Much attention has been centred on the ultrasonic detection of fetal renal abnormalities in utero (Bartley et al., 1977; Garrett et al., 1970; Garrett et al., 1975; Kaffe et al., 1977a; 1977b; Keirse and Meerman, 1978; Lee and Blake, 1977; Santos-Ramos and Duenhoelter, 1975). A 22-year-old Pakistani lady, was referred to the Ultrasound Department of The London Hospital for abdominal ultrasound examination in September 1978, when she was about 23 weeks pregnant. At that time she was complaining of left-sided abdominal pain and had intermittent fever and vomiting.


This article provides an overview over some current challenges in industrial composite product development with a main focus on numerical analysis. Three main subjects are covered. Firstly, sizing of composite joining techniques is discussed with an emphasis on the joining of thin ply laminates. Secondly, multi scale analysis, determination of nesting factors and optimization of braided composite structures is discussed. Finally, a shape optimization approach for embedded SHM sensors, aiming at improving the mechanical properties of monitored laminates, is presented.


"In this centenary year of the erection of the Church in Perth as an archdiocese the rededication of the archdiocese to Our Lady under her title of the "Immaculate Conception" provides all of us with the opportunity to deepen our appreciation of the role which the Lord has given to Mary in our personal lives and in the life of the Church. Please join us for the Novena each evening at 7.00pm in the Cathedral from December 1-8 and for the Solemn Mass of the Immaculate Conception on December 9. As we rededicate the Cathedral and our archdiocese to Our Lady on December 9 your presence can be a tangible sign that you wish to associate yourself, your family and your friends in this act of devotion and faith." Archbishop Costelloe SDB


Russia's economy is growing at a very fast pace and it has an enormous potential for the international enterprises. Although Russian market has a huge potential for international enterprises but at ...


A naphthalimide-derived fluorescent sensor termed L2 was designed and synthesized. This sensor showed a highly selective, sensitive, and reversible turn-on response to Cd2+ over other metal ions in a wide pH range with a detection limit of 2.35 × 10−10 M. The amide/di-2-picolylamine receptor binds Cd2+ in the imidic acid tautomeric form but other metal ions in the amide tautomeric form. Moreover, the sensor can be used to distinguish Cd2+ and Zn2+ with the naked eye. The Cd2+-binding mode and the recognition mechanism of the sensor were investigated using Job's plot, 1H NMR, HRMS, IR and DFT calculations. Furthermore, the sensor was successfully applied as the active component of indicator papers for on-site detection of Cd2+ in pure water and in fluorescence imaging of Cd2+ in HeLa cells.


Silicon carbide ceramics are used for oxidation resistive coating films due to their excellent properties like high strength, good oxidation resistance, and good abrasion resistance, but they have poor formability and are prepared by vapor process which is complicated, costly, and sometimes hazardous. In this study, preparation of silicon carbide coating film by liquid process using polymer precursor was attempted. Coating film was prepared by dip coating on substrate followed by heat treatment in argon at 1200℃. By changing the dipping speed, the thickness was controlled. The effects of plasticizer, binder, or fiber addition on suppression of crack generation in the polymer and ceramic films were examined. It was found that fiber additives was effective for suppressing crack generation.


High resolution ALMA observations of the recent (2.52 yrs old) shell of Nova V5668 Sgr (2015) show a highly structured ionised gas distribution with small (10$^{15}$ cm) clumps. These are the smallest structures ever observed in the remnant of a stellar thermonuclear explosion. No extended contiguous emission could be found above the 2.5 $\sigma$ level in our data, while the peak hydrogen densities in the clumps reach 10$^6$ cm$^{-3}$. The millimetre continuum image suggests that large scale structures previously distinguished in other recent nova shells may result from the distribution of bright unresolved condensations.


A convenient, microwave promoted novel protocol for the synthesis of diverse kinds of substituted benzopyrans from the corresponding variety of substituted hydroxy acetophenones and keto compounds using Amberlite IRA 400 resin (basic resin) under solvent-free conditions, has been developed. This protocol is mild and more efficient than the other reported methods.


Base on Tikhonov's Regularized idea,some related problems of theory and techniques for solving the integral equation of convolution type by using algebraic regularized method is discussed in this paper.After the completion proof of existence,uniqueness and numerical stability of the described regularization solution,two applications to the signal reconstruction are also given.The theoretic analysis and numerical test indicate that the algorithm is well stabile numerical.


To The Editor:

In regard to "Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head Treated with Cementless Total Hip Arthroplasty" (82-A: 1408-13, Oct. 2000), by Hartley et al., it has been well established in the literature that total hip replacement as a treatment for osteonecrosis of the hip has not been as successful as it has for other diagnoses, even within the same age-group …


Osteogenesis imperfecta is one of the commonest congenital systemic diseases. The treatment of the fractures caused by the diseases and the growth deficiencies which result is mainly conservative. Taking 22 operations on patient suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta, the results of the treatment are reported and the cases in which an operation is indicated are discussed. As the osteosynthesis material selected, the intramedullary Rush pin has proved its worth. No serious complications were observed.


Property rights are often seen as a gateway to the destruction of nature. In view of the ecological crisis, criticism of property rights is therefore becoming louder and louder. On the one hand, rightly so, since global warming, resource depletion, global pollution and the loss of species have been made possible by the private ownership of natural assets. On the other hand, the criticism falls short. Even common and public property does not protect natural assets from being overexploited, resources depleted, and values extracted. Moreover, it is questionable whether nature would actually be better off today without any property regulation. A new understanding of property that does justice to natural goods is therefore needed. The article considers the rights of nature as a way to rethink property in this sense and explores reasons to give rights of nature a general validity.


2013 In this article I present a review of recent studies on coronal dynamics, including research progresses on the physics of coronal streamers that are the largest structure in the corona, physics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that may cause a global disturbance to the corona, as well as physics of CME-streamer interactions. The following topics will be discussed in depth: (1) acceleration of the slow wind flowing around the streamer considering the effect of magnetic flux tube curvature; (2) physical mechanism accounting for persistent releases of streamer blobs and diagnostic results on the temporal variability of the slow wind speed with such events; (3) force balance analysis and energy release mechanism of CMEs with a flux rope magnetohydrodynamic model; (4) statistical studies on magnetic islands along the coronal-ray structure behind a CME and the first observation of magnetic island coalescence with associated electron acceleration; and (5) white light and radio manifestations of CME-streamer interactions. These studies shed new light on the physics of coronal streamers, the acceleration of the slow wind, the physics of solar eruptions, the physics of magnetic reconnection and associated electron acceleration, the large-scale coronal wave phenomenon, as well as the physics accounting for CME shock-induced type II radio


The normal unresponsiveness of the immune system for self-antigens is altered during autoimmune diseases. Although many autoantibodies, such as are commonly found in old people, are not associated with disease, others are unquestionably harmful. Thus, the sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) contain a wide spectrum of antibodies to nuclear components including nucleoprotein, extractable nuclear antigens, histones, and desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) itself. Of these autoantibodies, anti-native DNA is considered to be of critical importance in the pathogenesis of some of the tissue lesions of SLE; namely, the inflammation initiated by the deposition of native DNA and autoantibody in the case of lupus glomerulonephritis. Since this autoantibody does play such an important pathogenetic role, it is important to examine the cellular events which may initiate the production of anti-native DNA antibody.


Modifications to the standard CIP/HIP, P-l beryllium have been made to produce "high ductility'' and "high strength" grade materials. The modifications included powder input size, HIP temperature, oxide content and silicon content. Using optical and electron microscopy, microstructures produced by these modifications were examined to provide an insight into observed mechanical property differences. The results show the mechanical properties were dependent on the grain size as indicated by the Hall-Petch correlation. The grain size was dictated by the powder input size. Other microstructural features are described.


Martin and colleagues' article (1) on the next stage of buprenorphine care for opioid use disorder (OUD) should disrupt clinical practice and enhance diffusion, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based treatments of OUD. The opioid epidemic continues to escalate: In 2017, emergency department (ED) visits for nonfatal opioid overdose increased 30% and more than 49000 persons died of opioid-related causes (2, 3). Research tell us that opioid agonist treatment (OAT) with buprenorphine and methadone saves lives by reducing fatal and nonfatal overdoses, cravings, transmission of HIV and hepatitis C, and crime (4). A recent study in Massachusetts (5) highlighted the benefits of OAT and risks for opioid overdose. In this study of 17568 ED visits for nonfatal opioid overdose, 1-year mortality was 4.7 per 100 person-years, mortality decreased in patients treated with methadone or buprenorphine in the year after overdose, and no mortality benefit was seen in those treated with naltrexone (5). Thus, it is time to reevaluate how we think about and treat persons with OUD. Martin and colleagues' findings and recommendations for the next stage of buprenorphine care suggest that we need to broaden our thinking about buprenorphine's effectiveness and the success of the Opioid Treatment Cascade of Care framework (6), which aims to increase the diagnosis, linkage to treatment, initiation of medication therapy, retention in treatment, and ongoing remission of persons with OUD. Unfortunately, the natural history of OUD indicates that many will go in and out of treatmentbut we know that that they do better when in treatment. Although the optimal duration of OAT is unclear, data support an ongoing benefit from treatment and more deaths with cessation of treatment. The neurochemical changes in the brain reward system do not normalize over the short term; thus, cravings continue, and the pull to return to opioid use is substantial. Retaining patients in treatment is therefore essential. This article challenges many of the recommendations and overly conservative practices associated with early buprenorphine use, including limiting induction to a medical setting; requiring counseling; tapering medication dosages; and limiting access to patients without concomitant use of other drugs, such as prescribed or illicit benzodiazepines. Martin and colleagues' recommendations reflect a more progressive approach to OUD that minimizes barriers in the Opioid Treatment Cascade of Care, including linkage to and initiation of buprenorphine therapy. Additional barriers to treatment include the likely well-intentioned, but ultimately harmful, mandate that counseling accompany medication. This requirement often prevents delivery of a life-saving medication. A systematic review of 35 independent studies found no benefit of adding psychosocial supports to standard physician management (7). Yet some statessuch as West Virginia, which has one of the highest annual rates of opioid overdose, 43.4 per 100000 persons (8)mandate that counseling be provided alongside buprenorphine. This limits both the number of clinical settings that can prescribe buprenorphine and the number of patients whose work and home obligations make counseling sessions feasible. Persons with OUD often have multiple social problems, including unstable housing, co-occurring substance use, or mental health disorders, and some may benefit from counseling. However, initial treatment with buprenorphine will allow patients to think more clearly and eliminate the cycle of withdrawal and drug seeking so that they have the time and energy to address social issues. Lessons learned from our study of ED-initiated buprenorphine treatment (9) are consistent with the issues raised by Martin and colleagues. In our randomized clinical trial, half of patients with OUD had no regular source of care or their regular source was the ED. Overall, they had a high rate of coexisting substance use: 55% reported use of cocaine, 47% use of benzodiazepines or sedatives, and 34% unhealthy alcohol use. The rate of co-occurring mental health issues was high, with 47% reporting treatment for a psychiatric condition in the past and 22% requiring a psychiatric evaluation at the time of the visit. Despite these challenges, 78% of patients in the ED-initiated buprenorphine group who were referred to an office-based primary care practice were found to be in formal addiction treatment at 30 days. This rate of engagement was 2 times that of patients who received only a referral or a brief intervention with a facilitated referral. Of those who started buprenorphine treatment, approximately 50% were not in sufficient withdrawal in the ED for induction, and they completed an unobserved induction without reported adverse events. Home induction has also been shown to be safe and effective, with similar retention rates to office-based induction, and it enhances care by avoiding delays to treatment initiation, averting the need for multiple or prolonged clinic visits, and expanding intake beyond when patients are uncomfortable from withdrawal (10). As emergency physicians (who routinely provide care for patients with both fatal and nonfatal overdose), we are acutely aware of the life-threatening risks associated with ongoing use. Unlike other diseases of addiction, every single use of opioids carries risk for fatal overdose. The magnitude of the opioid epidemic necessitates a reexamination of the conservative and restrictive approaches to buprenorphine use that have not effectively stemmed the epidemic. As highlighted in the 2017 advisory from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, any restriction on access to buprenorphine should be weighed against the risks of untreated OUD. The influx of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues has changed the way we calculate the risk of withholding access to this life-saving medication because of concomitant use of benzodiazepines or other drugs or opioid-positive results on urine tests during treatment. A reduction in opioid use should be viewed as a step forward rather than treatment failure. Care with OAT should be escalated rather than stopped if ongoing drug use is identified. This treatment saves lives, and we must accelerate the success of the Opioid Treatment Cascade of Care. It is time to change the way we think about OUD and the way we treat patients who have it. The recommendations in Martin and colleagues' article are a great leap forward.


The present research reports the study the of plasma proteome profile of stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients characterized by different levels of total Apolipoprotein‐CIII (Apo C‐III), a prognostic marker for cardiovascular risk.


Sporophores of Piptoporus betulinus (Bull. ex Fr.) Karst. and Fornes fomentarius (L. ex Fr.) Kickx were collected during March to December 1991 from five different West Norwegian forests. Their beetle faunas are described in detail. Various factors contribute in the decomposing process of the sporophore, and the faunas change considerably during this process. The host specificity of the obligatory polypore inhabitants is probably determined by other factors besides the polypore itself, because the faunas change between forests of different productivity classes and with different tree compositions. Furthermore, the almost vicariant distribution of Cis alter and C. jacquemarti could best be explained by interspecific competition. A simple phenology for Cis bidentatus, C. alter, C. lineatocribatus, C. jacquemarti, Leptusa pulchella, L. fum ida and L. ruficollis is given.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an heterogenous disease whose prevalence varies in Europe. Hereby, we aimed to estimate prevalence of MS in the Campania Region of Italy.

 To identify individuals with MS living in the Campania Region of Italy, we extracted data from the following healthcare administrative databases: hospital discharge records, regional drug registry, and specialist outpatient visits from Jan-2015 to 3Dec-2017. Individuals alive on the 1-Jan-2018 were included to capture prevalence on this date. Age-sex standardised prevalence rates were calculated using the direct standardisation method; the European population in 2018 was considered as reference population. To assess differences in the prevalence ratios across the five provinces of the region, standardised morbility ratios (SMR) were calculated. To calculate 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for the standardised rates, the Byar's approximation method based on the Poisson distribution was used.

 We identified 5,361 individuals with MS (females 64.5%, age 45.6±12.7 years). Standardised prevalence rate per 100,000 people was 90.0 cases (95%CI=87.60, 92.40) (112.07 for females [95%CI=108.36, 115.88] and 66.20 for males [95%CI=63.26, 69.25]). The SMR in the province of Naples, the most densely populated, was 0.90 (95%CI=0.86, 0.96), whereas the highest SMR was found in the province of Salerno (SMR=1.30; 95%CI=1.23, 1.38), and the lowest in the province of Caserta (SMR=0.89; 95%CI=0.82-0.96).

 Prevalence of MS in the Campania Region is lower than previous estimates from smaller areas in the North of Italy, suggesting a longitudinal gradient. Differences within the Region could be explained by genetic/environmental background and healthcare organization (e.g., missing diagnoses). In the future, healthcare administrative databases could be used to monitor MS prevalence/incidence and to plan healthcare resource utilization.

 Prevalence of MS in the Campania Region is 90 cases per 100,000 people. It is lower than previous estimates from smaller areas in the North of Italy, suggesting a longitudinal gradient. Differences within the Region could be explained by genetic/environmental background and healthcare organization (e.g., missing diagnoses).


Block copolymers consisting of polystyrene (PS) and poly(4-vinylpyridine) (4-PVP) with varying chain lengths are synthesised via anionic polymerisation. When these block copolymers are dissolved in selective solvents (solvents for PS), well-defined micelles with respect to their size and size distribution are formed. Static and dynamic light scattering measurements reveal that the micelles exhibit spherical or prolate morphology with a size in the range 20≤ r H ≤ 100 nm. Size and shape depend only on the block molecular weights and the solvent used but exhibit no significant concentration dependence


The present review justify the potentials of Jatropha curcas L. seed oil and its uses in cosmetic production . The values of physicochemical properties and other parameters of the oil determined are in favour of its usage for cosmetics based on the previous research works .Exploitation of its seed oil for use in cosmetic products in some countries were also critically reviewed. Most details centered on the most profitable use of the seed oil compared to its usage for biofuels.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential of a qualitative middle-range research approach to contribute to the advancement of operations management (OM) field. Design/methodology/approach –To better signify such contribution, it takes insight from Merton's (1968) notion of middle-range theory as a means to create pathways of propositions that link substantive concepts and practices of OM in both context-specific and context-free operational environments. Findings – The paper brings to the fore the argument that achieving the primary objective of filling the "theory-methods" void in OM can be achieved through adoption of a qualitative middle-range approach. Originality/value – The originality of this paper hinges on the premise that theory-oriented qualitative field research that is able to incorporate experiences of different stakeholders of the OM intervention is highly likely to benefit OM theory advancement as well as OM practice.


Projectors of finite, solvable groups were defined by Schunk [6]. In this paper, the author defines generalized projectors of finite groups. They are the same as projectors in the case of solvable groups. The existence of this class of subgroups is shown for i7T-solvable groups satisfying certain properties. Let X be a class of groups, which is closed under isomorphisms and 1 & X. DEFINITION. S is x-maximal in G if (i) S is a subgroup of G, (ii) S E X (iii) S(-TszG & Tec XS=T. DEFINITION. S is a X-projector of G if (i) S is a subgroup of G, (ii) H< G-?HS/H is X-max in G/H. DEFINITION. X is called a Schunk class if X satisfies the following conditions: (a) if G E X, H< G then G/H E X, (b) whenever all primitive factor groups of a group G are in X then so is G in X. Schunk [6] proved the following theorem. THEOREM. If X is a Schunk class then every finite, solvable group G has a X-projector and all X-projectors are conjugate. DEFINITION. Let S be a class of subgroups of a finite group G. Then we say S is a characteristic class of conjugate subgroups if (i) H E S and a an automorphism of G then Ha E S, (ii) Ha is a conjugate of H under an element of G i.e., 3g E G such that HHa-H . DEFINITION. A finite group G is called -r,-closed if it contains a normal subgroup N which is a 7T-group and GIN is a 7T'-group. All groups considered in this paper are finite. Let X be any Schunk class consisting of solvable, -r,-closed groups. In this paper we will show that if the 7T'-subgroups of a 7T-solvable group G have X-projectors and they form a characteristic class of conjugate subgroups then G has X-projectors and the X-projectors form a characteristic class of conjugate subgroups. We cannot expect that all X-projectors are conjugate as is clear from the case when G is a finite, nonabelian simple Received by the editors October 18, 1971 and, in revised form, April 26, 1972. AMS (MOS) subject classifications (1969). Primary 2054. ? American Mathematical Society 1973


In this paper, innovative models for analysis of survival data, indexed by two shape parameters, which encompasses a wide range of situations are discussed. These models are called hypertabastic survival models. The models are shown to provide different shaped hazard rates. One of the unique strengths of the hypertabastic models is the flexibility of the hazard function that permits the data to determine the nature of the hazard function without its being inadvertently imposed through the selection of improper models. The consideration of the different hazard shapes explains the different mechanisms of the outcome behavior. This helps researchers understand the outcome status over time.


The stopping power of protons through Hf foil has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. The measurements were performed at the Laboratory of Accelerators and X-Ray Diffraction in Lisbon by using the transmission method on self-supporting stopping material. The overall uncertainty of around $5%$ was established over the protons energy range (0.6--2.5) MeV. The theoretical developments involved fully relativistic atomic structure calculations for Hf, which required the solution of the Dirac equation. The shell-wise local plasma approximation was used to describe the energy transferred to the bound $1s\text{\ensuremath{-}}4f$ electrons, and the outer four electrons were considered as a free electron gas. We found the relativistic description of the $4f$ shell and the screening between $4f$ and $5p$ electrons to be decisive around the stopping maximum. Present theoretical and experimental results are in very good agreement in the energy region of the new measurements. However, our theoretical stopping cross sections show substantial differences with the most used semiempirical models (SRIM2013 and ICRU-49) at intermediate to low energies. Our calculations suggest the stopping maximum to be higher and shifted to lower energies than these previous predictions. Future measurements around the maximum and below would be necessary for a better understanding of the stopping power of hafnium.


This course offers an introduction to ethnography for Human Factors Research. It covers relevant topics along the research process from decision arguments for the method and study design, up to data collection, analysis and interpretation. Ethical questions will include the researcher's role(s) in the field and modes of data presentation. The collection of multi-dimensional sets of data - a trademark of high-quality ethnographic work - enables inter-weaving threads of HCI perspectives in complex human factors and user research contexts. To achieve this, a comprehensive toolbox of ethnographic methods is introduced along with practical hands-on sessions to familiarize with these methodological instruments.


In this paper a hardware mechanism for supporting priority queues is described that provides the primitive operations on a priority queue. The principle mechanism for attaining this goal are a fast fully parallel Content Associative Memory (CAM), a high speed priority memory, and a good multiple--response resolver.


The observed phenomena in actual sound and electromagnetic environment are inevitably contaminated by the background noise of arbitrary distribution type. Therefore, in order to evaluate sound and electromagnetic environment, it is necessary to establish some signal processing methods to remove the undesirable effects of the background noise. In this paper, we propose noise cancellation methods for estimating a specific signal with the existence of background noise of non-Gaussian distribution from two viewpoins of static and dynamic signal processing. By applying the well-known least mean squared method for the moment statistics with several orders, practical methods for estimating the specific signal are derived. The effectiveness of the proposed theoretical methods is experimentally confirmed by applying them to estimation problems in actual sound and magnetic field environment.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the branding processes of universities in Turkey with the consideration of the context of cities where the universities are located. This research is conducted to respond to this question: How is the branding process of Turkish universities in the context of the branding of their cities? Data constructed in accordance with qualitative approach were collected through document analysis technique. The study is structured based on a descriptive method. In the study, universities' branding process is assessed based on the related literature, the ratio of being chosen, base points for entry, and the number of students, faculty staff and faculties. According to the result of the study, the branding processes of Turkish universities are overshadowed by the branding of their cities. In addition, factors, including universities' faculty sources, the number of students and base point for entry, which are considered to be important for the branding of universities, are differentiated depending on the context of the cities.


Monitoring is a basic function of all UN peace operations, past and present, and in some cases it is the primary function. All mission mandates have included observation, monitoring (i.e. observation over time) or verification (i.e. monitoring to determine if parties are living up to agreements). Almost two dozen missions have had these tasks explicit in their mission names. The peace operations created in the twenty-first century have been explicitly tasked by the Security Council to monitor many activities and areas, including


The article is devoted to the changes in the profession of accountant and accounting in the process of digitalization of the agricultural economy. The concept of digitalization of the economy is revealed, its directions in the agricultural sector are determined. The necessity of creating a single information space of an agricultural enterprise that promotes the interaction of structural units is considered. The priority role of accounting in the formation of the information base and in the creation of an analytical platform for the digitalization of the agro-industrial complex is highlighted. The robotic system as a tool of the digital economy is presented. The stages of accounting robotization are revealed: organizational and informational, robotic data processing, reporting and analytical, account management. The characteristic of each stage is given. A scheme of the movement of information in a robotic accounting system is proposed. The prerequisites for accounting robots that have developed in the current period and are necessary for future formation are outlined. The transformation of the profession of an accountant in the digital economy into an account manager is defined and its role in the digitalization of agriculture is highlighted.


This paper examines the experiences of a group of female drug offenders who successfully completed a county drug court program in northeast Pennsylvania. Using the constant comparative method, we analyzed interviews with these women for thematic patterns in order to provide an evaluation of this program based on participants' subjective perceptions of its strengths and weaknesses. While other drug court evaluations identify rewards for good behavior and compassionate program staff as important contributing factors to participants' success, women in this study credited their recovery and successful completion of the program primarily to fear of punishment and program structure. Our analysis also revealed patterns of improved self-images, improved physical and mental health, improved coping mechanisms, and improved interpersonal relationships. We end the paper with a discussion of implications for


Silicon solar cells lose about 20% of the energy of the solar spectrum due to sub-band-gap losses. Upconversion (UC) materials, which generate one high-energy photon out of two or more low-energy photons, can be used to minimize these losses and to significantly enhance the solar cell efficiency. Since UC is a non-linear process, the quantum yield of an upconverter increases with increasing irradiance. In this paper, we investigate the intensity dependence of the upconverter β-NaY0.8Er0.2F4 under broad-band excitation. An UC quantum yield of ηUC,lamp = 2.5% was achieved for broad-band excitation with a photon flux of 56·10 20 s -1 m -2 for the considered excitation spectrum which corresponds to an irradiance of 730 Wm -2 under monochromatic illumination at 1523 nm. The results are compared to monochromatic laser illumination and simulations with a rate equation model. The observed intensity dependences for broad-band and monochromatic excitation show the same curve shape and the values are approximately equivalent. These results suggest that UC is efficient under broad-band excitation as well.


"To confess the truth, Mrs. B., I am not disposed to form a very favorable idea of chemistry, nor do I expect to derive much entertainment from it." That 200-year-old statement by Caroline to Mrs. Bryan, her teacher, appeared on the first page of Jane Marcet's pioneering secondary school textbook, Conversations on Chemistry. It was published 17 years after Antoine Lavoisier's Elements of Chemistry and 2 years prior to John Dalton's A New System of Chemical Philosophy. Caroline's classic comment foreshadows what many students have expressed since chemistry appeared as an early 19th-century school subject. Post-Sputnik efforts to capture students' interest and engagement, or, in Robert Mager's words, "approach tendencies", can be regarded as contemporary responses to Caroline's views. This is a summary of several collaborative initiatives and experiences since Sputnik's launch intended to stimulate student involvement in their learning. Among these are the Chemical Education Material (CHEM) Study project, the Chemical Bond Approach (CBA) project, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Chemistry (IAC), Chemistry in the Community (ChemCom), SourceBook, and the National Science Education Standards.


As the society experiences a dramatical change, the concept and character of practical dance are also changing. Practical dance had passed a dark age...


This paper presents the part-of-speech set which is highly efficient at knowledge-based word sense disambiguation for Korean nouns. 174,000 sentences extracted for test set from Sejong semantic tagged corpus whose sense is based on Standard korean dictionary. We disambiguate selected nouns in test set using glosses and examples in Standard Korean dictionary. 15 part-of-speeches which give the best performance for all test set and 17 part-of-speeches which give the best performance for accuracy average of selected nouns are selected. We obtain 12% more performance by those part-of-speech sets than by full 45 part-of-speech set.


Structure of organic macromolecule polymer Teflon (PTFE) and theory of its self-lubricating and friction reduction were described in detail. Properties and processes of three kinds of PTFE solid lubricating film, i.e., binding solid lubricating film, composite depositing solid lubricating film and TUFRAM solid lubricating film, were summarized. Their application in industry and current development were also introduced.


During the last decade Antarctic ice sheet accumulation patterns exhibited large regional differences. While the total ice-sheet mass of Antarctica declined, East-Antarctica experienced increases in ice mass. During 2009 and 2011, this increase was caused by only a handful of intense precipitation events. In this study, we investigate such an episodic accumulation event, thereby exploring the atmospheric linkages between oceanic evaporation in subtropical regions and Antarctic ice-sheet accumulation. As Antarctic ice-sheet accumulation, and thus sea-level change, is contingent on episodic snow events, understanding the underlying dynamical mechanisms is instrumental for assessing global sea-level changes. We use both Eulerian and Lagrangian analysis to demonstrate that moisture transport was facilitated by several cyclones of different scales. Moisture transport towards East-Antarctica occurred in coherent air-streams, manifested initially as intense low-level jets embedded in the warm sector of the cyclone(s), followed by a transition to slantwise (pseudo-isentropic) ascent before reaching the continent. Water vapor loading of this moist-conveyor-belt was driven by low-level convergence in the warm sector along the advancing cold-front, whereas the slantwise ascent phase of the moisture transport was characterized by moisture removal (precipitation). Oceanic evaporation along the filamentary structured, anomalous moisture transport area was virtually absent, indicative for long-range moisture transport during the event. In addition to the moisture transport mechanisms we identified moisture source regions associated with the event.


We reported 2 cases of intractable warts and a case of intractable vaginal condyloma that were cured by Coix-seed Reactive Derivatives (CRD) and vitamin (folic acid・B1・B6・B12)combination therapy. Further studies are needed to define the efficacy of this treatment.


Accelerated life testing (ALT) is used to obtain failure data quickly under high stress levels in order to predict product life performance under design stress conditions. Most of the previous work on designing ALT plans is focused on the application of step-stress. According to the advantages of step-down-stress accelerated life testing about its higher failure rate, less sample size and simpler test equipment, this paper develops a method of accelerated storage life evaluation method based on step-down-stress Type-II censored accelerated life testing data in engineering practice. Firstly, the failure data under accelerated stresses are converted to normal stress employing acceleration factors of Arrhenius model based on the theory of Nelson. This paper establishes the maximum likelihood function of the whole samples under normal stress after converting failure time. Then Arrhenius model parameters and average life of product under normal stress are obtained by parameters partial derivation of the maximum likelihood estimation. Subsequently, the confidence interval and confidence lower limit of average life under a certain confidence level are obtained by the Fisher matrix. Lastly taking the step-down-stress Type-Π censored accelerated life test of a small sample electronic products as an example for analysis, this paper compares and analyzes the result of step-down-stress accelerated life evaluation method based on the Arrhenius model with the average life expectancy, failure rate and reliability function of field data. This paper verifies the efficiency and accuracy of step-down-stress accelerated storage life evaluation method based on Arrhenius model specific to small sample.


The aim of this paper is twofold: to review and to expand the scope of migration systems approach so as to analyze migration processes outside North America. Migration systems theory focuses on the role of migrant networks to explain the development of migration processes. Roughly migration systems are composed of mutually reinforcing four aspects: (1) facilitating function , (2) selective function , (3) channeling function and (4) adaptive function. Family and personal networks facilitate migration , select who migrates , channel migrants to specific places and help adaptation of newcomers. With a l1 explanatory power of the theory , however , it has to be revised to examine the migration processes in Asian countries: It is rather recruiting agencies that promoted labor migration in Asia , instead of family and personal networks. While th 巴 Americanprototype of migration systems operates on the basis of reciprocity , on the other hand Asian migration systems rely more on market exchange relations. Thus we need to distinguish two ideal types of migration systems: reciprocal and commodified migration systems. The difference in the form of migration systems leads to different effects with regard to each of the four functions. (1) Facilitating function: both of the two migration systems lower the costs and risks of migration , making it easie r. On the other hand , commodified migration systems do not serve as accumula-tion of social capital that is the key to the development of reciprocal migration systems (2) Selective function: in terms of intra-community selection , reciprocal migration systems provide much more opportunities with community members. As for inter community selection , commodified migration systems are more open to any communities. (3) Channeling function: reciprocal migration systems direct migrants from a community to specific destinations , while commodified migration systems more randomly distribute migrants at the destination. (4) Adaptive function: reciprocal migration systems maintain social ties at the place of origin even after migration , while migrants in commodified migration systems are less likely to keep social ties at the origin and have


While a lot is known regarding the determinants of successful fiscal consolidations, previous studies do not allow for the possibility of nonlinearities in factors impacting budget consolidations. By using a semi-parametric modelling approach employing penalized spline regression on a data-set for 28 OECD countries for the period 1978–2007, we demonstrate the existence of critical thresholds not only for the initial debt level but also for the accompanying monetary policy. The latter result shows when monetary policy matters most and suggests, counter to previous studies, that too lax a monetary policy decreases the success probability of a fiscal adjustment episode.


PURPOSEThe aim to this work was to develop an operational research methodology for context-appropriate selection, adaptation, and evaluation of the implementation of novel cervical cancer screening...


The current research examined the effects of psychological contract breach on employees' work to family conflict and their partners' family-work conflict. This study also investigated the buffering effect of employee spirituality on the employees' emotional exhaustion caused by such conflicts. Analysis of a sample of 235 employee-partner dyads (188 men, 47 women, M age = 44 yr.) from a plastics corporation in Taiwan found as positive relationship between psychological contract breach and family issues, through employee's emotional exhaustion. Employees with high spirituality were discovered to weaken the relationships between psychological contract breach and employees' emotional exhaustion and both family issues. This study highlighted the value of psychological contract breach on family issues from work to family in further research.


The New Order and the French Economy. By Alan S. Milward. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970. Pp. 320. $12.00.) The organization of conquered economies for the German war effort during World War II was largely the work of Hitler's brilliant favorite, Albert Speer, the Minister for Armaments and War Production from 1942. Although Milward has not used Speer's memoirs, he has sifted the available ministry records in the Foreign Documents Centre and also consulted the materials in the Bundesarchiv which received the Speer files captured by American forces. Most of this material was also microfilmed and the films are available in the U.S. National Archives. As I edited the material for filming I can add to Milward's exemplary bibliographic note that the unfilmed photostats were not sufficiently legible and that these and materials used for the Nuernberg Trials are still in the U.S. National Archives. None of it, however, would affect his excellent account of the French economy in World War II.


Influence of solder alloy composition on the wettabiliy and the shear stress of the solder joint was investigated. Also, the effect of the growth of the intermetallic compounds on the shear stress of Sn-Bi and Sn-Pb solder joints was investigated. Sn-Bi and Sn-Pb alloys were electroplated on a Cu plate from methane sulfonate bath and then reflowed at 250℃. The wetting angle of Sn-Bi solder was increased with increasing Sn content in the solder due to increase in the surface energy. Two Cu plates electrodeposited with Sn-Bi and Sn-Pb were clamped each other and soldered at 220℃ to produce solder joints. The solder joints were pulled to failure at strain rate from 3.3×10 exp (-4) to 3.3×10 exp (-2) / s to measure the shear strength of the solder joints. At low strain rate, the shear strength of the Sn-Bi solder joint decreased with increasing Sri content in the solder, but at high strain rate, the shear strength increased due to the brittleness of Bi. The shear strength of the 80Sn-2OPb solder joint was higher than that of the 60Sn-4OPb solder joint at all strain rate. The shear strength of the 42Sn-58Bi solder joint was higher than that of the 8OSn-2OPb at low strain rate, but lower at high strain rate. The shear strength was increased with increasing aging time until 24 hours because the rough surface of the intermetallic compounds acted as wedge at the intermetallic compound/solder interface. After 24 hours, the increase in thickness of the brittle intermetallic compound layer decreased the shear strength of the 42Sn-58Bi solder joint.


From three aspects of the frame of the application program, availability and transplantability, this paper makes comparison of Visual C++ and Delphi/C++Builder, and analyzes on the developing prospects of Visual C++ and Delphi/C++Builder.


Climate predictions initialized from an observationally based state (OBS) drift toward the state of the unconstrained model, which makes the use of a posteriori correction methods essential to disentangle the climate signal of interest from the model bias. We propose that applying a linear regression of the predictions and corresponding OBS on the OBS initial conditions (IC), and substituting the latter for the former, offers an effective method for bias correction. The impact of this new method is examined on monthly means of large‐scale sea surface temperature indices and the Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent in EC‐Earth2.3 predictions. This postprocessing adjustment through a linear regression on the averaged OBS over the first forecast month as a temporarily smoothed proxy for OBS IC shows a reduction of model error with respect to the two established bias correction methods. Improvements are seen for at least two seasons and for some variables up to 5 years.


Photographic materials for the detection of defects with the aid of x rays and radiation of isotopes must have a high sensitivity to short-wave radiation and high radiographic indices. The increase of sensitivity to short- wave radiation is achieved by sensitizing the emulsion by the use of complex salts of gold. The high x-ray indices are produced by technological conditions of the emulsion preparations, which guarantee size uniformity of the silver halide grains and a high contrast coefficient.


Abstract The vertical distribution of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR)-observed precipitation reflectivity and their mirror image (MI) reflectivity are outlined in this paper. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility and the limitation of the MI method, which can be used to estimate rain attenuation. Because the MI returns are attenuated much more greatly than the direct image returns, and also because the MI return is affected by the surface reflection and surface scattering, the MI returns are much smaller and more complex than the direct image (DI) returns. However, because the MI returns might be contaminated by the surface or contributed by bistatic scattering near the surface, there are many strong mirror returns between the surface and below surface at 1 km. The ratio of detectable MI return pixels to detected DI return pixels depends on rain rate, target height, and storm height. In addition, differences also exist between the convective and st...


A recent investigation [1] of the compounds Sm2(Cu,Zr,Fe,Co)17 revealed optimal HA, iHc, and Br as well as an energy product of 30 MGOe in the composition Sm2Cu1.6Zr0.16Fe3.3Co12. However, this compound has a nonlinear demagnetization characteristic. We have further investigated this system by varying heat treatment and/or replacing progressively larger amounts of Co by Mn or Cr. Metallography showed the microstructures of these materials to be very complex and sensitive to heat treatment. Magnetization measurements were carried out to determine the reversible temperature coefficient α as a function of annealing conditions and substitutent content. α was found to vary from 0.022%/C to 0.060%/C over the temperature range 15 C to 150 C. The room temperature saturation magnetization of these materials ranged from 4πMs=8.64 kG to 11.5 kG. Measurements of anisotropy field HA showed an enhancement with the replacement of Co by Mn or Cr by as much as 25% above the 92.0 kOe for the original material. This suggest...


Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgery that imposes great physical and mental challenges to surgeons. Extensive experience is required to safely navigate camera and instruments in narrow spaces of human joints. Robust camera localization as well as a detailed reconstruction of the anatomy can benefit surgeons and would be essential for future robotic assistants. Our existing simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system provides a robust, <italic>at-scale</italic> camera localization and a sparse map. However, a denser map is required to be of clinical relevance. In this latter, we propose a new system that combines the robust localizer with a keyframe selection strategy and a batch multiview stereo (MVS) for three-dimensional reconstruction. Tissues are reconstructed at scale, accurately and densely even under challenging arthroscopic conditions. The consistency of our system is verified in tests with synthetic noise and several keyframing strategies. Nine experiments were performed in phantom and three cadavers including various imaging conditions, camera settings, and scope motions. Our system reconstructed surfaces of more than <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$12\,\text{cm}^2$</tex-math></inline-formula> with a root mean square error of no more than 0.5<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{mm}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. In comparison, monocular state-of-the-art SLAM feature-based (ORBSLAM) and direct (LSDSLAM) methods commonly failed to track more than 20% of any camera motion and, in the few successful cases, yielded much larger estimation errors.


The student status management is an important content of teaching management, and it is a work with strong specialty,principle and policy. Combined with the actual work, the author introduces the main content and importance of student status management in colleges and universities, analyzes the problems existing in the current student status management in private universities and puts forward the countermeasures.


This paper derives an adjusted Black-Scholes pricing formula. In separating risk and uncertainty using the robust control technique, we find that both uncertainty and risk raise management's subjective evaluation of real options. We suggest a simple method to filter the risk of the project and to acquire a more reliable value of real options without the influence of uncertainty. In addition, we propose that an investment opportunity may be postponed inappropriately, as under uncertainty the exercise of investment may be delayed by the project manager. To our knowledge, any similar quantitative methods have not hitherto been mentioned in terms of isolating uncertainty from risk in real options analysis that we consider here.


Thank you for reading currents in astrophysics and cosmology. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look numerous times for their favorite readings like this currents in astrophysics and cosmology, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some malicious bugs inside their computer. currents in astrophysics and cosmology is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our book servers spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the currents in astrophysics and cosmology is universally compatible with any devices to read.


This paper compares homotopy perturbation and
Adomian decomposition techniques for the solution of parabolic
equations. Some examples are considered to illustrate the
techniques. The results reveal that the two techniques gave
closed form of solution and as such considered most suitable for
solving heat flow problems


The spin-orbit interaction coming from the scalar meson-exchange potential between quarks is included in a quark cluster model for the nucleon-nucleon interaction. Its influence on the triplet [ital P]-wave scattering phase shifts and on the baryon spectrum is analyzed. We require that the deuteron binding energy is simultaneously reproduced. Our results indicate that a considerable part of the nucleon-nucleon spin-orbit force can be explained by gluon and sigma exchange between quarks while improving the description of the excited baryon spectrum.


Data allocation can be used to improve data availability in distributed database environments. In such a system, a mechanism is required to distribute the data (allocate it) to the system nodes in the mobile or fixed network and to maintain the consistency of the data. The high increase for working in the disconnected mode leads to develop some models that handle the transactions during the connection, disconnection, and reconnection mode and that models have to able to manage the two networks: the fixed and the mobile network to act as peer to peer network. Most of the transaction management which using the time-out based still suffering from the long time to get the last consistent database copy, and most of the transaction management models didn't pay attention to the data distribution between the fixed network and the mobile network according to the neediness for the data, so that model distribute the data equally between the two networks even one of the networks need more data than the other. In this paper we focus on proposing the fixed end timeout technique (FETOT) for planned disconnection in mobile database over fixed network with weighted data distribution, a model will connect between the mobile network and the fixed network; we are proposing a new method to: ldr mange the data in the fixed network and the mobile network at the same time. ldr Reduce the delay in the total commit time for the timeout-based models. ldr Allocate the data to the mobile and fixed network according to the neediness by using weight factor.


Most leafy vegetables undergo cooking before consumption. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of cooking on total phenolics, total flavonoids and DPPH free radical scavenging potential. Plant phenolics and flavonoids play a great role in scavenging free radicals in the body and act as antioxidants. Thus their determination is sometimes needed. Plectranthus amboinicus is a commonly available medicinal herb in India. Plectranthus amboinicus is an edible, nutritive plant. Comparative studies on total phenol, total flavonoid, and DPPH free radical scavenging potential was carried out on raw and cooked extracted of P. amboinicus. The result indicates cooking enhances the antioxidant properties of Plectranthus amboinicus.


The working class is the class basis of our party. Its advancements are as follows: unselfishness, collectivism, and obey discipline. But in the market economy, these advancements confront challenges of different degree, some of which come from the outside of the working class, and some of which come from the working class itself. Our party must take measures to avoid and overcome these challenges because they will destroy the relationship betwwen our party and the mass.


Background—Despite the advent of drug-eluting stents, restenosis after endovascular intervention is still a major limitation in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. To regulate the multiple biological mechanisms underlying restenosis, we focused on inhibition of an important transcription factor, nuclear factor-kappaB (NFκB), using a decoy strategy. Methods and Results—For site-specific application of NFκB decoy oligodeoxynucleotides into target vessels during angioplasty, we developed a balloon catheter–based delivery system combined with biocompatible nanoparticles as oligodeoxynucleotides carriers. To clarify the therapeutic effect at the site of neointima, balloon angioplasty of the rabbit carotid arteries was performed at 4 weeks after initial endothelial denudation. This delivery system exhibited successful transfer of fluorescence-labeled nanospheres into the neointima in short-term contact with target vessels, and fluorescence could be detected ≥1 week after angioplasty. Consistently, local ap...


METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of all women diagnosed with gestational diabetes and pre-gestational DM at $23 weeks gestational age who delivered at an urban institution from 2016 to 2017. Our primary outcome was neonatal hypoglycemia defined as neonatal blood glucose ,40 mg/dL. Antepartum glucose control categories were as follows: good (90% fingersticks within target range, compliant with prenatal care (PNC)), moderate (5090% fingersticks within target range, compliant with PNC), poor (,50% of fingersticks within target range or missed 3+ prenatal visits). Intrapartum glucose control within target range were categorized as either never controlled or controlled the entire labor course.


In this paper, a delayed HIV/AIDS epidemic model with treatment and spatial diffusion is introduced. By analyzing the corresponding characteristic equations, the local stability of a disease-free steady state and an endemic steady state is discussed. By using the cross-iteration method and Schauder's fixed point theorem, we reduce the existence of traveling waves to the existence of a pair of upper–lower solutions. By constructing a pair of upper–lower solutions, we derive the existence of a traveling wave solution connecting the disease-free steady state and the endemic steady state. It is shown that the existence of traveling waves of the proposed HIV/AIDS epidemic model is fully determined by the basic reproduction number and the minimal wave speed. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the theoretical results.


Water use efficiency data was used to estimate the impact of reducing sales water allocations on a range of irrigated dairy farms categorised according to intensity of water right. The expected deficiency in available water was estimated for each farm category on the basis of historical demand for sales and the potential production loss estimated. The cost of substitution through management options of purchasing 1) water right (with associated sales), 2) temporary sales water, or 3) feed supplements as grain or hay and silage was calculated. Purchase of water right was found to be the cheapest option and the regional transfer volume required estimated at 93 GL of water right valued at A$ 60.7 million. The average transfer requirement was estimated at 31 ML per property, or A$ 20,000 in capital expenditure. The estimated cost of the transfer requirement for a large low security farm was A$ 240,000. Current water policy activity is seeking instruments to reduce industry impacts. Given the operation of a market since 1991/92, options which redefine water property rights and enable reallocation of sales entitlement have potential to be inequitable for irrigators already using prudent risk management strategies for water security.


The present invention relates to cause skin pigmentation changes in the methods and compositions. More particularly, the present invention relates to a compound of PAR-2 by using the path can affect melanogenesis and can be used as depigmenting agents or skin darkening agents.


A metal surface treatment composition, a method for treating the surface of a metal by using the composition, and a steel sheet treated by the method are provided to improve processability, corrosion resistance, alkali resistance, solution stability, lubrication, fingerprint resistance and workability. A metal surface treatment composition comprises 10-50 wt% of a resin mixture of a resin having a 100% modulus of 35 MPa or more and a resin having a 100% modulus of 30 MPa or less selected from the group consisting of a polyolefin resin, a polyurethane resin, a phenolic resin, an acrylic resin, a polycarbonate resin, an epoxy resin and a polyester resin; 10-40 wt% of silica; 0.1-3.0 wt% of at least one silane coupling agent having a reactive functional group selected from the group consisting of epoxy, amino and methacrylic compounds; 0.5-10 wt% of a physical property improving compound selected from a metal compound containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of vanadium, zirconium, titanium, nickel and magnesium and a urea compound; 3-25 wt% of at least one lubricant selected from the group consisting of a paraffin wax, an olefin wax, a carnauba wax, a polyester wax and a polyethylene wax; and the balance of water.


A graph is diameter-2-critical if its diameter is two and the deletion of any edge increases the diameter. Let G be a diameter-2-critical graph of order n. Murty and Simon conjectured that the number of edges in G is at most ⌊n2/4⌋ and that the extremal graphs are the complete bipartite graphs K⌊n/2⌋,⌊n/2⌉. Fan [Discrete Math. 67 (1987), 235–240] proved the conjecture for n ≤ 24 and for n = 26, while Füredi [J. Graph Theory 16 (1992), 81–98] proved the conjecture for n > n0 where n0 is a tower of 2's of height about 1014. The conjecture has yet to be proven for other values of n. Let Δ denote the maximum degree of G. We prove the following maximum degree theorems for diameter-2-critical graphs. If Δ ≥ 0.7 n, then the Murty-Simon Conjecture is true. If n ≥ 2000 and Δ ≥ 0.6789 n, then the Murty-Simon Conjecture is true.


Exhaustive testing is an important type of simulation, where a user exhaustively simulates a protocol for all possible cases with respect to some uncertain factors, such as all possible packet delays or headers. It is useful for completely evaluating the protocol performance, finding the worst-case performance, and detecting possible design or implementation bugs of a protocol. It is, however, time consuming to use the brute force method with current ns-3 for exhaustive testing. In this paper, we present our work on sym-ns-3 for more efficient exhaustive testing, which leverages a powerful program analysis technique called symbolic execution. Intuitively, sym-ns-3 groups all the cases leading to the same simulator execution path together as an equivalence class, and simulates a protocol only once for each equivalence class. We present our design choices and implementation details on how we extend ns-3 to support symbolic execution, and also present several exhaustive testing results to demonstrate the significantly improved testing speeds of sym-ns-3 over current ns-3.


A macroscopic solid is modeled as an assembly of atoms, and macroscopic behaviors of a solid are described with microscopic motions of atoms by means of concept of mesodomain. The relationships between mechanical powers and thermodynamic quantities of the solid are discussed by formulating the law of energy conservation derived from microscopic descriptions in the mesodomain. The fluctuation of the body force is introduced in order to express the moment of body force and the radiant heat source microscopically. The obtained microscopic descriptions show that the mechanical powers of the stresses. moment of body force and volume average stress are equivalent to the divergence of the heat flux, radiant heat source and the rate of internal energy, respectively. These equivalencies can be found in the similarities between the corresponding microscopic descriptions of these values. Finally. it is shown that we can introduce the concepts of two extreme material models. that is Thermal Materials and Mechanical Materials.


Advisory Committee: Dennis Pogue, Frederick Stachura, and Victoria Chanse. Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Historic Preservation, 2016.


Abstract From its onset, the Gothic has attempted to challenge established norms and conventions, either for sensational effects or to question their homogenizing and reductive tendencies. The questioning or reinforcing of received notions of femininity in Gothic fiction has been much debated by critics, with the concept of masculinity coming second. The present paper discusses normative masculinity as it was perceived in the 19th century and how E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allan Poe and Guy de Maupassant challenge its validity by creating male characters who adopt a hysterical, almost feminine voice, contesting the belief that hysteria was a "female malady". The characters expose their unconventional masculinity, which resists the model of the 'ganzer Mann' in Germany, 'marketplace man' in US and the 'conjugal heterosexual' in France.


A study of the Forbush decrease of 23 September 1966 shows that the predecrease anisotropy developed from a direction 85° to the west of the sun–earth line. The rate of development of the anisotropy suggests that the "turbulent" plasma producing the Forbush decrease occupied a volume of diameter ≈0.2–0.3 AU. If the plasma clouds away from the earth produced the anisotropy at the earth, then it is reasonable to attribute a part of the highly variable daily variation in cosmic-ray intensity to such distant scattering centers.


The shapes, sizes and settling velocities of flocs of kaolinite particles coagulated in 0.1 M NaCl solution at pH 10 were measured and the porosity of the flocs was calculated using the obtained data and Stokes' law. The results were as follows: (1) Although the diameters of the flocs ranged from 30 pm to 180 pm, their shapes were almost all spherical. (2) The porosity of the flocs was in the range of 97% to 99%. (3) The face to face coagulation model can not explain the results of (1) and (2). Only the point to point coagulation model proposed by the authors can reasonably account for the results.


Acknowledgements Table of contents List of tables and figures Introduction Review of relevant literature Part OneEthnographic Study of Telephone Caller Behavior Overview Methods Results Discussion Part TwoThe effects of APB type and secondary task on mental workload ratings Overview Methods Results Discussion Conclusions References 11


Now a days the formal banks are dominated due to financial institutions as they provide the services which are widely accepted by the poor due to easy procedures. These institutions can be governmental, non governmental based. There is common problem with these finances that is interest rate being so high which is faced by all the poor people as they approach the Microfinance institutions (MFIs )for the easy process of taking micro loan but they end having more money for repayment due to high interest rates. The purpose of this study is to analyse the performance of microfinance provided service to people, organizations. This study reveal The performance of micro finance in previous years and at present. Microfinance is an individual focused financial services provided to the poor and small scale businesses who lack access to the mainstream finances.


Based on field work in Shansuzuo village located in Yuanjiang county of Yuxi City,this paper attempts to review great changes that swidden farming has undergone and tries to probe into its ethnoecological meanings.The research findings show that swidden farming practised by Yi people of the study area,is actually a means of livelihood conforming with ecological principles,which embodies some seemingly plain but profound ecological wisdom as follows:1)rational utilization of resources to maintain the balance between human beings and forest ecosystems;2)precautions against fire to avoid ecological disaster in swidden farming;3)diversified exploitation of forest resource to prevent overuse or exhaustion of certain resource.Nevertheless,swidden farming has undergone drastic changes induced by rapid social advancement,resulting in its eventual replacement by agro-forestry in Shansuzuo village.


The growing recognition of the creative economy's critical role in Indonesia's sustainable development sector poses new questions and challenges around inclusive innovation. Whilst formal and institutionalised forms of innovation proliferate in this sector, the role of informal, rural everyday community-based practices within development frameworks remain underexplored, thus overlooking the communities' collective assets that might be potentially an empowering source of resilience. The research presented in this paper focuses on fostering the cultures of inclusive innovation within the context of community-based design engagement in Indonesia. This paper attempts to expand understanding of inclusive innovation and its situated nature by exploring space for often-undervalued community-based innovation practices to attend to relevant development concerns through community-based everyday practices. It further explores how design can nurture the process and encourage plural ideas of what constitutes development and progress. This study reflects the need to deeply consider plurality within the debates of inclusive innovation in an increasingly global-oriented development agenda. This study suggests that embedding local knowledge in the design frameworks may support the practice to ethically engage with Indonesia's development plans, thus opening up discussions on the significance of respecting the community's assets to enhance their participation and sense of ownership.


Abstract Soil is a sensitive ecological factor. Biodegradable materials from the environment can also be used to deal with serious ecological problems. Soil affecting by remediation medium - garden compost - was analysed for toxic cadmium (Cd) in terms of environmental protection. The objective of this research was to analyse soil and compost at foothill locality of the Tribeč Mountains (Southwestern Slovakia) in the years 2015−2017 to determine Cd contents in soil and compost, pH and to assess Cd bioavailability. The analyses were carried out using the Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with seven-step Selective Sequential Extraction methods. The results obtained were evaluated statistically using the SAS 9.4 software method by Spearman's correlation coefficient. The results showed that Cd contents in soil had reached 2.96 mg kg−1 and soil with compost (the ratio 1:1) 2.71 mg kg−1 dry matter. Cd contents in the soil exceeded maximum allowed limit of 196%. And deceased by 25% after adding compost. The pH in soil with compost varied from 6.78 to 7.98. The pH prevented the mobility of Cd about 8.3% in average. Statistical dependence was high, which was demonstrated for relationship between Cd in soil, pH and compost. Available Cd forms in soil were 53.3% and soil with compost were 45% in average. The garden compost as a remediation medium reduced Cd bioavailability.


Introduction: In H lung MRI, quantification of tissue parameters is complex due to signal properties and measurement conditions. This makes quantitative MRI challenging to implement into clinical routine. The inherently low proton density of the lung parenchyma and rapid signal decay, with T2 relaxation time roughly 1-2 ms at 1.5 T [1], leads to an extraordinarily weak signal. Furthermore, respiratory motion, heartbeat and pulsatile blood flow limit feasible acquisition techniques. Reducing the acquisition time to a short breath-hold period allows for an easy setup without additional triggering equipment, or error-prone image registration techniques in post-processing. In this work, the possibility of fast T2 quantification is shown using undersampled data from an efficient radial Turbo Spin-Echo sequence [2], and processed by a nonlinear inversion reconstruction approach [3,4]. In one expiration period of 13 s, spatially resolved T2 maps of 6 slices were obtained.


Neoplasms of diverse cellular origin arise in the oral cavity and among these oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) arising from the mucosa of the oral cavity constitutes to over 90%1, 2. Oral cancer encompasses all the malignancies originating in the oral tissues, including cancers of the lip, tongue, gingiva, floor of the mouth, buccal mucosa, palate and the retromolar trigone. It is the 6th most common cancer worldwide3. Oral squamous cell carcinoma is described as an invasive epithelial neoplasm with varying degrees of squamous differentiation and a propensity to early and extensive lymph node metastases, occurring predominantly in alcohol and tobacco using adults generally in the 5th and 6th decades of life.


Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma are frequently hereditary tumors commonly associated with succinate dehydrogenase (SDHx) pathogenic variants (PV). Genetic testing is recommended to relatives of patients carrying SDHx PV. This study aims to explore the experiences associated with genetic testing for this hereditary condition. Semi‐structured interviews with 38 SDHx PV (tumor‐affected and non‐affected) carriers were transcribed and content‐analyzed. Four ways of living with this genetic alteration emerged from the interviews: 'living as if not knowing', 'preventing others from going through this', 'feeling privileged', and 'still suffering'. Within each, negative, neutral, and positive reactions to the actual test result emerged initially, in addition to blame and guilt. Recognition of the importance of the genetic test and of the follow‐up occurred in all four, but views on fecundity were divided between having and not having children. Consideration for the four different meanings of carrying an SDHx PV can improve participants' experiences and clinical practice.


This paper presents a complete analysis of wavelet-based image compression encoding techniques. The techniques involved in this paper are embedded zerotree wavelet (EZW), set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT), wavelet difference reduction (WDR), adaptively scanned wavelet difference reduction (ASWDR), set partitioned embedded block coder (SPECK), compression with reversible embedded wavelet (CREW) and spatial orientation tree wavelet (STW). Experiments are done by varying level of the decomposition, bits per pixel and compression ratio. The evaluation is done by taking parameters like peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE), image quality index (IQI) and structural similarity index (SSIM), average difference (AD), normalized cross-correlation (NK), structural content (SC), maximum difference (MD), Laplacian mean squared error (LMSE) and normalized absolute error (NAE).


In recent decades the specifications of standards aimed at construction are becoming increasingly comprehensive and complex. The need to automate the process of checking the building code is becoming increasingly crucial. One way to obtain this solution is by means of systems that claim to automate rules for checking designs of buildings. Several countries have directed their research to Building Information Modeling (BIM), which provides a new generation of programs, including automatic checking of rules for design validation, enabling the treatment of the building code, thus improving their efficiency and execution. This research aims to evaluate the feasibility of automatic verification of rules for validating fire safety designs, using BIM tool. This research seeks to implement the automatic verification of rules for fire standards of the state of São Paulo in private multifamily residences. The proposal will be implemented for the BIM context with the program SOLIBRI of model checking. The method adopted is that of constructive research for it allows the development of innovative way, a model of automatic verification system of rules for fire safety, which allows quick and easy evaluation of the compliance to fire safety standards, helping designers to find potential problems early in the project. This article presents initial results of the research: (i) acceptance potential with the target sector and (ii) a general mapping of technical instructions and checking rule in SOLIBRI. Therefore, an indication of the applicability of BIM for Brazilian fire safety standard checking in housing design was demonstrated, technically and in terms of acceptance.


In the context of human action recognition in video sequences, a temporal belief filter based on the transferable belief model is proposed. It ensures a consistency in the temporal belief evolution. The filter is useful to cope with varying video quality and experiment conditions by smoothing belief on actions and solving conflict due to contradictory parameters. The proposed approach is validated on real video sequences with moving camera under several view angles


Nanozymes, which are inorganic nanomaterials mimicking natural enzyme activities, are bringing enormous opportunities to theranostics. Herein, a cytochrome c oxidase‐like nanozyme (copper–silver alloy nanoparticle, Cu–Ag NP) is demonstrated for nanocatalytic cancer therapy. Loaded with bioreductive predrug (AQ4N), this Cu–Ag nanozyme unprecedentedly enables simultaneous starvation, ferroptosis, and chemical therapy with high specificity, and is able to totally eliminate tumor and greatly prolong the survival rate for 4T1‐tumor‐bearing mice. The underlying working mechanism is revealed both experimentally and theoretically.


The behaviour of a simple autocatalytic or branched-chain reaction A + B → 2B; rate = k1 ab, coupled with a surface-controlled decay of the catalyst B → C; rate = k2/(1 + rb), is considered under isothermal, well stirred, open conditions (the c. s. t. r.). This system has a unique physically acceptable stationary state at any given residence time. If the saturation term r is zero, this solution is always stable although it may exhibit damped oscillatory responses characteristic of a stable focus. Small non-zero values of r do not introduce qualitative changes. However for sufficiently large surface effects, such that r > k1/k2, the stable focus may become unstable at a point of Hopf bifurcation. This leads to the appearance of sustained oscillations in the concentrations a and b. For relatively stable catalysts, such that K2 is non-zero but very small compared with k1 a0 (where a0 is the concentration of reactant A in the feed to the reactor) the governing kinetic equations can be reduced to especially simple, asymptotic forms. These in turn allow the analytical determination of the point of Hopf bifurcation in terms of the residence time t*res at which the change in stability occurs. Numerical solution of the full equations reveals that the asymptotic expressions provide a very good prediction for the dependence of t*res on K1, a0, k2 and r even when k2 ≈ k1 a0. Systems which have some autocatalyst B in the feed show an important qualitative change. At long residence times there is a second point of Hopf bifurcation at which the focal stationary state becomes stable again. Oscillations die out at this point and, in the limit of infinitely long residence times, the behaviour approaches that of the corresponding closed system.


In this paper,the whole geological mechanical model of fault is established using multi-disciplinary data such as geology,well drilling,well logging and well completion and taking an oilfield in Bohai Sea as an example.On this basis,the assessment model of vertical sealing of fault is proposed from fault stability.FVSI(fault vertical sealing index) is defined to quantitatively characterize the vertical sealing ability and stability of fault.The uncertainty of input data is considered using Monte Carlo simulation.The probability distribution of vertical sealing ability of fault is provided,which can provide a theoretical basis for quantifying the geologic oil spilling risk of waterflooding development reservoir.


Objective:To evaluate the clinical effect of arthroscope on discoid meniscal tear.Methods:96 patients with discoid meniscal tear were operated by arthroscopic surgery.These patients were assessed pre-operationally and post-operationally with the Lysholm score.Results:Lysholm score was 96 in average(range from 39 to 72) before operation,whereas it improved to 91.6 in average(range from 77 to 100) after operation.Conclusion:It is effective and safe to treat discoid meniscus injury by arthroscopic surgery.


Available energy consumption data from large multifamily buildings are assessed in terms of their quality and accuracy, and in terms of information derivable from simple analytical techniques applied to the data. Fuel consumption records from three data sets of multifamily buildings in New York City are used, and the results of applying the PRISM methodology to the data are analyzed. Data range from handwritten fuel records for one or two years taken from a survey that included data on building characteristics, to computerized fuel consumption records spanning many years for cases reporting energy conservation actions. The study emphasizes problems encountered in oil delivery data and possible data improvements that can result from careful data screening and application of simple statistical techniques for outlier detection.


The protection method for high voltage transmission line using two-end voltage transient signals is discussed in the paper.The differences of high frequency transient voltage signals at the two ends of the transmission line are analyzed under both in-zone fault and out-zone fault.And then the transient voltage content ratio and transient voltage singularity ratio are deduced with wavelet transform results of the voltage transients.Based on the ratios,two-end transient voltage protection criterion is obtained.Meanwhile,the principles of protection settings are given.Simulations under different fault locations and different fault types are carried out,which prove the accuracy and selectivity of the proposed protection criterion.


soon to be designated D-1 and D-2, respectively (Kebabian and Calne, 1979). Over that 5 year interval investigation of the functional (in the present terms, behavioural) significance of this neurochemical subtyping was critically hampered by the lack of any selective D-1 antagonists. It was therefore probed by correlational and subtraction strategies. Using the former, the in vivo potencies of a wide range of neuroleplics/dopamine antagonists was found to correlate very highly with their in vitro affinities for D-2 but not


The purpose of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that women with autism have poorer health compared with men with autism, and compared with women without autism. Utilizing electronic health records drawn from a single health care system serving over 2 million individuals, 2119 adults with diagnosed autism spectrum disorders were compared with age‐ and sex‐matched controls. When considering health care utilization, we found evidence of multiplicative risk for conditions within some domains (i.e., nutrition conditions, neurologic disease, psychiatric conditions, and sleep disorders) such that women with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experienced double jeopardy—meaning they had greater rates of health care utilization within a domain than what would separately be expected by virtue of being a woman and having ASD. For other domains (i.e., endocrine disorders, gastrointestinal disorders), the risk was additive such that being a female and having ASD were both associated with higher health care utilization, but there were no significant interaction effects. It was only with respect to one domain (cardiovascular) that rates of health care utilization were reflective of neither ASD diagnosis nor sex. Overall, our findings suggest that women with ASD are a vulnerable subgroup with high levels of health care utilization.


Several prediction tools have been developed to identify people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to quantify the probability of developing T2DM . However, most of the risk models were constructed based on cross‐sectional studies and tea‐drinking was not included.


The implementation of automated speed enforcement (ASE) program necessarily involves a relationship with the territory concerned. This article analyses both these physical and conceptual relationships and the way the notion is transformed by the program itself, which offers a new interpretation. The first section sets out to demonstrate that while these programs function within administered territories, their effectuation leads to the creation of "conceptual territories." The programs are highly diverse and their variety is expressive of institutional, organizational and environmental characteristics. The second section sets out to analyze the constraints encountered by ASE programs in the context of different territorial contexts, which represent real hindrances to their functioning. Nonetheless it seems to be within the capacities of the programs to limit the impact of these constraints and to come up with innovative solutions.


In 2013, President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Mikhail Nikolaev announced the launch of the republican project Music for Everybody . The organizers of this project –– the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture and Spirituality of the republic –– have set the goal to help all children learn one classical musical instrument by their graduation from general education school. For this purpose, the ministries signed an agreement on joint work in order to promulgate the project that was developed and organized by scientists, musicians, and teachers. In 2015, the Music Faculty of the Yakutsk Gogolev Pedagogical College was appointed as a project coordinator for providing methodological assistance during the implementation of this program. Against this backdrop, the present article discusses the main coordinating aspects and elements of the methodological support of Music for Everybody , which are aimed at consolidating the efforts of the music teachers of Yakutia. In this regard, modern musical computer technologies are increasingly playing a significant role in preparation of the key components of the educational process's methodological support within the context of project implementation. The application of such technologies facilitates the preservation of the cultural features and national colors of ethnic groups living in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), while also making it possible to broadcast the most salient elements of the multinational cultural traditions of the republic's indigenous ethnic groups.


Aims: One of the strategies for coping with oxidative stress and, subsequently, prevention complication of aging is the use of antioxidant supplements and exercise training. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate concurrent training and supplementation of L-arginine on stress oxidative and lipid profile in elderly men. Materials & Methods: In this quasi experimental study, 44 older volunteering men (mean age: 67.77± 4.61), were selected by simple convenience sampling from Isfahan city in 2017 and by using NCSS PASS 11 software, they were randomly divided into four equal-sized groups (each n=11): Concurrent Training +Supplement (ES) group; Concurrent Training +Placebo (EP) group; Supplement (S) group and Control (C) group. The ES and EP groups performed the exercise protocol with eight weeks of concurrent training, three sessions per week. Group ES and group S consumed 1000 mg of L-Arginine every morning and one hour before the exercise. Maltodextrin were used as placebo. Biochemical samples were assayed by ELISA method and multivariate longitudinal model were used for analysis of data in the level of significance p<0.05. Findings: Results showed that, joint effect of training and supplementation was more than the effect of the exercise or supplement alone on variable of stress oxidative 8-OhdG (β=-5.16, p<0.001), TAC (β=-2.30, p<0.001), and MDA (β=3.50, p<0.001) and variables lipid profile LDL (β=-20.82, p<0.001), VLDL (β=-4.73, p<0.001), HDL (β=-3.81, p<0.022), TC (β=-21.15, p<0.001), TG (β=-24.74, p<0.001). Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest that the simultaneous use of concurrent training and supplementation of L-Arginine improves the system antioxidant and lipid profile in the


This study examined the relationship between organizational trust and employee commitment in telecommunications companies in Port Harcourt. The study adopted a cross-sectional research survey design in its investigation of the variables. Primary data was generated through structured questionnaire. The target population was 437 employees of the four General System of Mobile telecommunication (GSM) firms in Port Harcourt. The study sample was 208 employees calculated using the Taro Yamane's formula for sample size determination. The reliability of the instrument was also achieved through confirmatory tests using Cronbach Alpha coefficient. Data generated were analyzed and presented using both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. The hypotheses were tested using the Spearman rank order correlation Coefficient .The tests were carried out at a 95% confidence interval and a 0.05 level of significance. Empirical findings revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between organizational trust and employee commitment in telecommunications companies in Port Harcourt. The study concludes that organizational trust significantly influences employee commitment in telecommunications companies in Port Harcourt. The study thus recommends that management of telecommunication companies should create a very friendly environment to enable the employee develop trust in the management which will go a long way to improve productivity. The study clearly proves that if trust is created between the management and employees are improved then commitment will increase.


The history of press in India is the history of freedom movement in the country. To a great extent, the Indian National Congress owed its Popularity and position to the Indian press (Mazumdar, 1993). Hence the history of the press in India is the history of the newspapers run by Congressmen. The history of the oppressed community is being neglected and the history of the upper caste is celebrated in India. It is noticed that along with the congress movement the oppressed and depressed class movement was also started in the time. Dr Ambedkar the great fighter and a deep thinker has made significant efforts on the path of liberty. He was the first Indian reformer who roots out the barriers in the way of advancement of Indian society in general and of women in particular. Above all he was a pioneer of social justice. To secure all these goals he laid down the foundation of social justice by incorporating many factors or issues in to Indian constitution through its various articles for the Hindus and other sections of the society; especially for marginalized communities and for regrettable classes. He started his movement in 1920 and raised his voice against the Hindu social order and social system through his renowned his journal. This paper highlights Ambedkar's role in bringing oppressed and depressed classes in the mainstream of Indian life through his papers namely Mook Nayak, Bahishkrit Bharat, Samata and Janata.


This article consist of the main approaches of the foreign sports industry to corporate social responsibility that are currently used. The work reveals the content of the concept of corporate social respon-sibility, its role in modern society and development prospects. Much attention is paid to the description of corporate social responsibility in the sports industry. The relevance of the study is due to the growing interest of society both in social responsibility and in sports. American and European views on CSR were chosen as a comparison. A detailed analysis of the material leads the author to the conclusion that corporate social responsibility today is an integral part of foreign leagues, associations and clubs.


Most nonprofit organizations rely on gifts of time and money to support their operations. However, research by nonprofit scholars on the behavioral mechanisms of charity remains underdeveloped. One methodological tool, the randomized and controlled field experiment, has not been fully embraced by nonprofit scholars publishing in nonprofit journals. This is a missed opportunity. This essay argues that the leading theoretical models on charity can and should be tested by nonprofit scholars using field experiments in partnership with nonprofit organizations. The resultant findings may contribute to the literatures on giving, altruism and collective action. Importantly, field experiments can also provide tangible knowledge for nonprofit managers seeking to improve their operations, a common interest of both scholars and practitioners.


Production forecast is an important technical support to oilfield production planning and foreign cooperation. Hyperbolic decline model and Weng model are extensively used currently, but they are not only complicated but also hard to achieve the most satisfactory solution. By using interval trial programming technique, this paper introduces a practical method for obtaining the best solution from multi solution models such as hyperbolic and Weng model and the skills of fast solving.


Star-forming galaxies generate gamma-rays in the GeV-TeV range through the interaction of their populations of cosmic rays with the interstellar medium. This diffuse emission can inform us about the origin and transport of cosmic rays, especially the hadronic component. Following the recent observations of six such objects, we present a systematic search of GeV-emitting star-forming galaxies using 29 months of Fermi/LAT data. The results are consistent with a nearly linear scaling relation between > 100 MeV gamma-ray luminosities and 8-1000 μm infrared luminosities. This relation was then used to estimate the contribution of unresolved star-forming galaxies to the gamma-ray extragalactic back-


PURPOSE: A method for controlling power of a forward communication channel in an OFMDA mobile communication system is provided to adaptively control power of a forward communication channel according to a distance between a base station and a mobile terminal, and a change in two-dimensional position of the mobile terminal. CONSTITUTION: A base station of an OFMDA(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) mobile communication system is in a standby state for controlling power. It is judged whether a mobile terminal requests power control(S11). If so, the base station measures a distance between the mobile terminal and the base station, and position of the mobile terminal(S12). The base station calculates power required by a forward communication channel of the mobile terminal by using the measured distance and position based on the calculated power(S13). It is judged whether increased power is requested(S14). If so, the base station confirms a total power limit of the base station(S15). The base station judges whether the increased power is usable within the total power limit(S16). If so, the base station assigns the calculated power to a new communication channel of the corresponding mobile terminal(S17). If not, the base station maintains the previously assigned power(S18).


In the 1960's, accurate maps of the United States were available to all, from the U.S. Government, but maps of the Soviet Union were not, and in fact were classified. Maps of the Soviet Union were needed by the U.S. Government, including for U.S. targeting of Soviet ICBM sites, and for negotiating the SALT ICBM disarmament treaty. Although mapping cameras were historically frame cameras with low distortion, the CORONA panoramic film coverage was used to identify any ICBM sites. If distortion-free photographs could be produced from this inherently distorted panoramic material, accurate maps could be produced that would be valuable. Use of the stereo photographs from CORONA, for developing accurate topographical maps, was the mission of Itek's Gamma Rectifier. Bob Shannon's department at Itek was responsible for designing the optics for the Gamma Rectifier. He assigned the design to the author. The optical requirements of this system are described along with the optical design solution, which allowed the inherent panoramic distortion of the original photographs to be "rectified" to a very high level of accuracy, in enlarged photographs. These rectifiers were used three shifts a day, for over a decade, and produced the most accurate maps of the earth's surface, that existed at that time. The results facilitated the success of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Treaty signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1972, which were verified by "national means of verification" (i.e. space reconnaissance).


The control of complex technological object in the conditions of uncertainty regarding disturbances is quite a difficult problem. Therefore, the use of classical methods of tuning controllers does not always meet the set objectives. Furthermore, at the design phase of  the technological object control system, its characteristics and parameters may differ from the optimal. This paper proposes a method of setting the controller parameters for the real technological object (evaporator of the absorption-refrigerating plant) during commissioning. Thus, there appears the need in additional information for adapting the regulator to disturbances inside the control object and taking into account its mathematical model. This mathematical model is specified when the system of control of the object is put into operation. The solution is to use experimental and analytical method to specify the mathematical model of the object that uses the current objective technological parameters. The practical result of this approach application is the increase of energy efficiency at the expense of the use of low temperature gas circulating in the evaporator.