The purposes of this research were to study the level of nurses intention to remain with organization, to examine the relationships between personal factors, job satisfaction, and head nurse's participative management with nurses intention to remain with organization and to search for the variables which could predict nurses intention to remain with organization, private hospitals, Bangkok Metropolis. The research subjects, randomly selected through multi-stage sampling technique, consisted of 293 professional nurses. An instrument was developed by the researcher which has been tested for content validity and reliability with Cronbach alpha coefficient of .93. Data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The major findings were as follows : 1. Nurses intention to remain with the organization was at the rather high level. ( x = 4.64, S.D. = 4.17) 2. Age, job satisfaction, participation in goal setting, participation in problem solving, and participation in change were significant positively related to nurses intention to remain with organization at the .05 level. (r = .121, .519, .301, .273 and .278 respectively) 3. The variables predicted nurses intention to remain with organization at the .05 level, accounted for 29.3 percent of the variance were interaction, pay, task requirement and age ( R 2 = .293 ). The standardized score equation was as follow : Z intention to remain = .281*z interaction +.206*z pay +.160*z task requirement +.124*z age


Medical authorities all agree that the noise problem is serious. How serious it is for a given industry can only be ascertained by a properly conducted noise survey which will give data on the noise levels to which its industrial workers are subjected and an audiometric survey which will give data on the hearing acuity of workers subjected to such environments. Noise level meters, filter sets and analyzers, and audiometers are available with which to conduct these surveys. There is need for standardization in the methods by which the two surveys are conducted and interpreted. There is need, also, for data on how the adverse effects of noise upon personnel in turn affect the quality of the product, labor turnover, absenteeism, accidents, and compensation claims. Industry, confronted with a serious problem, cannot wait for elaborate refinement of data but must act with the data available. Fortunately, industries all over the country are acting and the steps being taken are reviewed. More before and after st...


Objectives
Infant feeding styles (FS), feeding beliefs and practices, have been associated with diet and growth outcomes. However, FS are usually considered individually. Using latent class analysis (LCA), we test whether FS cluster, the stability of these classes over infancy, the factors predicting class assignment, and whether classes differ in infant diet and weight outcomes.

Methods
Data come from 428 African-American women and infants participating in the Mothers and Others Study, a home-based intervention to prevent infant obesity. LCA was used to categorize FS across five constructs (laissez-faire, pressuring, restrictive, responsive and indulgent) measured prenatally at 28-weeks and postnatally at 3 and 15 months. Multinomial regression was used to test the characteristics associated with class membership. Adjusted regression models were used to test associations with breastfeeding and infant weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ).

Results
We identified two classes (positive and non-responsive) prenatally, an additional class (high controlling) at 3 months and a fourth class (high indulgent) at 15 months. Those in the positive group at baseline were less likely to be in any of the other less-responsive groups at 3 or 15 months. At baseline, the non-responsive group were more likely to have depressive symptoms, but less likely to be obese pre-pregnancy than the positive group. At 3 months, the high controlling group was less likely to have a college education than the positive group. At 15 months, the high controlling group was less likely to have girls or be in the treatment group, the high indulgent group was less likely to have a college education, girls, or be in the treatment group, and the non-responsive group were more likely to be low income and less likely to have a college education than the positive group. Infants with mothers in the high controlling and non-responsive group were less likely to be breastfed at 3 months. Infants with mothers in the high controlling group at 3 months had higher WAZ at 15 months.

Conclusions
Our analysis documents that FS cluster. These groups persist across infancy and are associated with infant feeding and growth outcomes, suggesting that early intervention to improve FS is important.

Funding Sources
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R01HD073237].


Nurse job satisfaction is a hot topic in China because Chinese hospitals are suffering from lower nurse job satisfaction nowadays. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the nurses' pe ...


The article is devoted to the research of Cadet Party Central Committee activity concerning parliamentary fraction management during the period of the IInd State Duma work. This general problem comprises the whole range of aspects covering the character of Cadet policy in Duma. The following key problems are singled out: the process of party structuring and organization during the periods of elections and Duma work. Besides the peculiarities of carrying out electoral campaign, the methods of the work of the Central Committee of Constitutional-Democratic Party in the IInd Duma, Cadet Party strategy and tactics, the basic directions of the fraction work concerning economic, social and political questions are revealed.


Duck eggs are one of the sources of animal protein from poultry. Duck animal products are known to contain fat and cholesterol higher than chicken eggs. This egg cholesterol can be suppressed by manipulating ration. Chitosan and bran have cholesterol binding properties. The purpose of this study was to get low cholesterol meat and eggs. The study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 treatments and 5 replications. Each replication consisted of 2 ducks as the experimental unit. The treatments were R0 = 45% corn + 35% concentrate + 20% fermented bran, R1 = 45% corn + 35% concentrate + 20% fermented bran, R2 = 45% corn + 35% concentrate + 19.5% fermented bran + 0.5% chitosan and R3 = 45% corn + 35% concentrate + 17.5% fermented bran + 2.5% chitosan. The variables measured were abdominal fat, blood cholesterol and duck egg cholesterol. The data were processed using SAS Windows 16 program. The results showed that giving chitosan gave an average percentage of abdominal fat weight was not significantly different between treatments (P> 0.05) and R1 treatment significantly lowered the lowest duck blood cholesterol level (P <0.05) which was 2.9 (ml/dl). While the lowest egg cholesterol was shown by the treatment of R3 (2.78 mg/dg) compared to other treatments.


1 Specialist in Plastic Surgery, Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (BSPS). 2 PhD – President of BSPS 2006-7, Director of DESC, Regent of the Plastic Surgery Service of the Unisanta Division of Plastic Surgery of Unimes. 3 MD – Resident on the Plastic Surgery Service of Unisanta. 4 MD – General Surgery Resident at Santa Casa de Santos. 5 MD – Teaching Preceptor of the Plastic Surgery Service of Unisanta. 6 MD – Resident on the Plastic Surgery Service of Unisanta. ABSTRACT Introduction: The importance of Scarpa's fascia in reducing both skin suture tension and seroma is a subject of great discussion in lipoabdominoplasty. This study evaluates drain flow in lipoabdominoplasty, with and without preservation of Scarpa's fascia, on postoperative days 1o, 3o, 5o, and 7o. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, and serial study of 24 patients who underwent lipoabdominoplasty; procedures performed by seven different surgeons (residents) were evaluated between August and December 2013. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether Scarpa's fascia was preserved or removed. Drain flow was evaluated on postoperative days 1o, 3o, 5o, and 7o, and complications were assessed in the two groups. Results: Three patients developed epitheliosis on the umbilical scar, and two were smokers. There was less fluid drainage in Group 1 patients compared to Group 2, and this was less significant on postoperative day 1. One patient in Group 2 developed a seroma (40 ml), which was aspirated with a syringe on postoperative day 10, with no recurrence. Conclusion: Lipoabdominoplasty with Scarpa's fascia preservation resulted in reduced serosanguinous drainage, both when taken as a whole (182.09ml less for the seven day total), or measured daily.


Dear Editor Uvealmelanoma (UM) is themost frequent primarymalignant intraocular tumor in adults with an estimated incidence of 4-5 per million per year in western countries [1]. About 50% of UM patients eventually develop metastasis. In a previous study, the prognosis of Chinese UM was mainly correlated with visual clinical features and gene sequencing results. Models designed to predict UM prognosis have been previously described [2], but these studies were based on Caucasians, not Chinese. Further, our previous study [3] determined that the clinical characteristics were different between Chinese and Caucasian UM patients. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the clinical characteristics and survival status of 1553 patients diagnosed with UM over a period of 15 years in China, and also included factors that were not included in our previous study, such as the largest basal diameter, thickness, tumor size after updating the criteria, pigmentation, whether complicated with intraocular hemorrhage, ciliary body involvement, extraocular extension and TNM stage. We also constructed comprehensive prognostic models to predict the risk of metastasis within 2 years and death of UM after 2 years following treatment according to clinical characteristics using machine learning. The methods of this study are described in the Supplementary File. The clinical data of the UM patients are shown in Supplementary Table S1. The mean age of subjects was 47.2 ± 12.5 years (median, 48.0 years; range, 5-85 years), indicating that the onset age is much younger than Caucasians [4] for whom it usually occurs in the fifth to sixth decades. This demonstrates one of the racial variations of the disease. Nearly 70% of patients' visual acuity was worse than the 0.30 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR). Intraocular pressure was within the normal range of 10-21 mmHg in 1279 (85.6%) patients, while it was lower than 10mmHg in 148 (9.9%) patients and higher than 21 mmHg in 67 (4.5%) patients. The mean largest basal


"Due to the spectacular advances of molecular genetics more and more of what we are 'by nature' is coming within the reach of biotechnological interventions." These words of JOrgen Habermas from the book The Future of Human Nature refer to a new epoque in which the functions and the scope of biomedicine will change dramatically. By extending the scope of biomedical interventions the question has to be raised: where does the boundary between healing and enhancement lie? In the not very far future, facing this boundary may cause ethical dilemmas in the everyday practice of healthcare. But the conceptual problem of distinguishing between prevention and eugenics will become also a matter of law and health policy.


Sodium silicate and sodium berate mere tested as dame retardants on two types of paper sheet (100% rice straw pulp paper with a high silica content while the other consisted of 100% wood pulp paper). After addition of inorganic flame retardant salts (sodium silicate and sodium berate) on to the two samples of paper, the thermal behaviour of the treated paper sheets revealed differences in the course of the differential thermal analysis curves. The thermal analysis studies were carried out under an oxidizing atmosphere using differential thermal (DTA) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis, The flame retardants used in this study reduced the amount of volatile products formed during decomposition of the paper and increased the weight loss due to formation of char for the treated papers. The thermal degradation of paper can be considered as a first order degradation. Two stages of thermal degradation were kinetically differentiated, namely, a volatilization stage and a decarbonization stage, The activation energy for these two stages were calculated. The addition of flame-retarding salts decreased the activation energy for both stages, Sodium silicate salt showed more reduction of activation energy than sodium berate, especially for the rice straw paper.


The number of disability employee in Indonesia increases every year due to traffic accidents, natural disasters, and diseases. It reached 16.81 percent of the total Indonesian workforce until 2017 [1]. According to the law which explains disability, each private company must employ disabled employee for at least 1 percent and state-owned companies must employ disabled employee for at least 2 percent from all employees. In fact, the regulation has not been implemented due to negative society views on disability. Therefore, it is necessary to empower paraparesis people to work independently so that negative views from the society can be eliminated. Empowerment of people with paraparesis at Balai Besar Rehabilitasi Sosial Penyandang Disabilitas Fisik (BBRSPDF) Prof. Dr. Soeharso Surakarta was conducted by training on the development of the hemming machine. Their legs are not able to use pedals, so they need work facilities to accommodate the design of work facilities based on participatory approach to determine user needs. Participatory approach was conducted with distributing questionnaires. Change of operation hemming machine which previously used feet changed using the elbows cause technical contradictions in design of work facilities. Technical contradiction problem can be solved using TRIZ method.


NeatNik Saucer now represented in Dallas by Choices For Children - Visit us during The Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, June 20-26, 2012


Hadith as the second source of law in Islam, has various forms of derivation of meaning depending on the form of the method as well as the approach used. To be able to understand it in depth, a comprehensive study is needed with the use of appropriate methods and approaches so as to be able to extract the meaning that exists in a hadith text. Yusuf al-Qaradawi as a contemporary Hadith scholar also offers a new methodology in an effort to understand the Hadith so as to facilitate the preachers and researchers provide penjelasn Hadith against the text used or studied. The methodology of understanding is outlined in his book entitled Kaifa Nata'amal Ma'a al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah. Yusuf Al-Qardawi in the book emphasizes on understanding the Hadith as an attempt to ground the Prophet's Hadith with several methods including by combining Hadith with the Qur'an, testing the validity of a Hadith with sahih hadiths that are thematic, closer to the main and more in accordance with the wisdom of Shari'ah or the general purpose of Shari'ah. This study uses a qualitative approach with descriptive analytical methods. The object of study in this article is the book Kaifa Nata'amal Ma'a al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah, by Yusuf al-Qaradawi. The primary source in this article is the book of Kaifa Nata'amal Ma'a al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah, which was written directly by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, containing all methods and steps to understand and use Hadith in daily activities. Secondary sources in this paper are obtained from books, journals, and articles related to the writing being discussed. The results showed that the reformulation of the methodology offered by Yusuf al-Qaradawi in the book Kaifa Nata'amal Ma'a al-Sunnah Al-Nabawiyyah get the pros and cons of the readers and enthusiasts of Hadith studies. Also in another aspect, the Hadith method of thought offered by him is relevant to the current historical needs. This is because the understanding of the Hadith text must be relevant to itself, in the sense that its meaning is limited to the values it contains and is relevant to the current conditions of society whose relevance takes place on a rational understanding. The perspective of Yusuf al-Qaradawi indicates the development of Hadith studies, although in this case it gets opposition from other Hadith thinkers.


Smart City is a city management that utilizes various resources effectively and efficiently to solve various city problems using innovative, integrated and sustainable solutions to provide infrastructure and provide city services that can improve the quality of life of its citizens. The digital transformation process carried out in the City of Padang Panjang and all efforts to increase digitization and increase digital literacy. Based on the relatively fast population, it can cause various problems typical of urban areas, such as a decrease in the quality of public services, reduced availability of residential land, congestion on the highway, difficulty in getting a parking space, accumulation of garbage, and other social problems. In this study the approach used is a qualitative approach, used to examine the condition of natural objects, where the researcher is the key instrument, the data collection technique is done by triangulation (combined). After doing the research, it can be seen that the purpose of the smart city program in the city of Padang Panjang is where the community can participate in helping the management of existing resources and participate in providing the right information to the local community. The goal is to provide innovative solutions in handling and solving major problems, providing convenience, security and comfort for the community, improving the quality of life of the people of Padang Panjang City to a better level.


In India, single parents mean father or mother the one who is living alone with their children without his/her partner, because of death, divorce, or separation. In a case of divorce/separation generally, the mother is given custody of the children. Divorce is the most street-full experience that one can have in adulthood. It can be also extremely upsetting to children. Life is hard for most single parent families in India. Yet many people choose to divorce or separation rather than remain in an unhappy relationship, even though they know the difficulty of adjustments. A single parent need not be the natural mother or father of the child as some individuals choose to become the single parent by adopting the child. The biological parents are unable to take care of the child due to sickness, a death of one or both parent, an inability of the extended family to care for the child or parental abandonment, extra-marital affairs etc. Most of the time if a mother is alive; she retains the custody of her child or children. In this paper, the attempts have made to list out the problems of single-parent father and mother separately and the problems faced by the teenagers of the single parents its impact and the management of the situation in detail. The study is conducted based on both primary and secondary data and exploratory method with 50 teenagers from Dakshina Kannada district with snowball sampling method. The interview schedule is used to collect data.


GPS proved to very practical in the application of geodesy and surveying such Civil Engineering, control point surveying and the deformation surveying o( structure, but the accuracy of static GPS positioning is degraded at the sites which the visible satellites of GPS are less than 4, i.e. the urban area covered with the high building and the industrial zone. Thus, the combined GPS/GLONASS system was introduced to acquire the high accuracy of static positioning by a few satellites. So the combined GPS/GLONASS system show the good results at the sites which the accuracy of positioning is degraded due to few satellites, the cutoff of signal, and multipath in the urban area.


By employing commercial poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO–PPO–PEO) block copolymers as templates in near‐neutral aqueous solutions in the absence of organic cosolvents, unilamellar siliceous vesicles and nanofoams with ultrahigh pore volumes (> 3 cm3 g–1) are successfully synthesized. At controlled pH, a tubular micelle → unilamellar vesicle → nanofoam structural transformation is observed by increasing the reaction temperature. It is proposed that the siliceous vesicles are synthesized via a co‐operative block‐copolymer vesicle templating approach, while the siliceous nanofoams are obtained by the fusion of vesicles at increased ionic strength. Compared to literature methods to synthesize siliceous vesicles and foams, our method is convenient, cheap, and produces a high yield. Siliceous nanofoams synthesized by using our approach show superior bioimmobilization capacity over other porous materials for biomolecules with large molecular weight.


In this paper we will based on two case studies, explore the creation of new objects in two very different contexts, being the art of painting and the fluid-mechanical engineering. From an empirical point of view we will treat creativity through actor-context relations, which enclose perceptions of problems. This kind of context is capturing a duality as both being a stabilizing structure, difficult to escape from, but also serving as the condition upon which to create something. This duality appears to be a critical and necessary condition for the creation of something new. Through different social theories we will argue the importance of problems in change-making processes. We will emphasize on how processes of creative thinking and innovation is done in steps, and how the end result reflects what these steps have brought in terms of problem perception and new knowledge. Inspired by concepts from Bruno Latour´s science studies, we suggest a framework by which to understand how change is performed through systematical steps of materialization of problems, to gain the necessary support and acceptance to carry through innovation.


ABSTRACT Membrane distillation (MD) is a separation technique used for water desalination, which operates at low feed temperatures and pressures. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is one of the common MD configurations where both the hot saline feed stream and the cold permeate stream are in direct contact with the two membrane surfaces. An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of operating conditions such as feed temperature, feed flow rate, permeate temperature, and permeate flow rate on the system output flux. To check the effect of membrane degradation, the MD system was run continuously for 48 hours with raw seawater as feed and the reduction in system flux with time was observed. Results showed that increasing the feed temperature, decreasing the permeate temperature, increasing the feed and permeate flow rate yield an increase in flux. The effects of feed temperature and feed flow rate are the most significant parameters. After 48 hours of system continuous operation flux was reduced by 42.4 % but the quality of permeate (as measured by its TDS) is still very high with salt rejection factor close to 100 %. For the DCMD system under consideration, the GOR values remain between 0.8 and 1.2, for the tested range of operating temperatures.


Currently multimodal therapy is widely used for treatment of chronic diseases including cancer. The joint use of ionizing or onionizing radiation with hyperthermia or chemotherapeutic agents increases the effectiveness of the treatment. A response of living things to combination treatment may be synergistic, additive or antagonistic. The study is aimed to examine the common regularities of synergistic and antagonistic effects development following exposure of biological objects to various factors. The article presents analysis of experimental data received by the authors of the paper and the data published by other teams. It has been found that therapeutic effects of the same factors do not depend on the objects under study, it depends on the agents parameters: a dose rate, intensity, degree of heating (temperature), concentration of chemotherapeutic agents, etc. The common regularities of synergistic interactions are: 1) synergistic effect is maximum, if the agents act simultaneously, it depends on the ratio of injuries induced by each agent; 2) the optimal correlation between influencing factors provides the maximum synergistic effect; 3) in order to maintain maximum synergistic or antagonistic effects interaction, it is necessary to reduce or to increase the intensity of one of the agents and proportionally to increase or to reduce the intensity of the second agent. The combined effects of hyperthermia and glycerol on bacterial cells are considered as an example of the antagonistic effect. Exposure to different concentrations of sodium chloride, NaCl, in combination with ionizing radiation, or ultrasound, or hyperthermia forms a stable antagonistic effect. Both glycerol and NaCl are osmotic substances and their negative effects can be attenuated by means that stabilize the osmotic homeostasis system. Yeast cells shown the synergistic interaction of ultraviolet light and hyperthermia then it began smoothly passed into antagonistic interaction as the temperature load decreased and the parameters of the influencing factors deviated from the optimal. At the same time, the antagonistic effects are also characterized by the optimal ratio of doses of the agents used, at which the observed effect has the maximum value. The conclusion is made about the commonality of the main regularities of the manifestation of the effects of synergy and antagonism at the interaction of factors of different nature regardless of the biological object, which is subjected to combined influence.


We demonstrate a technique called "In-volume Selective Laser Etching" (ISLE) for fs laser micro structuring of sapphire and fused silica with subsequent wet etching in HF acid for the formation of micro channels, micro mechanical devices and hollow volumes. In the process the sample is irradiated and by that modified in the focus volume. Afterwards the sample is wet chemically etched using 48% hydrofluoric acid (HF) or potassium hydroxide (KOH) to remove the modified material. Due to the non-linear absorption process in transparent materials a complete variability in three dimensions is given. This allows the modification also in the sample volume for the fabrication of, e.g micro channels and hollow volumes, which are required for micro fluidic applications. More over ISLE can be used as a kind of cutting process to fabricate 3D micro mechanical components with high precision. In this paper the results achieved by ISLE carried out with a FCPA laser system from IMRA and a fs-Innoslab amplifier developed at the ILT are presented.We demonstrate a technique called "In-volume Selective Laser Etching" (ISLE) for fs laser micro structuring of sapphire and fused silica with subsequent wet etching in HF acid for the formation of micro channels, micro mechanical devices and hollow volumes. In the process the sample is irradiated and by that modified in the focus volume. Afterwards the sample is wet chemically etched using 48% hydrofluoric acid (HF) or potassium hydroxide (KOH) to remove the modified material. Due to the non-linear absorption process in transparent materials a complete variability in three dimensions is given. This allows the modification also in the sample volume for the fabrication of, e.g micro channels and hollow volumes, which are required for micro fluidic applications. More over ISLE can be used as a kind of cutting process to fabricate 3D micro mechanical components with high precision. In this paper the results achieved by ISLE carried out with a FCPA laser system from IMRA and a fs-Innoslab amplifier developed a...


Heat developing apparatus, comprising: a heat development section, a portion of the heat development photosensitive heat-developable recording material is heated by the heating unit to an overt image on the latent image recorded on both sides of the layer of the photosensitive thermally developable recording material, by to support the cartridge holder portion of the cartridge, the cartridge receiving the photosensitive heat-developable recording material conveying unit, the conveying unit for the heat-developable photosensitive recording material from the cassette holder holding portion for conveying the photosensitive cartridge may be removed and heat-developable recording material to a heat development section, a control unit, a control unit for controlling the heat development section of the heating temperature and the heating unit in at least one of the conveying speed, wherein the control unit has a moisture correction information photosensitive thermally developable recording material and suitably during the heat-developable photosensitive thermally developable recording material, the moisture content of the photosensitive thermally developable recording material, the heating temperature and the conveying speed in accordance with a moisture correction information and control at least one heating unit.


Many rural intersections originally constructed with thin untreated flexible base and hot mix or a two-course surface treatment experience severe pushing, shoving and rutting. These failures cause an extremely rough surface that can cause damage to small vehicles and potentially cause motorists to lose control of their vehicle. These distresses almost always result in complete failure of the existing pavement that must be repaired several times during the life of the roadway by maintenance forces. Pavement sections constructed with the same materials adjacent to the intersection perform adequately until the approach (approximately 150 ft in advance) of the intersection and in the intersection itself when the failures become apparent. The mechanisms of intersection pavement failures and the best practices to minimize the failures at existing intersection pavements are discussed in this report. The outcome of this project is an expert system that can be used to reduce the frequency of maintenance needed at rural intersections with consideration of the life-cycle cost analysis.


The juridical test, Analysis of the differences in the responsibility in the civil law and in the contractual responsibility of the State, establishes the context of the fault, as a tripartite division that has been received in our civil code. In addition it is exposed, the relating thing initially general of responsibility, indicating the critiques realized at present to this matter. Finally, the transformations are commented in the contractual responsibility of the State, where every time they are protagonists the beginning and the constitutional jurisprudence. PALABRAS CLAVE: origenes de la responsabilidad, concepcion tripartita de la culpa, hecho ilicito, principio general de responsabilidad, perjuicios indemnizables, responsabilidad civil contractual y extracontractual, constitucionalizacion del derecho privado.


Recently, discrete sets of numbers, the -integers , have been proposed as numbering tools in quasicrystalline studies. Indeed, there exists a unique numeration system based on the irrational in which the -integers are all real numbers with no fractional part. These -integers appear to be quite appropriate for describing some quasilattices relevant to quasicrystallography when precisely is equal to (golden mean ), to , or to , i.e. when is one of the self-similarity ratios observed in quasicrystalline structures. As a matter of fact, -integers are natural candidates for coordinating quasicrystalline nodes, and also the Bragg peaks beyond a given intensity in corresponding diffraction patterns: they could play the same role as ordinary integers do in crystallography. In this paper, we prove interesting algebraic properties of the sets when is a `quadratic unit PV number', a class of algebraic integers which includes the quasicrystallographic cases. We completely characterize their respective Meyer additive and multiplicative properties where F and G are finite sets, and also their respective Galois conjugate sets . These properties allow one to develop a notion of a quasiring . We hope that in this way we will initiate a sort of algebraic quasicrystallography in which we can understand quasilattices which be `module on a quasiring' in : . We give also some two-dimensional examples with .


This research suggests a new criteria for cricket team selection using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with the objective of selecting a team which has minimum error in terms of team selection. It propose a DEA formulation for evaluation of cricket players in different capabilities and their efficiencies of performances using multiple outputs. For instances, batting, bowling, all rounding, wicket keeping and fielding capabilities. This evaluation determines efficient and inefficient cricket players and ranks them on the basis of DEA scores. The ranking can be used to choose the required number of players for a cricket team in each cricketing capability. A real dataset, associated with the one day matches played by Sri Lanka between the 2011 ICC cricket world cup to 2015 ICC cricket world cup. Cricket players having various capabilities is used to choose the best cricket team. For this purpose the secondary data were derived from ESPN Cricinfo website. The proposed method has the advantage of considering multiple factors related to the performance of players in multiple capabilities and aggregates their scores using a DEA model in Linear Programming frame work. This DEA aggregation gives the scores of players objectively instead of using subjective computations. The proposed DEA method can be used to form a national cricket team from several clubs or a team of top cricketers.


Lameness associated with carpal sheath effusion results from a variety of underlying factors. Pathologic changes associated with the carpal canal include septic tenosynovitis, superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendinopathies, and desmopathies of the accessory ligament of the superficial (AL-SDFT) and deep digital flexor tendons. A recent report identified several cases with intrathecal tears of the accessory ligament of the superficial digital flexor tendon with associated hemorrhage in the carpal sheath. Although many equine practitioners exhibit proficiency with the ultrasonographic evaluation of the metacarpal structures, the more proximal carpal canal and antebrachium can be a source of frustration and intimidation. Previous reports have described the ultrasonographic anatomy and technique for evaluation of the AL-SDFT. This paper expands on these studies with a thorough anatomic review. The proposed technique describes the evaluation of each structure individually in transverse and longitudinal planes, in contrast with the more historic zone approach. By improving ultrasonographic proficiency and anatomic competency, the practitioner will be better equipped to diagnose various conditions of the equine carpal canal.


This paper presents the approach to the understanding of the entrepreneurship phenomenon. With this approach, it is possible to identify this social activity as essentially distinct from those that are seemingly similar but distinct in content. Having reviewed the relevant literature of this area of study with a critical eye, the author has identified systemic errors in the traditional understanding of entrepreneurship (first-order and second-order errors). Developing this approach, the author has introduced the concept of anti-ideology, which mirrors a nature of innovating as a process of creative destruction. This statement assumes that true entrepreneurship exists within the idea/anti-idea framework. The author has identified mandatory and sufficient attributes of entrepreneurial innovation. Based on the applied methodology, the author has proposed a model of progressive materialization for the anti-idea (Progressive Materialization of Anti-idea, PMAi). It helps to measure entrepreneurship in terms of its innovating component.


This study investigated gaze distribution by analyzing eye movement according to the implication of editorial design in science textbook. Participants...


We have used teraelectronvolt cosmic ray spectrum of electrons and positrons data from DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) to estimate the upper limits on dark matter annihilation. We have created modeled spectrum of electrons and positrons by considering dark matter annihilation into electrons and positrons with different channels. After the production, electrons and positrons can lose their energy by interstellar medium and interstellar radiation field. We have considered loss processes such as inverse Compton scattering, synchrotron radiation and ionization. The upper limits on dark matter annihilation cross-section have been investigated by comparing the model spectrum and observational spectrum. The stringent constraints is from electron-positron channel.


A growing literature in international relations concludes that democratic states pursue distinctive foreign policies. Specifically, democracies do not engage each other in war and only rarely engage each other in serious disputes short of war. Scholars have offered three basic explanations to support these findings. Each of the three invokes a different explanatory variable: norms, checks and balances, and trade. None of the three, however, provides a convincing explanation of the peace that is said to prevail between democratic polities: the distinction between norms and interests is unclear; substitutes for checks and balances exists in nondemocracies; and trade can deter conflict only under restrictive conditions.


Part 1. Context: Environmental scan Society Disease Environment Governance Economics Industry Legal context Ethical context Part 2. Analysing Key Policy Issues: Who's going to govern? Who's going to care? What will be the burden of health? Where will technology take us? What will health cost? Part 3. Conclusions: Where are the linkages for joined-up policy? Determinants of health Equity and equality Individual and community expectations of healthcare and health Science, technology and industrial policy Information, evaluation and benchmarking.


In the midst of the sixth mass extinction, limited resources are forcing conservationists to prioritize which species and places will receive conservation action. Evolutionary distinctiveness measures the isolation of a species on its phylogenetic tree. Combining a species' evolutionary distinctiveness with its extinction risk creates a measure called an EDGE score. We use EDGE scores to prioritize the places and species that should be managed to conserve bird evolutionary history. We analyze all birds across species, orders, countries, and important bird areas. We further examine parrots, raptors, and seabirds in depth because these groups are especially threatened and relatively speciose. These three focal groups have greater median threatened evolutionary history than other birds, making them important for conserving bird evolutionary history. Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Madagascar, New Zealand, and the Philippines are especially critical countries because they have the most threatened evolutionary history for endemic birds and are important for parrots, raptors, or seabirds. We further highlight that increased enforcement of international agreements for the conservation of parrots, raptors, or seabirds is needed because these agreements protect hundreds of millions of years of threatened bird evolutionary history. Decisive action is required to conserve the evolutionary history of birds into the Anthropocene. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


2×600 MW Denitrification Project in Guohua Taicang Co., Ltd. is a retrofitting for the built power unit, there is space constraint problem in this project. The OI2-SCR flue gas denitrification technology with independent intellectual property rights of Suyuan Environmental Protection Engineering Co., Ltd. was utilized to raise the NH3/NOx mixing intensity and reduce the required mixing distance effectively. The optimized compatibility of boiler system and flue gas denitrification system is realized by means of the reconstruction of main equipment such as air preheater, ID fan and flue gas duct.


The focus of this research is the mental health of firefighters at work. Given the nature of their occupation and the dangers involved, these workers are exposed daily to numerous risks to their mental health. However, using the theoretical framework based on the psychodynamics of work, it has become clear that workers who are exposed to pressures and suffering in their work do not remain impassive; they organize among themselves to deal with the hardships in their work. This study, which was conducted among permanent Quebec firefighters, was divided into two components, using a mixed methodology. Component I (quantitative) draws up the portrait of the mental health status of firefighters, describes the psychosocial risk factors involved in their work and assesses the association between these risk factors and the effects on their mental health. The data were obtained using a questionnaire distributed to all firefighters in the two cities participating in the study (response rate: 98.6%). This component of the study highlights the fact that firefighters are in good mental health and that, contrary to what is usually found in the literature on the impact of psychosocial risk factors, high psychological demand and low decisional latitude are not associated with psychological distress among firefighters. Component II (qualitative) deals with the firefighters' relationship with their work and, in particular, identifies and analyzes the strategies developed to cope with the pressures in their occupation. The qualitative data were collected through eight group interviews. A total of 37 firefighters were interviewed and some forty hours of interviews were recorded. These group interviews brought to light the collective defence strategies used by the workers to manage their relationship with fire, deal with their fear of making a mistake, work in high-risk situations, and so on. It also emerges that the firefighters develop these collective strategies through a particularly important space for discussion, which also enables them to find meaning in their work and to establish the rules of their occupation and the rules of behaviour which govern their relationship with their work and their coworkers.


Emotions are an integral part of human li fe. Along with cognjtio n and motivation, ellloLions are considered one of the three funda mental nl.ental operations that are both interdependent and inseparable in defining hu man beings and their relationsh ip to the environment (e.g., Hargreaves, 2000; Lazarus, Coyne, & Folkman, 1984). Emotions can be defined via several psychological processes, including emotion-specific motivational tendencies, expressive behaviors, and physiologiGll processes and cognitions; however, the affective component in emotions, such as fee lings of unease and nervousness in anxiety, are considered the core element of emotions (e.g., Pekrun, 2006). Common to almost all emotion theories is the conception that emotions are incred ibly variable and evidence subtle differences, for example, in accompanying action tendencies or emotion expression (Ellsworth & Scherer, 2003); thus, the view shared by many researchers of emotio n is that broad dimensions such as positive vs. nega tive affect are not sufficient to accurately describe the occurrence of emotions (Lazarus, 1991) . Accord ingly, in th is chapter we adopt the view of distinct, discrete varied emotions like enjoyment, anxiety, or anger. For a long time, the examination of emotions was absent from academic research, with the exception of studies on students' anxiety (Zeidner, 1998) and ruscussions of emotional elements withill attri bu tion theory (Weiner, 1985). The dearth of research on emotions is even more evident in resea rch focused on teachers, which has received very little attention so far (for exceptions, see Frenzel, Goetz, Li.idtke, Pekrun, & Sutton, 2009; Frenzel, Goetz,Stephens, & Jacob, 2009; Hargreaves, 2005; Sutton & Wheatley, 2003; Zembylas, 2004) . However, teacher emotions are highly relevant for instructiona l processes, as they affect teacher behavior, shape teacherstudent relationships, and ultimately impact student outcomes. Furthermore, such emotions also are important to teachers' psychological well-being. Often ti mes discussed in thi s context is teacher burnout, w hich can be described in terms of emotional depletion (Maslach, Schau feli, & Leiter, 2001, p. 416) and is thou ght to be related to emotional experience (see the chapter by DUtT, C hang, & Carson, this volume). T hus, teacher emotions sho uld also play a cru cial role in teachers' job satisfaction and reasons for either staying in a job or leaving it prematurely.


Governments around the world press for higher levels of education and skills for all their young people. They believe that, despite recessions and job losses, people are "human capital" who need to invest in their own training and help grow economies. In England in 2019, disabled adults made up 20% of potential workers, but only half of them were employed. This chapter discusses the changing nature of the labor market and the place of young people regarded as having special educational needs or disabilities in education and training, noting that despite a shift to a social model of disability, social and work environments often fail to adapt to those with disabilities. Education and training for disabled young people have usually been at lower levels and the jobs on offer for them lower skilled and waged. But, more recently in England, disabled students have been recognized as a significant presence with more taking higher skilled and professional jobs after graduation. The chapter briefly compares the situation in England with that of Germany and Finland.


Waste from tires is a global issue. New recycling methods allowed to create rubber powder from tire waste. This research shows a possibility of this rubber powder to reduce the impact of waste tires on environment. Polyurethane adhesive reinforced by rubber powder creates an interesting composite, which can be used across all fields of industry. Adhesive bonding is a progressive technology of bonding various materials. This research is one part of the study on reinforced polyurethane adhesive by rubber powder, which shows the influence of microparticles on mechanical properties. This research follows interactions of rubber powder microparticles and polyurethane adhesive in quasi-static fatigue on mechanical properties. Quasi-static test of adhesive bonds simulates real conditions in practice. The quasi-static test of adhesive bonds was set on 200, 500 and 1000 cycles. The influence of strength and elongation on reinforced polyurethane adhesive in the quasi-static test was compared with the results from the static mechanical tests. The interactions of rubber powder microparticles, polyurethane adhesive and adherend were analysed by SEM in three layers. Polyurethane adhesive properties are good sealing and adhesion to various materials, i.e. suitable for filler modification. The weaknesses of polyurethane adhesive are low strength and high price. Reinforcing by rubber powder is effective for polyurethane adhesive, because it does not limit the sealing properties, increases the strength of bonds and can reduce the price. The modification of polyurethane adhesive by rubber powder was in various concertations 5, 10 and 15 wt. %. The quasi-static tests prove increasing influence of rubber powder on mechanical properties by percentage difference. The strength of reinforced polyurethane adhesive increased by 17 % and the elongation positively decreased by 6 %.


Objective : To analyze the morphology of dentin after application of desensitizing agents. Materials and Methods: Ten third molars were sectioned to obtain 2mm thick dentin disks and divided into 4 groups (n = 5): G0 – cut with a diamond disk, G1 – Colgate® Sensitive Pro-relief™ toothpaste; G2 – Duraflur® Fluoride varnish; G3 – biosilicate aqueous solution (Biosilicato®). After storage in dehydrated silica-gel (37°C/24h), the samples were placed on aluminum supports, coated with gold-palladium and observed under a scanning electron microscope. Post-treatment photomicrographs were obtained of the dentin. Results: In the G1 group the smear layer was observed; in the G2 and G4 groups, both the desensitizing agents and the smear layer and in the G3 group, a film of varnish. Conclusions: Different morphologies of dentin were observed after the proposed treatments for dentin hypersensitivity.


Freely available Online www.isdesr.org Abstract: The world is witnessing massive changes, which clearly highlight the fact that for long-term development and growth, the approach of sustainability is the only viable option. The present research paper aims at highlighting the relationship between the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of various Indian states and its relationship with the long-term vision of sustainability that these states hold. The paper aims at portraying that sustainable development and not shortsighted materialistic growth holds the key to ultimate well-being of the people. Our Forests constitute natures wealth and therefore are taken as a criteria and parameter to measure the sustainability quotient of the various Indian states. The central government and also various state governments have come up with various programmes and schemes for increasing the forest cover, but the results of percentage increase in forest cover holds the key to show as to whether these schemes and programmes have been fruitful in reality or not. Through various graphs, ratios and other statistical tools and techniques, we show whether or not the states have the vision and foresight towards a more environmentally inclusive development. It is clearly visible that only few states, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka have shown improvement that can be categorized as satisfactory. Other states have followed only a short-term and narrow approach to development, not realizing the fact that sustainability ultimately holds the key and is the future of mankind. It is high time that we realize the need of the hour and take immediate steps in the right direction for long term prosperity of the states and nation as a whole.


Abstract The deterioration of air quality in big cities is closely related to transportation. Thus, the application of transportation means to improving and controlling the air quality of metropolitan areas is a correct and functioning method. Among several feasible improvement policies, transportation system management (TSM) is a kind of low-cost method which can be expected to show effects in a short-term period. It would necessitate a great deal of manpower, effort and time if each one of these methods were to be measure precisely and objectively. As a result, the utilization of an expert evaluation model to extract professional knowledge from various fields so as to located views of consensus would result in a successful decision-making method under circumstances where information is incomplete. This paper puts forward three phases of a multicriteria evaluation model which will, at the onset, perform consensus elimination under key criteria so as to find out non-dominated strategies; next, every expert uses the ELECTRE III model to rank non-dominated strategies under multiple criteria; the consensus ranking method proposed by Cook and Seiford (1978) is then employed for uncovering the ranking of minimal recognition differences from all experts. This paper takes Taipei city as an illustration to elaborate the intended method.


In the rush to create a 'can‐do' Civil Service, which adopts a more managerial organisational culture, it is important not to forget the importance of policy analysis. Unless policy options are well developed and robust, the emphasis on management may simply lead us more efficiently and more effectively into the mire of policy failure.


It is disclosed a combustion system for a spark ignition internal combustion engine with direct injection. A side-mounted fuel injector positioned outside the intake valves, directs several fuel jets in a flat, spherical depression which is formed in a dome-shaped flask. With such a combustion system both good mixing to facilitate good air utilization in premature injection and an ignitable mixture at the spark plug at late injection for relief from a cold start can be provided. Since the recess is smooth and flat, the surface of the combustion chamber is smaller than in a deeper well having a complicated shape. Reduce the surface in the combustion chamber results in improved fuel economy.


Recently, high profile data breach incidents have highlighted the importance of insider Intellectual Property(IP) theft research. Matching the patterns of known attack (filtering-based or rule-based) and finding the deviation from normal behavior (anomaly-based) are two typical approaches to prevent insiders from stealing sensitive information. On the one hand, filtering-based or rule-based solutions provide accurate identification of known attacks, and thus they are suitable for IP theft prevention, but they cannot handle the insiders with in-depth knowledge of the protective measures. On the other hand, anomaly-based solutions can find unknown attacks but typically have a high false-positive rate, which limits their applicability to practice. Nowadays, more and more researchers believe that the insider attack could be improved when combining known attack pattern matching with anomaly detection technologies. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce a Data-level Hybrid Framework, dubbed as Terminator, which enabling both detection and prevention. Terminator integrates a prevention module with an anomaly detection module and uses feedback to improve the module for detection or prevention. Different from previous anomaly-based methods that could only detect anomalous activities, Terminator could detect the stealing actions proactively and take real-time actions on these actions. The effectiveness of Terminator is demonstrated by its excellent performances on a collected dataset, involving detailed information in a real-world insider network and attack data simulated by impersonating the genuine users.


The treatment of C.I. Direct Red 23 (DR23) solution has been investigated by the ozonation under UV irradiation (O3/UV) in a recirculating semi-pilot mode. Decolorization efficiency (DE%) of DR23 was compared using the O3 and O3/UV processes, which was74.9% and 92.7% after 30-min treatment of the dye (100 mg/dm3), respectively. Then, the effect of experimental parameters on the O3/UV process including initial dye concentration, ozone mass flow rate and initial pH was studied. The obtained results revealed that the decolorization efficiency increased by enhancement of ozone amount and decreasing of the DR23 concentration; the decolorization process was performed efficiently at the basic condition (pH= 10) due to the production of extra hydroxyl radicals. The pseudo-first order kinetic was observed for the dye decolorization. Electrical energy per order decreases using the O3/UV process at the desired pH 10 indicating adequate synergistic effect of the photolysis and ozonation. Eventually, central composite design (CCD) approach was properly applied for prediction of the DE% with appropriate performance (R2 = 98.52%) and optimization of the process.


Abstract : The use of ancillary devices such as eyeglasses with a sound attenuating helmet can reduce the effectiveness of the helmet to protect the user from hazardous noise exposures. Three different eyeglass frame types (bayonet, cable, skull) were tested and the insertion loss (sound reduction) of the HGU-56/p Aircrew Integrated Helmet System (AIHS) worn with the frames was measured across the frequency range from 25 Hz to 20 kHz. All three types of eyeglass frames reduced the effectiveness of the AIHS to protect the wearer from noise exposure. While the limits on operational capabilities resulting from the use of cable- or skull-style eyeglass frames were minimal, the bayonet-style frames can reduce by more than half the maximum allowable time in which an individual may be exposed to high-levels of environmental noise without the added protection of insert earplugs. It is recommended that earplugs be used when bayonet-style eyeglass frames are worn with the HGU-56/p AIHS.


The development history, micro morphology, properties, vulcanization system,prep aration technology, the equipments and the development trend of EPDM/PP blends t hermoplastics elastomer were reviewed.


To open a new situation of college sports management which can conform to the socialist economic system,to produce the best results with the limited condition,fund,teachers contingent and facilities,there should be scientific and peopleoriented college sports management. Therefore,the sports courses should be reformed in order to serve for the students bodybuilding. Meanwhile,the construction of teachers morality and academic atmosphere should be strengthened.


In a glare area card product that is stored in a computer readable memory unit, information is included which indicates a relation between a cutoff distance and each of a plurality of separate sections of a rectangular area, which is received by a receiving unit. The receiving unit is arranged in a reference vehicle with a headlight and operates to capture an image of the rectangular area in front of the reference vehicle. The threshold distance is defined as a maximum distance between the reference vehicle and a target person such that, when a distance between the reference vehicle and the target person within the maximum distance is, then it can be assumed that the target person is not dazzled by the headlights of the reference vehicle.


This qualitative case research analyzed the gender-based violence (GBV) encountered by university students and their empowering actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study utilized online in-depth unstructured interviews among eight cases selected for their experience with violence. Using thematic analysis, emerging themes from the interview data included different forms of GBV; such as physical, sexual, psychological, economic, and online, while their empowering strategies were undertaken at the personal, relational, and social levels. This study showed the importance of being empowered to prevail over oppressive experiences. Lessons from the process provided input in applying the principles of transformative education. Expectedly, the findings will address issues on policy research on GBV and methodological challenges in transformative education.


This paper presents the welding technology of tangent spring-plate which connects stator frame and core for 400 MW gas turbine generator.


The Ocean Color 2 (OC2), Ocean Color 3 (OC3) and Dall'Olmo three-band (TBDO) algorithms used for the estimation of the chlorophyll-a concentration [Chl-a] have been calibrated and validated for Sentinel-2 spectral bands. Measurements of in situ chlorophyll-a, radiometry and simulations with HydroLight have been used for this purpose within the Ecological Status of AQuatic Systems Satellites (ESAQS) Project to estimate water quality in aquatic systems in Spain. The results show that Sentinel-2 spectral bands are suitable for studying the chlorophyll-a concentration in inland waters. The TBDO algorithm have been applied to Sentinel-2 images and satisfactory results have been obtained in Albufera of Valencia region (Spain).


In order to eliminate the defects of band width and standing wave in the design of a low-noise amplifier,a design method for a broadband low-noise amplifier by combining balance amplification structure and negative feedback technology was proposed.ATF38143 transistor was applied,ADS software was used for matching and optimizing the transistor,a simplified circuit for negative voltage was provided in self-biasvoltage,and a parallel-connection resonance circuit was utilized to regulate the gain flatness.Finally,a broadband low-noise amplifier was designed,which works under 1.5 ~ 2.5 GHz,with standing wave at port less than 1.4,noise coefficient more than 0.55,the maximum gain above14 dB and the gain flatness inside band more than 2 dB.


The orbital angular momentum (OAM) holography has been developed and experimentally demonstrated the capability of holographic multiplexation and high-security encryption. However, the helical phase of an OAM mode can only be encoded into one hologram associated with a target image, and this severely limits the information capacity in practical applications. The modulated orbital angular momentum (MOAM) holography is proposed by imposing multiple modulation phase modes onto one OAM mode. Three essential properties, including the MOAM-preservation, MOAM-selectivity and MOAM-multiplexation are investigated. This method can significantly enhance the holographic information capacity and it has broad prospects for optical encryption and beam manipulations.


In writing Remaking the American Mainstream, our aim was to produce a systematic treatment of assimilation as a foundational concept for studying the experiences of immigrants and their descendants. In the context of the ongoing mass immigration from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean Basin, this goal was tantamount to revitalizing the social science analysis of assimilation. When we began the project, we were aware of just how daunting it would be to achieve our objective. In the 1990s, skepticism about the theoretical viability and empirical relevance of assimilation seemed to permeate the sociological literature on the post-1965 immigration. A variety of new perspectives gained currency in an intellectual environment hostile to the idea of assimilation. It seemed to us, however, that the alternative approaches drew too sharp a distinction between the new and old immigration eras by emphasizing only differences, thus failing to recognize also some broad continuities in the underlying patterns of incorporation. Our collaboration led us to rethink the idea of assimilation, offer a new theory of it, and assess the rival models in light of our theory and all available evidence. We also endeavored to highlight both the similarities and differences in institutional and historical contexts that bear on the shaping of outcomes in the old and new immigrations. We are gratified to read the thoughtful and engaging review essays featured in this journal. We read them as an indication that we managed to accomplish much of what we set out to do in writing Remaking the American Mainstream. If our book contributes to a revitalization of assimilation as a core concept for organizing research on the incorporation of immigrants and the second and now third generations, its success will be measured by new multidisciplinary work that will address many of the issues raised by our reviewers, who both point out the strengths of our book and raise probing questions about it. Barry Chiswick, who contributed pioneering studies extending human capital theory to the study of the economic assimilation of immigrants, provides a balanced overall account of the central themes of our book. His criticism is fair in wondering whether we do not pay sufficient attention to differences: the implication for future generations of the very large gap in human capital and earnings between the least skilled labor migrants and nativeborn Americans. In today's high-technology society, where demand for skilled labor has substantially increased returns to investments in human capital, the earnings of the least skilled laborers are greatly reduced in relative terms. Chiswick's concern restates the socalled Matthew Effect coined by the late Robert K. Merton—"the rich get richer while the


Background: Fall injuries are a public health problem throughout the world including Africa. Studies inEthiopia are health facility-based and do not reflect the communities. Therefore, the aim of this study is toassess association between fall injury and socio-demographic characteristics among house hold in Ethiopia.Methods: The study was based on the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2016. Thesurvey collected information about injuries in the past 12 months among 16,650 households. Householdswere selected using stratified cluster sampling procedure. Data were collected using a standard interviewquestionnaire from January 18, 2016 to June 27, 2016. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regressionanalyses were used to characterize the data and to identify the factors associated with fall injuries, respectively.Result: A total of 16,650 (98%) heads of household participated in the study with 152 reported at least onehousehold member injured from a fall in the past 12 months. Among household members who were involvedin a fall, 95.4% survived and 5.6% died. Selected socio-demographic characteristics: Household head sex[OR: 1.53, 95% CI (1.05-2.15)], age [OR: 2.4, 95% CI (1.28-4.63)], marital status [OR: 8.14, 95% CI (1.05-63.15)]; family size [OR: 1.93, 95% CI (1.27-2.93)], owns land usable for agriculture [OR: 1.60, 95% CI(1.14-2.27)], owns livestock herds [OR: 1.46, 95% CI (1.02- 2.08)] and household wealth index [OR: 1.77,95% CI (1.11-1.95)] were variables statistically significant with the fall injury.Conclusion: Household head characteristics including family size, agriculture-asset and wealth index werevariables statistically significant with the fall injury. Injury prevention efforts should focus on falls withspecial attention among farmer households and low economic status.


Adaptive-optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) was first reported in 2003 and has achieved great technological progress. Compared with traditional OCT, AO-OCT increases the imaging capability of OCT in ways that make it well suited for three-dimensional (3D) cellular imaging in the retina. It has been reported that it can achieve diffraction-limited retinal imaging with high resolution, and is being used to provide a new diagnostic and research tool in the field of ophthalmology. This article introduces the main research in engineering technology and transformation application of AO-OCT, which will deepen our understanding of AO-OCT.

Key words:
adaptive optics; optical coherence tomography; retinal imaging; high resolution


The wireless sensor network (WSN) collects all the physical information required by the user for the target area and transmits the data to the sink or base station via multihop communication. With a limited number of nodes, it is important to reduce the overlapping area between nodes to improve coverage. However, increasing the coverage rate tends to create isolated points, which reduces the connection efficiency. Therefore, considering coverage and connection efficiency simultaneously is a challenging optimization task. In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a spatial configuration optimization strategy based on the hybrid lion swarm optimization (HLSO) algorithm. The proposed algorithm is experimented on a large number of benchmark graphs. The experimental results prove very competitive with and even better than different algorithms. Finally, in order to avoid isolated points in the node deployment process, the optimal deployment scheme of the nodes is found by considering both conditions of node coverage and connection efficiency at the same time.


Through the study of Ar-Ar ages of biotites and hornblendes in the Kangding complexes by step-heating release technology,we found the existence of excess argon in these minerals and the irrelevance between the apparent age and the history after metamorphism of the plutonic complexes.Excess argon is trapped in defects which are not connected with the grain boundary,thus it needs the same energy as the radiogenic argon to come out of grain.This feature brings a mixing of different argon components which can explain the plateau ages.And excess argon may take about 16% of total argon.


Nanocomposite hydrogels with graphene oxide as chemical cross-linker were synthesized after graphene oxide being pretreated by methacryloyl chloride. Moreover, the mechanical behavior of nanocomposite hydrogels based on acrylamide (AAm) and graphene oxide (GO) was studied with different compositions. Experimental results of the swollen state properties of the nanocomposite hydrogels indicated that the addition of GO could effectively enhance the strength but lowers the swelling degree of nanocomposite hydrogels.


GD 133 is a DAZ white dwarf with an atmosphere polluted by heavy elements accreted from a debris disk, which is formed by the disruption of rocky planetesimals with orbits bringing them at the white dwarf tidal radius. To reach such orbits implies the potential presence of a perturbing planet. GD 133 is a ZZ Ceti pulsator close to the blue edge of the instability strip. The presence of a planet could be revealed by the periodical variation of the observed pulsation periods induced by the orbital motion of the white dwarf. We started a multi-site photometric follow-up aimed at detecting the signature of this potential planet. As a partial result of this work in progress, we give the parameters of a preliminary best-fit model derived from asteroseismology. 1 Context: GD 133, an accreting DA white dwarf and ZZ Ceti pulsator GD 133 is one of the increasing number of white dwarf stars surrounded by debris disks resulting from the tidal disruption of rocky planetesimals ([2–4]). Part of the matter of the disk falls onto the white dwarf surface, polluting the chemical composition of its outer layers. The spectrum of GD 133 shows the lines of a number of heavy elements (Ca, O, Mg, Si). The derived abundance ratios are quite similar to the bulk Earth composition ([10]). GD 133 is a ZZ Ceti pulsator ([9]) close to the blue edge of the instability strip. The scenarii for the formation of the debris disks by the tidal disruption of rocky planetesimals suggest that one (or more) undetected planet(s) could be orbiting the white dwarfs. Through gravitational interactions the planet(s) perturbs their orbit so that they may come close enough to the white dwarf tidal radius. GD 133 is a good candidate to search for the signature of such a potential planet through the effect of the orbital motion on the observed pulsation periods.


With the development of the Internet, malware has become one of the most significant threats. Recognizing specific types of malware is an important step toward effective removal. Malware visualization is an important branch of malware static analysis techniques, where a piece of malware is turned into an image for visualization and classification. Despite great success, it is still difficult to extract effective texture feature representations for challenging datasets. The existing methods use global image features which are sensitive to relative code locations. In this paper, we present a new learning framework to obtain more discriminative and robust feature descriptors. The proposed method works with the existing local descriptors such as local binary patterns and dense scale-invariant feature transform, by grouping them into blocks and by using a new bag-of-visual-words model to obtain robust features, which are more flexible than global features and more robust than local features. We evaluate the proposed method on three malware databases. The experimental results demonstrate that the obtained descriptors lead to the state-of-the-art classification performance.


The principle of adsorption has been used extensively to remove water and to recover gasoline from natural gas with gel-type adsorbents in the quick cycle plants. With the gel adsorbents, water will be adsorbed and will actually replace any hydrocarbons being held by the adsorbent. However, with activated carbon, only heavier organic compounds will replace the lighter ones. The recently installed plants using activated carbon to recover propane from natural gas have shown savings in every case over established methods in both capital and operating costs. There are fewer mechanical problems than with a liquid system, permitting practically unattended operation. With the strengthening of the markets for propane and butane, there has been increased interest in recovering these products from natural gas. A low cost, trouble-free process employing activated carbon is now available.


Dissertation of Master's Degree Post-Graduating Program in Biological Sciences (Toxicological Biochemistry) Federal University of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil EFFECT OF GUARANÁ (Paullinia cupana) ON METABOLISM OF ADENINE NUCLEOTIDES AND NUCLEOSIDE IN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL OF HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA Author: Jader Betsch Ruchel Advisor: Daniela Bitencourt Rosa Leal Co-advisor: Maria Rosa Chitolina Schetinger Place and Date: Santa Maria, august 09 th , 2013. Hypercholesterolemia is a metabolic disease characterized by high levels of serum low density lipoproteins and total cholesterol, associated with the inflammatory disorders, the migration of monocytes and T cells and with an endothelial dysfunction. The purinergic signaling system plays an important role in the modulation of inflammatory and immune response by extracellular biomolecules such as adenine nucleotides and their derived nucleoside adenosine, which are essential for the initiation and maintenance of response inflammatory. The effects of these molecules are promoted by the action of purinergic receptors specifics and controlled by ectoenzymes, in cell surface. Based on these principles, this study investigated the effect of guaraná on the activity of the ENTPDase and E-ADA in lymphocytes, as well as analyze the biochemical parameters in rats with induced hypercholesterolemia by diet. The rats were divided in eight groups, of which four were induced hypercholesterolemia and the other four groups received normal diet. The animals in each diet were subdivided according treatment, saline, guaraná 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg/day orally for 30 days. There was observed an increase in 74% in ATP hydrolysis by E-NTPDase activity in lymphocytes of rats with hypercholesterolemia treated at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg/day when compared with all other groups. However, E-NTPDase activity was not altered when used ADP as substrate for these three doses. Moreover, the hypercholesterolemic group treated with the higher concentration showed higher decreased of about 70% in E-ADA activity than the other normal diet groups. Was also observed that the guaraná was able to reduce to basal levels, total cholesterol and LDL-C in hypercholesterolemic rats. In addition, the guaraná in high concentrations when associated with hypercholesterolemic diet was able to increase the ATP hydrolysis and decrease the E-ADA activity in lymphocytes, contributing to reducing the inflammatory process. Although requiring further study, guaraná could be used as a complementary therapy for the benefit of people with hypercholesterolemia.


The present manuscript deals with the heat transfer and thermal stress analysis of cylinder due to internal heat generation under steady temperature conditions. The internal heat generation is taken as cylindrical surface heat source in annular region of linear length of cylinder and is situated concentrically inside the cylinder. The upper surface of a cylinder is subjected to arbitratory temperature whereas the lower surface and circular boundary surface are thermally insulated. The integral transform methods are used for the solution of non-homogeneous boundary value problem. The theory of linearized thermoelasticity based on solution of Navier's equation in terms of Goodier's thermoelastic displacement potential, Michell's function and the Boussinesq's function for cylindrical coordinate system have been used for discussion and analysis of thermal stresses.


This dissertation discusses three important research topics on semiparametric regression analysis of panel count data and interval-censored data. Both types of data arise commonly in real-life studies in many fields such as epidemiology, social science, and medical research. In these studies, subjects are usually examined multiple times at periodical or irregular follow-up examinations. For panel count data, the response variable is the counts of some recurrent events, whose exact occurrence times are usually unknown. For interval-censored data, the response variable is the time to some events of interest, often called survival time or failure time, and the exact response time is never observed but is known to fall within some interval formed by two examination times. The primary goal for both types of data is to study effects of covariates on the response variable and can be completed by regression analysis. The three topics are: (i) we propose a gamma frailty non-homogeneous Poisson process model for the regression analysis of panel count data to account for the within-subject correlation. We propose an efficient estimation approach based on an EM algorithm. An R package PCDSpline has been developed and available on CRAN to disseminate our approach. (ii) we study regression analysis of case 1 interval-censored data, also referred to as current status data, using the generalized odds-rate hazards (GORH) models. We propose an efficient estimation approach with fixed í µí¼Œ in the GORH models based on a novel EM algorithm. A working model approach is proposed when true value of í µí¼Œ is known but does not require to fit the GORH models with different í µí¼Œ values. (iii) We study the joint modeling of panel count data and interval-censored failure time data. The motivating example is a real-life data set about sexually transmitted infections (STI). The failure time of interest is the onset of a new STI, which has an interval-censored data structure. Another response is the number of condom non-use, which has a panel count data structure. The research interests include to estimate the covariate effects on onset time of STI and on the number of condom use as well as the statistical association between the two responses. A frailty model is proposed for this joint analysis and an EM algorithm is derived for the estimation approach.


This article examines the Lombard law code as evidence for literate practices in government and society in seventh‐ and eighth‐century Italy. The effectiveness of the code as an instrument of government is testified by the charter evidence, in which the precepts of the code are implicitly acknowledged or cited directly. Although largely the result of a necessary appropriation of late Roman property law, Lombard legislation and notarial practice applied further literate methods to document, and hence to validate, a range of transactions. The use of written law was not merely limited to male landowners, but affected Italo‐Lombard society more widely, as is revealed by the evidence for women's property rights and manumission. The charter evidence and references within the code itself suggest that various uses of writing for governmental administration extended beyond the royal and ducal levels into local society.


A simple lower bound to the capacity of the discrete-time Poisson channel with average number of quanta of energy ε<inf>s</inf> is derived. The rate 1/2 log(1 + ε<inf>s</inf>) is shown to be the generalized mutual information of a modified minimum-distance decoder, when the input follows a gamma distribution of parameter 1/2 and mean <inf>s</inf>.


Quasi-Vertical tapers are designed to enable high coupling efficiency from a conventional single mode fiber into a single mode polymer rib waveguide. A triangular region fabricated under the single mode waveguide is adopted to adiabatically transform the fiber mode into the polymer rib waveguide mode. This structure works as an optical mode transformer. Because the trenches are deeper at the facets than at the active regions of the waveguide, the waveguide mode size in vertical direction becomes larger at the facets and can better match the input and output fiber mode. A coupling efficiency of 82.95% is achievable with a tip width of 1 μm.


DICROCELIOSIS is a prevalent parasitic disease in ruminants and in humans and is accidental caused by different species of Dicrocoelium spp. This study aimed to evaluate the morphological characteristics and molecular parameters of Dicrocoelium spp. isolated from livers of slaughtered sheep, goat, and cattle in three provinces in west of Iran from Feb 2018 to Feb 2019. In the present study, 45 infected livers with Dicrocoelium were collected (each province 15 and each host 5 infected liver). After morphological examination, the molecular evaluation was carried out for the ribosomal DNA (partial 5.8S, complete ITS2 and partial 28S genes) using PCR and PCR-RFLP techniques. Morphological analysis revealed that all specimens belonged to Dicrocoelium dendriticum. There were profound morphometric variations among D. dendriticum from different hosts and sampling areas, but no statistically significant differences was found (P>0.001). The sequencing analysis of obtained fragments in GeneBank showed 96% to 100% similarity within homogeneous fragments in the database. The obtained sequences were also registered in Gene Bank with the accession numbers, MN831473, MN831474 and MN831475. Additionally, all PCR-RFLP products revealed two similar fragments (319bp and 271 bp) in all examined samples. According to the present study, haplotype A was shown to be the predominant haplotype of D. dendriticum in the west of Iran.


Through the comprehensive analysis on domestic edible salt granulation technology,the modi-fication scheme suitable for the characteristics of our company is optimized to enhance the product grain size and increase the additional value and competitive power of core products.


An inclined-baffle anaerobic baffled reactor(ABR)with six compartments was applied to treat domestic wastewater.The hydraulic characteristics of the reactor,COD removal efficiency,content of volatility fatty acid(VFA)and sludge performance were investigated.As compared with conventional ABR,percentage of dead zone generally increased in the inclined baffled ABR,but sludge loss was effectively avoided.Domestic wastewater could be efficiently treated in the ABR,with less impact by the shock of COD fluctuation.The COD removal efficiency could reach about 70%.The content of VFA in ABR increased with the increase of the influent COD.The main component of VFA was acetic acid.The concentration of VFA decreased with the flow.The phenomena observed by microscopes and the increase of TSS in effluent showed that anaerobic granular sludge could disaggregate under high sludge load rate.The research showed that ABR is an economical,stable and efficient process for domestic wastewater treatment.


With the development of social economy, transportation industry has made rapid development, but in China's transportation industry by the traditional industry to modern service industry in transition, there are still many factors, based on this situation, we should take effective measures to solve it. In this paper, we mainly analyze the related factors of transportation management, and carry out the specific analysis and Research on the strengthening measures.


5511 Background: Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a co-inhibitory receptor expressed on activated T cells which regulates antitumor immunity. Nivolumab is a fully-humanized IgG4 that blocks the engagem...


The Kite" is an important article in "The Wild Grass"(collection) written by Lu Xun. It reflected that the author either yearned for "spring" or expressed his own complicated feelings which he himself could not hold. So he described "kite" as an object and formed his special art plot. Lyric style is the main feature of his poem language.


Abstract : Spatial statistics is concerned with statistical methods that explicitly analyses spatial arrangement of the data. When analyzing these kinds of data, we might be interested investigating the temporal data process that generated the data. Typically spatial point patterns are data that made up of the location of point events. We are interested in whether or not their relative locations represent a significant pattern. For example, seismologists have been showing the distribution of earthquakes in a region. They would like to known if there is any pattern that might help them make predictions about future earthquakes. In this work, an investigation of earthquakes spatial data is analyzed, using specific statistical modeling techniques. Keywords: Spatial point analysis, earthquakes data, spatial statistics. 1. Introduction Spatial statistics is concerned with the study of spatially referenced data combined with appropriate statistical models and process. For many researchers, point pattern analysis has been a powerful tool, to investigate the relationship between different locations of a particular event (earthquake) applying specific statistical technique (estimation of the intensities using measures like nearest neighbors distance). Few works have been have been introduced spatial statistical methods to evaluate earthquake data and reproduce predictions for the future [1, 2].


Large Variable Frequency Drive installations require considerable planning to be successful. Not only does the installation affect the process, existing electrical equipment, power quality, reliability, training and maintenance programs will also be affected. Important considerations include electrical distribution modifications, ensuring power quality is maintained, proper installation guidelines are followed for the VF Drive, essential electrical and safety protection is implemented, a comprehensive commissioning procedure is followed and maintenance and personnel receive upgrading to service the new equipment. This paper will cover each of these aspects and provide a guideline for considerations during the design stage of new large power VF Drive installations in the Cement Industry.


The foxes are an exceptional adaptor usually prefers mixture of different ecosystems viz., grassland, coniferous, deciduous, tundra ecosphere and agro-ecosphere. Predators provides functional and productive role in the ecosystem mainly through nutrient cycling process and their detrimental impact on maintaining prey-predator system with ecosystem sustainability by hunting of small rodents, insects, rabbits, earthworms which helps in dispersion of seeds of many forest species by the process of endozoochory.


A.A. Goldberg and M.M. Sheremeta [2] proved in fact that for a positive continuous function l on [0,+∞) there exists an entire function of bounded l-index if and only if rl(r)→ +∞ (r → +∞). Obviously, if ak are zeros of an entire function f and pk are their multiplicities with limk→+∞ pk = +∞ then f cannot be an entire function of bounded l-index for every positive continuous on [0,+∞) function l. M.T. Bordulyak [3] proved that for an entire function f there exist a positive continuous on [0,+∞) function l such that f is a function of bounded l-index if and only pk = O(1) (k →∞). She formulated the following problem. Let f be an entire function such that pk = O(1) (k →∞). Does there exist a positive continuous on [0, +∞) function l such that f is of bounded l-index and


Teacher professionalism is a very important tool for enhancing productivity at all levels of the educational system. However, teaching is not yet regarded as a full-fledged profession in Nigeria. This is due to inadequate training of teachers, employment of unqualified persons, poor remuneration and poor public image of teachers and teaching. Introduction In the recent past, it sufficed for anybody who had been to school — primary, secondary modern or secondary grammarto learn on the j6b and teach. Teaching has become so intricate that adequate theoretical and practical training are inescapable. Teaching as a profession requires intensive academic and professional preparation. The better prepared a teacher is, the more productive he is likely to be. Productivity here is in terms of providing meaningful teaching and learning activities necessary to accomplish the goals of the schools. However, unlike other professions such as law, medicine and engineering, the teaching profession is adversely affected by poor economic rewards and the consequent poor public image. This paper seeks to examine the management of teaching as a profession and suggests measures of upgrading it to a full-fledged profession in order to bring about the much desired educational productivity Concept of Professionalism in Teaching Teaching is a method of imparting knowledge and it is useful in bringing up the young generation to take part in, and contribute to the development of the society. The aim of teaching, therefore, is to influence learners and bring about desirable changes in them (Olaitan andAgusiobo, 1981). For improved educational productivity, therefore, there must be effective teaching that contributes to the learners' understanding, helps the learners to improve their abilities and develop more desirable


Typical bounds on generalization of Support Vector Machines are based on the minimum distance between training examples and the separating hyperplane. There has been some debate as to whether a more robust function of the margin distribution could provide generalization bounds. Freund and Schapire (1998) have shown how a diierent function of the margin distribution can be used to bound the number of mistakes of an on-line learning algorithm for a perceptron, as well as to give an expected error bound. We show that a slight generalization of their construction can be used to give a pac style bound on the tail of the distribution of the generalization errors that arise from a given sample size. Furthermore, we show that the approach can be viewed as a change of kernel and that the algorithms arising from the approach are exactly those originally proposed by Cortes and Vapnik (1995). Finally, we discuss the relations of this approach with other techniques, such as regularization and shrinkage methods 1 .


Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is one of the most accurate techniques for measuring Earth orientation parameters (EOP), and is unique in its ability to make high accuracy measurements of UT1, and its time derivative, which is related to changes in the length of day, conventionally called LOD. The accuracy of the best VLBI measurements using 24 hours of data is 2 (is for UT1, 4 |is/day for LOD. Changes in EOP are due to either external torques from gravitational forces, or to the redistribution of angular momentum between the solid-Earth, atmosphere, oceans and inner core. Discrepancies between predicted and measured EOP values point to areas where either the measurements or the modeis need improving.


The success of a well decommissioning program in any state or region depends on knowing where the wells are. At that point, proper measures must be taken to properly decommission the well and to do so at a reasonable cost. The key player in this scenario is often the drilling contractor, the pump installer, and any ground water specialist with a keen eye, a concern for the protection of ground water, and a little common sense. This paper features the progress made by four states - Missouri, North Dakota, Texas, and Minnesota - in their efforts to deal with the dilemma of abandoned wells. Abandoned wells serve no purpose other than to allow for an avenue of pollutant transport into the ground water system, or create a public hazard caused by the actual exposed openings.


It is now well recognized that road safety is a worldwide public health problem and there is a high public awareness about road traffic injuries, their grave consequences and enormous costs to society. Road safety developments are correlated with socioeconomic factors such as level of motorization and economic growth which differs significantly between developed and developing countries. This paper discusses and compares the magnitude, trends and causes of traffic accidents, accident costs and cost estimation methods, strategies and countermeasures in both developing and developed countries. Traffic safety data for the period 2003-2013 from selected developing countries are analyzed and compared with European countries (EU). The fatality rates per population for the developing countries were found to be substantially higher than those in EU countries. EU strive to make their fatality rates dropping towards their zero vision while those for developing countries may continue to be high unless effective measures are implemented to reduce the magnitude and severity of their accidents. Accident costs were found to be a real economic burden in developing countries estimated at more than 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) much higher compared to developed countries. The results suggest that road safety is more appreciated in developed countries. Although developed countries have a good experience in applying road safety programs, it is more difficult to apply the same safety programs in developing countries. This research also highlights the countries' experiences in road safety improvements. 


This article offers a reading of premodern, spiritual tomboyism as evident in the cult of Sainte Foy in France during the ninth to eleventh centuries. It draws attention to the signs of differently gendered and aged masculinities in the female child saint. Martyred at the cusp of puberty, Sainte Foy remains forever suspended in her gender development. Bernard of Angers, in the Liber miraculorum, portrays Foy as a trickster tomboy whose miracles are known as her "jokes." But beyond the historical Foy and the textual Foy, there is a third Foy who is embodied in a reliquary statue with an adult male head. In times of social upheaval, Sainte Foy, whose earthly presence is manifest in her relics and reliquary statue, functions as a local patronus who protects her monastery, properties, and devotees. Her male-headed reliquary further affirms her identity as a holy warrior of Christ who fights to uphold the Peace of God. As trickster–tomboy and warrior–patronus, Sainte Foy hovers at and crosses over the boundaries of both gender- and age-based identities and practices.


The 200 Area Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) main treatment train includes the peroxide destruction module (PDM) where the hydrogen peroxide residual from the upstream ultraviolet light/hydrogen peroxide oxidation unit is destroyed. Removal of the residual peroxide is necessary to protect downstream membranes from the strong oxidizer. The main component of the PDM is two reaction vessels utilizing granular activated carbon (GAC) as the reaction media. The PDM experienced a number of operability problems, including frequent plugging, and has not been utilized since the ETF changed to groundwater as the predominant feed. The unit seemed to be underperforming in regards to peroxide removal during the early periods of operation as well. It is anticipated that a functional PDM will be required for wastewater from the vitrification plant and other future streams. An alternate media or methodology needs to be identified to replace the GAC in the PDMs. This series of bench scale tests is to develop information to support an engineering study on the options for replacement of the existing GAC method for peroxide destruction at the ETF. A number of different catalysts will be compared as well as other potential methods such as strong reducing agents. The testing should leadmore » to general conclusions on the viability of different catalysts and identify candidates for further study and evaluation.« less


An Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) approach for optimizing processing routes for Mg-alloys requires reliable thermodynamic and diffusion databases. We are developing an impurity and tracer diffusion database using both stable and unstable isotopes for Mg and its alloys. In this study, Al impurity diffusion in pure polycrystalline Mg (99.9%) was examined using the thin film method. Approximately 500 nm thick Al films were deposited on in-situ RF plasma-cleaned polycrystalline Mg by DC magnetron sputtering from pure Al (99.9%) targets. Specimens were then diffusion annealed at 300, 350 and 400 C in quartz capsules that were evacuated to 10-8 Torr and backfilled with Ar-H2 mixtures. Concentration profile of Al diffusion profiles into single phase Mg was determined by depth-profiling technique using secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The Al impurity diffusion coefficients were determined as a function of temperature


A versatile and simple CMOS waveform generator Is presented. Its frequency can be voltage/current controlled from 0.01 Hz to 100 MHz. It generates square, triangle, and ramp waveforms and can be extended easily to produce variable-duty cycle pulse waveforms. It is based on a CMOS current comparator with programmable saturation levels. Besides frequency control terminals it includes oscillation and ramp enable control terminals. Experimental results verifying the operation of the circuit are presented. >