A 3D, steerable magnetic nozzle (MN) is presented that enables contactless thrust vector control of a plasma jet without any moving parts. The concept represents a substantial simplification over current plasma thruster gimbaled platforms, and requires only a small modification in thrusters that already have a MN. The characteristics of the plasma expansion in the 3D magnetic field and the deflection performance of the device are characterized with a fully magnetized plasma model, suggesting that thrust deflections of 5° –10° are readily achievable.


Aims: Adaptation of a colorimetric assay using [3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the extracellular products of micro‐organisms pathogenic to fish.


The promotion of and, equally significantly, the endorsement of synergies between the conservation and sustainable utilisation of natural resources, the protection of the natural environment and improvements in human development are goals that the international community continues to endorse, both in their own right and as fundamental to the proper functioning of the global order in the twenty-first century.


Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche fruit containing D-chiro-inositol and Ibervillea sonorae Greene root containing cucurbitane-type glycosides are used to control diabetes in Mexico. Although the hypoglycemic effect of both plants has been demonstrated and some active compounds proposed, their mechanisms are still unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if the incubation with both aqueous extracts avoids the inhibition of contraction induced by phenylephrine similarly to glibenclamide in rat aortic rings. The hypoglycemic aqueous extracts of C. ficifolia and I. sonorae were characterized for their content of either D-chiro inositol or cucurbitanes respectively, and then we assayed the characterized extracts in vitro on the diazoxide-induced relaxation of rat aortic rings precontracted with phenylephrine, using as positive control glibenclamide. I. sonorae extract blocked the KATP channels in a concentration-dependent manner (p < 0.05), whereas C. ficifolia extract had no effect on these channels. I. sonorae extract produces a hypoglycemic effect through a similar mechanism to sulphonylureas in this experimental model; however, hypoglycemic action of C. ficifolia extract should be explained by an independent KATP channels mechanism.


Importance of the field: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are becoming increasingly used in the treatment of neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. However, they are not without adverse effects and their efficacy has not been clear because of conflicting evidence. Areas covered in this review: We have examined the current evidence on the efficacy of SSRIs and SNRIs in the treatment of neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. Relevant randomized, placebo-controlled studies were identified through a MEDLINE search of English-language literature from January 1990 to December 2009. What the reader will gain: The evidence for efficacy of SSRIs in the treatment neuropathic pain is moderate at best. However, SNRIs, venlafaxine and duloxetine have been shown to be effective in the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy and polyneuropathy. With fibromyalgia, both SSRIs (fluoxetine and paroxetine) and SNRIs (duloxetine and milnacipran) have been shown to improve pain relief, function and quality of life. Take home message: SSRIs and SNRIs may be considered in the treatment of neuropathic pain if treatment with tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants fails, or if there are contraindications to these drugs. There is also sufficient evidence to indicate that SNRIs are effective in the treatment of fibromyalgia and may be considered early in the treatment of fibromyalgia.


The author describes reengineering efforts in the laboratory of a 550-bed hospital. Key benefits include reduced costs, improved turnaround time, and redirection of staff into new roles in information management and outreach.


Unlike standard ray-based tomographies, the Depth-Recursive Tomography on Grid (DRTG) method assesses the travel-time fit at each model grid node using a regular network of refraction rays. This concept allows estimating the lateral resolution achieved in the velocity image that regards the chosen confidence levels and the strength of velocity anomalies. Recently, The DRTG has been applied to the S01 and CEL09 refraction profiles imaging major crustal structures of the Bohemian Massif in enhanced resolution. Now, similar enhanced velocity models are derived along the S04, S02 and S03 profiles mapping the Sudetic and Moldanubian regions. The S02 and S03 and the transverse CEL09 and S04 velocity sections particularly imaged the subsurface of the Moldanubian high-grade belts to the 15–20 km depth. Their common interpretation revealed the signatures of exhumation processes from upper-mantle depths assumed in this region. Particularly, the S02 and S03 sections map large volumes of high-grade metamorphic rocks forming low-velocity (LV) diapirs that are surrounded by 7000–6400 m/s high-velocity (HV) elevations. The S03 section images the coupled HV–LV–HV anomalies beneath the high-grade complexes of the Orlica–Śnieżnik Dome (OSD) and the Góry-Sowie Unit (GSU). The central gradient-free LV (5800–6000 m/s) cores of these triplets apparently correspond to the OSD or GSU felsic granulites/gneisses that ascended to supra-crustal levels. The Bouguer anomaly map suggests that the S02 and S03 profiles intersect the felsic sheets formed along the transverse Sudetic faults. Along the western belt of Moldanubian high-grade rocks, the S02 section revealed an extensive HV body shallowly emplaced beneath the high-grade Gföhl and Ostrong assemblages. Three mid-crustal HV elevations, correlating with local magnetic anomalies, obviously represent the deep sources of this HV mafic body and indicate its autochthonous nature. Finally, the DRTG also detected a shallowly emplaced HV layer beneath the Saxonian Granulite Massif at the S04 section. The mid-crustal HV–LV–HV diapiric triplets and shallowly emplaced HV bodies are likely typical of the high-grade terrains. The observed patterns resulted from contemporaneous intrusion of mafic and, more viscous, felsic magmas during continental collision. The inferred structural features of subduction–exhumation processes are suggested to further constrain their thermo–mechanic modeling.


Introduction: Core needle biopsy (CNB) is the gold standard for histopathological diagnosis of breast masses. However, rare complications may occur after undergoing CNB, including hematoma and pseudoaneurysm (PA) of the breast.
Cases presentation: Case 1: 66-year-old woman with a left breast mass who underwent a CNB without complications. Around eleven months later, she noticed a palpable and pulsatile mass in her left breast. She was diagnosed with a PA (1.6x1.3 cm) by means of a Doppler ultrasound (US) and a breast magnetic resonance imaging, which was surgically resected without any complication using local anesthesia. Case 2: 44-year-old woman with a left breast mass. After undergoing CNB, she developed ecchymosis and a palpable and pulsatile mass in her left breast. A Doppler US showed a 1.4x0.7 cm cystic lesion suggestive of a breast PA. The mass was surgically resected without complications using local anesthesia and sedation.
Conclusion: Breast PA is an extremely rare complication of CNB, with only 17 cases reported in PubMed to date. However, breast PA must be highly suspected in the presence of warning signs such as bleeding, hematoma and a palpable and/or pulsatile breast mass after undergoing CNB.


Research on sex-role behavior has traditionally focused on differences rather than similarities between men and women. Earlier studies reported sex -based differences regarding management behavior. Later studies, however, have shown that women managers possess many characteristics similar to their male counterparts. This study examined whether significant differences existed between male and female natural resource managers based on McClelland's trichotomy of needs. The Job Choice Exercise was used to compare the managers' needs for affiliation (n Aff), for power (n Pow), and for achievement (n Ach). No significant differences were identified between male and female resource managers in their needs for affiliation, power, or achievement. These findings suggest that administrators should reconsider the emphasis often placed on sex-based differences in the work place.


Abstract This article makes the case for viewing international organisations (IOs) as global polyarchies. Our argument is twofold: on a theoretical level, IOs often meet the criterion of philosophical coherence, as they are based on rules of membership and decision-making that are compatible with those found in democratic institutions. On a practical level, we believe the concerns of IOs about pluralism, inclusiveness and efficacy go far beyond rhetoric, and may decisively influence their activities as well as their outcomes. To this end, the first section explores Robert Dahl's concept of polyarchy and applies this to global institutions. In the subsequent sections, we advance our empirical argument with the UN as a case study. We reach three main conclusions. The first is that, at the bureaucratic level, the UN Secretariat performs some typically democratic functions, such as multilateral representation and the constitution of international regimes, which turns it into an important channel for feasible democracy in international politics. Second, at the multilateral level, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) represents a specific kind of representative polyarchy by allowing the greatest possible number of countries to have an equal say in global affairs. And third, it also serves as a gateway for multilevelled international representation by including a diversity of non-state actors in what has been called the 'Third United Nations.'


ABSTRACT In this paper, we present new seismic and heat‐flow data that show the base of the hydrate stability zone (BHSZ) in Lake Baikal to be locally characterized by abnormal variations in depth, with distinct regions of deeper‐than‐normal and regions of shallower‐than‐normal BHSZ. These variations are related to strong lateral variations in heat flow, and occur in close association with important rift‐basin faults. Areas of shallow BHSZ are also characterized by the presence of several methane seeps and mud volcanoes at the lake floor. We infer that the seeps are the surface expression of escape pathways for overpressured fluids generated by the dissociation of pre‐existing hydrates, in response to a thermal pulse caused by an upward flow of hydrothermal fluids towards the BHSZ. It thus seems that present‐day hydrate dissociation in Lake Baikal is modulated by the tectonic activity in the rift rather than by – climatically controlled – changes in lake level or water temperature.


Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process involves with the construction of phase transformation, melting, and rapid solidification of weld metal powder bed which affects the properties and the microstructure of final parts, e.g. density, dimension, mechanical properties, void, porosity, and non-fully melted particle. The aims of this work were to study the effect of process parameters, e.g. laser power and scanning speed, on the temperature field and melt pool geometry and the characteristics of single melting track in the L-PBF process by using the commercial CFD software simulation Flow-3D (Flow-weld). The laser power, scanning speed, laser spot diameter, and layer thickness varied in this study were 120 W, 140 W, 0.4 m/s, 0.6 m/s, 0.8 m/s, 80 μm and 50 μm respectively. The results stated that at the lower scanning speed, the temperature field has a region of heat distribution larger than that of the higher one. The geometry of melt pools can be changed from ellipse shape to tear drop shape when the scanning speed is increased. The width and depth of laser melting track is increased when the higher laser power and lower scanning speed are applied. The void is found underneath the laser melting track when the scanning speed changes from 0.4 m/s to 0.6 m/s.


OF HABILITATION THESIS University of Life Sciences, Lublin, Poland MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC DIVERSITY OF FUNGI FROM THE GENUS PHOMOPSIS (SPHAEROPSIDALES, FUNGI IMPERFECTI) AND ANALYSIS OF FACTORS LIMITING THEIR OCCURRENCE


1. In the Shadow of Myron: The Impact of the Discobolus on Representations of Olympic Sport from Victorian Britain to Contemporary China 2. Modern Pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics: Between Traditional Heritage and Modern Changes for Survival 3. London is Just Around the Corner: Belgium, Britain and Sport 4. Monarchy, Socialism and Modern Capitalism: Hungary's Participation in Three London Olympic Games 5. From Best to Worst? Romania and Its Nostalgia for Olympic Successes 6. The Olympic Games in London 2012 from a Swedish Media Perspective 7. Close Strangers or Strange Friends? The London Olympics and Anglo-Norwegian Sports Relations in a Historical Perspective


This paper introduces SIEMENS PLC hardware construction ,fieldbus device and software developing engineering tools. In allusion to the marine special environment condition, method of post-reinforce, thermal design, EMC/EMI design and method of surface-protected painting are given. Finally, the several problems which should be solved in the marine environment application are presented.


Map building is still an important preparation for mobile robots to navigate in initially unknown environments. Primarily low costs are responsible for the use of ultrasonic sensors for this purpose. Since many years work is invested in this field but most approaches are 2D, assuming orthogonal objects and a planar robot movement. In this paper a more general method to localize objects in arbitrary pose is introduced. The well-known problem of unknown echo direction inside wide sensor lobes is answered by using the lobe boundaries. Specular reflections, which are problems in usual, are required attributes of objects for the pose calculation. Measurement uncertainties in the lobe boundary and distance measurements have great influence on this method. Thus the error sources and their effects are shown. Improvements in sensor systems however are promising to overcome the weaknesses of industrial sensors used in this work.


Under the resonance oscillator the author considers a comb-line resonator of the length L and the quality factor Q, in which an infinitely thin electron beam flows above the comb-line. The electric field on the comb-line has the appearance of the standing wave. Its amplitude is supposed to be constant along the comb-line. This wave is spatially modulated by the comb periodical structure and, hence, presents a series of spatial harmonics with a decreasing phase velocity. The electron beam is non-modulated when entering the interaction space. Due to the present longitudinal magnetic field the electrons in the beam can move only along the x axis oriented along the comb-line. The author considers only the steady-state generation mode, when the wave amplitude does not depend on the time. Due to the energy conservation law, resulting from the Maxwell equations, the power rejected from the wave field (as output and loss) is equal to the power transferred by the beam to the wave field.


In this section, we give additional qualitative results on both Paper2Fig100k and ICDAR13 datasets. We perform a random sampling of the generated images in the test sets and display the comparison with different methods. We aim at finding the limitations of the proposed image encoder when rendering texts within figures and text-in-the-wild. Regarding results on Paper2Fig100k dataset, shown in tables 7 and 8, OCR-VQGAN outperforms the other methods in almost all scenarios (challenging shapes, text sizes, orientations, and colors). It gives qualitatively better results concerning both VQGAN alternatives (Imagenet pretrained and Paper2Fig100k finetuned), showing that the OCR loss is beneficial when reconstructing text-withinfigures. VQVAE, trained for DALLE, gives acceptable results when conditions are favorable, such as having a simple background-color combination or when texts have sufficiently large sizes. With long words or sentences, OCRVQGAN can display sharper characters, whereas other methods tend to merge them. Arrows, straight lines, or dashed lines are sharper in OCR-VQGAN. We can observe a trade-off between the blurriness and clearness of text in VQVAE and VQGAN, where VQVAE generates more blurry samples. The limitations of our method are shown when complex color-background combinations are present, when the text is very small (low resolution) and when the text is displayed in a vertical orientation. Qualitative results on ICDAR13 dataset are presented in tables 9 and 10. None of the methods were trained using these images, therefore the goal is to test how they perform in never-seen images of text-in-the-wild. The proposed OCR-VQGAN, even though it was trained with 80k images of figures, can reconstruct appealing natural images with in-the-wild texts. As shown in most of the samples, it is transferring the style of figures, tending to smooth out the textures, and highlighting the texts. However, it is sensitive to complex lighting, textures, and image quality conditions. Text is not readable in some cases. VQGAN approaches fail at the task of text reconstruction, where texts are mostly unreadable. VQVAE gives good reconstruction results in ICDAR13, generating natural-looking images and mostly readable text. This is because VQVAE was trained using natural images and it can handle challenging in-thewild conditions. OCR-VQGAN tends to focus the attention on the texts, while VQVAE gives a more smooth generation in ICDAR13. Appendix B. OCR Perceptual loss in PyTorch


Tibetan is pinyin writing system.Its directionality that is the same as the english writing system's direction is left-to-right and top-to-bottom,but there are no spaces between two words and the mark of a word is syllabic sign(a special character).According to the Tibetan grammar,line feed is put after a syllabic sign,SHAD(1) and space characters.At present the mainstream web page browsers,such as Firefox,Netscape and etc,can not support the characteristic of Tibetan typesetting,so the Tibetan text is not normally displayed on these browsers,for example Firefox treats a Tibetan paragraph without spaces as a word.This makes a line so long that it's length exceeds the display's width limit.As result,it is not convenient for users to view the whole text by dragging the scroll bar.Because not all the character of Tibetan have the same width,it is impossible to calculate the length of Tibetan string by count the number of character in the string when authoring HTML document.This algorithm gets the approximate value of the Ti-betan,then finds a fit line break opportunity in the string according to the line width limit.The primal problem of Tibetan typesetting on web browsers is solved.


Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a dominant theme in business and literature. Many studies speak about corporate social innovation and considered companies facing with additional goals that are innovation and CSR. The research aim of this work starts to look at the relationship among CSR and innovation as a value-creating process which occur in a networks and relational context. Based on this we want to obtain insights about the role of network and the way in which stakeholders can be involved in corporate responsible innovation of products and processes.


Juhlin and his colleagues' findings of a low histidine level (I) and their proposed explana tion of a shift to increased histamine production are of particular interest, as we have been assessing the reponse to topical histidine in psoriasi�. In animal studies histadine has been shown to quench singlet oxygen (2). II was also anticipated that an excess of histidine, by leading to substrate flooding, might reduce histamine formation. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the mammalian skin is unique in possessing an active metabolic pathway from histidine lo urocanic :icid without further degradation (3). thus providing a natural photoscreen. Initially, 5 % /-histidine (B.D.H.) was used but it produced marked irritation. However, in an open study 2% l histidine with I% hydrocortisone resulted in a response varying from negligible lo almost complete clearance. The base adopted was either Aqueous Cream B.P. or white soft paraffin depending on the sites affected. All the involved areas were treated twice daily with the active preparation and no irritation was noted. It is of interest that Juhlin had treated 10 patients with I% /-histidine for three weeks with little benefit (4). The heteroge neity of the disease with its fluctuant course, however. requires assessment of a large number of patients (eventually to be subject to detailed analysis). In sixty patients with psoriasis, hitherto studied, the minimal time for clearance proved to be six weeks in three identifiable responsive groups: those with a photo-sensitivity reaction pattern; patients with mild involvement on extensor surfaces and lastly, those whose psoriasis had ap peared in relation to an underlying nickel sensitivity. possibly as a Kobner's reaction. Since nickel is mainly transported histidine-bound in the blood. topical applications of the same formulation of histidine (for its po�,;ible chelating action) resolved nickel-induced dermatitis in nine patch-test positive patients, who had also minimised direct contact with this element. Although our observation!:. are based on uncontrolled studies, the absence of any adverse side-effects over a nine months' period and the response elicited, prompts us to suggest that the topical use of histidine merits critical assessment.


The length of box-type girder of bridge crane is much greater than the height and width. It is difficult to obtain a solution or a clear and periodic topology configuration using conventional algorithm. In order to obtain a periodic structure which is easy to manufacture, periodic topology optimization is applied to the lightweight design of bridge crane's girder. The optimization domain of girder is divided into some sub-domains and the relation between sub-domains and optimization domain is structured. The mathematical model of girder for periodic topology optimization is built, in which mean compliance is taken as objective function under volume constraint condition. Periodic topology optimization of girder is researched under the strength and static rigidity criterion. Results show that periodic holes are appeared in sub-domains during optimization process. Until periodic topology optimization is over, a similar trussed topology configuration is obtained. Even when the number of sub-domains is different,periodic topology configuration which has a good consistency and manufacturability is achieved. A feasible approach is proposed aiming at lightweight design for bridge crane.


Richard Rorty's philosophy finds its meaning in the context of "vocabularies" notion which has been adapted from Wittgenstein's "language games" notion. Rorty's understanding of language is a synthesis of two views. The first is the pragmatist view, in which language is treated as a tool developed to deal with environment by human. The other view is Wittgenstein's view of language as a game with its own rules. Rorty's thought, which is formed within the framework of these two views, expresses not only a human being's harmony and communication with his environment, but also an intellectual framework in which he makes sense of himself, his environment and even being. At this point, a human being born into a language obtains his / her judgments and values regarding morality along with all his relations with his environment by starting to speak this language. Learning a language is learning a game. In this framework, morality is nothing more than rules of a language game that is constituted for social solidarity and unity.


Under the Bayesian Ying-Yang (BYY) learning theory, a harmony function has been developed for a BI-architecture of the BYY system related to finite mixture model and its maximization leads to the parameter learning with automated model selection. This paper proposes an adaptive gradient algorithm for the harmony function. It has been further shown by theoretical analysis that the update rule of the algorithm is a kind of rewarding and penalizing competitive learning mechanism.


Authors present a brief overview of the main results of the international comparative study TEDS-M. Russian final year university students which were going to become qualified primary school teachers and math teachers demonstrated the results in mathematics and methods of teaching mathematics which were above average international rates. Authors show strengths and weaknesses of Russian training programs and reveal differences between graduates results in teacher training colleges and state universities. It was found out that there is a relationship between the quality of education of potential teachers and their attitudes to teaching mathematics - orientation on conceptual models and cognitive-constructivist approach to teaching mathematics or computational model and an approach to teaching which is based on the direct transfer of knowledge.DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2011-4-124-147


The objective of this paper is to develop a bandwidth reallocation scheme for TDMA-implemented Ethernet. The reallocation protocol consists of reporting change, calculating a new schedule, and reliably broadcasting the schedule. We also address the problem of static assignment of allocation vector, validate the essentiality of reallocation scheme, and design the scheme according to its functional requirements. The proposed scheme changes bandwidth allocation during the run-time operation of network system without affecting other traffics, so it can overcome the problem of static allocation. It completes reallocation within a bounded time as long as there are no transmission errors. Using this approach, the network is allowed to adapt to distributed real-time systems where traffic characteristics change dynamically.


The edge effects would happen when a workpiece extends beyond a polishing tool,which could lead to low polishing efficiency.So a new skin model,representing the nonlinear pressure distribution,was proposed to avoid the negative pressure and to calculate the amount of removed materials for the case of a circular tool that polishes a circular workpiece.A material removal amount model was established considering workpiece radius,workpiece-tool center distance and speed ratio.Its simulations show that good surface figures could be achieved by choosing proper values for the latter two parameters based on that model.


Lysine is often limiting in broiler diets and is added in synthetic form. Most research estimates of lysine requirements have been based on multiple-range test analyses without any indication of the confidence in the resulting estimates. Non-linear regression fitting techniques can be used to evaluate data and estimate the requirement and its confidence interval. Because of the large variations in bird responses between experiments, it is difficult to combine data for statistical analyses without making some transformation of the data. Our objective was to pool data for nonlinear regression fitting to get the best estimate of the starting chickens' requirement. The NRC dietary total lysine recommendation for starting broiler chicks from 0 to 21 days of age was 1.2% of the diet in the


During fish processing, a large amount of waste, of the original raw materials is generated, such as skin, bone, scale, viscera and head. These useful resources have been mainly used as feedstuff or fertiliser with low value. To make more effective use of underutilized resources, collagen was isolated from the skin of Amiurus nebulosus using acetic acid and characterized for their potential usage in commercial applications. The yield of acid-soluble collagen (ASC) was 62.05% while the maximum absorbance of ASC was at 234 nm. Amino acid composition and SDS - PAGE suggested that the collagen is possibly possessive of type I collagen. Moreover, FTIR investigations showed the existence of helical arrangements of collagen where the denaturation temperature (Td) and shrinkage temperature (Ts) were 29.8°C and 65.12°C, respectively. There is a possibility that ASC could be utilized as an alternative source of collagen for food, cosmetic, biomedical and pharmaceutical purposes.


In examining the imagined worlds of empire, John Comaroff critically examines the colonizers' images of empire, one being the notion of an "idyllic countryside." He writes, "For those who lamented a paradise lost to the cause of the industrial revolution, the idealized British past was situated in a pristine countryside cast timelessly in the early 18th century" (1989:667). These idealizations parallel Renato Rosaldo's (1989:120) notion of "imperialist nostalgia" as "conventional trope," or Donna Haraway's (1989:267) "colonial-nostalgic aesthetic."' Rosaldo "dismantles" the "ideology of imperialist nostalgia" examining the "process of yearning for what one has destroyed"; he suggests, provocatively and disturbingly, that anthropologists "inhabit partially overlapping ideological spaces" with colonizers and missionaries in "mourning the passing of traditional society" (1989:115116, 120). One could also implicate photojournalists and postcolonials in sharing this "conventional trope" of yearning for a pastoral past. As Raymond Williams (1973:289) reminds us, the persistence of these images of pastoralism accompanying agrarian capitalism is matched only by their historicity and by variable and powerful meanings "in feeling and activity; in region and time" (1973:4). Idyllic representations2 of New Zealand high-country life proliferate in a variety of genres, authored indigenously and exogenously. For indigenous authors who sparsely inhabit this country of tussock grasslands-runholders and station hands, such as shepherds and shearers-high-country pastoralism is a way of life. Exogenous authors do not inhabit the mountain lands but have contact with them-urban and down-country people may be recreationists (hikers, skiers, fishermen), conservationists, farm advisers, service people, journalists, writers, artists, or sometimes tourists. Representative genres include imaginative writing-detective fiction,3 novels,4 poetry,5 and cartoons;6 indigenous nonfiction7-station correspondence, scrapbooks, farm diaries, station and family histories,8 autobiographies, and descriptive accounts of high-country pastoral life, usually in the form of vignettes and


Coherent Ising Machines (CIM) can solve NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems in very high-speed. The CIM obtains a solution of a NP hard problem in several milliseconds. The CIM can run the optimization algorithm based on the Hopfield Tank neural networks and is applicable to various combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper, we proposed the CIM-based optimization method to radio resource allocation in wireless communication systems. As examples of the applications, we apply the proposed scheme to channel assignment in IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs, channel assignment and power control in Device-to-Device communications. We derive coupling strength and external magnetic fields for the CIM and enable that the CIM can solve these optimization problems in millisecond order.


—Cloud computing platforms, such as Amazon EC2, Google Computing Engine, and Microsoft Azure, offer dozens of virtual machine (VM) types with a wide range of resource capacity vs. price trade-offs, requiring a customer to consider numerous resource configurations when evaluating service needs. We investigate the possibility of exploiting this diversity of VM types to predict the performance of workloads on new VM types using black box modeling. The performance model used is a multiple linear regression of the average application response time as a function of VM load (throughput in requests per second), the number of CPU cores, and main memory capacity. For three different types of data storage applications - Redis (key-value stores), Apache Cassandra (a NoSQL database) and MySQL (an ACID database) - the model accuracy improves when the training data spans more diverse VMs. E.g., for Redis, the R 2 predicted measure of model efficacy improves from 0.4-0.5 with 2 VM types for training and 0.7 for 3 VM types to 0.8 for 4 VM types. These results suggest further interesting research challenges, such as the possibility of automating the process of calibrating performance models using diverse resource types on a public cloud leading to "performance modeling as a service."


(57) Abstract: it matches the address of the sender of the message to be postponed by the address of the sender of the message does not retransmit a message if there is no router transmitting side (922), cross the router reduction of unnecessary retransmission of messages is achieved, an improved apparatus and method for sending messages in a networked system. Furthermore, a message is originated without the subnet address information of the sender, the router having received such a message by updating the subnet address field of the sender of the message in its own send side subnet address , another router is available the sender subnet address information updated when the routing decision.


Laser‐based ultrasonics is a powerful tool for the mechanical characterization of thin films and nanostructures. In this paper, superheterodyne approaches to single‐point and full‐field detection of laser generated ultrasonic signals will be discussed. In these techniques, an amplitude modulated laser source is used to excite a narrow‐bandwidth signal. The detection laser, incorporated into an interferometric detection scheme, is also amplitude or phase modulated at frequency that is offset from the generation laser modulation frequency by a fixed amount, serving as the local oscillator for superheterodyne detection. Introduction of the local oscillator allows for the optical down‐conversion of the high‐frequency intensity modulation associated with sample motion to a low and fixed intermediate frequency given by the difference between excitation and detection laser modulation frequencies. The primary benefit of using this approach is that the upper frequency bound is not dictated by the speed of the dete...


This article examines discourse in the United States used to socially construct an "underachieving boys" moral panic. Employing discourse analysis I examine the adversarial rhetoric of claims-makers and the frames they deploy to undermine alternative and conflicting accounts (of females as disadvantaged) and to forestall any challenges to the scientific authority of their own (biological essentialist) account of crisis. I illustrate how this discourse adapts the rhetorical frame of gender equity from the discourse it politically opposes, and uses it to legitimate its own goals. I find that the framing of innocent victimized boys as scientific "truth" is aligned with a broader masculinity politics that blames certain "folk devils", and a synchronic moral panic about fearsome (black) male youth. I conclude by considering the success of this moral panic as evidenced by changes in educational policies and practices in the United States.


The mixed method study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of two different study guides (outline vs. completed versions) in undergraduate Human Anatomy and Physiology classes (HAP) and to analyze their relationship with demographic factors and academic achievement (based on final grades). The targeted population consisted of 750 HAP students taught by the same instructor in spring and fall semesters of 2012. In spring 2012, HAPI students received the study guide outline only and HAPII received both the study guide outline and the completed version. In fall 2012, the design was reversed. The survey (32 quantitative questions and 4 qualitative questions) was administered in class and 586 surveys were returned (78% response rate). Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS, while qualitative data was organized into categories based on the themes emerged. The majority of the respondents were sophomores (50.9%), females (74.5%), and white (65.5%) and were nursing (46.5%) or allied health (41.7%) majors. The results indicated that students used the study guides to make their own study tools, organize the information required for the test or make their own study guide. The study guides were beneficial in clarifying the material on the test and allowed students to focus on "main" points, although it was long and time consuming to complete and students were not sure if their answers were correct. The provided completed study guides were perceived as providing a lot of information, but not in enough detail, although they saved time in preparation for the test. Students indicated that despite disadvantages, the study guides should be completed and provided further in advance of tests, so students can make their own study tools based on the information provided.


Populus ussuriensis Kom. is one of the most important tree species for forest renewal in the eastern mountainous areas of Northeast China due to its fast growth, high yield, and significant commercial and ecological value. The selection of optimal reference genes for the normalization of qRT-PCR data is essential for the analysis of relative gene expression. In this study, fourteen genes were selected and assessed for their expression stability during abiotic stress (drought, high salinity, and cold stress) and after the treatment with the drought-related hormone ABA. Three algorithms were used, geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper, and a comprehensive ranking of candidate reference genes was produced based on their output. The most appropriate reference genes were UBQ10 and RPL24 for drought and ABA treatment, UBQ10 and TUB3 for cold stress, and UBQ10 and 60S rRNA for high salinity. Overall, UBQ10 was the most stable reference gene for use as an internal control, whereas PP2A was the least stable. The expression of two target genes (P5CS2 and GI) was used to further verify that the selected reference genes were suitable for gene expression normalization. This work comprehensively assesses the stability of reference genes in Populus ussuriensis and identifies suitable reference genes for normalization during qRT-PCR analysis.


One of the most significant issues to emerge in relation to retention is the number of young people who find the transition to HE difficult and think of leaving, far more than actually do so. As this is often linked to academic factors such as a poor initial choice of course, information, advice and guidance work undertaken at the pre-entry stage has the potential to reduce this risk.
The literature explored in this synthesis highlights the diversity of young people entering HE and the importance of developing cross-phase partnerships so that work to support transition can begin at the pre-entry stage. This is particularly important for disabled students who require early induction into the support that is available.
A number of studies in the archive describe interventions carried out at the pre-entry stage that have eased the social transition to university. These have made use of such things as peer mentoring and social networking sites to engender a sense of "belonging."
Although a great deal of work has been undertaken at the pre-entry stage and these interventions have specifically targeted young people belonging to those groups most likely to benefit from a focus on retention and success, further research is needed to evidence the impact of this work.
HEIs need to have in place on-going processes of institutional monitoring that encourage critical self-reflection and develop nuanced understandings of the diversity of the student population, with a view to embedding these understandings in institutional policies and practices.
The current policy interest in fair access and social mobility needs to reflect an awareness of the different routes into HE, with concerns over limited opportunities for progression framed in ways that more fully reflect the diversity of the student population and a wider range of goals and outcomes.


Using wind tunnel tests, the aerodynamic characteristics of a suspended monorail transport (SMT) are systematically investigated under crosswinds for the first time. Two practical vehicle–bridge combination forms (single-line and double-line) are considered. As a contrast, single vehicle and bridge models are also studied to further reveal their aerodynamic characteristics. The mean and root mean square (RMS) wind pressure coefficients, aerodynamic coefficients and power spectrum density (PSD) distributions are used to numerically investigate the effects. The paper confirms that: (1) the mean wind pressure coefficients of the single vehicle and bridge models are close to unity at the center point of the windward side and gradually decrease from the center point to both sides. The maximum value of the RMS wind pressure coefficients mainly occurs at the top or bottom surface of the testing models due to the effect of vortex shedding; (2) the aerodynamic coefficients and the mean and RMS wind pressure coefficients are significantly increased for both the vehicle and bridge models when considering the aerodynamic coupling effects; (3) the aerodynamic characteristics of the bridge can be significantly affected by the location of the running vehicle, but the fluid flow can maintain relative stability during the meeting of the two vehicles.


Objective To establish rat model of brain cold injury and study on Bcl-2 protein expression and provide a new clue to protest against brain injury. Methods Left parietal side of the rat skull was subjected directly to cold brain injury resulted from liquid nitrogen freezer at the temperature of -196℃ for 1 minute. Then, the pathomorphological changes of the ipsi-lateral brain and its relationship with the expression of Bcl-2 protein were observed. Results The results were that, 2h after treatment with liquid nitrogen, the ipsi-lateral brain showed congestion, edema, and minor focal necrosis. The degeneration and necrosis of neurons aggravated as a function of time interval, with severe pathological changes of neurons at 6h and obvious expansion of hippocampus at 12h.Correspondingly,the expression of Bcl-2 protein in injured tissue, especially on the boundary of the necrosis region, and showed highest level at 12h after cold injury. Conclusions The findings suggested that,in the rat model of brain cold injury, the expression of Bcl-2 protein was closely related to the extent of neuron injury.


The properties of reinforced thermoplastics are affected by the amount of skin and core developed within a part during the injection molding process. Since the thickness of a part greatly influences the amount of skin and core developed within a molded part, thickness also affects the properties of reinforced thermoplastics. This study compares the tensile strength and modulus of several short and long fiber reinforced thermoplastics at 2.0, 3.2, 4.4, and 6.4 mm wall thicknesses. Falling dart impact properties of the short and long fiber reinforced materials are also examined at 3.2 and 6.4 mm wall sections. The results indicate that the tensile properties of the reinforced crystalline resins are more affected by thickness than the reinforced amorphous resins. The study also shows that increasing wall thickness from 3.2 to 6.4 mm will significantly increase the impact energy absorption characteristics of several reinforced thermoplastic materials.


Important Vatican announcements are made on Tuesdays. When a diocese is vacant, those interested in learning the identity of their new chief pastor have only to stay close to their radios on Tuesday to learn his identity. If no announcement is forthcoming in the forenoon, they know they must wait another week at least to learn the outcome of the arcane process by which Catholic bishops are selected. In keeping with this established curial practice, the Vatican Commission on Justice and Peace, headed by the African Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, held on Tuesday, December 18, 1979, a well-attended press conference to present the Pope's message for World Peace Day (January 1,1980). Entitled "Truth, the Power of Peace," this called for "a resolute effort of mind and action to stabilize from within the tottering and everthreatened edifice of peace by putting its content of truth back into it." Murder, massacre, torture, and all forms of oppression, the Pope said, "must be called by their proper names." Peace, like truth, required moreover "readiness for sincere and continual dialogue Truth causes minds to come together; it shows what already unites the parties that were previously opposed." When Cardinal Gantin and his associates had answered the journalists' questions about the Pope's characteristically forceful message, Fr. Romeo Panciroli, Director of the Vatican Press Bureau, surprised all present, not least the Cardinal, by announcing that he had a communication on another matter. It was a "Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Some Major Points in the Theological Doctrine of Professor Hans Kung." This culminated in the statement: "Professor Hans Kung in his writing has departed from the integral truth of the Catholic faith, and. therefore he can no longer be considered a Catholic theologian nor function as such in a teaching role." Panciroli's announcement was a sensation. The Pope's message on peace, for the presentation of which the press conference had been summoned, was all but forgotten as the journalists rushed to the telephones to communicate the news which within the hour was being broadcast over the world's airwaves. On the day following, it was the CDF's judgment of Kung, rather than the Pope's words about peace, which appeared on the front pages of the world press. The Holy Father


In this paper, the author arranges some of the major treatments of alienation within a coherent framework. He introduces a distinction between disassociation (certain specified objective conditions) and alienation (a specified experience) and articulates the relationship between these two by presenting a series of intervening psychological issues. A typology of human association is presented; and it is argued that especially two types of disassociation (i.e., marginality and subordination) and, to some extent, another (i.e., privilege) may be productive of alienation. These conditions are considered at the cultural, social, and psychological levels of analysis. Variables connecting these conditions and alienation include the perception of the condition, evaluation, integration, blame, and response.


We study algebras k[x_1,...,x_n]/I which admit a grading by a subsemigroup of N^d such that every graded component is a one-dimensional k-vector space. V.I.~Arnold and coworkers proved that for d = 1 and n <= 3 there are only finitely many isomorphism types of such A-graded algebras, and in these cases I is an initial ideal (in the sense of Groebner bases) of a toric ideal.
In this paper it is shown that Arnold's finiteness theorem does not extend to n = 4. Geometric conditions are given for I to be an initial ideal of a toric ideal. The varieties defined by A-graded algebras are characterized in terms of polyhedral subdivisions, and the distinct A-graded algebras are parametrized by a certain binomial scheme.


The purpose of the present work is to determine the effects of the ingestion of sodium fluoride (NaF) on the buccal mucosa of the rat manifested by changes in the expression of proteins p53, bcl-2 and caspase-3 as indicative of an apoptosis process as well as in the activity of the amylase as indicator of the function of the mucosa. Material and method: Male rats were exposed to NaF (1 and 50 ppm) for eight weeks and were sacrificed weekly. Buccal mucosa was isolated and the expression of the proteins p53, bcl-2 and caspasa-3 was determined by means of Western-blot technique. On the other hand, amylase activity was determined by spectrophotometry Results: the treatment with 50 ppm of NaF produces an increment in the expression of the p53 and caspasa-3 as well as an important decrease in the activity of the amylase. These results point out that the intoxication with NaF can be an apoptosis inductor in the buccal mucosa in rats intoxicated for eight weeks.


The avifauna natural resource of Xiaobei Lake in Ning′an was investigated during 1999 to 2000,and 152 species of 15 orders with 38 families were recorded,111 kinds of them were Palearctic bird(73 03%),and 41 kinds of them were wide-ranging bird(26 97%),Palearctic bird was cardinal in fauna.There were 32 kinds of resident(21 05%),102 kinds of summer resident (67 11%),12 kinds of passing migrant (7 89) and 6 kinds of winter resident(3 95%) Summer resident was the majority in residentce.21 kinds among them,such as Mergus squamatus,Aix galericulata and Aquila chrysaetos et.belong to class Ⅰ and Ⅱ nation protection animals,7 kinds were included in Red cover book on animals in severe danger


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate to business leaders in the developed world that many powerful brands are rising in the emerging economies; to indicate how those incumbents' branding approaches will need to adapt as a result.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses empirical findings, segmentation into three accessible categories of fast‐rising brands, and third‐party research on the multipolar world to show that the twenty‐first century's "powerhouse" brands are as likely to come from emerging markets such as China, Turkey, Qatar, South Africa, and Brazil as from the USA, Japan and Europe.Findings – The paper states that the dominant brands of the twenty‐first century are far less likely to be household names like IBM and Coca‐Cola and much more likely to be brands that today are relatively unfamiliar in the West – names such as SABIC and Emaar and Ulker. The paper argues that the rise of these emerging‐market brands will change the way that business leaders in the developed wor...


The Covid-19 pandemic is an extraordinary event that is happening right now with various accompanying impacts, especially for the mental and spiritual condition of humans. Therefore, patience is one of attitudes and characters that must be owned by anyone, because it is believed that by being patient at least able to strengthen a person in the face of a pandemic situation. In Islam, patience is a noble character taught especially by Sūfīs like Al-Ghazali, thus this research was conducted to find out the concept of patience according to Al-Ghazali which includes the meaning of patience, the virtue of patience and its implementation in human life during the Covid-19 Pandemic. This type of research is a literature study with a descriptive analysis method. The conclusions of this study included the way s for having a patient nature according to al-Ghazali are by weakening the drive for lust and strengthening the driving force of religion. Patience in human life has implications for religious life and social life, so patience has the potential to make one's religious and social life better.


We investigated the antiviral effect of entecavir in nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA)‐naïve and NA‐experienced chronic hepatitis B patients without virological response (VR, HBV DNA < 300 copies/mL) at week 24 or 48. A total of 369 NA‐naïve and 181 NA‐experienced patients treated with entecavir monotherapy were analysed. Of the 369 NA‐naïve patients, 34 did not achieve VR at week 48. Of them, patients with HBV DNA ≤2000 copies/mL at week 48 achieved a higher VR rate than those with HBV DNA >2000 copies/mL (18/23 vs 3/11, P = 0.004). Two naïve patients with HBV DNA >2000 copies/mL developed entecavir‐ or lamivudine‐resistant mutants. In 98 lamivudine‐experienced patients without ever having lamivudine resistance, most patients with VR (72/72) and partial VR (300–104 copies/mL; 20/23) at week 24 or VR at week 48 (89/91) could maintain or achieve VR after prolonged therapy. In 75 patients with prior resistance to lamivudine, prolonged entecavir therapy led to low VR rate in those without VR at week 24 (13/45) or 48 (4/34) and high entecavir‐resistance rate in those with or without VR at week 24 (6/30 with and 23/45 without) and 48 (8/41 with and 21/34 without). VR at week 48 was an independent predictor (HR 0.14, 95% CI 0.06–0.33) for entecavir‐resistant mutant development among the 75 patients with prior lamivudine‐resistant mutants. In conclusion, prolonged entecavir treatment resulted in a poor response in naïve patients with HBV DNA >2000 copies/mL at week 48 and patients with prior lamivudine‐resistant mutants without VR at week 24 or 48.


The invention (a) a core comprising a hydrophilic polymer mitomycin and 5 to 35 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of clarithromycin; And (b) above on the core, one part by weight of butyl methacrylate, (2-dimethyl amino ethyl) methacrylate chloride 2 parts by weight, and methyl methacrylate 1 parts by weight of a copolymer [poly (butyl metacrylate, ( 2-dimethyl-aminoethyl) methacrylate, methyl methacrylate) 1: 2: 1] the azithromycin to clarithromycin comprising a coating in an amount of 80 to 200% by weight of the coating layer, based on the weight of the core-containing pharmaceutical compositions and their preparation there is provided a method. Clarithromycin with azithromycin, a hydrophilic polymer, Eudragit E


To satisfy the ever-increasing traffic demand in a cost-effective manner, high-baud transceivers need to be developed. 64 Gbaud transceivers are being introduced to commercial systems and research on beyond 100 Gbaud transceivers is in progress. High-baud signals are susceptible to IQ skew at the coherent transceiver since the symbol duration is extremely short. IQ skew can be eliminated by the filter used for polarization-impairment compensation provided that the filter has real-number tap coefficients [1] . However, the elimination of transmitter IQ skew becomes impossible if there is frequency mismatch between the transmitter laser and local oscillator. To compensate for transmitter IQ skew, additional filters need to be implemented in the receiver [2] ; this inevitably increases the receiver cost. Therefore, we need a practical fabrication process that can eliminate transmitter IQ skew. We propose here a novel method for estimating transmitter IQ skew, in which the transmitter-IQ-skew value is rigorously determined in a theoretical manner from the tap coefficients of the adaptive filters used.


The Sun polynomials are defined by We prove that, for any positive integer n, there hold The first one confirms a recent conjecture of Z.-W. Sun, while the second one partially answers another conjecture of Z.-W. Sun. We give three different proofs of the former. One of them depends on the following congruence:


What challenges for the South? A After being excluded, agriculture is gradually gaining a position in climate policy negotiations. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report assessed the potential reduction of GHG at between 20 and 60% in land-based sectors (agriculture, forestry and other land use) by 2030. The challenge to the sector is enormous. Greenhouse gas emission must be reduced in agriculture. The latter must also adapt to climate change while responding to food security imperatives. According to the FAO, agricultural production should at least double by 2050 to match population growth.


Along with the transition of the higher education of our country from elite-orientation to mass-orientation,the type and quantity of weak groups among college students are increased gradually.It is benefi cial for the construction of harmonious college campus to care weak groups among college students and to help them go out of shadow of weakness and take a path of healthy development by all paths and effective measures.


Experiments were carried out for a two-phase closed thermosyphon with a carbon nanotube suspension as working media to study the boiling characteristics.In contrast to typical thermosyphon,thermosyphon filled with a nano-particle suspension had adversely high boiling incipience temperature,temperature excursion,and thermal resistance.The carbon nanotube suspension deteriorated the performance of the gravity-assisted thermosyphon.Measurements showed that suspending carbon nano-tubes in bulk water rendered the suspension increased surface tension.Changes of the interfacial properties led to reduced active nucleation sites,density and departure frequency,as well as enlarged bubble volume and coalescence readiness.Marangoni flow was induced by temperature and concentration gradients.Mass transfer took place from preferential evaporation of volatile component at local interface.All factors functioned together and resulted in high temperature excursion,evaporator wall temperature,and thermal resistance.Heat transfer for the gravity-assisted thermosyphon filled with carbon nanotube suspension deteriorated.


Demand forecasting is a fundamental activity for companies to succeed. Furthermore, gasoline is a basic input for economy and despite of gradual substitution of fossil fuels, it is still consumed in big amounts in Brazil. Looking for joining these both relevant topics, the present study makes use of two statistical tools: Multiple Linear Regression and ARIMA models in order to forecast the demand for gasoline in Brazil. Subsequently both models were compared through the indicator mean squared error and checked witch one had presented the best accuracy on predicting gasoline demand.
 The construction of the models was realized respecting all technical hypothesis and graphical analysis and statistical tests were used to confirm them. Such methodological process based the decision for selecting: AR(1) with dummies variables representing seasonality and a SARIMA (1,0,0)(1,1,0) as best models.
 Once the statistical models were compared, it was not possible to conclude which had performed better because the results on validation and conclusion fase were divergent. Although this objective finding, concluded the present study was delimited by data series extension. Therefore, with respect of continuity of this work, it is recommended to amplify the data series and test for accuracy other forecasting models.


According to the industrial design brand and bu siness advantages of the industrial park,also combined with the regional personnel resources of university,puts forward a solution for building the industrial design and innovation service platform of e-commerce,which integrated creativity,design,trade as a whole,and discusses the key technology,system design and implementation in details.


Submission: 15 September, 1992 Acceptance: 15 December, 1992 Final Paper: 15 February, 1992 For further information please contact: COMPEURO 93, SEE 48 rue de la Procession, F-75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. (tel: 126.96.36.199.60.60, fax: 126.96.36.199.(~.44). May 17 19,1993 Schliersee, Germany 3RD NUCLEAR SIMULATION SYMPOSIUM AND MATHEMATICAL MODELLING WORKSHOP Conference Themes: CFD Simulation Models, Computer Based Education, Neutron Kinetics, Nuclear Power Plant-Simulation, Plant Analyser Simulation, Software Tools and Numerical Methods, Structural Analysis for Nuclear, Supercomputers and Hardware Tools, and Nuclear Waste. For further information please contact: Moshe R.Heller, Applied Simulation Technology GmbH, Planegger Strasse 47, Postfach 60.04.38, D-8000 Munich 80, Germany. (Tel: 18.104.22.168.73, Fax: 18.104.22.168.75.75). May 31June 4,1993 Florence, Italy 26TH ISATA Conference Topics: Laser Applications in the Automotive Industries, Lean Manufacturing in the Automotive Industries, Mechatronics, The Motor Vehicle and the EnvironmentDemands of the Nineties and Beyond, Advanced Logistics and Communications in Road Freight Transport Operations, Advanced Transport Telematics/ Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems Towards Development and Implementation, Supercomputer Applications in the Automotive Industries, Zero Emission Vehicles The Electric/Hybrid and Alternative Fuels Challenge, Road and Vehicle Safety, New and Alternative Materials for the Automotive Industries. For further information please contact: ISATA Secretariat, 42 Lloyd Park Avenue, Croydon, CRO 5SB, United Kingdom. (te1:44.81.C-~i1.3069, fax: 44.81.686.1490) June 2 4,1993 Mons, Belgium INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Scope: The purpose of this conference is to get together worldwide experts on industrial engineering and production manegement to exchange scientific information on generic and applied areas of the conference. The academics and the practioners would expose the new ideas and their validation in the industrial environment. The conference will provide high quality presentations on recent advances. Conference Topics: Production Management Strategies and Philosophies, Techniques and Tools for Production Management, Information Systems, Industrial Engineering and Production Management Functions, Integration Aspects, Organizational and Human Aspects of CIM and Economic Aspects. Deadlifies: . Abstract Submission: October 15,1992Submission: October 15,1992 Acceptance Notification: February 15,1992 Final Paper: April 15,1992 For further information please contact: Mrs.Raulier D., FUCaM, Chaussee de Binche, 151, B-7000 Mons, Belgium. (tel: 126.96.36.199.17, Fax: 220.127.116.11.91).


Abstract Although the timing and magnitude of global climate change is in dispute, the possible effects of such change merit consideration to allow for discussion of policy ramifications and mitigative actions. Climate change may result in sea level rise; water temperature increase; and deviations from present patterns of precipitation, wind, and water circulation. Estuaries may experience loss of marsh habitat, intrusion of marine waters and associated organisms, changes in circulation patterns that affect retention of some indigenous species, and increased hypoxia and storm surges. Estuarine and coastal systems could experience poleward retreat of cold-tolerant species and range expansion of warm-tolerant species. Some fisheries and aquacultural enterprises and communities would benefit from the results of climate change and others would suffer losses, with economic and population dislocations probably inevitable in many parts of the world. Thus, flexibility in policy-making and planning will be vital i...


The number of accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists has been reported to be about 1.8 times higher on narrow roads than on arterial roads in Japan. We consider investigating the circumstances under which accidents occur on narrow roads to be an important research task. Statistics from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department indicate that the number of traffic accident fatalities in winter is relatively high. We used a Driving Simulator (DS) in order to safely perform sensing on roads that replicate a local city in a heavy snowfall region. Brain activity during driving was measured using a portable functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) device. We used a machine-learning algorithm for analyzing time-series datasets to demonstrate differences in brain activity across driving events. We classified subjects into four groups based on the results of questionnaires that assessed their driving characteristics. Experimentally obtained results demonstrated that Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) changes that represent increased brain activity were greater in winter than in summer for each event. We infer that the winter events had a larger impact on the drivers.


Mucuna pruriens has been known to possess valuable medicinal properties. The present study aims at investigating the effects of M. pruriens seeds against1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) induced mice on haematological and bio-chemical parameters. Male Swiss albino(Groups=7) mice with weights ranging from 25 to 30 g were fed with different concentration (200mg/kg, 400mg/kg) of M. pruriens seeds for one week. The result shows that the seeds improved the haematological and serum biochemical parameters with dosedependent manner in MPTP induced mice. The effect of methanolic seed extract of M. pruriens seeds on Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activities were evaluated using spectrophotometric method. The results showed that the parameters of serum cholesterol, urea, creatinine, and triglycerides were normalized when the treated mice when compared to the control. In conclusion, the effect of biochemical and haematologic parameters of Mucuna pruriens seed extract were observed in MPTP treated mice.


Nutraceutical is a term, formulated from "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical" by Stephen De Felicei in 1989. He termed it as "food or parts of food that provide medical or health benefits including the prevention and treatment of diseases." Such products may include herbal products, dietary supplements, isolated nutrients, processed food items, and genetically designed food products. One of such drugs is quinoa seeds which have been used as a nutraceutical since long time due to its rich nutritional profile and pharmacological activities. Quinoa seeds have reported to have all kinds of macronutrients and micronutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients. And, its recommended by modern and traditional healers to include in the diet in order to complete the daily requirements of nutrition. Therefore, present review describes about the background, geographical sources, cultivation, macroscopy, microscopy, chemical constituents, nutritional profile, and pharmacological activities of the quinoa seeds.


The present invention address the problem of providing: a fabric that includes an organic fiber and is colored by means of a printing treatment, said fabric not only having excellent clarity and design properties but also having excellent flame retardancy; a method for producing said fabric; and a textile product. The problem is solved by configuring the measured char length to be 10 cm or less by using a printing treatment agent including a flame retardant when coloring the fabric by means of the printing treatment.


The dwindling of wild animal species and vegetation is a common feature in the African continent let alone in the world at large. The paper investigated the Shangwe religious and cultural practices which are meant save the extinction of vegetation and particular animals in the then Gokwe District in the Midlands Province in Zimbabwe. Most importantly, these practices were linked to Nevana, the Shangwe rain making god. It emerged from the study that snakes symbolised the ancestral beings. Consequently, it was taboo for the Shangwe to kill them. The belief in these symbolic snakes was a favourable factor which necessitated their annual increase in numbers. The study established that certain sacred hills were places of abode for gods and spirits. Also, echoes of music and dance used to be heard on the following day after Mukwerera rainmaking performances. Furthermore, it was found out that the community members were culturally not allowed to fell trees from these sanctified hills and they [hills] grew into thick forests. Thus the Shangwe indigenous knowledge system was utilised not only to protect wild animals and deforestation; it was a tool that intensively combated soil erosion as well.


The invention relates to a Haarglattaufsatz for a hair dryer comprising a body (1) and disposed thereon Zufordereinheit (2) to which mutually parallel rigid tines (3) are formed. According to the invention the Haarglattaufsatz between the rigid tines (3) of the Zufordereinheit (2) the bristles (4). The inventive Haarglattaufsatz for hairdryers significantly improved results in terms of hair straightening and hair care compared to the prior art.


The present invention relates to an eco-friendly bio-soil finishing material composition and to a construction method using the same. More specifically, the bio-soil finishing material composition includes an eco-friendly material, which not discharges environmentally hazardous substances such as heavy metal, and a material capable of self-purification. The bio-soil finishing material composition includes 10-50 parts by weight of a natural adhesive and 20-70 parts by weight of a bio-ceramic material with respect to 100 parts by weight of aluminosilicate. When the eco-friendly bio-soil finishing material composition is used, a physically/chemically stable pattern construction can be performed on the surface of object to be finished. The eco-friendly bio-soil finishing material composition does not discharge hazardous substances, can purify air, can adjust humidity, is capable of self-purification, and is flame-retardant at the same time.


The poxvirus lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is the etiological agent of lumpy skin disease (LSD), a severe disease of cattle and water buffalo that is characterised by numerous necrotic cutaneous nodules. LSD is a rapidly emerging disease, spreading into and across the Middle East, eastern Europe, and Asia in the past decade. The disease causes substantial production and economic losses in rural communities and affected regions. LSDV is mechanically transmitted by haematophagous arthropods including stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans), however our understanding of this mechanical transmission method is sparse. A secreted saliva collection methodology using a modified artificial membrane feeding system was optimised for S. calcitrans and used to collect and characterise secreted S. calcitrans saliva. Saliva was mixed with LSDV and shown not to affect virus growth in primary bovine fibroblasts. S. calcitrans saliva or spot-feeding by S. calcitrans was then incorporated into a bovine in vivo experimental model of LSD to determine if either influenced disease pathogenesis. S. calcitrans saliva resulted in fewer animals developing disease, however this difference was not statistically significant. Spot-feeding with S. calcitrans prior to inoculation did not alter the number of animals that developed disease or the overall severity of disease however disease progression was accelerated as demonstrated by the appearance of cutaneous nodules, detection of viral DNA in the blood stream, and production of neutralising antibodies. This shows that S. calcitrans influence disease kinetics through co-incident bite trauma and/or saliva deposition. This increases our understanding of LSDV pathogenesis and highlights the overlooked importance of mechanical vectors in pathogen transmission. Author summary Insect vectors are important conduits for the transmission of pathogens that cause diseases such as Zika, dengue, malaria, and lumpy skin disease. Biological vector-borne transmission incorporates a replication phase for the pathogen in the insect, whereas no replication occurs in the vector during mechanical transmission. When the insect bites the host it inoculates a pathogen whilst also delivering arthropod-derived factors such as saliva components and causing tissue trauma through biting and probing. Arthropod saliva and/or bite trauma have been shown to enhance the speed and severity of disease following inoculation with a range of biologically transmitted viruses. This study examined if this was true also for the mechanically transmitted pathogen lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). LSDV is a neglected pathogen that causes severe systemic disease in cattle and is transmitted mechanically by the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans. Using an experimental bovine model of LSD, we found that disease occurred more rapidly when virus was delivered in association with the bites of uninfected flies. This work has increased our knowledge of lumpy skin disease virus transmission, and the discovery that disease outcome can be impacted by previously overlooked mechanical insect vectors should prompt further investigation into this mechanism of transmission.


Forestry is an important economic field in Germany as well as world wide. In Germany, specially trained forest managers are in charge of silviculture and preservation of forests. An important part of a forest manager's training is the ability to estimate the economical feasibility and ecological impact of timber harvesting operations. In this contribution, we present timber harvest simulation as a tool to enable teachers to better present these estimations in the forestry classroom. We present the simulation as a featured application of the Forest Management System ClusterWIS, including the developments required to implement our educative approach. Keywords–Simulation; Geo Information Systems; Forest Information Systems; Education; Timber Industry.


Abstract:On October 17, 1882, Mary Booth, a fourteen-year-old African American girl, arrived at the Virginia State Penitentiary to serve a life sentence after being wrongfully convicted of murder. Working from a fragmented and fragmentary archival record, this article reconstructs the tortuous path Booth traveled through Virginia's courts and prisons. Her story sheds light on how African American children were transformed into new carceral subjects in the wake of emancipation. It also provides insight into the varied strategies black Virginians employed in their efforts to extract meaningful, if inadequate, gains in access to justice under the Readjuster Party. Ultimately, locating Booth's story within the larger history of children's incarceration offers insight into why Virginia's late-nineteenth-century juvenile justice reforms entrenched, rather than diminished, racial disparities for young citizens accused of crimes.


Objective:To explore the efficacy of MEBT/MEBO in treating perineal 2nd degree burn wounds. Method:32 cases of this disease were treated with MEBT/MEBO and the data were analyzed. Result; All the wounds healed spontaneously without skin grafting. No scar formed after followed up. Conclusion: MEBT/MEBO is very efficacious in treating perineal burn. It is easy and simple to apply and the nursing is also very convenient.


Biological therapies have revolutionized the management of moderate-to-severe psoriasis in the last decade. However, if their impact on pregnancy outcomes has been recently investigated1,2 ,data surrounding their effects after paternal exposure remain scarce and restricted to drugs initially introduced, such as the anti TNF-alfa agents3,4 . In the literature, there is a lack of data regarding more recent biologics.


The capability of Wireless Sensor Network to provide real-time monitoring and prediction of events has enabled its use in designing networks for safety critical applications such as Landslide Detection and Monitoring. To prolong the network lifetime, an energy aware clustering approach is necessary. However in a centralized clustering mechanism, the sink node performs the necessary computations of cluster formation after receiving the information from all nodes regarding their location and energy levels. This paper presents an optimal location for sink placement so as to maximize the output parameters such as Throughput, End-to-End Delay, Jitter and Data Received, of various routing protocols and correspondingly select the best routing protocol and sink location.


Multilayered SnO2 hollow microspheres (MHS-SnO2) have been successfully synthesized via a solvothermal method by using glycol-water as solvent. The morphology, composition and structure of the product have been characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FESEM, TEM and HRTEM images indicate that the as-prepared microspheres show multilayered structure and the wall of the hollow microspheres is composed of single crystalline nanoparticles. Study on hydrogen absorption characteristics of MHS-SnO2 performed at 373 K shows a good absorption capacity of 0.85 wt.%.


The dental rehabilitation of a patient following single-tooth extraction in the esthetic zone is often clinically challenging. The treatment option for this is implant-supported single crown which has the advantage that adjacent teeth do not have to be prepared, as in a fixed prosthesis. This article presents a case of immediate implant placement in relation to 22 and a guided bone regeneration approach with platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) and bone graft. After immediate implant placement, to compensate for the gap (jumping distance) between the implant surface and bone walls of the socket, we used bone grafts and PRF clot as well as PRF membrane to achieve guided bone regeneration. PRF, which is the second generation platelet concentrate, offers the surgeon an access to growth factors with a simple and available technology. These growth factors, which are autologous, nontoxic, and nonimmunogenic, enhance and accelerate the normal bone regeneration pathways. The case presented showed successful outcome with a 1 year follow-up period.


Leptysma argentina (Acrididae: Orthoptera) is polymorphic for a centric fusion between pairs 3 and 6 of its basic chromosomal complement. With the aim of carrying out an analysis of selection components in this species, male mating success, in relation to karyotype and three morphometric traits, was assessed by using experimental contests with four males and one female per mating cage. Karyotype was assessed in terms of fused chromosome 3/6 dosage and coded as '0', '1' and '2' for unfused homozygotes, heterozygotes and fusion homozygotes, respectively. The individual ANOVA showed significant differences between 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' males in all four measured characters. Fusion carriers showed a higher relative fitness. Since the phenotypic correlations among traits were significant, the selective effects were assessed by means of a multivariate analysis, which demonstrated that selection acted significantly on femur length only, selection on karyotype being indirect. Given that the fusion frequency has been constant since 1985, the presence of selective trade-offs cannot be ruled out.


Laser applications to the thermal processing of integrated circuits may be divided into two broad categories: one, applications to the improvement of existing process steps and, two, applications to processes that will allow fabrication of novel device structures. This paper will briefly review these applications, discuss potential problems in the use of lasers for device processing and possible solutions to these problems.


During the last years new technical solutions for the fast and inexpensive production of mechanical parts were developed. The prototypes are built by computer-controlled devices using a numerical description of the part. The prototypes serve mainly to judge on the form and appearance of the final parts. The available technical solutions for rapid prototyping were evaluated to build physical models of three-dimensional GIS objects. A recently introduced device, the 3D plotter Z406, is able to produce physical models in full color. A number of models were built using the 3D plotter, visualizing 3D choropleth maps and conceptual surfaces derived from demographic and economic data. The experiences and results in building 3D multicolored models of GIS objects are described, including the costs involved to build the models. 1. VIRTUAL REALITY AND PHYSICAL MODELS Advanced visualization techniques have been used for some time in architecture and planning. The architect or planner is able to inspect buildings and landscapes which are not existent in reality (yet), but are stored as numerical models in a CAD or other information system. The technical possibilities stretch from photo-realistic images over stereoscopic views to walk


Research was conducced to determine the basic dynamic properties of fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich structure suitable for use as a primary airframe structural material. The research program was carried out in two separate parts: (A) determining dynamic moduli and damping, and (B) determining fatigue behavior. In each part, two types of hexagonal-cell honeycomb core materials were investigated: 5052 aluminum foil and HRP (heat resistant phenolic) fiberglass. The selection of the sandwich configuration and fabrication procedures was based upon previous research carried out at the University of Oklahoma Research Institute for USAAVLABS (USATRECOM TR 64-37 and USAAVLABS TK 65-66).


Abstract : The study area consisted of the reef flat north of Micro Beach, and the Fishing Base Dock and channel area west of Garapan, Saipan, Commonwealth of thee Northern Mariana Islands. As a result of a literature search and visual inspection of the survey area, several objects from the Japanese, World War II, and American periods were discovered within the study boundaries. Two of these items, a small caliber Japanese antiaircraft gun and a Japanese lighthouse or channel marker, are considered potentially eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and so may require protection from future construction activities.


Combined cycle ramjet/scramjet engines being designed for advanced hypersonic vehicles, including the National Aerospace Plane (NASP), require innovative high temperature dynamic seals to seal the sliding interfaces of the articulated engine panels. New seals are required that will operate hot (1200 to 2000 F), seal pressures ranging from 0 to 100 psi, remain flexible to accommodate significant sidewall distortions, and resist abrasion over the engine's operational life. This report reviews the recent high temperature durability screening assessments of a new braided rope seal concept, braided of emerging high temperature materials, that shows promise of meeting many of the seal demands of hypersonic engines. The paper presents durability data for: (1) the fundamental seal building blocks, a range of candidate ceramic fiber tows; and for (2) braided rope seal subelements scrubbed under engine simulated sliding, temperature, and preload conditions. Seal material/architecture attributes and limitations are identified through the investigations performed. The paper summarizes the current seal technology development status and presents areas in which future work will be performed.


This paper describes a 1984 loan agreement between Caterpillar, Inc., and USS Great Lakes Fleet to install a pre-production Model 3612 Caterpillar engine aboard the M/V GEORGE A. SLOAN. The agreement provided for a two-phase project. In Phase 1, the SLOAN's existing steam reciprocating engine was removed and replaced with the Caterpillar engine. In addition, the necessary equipment and piping systems to enable the main engine to operate on diesel oil for a period of two years were designed and installed. During Phase 2, certain system design modifications were carried out that made it possible for the engine to burn less expensive heavy blend fuel oil. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the engine's performance based on a total of 9000-plus operating hours.


Photoconductivity (PC) spectra of Si/Ge(GeSn)/Si structures with the ultra-thin (1.0–2.3 nm) Ge and GeSn alloy layers grown by the low-temperature (T = 100 °C) molecular beam epitaxy are studied. Photoresponse in the range of 1.2–0.4 eV related to light absorption in the buried Ge(GeSn) layer is observed. It is shown that in case of lateral PC, a simple diffusion model can be used to determine the absorption coefficient of this layer α ∼ 105 cm−1. This value is 100 times larger than that of a single Ge quantum dot layer and is reached significantly above the band gap of most bulk semiconductors. The observed absorption is caused by optical transitions between electron and hole states localized at the interfaces. The anomalous high value of α can be explained by the unusual state of Ge(GeSn) layer with high concentration of dangling bonds, the optical properties of which have been predicted theoretically by Knief and von Niessen (Phys. Rev. B 59, 12940 (1999)).


The company's Hosur, India, specialty botanicals and extracts division manufactures natural extracts including green coffee, valerian, turmeric, green tea, boswellia, fenugreek, and guarana, among other ingredients.


Magnetic actuation of untethered small-scale helical devices (USHDs) shows great potential for targeted drug delivery or as minimally invasive surgical tools in the human body. However, ensuring the success of therapeutic interventions in anatomically challenging regions, such as neck vascular networks with winding pathways and branching, demands the incorporation of precise image feedback and a robust control method. How to construct a control method with precise navigation ability in complex and hard-to-reach body districts is still a challenging work. In this paper, we propose a closed-loop control strategy for the USHD based on a permanent-magnet robotic (PMR) system inside a three-dimensional (3-D) vascular model with blood. First, the 3-D vascular model is reconstructed using 2-D ultrasound images. Second, the point-to-point closed-loop control of the USHD is performed under ultrasound guidance, and the control input is obtained to act on both the PMR system and the ultrasound system. Next, the USHD navigates the different pathways of the 3-D vascular model under the proposed control strategy. Finally, our in vitro experimental results indicate that the maximum mean absolute position error between the target point of each branch and the actual position reached by the USHD (length and diameter of 6 mm and 1.5 mm, respectively) is 6.4±3.8 mm and 4.2±2.8 mm when the blood flow rate is 16.6 mL/min, which corresponds to 28% of the maximum venous flow rate.


The present invention relates to a ring carrier (10, 110) for a piston of an internal combustion engine with a ring carrier part (11) and a cooling duct part (12) which is fixedly connected to the ring carrier part (11) and together with the ring carrier part (11) has a closed cooling channel (15). According to the invention it is provided that the cooling channel (12) with at least one air outlet opening (16, 116) is provided with a maximum diameter of 0.1 mm. The present invention further relates to a piston (20) having such a ring carrier (10, 110)


OBJECTIVES--To evaluate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methodology for the detection of urethral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection by examining urinary sediment from males. SETTING--Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Leeds General Infirmary. SUBJECTS--73 male patients attending for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, including 14 patients with genital warts which did not involve the urethral meatus. METHODS--Urinary sediment was tested for HPV DNA and human beta globin gene DNA by PCR methodology. A consensus primer set capable of detecting a wide range of HPV types was used. PCR product was analysed by gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining. RESULTS--HPV DNA was not detected in any of the specimens. Human beta globin gene DNA was identified in 40 of the 73 specimens (55%). CONCLUSIONS--Screening urinary sediment for HPV DNA by PCR methodology with analysis of PCR product by gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining is probably unhelpful for studying the prevalence of urethral HPV infection in men.


Pleurotus florida or commonly known as White Oyster Mushrooms are widely and\ commercially grown for food source. In this experiment, P.florida will be grown on waste
papers pulp as the substrate with the addition of gypsum, rice bran and rice husk as the supplement in a fixed ratio. Sawdust substrate will be used as the control in this study
and there are 6 replications in each treatments while there were 6 treatment in this experiment which will the bring total of 30 replications. The growth and development of
fruit body were observed. Parameters that were tested in this experiment are mycelium run rate, numbers of day for primordia and fruiting bodies formation, fresh weight of
fruit bodies and biological efficiency. Based on the result obtained, mycelium run rate showed no significant difference (F5, 35=2.348, P>0.05) in all treatments while formation
of primordia and fruiting bodies showed significat difference (F5, 35=66.874, P<0.05) and (F5, 35= 9.258, P<0.05). Diameter and fresh weight of fruiting bodies also result in significant difference (F5, 35= 10.517, P < 0.05) and (F5, 35= 10.692, P<0.05). There was no huge difference in biological efficiency for all substrate bags.


Technological development offers a wide range of new possibilities for implementation of production processes. Continual production development is the main key to success and competitiveness improvement, labour productivity and image-building for all manufacturing companies. The article deals with designing of new workplace with implementation and utilization of automated robot for faster and safer handling of cast stock. The new layout of workplace is created in software Process Simulate.


The goal of this research is to improve poor network structure of polychloroprene rubber (CR)/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) self-crosslinking blends, which could substitute traditional vulcanizates in some application area. Carbon black (CB)–CR/ENR blends were prepared by reacting CR with ENR in the presence of CB. The structure of CR/ENR blends was characterized by attenuated total-reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR). The effect of CB loading on curing characterization and mechanical properties of CR/ENR blends was investigated, and the interaction among CR, ENR, and CB was studied using differential scanning calorimetry. The effect of CB loading on the Payne effect of CR/ENR was investigated using rubber process analyzer. Scanning electron microscope was used to characterize the morphology of CB–CR/ENR blends. The results showed that CR/ENR blends were obtained by the ring-opening reaction of epoxy groups in ENR and chlorine groups in CR. Mechanical properties of CR/ENR blends increased with the increase of CB loading. The Payne effect of CR/ENR became more remarkable with increasing CB loading. Morphology study indicated that interfacial compatibility between CR and ENR increased with the increase of CB loading because CB could strengthen the self-crosslinking network structure of CR/ENR blends. The promoting effect of CB on self-crosslinking reaction was verified by the assessment of crosslink density. POLYM. COMPOS., 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers


Hanjiayuan Forestry Bureau in Heilongjiang province,taking the forest tourism as continued industry.The bureau builds and develops a batch of forest tourism projects.But from the perspective of development of the tourism industry,the forest tourism industry still has many problems,such as the low level of industrialization,backward infrastructure,and imperfect management system and so on.These problems will restrict the development of forest tourism in forestry bureau.Based on the analysis of advantages and disadvantages of development of tourism industry in Hanjiayuan Forestry Bureau,the article points out the position of development of tourism industry,objectives and specific projects and also puts forward a series of measures to promote the further development of tourist industry in Hanjiayuan Forestry Bureau,such as developing investment activities,establishing local travel agency,developing the hotel service industry,developing the tourism commodity industry and so on.These recommendations provide experiences for the development of forest tourism economy in this forestry bureau.


ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze the perception of patients and health professionals regarding patients' participation in surgical site infection prevention. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in two hospitals in the city of São Paulo, with a convenience sample of 123 patients in the postoperative period of elective surgeries and 92 health professionals (physicians and nurses) acting in direct care of surgical patients. Results: Patients (78.9%) and professionals (79.4%) fully agreed with the importance of patient participation to prevent surgical site infection. The impact of patient participation on infection rates was significant for those undergoing previous surgery (p = 0.021). Patients and professionals disagreed about the best time to prepare the patient about the topic (p<0.001). The participation strategies considered most effective by patients and professionals were, respectively, oral presentation (47.2% and 75%), videos (40.7% and 58.7%) and leaflets (30.9% and 58.7%). Conclusion: Patients and health professionals believe that patient participation in surgical site infection prevention is important.


In theories of spin-dependent radical pair reactions, the time evolution of the radical pair, including the effect of the chemical kinetics, is described by a master equation in the Liouville formalism. For the description of the chemical kinetics, a number of possible reaction operators have been formulated in the literature. In this work, we present a framework that allows for a unified description of the various proposed mechanisms and the forms of reaction operators for the spin-selective recombination processes. On the basis of the concept that master equations can be derived from a microscopic description of the spin system interacting with external degrees of freedom, it is possible to gain insight into the underlying microscopic processes and develop a systematic approach toward determining the specific form of the reaction operator in concrete scenarios.


How have college and university-based archives and special collections fared over the past few years in the midst of an historically grim economic downturn? The authors conducted in-depth interviews with directors of 13 archival repositories at state universities and private colleges in the Appalachian region of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky to reveal the operating health of these institutions. With inquiries into the impact of these times on matters of funding, processing, staffing, collaboration, and more, this study shows examples of creative coping, widespread optimism, and an uneven distribution of economic pain.


Abstract In light of the current emphasis on adequate preparation of college graduates for the 21st century marketplace, this action research study recounted and examined two experiential cross-pollination team-oriented projects, incorporated into the classroom at a small (1100 students), private university's marketing educational program. Tailoring traditional discipline-related classes [Marketing and Advertising], two inter-class team projects were devised and executed with the intent of fostering the improved development of the participating student's business skills. While the results are anecdotal, this report interpretively concluded that a cross-pollination class approach added a practical and engaging experience which improved student competencies demanded in the challenging contemporary job market. Introduction Top tier businesses are communicating to higher education industry that they are having issues hiring students who have the ability to work well in cross-functional groups, communicate effectively and deliver a final cooperative product. According to Wiseman (2013), the world's top employers are seeking candidates with soft skills related to adaptive thinking and working with teams. Logically, businesses would value students with the experience of working in teams, which requires communication, cooperation and competency. Koppenhavor and Schrader suggested educational institutions have embraced team projects as an effective educational method to promote these skills (as cited by Kinser, 2007). Arguably, the use of team projects in the college classroom is not a new pedagogy, however students' acquisition and improvement of team skills remains a high priority. Johnson (2011) provided that "More than half of employers said finding qualified applicants is difficult, and just under half thought students should receive specific workplace training rather than a more broad-based education..., while only 10% thought colleges did an excellent job of preparing students for work (p. 1)." Soft skills such as public speaking, time management and team work has been reported by recruiters and business leaders as reasons why new college graduates are not hired (White, 2013). Intuitively, it was envisioned that variation in the traditional team concept in the form of cross-pollination (cross-class) experiential learning would offer positive benefits to our student's learning process. According to Fuchs (1980), research which is developed to address an interpretive issue within a classroom setting without the intention of "generalizing his results to other settings (pi 1)," was identified as action research. With that as an underpinning, the notion of incorporating two classes into the team project concept intuitively seemed to add the potential of new elements of learning by creating an enhanced environment requiring creativity, time management, cooperation and accountability. While it is possible that others have undertook this type of inter-class project, ample research showed a more traditional intra-class method or client-based approach. This cross-pollination class process included two related inter-departmental classes (Advertising and Marketing) taught by one professor in a single semester. The endeavor was accomplished by assigning one class an experiential client-based task, then requiring the cooperating class to provide an element of the project which was part of the final project. Succinctly, teams from an Advertising class were required to develop an Advertising Campaign for a cooperating business client, with the contribution of teams from a Marketing class; and teams from the Marketing class were required to deliver Marketing Plans to a local non-profit organization with the input of students from the Advertising class. The following action research report provides an overview of the process and the interpretive results. Project Development In an attempt to replicate the business environment which requires creativity, cooperation, time management, and accountability, the following two cross pollination class projects were developed. …