PurposeSince the early 2000s there has been increased attention on the professionalisation of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in many OECD countries. This study focuses on what Australian early childhood educators holding the lowest level of qualification – Certificate III are experiencing in relation to their professional capital in a sector that is experiencing wide-spread and ongoing reform. The study identifies the human capital, social capital and decisional capital of these educators, then explores the interconnections.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was funded by the Australian Research Council. The qualitative data consider the capabilities of certificate-qualified educators and how these are enabled or constrained within the workplace. The corpus of data for this study consists of 14 interviews with Certificate III-qualified educators from three locations across Victoria, Australia. Hargreaves and Fullan's (2012) forms of professional capital (human, social and decisional) act as organisers for the themes identified through a thematic analysis.FindingsThemes identified in the data speak to inequity in access to professional learning, the valuing of life experiences, clear divisions of labour that impact what knowledge is valued, and differences in educator agency in the decision-making process. Many certificate-qualified educators experience a workplace culture that lacks trust in an individual's professional competence and does not appreciate collegial knowledge and skill building as a collective enterprise.Originality/valueThe conceptual framing of this study provides a unique way to explore the experiences of certificate-trained educators. The study introduces the idea of using exploratory categories and the identification of levels of human, social and decisional capital. This type of study involving this cohort of educators is unique.


A storage count verification system is provided in which a client can verify the number of identical data items stored by a server without the server being notified of the results. A storage count verification system for verifying whether a user device and a server device have identical data in a case where search data requested by a user device is used to search data to be searched on a server device, wherein the server device is provided with a server generation unit for generating a public parameter for searching the data to be searched and a server communication unit for transmitting the generated public parameter to the user device and the user device is provided with a user generation unit for generating, on the basis of the public parameter received from the server device, a secret parameter that is for the search data and corresponds to the public parameter and a user encryption unit for encrypting the search data on the basis of the generated secret parameter.


The purpose of this paper is to outline the development, structure, and implementation of a new programme for domestic abuse (DA) perpetrators.,A needs-led DA perpetrator programme is proposed, named as "Up2U: Creating Healthy Relationships" (Up2U). The background to Up2U, its aims, configuration, and delivery methods are presented in this paper. To illustrate Up2U, the targets for change and referral population in the development site are discussed. Furthermore, the paper reflects on some of the implementation decisions and the steps taken towards evaluating the impact of Up2U in the development site.,Research supports provision of treatment targeting perpetrators' criminogenic needs, delivered with responsivity to their learning styles, at an intensity that matches their risk. Change on treatment targets can be evaluated in the context of differences in recidivism outcomes to help assess whether impact can be attributed to the programme. It can also serve as a more proximal index of success/failure for individual clients. Such implementation and evaluation decisions are a benefit of the present researcher-practitioner partnership.,Up2U is innovative by being risk-and needs-led rather than taking a gendered approach to DA treatment, and this new evidence-based approach may reduce partner abuse. This is the first paper to outline Up2U's structure, content, implementation, and measurement.


An approach for the calculation of the specific heat energy, qice, needed for melting of the ice in the wood has been suggested. The approach takes into account to a maximum degree the physics of the processes of thawing of the ice, formed by both the bounded and the free water in the wood. It reflects the influence of the temperature, wood moisture content, wood density, and for the first time also of the influence of the fiber saturation point of each wood specie on qice during wood defrosting and the influence of the temperature on the fiber saturation point of frozen and non-frozen wood. An equation for the easy determination of the specific heat energy, qfw, needed for the melting of the ice, which is formed by the free water in the wood has been derived, depending on the basic density of the wood b, the wood moisture content u, and the fiber saturation point ufsp. An equation for the determination at u≥ ufsp of the specific heat energy qbw, needed for the melting of the ice, which is formed by the bounded water in the wood has been derived as well, depending on b, u, ufsp, and the initial temperature of the frozen wood tw0. The specific heat energy qice equals to qfw + qbw. For the calculation of the qfw and qbw according to a suggested approach and according to the mathematical description of qfw and qbw a software program has been prepared in MS Excel 2010. With the help of the program calculations have been carried out for the determination of qfw and qbw for oak, beech, pine and poplar frozen wood with moisture content ufsp ≤ u ≤ 1.0 kg·kg −1 at a temperature range for tw0 from – 20 °C to – 1 °C. Кeywords: wood, defrosting, ice from bounded water, ice from free water, specific heat energy, .basic density, specific heat capacity, fiber saturation point


The work presented in this research paper has focused on the effect of network to-pology adaptation on search performance in peer to peer overlay network. Guided search vs. blind search have been studied with the aim of improving the search re-sults and decreasing the time a search message would take to reach the destination. The network has been formulated as a bi-direction graph with vertices represent network nodes and edges represent connections. The level of network subject of this study is on application layer, that means two nodes are connected if they know each other contact addresses. A good example of this kind of network is the social network where all the lower layers are hidden from the end user. Two different search algorithms have been studied under these circumstances, namely: depth first algorithm and breadth first algorithm. Furthermore, the algorithms performance is examined under random topology (scale free network topology) and under topology adaptation. A simulation scenario has been designed to investigate the fidelity of the system and study the suggested solutions. Simulation results have shown that the search algorithms are performing better under topology adaptation in terms of re-sults quality and search time.


86 Figure 1 Abstract 86 Figure 2 Abstract 85 Figure 3 Block room staffing effects Abstracts86 Figure 2 Abstract 85 Figure 3 Block room staffing effects Abstracts Reg Anesth Pain Med 2021;70(Suppl 1):A1–A127 A45 on D ecem er 3, 2021 by gest. P rocted by coright. htt//rapm bm jcom / R eg A nsth P in M d: frst pulished as 10.136/rapm -221-E S R A 86 on 9 S etem er 221. D ow nladed fom 87 THE ERECTOR SPINAE PLANE BLOCK (ESPB) IN INTERMITTENT DOSES FOR VIDEO ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC SURGERY (VATS) F Longo*, E Tomaselli, M Martuscelli, A Riccetti. Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital,


Solid state NMR is widely applied in studies of solid state chemistries for hydrogen storage reactions. Use of 11 B MAS NMR in studies of metal borohydrides (BH4) is mainly focused, revisiting the issue of dodecaborane formation and observation of 11 B{ 1 H} Nuclear Overhauser Effect.


The neoclassical description of an axisymmetric toroidal plasma equilibrium is formulated for an unconventionally low ordering of the collisionality that suits realistic thermonuclear fusion conditions. This requires a drift-kinetic analysis to the second order of the ion Larmor radius, which yields a new contribution to the leading solution for the non-Maxwellian part of the ion distribution function if the equilibrium geometry is not up-down symmetric. An explicit geometrical factor weighs this second Larmor-radius order, low-collisionality effect that modifies the neoclassical ion parallel flow, and the ion contribution to the bootstrap current.


ABSTRACT: This study investigates whether managers use classification shifting to manage earnings when reporting discontinued operations. Using a methodology similar to McVay (2006), we find evidence consistent with the hypothesis that firms shift operating expenses to income-decreasing discontinued operations to increase core earnings. Our findings also indicate that managers use classification shifting to meet or beat analysts' forecasts. Finally, we find that, since the introduction of SFAS No. 144, the reporting frequency of discontinued operations has increased; however, the magnitude of classification shifting has decreased. We provide potential explanations for this finding.


Chemical compositions of a weld can be varying locally as a result of the welding process. These local variations can be due to the vaporization of individual alloying elements. In this work, tungsten inert gas (TIG) bead-on-plate stainless steel welds of EN grade 1.4404 and 1.4435 were investigated using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) on the completed welds. This study aims to reveal the welding parameters' influence on the resulting local chemical compositions of the stainless steel welds. We demonstrated Mn vaporize before Cr due to its lower latent enthalpy of vaporization. Hence, Mn accumulates on the heat-affected zone (HAZ) both sides across the weld bead by being swept away through the circulation flow of the welding plasma. Additionally, increasing the heat input tends to enhance the accumulated Mn content on the HAZ as well as increasing the shielding gas flow rate. The results are in good agreement with the literature and proved that LIBS is an effective method to inspect completed welds.


Olfactory transduction involves second messenger-related enzymes and cAMP-gated, K+ and Ca2+ channels, which are known to be regulated by Ca2+. We report here that cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in olfactory receptor neuron was increased by odorants or forskolin and Ca2+ influx contributed to the adaptation. The increases in [Ca2+]i were below two to three-fold of resting level and transient for 26 s (mean value, n = 18). The increases were due to two pathways: Ca2+ influx and release. The slow increases in [Ca2+]i by forskolin resembled those by citralva. It was suggested that the responses to citralva were accompanied by increases in intracellular cAMP and Ca2+ influx or release leading to transient increases in [Ca2+]i.


The aim of the present paper is to prove that the minimal number of virtual crossings for some families of virtual knots grows quadratically with respect to the minimal number of classical crossings. All previously known estimates for virtual crossing number ([D. M. Afanasiev, Refining the invariants of virtual knots by using parity, Sb. Math.201(6) (2010) 3–18; H. A. Dye and L. H. Kauffman, Virtual crossing numbers and the arrow polynomial, in The Mathematics of Knots. Theory and Applications, eds. M. Banagl and D. Vogel (Springer-Verlag, 2010); S. Satoh and Y. Tomiyama, On the crossing number of a virtual knot, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc.140 (2012) 367–376] and so on) were principally no more than linear in the number of classical crossings (or, what is the same, in the number of edges of a virtual knot diagram) and no virtual knot was found with virtual crossing number greater than the classical crossing number.


Introduction: by a genetic alteration characterized by the presence of an extra chromosome in the pair 21. This congenital disease is produced


For the purpose of removing acid-insoluble lignin and reducing cellulose loss,the pretreatment of bamboo(Neosinocalamus affinis Mcclure) was studied.The key factors of alkali pretreatment were studied and analyzed through the single factor and the orthogonal test.Under the orthogonal conditions of the sodium hydroxide concentration 5%,temperature 30 ℃,time 48 h,the solid-solution ratio 1∶10,acid-insoluble lignin removing rate were 51.2%,and the corresponding cellulose losing rate was 10.2%.Using the mild alkaline/oxidative pretreatment under the above-mentioned conditions,the acid-insoluble lignin removing rate were 67.8%,increased 32.4% compared with alkali pretreatment,the cellulose losing rate was 13.7%,increased 34.1% as well.


Cementitious materials are typical porous medium, which are widely used in civil engineering and thermal buildings. The thermal and hydrate properties of the material are fundamental to predict accurately the energy needs and the reliable duration of the structures in a long term. Due to the complicated coupling, the thermal capacity, conductivity and source term in energy equation are affected by the humidity distribution and the microstructure evolution of the porous materials. The coupling relation of thermal and hydrate properties are summarized in this work, the coupled drying model is discussed, and the experiment is performed to verify the simulation results for RH (Relative humidity) and ML (Mass loss). Two approaches are adopted to estimate the humidity/water content profile in the porous medium and to analyse the temperature effect. In addition, the equivalent hydrate capacity and conductivity are identified as function of humidity. The significance of this work lies in predicting the energy demand, the long-term thermal behaviour, taking into account the change of the thermal cementitious materials properties during their service time. Such inner structure is consequence of the system durability where the temperature, water content and humidity will act on the cracks settling within the material.


We investigated the effect of increased bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced increase in activity and expression of heme oxygenase (HO)‐1 in the locus coeruleus (LC) during endotoxemia. Rats were implanted with a guide cannula toward the fourth ventricle and were microinjected with a NO donor (NOC12; 100 nmol/2μl) and injected with LPS (100 μg/kg, intraperitoneal). Two hours after, we evaluated activity and expression of HO‐1 protein in LC punches. Data are expressed as mg of bilirubin/mg of protein or as the HO‐1/β‐actin protein expression ratio. In endotoxemic rats, microinjection of NOC12 tended to augment the LPS‐induced increase in activity (0.227±0.032 vs. 0.261±0.036, n=9–11, P>;0.05), and did not affect the LPS‐induced increase in expression of HO‐1 (1.121 ± 0.2167 vs. 0.7011 ± 0.1901, n=9–12, P>;0.05). The present findings indicate that increased bioavailability of NO does not further upregulate either activity or expression of HO‐1 in the LC of endotoxemic rats. Financial support: FAPESP.


Simulation is an important method to evaluate future computer systems. However, the increasing complexity of the target systems has made the development of simulators very difficult. Furthermore, detailed simulation of large-scale parallel architecture is so slow that full evaluation of real application becomes a great challenge. This paper presents SimICT, a fast and flexible simulation framework which aims at performance and power evaluation for large-scale architecture. SimICT uses component-based design to improve its flexibility of building target systems. It also introduces an automatic parallel mechanism with relaxed synchronization to speed up the simulation. Finally, it provides a graphic configuration interface to ease the use difficulty. Based on this framework, various existing models, such as performance and power modeling tools, can be integrated to produce a holistic simulation platform.


To extend the pressure measurement capability of a Bayard–Alpert (BA) gauge, several commercial BA gauges are modified. To study the position dependence of filament on gauge sensitivity, hair‐pin filaments instead of commercial helical filaments were used. The characteristics of the modified gauge, which included the variation of the gauge sensitivity on the applied voltage and the position of the filament, are reported. To monitor the normal and the reverse x‐ray photocurrents, the gauge was inserted into a fixed size tube of 304 LN stainless steel. The validity of the self‐modulation was confirmed. A sensitivity of 60 Torr−1 and an x‐ray limit of 2.7×10−13 Torr (N2 equivalent) was obtained.


We use data from three nationally representative surveys to document that very few households report purchasing cars with home equity lines of credit or the proceeds from a cash-out refinancing. Households that do report using these sources of funds to purchase cars tend to be affluent and appear to have ample access to credit. These findings suggest that an easing of home-equity borrowing constraints was not the major factor driving any relationship between home prices and car sales during the housing boom in the 2000s. We discuss other mechanisms that might underlie this relationship.


This paper is a study of the singular pronoun of address in Piers Plowman. Previous studies have held that Langland's use of second-person pronouns conformed to the Old English system where the distinction between the thou and ye type pronouns was strictly based on number. This view has accorded with the assumption that singular ye in the late fourteenth century was restricted to "courtly" genres (Burnley 2003: 29). The appearance of singular ye in the manuscripts has mainly been explained by scribal interference; at best, Samuels (1988: 214) states that authorial usage is impossible to define. The present study is based on a detailed analysis of scribal variants in all three versions of Piers Plowman. It suggests that the use of ye comes no less naturally to Langland than to Chaucer, and that it forms an integral part of the language of Piers Plowman. The extent of scribal alteration with regard to this feature was modest, and there seems to be no reason to interpret the shared usage as anything but authorial. Finally, it is suggested that the choice between thou and ye in this period was not merely a question of authorial creativity but an obligatory choice for the speaker, with real social and pragmatic implications.


The study results indicated that soaking ramie in "Qianglujing" at the concentration of 5% (10g/200mL) for 1~2 hours had the best effect, it could disintegrate 9.24%~10.58% of gum, and maintain 0.595~0.612 N/tex of fibre strength.


Sourdough bread ready for use: - consisting of a culture medium based flour containing at least one cereal flour and water, and being inoculated and fermented with a selection of microorganisms, said selection comprising lactic acid bacteria, containing said sourdough bread: - acetic acid in a content of at least 7 g / l and preferably at least 10 g / l and optionally also lactic acid, - at least 108 and preferably at least 109 CFU bacteria lactic per gram, of which at least 60%, preferably at least 75%, and more preferably at least 95% are homofermentative lactic acid bacteria capable of producing acetic acid by consuming lactic acid in substance lack of fermentable sugars; presenting said sourdough bread ready to use the following features: - a pH between 3.8 and 4.5, preferably 4.0 4.3; - containing less than 5 g / kg, preferably less than 3 g / kg, and more preferably less than 1 g / kg to fermentable sugars by the microorganisms; and - a ratio fermentation QF exceeding 4.75; preferably not exceeding 4.00 and more preferably not exceeding 3.00.


Exchange interactions among defects in semiconductors are commonly treated within effective-mass theory using a scaled hydrogenic wave function. However, such a wave function is only applicable to shallow impurities; here, we present a simple but robust generalization to treat deep donors, in which we treat the long-range part of the wave function using the well-established quantum defect theory, and include a model central-cell correction to fix the bound-state eigenvalue at the experimentally observed value. This allows us to compute the effect of binding energy on exchange interactions as a function of donor distance; this is a significant quantity given recent proposals to carry out quantum information processing using deep donors. As expected, exchange interactions are suppressed or increased, compared to the hydrogenic case, by the greater localization or delocalization of the wave functions of deep donors or "supershallow" donors with binding energy less than the hydrogenic value. The calculated results are compared with a simple scaling of the Heitler-London hydrogenic exchange; the scaled hydrogenic results give the correct order of magnitude but fail to reproduce quantitatively our calculations. We calculate the donor exchange in silicon including intervalley interference terms for donor pairs along the 100 direction, and also show the influence of the donor type on the distribution of nearest-neighbor exchange constants at different concentrations. Our methods can be used to compute the exchange interactions between two donor electrons with arbitrary binding energy.


Work performed during the period 1 Jan. - 31 Mar. 1993 on six degree of freedom active vibration damping for space application is presented. A performance and cost report is included. Topics covered include: actuator testing; mechanical amplifier design; and neural network control system development and experimental evaluation.


In this paper we demonstrate design and fabrication of two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) ring resonators prepared by 3D laser lithography based on two photon polymerization. We used dip-in direct-laser-writing (DLW) optical lithography to fabricate 3D optical structures for optics and optoelectronics. Prepared structures are embedded in polydimethylsiloxane, which is well known silicon elastomer with unique mechanical and optical properties. This polymer structure allows to couple light directly from single mode optical fiber to the ring resonator structure, where polydimethylsiloxane creates cladding. Optical properties of prepared 2D and 3D ring resonators were investigated by measurement of transmission spectral characteristics.


Abstract The departure of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) (often referred to as 'Brexit') is likely to have a significant impact on the environment. In this article I argue against seeing the traffic as all one way. While there was a temptation for the advocates of staying in the EU, in the context of referendum campaigning, to portray the UK as a laggard pressured into positive environmental performance by the EU as leader, the reality is that the UK has also strengthened the EU's environmental policy in some areas and seen its own weakened in others. Influence in both directions has also varied over time. The article goes on to consider core 'Leave' arguments around sovereignty and 'taking back control', exploring the implications of these in the specific context of environmental governance. In discussing subsidiarity, it concludes that leaving the EU will not remove the need for pooling some sovereignty over environmental matters at the international level and, in the context of devolution, at the UK level.


Leaderless group discussions (LGDs) constitute one of the oldest assessment center exercises. In recent times, their added value has sometimes been questioned in light of trends to streamline assessment centers. The purpose of the present study is to examine the incre-mental validity of LGD ratings over cognitive ability scores and personality ratings for the prediction of extrinsic career success (i.e., promotion speed and number of promotions). We investigated this issue in the context of the promotion of French naval officers (N 5 93) in an academy for high-level executive positions over a 10-year period. Results indicated that LGD ratings accounted for incremental variance in the prediction of promotion criterion measures, beyond cognitive ability and personality test scores. These results confirm that LGD ratings provide a unique contribution to the prediction of extrinsic career success in high-level executive positions.


Background: Oxycodone is a semi‐synthetic opioid with a μ‐receptor agonist‐mediated effect in several pain conditions, including post‐operative pain. Oxycodone is metabolized to its active metabolite oxymorphone by O‐demethylation via the polymorphic CYP2D6. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CYP2D6 poor metabolizers (PMs) yield the same analgesia post‐operatively from intravenous oxycodone as extensive metabolizers (EMs).


Investigation results of effective population of states of 5d-configuration of Ce 3+ ions by energy transfer from Pr 3+ ions in LiY 0.3 Lu 0.7 F 4 (LYLF) crystals are discussed. The real concentrations of Pr 3+ and Ce 3+ ions in LYLF crystals are determined. Such parameters as excited 4f-5d state photoionization cross-section of Pr 3+ ions, ground state cross-section of Ce 3+ ions at 266 nm wavelengths and energy transfer coefficients of energy transfer from Pr 3+ to Ce 3+ ions were estimated. The results of pump-probe experiments on 5d-4f transitions of Ce 3+ ions in LYLF crystals are presented. The optimal parameters for getting maximal gain on 5d-4f transitions of Ce 3+ ions were determined by mathematical modeling.


What happens when Afro-Brazilian sounds like samba are lifted from their context of origin and performed by and for non-Brazilians in Canada? In particular, what happens to the samba groove--"cadencia" or "suingue" as Brazilians call it--and what does this suingue do, or not do, to those performing? I explore such questions by focusing on two interrelated matters pertaining to what the editors of this volume refer to as a presumed Brazilian improvisative consciousness: the pedagogical dynamics of samba transmission, and the dialectics of freedom and restraint in samba's creative processes, particularly in the context of Canadian samba. This article is informed by my ongoing field research with performers of Afro-Brazilian music in Toronto and surrounding areas who play in large, amateur ensembles such as Batucada Carioca, of which I am a member.


In this paper, a novel microstrip filter is proposed, which can realize a third-order quasi-elliptic bandpass response. In order to reveal the physical mechanism of the microstrip filter, a lumped-element equivalent circuit is set up and the equivalence relations between its circuit elements and the electrical parameters of the microstrip filter are presented. According to filter specifications, the initial structural parameters of the microstrip filter can be easily calculated through these equivalence relations. As demonstration, an actual microstrip filter was designed, fabricated and measured, whose center frequency is at 2.50 GHz and fractional bandwidth is 36%. There are two transmission zeros near to the passband to improve the frequency selectivity, which makes the roll-off rate at each side of the passband as high as 125 and 50 dB/GHz, respectively. The out-of-band suppression from 3.6 to 6.1 GHz is greater than 40 dB. The size of the fabricated filter is  $0.21\lambda \text {g} \times 0.18\lambda \text{g}$ , which is very compact.


Combining intracellular electrophysiology and multi-photon calcium imaging in vivo, we studied the relationship between calcium signals (sampled at 500–750 Hz) and spike output in principal neurons in the locust antennal lobe. Our goal was to determine whether the firing rate of individual neurons can be estimated in vivo with calcium imaging and, if so, to measure directly the accuracy and resolution of our estimates. Using the calcium indicator Oregon Green BAPTA-1, we describe a simple method to reconstruct firing rates from dendritic calcium signals with 80–90% accuracy and 50 ms temporal resolution.


Serum cholinesterase 2 (CHE2) was examined in a Danish material of normal families that has been tested earlier for 70–78 classical marker systems and 25 RFLP systems. DNA for RFLP typing was provided by transforming 16‐year‐old frozen lymphocytes. The frequency of allele CHE2*C5 + in the Danish population was found to be 0.0430. The highest lod score was between CHE2 and the γ‐crystallin gene cluster (CRYG) (ẑ= 4.21 at θ= 0.00 in females). The scores were from a single family with 15 children. CHE2 may, accordingly, be assigned to the location of CRYG: chromosome 2, bands q33‐q35.


Introduction: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are the basic need for all, especially for children. The WASH related matter is still burning issue in the context of developing countries like Nepal. This article is aimed to assess the factors associated with diarrheal diseases among under five children in Godawari Municipality of Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 742 households from Godawari Municipality. A random sampling technique was applied for data collection. Households with at least one under-five year child were included in the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 20. Univariate and multivariate analysis were carried to determine the relationships between the potential associated factors and diarrheal diseases. Results: Households with piped water supply for drinking purpose were 98.2%, with improved sanitation 99.5%, no open defecation 100% and 95.1% of households used soap and water for hand-washing. The prevalence of diarrhea among children under the age of 5 years was 50%. Family type (aOR= 0.62, P = 0.008), number of children in household (aOR= 0.13, P = 0.003], occupation as housewife (aOR=1.69, P = 0.02), ethnicity (aOR= 0.23, P = 0.004), location of water source (aOR= 1.95, P = 0.04), sharing of toilet (aOR= 0.56, P = 0.001), critical hand washing before feeding child (aOR= 2.46, P = 0.05) and location of hand washing facility (aOR= 0.26, P = 0.008) were significantly associated factors with the occurrence of childhood diarrheal diseases. Discussion and Conclusion: Childhood diarrhea remains the most common health problem in the study area despite the good WASH situation of Godawari Municipality as compared to national indicators. This study implies the policymakers and local government authority to investigate and launch more awareness program for the reduction of children's diarrheal disease in the study area. Journal of Health and Social Sciences 2021; 6,2:269-280 The Italian Journal for Interdisciplinary Health and Social Development


This paper presents the considerations required to study and assess the connection impact of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) onto utility grids. The EMTP-RV model of the system and a case study of one of the most recent BESS connection impact studies, done for Kitchener Wilmot Hydro, will be presented. It will be shown that in addition to the conventional steady state studies, transient modeling and analysis are also required for the successful connection impact assessment of a battery energy storage system.


We consider the notion of a contract that governs the behavior of a collection of agents. In particular, we study the question of whether a coalition among these agents can achieve a given goal by following the contract. We define a generalised weakest precondition semantics for contracts that permits us to compute the initial states from which a coalition has a winning strate- gy to reach their goal. Notions of correctness and refinement with respect to coalitions are introduced, together with proof rules for correctness and principles for refinement and equivalence transformations. We illustrate the framework with a three agent contract, showing how one can reason about the possibilities that different coalitions of agents have for reaching specific goals.


The current experimental study (N= 175) investigates whether a cognitive advertising literacy training session may attenuate the effectiveness of advergames by activating 6-to-7 year old children's cognitive and moral advertising literacy. In addition, the study investigates whether the effect of advertising literacy on brand evaluations is mediated by children's affective reactions towards the game. The results show that a cognitive advertising literacy training session activates children's cognitive but not their moral advertising literacy. Further, the results show that both cognitive and moral advertising literacy affect children's brand evaluations negatively via a negative effect on their affective reactions towards the advergame.


In this study, the effects created by indebtedness which have become a strategy of making life sustainable are discussed from the viewpoint of construction workers the subjects of temporary inclusion into unstable and precarious labour market within the frame of their stigmatization and vulnerability processes and their efforts to be acquitted. This study focuses on the fact of stigma in the context of the relationships between indebtedness and the flexible, temporary, precarious working regimes of subcontracting systems. By taking into consideration the interconnection dynamics of subcontracted employment relationships, the forms of production and transmission of knowledge concerning worker's state of indebtedness in their relationship network and the course of [being] discredit(ed) are considered with regards to indebted workers. The influences of the apparency problem, with the conditions that make intebtedness visible, on the processes of inclusion into labour market and of exclusion from it with respect to labour force and also the functional property of existing apparency are studied in terms of employers/foremen. It is anticipated that this study will contribute to analysing the relationships between indebtedness and stigma by pointing out the stigmatizer character of indebtedness and its role in employment relationships.


Capturing the dynamics of urban fire situation is a basic but challenging task, which takes an indispensable role in the field of urban security and fire emergency decision. Traditional methods approach the urban fire prediction via stochastic process based on physics or statistics, which may be interpretable but less practical in real applications. Recently, some data-driven models, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and Graph Convolutional Neural Network (GCN), seem to be fruitful in capturing spatio-temporal dynamics with massive high-dimension data. In this paper, we process some regional urban fire dataset of recent six years in the fire situation awareness images (FSAIs) and extract pixel-level latent representations with CNNs while GCNs are applied to process some spatial graph structure auxiliary information to obtain graph-level latent representations. And then Urban Fire Situation Prediction Neural Network (UFSP-Net) is formulated as a novel urban fire prediction model, integrating these two different kind of spatial latent representations and RNN structure. In comparison to other traditional algorithms, such as Conv-RNN, UFSP-Net demonstrates its superior prediction performance for multi type urban fire in spatio-temporal scale.


The modified copolyester chip was selected.The spinning experiment of easy-to-dye profiled PET fiber was carried on the exist POY two positions high speed spinning machine.The optimum process conditions were determined.The experiments showed that the EDDP fiber can be dyed under normal pressue.The products had a complete range of colour spectrum and good performances.


Motolobalango traditional procession is a cultural activity that has been hereditary done by people of Gorontalo. In this traditional procession, there is a dialogue between the two spokesmen, from the family of the groom and the bride's family. The procession occurred in a sacred custom event. For some people, this procession is only as a part of the procession which must be passed if the wedding is done by customary, so the traditional procession of meaning is often overlooked. From the traditional procession of motolobalango, the interactions of both spokesmen show discourse that reflects the realities of the knowledge of society of Gorontalo namely the relationship between language and culture. The purpose of this study is to reveal and to explain the philosophical values in the traditional procession of motolobalango and also one way of maintain Gorontalo language from extinction. Motolobalango traditional procession has philosophical values that aims to glorify human being. This research data is qualitative data which is derived from dialog of the spokesman of the family of a man called 'Lundu dulungo layi'o (LDL) and spokesman of the woman's family called' Lundu dulungo wolato (LDW). Data were collected through observation and interviews, which are then analyzed through the ethnography of communication that uses units of interaction called Hymes with 'nested hierarchy', i.e the speech situation, speech events and speech acts. The values of philosophy in the traditional procession of motolobalango include worship, sincerity, appreciation, and tolerance values.


Statement of the problem: When molecular biologists observed in 1953 that the sequence of the DNA four bases in the nucleus of a cell influenced the sequence of the twenty amino acids of protein in the cytoplasm, they desired to find a code to account for the correlation, and eventually had the 64 triplet genetic code in 1954 from a mathematician, which is currently in use but not flawless.
Methodology and theoretical orientation: The said observation is seen as a natural example of an input/output system, in which the input is the DNA four bases and the output is the sequence of 24 permutations of the four DNA bases constituting the genetic code in the cytoplasm. A combinatorial input/output multiplicative replication system armed with basic permutations computation schemes is now available to produce permutations systematically, such as Square Kinematics Scheme and Successive Collateral Posting Scheme used.
Findings: A 24 quadruplet genetic code was produced by each of the two methods with an input set of the DNA four bases. It is shown in the successive collateral posting method that the 64 triplets comprise 40 non-permutations and 24 permutations. The 40 non-permutation triplets are crossed out leaving 24 permutation triplets which are undersized and therefore unqualified to represent the genetic code output sequence from an input set of 4.
Conclusion and significance: The 24 quadruplet genetic code is a breakthrough in the Molecular Biologists' search for a code following their observation which ended up with the 64-triplet genetic code that has no combinatorially valid code word being triplets, instead of quadruplets.
Recommendations: These are made towards effective publicity of the new 24 quadruplet genetic code to attract experimental experts to spell it to win adoption in coding application in protein studies for a desired relief to stakeholders in genetics.


The tournament hypothesis of Brown et al. (J Financ 51(1):85–110, 1996) conjectures that mutual funds with a below-average performance over the first half of the year tend to increase their risk in the second half of the year. Schwarz (Rev Financ Stud 25(3):913–936, 2012) argues that the methodologies that are used to test this hypothesis are flawed because they are affected by a bias that results from sorting on return, which likely also sorts on risk. He argues that both the contingency and regression approaches used in the literature are affected by this sorting bias. We demonstrate that simply including the return standard deviation over the first half of the year in regression-based tests corrects for most of the bias and is just as suitable a way to control for the sorting bias as the more complex Schwarz (Rev Financ Stud 25(3):913–936, 2012) correction.


&NA; Congenital atrioventricular block (CAVB) affects approximately 2% of fetuses of mothers with anti-Ro or anti-La antibodies, regardless of maternal rheumatologic symptoms. Anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies are antinuclear antibodies commonly found in autoimmune diseases. Congenital atrioventricular block is associated with a relatively high fetal morbidity and mortality, particularly more advanced degrees of block. There is significant controversy surrounding surveillance of anti-Ro/La–positive pregnancies and treatment of fetuses diagnosed with CAVB. Studies of dexamethasone in the treatment of CAVB have yielded conflicting results, with most suggesting only a limited potential benefit in first- and second-degree CAVB and in cases complicated by fetal hydrops. Larger prospective studies are needed to further evaluate the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin in the treatment of CAVB and of intravenous immunoglobulin and hydroxychloroquine in the prevention of CAVB in fetuses of at-risk mothers. Surveillance and treatment regimens should be determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the degree of CAVB, costs, and potential adverse effects of treatment. Target Audience Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians Learning Objectives After completing this CME activity, physicians should be better able to counsel patients regarding potential prevention and treatment strategies and their benefits and risks in CAVB. They should also be able to identify controversies surrounding the treatment and surveillance of CAVB.


Over the years, developing voltage-clamp techniques have caused intricate mathematical models that are utilized to describe electrical dynamics of heart cells by cardiologists. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the sensitivity of parameters in a single human heart cell and then compare the results with an animal heart. The CellML application was used to do the simulation of models by using the Open Cell tool. The results of changing the most extreme value of ionic conductance that had been analyzed in this study recorded that; parameters are delicate in the model that was examined in terms of the human heart. Indeed, even in the correlation between models of a human heart with an animal heart. Every one of the parameters is sensitive, yet there is some variance in the manner they influenced the action potential.


In recent times, women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been taking a keen interest in entrepreneurship, with a greater number of women showing intentions to become entrepreneurs. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the variables that would influence women to become entrepreneurs. The participants were ˺˾˹ aspiring Emirati women entrepreneurs, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was the approach used to analyze the data. The results suggested that all identified variables, namely cultural, social, demographic, and environmental, were found to have an impact on women's entrepreneurship. However, the environmental variable was found to have the most significant impact on women becoming entrepreneurs in the UAE. It is imperative to state that the UAE environment has a profound impact on women's entrepreneurship. The results showed a significant impact and implications for the UAE's business and social environment, as more women are willing to contribute to UAE economic growth by embracing entrepreneurship and becoming entrepreneurs. and social environment, as more women are willing to contribute to UAE economic growth by embracing entrepreneurship and becoming entrepreneurs.


Abstract The use of ultrafiltration as a unit operation is increasing significantly and prompts this optimization study. An exact analysis is presented which defines, as a function of the rejection coefficient, the optimum retentate concentration which minimizes the processing time for diafiltration. Three approximate solutions are also presented, and the results are compared with those from the exact solution. Experimental data are presented for the variation of ultrafiltrate flux with retentate concentration for two membrane types used with two synthetic polyelectrolytes.


Backgrounds Patients with schizophrenia suffer from cognitive impairment that worsens real-world functional outcomes. We previously reported that multi-session transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) improved daily living skills, while stimulation on the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) enhanced performance on a test of social cognition in these patients. To examine the region-dependent influence of tDCS on daily-living skills, neurocognition, and psychotic symptoms, this study compared effects of anodal stimulation targeting either of these two brain areas in patients with schizophrenia. Methods Data were collected from open-label, single-arm trials with anodal electrodes placed over the left DLPFC (N = 28) or STS (N = 15). Daily-living skills, neurocognition, and psychotic symptoms were measured with the UCSD performance-based skills assessment-brief (UPSA-B), Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), respectively. After baseline evaluation, tDCS (2 mA × 20 min) were delivered two times per day for 5 consecutive days. One month after the final stimulation, clinical assessments were repeated. Results Performance on the UPSA-B was significantly improved in patients who received anodal tDCS at the left DLPFC (d = 0.70, p < 0.001), while this effect was absent in patients with anodal electrodes placed on the left STS (d = 0.02, p = 0.939). Significant improvement was also observed for scores on the BACS with anodal tDCS delivered to the DLPFC (d = 0.49, p < 0.001); however, such neurocognitive enhancement was absent when the STS was stimulated (d = 0.05, p = 0.646). Both methods of anodal stimulation showed a significant improvement of General Psychopathology scores on the PANSS (DLPFC, d = 0.50, p = 0.027; STS, d = 0.44, p = 0.001). Conclusion These results indicate the importance of selecting brain regions as a target for tDCS according to clinical features of individual patients. Anodal stimulation of the left DLPFC may be advantageous in improving higher level functional outcomes in patients with schizophrenia. Trial registration These studies were registered within the University hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry [(24), UMIN000015953], and the Japan Registry of Clinical Trials [(28), jRCTs032180026].


Superfield perturbation methods are developed for N = 2 supersymmetric theories in harmonic superspace with central charges. To illustrate our methods, explicit examples of loop calculations are given; the self-energies of the gauge hypermultiplet are computed at the one-loop level, giving the expected one-loop ..beta.. function. It is also shown that the effective action may be written as integrals over a single d/sup 8/theta in full superspace (but not in analytic subspace). The implication of this result is also briefly discussed.


To solve the wear failure problem existing in the hinges of the rotary mechanism in a KDIA tap-hole drill machine,a comprehensive analysis platform was established through kinematic and dynamic simulations of the mechanism and the corresponding wear depth was calculated based on a combined wear calculation model.The optimization design was conducted for slowing down the velocity and lightening the unevenness of hinge wear,using the mechanism dimensions as design variables,and no loss of other design specifications as constraints.The results show that optimizing the kinematic and dynamic performance of the mechanism through resizing the design dimensions is an effective way of solving mechanism problems such as transmission accuracy losing and wear failure.


Being a terrorist means never having to say you're sorry. In fact, today's terrorist expects an apology from his intended victims and front-page publication of his manifestoes by the media. After all, they are willing accomplices of a society which has forced the terrorist to threaten apocalyptic murder when he'd rather be making careless love. It is the terrorist's sometimes warranted assumption that when apprehended he is not expected to express regret at what he's done but to raise his fingers in a victory salute. And the hostage syndrome is well recognized. Hostages, unharmed in body if not in spirit, often express concern after their release for the terrorist's welfare, or else they praise the terrorist's good manners, breeding, education, intelligence, fondness for children, and allowing airline passengers unrestricted access to the bathroom. It has been noted that onoccasion the liberated have resented their liberators.


the 13th BOBCATSSS Symposium, 31 January - 2 February in Budapest (National Library of Hungary). Proceedings will be published in the Spring of 2005.


Abstract How does factor accumulation affect an open economy's pattern of international specialization and returns to capital? We provide a new integrated treatment to this question using a panel of 44 developing and developed countries over the period 1976–2000. The data confirm the Heckscher-Ohlin prediction that, with sufficient differences in country endowments, there is no factor price equalization and countries specialize in different subsets of goods. Innovatively, we obtain the returns to capital implied by this model: these are consistent with the Lucas paradox, which we explain after accounting for cross-country differences in the cost of capital goods. Our findings are also consistent with Ventura's hypothesis that the growth of small open economies can be promoted by "beating the curse of diminishing returns" – indeed we find no decrease in the return to capital at any given capital-labor ratio despite capital accumulation by most countries within a cone of diversification.


For controlling nonlinear processes represented by state‐space models, a state observer is needed to estimate the states from the trajectories of measured variables. While model‐based observer synthesis is traditionally challenging due to the difficulty of solving pertinent partial differential equations, this article proposes an efficient model‐free, data‐driven approach for state observation, which is suitable for data‐driven nonlinear control without accurate nonlinear models. Specifically, by using a Chen–Fliess series representation of the observer dynamics, state observation is endowed with an online least squares regression formulation that can be solved by gradient flow with performance guarantees. When the target state trajectories for regression are unavailable, by exploiting the Kazantzis–Kravaris/Luenberger observer structure, state observation is reduced to a dimensionality reduction problem amenable to an online implementation of kernel principal component analysis. The proposed approach is demonstrated by a limit cycle dynamics and a chaotic system.


Water minimization in the process industry is becoming increasingly important as environmental legislation becomes increasingly stringent and the awareness of the impact of industrial activities on the environment increases. Much work has been done on water minimization in continuous processes as evidenced by the detailed reviews of Bagajewicz (2000) and Foo (2009). Although water minimization for batch processes (batch water network in short) has been ignored in the past, it is steadily gaining more attention in research. An overview of the developments and methodologies proposed for batch water network is presented. The methodologies for water minimization can roughly be divided into insight-based and mathematical techniques. The former always consists of a two-step approach (targeting and design) in synthesizing a batch water network that features the minimum freshwater and wastewater flows for a given production schedule. The mathematical techniques, on the other hand, may be categorized into two subs...


In the midst of an historic election, with the Supreme Court considering another existential challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and with the nation plunged into a public health and economic crisis from the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the ACA is as important as ever. The ACA matters. It matters to many millions who count on its protections to access health coverage, particularly as they lose their job-based insurance in the pandemic. It matters to voters and to their representatives tasked with the next generation of health reform. It matters to states, the health care industry, and businesses who have sunk innumerable resources and time into making the ACA work. The Trillion Dollar Revolution assesses the ACA at 10 years, marking its achievements, trade-offs, shortfalls, impacts, and lessons for future reforms. The ACA was both monumental and paradoxical. It was the single biggest social welfare legislation enacted in 50 years and touched every aspect of our sprawling health care system. Yet the narrow political window for its passage meant that the ACA was incremental, building on, rather than fundamentally restructuring, our fragmented health care system. The ACA was imperfect because it inherited many flaws of the existing health care system. Nevertheless, the ACA achieved something quite revolutionary—it changed the minds of the American public, who have since embraced notions of health care access as a right and preexisting condition protections as a given. Edited by Ezekiel Emanuel and Abbe Gluck, the book reads like an insider's account and assessment of the ACA. The contributors are a veritable Who's Who of lawyers, health law scholars, health economists, health policy experts, and political leaders with a front-row view of the ACA. Divided into five parts, the essays discuss the ACA's (I) policy goals, (II) implementation, (III) legal challenges, (IV) impacts, and (V) lessons for the future. The book is well suited for health law and policy students in college or graduatelevel courses, as well as for academics, journalists, health policymakers, and wonks. Fittingly, the book opens with a chapter by Timothy Stoltzfus Jost and John McDonough, perhaps the two most knowledgeable individuals in the country about the law and policy of the ACA. This chapter could stand by itself for its concise history of the ACA, what drove it, what it did, what worked, and what it did not do. Historians and policy scholars will appreciate the first-person accounts of the difficult trade-offs in passage and challenges of implementation by those who were in the room where it happened, including Kathleen Sebelius, who was the Secretary of Health & Human Services for the passage and implementation; Nancy-Ann DePearle, senior health policy advisor to President Obama; Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of


One of the most well-known pathophysiological phenomena in migraine is cerebral ischemia, possibly induced by vasospasm with consequent prodromic focal symptoms, followed by a reactive vasodilation associated with the pain. From a neuropharmacological point of view, the role of serotonin as a mediator of vasospasm has long dominated the scientific field, and antiserotonin drugs have, for almost as long, governed the therapeutic field. More recent approaches have implicated platelet aggregability, focal cerebral hypoxia and opioid neuropeptides in the genesis of migraine. Here I shall attempt to review the different aspects that, even though controversial, summarize the situation as it stands at the end of 1984.


Cristina Fernandez Clare L van Halsema 1Regional Infectious Diseases Unit, North Manchester General Hospital, Manchester, UK; 2Faculty of Education, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK Abstract: Cabotegravir and rilpivirine long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of HIV-1 infection brings promise of a new mode of delivery and potential solutions to some problems of oral therapy, but also new challenges and unanswered questions. Adding to the increasing body of evidence for newer two-drug combinations, phase II and phase III trial data to date demonstrate cabotegravir and rilpivirine combination injectable therapy to be non-inferior to selected oral triple-therapy alternatives. Most importantly, this therapy is reported to be acceptable to individuals taking the 4-weekly or 8weekly injections, despite frequent injection-site reactions. Key outstanding questions include management of missed or delayed dosing, drug interactions and management of virological failure, as well as the efficacy of cabotegravir and rilpivirine in all HIV-1 subtypes. We describe clinical evidence to date and efficacy and challenges in selected populations, including women; those with prior virological failure; individuals with a history of difficulty adhering to oral therapy and individuals with co-infections. We await real-world data and longer-term evidence while moving forward to this new era of antiretroviral therapy.


The tomato-potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc.), is one of the most important pests of chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in Mexico. Insecticides are used for its control, and the farmers perceive that their biological effectiveness is not satisfactory. In nymphs, LC50, LC95, confidence limits at 95%, values of resistance ratio at a level of LC50 (RR50) and LC95 (RR95) to six insecticides were determined in one susceptible and two field-collected populations (El Huizache, State of San Luis Potosi, and Arteaga-Galeana of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon). All the populations were susceptible to fenpropathrin, abamectin, cyfluthrin, dimetoate, esfenvalerate, and pyriproxyfen. It is documented that the lack of biological effectiveness in field is not due to resistance to insecticides.


This study aimed to assess how female breast cancer survivors (BCS) respond physiologically, hematologically, and perceptually to exercise under heat stress compared to females with no history of breast cancer (CON). Twenty‐one females (9 BCS and 12 CON [age; 54 ± 7 years, stature; 167 ± 6 cm, body mass; 68.1 ± 7.62 kg, and body fat; 30.9 ± 3.8%]) completed a warm (25℃, 50% relative humidity, RH) and hot (35℃, 50%RH) trial in a repeated‐measures crossover design. Trials consisted of 30 min of rest, 30 min of walking at 4 metabolic equivalents, and a 6‐minute walk test (6MWT). Physiological measurements (core temperature (Tre), skin temperature (Tskin), heart rate (HR), and sweat analysis) and perceptual rating scales (ratings of perceived exertion, thermal sensation [whole body and localized], and thermal comfort) were taken at 5‐ and 10‐min intervals throughout, respectively. Venous blood samples were taken before and after to assess; IL‐6, IL‐10, CRP, IFN‐γ, and TGF‐β1. All physiological markers were higher during the 35 versus 25℃ trial; Tre (~0.25℃, p = 0.002), Tskin (~3.8℃, p < 0.001), HR (~12 beats·min−1, p = 0.023), and whole‐body sweat rate (~0.4 L·hr−1, p < 0.001), with no difference observed between groups in either condition (p > 0.05). Both groups covered a greater 6MWT distance in 25 versus 35℃ (by ~200 m; p = 0.003). Nevertheless, the control group covered more distance than BCS, regardless of environmental temperature (by ~400 m, p = 0.03). Thermoregulation was not disadvantaged in BCS compared to controls during moderate‐intensity exercise under heat stress. However, self‐paced exercise performance was reduced for BCS regardless of environmental temperature.


The aims of this research were to examine the influences of the vehicle size of heavy duty trucks and driver's skill on the driving characteristics of novice drivers compared with those of a skilled driver, and to ascertain the problems that novice drivers experience. The experiments were conducted at the test course of a driver license test center, which simulated 12 fundamental and dangerous driving situations derived from accident characteristics of heavy duty trucks. Two test trucks with maximum loading capacity of 4 and 11 tons respectively, were used. A skilled and two novice drivers operated the test trucks. The forward movements driver's operations and vehicle motions were measured by instruments installed inside the trucks. Serious problems in heavy duty truck driving experienced by novice drivers were as follows: (1) the driver's speed control while starting and accelerating or while decelerating was hard to habituate; (2) the driver's positional control of the wide truck body at the narrow point on the road was hard to realize; (3) the driver's positional and directional controls of the wide and long truck body while turning left from a wide road to a narrow road were very difficult to realize; and (4) the driver's directional control of the front-wheel-steering truck while turning to the right in a backward direction was very hard to realize. For the covering abstract of this journal issue see IRRD 813939.


Abstract RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is defined as the persistent need for oxygen at 36 weeks post menstrual age or 28 days of postnatal life in premature infants. Close to half of all premature infants with BPD are discharged from hospital with supplemental home oxygen and pediatric respirologists are commonly involved in the decision of discontinuing supplemental oxygen use. Our objective was to assess whether there is variability among Canadian pediatric respirologists on when to discontinue supplemental oxygen given the lack of evidence-based guidelines shaping this decision-making process. METHODS: Ethics approval was obtained and a cross sectional survey study was completed. Online and paper surveys included 4 oximetry test results and clinical vignettes provided in both English and French. Descriptive statistics were obtained for quantitative variables and data were analyzed for significance using the STATA statistical analysis software. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 27%. The decision to discontinue home oxygen did vary based on the province of current work; Alberta had the highest rate of respondents choosing to discontinue home oxygen (47.5%) in comparison to British Columbia and Quebec (18 and 20%, respectively; chi-square 3.97, p = 0.403). The years of experience of the physician was associated with a higher use of a guideline in making decisions on supplemental oxygen use (3.1 vs. 1.8, p = 0.167). CONCLUSION: This project allowed us to gather data on current decision making practices on home oxygen use among Canadian pediatric respirologists and informs that there is variability on care that patients receive across the country.


Huangshui River 6-1# bridge is a 4×30 m prestressed concrete continuous skew box beam bridge,through the static and dynamic load test for the bridge,we can determine the overall structure of the bridge stiffness,security capacity and dynamic performance,then the technological information about design and testing can be accumulated for the same kinds type of bridge.


If one examines two-body matrix elements from experiment one notices that not only J=0 T=1 lies low but also J=1T=0 and J=J_{max} =2j T=0. It is sometimes thought that one needs both T=1 and T=0 two-body matrix elements to get equally spaced spectra of even I states i.e. vibraitonal spectra. We here attempt to get equally spaced levels with only those that have T=1 (even J).As an example we perform single-j calculations (f_{7/2}) in ^{44} T and ^{46} Ti. We then shift gears and decide to play around with the input two particle matrix, elements (not worrying about experiment) to generate interesting spectra e.g. rotaional spectra with and then without T=0 two-body matrix element. Of special interest is a new partial dynamical symmetry found when the "123", the "1234" etc.,interactions are used.


A theory of non invasive intracranial pressure measurement was given. The state of CSF、CBF and CBV was analyzed when ICP changed, and a method of monitoring ICP by measuring the brain impedance and cervical impedance was derived.


The cataclastic rocks autcrops are located at the northwestern Pampean Ranges and have a N-S direction. They are limiting the Famatina system to the eastern and carne along the Puna. They have been recognized protomylonites, mylonite gneiss and mylonite schists which may be formed under 10 or 15 km of deep and 275-350° C temperatures of source. The main dominant structure have NNW direction and dips to the eastern. There can be seen compressive movements related to western blocks displacements. During de Ocloyica distrophic phase (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian) may be formed these cataclastic rocks, related to the Antofalla Craton collision.


Information technology means of teaching used in the process of ecological education of the military are considered in the article. The structure, aim and some functions of the information technology means of teaching in the process of contemporary military specialists training are described.


With the continuous improvement of China's per capita GDP, people have higher and higher requirements for the quality of life, and tourism has become a rigid demand for people's lives. As a new form of tourism in China, backpacking has been favored by people. More and more people are joining the backpacking tourism. Therefore, it is urgent to develop the backpacking tourism market. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of backpackers' consumer behavior preferences will help promote the backpacking tourism market and even the development of the entire tourism industry. Based on the research results at home and abroad, this paper studies the backpacker's consumer behavior preferences. Taking tourism consumption behavior theory and travel career ladder theory as the theoretical basis, it deeply analyzes the behavior characteristics of backpackers in the three stages of tourism decision-making, tourism experience, and tourism feedback. According to the analysis results, some suggestions are provided for the development of the backpacking tourism market.


Institutional economics has moved from a position, earlier in the twentieth century, of drawing eclectically on several other disciplines, to a stance of building its arguments almost entirely out of neoclassical materials This paper argues that such a stance cannot provide a persuasive account of economic institutions, and suggests a broader toundation based on classical sociological arguments about the embeddedness of economic goals and activities in socially oriented goals and structures Emphasis is placed on how economic activity comes to be coordinated by groups of people rather than carried out by isolated individuals Firms in developing countries, busmess groups, and the origins of the electrical utility industry in the United States are posed as cases of the 'social construction of economic institutions' It is argued that, although proper analysis of such cases involves a high level of contingency. these contingencies can be taken into account in a systematic theoretical argument, and that historicist pitfalls can be avoided Such an argument is posed as the distinctive agenda for a new economic sociology


Wound healing of the skin is a complex process that is still not well-understood. Wound management is expensive for both individuals and the health system overall, and can reduce quality of life for patients. Given these significant socio-economic impacts, wound healing has long been a focus of scientific research. Recent in vivo mouse studies have identified two key regions in wounded skin tissue: A non-proliferative leading edge that actively migrates into wounded space, and a proliferative hub in which cells have enhanced mitotic properties. This work uses mathematical and computational modelling to investigate the effect of changing the mechanical characteristics of cells in these two key regions. In this paper we explore what characteristics are sufficient for wound healing, particularly focusing on cell proliferation, since wounds are not able to repair successfully without sufficient levels of cell division. By considering contact inhibited proliferation, where small cells are unable to divide, we find that a quiescent region develops if the proliferative hub is able to grow over time, essentially limiting the number of cells that are able to divide. In contrast, if the size of the proliferative hub is kept below some threshold, then contact inhibition has a less significant role in wound repair. This work builds upon existing cell-based computational studies of wound healing and could be modified to investigate different stages of wound healing, impaired healing and wound treatments.


The problem of a series of collinear Mode I cracks loaded by a uniform internal pressure is solved by an integral equations technique. By superimposing the solution for an arbitrarily loaded Mode I crack with the solution for an edge loaded infinite strip, a system of integral equations is developed by making the superposition satisfy the required boundary conditions. Solving the integral equations by a least-squares Ritz method gives boundary values which may then be used with the Green's functions solutions to calculate stress intensity factors for the cracks and the stress and displacement fields in the reinforcement and the cracked regions. By changing the boundary conditions at the reinforcement interface, integral equations modeling other situations such as imperfect bonding may be obtained.


How could one translate into any European language a Persian poem as culturally and aesthetically embedded as this hemistich by Hāfez: beh may sajjādeh rangin kon garat pir-e moghān guyad. This is the central question Mohammad-Rezā Shafiʿi-Kadkani addresses in his essay titled "On Poetic Untranslatability." For Shafiʿi, translation is primarily a function of cultural—and not linguistic—affinity. Therefore, he argues that Hāfez's poem is all but untranslatable in European languages given their fundamental cultural difference from Persian. This article critically engages Shafiʿi's essay by outlining and analyzing the set of problematic assumptions embedded in its rubric of untranslatability. It places Shafiʿi's view on translation in conversation with theorists of untranslatability in comparative literature and translation studies. Ultimately, it outlines why untranslatability is not a useful conceptual framework for the analysis of linguistic and cultural difference.


The invention provides a control method of a high-reliability express box. The control method comprises the following steps of: a mobile terminal and an express box report respectively to an express box control server; the express box control server extracts the client express box information according to terminal local identification information, sends opening instruction and opening key to the express box and the mobile terminal, respectively; the mobile terminal matches the received opening key with the opening key of the express box, andgenerates an express box opening instruction; the express box controls the opening according to the express box opening instruction. By utilizing the control method and system, the problems of poor express accuracy and low efficiency in the prior logistics art are solved. The to-be-received expresses can be confirmed accurately, the pickup difficulties caused by wrong account or difficult-to-remember account are avoided, meanwhile, by the double information identification of the mobile terminal and the express box, the leakage of user information is avoided, and the veracity and effectiveness of express pickup are improved.


The article analyzes democratic processes in contemporary world through theoretical prism. There are many cases of the convergence of democratic and authoritarian ways of governance in global politics, which are mentioned in the article. The author supposes that political theory of democracy needs to be revised to become more heuristic.    Key words: political theory, democracy, democratization, authoritarianism, liberalism.


In earlier Mahayana texts, two types of bodhisattvas are described: firstly, the lay bodhisattva (_??__??__??__??_) and, secondly, the monastic bodhisattva (_??__??__??__??_). Modern scholarship, however, has not paid as much attention to the latter as to the former. In this article, we will attempt to show what kind of person the monastic bodhisattva was seen to be. This will be done through a comparison with monks (bhiksu) in Buddhist schools using two Mahayana texts that detail the monastic bodhisattva. In the Jingxing ping (_??__??__??_) of the Huayan jing (_??__??__??_), the manner of ordination (upasampada) for monastic bodhisattvas is the same as that for monks in Buddhist schools; moral conduct (sila) too is considered in the same way for both. Thus, it becomes clear that the monastic bodhisattva is differentiated from the layperson. However, in the Ugrapariprccha (_??__??__??__??__??__??__??_), it is notable that the sila for the monastic bodhisattva includes the fourfold attitudes (_??__??__??_: caturaryavamsa) and the virtues of the purified person (_??__??__??_: dhutaguna), both of which are stricter requirements than the usual Sila required by monks. It will be argued, therefore, that the Ugrapariprccha and Jingxing ping of the Huayan jing attempt to define the monastic bodhisattva as a sterner, more disciplined monk.


In this paper, modeling and control design of a current-mode controlled flyback converter with optocoupler feedback is presented. Small-signal models of the converter operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) are derived and used in control design of the prototype converters, with the results confirmed by experiment


The invention discloses a rapid thermal pressed sintering molding process for titanium-aluminum alloy targets. A rapid thermal pressed powder molding process is adopted to sinter and mold materials under the combined action of heat and force, and the characteristic that aluminum in the Ti-Al mixture has a low melting point is utilized to bond titanium powder together so as to obtain needed titanium-aluminum alloy targets with various components; and accordingly, titanium-aluminum alloy targets with various components in various dimensions can be prepared, have high compactness, small grains and even components and can satisfy the requirements of large-scale industrialization. The rapid thermal pressed sintering molding process for the titanium-aluminum alloy targets has the advantages of short flows, low cost, hardly oxidated powder, high compactness, good filming effect, even components and large dimensions.


My previous experience with simulation and gaming was mostly with computers. However, at the 22nd Annual International Conference of ISA GA, July 1991, Kyoto, Japan, I experienced a different type of simulation and gaming, played by people. First I was surprise4 then gradually I became interested in how this method influences the players. I tried to participate in this type of simulation and gaming as much as possible and I learned that it was very effective in communicating with strangers and obtaining an in-depth understanding of one another. In this article, I want to share my experience at ISAGA '91.


Microbubble-mediated focused ultrasound (FUS) therapies harness mechanical and/or thermal effects to deliver drugs or ablate tissues. Passive acoustic mapping (PAM) enables the spatio-temporal monitoring of cavitation activity, which is critical for the clinical translation of this technique. Traditional PAM is based on delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming, a method whose quality tends to deteriorate due to issues including multi-bubble interference, distortion in the wavefront caused by the presence of the skull, unmodeled variability of array elements, etc. To provide for robustness, here we consider the use of minimum variance adaptive beamforming to PAM and demonstrate significant improvement in image quality compared to DAS. The minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) method was evaluated and further improved by adding diagonal loading and by using subarray covariance estimates. Results demonstrate improvements in both the resolution and image contrast compared to DAS using either traditional or a...


ditional text, and has the unique feature of discussing a number of̂ different programming languages. Another type of computational physics course treats numerical methods as tools to be used in computer simulations. This type starts with the physics, develops models, implements those models using numerical algorithms, and finally extracts information and insight from the resulting simulations. Undergraduate texts that follow this approach are the third edition of An Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods: Applications to Physical Systems {AddisonWesley, 2006), which I cowrote with Harvey Gould and Wolfgang Christian, and the second edition of Computational Physics (Prentice Hall, 2006) by Nicholas J. Giordano and Hisao Nakanishi. The former discusses how to code simulations using Java and the recently developed Open Source Physics Library.


These fifty thematic collections from AAS Historical Periodicals include digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals not available from any other source and provide rich content detailing American history and culture from the mid-18th


Nutrient losses and soil erosion after soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) harvest are common in the US Upper Midwest. Cover crops need to provide adequate growth and cover to prevent soil degradation throughout the winter and early spring months. The objective of this study was to determine the establishment of intersown cover crops and their impacts on a soybean-wheat rotation. Four cover crops—winter camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz), winter pea (Pisum sativum ssp. arvense (L.) Poir), winter rye (Secale cereale L.), and radish (Raphanus sativus L.)—were directly sown at the R4 and R6 stages of soybean at two locations, Prosper and Fargo, ND in 2016–2017. Cover crops above ground biomass in the fall ranged from 0.4 to 3.0 Mg ha−1 and N accumulation ranged from 28.7 to 73.2 kg ha−1. Winter camelina and winter rye reduced subsequent spring wheat yield compared with the no cover crop treatment. Fall soil residual NO3-N levels were lowest where cover crops were sown compared with the check. Spring NO3-N levels were lowest in winter camelina and winter rye compared with all the other cover crops and the check. Results indicated intersowing cover crops have no impact on soybean yield, and show potential to mitigate soil nitrate losses in areas that grow soybean as a cash crop.


Objective:
To analyze whether endometrial receptivity evaluation, prior to euploid embryo transfer, improves the success rate in patients with recurrent implantation failure (RIF).
Methods:
Retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study, which included couples undergoing assisted reproduction techniques (2021), who experienced RIF after transfer of good quality, euploid blastocysts (analyzed with PGT-A). Three groups were formed, which depended on the result of ERA: 1) Receptive, 2) Pre-receptive and 3) Early receptive.
Results:
Of the 100% of the patients, 43% presented a normal window of implantation. However, 61.5% showed a higher prevalence of natural killer alterations and 42.8% of thrombophilias. In the case of patients with altered endometrial receptivity, they presented a cumulative implantation rate higher than 70% when correcting controlled ovarian stimulation.
Conclusions:
More than half of the patients with RIF have a displaced implantation window and may benefit from a personalized adjustment of the endometrial stimulation protocol. Thus, couples with idiopathic RIF or associated with thrombophilias and immunological factors, benefit from the study of endometrial receptivity.


The present work investigates the operation performance of 2-element configuration multiple input Multiple Output (MIMO) antennas system using Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator (CDR). The MIMO antenna arrays achieve 22.2% impedance bandwidth at S11 ≤ -10 covering the bandwidth from 10GHz to 12.5GHz that meets the essential requirements of wide band communications applications. The first array gives a maximum isolation of 27dB at an element spacing of 22mm, whereas the second array presents a maximum isolation of 42.55dB at element spacing of 12.25mm.


The telecommunication services are recognized as an important infrastructure sector. It is considered to be one of the safest means of high speed transportation of information across the territories, be it business, commerce, trade, industry or domestic communication needs. With the changing global scenario the telecommunication traffic is heavily burdened and at times leads to failure or collapse, particularly when the telecommunication methods are based on copper wire loop system. The presently used carriers for transportation of messages which are in radio waves (106Hz) and microwaves ranges (1010Hz) are highly congested and also suffer from less information handling capacity and transverse electromagnetic interruptions, leadings to poor reproduction quality and crosstalks.


Despite a Child Find mandate in IDEA, early detection and screening of infants and toddlers with special needs continues to remain an area in need of improvement. The authors sought to better understand existing and proposed outreach initiatives in one state's Part C Early Intervention (EI) program that ranks among the lowest nationally in the area of Child Find. Undergraduate students (n = 17) completed a Child Find reflection as part of an EI Methods course. Parents (n = 10) whose child had received EI and were currently employed in an information-sharing role supporting EI families and staff participated in a semi-structured focus group. Thematic analyses revealed promising district-specific efforts, perceived roadblocks hindering statewide outreach, and recommended strategies that can be used across states in urban and rural areas. Implications for informing state initiatives, supporting brainstorming efforts in other state Part C programs, and conducting targeted studies to strengthen the evidence-base for Child Find initiatives are discussed.


Primary aldosteronism is present in approximately 1% of unselectd hypertensive patients. Adrenal adenoma is known as one of the surgically curable form of the secondary hypertension. Hypertension is one of the contributing factors for the development of aortic dissection. Concurrence of aortic dissection in patient with primary aldosteronism is extemely rare. Only one case was confirmed by auto-psy and reported in the world literature. We report a case of DeBakey type Ⅲ aortic aneursm in a 49-year old hypertensive female patient with primary aldosteronism due to left adrenal adenoma. She underwent left adrenalectomy uneventfully after stabilization of her blood pressure with maximal medical management including nitroprusside, aldactone, enalapril and inderal.


The National Examination Performance of Students (E NADE) part of the National System of Higher Education Assessment (SINAES), as a mandator y curriculum component in undergraduate courses (BRAZIL, 2004), in order to m onitor the process of academic learning in relation the precepts established by the Nationa l Curriculum Guidelines (DCN). In this research there was a critical and reflective analys is of the issues of proof of ENADE held by scholars of Pharmacy in 2010, through the opinion o f teachers linked to the School of Pharmacy of institutions, public and private, in th e state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS). The main objective was to verify if the character of evidenc and evaluation order are consistent with the recommendations by the Pharmacy course (DCNF) f or the training and evaluation of general professional National Curriculum Guidelines . Through Qualtrics Survey Software, four separate questionnaires, each containing 10 qu estions originally transcribed the ENADE and categories of analysis established from the ass umptions of DCNF were prepared. The questionnaires were sent by digital means teachers allocated to 18 courses Pharmacy RS of 16 different higher education institutions. From March to September 2013, 131 teachers conducted the analysis of the 40 questions ENADE 20 10. Specific issues of component, with a mean score 7.78±2.22 in teacher perception on the appropriateness of the examination, evaluated more exercise capacity in drugs and medic in s, critical and reflective skills required of the student and interdisciplinary approach. Ques tion of General Education, which received an average score 5.16±2.87 in the opinion of the te ach rs, helped in understanding the social, cultural and economic reality of the environment in which the professional was inserted and lower acuity, assessed the character critical and r eflective, humanistic and ethical principles required by DCNF. Thus, the proof of ENADE 2010 hel d by graduates in Pharmacy presented asymmetric distribution of the aspects of training set. Although it is believed that the current evaluation system of higher education can indeed co ntribute to improving the quality of vocational training, the proposed test has limitati ons in the evaluation process with students. These limitations, the present study evidenced thro ugh teacher opinion, corroborated findings literary evidenced by Verhine; Dantas (2005); Rothe n; Nasciutti (2008); Rodrigues; Peixoto (2009), Dias Sobrinho (2010) and Francisco et al. ( 2012), who warn about the structuring of the evaluation system and the implementation in the way it currently presents. However, the quest for improvement, it is observed that the nati on l educational policy has focused on constantly improving the quality of education, cont extualized by encouraging research like this that drives the construction of an evaluation process that will determine the quality of training for professionals being inserted into soci ety, whether from the general training offered to social needs are being met effectively a t all levels of health care.


Abstract Characterization of modified jute fibres treated with selective mixed enzyme and aminosilicone compound has been reported earlier. This part of the study relates to assessment of the effectiveness of such chemical (aminosilicone) and biochemical (mixture of cellulase, xylanase, and pectinase enzymes) modifications of raw jute fibres (with or without selective pretreatments using dilute NaOH, H2O2, and a combination of H2O2 and K2S2O8) on process performance during yarn making and property parameters of such yarns. Usually, jute fibres are spun into yarns applying 1.5% to 3% mineral oil-in-water emulsion prior to carding. 0.5% aminosilicone treatment of jute fibres under specified condition makes them suitable for yarn making without the use of mineral oil, and produces a softer yarn having substantially lower yarn mass irregularity and yarn imperfection values, though with some lowering in tenacity values. Some advantages accrued in regard to process performance (energy efficiency and less fibre droppage during carding) during yarn making for 4% mixed-enzyme-treated jute fibres at 55°C for 2 h over raw and bleached jute fibres are outweighed by the increase of spinning end breakage rate, much lowering of yarn tenacity, and specific work of rupture. However, 1% mixed enzyme treatment of jute fibres shows some advantages in process performance associated with much lower extent of reduction in yarn tenacity and specific work of rupture with acceptable end breakage rate during spinning, rendering an overall gain from this treatment.


Multicast VPN, based on pre-standard drafts, has been in operation in
production networks for many years. This document describes some of
the practices and experiences gained from implementation and
deployment of MVPN using PIM with GRE tunnels. It is informational
only.


Abstract : This paper presents results of two-dimensional LDA measurements performed in the near wake of an airfoil undergoing stepwise motions and saw-tooth periodic motions with incidence variations from -1 deg to 25 deg, revealing dynamic stall features. The driving mechanism used here is a new one, based on an automatic apparatus, which allows the airfoil to be put into a wide range of periodic or transient pitching and/or heaving motions. Time-dependent velocity traces for the two components, streamwise velocity profiles, evolution of the semi wake thickness and vector velocity field are discussed. These results, obtained at a Reynolds number of 267000, are compared to those corresponding to steady flow. (Author)


Au naturel! (+)-Usnic acid (green) is a weak antimalarial agent, however, in conjugation with known antimalarial scaffolds and drugs, such as dihydroartemisinin (blue), potent activity against the blood-stage parasite can be seen both in vitro and in vivo. The compound shown exhibits an IC(50) value of 1.4 nM against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro and proved nearly as efficacious as artesunate in a mouse model of infection.


The invention discloses a variable-step LMS adaptive filtering method. The variable-step LMS adaptive filtering method comprises the following steps that (1) input signals are generated by means of a two-order AR model; (2) the products of input signals generated at all moments and the corresponding two-order prediction coefficients of a two-order linear prediction filter are added, so that output signals at the moments are obtained; (3) the differences between the input signals and the output signals are obtained, so that an error value is obtained; (4) the product of the error value, a step value and the input signals is taken as the two-order prediction coefficient of the two-order linear prediction filter with the updated transient variation; (5) the steps from the step (2) to the step (4) are iterated, so that w [1] (n) and w [2] (n) are made to converge, and an output signal is what is needed. According to the variable-step LMS adaptive filtering method, both the errors with the index being first power and errors with the index being second power are considered, the rate is convergence is maintained, and better steady state errors are obtained.


Smartphones and Internet have been growing rapidly along with the modernization of technology. It has impacted almost all walk of human life in the prominent areas, such as business, education, health and social life. Despite of the negative impacts, the use of smartphones should emphasis to enhance the positive impacts so that the users can take advantages. Education through a mobile app or a game is a premium project for the education industry. Therefore, here we designed a mobile game application that supports fun learning for children especially for physics subjects. We called our apps as FunPhy which stands for Fun Physics. It was designed by using Agile method in EXtreme Programming.


Collisionless turbulent shocks are attracting much attention due to their potential as efficient sources of cosmic rays and nonthermal radiation in high-energy astrophysical systems. Firstprinciples kinetic simulations [1] have revealed that such structures obey a self-regulation process whereby the energized particles reflected upstream continuously excite micro-instabilities, thus sustaining the electromagnetic turbulence that dissipates the incoming flow energy. Recently, much experimental effort has gone into producing laser-driven plasma collisions prone to the ion-Weibel instability, which mediates shock formation with no external magnetic field [2]. Although the development of magnetized ion filaments has been clearly evidenced, all of the experiments conducted so far fell short of creating a fully-formed, propagating shock. Advances in this novel field of laboratory astrophysics necessitate further understanding of the Weibel regimes accessible on available laser systems. For instance, achieving truly collisionless conditions severely constrains the properties of the interacting plasmas. Also, computational limitations force the use of simplifications in kinetic simulations −most notably reduced ion-to-electron mass ratios [2]−, and hence the precise plasma conditions and dynamics leading to shock formation were poorly known until recently, especially in a parameter range of experimental interest. Our work, based on large-scale kinetic simulations, aims to provide increased insight into this problem. First, using the model developed in [3], we will discuss the different stages of the instability and show that shock generation implies a minimum of ∼ 2× 100kJ laser drive energy. Second, we will explore the effects of Coulomb collisions on the Weibel instability occurring in experimentally relevant, multi-ion plasma flows. Finally, we will assess the benefit of an applied parallel magnetic field for enhancing the turbulence level [4].


The contest performance products are key products of the professional athletic club,the professional athletic club must be according to their basic principles of cycle of life while managing,judge ahead the accurate position of cycle of the life,make the corresponding marketing tactics for a definite target in view,so the club could develop healthily and orderly.


Abstract In the present paper, the axisymmetric boundary layer flow and heat transfer past a permeable shrinking cylinder subject to surface mass transfer is studied. The similarity transformations are adopted to convert the governing partial differential equations for the flow and heat transfer into the nonlinear self-similar ordinary differential equations and then solved by a finite difference method using the quasilinearization technique. From the current investigation, it is found that the velocity in the boundary layer region decreases with the curvature parameter and increases with suction mass transfer. Moreover, with the increase of the curvature parameter, the suction parameter and Prandtl number, the heat transfer is enhanced.

https://www.ijame-poland.com/pdf-167277-90436?filename=Boundary layer flow and.pdf


Reliability preserving reduction method for computing K terminal reliability of networks used in this paper is one of method of computing networks reliability. One class of new reliability preserving reduction Wstone bridge reduction and a class of networks namely WST networks are presented. The networks is an extension to S P networks .Based on this ,we give a new linear time algorithm for computing K terminal reliability of this class networks, the complexity of algorithm is O(|E| 2).


STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective review of consecutive patients who underwent surgery for spinal metastasis 2005-2011.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the utility of the surgical Apgar score (SAS) in patients who underwent surgery for spinal metastasis.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
Surgery for spinal metastasis can be associated with relatively high morbidity and mortality. Consequently, identifying patients at-risk for major postoperative complications is important. Several studies have validated SAS for predicting 30-day complication risk.

METHODS
SASs were calculated and patients stratified into 5 groups: scores 0-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 points. Multivariate logistic regression assessed whether SAS was an independent predictor of major complication 30 days following surgery. Multivariate ANCOVA assessed whether SAS was independently associated with length of stay.

RESULTS
Ninety-seven patients with a variety of metastatic tumors were analyzed. There was no obvious trend in complication rates, or significant association between SAS and complication rate (P=0.413). Complication rates were 25.0% for SASs 0-2, 33.3% for 3-4, 18.4% for 5-6, 10.0% for 7-8, and 33.3% for 9-10 points. On multivariate analysis, SAS was not independently associated with complications; age>65 years (OR 4.19; 95% CI, 1.31-52.27; P=0.028) and preoperative Karnofsky Performance Score of 10-40 (OR 9.13; 95% CI, 1.42-58.63; P=0.020) were associated with higher odds of complication. SASs 0-2 were an independent predictor of longer hospital stay (P=0.004).

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest SAS is not a significant predictor of major perioperative complications following spinal metastasis surgery; preoperative functional status and age are stronger predictors. The need continues for a preoperative scoring system to reliably predict risk for perioperative complications following spinal metastasis surgery.


ABSTRACT Using Hofstede's classification of national culture, this article examines whether culture influences peer evaluation of performance on global virtual teams (GVTs). Two separate analyses were conducted based on the hypotheses developed. The first analysis included close to 8,000 students and the second included over 3,000 students, all who participated on GVTs through X-Culture, a 10-week GVT project. Results indicated that the cultural variables had a weak effect on peer assessment of performance, and the most influential variable on performance was English language ability. This article is particularly timely due to the increased use of GVTs in the business world, which has led to calls for more use of virtual teams to be incorporated into course work. Furthermore, the use of GVTs benefits students because it helps them develop global competencies without having to complete a study abroad.