa within the ovary for many months. As many as eight broods of young (at about 30 day intervals) from one female have resulted from exposure to a male for only a day or two. When a second male becomes involved, a question arises as to what proportion of the next offspring are due to the more recent fertilization. Winge (1937) concluded in Lebistes that the old spermatozoa cannot compete with the fresh ones and that ordinarily a mixed brood is only obtainable when both males are together with the female at the same time. Vallowe (1953) found in a series of matings of Xiphophorins that after a female has been fertilized by a male of either the same or a different species, sperm from a second male can also fertilize ova which are in the same broods. Much variation in the proportion of offspring due to either male was observed. However, Clark (1950) found that interspecific sperm competition appears to be a significant factor as a sexual isolating mechanism between X. maculatus and X. helleri. Mixed sperm give primarily offspring of the species of the parental female rather than hybrids when artificial insemination is employed. Turner (1937) in an extensive study of reproductive cycles in Poeciliid fishes found the fertilization of a group of ova in Lebistes taking place 8 days subsequent to the birth of the previous brood. Further observation indicated that all ova of a group are fertilized within 2 days; embryos develop during the next 20 days and are voided. This constitutes the typical 30 day cycle. Dildine (1936) states that ova are fertilized from 9 to 12 days after the birth of a previous brood, and that about 20 more days are required for gestation. Haempel (1950) found an autogenous rhythm of 4 to 7 days in the estrous cycle of female Lebistes which would explain the lag in successive fertilizations observed above. It is apparent that any male copulating with a female within a week of the birth of a previous brood would be likely to father offspring in the next brood. Whether sperm from a second male Lebistes introduced to a female within a few days after bearing young would in all cases succeed over sperm already waiting in the ovary was a question which led to the present series of experimental matings. MATERIALS AND METHODS


In the present study, the transient performance of the viscous micropump will be investigated numerically. The viscous micropump's operation depends mainly on viscous forces and can operate in any situation where viscous forces are dominant. All the micropump calculations are reported in nondimensional quantities, which allows for the prediction of the micropump performance, regardless of the dimensions or the fluid that is used. The effect of the microchannel height, rotor eccentricity, Reynolds number, and pump load on the transient performance of the viscous micropump has been studied in detail. The steady state performance was compared with the available experimental data and was found to be in a very good agreement. The rotor eccentricity was determined to be the parameter that affected the transient performance of the micropump the most significantly. This work provides a foundation for future research on the subject of fluid phenomena in viscous micropumps.


Abstract. A single sideband (SSB) phase-modulated link with an improved spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By generating a single-sideband phase-modulated signal containing a specific spectrum for demodulation, the third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) is effectively suppressed. The theoretical analysis is presented, and the experimental results show that a carrier-to-interference ratio of 62.45 dB is achieved. The improved SFDR is 120.25  dB  ·  Hz4/5, which is 14.47 dB higher than that of a conventional SSB phase-modulated link.


This research looks at the extent to which Islamic education conveys awareness of contemporary issues. This examination is conducted on secondary school Islamic education textbooks in Egypt. A list of contemporary issues was first classified into four components: Scholarly, environmental, social, and economic. This was followed by analyzing the content of the targeted textbooks. The analysis revealed that those textbooks lacked information on contemporary issues. Following this, the perspectives of Islamic education teachers were surveyed, who stressed the necessity of shaping education to raise students' awareness of the status quo. Some participants, however, remarked that there is no need to formally incorporate contemporary issues into curricula, although teachers should encourage students to make connections between what is taught and everyday life. The research develops a model for the integration of contemporary matters into Islamic education curricula. It also suggests ways in which teachers can be trained in this respect.


The potentialities of using two different calcium carbonates pigments, one ground (GCC) and the other precipitated with scalenohedral habit (PCC) as well as these pigments in blends with different proportions, in paper, are analysed. The intrinsic characteristics of these pig- ment formulations influence paper coating structure and paper properties such as density, light scattering, gloss, print gloss and printability. The results showed that there is not the perfect for- mulation but the best combination is probably GCC75:PCC25 formulation.


reproductive health care for women and babies is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our digital library hosts in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the reproductive health care for women and babies is universally compatible with any devices to read.


The main interest in bioenergy as a climate change mitigation strategy is that it is considered to be a CO2 neutral energy source. This is based on the argument that the same amount of CO2 is released at the point of use as has been removed from the atmosphere via the process of photosynthesis. In practice, biomass energy is not always from renewable sources. The production of biomass may result in decreases of carbon stocks in above ground biomass, below ground biomass, dead wood, litter and soil. One should include the associated CO2 emissions from the losses in these carbon stocks. The paper focuses on the three main aspects of bioenergy and land-use: 1) The GHG balance is not only influenced by direct emissions from land use, but also by the indirect emissions caused by displacement of other land uses. 2) There are trade-offs between growing biomass crops and displacing fossil fuels, or storing carbon. Modelling suggests that bioenergy production is superior if biomass, from high-yielding plantations, is produced efficiently, displaces GHG-intensive fossil energy, and a long-term view is taken. 3) To date there are few CDM methodologies for biofuels because of the impact of bioenergy on the availability of land. While the CDM focuses on the effects of individual projects, the land use issues discussed in this paper can hardly be attributed to a single activity but tend to be the result of macroeconomic developments.


Section:
Ireland report
Ireland's real estate market has made a spectacular comeback. Our panel members give their predictions for this sector and explain how their firms are adapting to the change
How has the real estate sector changed in Ireland over the last 12 months? What conditions have caused the most change in the market?
Mark Barr, head of property, Arthur Cox: The commercial real estate market in Ireland has been in recovery mode for about the past 24 to 36 months. In the early stages of recovery much of the activity was generated by the sale of distressed assets, be they commercial properties themselves or the sale of loans secured on such properties


Blood pressure (BP) determination is a fundamental parameter in cardiovascular assessment. The gold standard method to measure BP is based on the inflatable arm cuff, however has several disadvantages for continuous monitoring. New techniques were developed to overcome these limitations using correlations between the pulse transit time (PTT) and BP. This work draws attention to the PTT rationale using several methods. In order to determine the PTT, an electrocardiogram (ECG) was used combined with multiple photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors applied to different arm locations, these signals were acquired with a bioPLUX device. The Ultrassound system (SonoSite Edge) was used to measure the artery diameter. As reference, BP was measured using a cuff-based sphygmomanometric device. Measurements were performed in a study population of 36 volunteers. The correlation coefficient for DBP determined and DBP measured was r = 0,689. The results suggest PTT deduced from different locations can be used to measure BP.


The Wellington Harbour Board has recently completed the placing of 18,300 sq.yd of concrete paving, at a cost of 73,300, in the Aotea Quay area. Since 1946. cargoes such as steel, pig iron, hardwood vehicles have more than doubled. These cargoes do not require shed space but need more and better open stacking areas. This paper presents some assets and problems arising during the course of the work.


This article reports a proposed instructional model to teach the second language (L2) academic writing in education with citations and references to learners in English Education departments. The model is suggested to be implemented in two semesters in a row. In the first semester of the implementation, learners are to take essay writing and academic reading courses simultaneously. In the former, learners learn to write coherent and cohesive sandwich paragraphs, do peer reviews, and write five-paragraph essays in education without citations and references. In the latter, learners familiarise themselves with various academic sources, write in-text citations and reference lists using Microsoft Word Reference Manager, paraphrase and summarise information from journal articles, and write a short paragraph using citations and references. In the second semester of the implementation of the model, learners take an academic essay writing course which is the progressing combination of the two aforementioned courses in the previous semesters. In this writing course, learners write two 1,200-word essays in education with citations and references from at least five sources. During the implementation of the model, a no-plagiarism policy is upheld through teachers' emphasising on paraphrasing and checking learners' works with plagiarism checkers before submission. Gradual progress is continuously monitored through teachers' feedback on progress. All in all, the model emphasises step-by-step progress in L2 academic writing supported by ample writing preparation time and continuous feedback on progress.


We consider a solution to a parametric family of the Cauchy problems for $m$th-order linear differential equations with constant coefficients. Parameters of the family are the coefficients of the differential equation and the initial values of the solution and its derivatives up to the $(m-1)$th-order (by a solution to a family of problems we mean a function of the parameters of the given family that maps each tuple of parameters to a solution to the problem with these parameters). We obtain an exponential-power estimate for the functions of this parametric family that is uniform (with respect to parameters) on any bounded set. We also prove that the maximal element of the set of real parts of monic polynomial roots is a continuous function (of the coefficients of the polynomial). The continuity of this element is used for obtaining the estimate mentioned above (since to each tuple of coefficients of the differential equation there corresponds its characteristic polynomial with these coefficients, the set of the roots of the characteristic polynomial and the maximal element of this set are also functions of the coefficients of the differential equation).


17 O NMR data were determined for three solute-BHI (Brain Heart Infusion) mixtures. For each solute, NaCl, raffinose and glycerol, NMR data (linewidths and signal intensity) were determined as well as water activity (a w ), moisture contents, and effects on growth of Staphylococcus aureus in media of various moisture contents. Liquid (highly mobile) water content in all media tested was determined by NMR. This mobile water was important and had a stronger correlation with S. aureus growth rate than did a w or moisture content, although solute effects limited empirical prediction. NMR linewidth also correlated with lag phase.


The metal cutting speed determines the productivity of laser technological devices [1, 2, 3]. An essential characteristic of the metal cut quality evaluation is the value of the side wall roughness of the cut Rz [2, 3, 4, 9]. Also, the nature of the cut changes with depth. This means that the final roughness also changes. Laser cutting makes it possible to obtain finished parts without subsequent finishing, and the recommendations of technologies for industrial laser machines based on CO2 lasers contain the conditions of high-quality cutting for a wide range of materials [2,4,7,8]. This article covers setting up a fiber laser. It is assumed that effective channeling of the laser beam stops at a certain depth. The laser beam is scattered at large angles and absorbed by the material walls [5, 6]. Experiments have shown that scattering occurs at the depths comparable to the laser wavelength and inhomogeneities of the material being processed. Of course, it is worth considering the laser settings and the material being cut. It was assumed that at the appropriate depth, when the channeling of the laser beam is stopped, the material melts due to the incandescent gas jet and the thermal conductivity of the metal. The article also presents the calculation of fiber laser parameters to ensure the minimum divergence of roughness at the entire depth of metal cut. The results of the work were tested at the existing production.


The rapid population growth in many municipalities in the arid and semiarid of the world continues to place increasing demands on limited fresh water supplies. Many cities and districts are struggling to balance water use among municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational users. The population increase has not only increased the fresh water demand but also increased the volume of wastewater generated. Treated or recycled wastewater appears to be the only water resource that is increasing as other sources are dwindling. Use of recycled wastewater for irrigating landscapes is often viewed as one of the approaches to maximize the existing water resources and stretch current urban water supplies. Irrigation plays a vital role in increasing crop yields and stabilizing production. In arid and semi-arid regions, irrigation is essential for economically viable agriculture, while in semi-humid and humid areas, it is often required on a supplementary basis. One of the applications of wastewater is its reuse as irrigation water in agriculture. In arid and semi-arid regions, wastewater is considered a valuable source of irrigation water and a fertilizing materia1. Although wastewater reuse in irrigation is a common practice in these regions, there is a widespread and growing concern about its adverse environmental impact on the environment and health hazards. Use of wastewater can be successfully used to irrigate and enhance growth of forage crops. High yields of forage crops such as corn and vetch can be obtained by wastewater irrigation. Moreover, wastewater provided factors other than N and P for improving crop production such as improving soil fertility and soil organic matter that were measured and reported in other articles. Continuous application of wastewater may lead to accumulation of plant nutrients and heavy metals to undesirable high levels in the crops and thereby reducing their quality and nutritional value as forage crops for animal feeding. Therefore, crop selection and rate of application should be carefully managed to minimize any possible adverse effect on crop quality. A periodic monitoring of crop quality parameters is required when using wastewater for irrigation.


Chew CS, Chen X, Zhang H, Berg EA, Zhang H. Calcium/ calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of tumor protein D52 on serine residue 136 may be mediated by CAMK2 6. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 295: G1159–G1172, 2008. First published October 2, 2008; doi:10.1152/ajpgi.90345.2008.—Tumor protein D52 is expressed at relatively high levels in cells within the gastrointestinal tract that undergo classical exocytosis and is overexpressed in several cancers. Current evidence supports a role for D52 in the regulation of vesicular trafficking. D52 function(s) are regulated by calcium-dependent phosphorylation; however, the intracellular mechanisms that mediate this process are not well characterized. The goal of this study was to identify the calcium-dependent phosphorylation site(s) in D52 and to characterize the protein kinase(s) that mediate this phosphorylation. Using mass spectrometry and site-directed mutagenesis, we identified a single amino acid residue, S, that undergoes increased phosphorylation upon elevation of intracellular Ca concentration. A phosphospecific antibody (pS) was produced and used to characterize D52 kinase activity in gastric mucosal, colonic T84, and HEK293 cells. By using D52 as a substrate, a protein kinase with a molecular weight (Mr) of 50 kDa was identified with "in gel" assays. This kinase comigrated with rat brain calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CAMK2) cross-reacted with pan-specific CAMK2 antibodies as well as with anti-active CAMK2 (pT) antibody when activated. Carbachol-stimulated phosphorylation of S was inhibited by the CAMK2 inhibitor KN93 (IC50 38 M) and by the calmodulin antagonist W7 (IC50 3.3 nM). A previously uncharacterized CAMK2 isoform, CAMK2 6, which has the same domain structure and Mr as CAM2 , was identified in gastric mucosa by RT-PCR. The cloned, expressed protein comigrated with D52 kinase and colocalized with D52 protein in T84 and HEK293 cells. These findings support a role for CAMK2 6 in the mediation of D52 phosphorylation.


Psathyrella griseovelata is described as a new species, based on morphological and molecular data. Morphologically, P. griseovelata is characterized by its fascicled or subfascicled growth habit, the thick silvery veil in young basidiomata, the predominant grey colour of the pileus and the frustoconical spores. Besides ha- ving unique morphological characters, P. griseovelata forms a distinct lineage within P. sect. Spadiceogriseae in the analyses of the nrITS, nrLSU and tef-1α regions. Psathyrella griseovelata is described in detail, illustrations are provided and comparisons with similar taxa are made


The JPEG standard is the most commonly employed lossy compression method for still continuous-tone images due to its high effectiveness and low computational complexity. However, the visually disturbing blocking artifacts generates when image is compressed at low bit rates. JPEG-based image coding algorithm has shown that employing down-sampling to a low resolution before JPEG and subsequently interpolating the decompressed image to the original resolution can improve the overall PSNR performance. In this paper, the all phase discrete cosine transform (APDCT) filter which can be used as antialiasing low-pass filter is designed. And two interpolation methods, cubic interpolation and APDCT interpolation are proposed for further performance improvement. The experimental results presented clearly exhibit an improvement over existing approaches in terms of PSNR and visual quality while keeping low computational complexity.


This study uses stochastic frontier analysis for estimating efficiencies of railways systems in European countries. We consider railways as a system which uses its infrastructure (length of lines worked, numbers of cars and wagons, staff strength) and a scale of market (number of habitants and tourists) for transporting passengers and freights. We estimate efficiencies of freight and passenger transportations separately on the base of different models. We use the database provided by International Union of Railways, which includes annual statistical data about biggest European railways companies from 1997 to 2006 to estimate model parameters. Railways systems show huge variations in technical efficiency between different countries and also between freight and passenger transportation within the same country. The study also contains the analysis of dependencies between calculated railways efficiency estimates and popular economic indicators.


Some present and possibly future waste disposal methods involving substantial immediate volume reduction of waste processed. 'This paper discusses data on solid waste disposal methods used in the plastics industry as obtained in a recent questionnaire survey of the polymer produc tion and plastics fabrication sections of this industry. Regional facilities for collective'inCineration are described briefly. Facilities use� by a large chemical company in disposing of its plastic and other solid and liquid waste materials are also described. Open pit incinerators and their operation are discussed briefly. Mention is made of other commer cially-available industrial incinerators used to handle high Btu plastic wastes. Some future incineration techniques are discuss ed. Included here are: suspension burning; melting with auxiliary fuel ("slagging" or "total" incineration) and fluid bed combustion. Pyrolysis techniques are discuss ed in reasonable detail as a future method of volume reduction of industrial waste with built-in air pollution control. Several other methods of waste disposal under study now for probable future use are discussed brief ly. Included here are: the Black-Clawson "Hydropulp ing" process; the Hercules combination process of digestor-pyrolysis-residue separation as being designed for use by one of the counties in the State of Delaware; and the recently-publicized Aluminum Association pro posed process wherein refuse is subjected to shredding, fiber reclamation, magnetic separation, incineration or pyrolysis, noncombustible residue separation, screen and air-classification and waste-water treatment pro cedure. Air pollution controls on this process concept are also discussed very briefly. DATA ON SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FOR THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY The entire plastics industry was considered to be 8-1/2 million tons in terms of U.S. consumption in 1969. The sales of the "big three" polymer types the olefins, PVC, and the styrenes represent about 5.36 million tons or 63% of the total industry . Our sample constituted 68% of the "big three" volume and the estimated total scrap produced by the manufacturers of these three materials, based on indi vidual scrap rates, is 52,500 tons per year. 'This repre sents 0.98% of the total U.S. production of olefins,


The main challenge of implementing cognitive models for usability testing lies in reducing the modeling effort, while including all relevant cognitive mechanisms, such as learning and relearning, in the model. In this paper we introduce a general cognitive modeling approach with ACT-R for hierarchical, list-based smartphone apps. These apps support the task of selecting a target, via navigating through subtargets positioned on different layers. Mean target selection time for repeated app interaction, learning and relearning behavior was collected in four studies conducted with either a shopping app or a real-estate app. The predictions of the general modeling approach match the empirical data very well, both in terms of trends and absolute values. We also explain how such a general modeling approach can be followed. The presented general model approach requires little modeling effort to be used for predicting overall efficiency of other apps. It supports more complex interface, as well.


Social media platforms such as Twitter provide valuable information for aiding disaster response during emergency events. Machine learning could be used to identify such information. However, supervised learning algorithms rely on labelled data, which is not readily available for an emerging target disaster. While labelled data might be available for a prior source disaster, supervised classifiers learned only from the source disaster may not perform well on the target disaster, as each event has unique characteristics (e.g., type, location, and culture) and may cause different social media responses. To address this limitation, we propose to use a domain adaptation approach, which learns classifiers from unlabelled target data, in addition to source labelled data. Our approach uses the Naive Bayes classifier, together with an iterative Self-Training strategy. Experimental results on the task of identifying tweets relevant to a disaster of interest show that the domain adaptation classifiers are better as compared to the supervised classifiers learned only from labelled source data.


ATP dependent MurC-F ligases are essential for the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan, an essential bacterial cell wall component that is required for bacterial cell survival. Last, in the series, MurF catalyzes the ATP-dependent addition of D-Ala-D-Ala dipeptide to UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-tripeptide, to form the UDP-N-acetylmuramy-pentapeptide monomeric precursor of peptidoglycan. Owing to its critical essentiality in peptidoglycan biosynthesis and absence in eukaryotic counterparts, MurF is considered as a promising target for the design and development of potent antibacterial agents. Several MurF inhibitors have been designed and evaluated for their MurF inhibitory and antibacterial activity. These include aminoalkylphosphinates, sulfonamides, diarylquinolones, hydroxylamines, phosphorylated hydroxylamines, thiazolylaminopyrimidines, 2,4,6-trisubstituted 1,3,5-triazines, etc. However, most of the inhibitors developed till date lack potent antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In the present review, an updated status of MurF ligase inhibitors is presented, that may provide a useful source for the design of novel MurF inhibitors with potent and broad spectrum antibacterial activity.


By solving the problem of a periodic distribution of point defects in general anisotropic media, we give an alternative, more direct proof, of the relatively recent procedure that extracts dipole tensors from the stress acting on the cell of atomistic simulations performed under periodic boundary conditions. Moreover, we show that naive superposition of individual defect fields is not a solution of the problem, though correction terms can be identified; as a byproduct, analysis of the latter allows us to reveal a spurious contribution to the elastic interaction energy as calculated in current literature procedures, that therefore must be subtracted in order to obtain correct results.


Abstract ▪Objective:To assess the effectiveness of β-blockers and endoscopic sclerotherapy in the prevention of first bleeding and reduction of mortality in patients with cirrhosis and esophagogast...


A new optimisation criterion for computing excitation sequences, typically used in analysis by synthesis linear prediction coders, is presented. This criterion not only relies on the error over the processed frame but also includes the excitation effects induced in future frames. This technique is effective in removing ticks that are otherwise audible.


Abstract : This contract is a continuation of an earlier DCIEM contract (#W7711-447225/01-XSE) to review current load carriage (LC) designs and knowledge of LC systems and to develop a validated measurement system for LC assessment. The overall objectives of this contract were to develop improved assessment tools and to use these tools in further development of a valid and reliable measurement procedure for military LC assessment. The specific objectives are defined in each of Sections (A-E) which are bound as separate.


The paper introduces a new reusable asynchronous component, called Opportunistic Merge element, that merges two or more request-acknowledgement channels into one and is allowed to opportunistically bundle requests from different input channels if they arrive sufficiently close to each other. We present a speed-independent implementation of this component and verify some of its correctness properties. An important characteristic of the presented implementation is that the arbitration is removed from the critical path, thereby providing a fast response to the incoming requests.


A support device for a structure is provided to reduce the size of an upper member by installing a primary horizontal elastic body to the outside of a fixing member, to replace a primary horizontal elastic body easily, to reduce the height of an intermediate member by installing a primary horizontal elastic body only, to increase horizontal bearing capacity and restoring force, to compress a horizontal elastic body in the early stage and to support a bridge easily. The support device(200) for a structure comprises: a lower member(210) installed between a support structure(30) and an upper structure by a footing nut(32) and a bolt(212) to support the load of the upper structure and to absorb horizontal force between the support structure and the upper structure, and provided with a pin hole(214); an upper member(220) installed to the base of the upper structure supported by the support structure by welding or using a bolt and a nut, and attached with a stainless steel plate(222); an intermediate member(230) installed on the base of the upper member and attached with a fluorine resin plate(232) to reduce the frictional force with the stainless steel plate and a pin(234) to bear large shear and bending forces; a vertical elastic body(240) installed between the intermediate member and the lower member to support vertical load of the upper structure elastically and provided with a through hole(242) to penetrate the pin; a fixing member(250) installed on the base of the upper member to be projected downward to install a primary horizontal elastic body(280) horizontally; and an elastic unit(300) composed of a primary horizontal elastic body supporter(260) installed on the outside of the fixing member horizontally to support the outside of the primary horizontal elastic body and the side of the fixing member, a shaft member(270) installed horizontally through a primary penetration unit(252) and a secondary penetration unit(264a) to support the primary horizontal support body horizontally and to transfer the horizontal force generated by the intermediate member and the upper member to the primary horizontal elastic body or the restoring force of the primary horizontal elastic body to the intermediate member and the upper member, and a primary horizontal elastic body(280) coupled to the shaft member to obtain high bearing capacity together with a secondary horizontal elastic body.


Abstract : This final report details in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics of stable lines of human breast carcinoma cells (developed throughout this study) that synthesized varying levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) as a result of transfection with expression vectors bearing PAI-1 cDNA inserts cloned in sense and antisense orientations. A selected set of tumor cell lines (based on level of PAI-1 expression perturbation) was completely characterized with regard to specific in vitro motile traits (chemokinesis, chemotaxis, 2-D planar migration, barrier invasion). PAI-1 synthesis was required for tumor cell migration in directed as says since anti sense targeting effectively suppressed cell motility. These results were confirmed with neutralizing PAI-1 antibodies and exogenously-supplied recombinant PAI-1 protein. A expression vector was created in which PAI-1 promoter sequences were used to drive expression of a chimeric PAI-1-GFP insert. This vector confirmed PAI-1 expression in locomoting cells and PAI-1 deposition into migration trails suggesting its use as a tool to track metastatic tumor cells in vivo. PAI-1 down-regulation slowed human breast cancer implant growth in nude mice and inhibited lung colonization suggesting a therapeutic benefit to PAI-1 gene targeting.


This report describes the separation of the 177° to 2000 C fraction of petroleum (Ponca, Okla., crude) by means of regular dist.illation, azeotropic distillation, adsorption, and crystallization. A regular distillation at high efficiency with high reflux ratio separated the original petroleum into a series of substantially constant-boiling fractions. Appropriate blends of material of nearly the same boiling point were subj ected to azeotropic distillation to produce a separation of the aromatic hydrocarbons from the paraffinic and cycloparaffinic hydrocarbons, with a partial separation of the latter two classes from each other. The fractions intermediate between the aromatic hydrocarbons and the paraffins plus cycloparaffins were further proccssed by adsorption to separate all the aromatic hydrocarbons. The azeotropic distillation yielded fractions very rich in normal undecane, and from these a pure sample of normal undecane was separated by crystallization.


Contents:Preface 1. Introduction: Promoting Green Electricity in Europe: The Challenge of Integrating Contextual FactorsWilliam M. Lafferty and Audun Ruud2. The Netherlands: Muddling Through in the Dutch DeltaMaarten Arentsen3. Denmark: Path Creation Dynamics and Winds of ChangePeter KarnA e and Adam Buchhorn4. Ireland: Putting the Wind up the Political SystemGerard Mullally and Jillian Murphy5. Spain: Greening Electricity - While Growing the EconomyCarmen Navarro6. Finland: Big is Beautiful - Promoting Bioenergy in Regional-Industrial ContextsPaula Kivimaa7. Austria: An 'Incidental Frontrunner' Faces New ChallengesBarbara Pfluglmayer, Christian Nopp, Volkmaar Lauber and Michael Narodoslawsky 8. Sweden: Greening The Power Market in a Context of Liberalization and Nuclear AmbivalenceYong Chen and Francis X. Johnson9. Norway: Trying To Maintain Maximal Res-E in a Petroleum Driven EconomyJA rgen Knudsen, Olav Mosvold Larsen and Audun Ruud10. Conclusion: Energy Path Dependency and the Promotion of Res-E in EuropeWilliam M. Lafferty And Audun RuudIndex


To assess the knowledge and understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by community pharmacists, across Western Australia (WA) and evaluate the extent to which they incorporate ASD friendly practices in their pharmacy.


There are tons of news generated every day reflecting the change of key roles such as people, organizations and political parties. Analyzing the trend of these key roles can help understand the information flow in a more effective way. In this paper, we present a demonstration system that visualizes the news trend of key roles based on natural language processing techniques. Specifically, we apply semantic role labelling to understand relationships between key roles in the news. We also train a dynamic word embedding model to align representations of words in different time periods to measure how the similarities between a key role and news topics change over time. Note: The github link to our demo jupyter notebook and screencast video is https://github.com/kasinxc/Visualizing-Trend-of-Key-Roles-in-News-Articles


Guangxi is rich in its ecologic tourist resources,so we must make good use of it.In order to devolop the ecologic tourism led by the forest touristry,Attention should be paid to the problems,for example,the programme of developing the touristry and the investment assessment,the key exploitability area,the stress on the features of the area,Besides,we should still pay attention to both development and protection.


To develop a new immunoassay based on the time‐resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) system for the simultaneous measurement of IgM and IgG antibodies to HCV.


Background:  While border‐zone infarcts (BZI) account for about 10% of strokes, studies on related aphasia are infrequent. The aim of this work was to redefine specifically their early clinical pattern and evolution.


Hand transplantation is considered to be part of the composite tissue transplantation category which has known its applications in clinical studies at a later date; in this category technical and immunological problems are more serious. This type of transplantation has become possible only after the development of microsurgical vascular anastomosis and after the emergence of more efficient and better tolerated immunosuppressives. Beginning with the successful premiere intervention of 1998 (Dubernard et al, Lyon), case studies in the field have increased rapidly in a series of specialized centres across all continents. The procedure requires utmost competence and responsibility on behalf of the medical team, as well as a strong motivation and patient compliance. Success is conditioned by a double tolerance: an immune one (guaranteed through continuous immunodepression) and a psychological one (identification of patient-graft). The obvious benefit of the patients (somato-functional rehabilitation, improved quality of life) lead to a decrease of the controversies between optimists and skepticals in respect to hand transplantation, the subject is still generating various bioethical debates. The study is analyzing different bioethichal problems, as well tries do find answers to those problems.


The article contains the author's presentation of the concept of "digital transformation of the national economy". Various aspects of the digital transformation of the economy are considered. The analysis of key conditions and prerequisites for successful digital transformation of the national economy of the Republic of Belarus is presented. The issues of digitalization of the industrial complex are considered. A set of principles for the digital transformation of the Belarusian economy, which is exhaustive from the point of view of sufficiency for determining the strategy and the organizational and economic mechanism for the implementation of digital transformation, is proposed. The key directions of the digital transformation of the Belarusian economy, covering the development of the corresponding infrastructure, as well as digitalization of the sphere of services and material production, are determined. Different approaches to the organization of digital transformation of the national economy of the Republic of Belarus are proposed, and the issues of determining the authorized state body responsible for its implementation are considered. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the presented approaches are analyzed. Based on the world experience, an algorithm for organizing the digital transformation of the Belarusian economy has been formed, taking into account the existing institutional environment.


:The pathogenicity ofinfluenza virus is determined by many factors.Hemagglutinin is a receptor-binding andfusion protein that is required to initiate infection.It plays a key role in influenzavirus virulence.In this review,the progress in identifying the contribution of HA to thepathogenicity of influenza virus in many aspects,including HA receptor binding preferenceand sialosaccharides on the host cell surface,HA cleavability and host cellularprotease,the glycosylation of HA,and the innate immune response of host cells aresummarized.


Propolis has been used as a natural remedy in folk medicine worldwide. The antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiprotozoal aspects of its antimicrobial properties have been widely investigated. However, few studies focused on its applications in dentistry. Many dental diseases are related to various microorganisms in the oral cavity. In this study, we assessed the antimicrobial activity of Korean propolis extract, collected from 6 different regions, on oral pathogenic microorganisms. The propolis samples, collected from 6 different regions (P1: Uijeongbu, P2: Ansan, P3: Hongcheon, P4: Iksan, P5: Gwangju, and P6: Sangju), were dissolved in ethanol at two different concentrations (10 and 50 mg/ml). Three oral bacteria (Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis) and one fungus (Candida albicans) were activated in general broth for 24 hours. Microorganisms were diluted and spread onto agar plates, onto which sterilized 6 mm filter papers with or without each propolis sample were placed. After 24 hours of incubation, clear zones of inhibition were observed. All tests were performed in triplicate. The propolis samples showed significant antibacterial and antifungal activity on oral pathogenic microorganisms; in addition, low-concentration groups showed outstanding antimicrobial efficacy on the 4 different microorganisms. Among the samples, P6 had significantly higher antibacterial activity than that of the others against three different bacteria. In particular, a high concentration of P6 showed a significant antifungal effect. In conclusion, we confirmed that Korean propolis has an inhibitory effect on oral pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Therefore, we suggest the possibility of developing oral medicine and oral care products based on Korean propolis.


Cooling crystallization was successfully carried out in a batch cooling crystallizer from impure acidic solutions to recover nickel as nickel sulfate salt with three different cooling rates. The compositions of the solutions included impurities of sodium, magnesium, chloride and sulfuric acid in order to mimic industrial nickel electrowinning process solutions. The results show that nickel sulfate hexahydrate (NiSO 4 ·6H 2 O) mainly crystallized and its solubility and purity decreased with the increase in the mass ratio of chloride to sulfate. Cooling rates did not have significant influence of crystal purity, it did however, affect the filter cake moisture; lower moisture can be obtained with lower cooling rate. The sequence of impurity removal efficiency from high to low was Cl, Na and Mg.


A weak double-peak fiber Bragg grating (FBG) temperature sensor is proposed and demonstrated. Wavelength-swept tunable laser is regarded as one of the most popular demodulation methods for fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. However, due to the limitations of the existing tunable laser technologies, a fast, compact, stable and low-cost tunable laser for FBG sensors is still unavailable, which will become one of the major barriers for more widespread applications of FBG sensors. To further improve the efficiency and accuracy of the FBG interrogation system, a FBG temperature sensor is proposed and demonstrated by using tunable laser and a weak double-peak FBG. Since the reflection of the weak double-peak FBG has two main reflection peaks and relatively wide bandwidth, it is convenient to track the two characteristic peaks to accurately obtain the wavelength shift during the alteration of ambience temperature. A proof-ofconcept experiment is also conducted to verify the theory. By demodulating a weak double-peak FBG in the temperature experiment, a sensor sensitivity of 10.17 pm/ °C is measured for the proposed interrogation system.


Reactive astrogliosis is a key pathological aspect of neuroinflammatory disorders including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1)‐associated neurological disease. On the basis of previous data that showedastrocytes activated with interleukin (IL)‐1β induce neuronal injury, we analyzed global gene changes in IL‐1β‐activated human astrocytes by gene microarray. Among the up‐regulated genes, CD38, a 45‐kDa type II single chain transmembrane glycoprotein, was a top candidate, with a 17.24‐fold change that was validated by real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Key functions of CD38 include enzymatic activities and involvement in adhesion and cell signaling. Importantly, CD38+CD8+ T‐cell expression is a clinical correlate for progression of HIV‐1 infection and biological marker for immune activation. Thus, CD38 expression in HIV‐1 and/or IL‐1β‐stimulated human astrocytes and human brain tissues was analyzed. IL‐1β and HIV‐1 activation of astrocytes enhanced CD38 mRNA levels. Both CD38 immunoreactivity and adenosine 5′‐diphosphate (ADP)‐ribosyl cyclase activity were up‐regulated in IL‐1β‐activated astrocytes. CD38 knockdown using specific siRNAs significantly reduced astrocyte proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine production. However, CD38 mRNA levels were unchanged in IL‐1β knockdown conditions, suggesting that IL‐1β autocrine loop is not implicated in this process. Quantitative immunohistochemical analysis of HIV‐seropositive without encephalitis and HIV‐1 encephalitis brain tissues showed significant up‐regulation of CD38, which colocalized with glial fibrillary acidic protein–positive cells in areas of inflammation. These results suggest an important role of CD38 in the regulation of astrocyte dysfunction during the neuroinflammatory processes involved in neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory disorders such as HIV‐1 encephalitis. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper summarizes results of aerial monitoring downwind of several small cities in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Ambient measurements by the instrumented aircraft were designed to provide information on plume dimensions, composition, and changes in plume chemistry during transport. Results of the monitoring program imply emissions from small cities are not necessarily trivial with respect to ambient ozone concentrations. Individual plumes may generate 10-20 ppb excess O/sub 3/, while the combined effluent from several small cities can produce an ozone buildup of 30 ppb. However, mesoscale transport of small city plumes is not the only concern. Substantial quantities of ozone and ozone precursors are carried downwind and might contribute to regional ozone episodes. The contribution of anthropogenic emissions outside major metropolitan centers to long-range, multi-day transport of photochemical oxidants is poorly understood. Data presented here suggest aggregate emissions from many small cities could inject significant amounts of O/sub 3/, NO/sub x/, and NMHC into the atmosphere. 21 references, 5 figures, 3 tables.


Recently, obesity has become a worldwide public health concern and the use of anorectic drugs has drastically increased. In this study, sibutramine and phendimetrazine, representative marketed anorectics, were repeatedly administered per os on a daily basis into C57BL/6 mice and the effects of these drugs on food intakes, body weight changes and gene expression profiles were monitored for up to following 7 days. Methamphetamine, which has a potent anorectic effect, was used as a positive control. Anorectic effects were sustained only for two days by phendimetrazine or methamphetamine, but for six days by sibutramine. The modulations of gene expressions in the hypothalamus and the striatum were investigated using microarrays on day 2 and day 7 post-administration, which corresponded to the anorectic period and a return of appetite respectively, for all three drugs tested. Differences in overall gene expression profiles in the stratum on day 2 for sibutramine and phendimetrazine seems to reflect difference between the two in terms of the onsets of drug tolerance. According to microarray findings, the Ankrd26 gene appears to have an important anorectic role, whereas the up-regulation of the olfaction system appeared to be involved in the drug tolerance of anorectics. The microarray data presented in this study demonstrates the usefulness of gene expression analysis for gathering information on the efficacy and safety of anorectic drugs.


I am not sure that I can say much respecting the Early Bills of Mortality, issued in thisand other countries, which may be regarded as entirely new. I shall endeavour that what I do say shall be entirely true; or where any doubt exists, I will endeavour to make the fact of its existence plain.


After pigs was fed by commercial diets supplemented with various concentrations (0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5%) of the fermented mushroom by-product of Pleurotus eryngii, the meat qualities and the serum lipid compositions of the individual pig groups were investigated. The levels of total lipid, total cholesterol, and triglyceride in the serum were significantly lower when the pigs were fed with the diet supplemented with 1.5% fermented mushroom by-product than those of the control pigs. HDL-, LDL-, and VLDL-cholesterol contents in the serum exhibited no significant difference between the pig group fed by the diet containing the fermented mushroom by-product and the control group. In comparison to the control group, the pig group fed by the diet supplemented with 1.5% fermented mushroom by-product showed significantly lower level of AI, CRF, GOT, and LDH values in the serum, whereas the difference in the level of antioxidant activity of the serum was not significant. Sensory evaluation regarding color, off-flavor, tenderness, juiciness, and overall acceptability also showed that the pork from the pig group fed by the diet supplemented with the fermented mushroom by-product (0.5~1.5%) was better than that from the control group. Although enhancement in the lightness (L * ) value of the pork was significant in 20 days of storage at 4℃, the redness (a * ) value was not significantly differential during the storage periods regardless of the supplementation of the fermented mushroom by-product into the diet. The cooking loss of the pork from the pig group fed by the diet supplemented with the fermented mushroom by-product (1% and 1.5%) decreased in the storage 10 days, but it increased in the storage 20 days. After storage for 20 days at 4℃, shear force of the pork obtained from the pigs fed by the diet supplemented with 1%~1.5% fermented mushroom by-product appeared to become significantly lower than that of the control. There were, however, no significant changes between two groups in the level of moisture content, crude lipid, and pH during the storage period. Although the TBARS content was enhanced in all groups during the storage period, the enhancement appeared to be more significant in the pork from the pig group fed by the diet containing the fermented mushroom by-product in comparison to the control. On the other hand, the ratio of UFA/SFA for the pork obtained from the individual pig groups showed no considerable diet-associated alterations during the storage period.


To the Editor The Open Mind article by Bradley et al 1 on difficult intubation is timely and thoughtful—and has wider implications. In the hypothetical case, the go-to rescue method is mask ventilation which becomes "more challenging." What exactly does this mean? How should we define that part of the difficult airway? Anesthesia & Analgesia reviewed this topic 10 years ago.2 The authors noted that mask ventilation was neglected in airway literature, that there was no objective definition of difficulty, and that existing description was subjective and operator dependent. Has much changed? Surprisingly little. In 2016, an editorial in this Journal contrasted "what we know and what we do" in airway assessment.3 Its survey of anesthesia records from 10 countries showed a near-exclusive focus on prediction of difficult intubation. This year, within a month of the article by Bradley et al,1 Anaesthesia published a Cochrane review on difficult airway prediction.4 Of the 133 studies included, only 7 focused on mask ventilation.4 Why this blind spot? One reason is that clinicians still lack a standard method to describe mask ventilation. Several different scales have been proposed, but none are widely used. Another reason lies in the very concept of difficulty. As Bradley et al1 note, this is subjective: difficulty is in the eye—and hands—of the operator. This subjectivity diverts our focus onto operator methods, not patient outcome. But as the article by Bradley et al1 illustrates well, we need to describe both the method used (operator difficulty) and how effective it was (patient outcome). We have proposed a simple and objective way to do this for mask ventilation (Figure).5 3. Drummond JC, Hargens AR, Patel PM. Hydrostatic gradient is important: blood pressure should be corrected. APSF Newsletter. 2009;24:6. 4. Drummond JC. A beach chair, comfortably positioned atop an iceberg. Anesth Analg. 2013;116:1204–1206.


Mobile IPv4 specifies a protocol in order to enhance transparent routing of IP datagrams. The main objective of this protocol is to ensure an ability to communicate in a mobile environment where a node can change its place. An essential part of this protocol is a Home Agent, a router on the Mobile Nodes home network, which has a responsibility to tunnel datagrams to the node. In order to locate Home Agent some sort of high availability mechanism is needed. The scope of this paper is to describe these mechanisms. The goal is to compare and analyse high availability mechanisms. Effort is also put on suggesting future work and analysing remaining needs around this topic.


The high-density precipitation data from both meteorological and hydrological observations in China are interpolated to fine-mesh grid at a resolution of 0.15°by combining the Barnes scheme with precipitation frequency,then 0—24 h quantitative precipitation forecast(QPF) from GRAPES_Meso is interpolated to the station spot.The QPF has been verified against two datasets using BIA,ETS and TSS. Moreover,an object-based verification developed recently is carried out to verify the rain-cluster more than 5 mm.The results are as follows:(1) For all thresholds,the QPF exhibits a higher performance in the east part of China than that in the west,as well as more skillful in plain areas than in mountainous ones. The model forecasts more events above the threshold than observed in the upwind side of mountains(over-forecasting) while the model forecasts less events than observations for interior Tibet and the north of Xinjiang (underforecasting).(2) As a whole,the scores calculated for the verifications against gridded observations have shown that the model performs better than could be anticipated from local observations,thus gridded observations better represent the gridbox behavior described by the model.(3) For the threshold more than 5 mm,the distribution of number against the cluster size of the QPF is similar to observations. Especially,the best forecast is to the cluster size of 60 km.As for spatial distributions,in the east of Inner Mongolia,the Northeast China,North China,the region between the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, Shaanxi Province as well as the south of Gansu Province,numbers of QPF are almost the same as observed ones,but more to the south of Yangtze River,especially in the east part of Southwest China.


Giovanni Verga is one of the greatest Italian writers of the second half of the nineteenth century.He is best known for his
depiction of life in Sicilian land, especially through his short stories,plays and novels. His literature gives insight to the
poverty,customs,traditions,myth,superstitions and reality of the prosaic life in Sicilian land.He died in Catania in 1922 at
the age of 82 due to cerebral thrombosis.The year 2022 is globally celebrated as death centenary of Giovanni Verga.By
recalling his contribution to the development of Italian Literature,the present paper pays a sort of tribute to him.


In this article the legality of desecrating it in a public place will be considered. My aim in doing so is to provide a road-map to those persons - legislators, judges, lawyers and other interested citizens - who have a professional or personal interest in the status of flag desecration in Australian law.


Banking in the global village becomes reality with multimedia communication systems that connect far flung regions and integrate all their various marketplaces. International banks in particular face the major challenge of achieving the right balance between global and local. They must identify local customers' requirements and satisfy them by exploiting the expertise and technology available worldwide.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the activities of environmental consciousness from socio-psychographic perspectives and hence evaluates its effect on brand equity through intervening elements of environmental attributes (EAt). It further attempts to research the effect of the environmental performance, environmental communication and environmental positioning in enhancing brand equity. Indian refrigeration industry, particularly the air conditioners and refrigerator brands are chosen to convey and receive the research inputs as their impact on environment is easily interpretable.

Design/methodology/approach

A hypothesized model comprising the environment consciousness and association dimensions with brand equity is framed. In total, 74 expert respondents from four state capital cities of India participated in the survey and the model has been tested in the scope of analytical hierarchy process (AHP).

Findings

The result shows that the EAt and activities can be prioritized and subsequently efficient resource allocation can be done. It also gives theoretical arguments to legitimize the environmental practices.

Practical implications

On the other hand, clients have numerous options, and a competitive advantage may not be maintained. Regardless of the fact that clients are environmentally conscious of a given refrigeration brand at the present time that they are utilizing, they may observe that they are much more charmed with a competitors' enhanced environmental dimensions. All methods that take a try at an enhanced brand equity must be continually determined by environmental consciousness. The above can be accomplished if the evaluations of competitors by the clients are known. The AHP-ECBE technique depicted in this study accordingly helps refrigeration organization to devise and keep up a pertinent, focused plan for persistent improvements in environmental dimensions. It offers a "greater image" in brand equity administration.

Originality/value

If legitimately done in a generalized way, environmental activities like eco-literacy, interpersonal influence and value orientation can impact EAt and contribute in building brand equity.


This investigation presents a Taguchi technique as one of the method for minimizing the surface roughness in drilling Mild steel. The Taguchi method, a powerful tool to design optimization for quality, is used to find optimal cutting parameters. The methodology is useful for modeling and analyzing engineering problems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of cutting parameters, such as cutting speed and feed rate, and point angle on surface roughness produced when drilling Mild steel. A plan of experiments, based on L27Taguchi design method, was performed drilling with cutting parameters in Mild steel. All tests were run without coolant at cutting speeds of 7, 18, and 30 m/min and feed rates of 0.035, 0.07, and 0.14 mm/rev and point angle of 90 ° , 118°, and 140°. The orthogonal array, signal-to-noise ratio, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the optimal drilling parameters of Mild steel. From the analysis of means and ANOVA, the optimal combination levels and the significant drilling parameters on surface roughness were obtained. The optimization results showed that the combination of low cutting speed, low feed rate, and medium point angle is necessary to minimize surface roughness.


Objective To observe the effect of torasemide treating cerebral edema after traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage.Methods Twenty-six traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage patients were randomly divided into two groups,given the same routine comprehensive treatment at the same time,the treatment group was given torasemide 20 mg and 20% mannitol 125 mL,control group given furosemide 20 mg and 20% mannitol 125 mL,two groups were interval 6 h to medicine,7 d after gradually decrement.Lumbar puncture measurement before and after drug intracranial pressure changed situation,extraction venous blood cleared electrolyte,and 24 h urine output was recorded.Results In the same time period of treatment,the treatment group was obviously lower compared the control group to reduce intracranial pressure,24 h urine significantly more than control group;The treatment group electrolyte disorder rate lower than those of the control group.Conclusion Torasemide has a good synergistic effect with mannitol in cure of cerebral edema after traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage.


The MAX IV Laboratory is a synchrotron radiation user facility located just outside the city of Lund, Sweden. The facility is made up of two storage rings, at 3 GeV and 1.5 GeV, respectively, and a linear accelerator, serving as a full-energy injector for the rings as well as a driver for the Short-Pulse Facility (SPF) located downstream of the extraction point to the 3 GeV ring. Recently, as part of the Soft X-ray Laser (SXL) project, a design study towards using the linac as a soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) driver was started. Part of the study is the design and commissioning of a diagnostics beamline based on a Transverse Deflecting Structure (TDS). Moreover, the PlasMAX collaboration is working towards using the MAX IV linac also for beam-driven plasma-wakefield (PWFA) experiments. Therefore, the design of the diagnostics beamline is being done to also accommodate an interaction chamber and final focusing, located upstream of the TDS. This proceeding details the current status of the beamline design and shows some preliminary single- and double-bunch current measurements.


Adherent Technologies' development of a novel conversion process for the recycling of electronic scrap has led to the investigation of separation technologies for the products produced directly from this process. An economic model of the entire process has also been developed based on the latest findings. This process will handle complex mixtures of plastics, metals, ceramics and fiberglass or reinforcing components such as those that make up electronic scrap without labor-intensive separation before processing. Products from the process include valuable recycled materials: chemicals, metals, ceramics and fiberglass, which have ready available markets. Operation and maintenance of the process requires a minimum labor force. Little or no segregation is required for the feedstock before processing, thus reducing labor costs and dramatically increasing the economics of the process over existing recycling techniques. This process provides an economical and environmentally conscious solution to the problem of electronic scrap today and in the future.


According to psychological change of weightilifting athletes in preparatory stage of competition.the author(applies) the "Inverted-U Hypothesis" to participative motives,emotion control,role-orientation and other aspects that(relate) to athletes' mental training before competition,and puts forward some measures and advice to help weightlifting training in China.


Norman Borlaug is a renowned wheat scientist and Noble Peace Laureate.The High-yielding wheat varieties he had bred have influenced food security worldwide.Because of his life dedicated to fighting hunger in developing countries,the international society praise him as the greatest hunger fighter of our time and the Father of the Green Revolution.Here is a systemic review his whole life,especially his breeding research and technology promoting activities in developing countries.


Corporate social responsibility is an effort to minimize a risk from business implementation and make business enitiy stabilized. The regulation of CSR program implementation that be a must for coorporate is managed by UU PT No.40 tahun 2007. CSR program implementation aims to maintain good relation between the stakeholders until great and sustainable communication and cooperation between the stakeholders such as, coorporate, LSM, goverment, and community could be reached and could increase community welfare eventually. The purposes of this study are to identify the concept of CSR, to identity concept of CSR implementation, to identify concept of welfare, and to analyze the concept of CSR implementation toward community welfare. The method used is by literature study method then the concepts will be concluded in order to become the focus of the discussion.

Keywords: CSR, CSR implementation, welfare


It is known that columnar defects comprised of self-organized BaZrO3 (BZO) nanorods within REBa2Cu3Oy (REBCO) films are attractive as c-axis correlated pinning centers. On the other hand, we have fabricated high-Jc Sm1+xBa2-xCu3Oy (SmBCO) films including nanosized low-Tc phases by using the low-temperature growth (LTG) technique. In this study, BZO nanorods were added to the LTG-SmBCO film for a further enhancement of the magnetic flux pinning. Additionally, we also deposited a conventional PLD-SmBCO film including BZO nanorods and discussed differences of the flux pinning properties and microstructures between LTG- and PLD-SmBCO films. In a cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of the BZO doped PLD-SmBCO film, we could see the self-organized BZO nanorods were about 10 nm in diameter, extending along the c-axis of the film. In contrast, in the BZO doped LTG-SmBCO film, the high density BZO nanorods with smaller diameters tended to be short columns and tilted against the c-axis direction. These facts can be attributed to a suppression of the surface diffusion length of adatoms and/or an increase of nucleation frequency due to the low substrate temperature during the growth of the BZO doped LTG-SmBCO film. Furthermore, we concluded that differences of superconducting properties between the BZO doped PLD- and LTG-SmBCO films might be attributed to the difference in the number density of BZO nanorods which generated lattice strain around them.


Generally, the pore pressure for a pre-drill well is predicted using empirical parameters, which are regressed from the drilled well's data. However, for areas with large geological differences, empirical parameters which are obtained using traditional methods may fail because intense tectonic movement would result in huge differences between the pre-drill well and drilled well. Firstly, in order to overcome this problem, the method of fault stability analysis is introduced. Analysis indicates that when abnormal overpressure exceeds a certain value, the fault ruptures and the overpressured fluid escapes, so that there is an upper limit of pore pressure (ULPP) for the stable fault. Secondly, the influences of fault angle, formation Poisson ratio and modulus of elasticity on the ULPP are discussed further. The results show that the ULPP of a fault with angle of 65.2° is the minimum, and the critical angle increases with the increase of internal friction coefficient. For reverse faults and strike faults, the influences of Poisson ratio and modulus of elasticity are small, but for normal faults these are significant. Finally, three kinds of ULPP for these different faults are proposed, respectively. The application of this method in the Xihu Sag in the East China Sea has proved that reference to ULPP can verify and correct regressed empirical parameters, so as to improve pore pressure prediction accuracy.


Based on the reconstruct of mine hoist control system,aims at the high reliability of mine hoist sys- tem,is based on fault-tolerance control theory and method.It provides a high reliability hoist control system. Practical application shows that this system fault-tolerant performance is good and the reliability is high.


Salaries for biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), clinical engineers (CEs) and other medical technology professionals increased by 4 percent over the last year, according to the results of a new survey commissioned by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). Of the 9 specific job title categories surveyed, the median base salary increased from $55,250 in 2002 to $57,500 in 2003, with salaries ranging from $32,500 for a BMET I to $70,600 for a director or department manager. The survey—conducted by a Maryland-based research firm, Westat, on behalf of AAMI—is designed to provide up-to-date salary information to employees and employers to help benchmark career information. The survey provides insights on issues ranging from income by education level, job title, and specialty; as well as trends in fringe benefits, the certification program, and retirement rates. The survey is not designed to establish or recommend salary levels or responsibilities. Among the findings:


A method of generating infinitely many solutions of the Diophantine equation A6 + B6 + C6 = D6 + E6 + F6 is presented. The technique is to reduce the equation to one of fourth degree and to use the known recursive solutions to the fourth-order equations. This work presents the first known method for generating new solutions of the


Abstract : The goal of this research program is to develop a more detailed and systematic understanding of transport and mixing in the oceans and coastal zones. Ultimately, the program will lead to Lagrangian forecasting, that is, the ability to make specific deterministic predictions about the advection and diffusion of passive scalars in the ocean. To accomplish this, it will be necessary to unify several rapidly advancing areas: aspects of dynamical systems theory developed to identify transport barriers and coherent Lagrangian structures, Lagrangian stochastic models of turbulent diffusion, and Eulerian observation data, e.g. sea surface height (SSH) from the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter for global/regional studies and high frequency (HF) radar for coastal studies.


-Wyoming bentonite, Fithian illite, and basalt from the Umtanum Formation, Washington, were treated hydrothermally at 200* to 460~ and 260 to 500 bars for 71 to 584 days. No change was detected for the bentonite and basalt, except for the loss of calcite and exchange of Ca for K in the smectite and the growth of a small amount of smectite (presumably from a glass phase) in the basalt. Calcite in the initial bentonite may have stabilized the smectite by Ca/K exchange; thus, if the latter is used as a packing material in a nuclear waste repository, limestone should be added. No change was detected in the illite samples treated <300"C; however, at 360~ euhedral crystals of berthierine and illite grew at the expense of original illite/smectite, apparently by a solution-crystallization process. Significant changes involving the dissolution of starling phases and the formation of illite and chlorite were also detected in mixtures of basalt and bentonite at 400~ at temperatures <400~ no changes were observed. The newly formed mineral phases (berthierine, illite, and chlorite) observed by transmission electron microscopy showed euhedral to subhedral shapes. These shapes are the same as those observed in hydrothermally altered sediments from the Salton Sea field and different from those from burial metamorphic environments, such as Gulf Coast sediments. The reaction mechanism is apparently the dissolution of reactants followed by the crystallization of products from solution, without conservation of structural elements of the reactants. Reactions apparently required temperatures greater than those for analogous changes in nature, suggesting that the degree of reaction was controlled by kinetics. The lack of dissolution in experimental runs at low temperatures, however, does not necessarily imply long-term stabilities of these clay minerals. Key Words--Basalt, Berthierine, Hydrothermal, Illite, Smectite, Stability. I N T R O D U C T I O N Storage of high-level nuclear waste in subsurface repositories usually involves a clay-bearing packing material that acts as a physicochemical barrier between solid waste canisters and the host rock (Komarneni and Roy, 1980). Packing materials may react with ground water at temperatures of as much as 300~ and pressures of several hundred bars. Chemical, structural, and textural changes due to such reactions may degrade the packing performance over the projected life of the repository (e.g., 10,000 years). To evaluate the potential for such changes many workers have carried out hydrothermal experiments on candidate packing materials under conditions thought to be analogous to those of the proposed repositories (see, e.g., McCarthy et al., 1978; Komarneni and Roy, 1980; Inoue, 1983; Howard and Roy, 1985). We have studied the hydrothermal stability of three candidate packing materials--bentonite, illite, and baContribution No. 430 from the Mineralogical Laboratory, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. 2 Present address: Department of Geology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea. 3 Present address: 6467 R&D West, Conoco, Ponca City, Oklahoma 74601. Copyright 9 1987, The Clay Minerals Society salt--at temperatures, pressures, and chemical conditions similar to those expected in a nuclear-waste repository (Apted and Myers, 1982; Fergusson, 1982; Savage and Chapman, 1982). These conditions are analogous to those prevailing during sediment diagenesis. In particular, they are similar to those prevailing during hydrothermal metamorphism of sediments in geothermally active regions, such as the Salton Sea, which serves as a natural analogue of a repository system (Elders and Moody, 1985). From a comparison of the textures, structures, and chemistry of the products of our hydrothermal experiments and those of equivalent phases from natural systems we show here that the experimental products are analogous to those in the Salton Sea region and very different from those in other sedimentary systems.


This paper presents recent efforts towards duration modeling in the VnVoice Vietnamese TTS system. A corpus of story reading by a female speaker of Standard Vietnamese of one hour length was compiled and annotated on the phone, syllable and phrase levels. Statistical analysis showed that the important factors of syllable duration were, amongst others, the type of tone, the number of phones, the position in a phrase and the depth of the right syllable boundary. Based on these results CART models were created on the phone and syllable levels. In a perception test, stimuli created with the two models were compared with natural ones, as well as stimuli with constant syllable durations. Although the correlations between original and synthetic durations were lower on the syllable level than on the phone level, the perception test did not yield any significant differences in the respective mean opinions scores. The perceived quality distance between synthetic and natural durations was 0.7 on a five-point scale.


The interaction between housing wealth, the …nancial portfolio of the consumer and consumption is a live issue. Life cycle models with closed form solutions under uncertainty are hard to …nd. In this paper we …nd analytical solutions for the e¤ects of house price uncertainty and employment risk on consumption, savings and mortgage …nance in a …nite horizon life-cycle model. In each period the consumer decides whether to withdraw equity from the house or not, subject to a transaction cost and a constraint on the maximum mortgage loan to value ratio. Despite risk aversion we …nd that, if borrowing is allowed in the …nancial asset, the prime portfolio e¤ect is the spread between the interest rate and the mortgage rate. House price uncertainty has an ambiguous e¤ect on consumption, which depends on the interest rate di¤erential and house price expectations since future house prices a¤ect future remortgage possibilities. If unsecured debt is not possible, we …nd that the possibility of future liquidity constraints can reduce mortgage borrowing below the maximum possible.


To analyze the correlation of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic(PK/PD) of Chinese materia medica(CMM) based on the multi-components and multi-targets,through the example of demonstrative research,we brought forward some innovative strategies.The research requires to use a medicated serum in parallel at a pathologic state.The experiments included the determination of multi-components PK parameters,the establishment of serum dynamic fingerprints and multi-targets PD models,the research on PK/PD binding model,the selection of the analytic program,the representation of internal relations among the concentration,time,and effect in the effective component group,the analyses on the correlation between fingerprint and PD,the tracing of the rule of PD from the chemical fingerprints and metabolic fingerprints,and the construction of a spectrum which could represent the characterization of the correlation between the retention time and the effect and the characterization of dose-effect fingerprint spectrum of the correlation between peak area growth and effects.The multi-dimensional characteristics of fingerprint-pharmacophore fingerprints(feature effect peak and dose-effect fingerprint spectrum)-fingerprint spectrum of PK are integrated,processed,and edited and a multi-dimensional image of "active integration fingerprint" in the active component group was built.A new research method on the combination of the PK/PD of CMM was explored.Only by this way,we will really understand the interaction in active component group in vivo and clearly explain the material base which truly works.