Introduction The 2001 general election in Wales comprised a highly complex set of separate constituency contests based on divergent electoral battlegrounds and calculations. The main national struggle between Labour and the Conservatives throughout Britain as a whole has to be heavily qualified in Wales by the presence of credible four-party competition in a number of seats, along with several narrow, sometimes wafer-thin, majorities for the incumbent party. This can lead to widespread uncertainty about which party amongst a divided opposition is the closest challenger to the party holding the seat. As a result, whilst tactical voting can still be attempted against different parties, there is little straightforward guidance available as to whether it will be effective. The first elections to the Welsh Assembly in May 1999 also changed the tone and direction of Welsh politics within the overall context of devolution to produce a new focus on the extent to which Plaid Cymru could maintain their surge into Labour's heartland seats in south Wales at a general election. Additional interest centred upon whether the Conservatives could win any seats after being completely wiped from the general election map of Wales in 1997. In the event, the overall outcome of the 2001 general election was one of no change at all in terms of seats held. Each party held exactly the same number after the election as before (Labour 34, Plaid Cymru four. Liberal Democrats two and Conservatives none). The only 'seat exchange' took place between Labour and Plaid Cymru who each lost one seat to the other (Ynys Mon lost by Plaid to Labour and Carmarthen East & Dinefwr lost by Labour to Plaid). The Liberal Democrats clung on to the two seats they already held (Montgomeryshire and Brecon & Radnorshire) but narrowly failed to win Cardiff Central. The Conservatives failed to win any of their target seats, although they came close in both Monmouth and Brecon & Radnorshire. Labour's vote share declined by 6.1 % compared to the last general election of 1997, whilst the other three main parties all registered vote gains. Plaid increased its vote the most by 4.4% to 14.3% (up from 9.9% in 1997), whilst the Conservatives' and Liberal Democrats' vote shares increased by 1.4% and 1.5% respectively. The Conservatives remain the second most popular party in Wales after Labour with 21 % of the vote but with no seats (see Table 1). The overall turnout in Wales was slightly higher than in the rest of Britain at 61.4% but this still represented a decline of 12.2% compared to 1997. In many traditionally strong Labour seats, the Labour vote declined by more than 15%, although not by enough for the party actually to lose the seat. As a reliable guide to the next elections


While walkaways have been used to measure AVO for a long time and elastic properties have been recovered by inversion under an assumption of lateral invariance, the recovery of elastic properties away from the well is problematic due to the limited angular illumination provided by the typical multi-offset VSP geometry. Previous work on using walkaway VSPs for pre-stack elastic inversion made use of a 2D assumption and wavefield extrapolation to mimic a surface seismic geometry, but such approaches break down in 3D. In this paper the problem of AVA parameter estimation in multi-offset VSP imaging is studied using linear inverse theory and an algorithm that honours the true 3D VSP geometry is described that recovers information from AVA in pre-stack 3D VSP migrated images.


Article history: Received October 28, 2013 Received in revised format 25 November 2013 Accepted 18 January 2014 Available online January 19 2014 One of the primary concerns to market a product is to find appropriate channel to target customers. The recent advances on information technology have created new products with tremendous opportunities. This paper presents a mixed integer programming technique based on McCarthy's 4PS to locate suitable billboards for marketing newly introduced IPHONE product. The paper considers two types of information including age and income and tries to find the best places such that potential consumers aged 25-35 with high income visit the billboards and the cost of advertisement is minimized. The model is formulated in terms of mixed integer programming and it has been applied for potential customers who live in city of Tabriz, Iran. Using a typical software package, the model detects appropriate places in various parts of the city. © 2014 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Batson (1977) in the article, "Experimentation in Psychology of Religion: An Impossible Dream," admits to the effectiveness of experiments for testing scientific theories. He even affirms that the lack of experimentation is why so little progress has been made in developing and testing theories in psychology of religion. Yet, Batson claims that an experimental psychology of religion is unlikely to develop because:


A well-known and respected attempt to theorize interdependence in the field of international relations is complex interdependence. In Power and Interdependence , Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, Jr define interdependence as reciprocal effects among actors resulting from 'international transactions - flows of money, goods, people and messages across international boundaries'. Though much research has been done on the effects of interdependence on the first three, the flows of messages have been studied less often. Keohane and Nye addressed the issue in a 1998 article in Foreign Affairs , discussing changes in the global environment resulting from the information age which have had an impact on their ideas. This article proposes to go deeper into complex interdependence. The world is becoming increasingly 'information interdependent' and this essay is an attempt to apply the assumptions and concepts presented in complex interdependence to the information age. In the final analysis, complex interdependence complements research from the field of communications, that information flows should be understood as underlying mechanisms and processes that facilitate contextual understanding of issues. It maintains the integrity of the assumptions of complex interdependence, while adding an understanding of the nature of information and information flows.


An organo-soluble aromatic polyimide has been synthesized from 3,3', 4,4'-bis(phenyltetracarboxylic) dianhydride (BPDA) and 2,2'-bis (trifluoromethyl)-4,4'-diaminobiphenyl (PFMB) via a one-step polymerization in m-cresol. The phase boundary diagram for this system has been established by differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light microscopy (PLM) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) experiments. A crystallosolvate form I has been found over the entire concentration region at low temperatures. When the temperature is increased, an isotropic phase has been observed below concentrations of about 40%. In the relatively high concentration region between 45 and 95%, a transition from the crystallosolvate form I to a crystallosolvate form II has been observed. Form II exhibits a different WAXD pattern. In a narrow concentration region between the isotropic and the crystallosolvate form II (40-45%), a biphase behavior has been found. The birefringence of this region may be an indication of a liquid crystalline phase. The BPDA-PFMB polymer crystal has been found in the very high concentration region (>95%) for temperatures >250°C. The morphologies of these phases have been investigated via PLM and transmission electron microscopy. Above the gel/sol transition temperature, the form I shows negative birefringent spherulites consisting of thin lamellae. The form II exhibits a tendency of positive birefringent spherulites. Possible mechanisms of the formation of the metastable phase morphology and their associations with the mechanical gel/sol transition are also discussed.


Citation for published version (APA): Jensen, L. P. (2018). Is team performance in project based PBL better if all team members have the same work ethic? In R. Clark, P. Munkebo Hussmann, H-M. Järvinen, M. Murphy, & M. Etchells Vigild (Eds.), Proceedings of the 46th SEFI Annual Conference 2018: Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Engineering Education Excellence (pp. 897-904). SEFI: European Association for Engineering Education. https://www.sefi.be/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SEFI-Proceedings-2-October-2018.pdf


The paper investigates the machinability characteristics of the CoCrMo alloy ASTM F1537, usually utilized for the production of joint replacements and fixation devices thanks to its high strength, good wear and corrosion resistance, and excellent biocompatibility. This research work intends to overcome the lack of literature data about this alloy machinability, even if its use in the biomedical sector is intensive and it is usually subjected to various machining operations for the implants production. Orthogonal cutting tests were carried out under both dry and lubricated conditions at different cutting speeds and feeds typical of finishing operations. The alloy machinability was analysed in terms of tool wear, cut surface integrity, and chip morphology. In particular, the cut surface integrity was evaluated through its mechanical properties, metallurgical state and topological parameters, highlighting the influence of the process parameters.


It is indeed a great honour and a particularly pleasing experience for me to have been invited to give the 18th Lanchester Memorial Lecture. Pleasing because it enables me to recall before such a distinguished audience, one of Lanchester's outstanding achievements in the field of aircraft stability, his phugoid theory. This slow oscillation problem has often been neglected but its implications can be vital as the Vulcan crash in 1956 emphasises, and the development of STOL with high lift has forced designers to turn again to a serious consideration of the phugoid as I will show presently in the first part of this lecture.


Abstract When speaking about Jews, the tendency is to regard them as oppressed victims, closely cramped in trains taking them to the death camps. They are not perceived as fearless heroes, nor brave leaders or commanders. This article reveals new points of view of the 'other' Jew and tries to give a reflexive check on what we really know about this issue: simultaneously to the extermination of six million Jews during World War Two, about a million and a half Jews enlisted and volunteered in all the Allied armies.


Sir

This is with reference to an article on the effect of oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA) on bone metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) published recently1. The authors have conducted a case-control study to evaluate the effect of various OHA on bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with T2DM. They have concluded that the use of OHA for a period of three years or more does not significantly affect the BMD in patients with T2DM1. However, there are a few methodological issues that may significantly affect the interpretation of study results and hence raise a question on the validity and the generalisability of the results obtained in the study.

Firstly, if one enrols controls from a particular hospital within the geographic area, one would have to consider whether the controls were inherently more or less likely to have the exposure of interest. This was missing in the present study with total absence of exposure in the control group, since the controls chosen were healthy hospital employees who were least likely to take oral hypoglycaemic drugs which was the exposure variable in the study. In this study, 41 age- and gender-matched apparently healthy individuals chosen from hospital staff and employees were included as controls1.

The selection of an appropriate comparison group is a critical issue in the design of case-control studies. The controls must be selected to represent not the entire non diseased population but the population of individuals who would have been identified and included as cases had they developed the disease. If so, they would not provide an accurate estimate of the exposure distribution of the source population, and selection bias would result. The crucial requirement is that the controls should be as comparable to the source population of the cases as possible and that any exclusions or restrictions made in the identification of cases apply equally to both the groups.

Secondly, matching addresses the issue of confounding in the design stage of the case-control study. In the present study, controls were matched for age and sex. It is advisable that if matching is used, matched analysis must be used to take advantage of matching. If matching is done appropriately but not taken into account in analysis, the odds ratio will be biased towards the null.

Lastly under the methodology section, the authors have mentioned that the study design chosen is cross-sectional and later it becomes evident that they have selected cases and controls. The cross-sectional study is categorized under the descriptive epidemiological study design strategy whereas case-control study is observational analytical study2,3.


The purpose of this essay is to reconsider by reviewing classic works the possibilities of the Interpretive Approach that attaches importance to the "actor" and to the "subjectivity". Contemporary sociology has been devided into minute sub fields by the advent of mini-paradigms. While the Interpretive Approrch is seen as beefing opposition to the Stracture-Fanctional Theory that is called authentic sociology, classic works of the Interpretive Approach genre contain "stracture" and "objectivity". The two approaches are mutually related. The Interpretive Approach can be developed in a constructive way that is not a criticism of either deconstructionism or of conventional sociology but which places the focuses on interpretation itself.


This paper presents three prototypical expert systems that were developed in different fields of the steel making industry. It is described which kind of knowledge has to be represented, what are the techniques required for intelligent reasoning, and why expert systems offer better solutions to the described problems than traditional programming approaches. From the given applications the main functions of expert systems in steel making industry are concluded. As a goal for further developments, a network of expert systems is proposed to achieve the full benefits of expert systems in the steel making industry. This is illustrated by means of a group of expert systems in an Austrian company. Finally, task-oriented design is recommended in order to achieve a better reusability for software artefacts in expert systems.


ABSTRACT Historical depletion of agricultural soils must be remedied to maintain their long-term food production function, including soils in intensive vineyards traditionally kept without plant cover to limit resource competition. This paper reports on the impact of five contrasting soil management regimes on indicators of soil quality such as soil organic carbon, nitrogen and their indices. We exposed sandy loam Rendzic Leptosol under a vineyard in Nitra-Dražovce (Slovakia, central Europe) to the following five treatments for 14 years: no-till sward, no-till sward+NPK100, no-till sward+NPK125, plowed tillage and (5) plowed tillage+manure. We found that grass swards continuously increased the total soil organic carbon in the topsoil, but plowed tillage resulted in no change. The availability of potentially mineralizable nitrogen was also increased by grass cover; but was not modified by manure but by mineral fertilizer addition. We tested the usefulness of carbon and management indices as indicators of changing soil C and N status and found them no better than tracking total and labile forms of both elements. In conclusion, the recovery of degraded vineyard soils under no-till grass sward cover is detectable within 14 years and is not affected by fertilization or manure addition.


The courts in China are at the crossroad of trying to m ake summary justice of common criminal procedure. It is necessary to support thi s type of summary justice from the view of objective reality and the requirement of justice and efficiency. To push forward summary justice, it is quite necessa ry to give the right orientation in practice. The following adjustment should be make in the near future:(1)reload the position of such procedure; (2)expand the scope of the use of this procedure; (3)to exhibit evidence in an all round way; (4)perfect the mechanism of negotiation gradually; (5)provide more simple and c onvenient operations.


We provide new proofs of the theorems of Choquet and Deny and of Foguel concerning iterates of convolutions of a measure on a locally compact abelian group. Let G be a locally compact abelian group, F its dual group and m its Haar measure. ,u denotes a bounded, complex, Borel measure on G with Fourier-Stieltjes transform Ai on 1F. The ergodic and mixing properties of probability measures ,u were characterized by Choquet and Deny [1] and by Foguel [2]. In this note we provide new proofs which are transparent from the point of view of harmonic analysis. In the concluding remark, the proof for the theorem of Choquet and Deny is extended naturally to compact nonabelian groups. Let Io denote {f E L1 (G): f(e) = 0}, where e is the identity of F and 1ttn is the n-times convolution of ,u. THEOREM 1. Let 1u be a bounded, complex Borel measure on G such that I,unI1 < c for all n. Then limnoo II,un * fj1j = 0 for f E Io if and only if jA(-y)j < 1 for all REMARK 1. If , is a probability measure, then the condition that jft(-y)j < 1 for e F \{e} is equivalent to Foguel's condition that the support of , is not contained in any set of the form {x E G: (x, ^y) c} for any constant c and for ey E F\{e}. PROOF. Let I ={ fE Io: Iljn * fjJ1 0 as n -oo}. I is clearly a closed ideal in L1 (G). Because points of F obey synthesis, to prove I = Io it suffices to prove that Io is the only regular maximal ideal of L1 (G) that contains I [3, 39.29]. Stated more simply, for each ey E F\{e} it suffices to produce f E I such that f(^y) # O. Let ey E F\{e}. Choose K, a compact neighborhood of ^y excluding e. Choose h E L1(G) such that 0 < h < 1 hIK = 1, and the support of h is a compact set excluding e. Let f be any function in L1 (G) such that f is supported in K and f(ty) ? 0. Then (1) jjjt1 * fll = 1,tn * hn * flll ? IflflfjjI( * h)njI1. By the spectral radius theorem lim 11(,u * h)n II (l/n) SUpft I(A)h(y) C e F}. This last is less than 1 and therefore limn,oo jj(jt * h)jnj1 0. By (1) this implies that f E I, which completes the proof. Received by the editors November 23, 1983. 1980 Mathematics Subiect Classification. Primary 43A25, 60J15. (?1984 American Mathematical Society 0002-9939/84 $1.00 + $.25 per page 519 This content downloaded from 126.96.36.199 on Fri, 21 Oct 2016 05:43:18 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 520 THOMAS RAMSEY AND YITZHAK WEIT For the ergodic properties we have the following simple proof of the theorem of Choquet and Deny. THEOREM 2. Let ,u be a bounded, complex, Borel measure on G. Then the following are equivalent: (i) for f E L.o(G), ,t * f = f implies f = constant. (ii) #(-i) i 1 for -y E F\{e}. REMARK 2. For ,tu a probability measure, the condition ,A(-y) i 1 for -y E F\{e} is equivalent to the fact that the support of 1u generates a dense subgroup of G; i.e. that 1u is adapted. PROOF. Let W = {f E Loo(G): ,u * f = f }. W is a w*-closed, translation invariant subspace of Loc(G). For x E F we have ,u * x = A(x)x = x. Therefore, x E F n W if and only if ,A(x) 1. Suppose that W consists only of constant functions (W Ce or W = {O}). Then there is at most one continuous character in W, the identity e. For all other elements of F we have --/(-) i 1. Conversely, suppose that (u(-y) i 1 for -y i e, -y E F. Then W can contain at most one continuous character, namely e. If e is not in W we may apply an L,,(G)-form of Wiener's Theorem to conclude that W = {0} [3, 40.7]. If e is in W we must use again the fact that e, as a point of F, obeys synthesis. By [3, 40.23(b)], since W n r is exactly {e}, W = Ce. REMARK 3. Using the Peter-Weyl Theorem for compact (nonabelian) groups G, one may simply characterize minimal one-sided translation-invariant, w*-closed subspaces of Loc(G). By modifying the proof of Theorem 2 one can show that adapted probability measures are ergodic [4].


Heterorhabditis heliothidis is reared monoxenically on an artificial medium consisting of commercially available nutrient broth, yeast extract, and vegetable oil. These components are cooked with flour and coated onto polyether polyurethane sponge, autoclaved, inoculated with a suspension of the bacterial symbiont of the nematode, and incubated at 25 C for 3 d. The bacterial garden on sponge provides an excellent rearing medium. Up to 10 million infective juveniles are produced per 250 ml rearing flask in one month.


Hop is an important economic plant. Previous researches have been focusing on the picrate and the compositions of essential oil. In this paper, efforts were made on volatile components. The authors studied the change of volatile compounds on two species of hop in different growth periods, the difference of volatile compounds in summer and autumn and the divergence of components in different species.


In this paper, $d$-step almost automorphic systems are studied for $d\in\N$, which are the generalization of the classical almost automorphic ones.
For a minimal topological dynamical system $(X,T)$ it is shown that the condition $x\in X$ is $d$-step almost automorphic can be characterized via various subsets of $\Z$ including the dual sets of $d$-step Poincar\'e and Birkhoff recurrence sets, and Nil$_d$ Bohr$_0$-sets by considering $N(x,V)=\{n\in\Z: T^nx\in V\}$, where $V$ is an arbitrary neighborhood of $x$. Moreover, it turns out that the condition $(x,y)\in X\times X$ is regionally proximal of order $d$ can also be characterized via various subsets of $\Z$ including $d$-step Poincar\'e and Birkhoff recurrence sets, $SG_d$ sets, the dual sets of Nil$_d$ Bohr$_0$-sets, and others by considering $N(x,U)=\{n\in\Z: T^nx\in U\}$, where $U$ is an arbitrary neighborhood of $y$.


Natural regeneration of native species has been affected by the introduction of exotic species that generate changes in the succession of plant species, development, and composition. This study had the objective of characterizing the floristic composition and monitoring the natural regeneration under an exotic plantation of Pinus radiata D. Don, considering regeneration categories: seedlings, saplings, and latizales. Five sample plots of 20 m x 20 m were established, and five sub-plots of 5 m x 5 m, and five sub-plots of 1 m x 1 m were nested. Height and diameter were measured and survival and growth were determined over a period of 9 months. In addition, the influence of environmental variables (luminosity, slope, depth of the soil O horizon) on natural regeneration was analyzed. 648 individuals of 24 species, 21 genera, and 22 families were identified. The latizal category presented greater diversity, and among the species of greatest ecological importance in the three categories, Piper barbatum and Viburnum triphyllum stand out. The latizales present greater survival (99.37%), followed by saplings (87.59%) and seedlings (82.76%). The increase in height and diameter is dominated by tree species such as Frangula granulosa, Clusia latipes, Critoniopsis pycnantha and Alnus acuminata. 31.40% of light entry into the understory, 41.71% slope and depth of the soil O horizon between 1 cm to 3.50 cm were recorded. The natural regeneration evidenced indicates that in the future the forest mass of native plant species may increase.

Keywords: natural regeneration, native woody species, environmental factors, pine plantation.


The coal-methane system is characterized by the energy which must be consumed in the desorption of methane from coal and the energy stored by the coal bed through unrealized sorption swelling. The energy that is consumed in the desorption of methane can be evaluated from the heat of desorption. In the reported investigation the heats of sorption and desorption of methane on coal in the range of pressures of 0.1-8.0 MPa have been determined experimentally. It has been shown that the heats of sorption in this pressure range remain constant at approximately 5 kcal/mole. To obtain reliable values of the heats of sorption of methane by coals at high pressures they must be determined experimentally. 7 refs.


Arbitration — Jurisdiction — Investor–State arbitration — Energy Charter Treaty, 1994 — ICSID Convention, 1965 — Energy Charter Treaty concluded between European Union and States some of which Members of the European Union — Whether provision for investor–State arbitration compatible with European Union law in intra-European Union disputes — Applicable law — Whether including European Union law — Nature of arbitration tribunal Economics, trade and finance — Investment — Investment protection treaties — Energy Charter Treaty, 1994 — Investor–State arbitration provision — Whether provision for arbitration of investor–State dispute compatible with European Union law in intra-European Union disputes Treaties — Interpretation — Principles — Relevance of other rules of international law — Energy Charter Treaty, 1994 — Whether provisions on investor–State arbitration should be read as inapplicable to disputes between investor from one European Union State and another European Union State — Whether investor–State dispute resolution provision providing for arbitration compatible with Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 2007 Treaties — Conflict between treaty obligations — European Union Member States — Whether obligations under European Union treaties prevailing over obligations under Energy Charter Treaty, 1994 — Express provision on conflict — Energy Charter Treaty, Article 16 Relationship of international law and municipal law — European Union law — Double nature of European Union law as part of the law in force in every Member State and as deriving from an international agreement between the Member States — Relationship between rights accorded to investors under investment protection treaty and principles of European Union law


: This paper presents the use of histogram of oriented gradients technique, usually applied in the image processing field, to estimate the slip in squirrel cage induction motors. Such value is achieved by monitoring only one machine phase current with sample time in 250ms, wich allows future real time applications. The features extracted with the histograms were used as inputs for a neural network to estimate the final rotation of the machine. The results obtained from some experimental tests are presented to validate the present approach. Resumo :


Review of Arne Jonsson & Gregor Vogt-Spira (eds.), The Classical Tradition in the Baltic Region: Perceptions and Adaptations of Greece and Rome, Spudasmata, Band 17 (Hildesheim/Zurich/New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 2017). 600 pp.


Borneo Island is an area crossed by the equator, which is characterized by high rainfall and stable warm temperatures condition. In these condition, the soil experiences advance weathering so that the content of Fe2+ and Al 3+ in the soil is very high. This causes many problems, such as high fixation of P by poisonous Fe and Al so that P elements become unavailable for plant. Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) can support the growth of plants by the Al and Fe chelation mechanism so that the plants are not poisoned by the toxic elements and P nutrients can be available for plants. The purpose of this study was to isolate Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) from acidic ultisol soil. The results showed that among isolated PSB, PL1 isolates and PL2 isolates had the highest value of P solubilizing index. DNA of these 2 potential isolates were extracted and then amplified gDNA showed 1330-1500 bp.


Salp Swam Algorithm is a new bio-inspired global search algorithm, which was inspired by the simulation behavior of salps in oceans during foraging and navigating and tested for 19 well known benchmark problems and 5 classical engineering design problems i.e. cantilever beam, welded beam, three-truss, I-beam, tension/compression designs problems and airfoil for aircrafts. In the proposed research, the author has developed the ameliorated variant of the classical salp swarm optimizer to improve its exploitation phase to further extent.


This paper proposes a new design procedure, which aids the inventor in the conception of artiomimetic-based parallel mechanisms. Artiomimetics is referred as the practice of analogical design that imitates the structure, behaviour, or feature of an artifact. The procedure allows the designer, in a straightforward manner, to create new architectures of parallel mechanisms. These mechanisms will imitate the characteristics of a certain artifact by setting a particular topological and geometrical arrangement, which provides the desired mobility of the mechanism. For purposes of illustration, the artiomimetic evolution procedure is applied to imitate the motion of a 5-RSP parallel manipulator. The result is a new family of parallel mechanisms with translational centralized motion. The new mechanisms have n identical legs connecting the fixed base to the moveable platform. Each leg has a three-link chain connected by two revolute joints and a prismatic joint. The revolute joints, attached to the base, are chosen as the active inputs. The instantaneous axis of translation of the platform is shown to be perpendicular to the base for all positions of the platform. The paper presents a mobility analysis of the n-RRP mechanisms via screw theory. Finally, a velocity analysis and a study of the singularity configurations of the manipulator are presented in the paper.


Cement is the most widely used construction material in the world. However, its manufacture is high energy consumption and high carbon emission owing to the high temperature calcination process. Geopolymer is an ideal alternative material for cement because it has a similar structure and performance to cement. In addition, it can be synthesized at room temperature and thus has the advantages of energy saving and carbon emission reduction. Sewage sludge (SS) can be used as raw material for geopolymer synthesis. However, the high organic matter content in SS lowers the mechanical strength of geopolymer. Although the organic matter in SS can be removed by incineration at high temperature, this consumes energy and emits carbon dioxide, which diminishes the advantages of geopolymer. In this study, the Fenton method was applied for the removal of organic matter in SS at room temperature. The parameters of the Fenton method, including the dosages of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and Fe2+ reagent (FeSO4·7H2O), reaction time, and initial pH value, were investigated. The results indicated that 83.7% of the organic matter in SS could be removed at room temperature by using 5.15 M H2O2 and 5.15 mM FeSO4·7H2O at pH 7, which suggested the possibility of sewage sludge reclamation through geopolymer synthesis as an alternative material for cement toward sustainability.


Changes in the relative size of the ovary, oviducal glands and eggs are described for Eledone cirrhosa captured from the North Sea off Aberdeen over a 3 year period (N = 488). The analysis is based only on freshly caught animals, excluding those held in aquarium conditions (> 5 days). Ovary enlargement and egg size estimates are used as indices of sexual maturity. Between 0–15% and 18–95% of total body weight is contributed by the ovary. Maximum egg length in the ovary ranges up to 7 mm. On these criteria, sexual maturation typically occurs at body sizes between 400–1000 g although some animals of 1000–1200 g are found showing no evidence of ovary enlargement. The majority of the monthly sample is always immature but maturation can apparently occur at almost any time of the year. Increase in mean ovary index and mean values for egg size are strongly seasonal and indicate a peak incidence of sexual maturity over 2–3 months in the July-September period. Spawning is presumed to follow within 1 month. Estimates of the fecundity of the females, based on the egg sample from the ovary, range from 2·2 × 103 to 55 × 10 3 eggs with a mean of 11 × 10 3 and a mode of 7·5 × 10 3 eggs.


ABSTRACT This paper answers a call for contributions 'dedicated to revealing how markets and marketing make violence culturally acceptable and socially normalised'. Such an investigation has to involve some in-depth conceptualisation with respect to the meanings of both marketing and violence. The market is an institution related to other institutions which altogether are – as in all societies – trying to cope with violence. Today our societies are based on both markets and democracy, but those institutions tend to be mutually contradictory. When marketing tends to replace politics and to almost religiously convert citizens into consumers it is social cohesion that is at stake. This paper aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of social/historical trends. As it highlights the importance of ideas (representations and motivations) and their links with changing institutions, it might help researchers and marketers to a broader understanding of their role and towards a more conscious social behaviour.


An advanced multi-physics simulation system henceforth referred to as GEMIOS (Gas and Electromagnetic Ion Optical Simulator) has been implemented which allows the computation of 3D trajectories and energy exchange of ion beams/clouds under the influence of 3D time-dependent external electromagnetic fields in the presence of 3D rarefied gas flow fields and has therewith capabilities beyond existing tools. GEMIOS achieves its unique capabilities by utilizing commercial (ANSYS) as well as special purpose codes (FORTRAN). The fundamentally novel aspect of GEMIOS is that it combines electromagnetic field solutions and fluid dynamic field solutions obtained within a given domain to compute charged particle trajectories.


Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(OFDM) has been currently under intense research for wireless transmission due to its robustness against multipath fading. However, it has some limitations such as the Peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), which restricts its use. It reduces the efficiency of the system. The aim of this paper is to analyze the performance of system over clipping technique. Wavelet based system is also suggested. Results of both systems are compared. Keywords—Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Clipping, Bit Error Rate (BER)


PROCEDURE EVALUATION AND BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ON SECRETARIAT ECONOMY OF SURAKARTA IN YEARS OF 2014-2016 Ardianto F3314021 The budget is a systematically arranged plan that covering all of activities which stated in monetary units or units that applicable for the future period. The budget is needed to create a work plan which going to become a Document of Implementation of Regional Working Unit Budget (DPA-SKPD) of the Surakarta regional government, especially the Secretariat of Economic Section of Surakarta. The purpose of this Final Project is to know the procedures in term of making DPA-SKPD in the Surakarta Regional Secretariat of Economic Section whether it is already stick with the time specified or not, knowing the realization of the budget on the Economic Section Secretariat of Surakarta as well as know the obstacles of the program and provide the best effort for the utilization of the budget which is hopefully can be more effective in upcoming year. The method that used in here is comparing the budget and realization budget in each year. Whether good or not the budget that already spent we can see it from the percentage of realization budget in each year which is from 2014-2016. From the evaluation of DPA-SKPD in the Surakarta Regional Secretariat has been compatible with its date of reporting, implementation and evaluation. From the three fiscal years of 2014-2016, the most budget that not too maximum is in 2015. Budget Rp. 1.449.741.000 with realization budget Rp. 1,094,502,819 or 75.50% realization. However, behind the shortage, the Secretariat of Economic Section of Surakarta has done their best to serve the society. Keywords: budget, performance, DPA-SKPD, program


The simulation package FSIMUL-P has been developed at the Institute of Automatic Control at the Ruhr-University of Bochum. It is based on the block driven simulation package FSIMUL [1] and permits an economical solution of complex simulation problems. The main features are parallel processing, the simulation of complex industrial processes, and a heterogeneous multiprocessor system (see Fig. 1). FSIMUL-P makes any heterogeneous multiprocessor system transparent to the user who does not need any special knowledge of the particular components of the simulation hardware. Algorithms for parallel simulation, interprocessor-communication channels, a function optimized server, and strategies for resource management are part of the package. Thus, parallel simulation is a very promising answer to economic simulation of complex technology processes in research and industry.


Considering the special functions of universities and the special status of university students in the society, the development of the education in the Olympic in the university will have great effect on propagating the Olympic spirit and promoting people's harmonious development and social progress.The university students are full of enthusiasm to the Olympic movement, but lack the corresponding knowledge structure and a deep understanding of the Chinese culture. Hence, it is essential and urgent to strengthen the Olympics education of the university students. Great efforts will be made to promote the combination of the Olympic spirit and the Chinese university education,so as to achieve the aims of the Olympic education.


Information Revolution" has greatly changed traditional financial theories and Practice. With thetide of advanced information technology, the editional descriptive and analytical financial theories have turnedinto "financial engineering", which employs lots of mathematical models to analyse financial phenomena andpromote financial innovations. The rapid Progress of information techelogy also has significant impact on traditional financial Practice. Previously, both currecies and financial markets have to lake material forms. Butme they become increasingly virtualized, i. e. they are taking and will take the form of informationInformation Revolution also has greatly accelerated the integration of international financial markets and the "Securitization" of financial assets. However, there are still serious problems in the process of financial informationisation, such as security issues, law issues and the widenimng-up between developing and developed countries.


Poor nutritional status and inadequate dietary intake in intravenous drug misusers (IVDMs) is a well-recognized problem among those involved in their care. However, there are very few published studies to substantiate these observations. This paper provides a review of the current literature and outlines the aims of dietary advice for IVDMs.


This research is entitled Prohibited expression in wedding Advice: Entextualization of Pasang ri Kajang.The objectives of this research is: 1). To disclose denotational text uttered in wedding advice of ethnic Kajang. 2).To reveal interactional text in wedding advice of ethnic Kajang.3). In addition to denotational and interactional text, this research used semiotic mediational approach to relate between denotational and interactional text of wedding advice Qualitative method was used in obtaining the data whereas the researcher herself had a role as a key instrument which has the to master the field being researched and the preparation to come to the object of the research. The data of wedding advice were obtained through, observation, interview, and note taking. Whereas the result of the research shows that denotational text is related to the structure of utterances or text sentences. Interactional text on the other hand is a text based upon social relation which emphazises on social aspect of language. Apart from denotational and interactional text, semiotic mediational approach was used to relate the two texts denotational text and interactional text ( text-context) which is shown by indexical cues.


T he Royal Free and University College Medical School (RFUCMS) has built up a range of activities over the last 7 years that encourage development of skills in teaching, learning and assessment for undergraduates in accordance with recommendations in the General Medical Council's (GMC's) document Tomorrow's Doctors. The aim of these activities is to encourage students to engage in cooperative learning and begin to develop the foundation skills of medical teachers on which they can build in the postgraduate years.


The exchange of meteorites among the terrestrial planets of our Solar System is a well established phenomenon that has triggered discussion of lithopanspermia within the Solar System. Similarly, could solid material be transferred across planetary systems? To address this question, we explore the dynamics of the transfer of small bodies between planetary systems. In particular, we examine a dynamical process that yields very low escape velocities using nearly parabolic trajectories, and the reverse process that allows for low velocity capture. These processes are chaotic and provide a mechanism for minimal energy transfer that yield an increased transfer probability compared to that of previously studied mechanisms that have invoked hyperbolic trajectories. We estimate the transfer probability in a stellar cluster as a function of stellar mass and cluster size. We find that significant amounts of solid material could potentially have been transferred from the early Solar System to our nearest neighbor stars. While this low velocity mechanism improves the odds for interstellar lithopanspermia, the exchange of biologically active materials across stellar systems depends greatly upon the highly uncertain viability of organisms over the timescales for transfer, typically millions of years.


We consider a hospital capacity management problem that addresses the drastic surge of patient volume during a pandemic. This paper is novel in that it allows patients to choose hospitals on their own, whereas most literature assumes that patients will go to their assigned hospitals. We propose an incentive-based approach to help direct patients to alternative hospitals so that capacity shortages across all hospitals are balanced. Consequently, the hospital resources for the community as a whole are utilised most efficiently. The proposed approach is based on two assignment models. One is a (decentralised) equilibrium model for describing patients' choice of hospital. The other is a (centralised) non-linear programming model for the health authority to maximise the resource utilisation of all the hospitals in the region. We show that when responding to incentive programmes at properly chosen hospitals, the patients' choice of hospitals can match the one desired by the central health authority, i.e., the one that utilises the overall resources most efficiently. Numerical examples are used to illustrate our approach.


Opportunities for the shortsea shipping sector are considered to be greater than currently exploited. The objective of this paper is therefore to make a contribution towards possible facilitation of shortsea shipping in terms of the possibilities of re-attracting cargo by improving the situations of existing ports. The paper examines the incidence of bottlenecks in ports, particularly with respect to those which are closely linked with the shortsea shipping industry. Possible research regarding elimination of these bottlenecks is presented.


Over the last ten years gaming has become increasingly popular. This trend has been driven by mobile computer technology such as smartphones and tablets. The growing interest in the development of serious games for learning has been linked to the rapid take-up of mobile devices, which provide new opportunities for mobile learning (m-learning). This annotated bibliography is a compilation of abstracts of peer reviewed research on serious computer games with a focus on gamification and learning. It focuses on peer reviewed journal articles and conference papers that have primarily been published during the period 2005-2015. TO CITE THIS REPORT IN APA REFERENCING STYLE: Southgate, E., Smith, S. P., Smithers, K. & Budd, J. (2016). Serious games and learning: An annotated bibliography. DICE Report Series, Number 1. Newcastle: DICE Research. Retrieved from http://dice.newcastle.edu.au/DRS_1_2016.pdf 3 DICE REPORT SERIES NUMBER 1| 2016 1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF REPORT


We extend the Barut–Girardello coherent state for the representation of SU(1,1) to the coherent state for a representation of U(N,1) and construct the measure. We also construct a path integral formula for some Hamiltonian.


Nanoparticles are widely used in many different fields, and production. However, the ingestion of nanoparticles from environmental pollution may have significant health impacts, which are currently poorly understood. In this study we aimed to investigate the cellular toxicity of copper nanoparticles on liver tissue of Rat, and also investigate the role of vitamin E and C, separately or together, in reducing the cellular damage that may be caused by copper nanoparticles. In this study 56 (5–6) weeks old rats with a weight of 120 ± 10 grams were divided into seven groups, treated with copper nanoparticles for four weeks, then treated with vitamins, either alone or together, for another four weeks where is control. Rats were treated with copper nanoparticles showed changes in the ultrastructure of the liver tissue, in which there was a clear decrease in the number of cellular organelles in hepatocytes. Which show small in their size, and had irregular nuclear envelopes, swelling of the mitochondria, shortening of their cristae and effects on their matrix, an increase in the size of lysosomes, an increase in the number of lipid droplets, and an expansion of the Disse spaces. The treatment with vitamins C or E or both, marked improvement was found in the size and number of organelles. The cells returned to almost their normal state. We concluded that vitamins C and E have a positive role in reducing the toxic effects of copper nanoparticles. We recommended their use in doses of 250 mg/kg/day.


A novel geometry of electrospray emitter has been developed for achieving dual-mode propulsion. The hybrid emitter consists of a capillary emitter with a protruding, coaxial needle. This design takes advantage of the natural increase in specific charge of emission as current decreases to produce high specific impulse operation at low flow rate and high thrust-to-power operation at high flow rate. A needle in the center of a capillary emitter promotes stable emission at low flow rate in an externally-wetted emission mode. When flow rate is increased, the meniscus extends past the needle to emit in a capillary or cone-jet mode. The emitter has produced emission at roughly 2 nA and 360 to 430 nA for externally-wetted and capillary modes respectively. Representative images of each emission mode were obtained from video microscopy of the emitter in operation. Analyses of these visualizations and collected emission current data show that the hybrid emitter exhibits two distinct stability regions for high and low flow rates and allow for the characterization of instabilities outside these regions.


Prefetching is an inbuilt feature of file system and storage caches. The cache replacement policy plays a key role in the performance of prefetching techniques, since a miss occurs if a prefetch block is evicted before the arrival of the on-demand user request for the block. Prefetch blocks display spatial locality, but exist ing cache replacement policies are designed for blocks that display temporal locality. This paper develops a new replacement policy calledSplit for caches that implement prefetching. The relative performances of Split and other replacement policies, such as LRU, are evaluated using simulation and theoretical analysis. The evaluation shows that the Split replacement policy gets a higher hit rate and a lower response time than any of the other compared policies, at the cost of slightly more disk accesses.


ATC is an index which is determined by considering both static and dynamic constraints. Several researchers have proposed various methods for determining SATC, including DC load flow based, stochastic, continuation power flow, to mention but a few considerations of dynamic constraints. The methods to determine dynamic ATC include the use of neural networks, and so on. The existing methods are quite complicated and considerably slow in determining ATC especially when TSA is involved in the process. In this project, a method to determine ATC under dynamic condition using Fast Decoupled Power Flow Solution has been proposed and developed. This technique is a powerful analytical tool involving numerical analysis based on a famous Newton Raphson method which is used for routine solution. Matlab has been used as a programming tool. MATLAB is a high-level technical computing language with interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis. The developed program has been tested on IEEE 30 bus practical power system. The results obtained from the tests have been compared with the results from the previous study on dynamic ATC. The results show that the proposed technique is comparably accurate and faster than the existing method.


Abstract Earlier research has shown the interdependence of knowledge management systems (KMS) and organizational factors. This study explores how peer-to-peer (P2P)-based KMS are perceived by users and whether those perceptions have impact on user acceptance and system usage. By employing a case study approach we bring together the overlapping disciplines and practices of information system architectures, knowledge management, and organizational behavior by exploring structural analogies between the social architecture of knowledge and the technical architecture of decentralized KMS. Our case analysis suggests a range of potential benefits: saved time in making knowledge available, higher levels of reciprocity and transparency, as well as faster knowledge creation.


Abdominal angiography of a 3-year-old girl demonstrated a large mass within the sigmoid mesentery. An avascular mass within the mesentery associated with staining of a uniform, thin-walled rim should suggest the diagnosis of mesenteric cyst.


Purpose:
This work outlines a new TBI delivery technique to replace a lateral POP full bolus technique. The new technique is done with VMAT arc delivery, without bolus, treating the patient prone and supine. The benefits of the arc technique include: increased patient experience and safety, better dose conformity, better organ at risk sparing, decreased therapist time and reduction of therapist injuries.

Methods:
In this work we build on a technique developed by Jahnke et al. We use standard arc fields with gantry speeds corrected for varying distance to the patient followed by a single step VMAT optimization on a patient CT to increase dose inhomogeneity and to reduce dose to the lungs (vs. blocks).

To compare the arc TBI technique to our full bolus technique, we produced plans on patient CTs for both techniques and evaluated several dosimetric parameters using an ANOVA test.

Results and Conclusions:
The arc technique is able reduce both the hot areas to the body (D2% reduced from 122.2% to 111.8% p<0.01) and the lungs (mean lung dose reduced from 107.5% to 99.1%, p<0.01), both statistically significant, while maintaining coverage (D98% = 97.8% vs. 94.6%, p=0.313, not statistically significant).

We developed a more patient and therapist-friendly TBI treatment technique that utilizes single-step optimized VMAT plans. It was found that this technique was dosimetrically equivalent to our previous lateral technique in terms of coverage and statistically superior in terms of reduced lung dose.


This issue of the journal contains 30 papers presented at the workshop on Second Law Analysis of Energy Devices and Processes. The papers selected for presentation concentrate on physical devices and processes in favor of the rich literature available in the biological and behavioral sciences. Thus, self-renewing systems were excluded to comply with the terms of the Department of Eergy grant. The papers are grouped by chapters as follows: I: Fundamentals (4 papers); II: Tutorial Textbook Applications (7 papers); III: Actual Applications (19 papers), subdivided into Economic Aspects (4 papers), Space Heating and Cooling (2 papers), Cryogenics (2 papers), Fuel (3 papers), Industrial Application (5 papers), Nuclear Energy (1 paper), and Waste Products and Waste Heat (2 papers). Separate abstracts were prepared for 21 of the papers.


This study has dealt with the investigation and analysis of Hepatitis A; one of the most important diseases that infect humans. The study comes as a contribution to the field of medical geography. The study has been conducted in Jeddah for the purpose of identifying those geographic conditions and characteristics related to Hepatitis cases in the study area for the last few years. To provide direction for this study, a number of questions has been formulated. These questions focused on such issues the number of infected cases, their spatial distribution and variations within the city, and the nature of variation of infection between Saudi citizens and other residents. In order to achieve the aims of the study, the researcher used quantitative as well as descriptive methods. The data used for analysis included information related to all infected cases which have been formally reported during the study period (661 cases). Results have shown that annual infection rates of the disease ranged between 89 and 127 cases, Also, there are two time peaks of infection during March and September. In addition, the study showed that the demographic distribution of Hepatitis A in Jeddah does not follow a specific rule or certain pattern, and the appearance of the disease in the city districts seems to be not related to the population, location, economic standards. However, results of the study indicated that there has been an increase in the infection rates among Saudis than non-Saudis throughout studied age groups. According to the above mentioned results, the researcher presented a number of suggested recommendations aiming to have an effective role in avoiding many of shortcomings relating to the causes of infectious diseases in general and Hepatitis A in particular. The most important of such recommendations are related to reporting data on infections as well as promoting vigorous health awareness through the media to all social groups in the city


The present invention relates to oil processing equipment and basic process wastewater, which process is a basic oil and industrial waste water in the acidic water and the reaction carried out as raw materials, the reaction and after the re-qualified water pretreatment using flotation, cooled after cooling tower into the biochemical reaction tank for biological treatment, the aeration in the biological tank, by microbial degradation of parts of oil in water, and then after settling sludge sedimentation treatment to remove suspended solids, wastewater entering the biofilter pellet was performed depth processing, to meet emission requirements, after processing, indicators COD≤80mg water / l; SS≤10mg / l; oil ≤5mg / l. Biochemical oil, reducing the consumption of the system; biological filtration is used as a treatment system to reduce the consumption of mineral filler; with a small investment, low operating costs, wide resources, the reaction fully, good effect, compact, easy to manage advantage.


Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) is the most common histopathological type of breast cancer, accounting for up to 85% of all invasive breast carcinomas [1]. It spreads usually to the bone first. Solitary metastasis is commonly located in the lung, liver or brain [2]. Adrenal glands locations are extremely rare [3]. We report a case of isolated metachronous right adrenal metastasis, diagnosed four years after breast IDC management. The aim is to highlight clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of this entity.


Tensar geogrids are a new generation of soil reinforcing materials manufactured by heat stretching a perforated sheet of co-polymer to form a grid-like structure. In order to use them to their maximum efficiency it is necessary to establish the loads which they may carry for any period up to 120 years, the design lifetime of many civil engineering structures. In this paper the basic definitions that should be used to describe the geometry of the grids are given and then employed to identify the representative sizes and shapes of test specimens. Test methods which have been developed for quality control purposes and for performance data acquisition are detailed. Following this the methods of analysing and presenting data are given together with typical data for both uniaxial and biaxial grids. For the covering abstract of the symposium see IRRD 284425. (Author/TRRL)


This manuscript studies the hydrology of an inland valley in West Africa. The impact of LULC changes on such hydrological systems has also been assessed. This work is of interest to the broad readership of HESS. The manuscript is well-written. The authors have also made a commendable effort of using observations to validate the model results. However, there are some issues that must be addressed before publication (please see the specific comments section below).


The following collection includes three short stories and two essays compiled with a critical preface. "Valentine's Day" explores the limits of friendship and love in various situations including, two road trips (one fictional and one factual), pet ownership, and the impersonations of Frank Sinatra.


Three years ago, MIT was named one of the ten universities to take the lead in establishing a four-year, $40 million grants-matching program for the US Department of Transportation. Designed to attract the nation's best talent to the study of transportation, the University Transportation Centers Program set up center in each of the ten standard federal regions to provide national resource for research and education in transportation. MIT was designated as lead university for Region One, comprised of Harvard and New England's six state universities. The theme for this year, as last year, will be "Transportation Management, Policy and Operations". The focus will be on multimodal strategies to alleviate congestion; technological innovations in surface transportation; formulation and implementation of public policy; and transportation systems management. This article looks at the education, research and technology transfer components of this year's program.


We have predicted the phase transition pressures and corresponding relative volume changes of two neodymium monopnictides (NdAs and NdSb) having NaCl-type structure at ambient conditions, using an improved interaction potential model (IIPM) approach. Both the compounds have been found to undergo from their initial NaCl(B1) phase to a body centered tetragonal (BCT) phase at high pressure. Our calculated results of phase transitions, volume collapses and elastic behavior of these compounds are found to be close to the experimental results. This shows that the inclusion of the three-body interaction and polarizability effect makes the present model suitable for high pressure studies.


T the start of what became known as the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, many proposed it be named the Millennium Round. But that suggestion went nowhere after a wit observed that this could mean it would take a millennium before the negotiating nations would reach consensus to close the Round. This is not quite the problem with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs; see Box 1 in "Regaining Momentum" in this issue of F&D). They are not specific commitments by nation-states whose feet would be held to the fire in case of "default" or shortfall—the way that, say, a multinational trade agreement creates obligations through the World Trade Organization (WTO). The MDGs are in fact aspirational do-good targets in selected areas, often with quantitative dimensions (for example, halving the hunger rate, not just reducing it) and have defined dates—with the exhortation that all goals be met everywhere by September 2015. But there are no repercussions on any nations if the goals are not met, as seems likely in most cases. It is not surprising then that the MDGs have been affirmed repeatedly by consensus among all United Nations (UN) member states; one would have to be positively ghoulish— and unmindful of the fact that failure to achieve carries no penalties—to abstain or object. But this does not mean that when UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed the MDG targets, based on the Millennium Report drafted by Assistant Secretary-General John Ruggie's team, there were no objections from nations opposed to specific MDGs. For example, South Africa did not initially wish to have a reference made to HIV/AIDS. And when multilateral agencies like the World Bank began recording progress toward the MDGs, presumably with implications for aid flows, representatives of countries like India did start recording objections to certain MDG targets. Still, there are some skeptical and even hostile questions that must be asked and answered if we are to assess the MDG initiative meaningfully on its 10th anniversary.


Physicochemical activation has been popular currently due to the incredible surface area of activated carbon produced. In the process, the step of activation has a significant role in influencing the characteristics of activated carbon. Previously, several studies conducted one-step activation in which potassium hydroxide (KOH) was impregnated with the precursors derived from agricultural biomass and wastes. Currently, the materials have been interesting due to their renewable and low-cost properties. This paper reviews the recent studies regarding the variables and the effect of one-step activation towards properties of KOH-impregnated adsorbents which were synthesized from agricultural biomass and wastes. The variables of one-step activation and pore development are compared in this paper. It was found that the increase of pore characteristics follows the increased amount of KOH concentration, ratio, carbonizing temperature and time until reaching the optimum level of variables. One-step activation has been proved by the studies to the successful activation of activated carbon with different excellent surface area, even up to approximately 2800 m2/g. In the future, it will be a great challenge to develop the efficient processes of synthesizing activated carbon with improved optimization to achieve incredible and maximum results of the surface area.


The engineering programs at Sultan Qaboos University are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) since 2008. This year, the programs will undergo a third accreditation assessment using revised ABET Criterion 3 (Student Outcome) and Criterion 5 (Curriculum) which are in effect for the 2019-20 evaluation cycle. This paper outlines the Quality Assurance system for academic programs at Sultan Qaboos University and illustrates how its civil engineering program has made the transition from the previous criteria to the revised criteria. A mapping is made between the old and new Criterion 3. New performance indicators and measurement of attainment of the student outcomes are developed for the whole curriculum. A mapping of the curriculum with the outcomes is also made to ensure full coverage of the student outcomes by the time of graduation. The paper illustrates the experience of the program with the transition process to the new ABET Criteria.


Gold nanoparticles were synthesized by two bolaform cholesteryl imide derivatives with different lengths of ethyleneamine spacers at a liquid-liquid interface. By stirring the aqueous solution containing AuCl4- ions with the chloroform solution of bolaform amphiphile, AuCl4- ions were transferred into the organic phase and reduced to gold nanoparticles. Spectral and morphological measurements indicated that both bolaform amphiphiles could serve as both capping and reducing agents. Different gold nanostructures could be obtained depending on the different spacers and the molar ratios of amphiphile to AuCl4- ions.


We simulated the thermoreversible micellization–demicellization process and micellar shuttle of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-block-ethylene-oxide) (PNIPAM–PEO) diblock copolymer in a water/ionic-liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [BMIM][PF6]) system by means of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD). The evolution of diblock copolymer chains (micellization–transfer–demicellization) in both water and the ionic liquid phase by the temperature effect reveals that it is a physical phenomenon, dependent on the solubility and interaction parameters of all chemical species involved in the multicomponent system. With the aid of a Monte Carlo simulation we calculated the Flory–Huggins interaction parameters χ of all the species. At room temperature the PNIPAM–PEO copolymer chains are miscible in the aqueous phase. At a higher temperature of T = 303 K the diblock copolymer shows the formation of micelles (micellization process). The micellar transfer to the ionic liquid phase was observed at T = 333 K. A further increase in temperature provokes the demicellization at T = 346 K. The process is reversible: reversing the temperature now to 333 K, shows the formation of the micelles. A further decrease in temperature makes the micelles go back to the water phase. All the simulation outcomes are qualitatively consistent with the experimental results, demonstrating that the DPD methodology may provide a tool for the investigation and analysis of the micellar transfer process in immiscible environments.


Humans cannot operate the loads concurrently in the industries. So, with the help of rapid technologies, they can resolve the problems. This particular paper discusses a way to operate load at a time in industries. The system strives to make use of ZigBee along with the microcontroller to upgrade the industrial monitoring standard. To perform the existing regular monitoring purpose efficiently, this method employs the ZigBee wireless technology for remote monitoring. Several sensors are deployed in our project to monitor industrial parameters like temperature, current, voltage, etc. If there is any problem with the load, they will be cut off and the necessary information will be conveyed through the ZigBee to the server. The application of the ZigBee is combined with a microcontroller and hence the industrial measurements constitute an efficient innovative technology. Performing wireless and wired computing measurement and monitoring, this technique can do correct and methodical monitoring operations. Parameters were carefully selected based on the potential hazards which can help in the normal working of the industrial machines.


Emotional states, such as happiness or sadness, pose particular problems for information processing theories of mind. Hedonic components of states, unlike cognitive components, lack representational content. Research within Artiicial Life, in particular the investigation of adaptive agent architectures, provides insights into the dynamic relationship between motivation, the ability of control sub-states to gain access to limited processing resources, and prototype emotional states. Holland's learning classiier system provides a concrete example of this relationship, demonstrating sim-plèemotion-like' states, much as a thermostat demonstrates simplèbelief-like' and`desire-like' states. This leads to the conclusion that valency, a particular form of pleasure or displeasure , is a self-monitored process of credit-assignment. The importance of the movement of a domain-independent representation of utility within adaptive archi-tectures is stressed. Existing information processing theories of emotion can be enriched by a `circulation of value' design hypothesis. Implications for the development of emotional animats are considered.


The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a new international agreement entered in 1995 under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Education services is one of the area among the least committed areas by the WTO Members. It is one of the largest "business" field among the services. The developed countries argues for opening of education "markets" all over the world. The principal supporter is the US. This paper examines the general barriers to the opening up of the sector and in particular, the Indian education system under the four modes of supply prescribed in the GATS agreement.


Effort creep has implications for maintaining stocks around target reference points, and can affect vessel
profits. A better understanding of effort creep, and identification of both indicators that reflect it and
mechanisms through which managers can appropriately adjust for its impacts, are needed. This paper
summarises trends in potential effort creep indicators for the tropical purse seine fishery, and their
suitability for adjusting WCPO effort limits (Table 1). The majority of indicators have shown increases
over the recent period within the WCPO when examined both within and outside PNA EEZs.


Objective To observe the neuoprotective effect of lentiviral vector expressing and secreting neuroprotective peptide(NAP)on closed head injury in mice via nose-brain pathway and provide theoretical basis for treatment of neurodegeneration diseases by lentiviral vector secreting NAP.Methods 54 adult male Kunming mice were divided into four groups:control group(n=10),closed head jnjury group(CHI,n=20),rLent/NT4-NAP group(rLent,n=20),and rLent/GFP group(GFP,n=4).The mortality,NSS and brain edema in various groups were observed.The pathological changes in brain injury region of various groups stained by HE were observed.The expressions of GFP in nasal epithelium olfactory nerve and brain tissue in GFP group were detected under laser confocal microscope.Results The mortality of mice in rLent group(15%)was significantly lower than that in CHI group(55%).The NSS in rLent group were lower than those in CHI groups at 1,3,5 and 7 d after brain injury(P0.01).The percentage of H2O in rLent group was lower than that in CHI group at 24 h after brain injury(P0.01).HE staining result showed that the pathological changes in rLent group were fewer than those in CHI group.There was significant GFP in the nasal epithelium,but no fluorescence in olfactory nerve and brain tissue.Conclusion The recombinant rLent/NT4-NAP could efficietnly infect nasal epithelium in vivo.NAP provides significant neuroprotective effect from the complex array of injuries elicited by head trauma.The recombinant rLent/GFP could only infect nasal epithelium,but not go through blood-brain barrier(BBB)to central nervous system(CNS).


ABSTRACT This study aims to determine the types and characteristics of lactic acid bacteria contained in the Peda Mackerel. The research was conducted in April to June 2013 in the Microbiology Laboratory Biology Department, FMIPA UNIMED. This study use d descriptive design using aseptic sampling techniques. Materials used are lactic acid bacteria taken from the Peda Mackerel and grown on MRS medium (de Man Rogosa Sharpe). Based on the research results of the identification and characterization of lactic acid bacteria in Peda Mackerel using Test morphology, Gram staining and Biochemical tests of the obtained 4 types of lactic acid bacteria on the Peda Mackerel. The genus of lactic acid bacteria found include Eubacterium, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Staphylococcus.  Characteristics in general is a form of cocci and bacilli, Gram positive, catalase negative, non motile, the optimum temperature of 20 0 C-40 0 C and have type homofermentatif and heterofermentatif fermentation. Kata Kunci : Bakteri asam laktat, peda ikan kembung, probiotik .


The water-inrushing control in vertical shaft is a difficult points and research subject in the construction of the shaft. This paper analyzes the method of pre-grouting on working face after adopting the forced drainage in the water- inrushing control in Fushan Intake Shaft of Changping Coal Mine.


Abstract : Continuous exposure of dogs, monkeys, mice, and rats to MIBK for two weeks and all animals except mice for 90 days resulted in measurable adverse effects only in the case of rats. Rat kidney weights and kidney to body weight ratios were significantly elevated after exposure to 410 mg/cu m for two weeks, and kidney and liver organ weights and organ to body weight ratios were elevated after exposure to 820 mg/cu m for two weeks and to 410 mg/cu m for 90 days.


Submitted for the MAR13 Meeting of The American Physical Society Wave-packet approach to thermal fluctuation effects on charge transport of organic semiconductors1 HIROYUKI ISHII, Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan., NOBUHIKO KOBAYASHI, Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 11-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan, KENJI HIROSE, NEC Corporation, 34 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8501, Japan. — Organic materials are formed with weak van der Waals interactions between molecules. For typical organic semiconductors, the transfer integrals are small in the range of 10 100meV, which is comparable to the dynamical transfer integral modulations originating from the thermal fluctuations of molecular motions. Therefore the fluctuations provide important contributions to the understanding of the transport mechanism. To investigate such effects, we have developed a methodology to calculate the carrier transport coupled with interand the intramolecular vibrations of organic semiconductors based on the time-dependent wave-packet diffusion method [1]. In this methodology, we carry out the quantum-mechanical time-evolution calculations of wave packets and the classical molecular dynamics simulations simultaneously. We evaluate the anisotropic mobility of organic semiconductors, such as pentacene crystals. We also clarify the change of temperature dependence of mobility from the thermal activated behavior to the power law behavior. I will talk about these results in my presentation. [1] H. Ishii, K. Honma, N. Kobayashi, K. Hirose, Phys. Rev. B, 85 (2012) 245206. 1This work was supported by JST, PRESTO, and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the MEXT of Japan. Hiroyuki Ishii Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan. Date submitted: 27 Nov 2012 Electronic form version 1.4


Aim  To study the altitudinal variation of ground spiders (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) of Crete, Greece, as far as species composition, species richness, activity and range of distribution are concerned.


Cancer burden is increasing day by day in our Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) A practicing clinician faces the issue of cost of treatment in almost all patients who approach him or her for clinical consultation . More than often, the clinician has no formal training in cancer service development. Establishment of modern oncological services is dependent on financial resources available to the professionals who sit across an extra-large sized rectangular table and try to get the best out of the money pot. Some skeptics call it beauty out of the junkyard. The allocation of funds is dependent on the feasibility studies done by the healthcare economists .These wise guys seem to know a lot about the health of a nation, but many health care professionals have some reservations about their understanding of the practical knowledge of day to day managerial and clinical problems, faced by the person sitting at the receiving end.


Measurements were made of the active mean bone marrow, integral bone marrow, gonadal, and maximum skin doses from diagnostic x-ray procedures used in Cairo University Hospitals. The active mean marrow dose in cervical, dorsal, and lumbar spine diagnostic exposures were: found to be somewhat smaller than those reported by some western couatries. One of the most striking results of the survey was the relatively high values of the urinary tract cases investigated diagnostically; owing to the high incidence of urinary tract Schistosomiasis. The gonadal dose delivered to males and females was found to be almosi negligible for all diagnostic investigations of the spine, except for the lumbo-dorsal region which was within the range 50 to 500 mrads. It was also found that the gonadal dose was significant in investigations of the lower gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, and urinary tract. (P.C.H.)


We hypothesized that the high concentrations of gentamicin achieved after local administration would have toxic effects on human mesenchymal stem cells. These cells were isolated from bone marrow from three healthy adult donors and cultured with different concentrations of gentamicin (0 μg/mL, 50 μg/mL, 100 μg/mL, and 200 μg/mL) for 7 days. After 7 days of gentamicin exposure, we examined cell viability, proliferation, and in vitro and in vivo osteochondrogenic capacity. Gentamicin did not have an adverse effect on the viability of human mesenchymal stem cells in all test groups, but did inhibit cell proliferation at concentrations of 100 μg/mL and 200 μg/mL. In in vitro osteogenesis, gentamicin decreased the DNA content and alkaline phosphatase activity of human mesenchymal stem cells at an early stage (Days 4 and 8) in a dose-dependent manner. For chondrogenesis, glycosaminoglycan content and Type II and Type X collagen deposition were lower in the pellets made with cells expanded in gentamicin at 100 or 200 μg/mL relative to cells expanded in medium without gentamicin. A comparable effect on osteochondrogenesis was observed in an in vivo model. At a high concentration, gentamicin inhibits proliferation and differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and could compromise the bone-healing process.


SUMMARY The corporal mass-density relationship was analyzed in a guild of benthic suspension feeders of the species Mytilus edulis platensis, Brachidontes rodriguezi and Brachidontes darwinianus of the shallow rocky coast of Gorriti and Lobos Islands (Maldonado, Uruguay). This relationship was used to build log m-log N (mean individual mass-density) and log B-log N (biomass-density) diagrams, both at species and guild levels. The relationship log m-log N denoted density-independence in the three species at Gorriti and in Brachidontes species at Lobos. However M. e. platensis at Lobos suggested an oscillation in the interface between competitive density or carrying capacity effect and density-dependence. The log B-log N relationship suggested density-independence for the tree species in the two islands. The dominant species M. e. platensis plays a key role in the explanation of the corporal mass-density relationship of the guild of mussels in both islands. Our results support recent ecological findings suggesting that when these models, developed for plants, are applied to mussel populations, density-independence is regularly observed, even in cases when competition is expected to occur, because of the occurrence of multilayered beds. The use of 3D models that include explicitly the crowding or layering effects on self-thinning is suggested in order to explore the relationship between density and size. RESUMEN Se analizo la relacion masa corporal-densidad en el gremio de mitilidos suspensivoros compuesto por las especies Mytilus edulis platensis, Brachidontes rodriguezi y Brachidontes darwinianus del sublitoral rocoso somero de las Islas Gorriti y Lobos (Maldonado, Uruguay). Dicha relacion fue evaluada mediante los diagramas log m-log N (masa individual media-densidad) y log B-log N (biomasa-densidad) tanto a nivel especifico como acumulativo del gremio de mitilidos. La relacion log m-log N registro denso-independencia en las tres especies en Gorriti y en las especies del genero Brachidontes en Lobos. En tanto, M. e. platensis en Lobos presento una interfase entre un efecto de densidad competitiva o capacidad de carga y denso-dependen


This paper studies a typical magnetic-saturated controllable reactor,and the operational characteristics,which mainly contain controllable characteristics and harmonic characteristics related to output currents,are analyzed in detail.Then,the non-linear function relationship between the output currents and the firing angle of the GTO connected with the controllable winding of the controllable reactor is obtained.By a detailed simulation of a small-capacity industry model machine,this paper obtains the more detailed operational characteristics and the response and harmonic characteristics.The simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis,which verifies the correctness and accuracy of the established simulation model.This kind of controllable reactors have good operational characteristics,that is,its controllable performance is good and the distortion factor of its output currents is low.The research results of this paper have a certain theoretical and practical significance for the engineering design and operational analysis of the magnetic-saturated controllable reactor.


In this paper, the impact of various system parameters such as the parameters of actual demand process, the review periods and the lead times, under each combination of inventory policies and information sharing, on the long run average inventory cost per period incurred at each participant in a supply chain, is considered. For this purpose, numerical studies are conducted, from which some valuable information as to how sensitive our long run average inventory cost per period are as the model parameters change is gleaned, from which, in turn, some managerial insights are gleaned in order for industry practitioners to perform better in supply chain management.


1. System gas mixture separation / liquid / solid particles, comprising: a cyclone for receiving the gas mixture / liquid / solids from the source having an inlet portion for introducing a gas mixture / liquid / solid particles in a cyclone, an outlet portion for removing the separated mixture of gas / fluid from the cyclone and the unloading portion for removing separated solids from the cyclone, the gas / liquid separator operatively connected to the discharge part for collecting the separated mixture of gas / liquid from the cyclone for gas / liquid separation into a gas component and a liquid cOMPONENT nt; ivakuumnuyu system operatively connected to the separator gas / liquid for providing a driving force to move the gas / liquid / solids in the cyclone to move the separated gas / liquid mixture in a gas / liquid separator and removing the gas component from the gas separator / zhidkosti.2. The system of Claim. 1 further comprising a throttle means operatively connected to the cyclone separator and the gas / liquid flow for regulating gas / liquid / solid particles in tsiklon.3. The system of Claim. 1 or 2, characterized in that the cyclone comprises a spiral helix drive means to facilitate transfer of the separated solid particles in the cyclone to the unloading chasti.4. The system of claim. 3, characterized in that the cyclone outlet comprises a throttle for adjusting the vertical position of the outlet portion in tsiklone.5. The system of claim. 4, wherein the cyclone includes unloading choke for adjusting the vertical position of the unloading portion in tsiklone.6. The system of claim. 5, characterized in that said source operatively connected to the vibrating screen cuttings and vibro


The invention relates to the field of aluminum-based alloy taking silicon as secondary active ingredient, and particularly relates to a die-cast aluminum alloy for an automobile engine. The die-cast aluminum alloy for the automobile engine comprises Al and Si, wherein the mass percentage of Si is 5%-15%, the die-cast aluminum alloy is characterized by further comprising the following elements in percentage by mass: 0.5%-0.8% of Mn, 0.25%-0.35% of Mg, 0.04%-0.15% of Ti, 0.01%-0.022% of Sr, and the balance of Al. The die-cast aluminum alloy is good in die-cast property, low in rejection rate, and high in mechanical property.


What would you select if someone asked you to develop an ideal professional education in CHI's essential subject matter? If someone were to ask me, first I would check the core CHI curriculum for computer science departments that an ACM SIGCHI committee (including professor Ron Baecker, University of Toronto, and others) put together about a decade ago when they were trying to get such curricula accepted within universities. However, the times, technology, and users have changed considerably since then. Another way to quickly assemble a set of essential topics would be to merge and purge the tables of contents for two leading handbooks of human-computer interaction published by Elsevier and by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. With apologies to the editors and authors (including myself), I have tried to do just that, somewhat quickly and informally. I contemplated simply listing the approximately 120 topics in alphabetical order, but I have tried instead to reduce seeming repetitions, use more consistent terminology, and maintain some of the original overall organization and sequencing, which suggests the sequence of topics in a curriculum. See below for the results. Noticeable in the original tables of contents was an absence of reference to financial and travel systems, branding, marketing, semiotics, user experience, design patterns, legal issues, and professional licensing/standards (currently minimal or nonexistent in the industry). Also missing is the notion that a professional might actually have to sell her/his services: Thus, "storyselling," portfolio preparation, and other marketing of services principles/techniques are omitted. In fact, the last of these topics often populate many Internet-based discussions and email threads, because every year there is a new crop of novice professionals who seek advice from elder mentors on everything from acquiring disability insurance to how to deal with clients who won't pay for services rendered. If I had to disaggregate further the above topics into undergraduate and graduate subjects, well, that is a major task that many institutions have already attempted with varying degrees of success. If I were asked where might I place special emphasis, I would suggest the following: I believe different regions of the Earth, different countries, different socioeconomic-political conditions may give rise to different needs and orientations to courses of study. For example, I was impressed recently by professor Gary Marsden's graduate-student projects at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, which focused on somewhat unique, indigenous circumstances. Graduate student projects took on objectives of assisting nutritional training for young mothers suffering from HIV/AIDS, encouraging involvement of schoolchildren with aboriginal story-


This study consisted of audio-taped interviews with ten nursing administrators from ten work sites in St. John's Newfoundland. The research design combined critical ethnography and critical theory, which together comprised an intensive research design" outlined by Morrow (1994). This design allowed a small number of case studies (ten) to be considered in terms of a great number of individual properties in order to examine nursing leadership for its potential, skills and use within the health care systems. Nursing is undergoing social change and increased pressure from the government, nursing associations and the marketplace making it imperative that nursing meet a mandate for leadership. -- The thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter one gives the introduction: Chapter two provides a literature review; Chapter three, the research design and methodology; Chapter four is comprised of the lived experiences of the informants; Chapter five is an interpretative analysis of chapter four and includes document analysis; and, Chapter six provides a more intensive analysis of chapter four. Bolman and Deal (1991) and O'Toole (1995) provide a critical theory in-depth analysis of nursing leadership in organizations affected by change. Recommendations are included. -- The research study showed that nurses are providing leadership in multiple settings but nursing leadership is difficult in the present times of change. There were indications that nurse leaders still face asymmetrical patterns of power and privilege, with dominance exercised by the medical profession. This dominance was cited as a key factor in nurses ability to determine their future roles in the emerging new structures of health care delivery. -- The study could not fully address nurses' ability to meet the current marketplace needs because the changes to health care are still too recent, with rapid changes still occurring. Two themes did arise from the study. Does the health care system want or value nurses as leaders? Do nurses and the health care system realize the potential of nurses as leaders?


Antibiotics are widely used as veterinary medicine for therapeutic purposes as well as for prophylaxis and growth promotion. The present study quantitatively analyzed the occurrence of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin residues in a total of 55 broiler liver samples from small-holder farms in the Districts of Malang and Blitar (East Java Province). Detection of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin in the chicken liver was conducted using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a UV detector. Analysis results show forty samples did not contain both ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin residues, 7 samples were detected for ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin residue at the total concentration of 286.47-859.11 ng/g, 15 samples were detected for enrofloxacin residue in the range of 88.04-801.82 ng/g, 7 samples were detected for ciprofloxacin residue in the range of 100.47-430.03 ng/g. Total enrofloxacin (sum of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin) from 55 samples with a concentration of 88.04-859.11 ng/g was found in 15 samples and 12 among those samples exceeded 200 ng/g. The occurrence of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin residues in some liver samples in this research indicated that enrofloxacin was still used by broiler farmers especially in the District of Malang. Therefore, proper actions should be taken to avoid the emergence of antibiotic resistance in consumers as well as in the environment.


Tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) are being widely used in gas hydrate research for their potential to store natural gas. The mixed promoter system of THF and TBAB has not yet been investigated for the phase stability conditions of methane hydrate. In this work, the phase stability of methane hydrate has been investigated in the presence of a mixed promoter (THF + TBAB) in the absence and presence of various inhibitors, viz., sodium chloride (NaCl), methanol (MeOH), and ethylene glycol (EG), at various concentrations. The phase equilibrium data has been reported in the temperature and pressure ranges of (282.25–289.65) K and (2.25–6.43) MPa, respectively. The heat of dissociation has been determined using the Clausius–Clapeyron equation for various methane hydrate systems. MeOH is observed to be an effective inhibitor as compared to EG and NaCl on the methane hydrate system formed from the mixed promoter system of THF + TBAB. With an increase in the concentration of MeOH, the...


A 10 GHz low power CMOS quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) realized with LC-tank is presented. The QVCO is fabricated by TSMC 0.18/spl mu/m 1P6M CMOS process. Based on the simulation results, this circuit draws 7.52 mA current from 1.8 V power supply. The total power consumption is 13.54 mW including the buffer. The tuning range is 730 MHz (about 7.3 %) and the phase noise is -103.44 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz offset at 10 GHz. Compared with the recent proposed works by using the power-frequency-normalized figure of merit (FOM), it shows a better phase noise performance and lower power consumption.


This paper presents a new approach for automatic license plate detection using an embedded camera inside a moving vehicle, implemented in a low-cost prototype. The key idea of the proposed method is to initially identify shadowed regions under the rear of visible vehicles, and then explore information from a calibrated camera to reduce the search space for license plates. Within the search space, any "baseline" detector can be used, and the results are validated exploring the expected size of a license plate in world coordinates and the known camera parameters. Our experimental results show that we can increase the speed of a "baseline" detector by 93%, and at the same time improving the f-score (increase in precision without significant loss in recall).


Lignin was precipitated from kraft black liquor using carbon dioxide. To remove the residual black liquor and to purify the lignin, a pilot press filter or a pilot belt filter was used, and their performance was compared. The purity, molecular weight distribution, morphology, chemical and thermal properties of the final lignin product were characterized. The results showed that the lignin recovered from both the filter press and the belt filter was sufficiently pure to be used as a fuel in the lime kiln (or in most other combustion processes), or in any of the several possible high-value applications. No major difference was observed in the physico-chemical properties of lignins produced using a belt filter vs. a filter press. However, the solids content of the lignin filtered through the press filter was about 2 times higher than the one obtained using the belt filter, and the filtration rate obtained with the filter press was 5 to 6 times higher than that obtained with the belt filter. The purified lignin product recovered from the filter press was used to substitute 30, 40 and 50% of the phenol present in the formulation of the lignin-phenol-formaldehyde (LPF) resins used as an adhesive for the preparation of plywood samples. The results showed that up to 30% of phenol could be replaced by kraft lignin, without any major change in plywood shear strength.


Objective: To study topographical variations of the healthy human long saphenous vein structure and its age-related changes. Methods: One hundred and forty-four specimens taken at different levels from 36 long saphenous veins were studied by correlated light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Results: Continuous remodelling occurs in the wall of the long saphenous vein during the progress of life. In young subjects, the intima was narrow, circular muscular cells were present only in the media, and a rich elastic framework was evident in all the three tunicae. A progressive increase in collagen content and longitudinal musculature accompanied by a reduction in elastic tissue was observed in relation to ageing. Furthermore, at all ages, the saphenous vein wall thickened in its caudal portion due to a greater cellular proliferation and deposit of extracellular matrix. Conclusions: The topographical variations in saphenous wall structure as well as its age-related remodelling likely represent the parietal reaction to the physiological hydrostatic load related to the vertical pasture.


A system includes an off-memory-module ECC-supplemental memory. In a process, an ECC-capable memory controller converts non-ECC data words to ECC data words and distributes each ECC data word between a non-ECC memory module set (of one or more non-ECC memory modules) and the ECC-supplemental memory. A host computer system can include a baseboard on which are mounted an ECC-capable memory controller, off-memory-module ECC-supplemental memory, and sockets for installing non-ECC memory modules.


Signal space diversity (SSD) has been viewed as a very efficient method to increase the diversity order and the reliability of wireless transmission over fading channels. The LDPC code can provide powerful error protection. The quasi cyclic structure which has significant advantage for memory efficiency, facilitates encoder and decoder implementation through shift register based circuits. The combination of quasi-cyclic LDPC codes and SSD is an effective technique to improve the performance of communication system for fading channel. This paper discusses a signal space diversity with a precoder by adding a simple encoder before applying the rotation matrix that can be viewed as a SSD with rate below 1. We propose three design criteria and two implementation method. And we further consider a quasi-cyclic LDPC-coded signal space diversity with precoding and their rate reallocation between channel coding and SSD. The simulation results show that our scheme outperforms the conventional coded-SSD over the fading channel when we get a better rate allocation that depends on the specific channel coding.


This paper examines the history and practice of industrial anthropology in Argentina. The development of this subfield is discussed in the context of Argentina's recent history and research institutions.


The constant-rate operation of a system utilizing asbestos filter-pads for the cold sterilization of a tissue culture medium is described. Filtration theory is briefly reviewed with regard to the constant-rate process, and the results of several data treatment methods are reported. The standard law of Hermans and Bredee4, 5 best describes the constant-rate data. Computation of the data, when plotted by the standard-law method, results in two straight lines divided by a transition zone. The second region is characterized by a slower plugging rate and a plot of the standard-law slopes versus the initial filtration pressures shows a linear relation. The constant-rate method is compared with the constant-pressure method and is found to yield equivalent overall filtrate rates at lower operating pressures.

The observed filtration behaviour is discussed, and available data are presented to indicate the sterilization capability of the filter.