A 1D model hamiltonian that is motivated by the recent discovery of the heavy-fermion behavior in the cuprates of the $Nd_2CuO_4$ type is studied. It consists of $t-J$ interacting conduction electrons coupled to a lattice of localized spins through a Kondo exchange term $J_K$. Exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group methods are used. The latter method is generalized to arbitrary densities. At half-filling, a spin gap opens for all $J_K>0$. Away from half-filling$,$ it is shown that, at strong $J_K$% , the ground state is an unsaturated ferromagnet . At weak $J_K$ the system is in a paramagnetic phase with enhanced RKKY correlations. The importance of self-screening of the local moments in the depletion regime is discussed. We argue that these findings transcend the specifics of the model.


The security supervision and alarm system are designed based on Network for copper line laboratory management.The ICP/IP,RS232,MOXA and other connections are used for the system hardware,and the Java script,Oracle database are used in the system developing and data management.This system can real timely,visually,truly reflect the troubles in the laboratory and assure the security of the equipments and production.


Great progress has been achieved in the Chinese wind energy industry. By the end of 2012, according to statistics of CWEA, 75 GW capacity of wind power has been generated in China that pushes the country to the top place in the global wind power market. Nowadays, the technology trend focuses on the ofshore wind power and the larger multi-megawatt wind turbine. It brings about several engineering challenges and new scientific problems. In this review, we focus on the advances in fluid dynamics researches related to wind energy engineering, such as the wind properties in atmospheric boundary layer(ABL), micrositing at complex terrain, wake flow behind wind turbine, airfoil design for large blade, aerodynamics for wind turbine, aero-elastic interaction, and ofshore wind power technology.We also discuss the limitations of the widely-applicated computational fluid dynamics(CFD) technique.Finally, we point out the weakness of Chinese fundamental researches on winder energy engineering, and provide some suggestions.


Combining the experiences of constructing the Hainan Provincial People's Hospital WAN platform,analyzing the concept, the principle and the feature of MPLS/VPN technology networking,the paper proposes a WAN platform construction scheme based on MPLS/VPN technology for a group of general hospitals,and analyzes the critical points of this scheme,so as to lay a fundamental work for constructing a clinical data center in hospitals.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among schoolchildren in Guangdong Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

METHODS
Using a cluster sampling method, an epidemiological survey of RHD was conducted in 16 682 primary and high school students by auscultation in Guangdong Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from 2005 to 2006. Review of the clinical records, RHD survey in adults, and examination of the positivity rate of group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (GAS) by throat swab cultures in the students aged between 9 and 12 years in the sampled schools were also carried out.

RESULTS
No RHD patient was found in the sampled population. In Xinjiang, the prevalence of RHD was 12.9/1000 among adults, higher than that (2.2/1000) in Guangdong Province. The GAS-positive rate in the schoolchildren in Xinjiang ranged from 9.8% to 12.6%, higher than that in Guangdong (2.3%-3.9%).

CONCLUSION
The GAS-positive rate among children and incidence of RHD in adults are higher in Xinjiang than in Guangdong. The prevalence of RHD among the schoolchildren shows a reduction compared with that in 1994.


for archaeology. This gap in resources is set to narrow sooner or later, with increased international research funding in eastern Europe and with the region becoming more politically and economically stable. But integrating eastern Europe into European Palaeolithic archaeology is not only a matter of equality of resources or exposure of the local archaeologists to the latest theoretical trends and methodological innovations.


This study is in line with the demographic, economic and social prospects for the 2050 and the European Economic and Social Committee decision for "An EU Industrial Policy for the Food and Drinks Sector" adopted on 4 May 2015. In particular, since the majority of research in the past focused on large organizations, this paper is expected to enlighten the problems emerged from current applied practices together with the opportunities for potential synergies among agricultural SMEs, through the utilization of alternative sustainable channels of distribution and value creation, such as the Agro-Food Hubs.


This paper provides a description of the education and training activities related to sodium fast reactors, carried out respectively in the French Sodium and Liquid Metal School (ESML) created in 1975 and located in France (at the CEA Cadarache Research Centre), in the Fast Reactor Operation and Safety School (FROSS) created in 2005 at the Phenix plant, and in the Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires (INSTN). It presents their recent developments and the current collaborations throughout the world with some other nuclear organizations and industrial companies. Owing to these three entities, CEA provides education and training sessions for students, researchers, and operators involved in the operation or development of sodium fast reactors and related experimental facilities. The sum of courses provided by CEA through its sodium school, FROSS, and INSTN organizations is a unique valuable amount of knowledge on sodium fast reactor design, technology, safety and operation experience, decommissioning aspects and practical exercises. It is provided for the national demand and, since the last ten years, it is extensively opened to foreign countries. Over more than 35 years, the ESML, FROSS, and INSTN have demonstrated their flexibility in adapting their courses to the changing demand in the sodium fast reactor field, operation of PHENIX and SUPERPHENIX plants, and decommissioning and dismantling operations. The results of this ambitious and constant strategy are first sharing of knowledge obtained from experimental studies carried out in research laboratories and operational feedback from reactors, secondly standardized information on safety, and finally the creation of a "sodium community" that debates, shares the knowledge, and suggests new tracks for a better definition of design and operating rules.


WITH INCREASING INTENSITY over the past decade, researchers have pursued genetic approaches to understanding the basis of skeletal fragility. This month's issue of theJBMRincludes a report by Beamer and associates (1) that identifies quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for femoral and vertebral volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and presents us with an opportunity to reflect on recent progress and future directions in bone genetics.


Abstract With the aim of assessing bull fertility before or during its use for reproduction under tropical weather conditions where heat stress is present, and correlating it to herd parameters, BSE was carried out to determine which genetic groups of bulls have better reproductive performance. 223 bulls from different genetic groups, Zebu bulls (N = 72), European bulls (N = 58), and Crossbred Bulls (N = 93), were evaluated in situ over a two-year period, 2018–2019. Bull (age, corporal conditions, libido, and scrotal circumference), semen (concentration, motility and volume), herd (pregnancy rate and calving intervals) and environmental variables (THI, season, sampling month and spermatogenesis month) were analysed with One-Way ANOVA, as well as with factorial, multiple regression, and multivariate analysis. Zebu and European bulls have a higher libido than crossbreed bulls (p < .05), and it decreases with age (p < .05). High-libido bulls (>7) show high correlation (R = 0.70 p < .05) with herd parameters; BCS affects libido (p < .05). Sperm concentration is correlated to herd parameters (R = 0.82 p < .05). European bull sperm concentration and motility showed a decrease in autumn and winter (p < .05) in comparison to other genetic groups. Libido and semen variables are more associated with herd parameters than with other bull characteristics. Environmental variables are not associated with herd parameters (p > .05). Heat stress did not directly affect bull reproductive performance; Zebu bulls and crossbreeds showed better herd parameters (p < .05). Highlights Bull breeding soundness examination and herd proficiency. Herd proficiency of local genetic groups of bulls in tropical conditions. Breeding soundness examination in tropical environment conditions.


Urban public libraries have implemented many changes in response to modern information technology. Although these changes have met the needs of many users, some users have been disenfranchised, particularly those who prefer to interact with information orally. This article reports findings from the Oral Present, a 3-year research project focusing on one such group, the urban poor. This project employed a participant-action method that involved interviews, observations, surveys, and a focus group with various stakeholders. The findings center around how libraries are meeting the information needs of the urban poor and how such services can be better designed and evaluated. These findings cohere as "collaborative connections," a model for information provision to the urban poor. This model provides guidance for libraries to establish partnerships with other community agencies to effectively meet the information needs of underserved populations.


Objective To investigate the relationship between MRI classification and both time of awakening and prognosis in patients with long-term consciousness disorders after traumatic brain injury. Methods Sixty-six patients, admitted to our hospital from 2003 to 2008 and suffered from severe traumatic brain injury with consciousness disorders for more than 2 weeks, were collected. The cranial MRI data of all patients were recorded and classified; the awakening time of all conscious patients after injury was recorded; the prognoses were judged by Glasgow outcome scale 6 month after the injury.The relationship between MRI classification and both time of awakening and prognosis were analyzed.Results The prognoses (the scores of Glasgow outcome scale) were closely associated with the cranial MRI classification; the higher the MRI classification, the poorer the prognosis; the accuracy rate of MRI in assessing the prognosis was 83.33%. The average awakening times were (8.00±4.10) weeks in patients with graded Ⅰ and Ⅱa of MRI classification, and (22.67±23.66) weeks in patients with graded Ⅱb and Ⅲ of MRI classification. Conclusions The MRI classification is correlative to the prognosis and the awakening time of the patients with long-term consciousness disorders after severe traumatic brain injury.Using MRI classification can objectively and accurately evaluate patients' prognosis.

Key words:
Craniocerebral trauma; Consciousness disorder; Magnetic resonance imaging; Prognosis


Data on the pathogenesis of acne and its modern therapy are presented. The molecular mechanisms of retinoid activity are reviewed and the authors' hypotheses on their impact for the development of retinoid dermatitis are discussed. A comprehensive approach to disease therapy making use of Zerkalin solution with consideration for the severity and prevalence of eruptions is discussed. Special attention is paid to acnecu tan, an acne control drug.


Objective To analyze the burnout factors of the medical workers in Wenchuan quake-hit,and to propose countermeasures.Methods Literature research,health statistics and other methods.Results There are nine significant variables into the regression equation when predicting the personification of emotional exhaustion dimensions in the regression analysis;There are five significant variables into the regression equation when predicting personal accomplishment dimension in the regression analysis.Conclusion The regression equation of Burnout has better predictability,while it can provide the interpretation basis for the evaluation of the results;reducing the work pressure of medical workers,improving their wages and increasing their social status;strengthening the mental health and exercising the character of medical workers,carrying out the guidance of coping styles.


Luxol ARN, a dye reported to complex with phospholipids, has been applied to human platelets. Under conditions of equilibrium involving platelet and dye concentrations it was found that dye uptake increased with increasing temperature, dye uptake decreased with increasing pH, and dye saturation of platelets could be achieved.Evidence has been obtained to suggest that complex formation between dye and platelet hydrophobic groups occurs through adsorption probably complicated by chemical binding and that the dye is bound in a monomolecular manner. Based on this, the finding that no more than 16.8% of the total platelet phospholipid was involved in complex formation supports the conclusion that dye uptake may be limited to the platelet surface only. Additional support for this conclusion was provided by the absence of visibly demonstrable intracellular dye.Application of a nonionic surfactant, known to disperse platelet aggregates, reduced platelet dye uptake, a finding that suggests a possible relationship ...


Ultrasonic absorption coefficients were measured in aqueous solutions of imidazole and pyrazole by pulse and resonance methods in the frequency range from 3 to 220 MHz at 25 °C. Excess absorption was observed in both solutions. From the concentration dependence of the ultrasonic relaxation parameters associated with a single relaxational process in the solution of imidazole, the cause of the relaxation was proven to be due to a proton transfer reaction and the rate and equilibrium constants were determined for the process. The association rate constant for the ions was reasonable as a diffusion controlled reaction, although it is considerably greater than those in other amine solutions. A standard volume change of the reaction was also determined from the reactant concentration dependence of a maximum absorption per wavelength. The diffusion controlled rate constant for imidazole was considered in relation to the unique molecular structure of imidazole and the effect of the solute on water structure. In t...


1. Titanium dioxide (TiO2), Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry number 13463-67-7, European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS) number 236-675-5 and Colour Index (C.I.) number 77891 is an inorganic substance. The titanium atom is coordinated octahedrally with oxygen, but the position of the octahedral structure differs in the different crystalline forms. Titanium dioxide exists in nature in different crystalline forms the anatase (tetragonal, CAS Registry number 1317-70-0) and rutile (tetragonal, CAS Registry number 1317-80-2) being the two most important.


In free-space optical communication links, atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the received light signal, impairing link performance. Free Space Optical (FSO) communications is the only viable solution for creating a three-dimensional global communications grid of interconnected ground and airborne nodes. The huge amount of data exchange between satellites and ground stations demands enormous capacity that cannot be provided by strictly regulated, scarce resources of the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum. Free Space Optical (FSO) communications, on the other hand, has the potential of providing virtually unlimited bandwidth. In this paper, we describe several communication techniques to mitigate turbulence-induced intensity fluctuations, i.e., signal fading. These techniques are applicable in the regime in which the receiver aperture is smaller than the correlation length of fading and the observation interval is shorter than the correlation time of fading. We assume that the receiver has no knowledge of the instantaneous fading state. When the receiver knows only the marginal statistics of the fading, a symbol-bysymbol ML detector can be used to improve detection performance. If the receiver has knowledge of the joint temporal statistics of the fading, maximumlikelihood sequence detection (MLSD) can be employed, yielding a further performance improvement, but at the cost of very high complexity. Spatial diversity reception with multiple receivers can also be used to overcome turbulence-induced fading. We describe the use of ML detection in spatial diversity reception to reduce the diversity gain penalty caused by correlation between the fading at different receivers. In a companion paper, we describe two reduced-complexity implementations of the MLSD, which make use of a single-step Markov chain model for the fading correlation in conjunction with per-survivor processing.


This paper presents the rate distortion behavior of Joint Source Channel Coding (JSCC) scheme for still image transmission. The focus is on DCT based source coding JPEG, Rate Compatible Punctured Convolution Codes (RCPC) for transmission over Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel under the constraint of fixed transmission bandwidth. Information transmission has a tradeoff between compression ratio and received quality of image. The compressed stream is more susceptible to channel errors, thus error control coding techniques are used along with images to minimize the effect of channel errors. But there is a clear tradeoff between channel coding redundancies versus source quality with constant channel bit rate. This paper proposes JSCC scheme based on Unequal Error Protection (UEP) for robust image transmission. With the conventional error control coding schemes that uses Equal Error Protection (EEP), all the information bits are equally protected. The use of the UEP schemes provides a varying amount of error protection according to the importance of the data. The received image quality can be improved using UEP compared to Equal Error Protection (EEP).


Jacques Edward´s Metamorfosis shows History as a series of turns and returns. The aristocratic dadaism of the Chilean writer was partially indifferent to the moment. He didn´t want to transgress it (as the sailors involved in the Chibata rebellion or later on, the surrealists). He didn ´t legislate it since he was centered on the figure of the buffoon. (Oswald de Andrade´s palhaco da burguesia ). Edwards´s Dada suffers from the dissonances of the time to the point of self-disintegration, and, through miming the epileptic discourse, mimesis becomes a surplus, a mimetic excess.


This article analyses the various historical phases in the evolution of the African academic diaspora's engagement to support the development of higher education in Africa. It examines the drivers and motivation for such engagement and its implications for higher education development on the continent. The data were derived from a critical review of secondary sources, supplemented by primary observations by one of the authors who is engaged in a programme that supports diaspora academics to travel to African universities for engagement, as part of the third wave. The analysis of the secondary material shows that while the first wave of engagement was driven by a strong sense of Pan-Africanism at the global level and laid the foundation for the establishment of universities across the continent, the second wave became trapped in Cold War rivalries that limited engagement and drove more academics from African universities into exile, mainly in Europe and North America, thus swelling the ranks of diaspora academics. The third wave has been caught up in a similar situation. While the forces of globalisation and internationalisation that are driving this wave of diaspora engagement have the potential to support African universities to achieve international standards, they can equally undermine and mute the desire for higher education decolonisation. The article recommends that African countries and higher education institutions should play a central role in designing the broad policy context that drives engagement and that the activities undertaken by African diaspora academics should align with national higher education priorities. about the authors: ibrahim o oanda, CODESRIA, Dakar, Senegal. Email: email@example.com. mark m obonyo, Kenyatta University, Kenya. Email: email@example.com


Impact of follow-up time and re-measurement of the electrocardiogram and conventional risk factors on their predicitve value for myocardial infarction.


Defense capability planning traditionally uses scenario-based war-gaming to support force design decision making and to prioritize investment. Some aspects of cyber warfare are problematic for war-gaming, such as poor characterization of cyber effects and difficulty estimating the true capability of own and opposing forces. In addition, strategic-level assessments typically draw on the expert judgment of senior officers, whose tactical experience likely precedes cyber warfare, and this will limit their intuition in the emerging cyber domain. Risk analysis, and specifically the strategic risk framework, is an alternative approach to prioritizing investment in cyber capabilities, which is well-suited to analysis of cross-domain and whole-of-government functions. This paper illustrates the application of risk analysis to cyber risk for the novel purpose of developing insights for whole-of-force capability analysis.


Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for migraine.Methods The randomized controlled trials(RCTs) in PubMed,EMbase,CBM,CNKI,VIP and WanFang database from January 1,2000 to December 31,2010 were electronically searched,and the references in relevant reviews were also manually searched.The quality of the included studies was assessed.Two reviewers independently screened the trials according to inclusion and exclusion criteria,extracted the data,and assessed the methodology quality.Meta-analysis was performed using the Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5.1 software.Results Thirty-three RCTs were finally included.The results of meta-analysis showed that compared with western medicine [28 RCTs,RR=1.24,95%CI(1.16,1.34),P0.000 01],Chinese medicine [3 RCTs,RR=1.29,95%CI(1.14,1.45),P0.000 01],and placebo acupuncture [(3 RCTs,RR=1.87,95%CI(1.17,2.98),P=0.009],the improvement rates of acupuncture were significantly higher.Conclusions This study shows the improvement rates of acupuncture for migraine are higher than western medicine,Chinese medicine and placebo acupuncture,but it needs more higher quality of RCTs to enforce.


This document contains the full text of the following papers on educational agent from ICCE/ICCAI 2000 (International Conference on Computers in Education/International Conference on Computer-Assisted Instruction): (1) "An Agent-Based Intelligent Tutoring System" (C.M. Bruff and M.A. Williams); (2) "Design of Systematic Concept Learning Model Using Computer Education Search Engine" (Seong-Guk Kang, Young-Houn Lee, and Seong-Sik Kim); (3) "Educational Agents and the Social Construction of Knowledge" (Carolyn Dowling); and (4) "A Real-Time Handwriting Communication System for Distance Education" (Hsin-Chu Chen, Jho-Ju Tu, and Jianping Zhang). An abstract of the following paper is also included: "Strange Creatures in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds" (Jens F. Jensen). (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ICCE/ICCAI 2000 Full & Short Papers (Educational Agent) 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


The notions of first and second-order stochastic dominance play a central role in the economics of information, the analysis of choice under uncertainty, and other fields. The knowledge that two random variables of interest are comparable in terms of stochastic dominance is often an important ingredient in the analysis of economic models and in obtaining unambiguous comparative statics predictions. The purpose of this paper is to study stochastic orders when the distributions under consideration are not taken in isolation, but, as in many cases of interest, are subject to additional, statistically independent noise. The main conclusion of our analysis is that independent noise facilitates the ranking of random variables in terms of stochastic dominance. Consider two random variables, X and Y . We ask the following question: under what conditions is it possible to find a random variable Z, independent from X and Y , so that X + Z first-order stochastically dominates Y + Z ? Our main result is that such a (zero-mean) random variable Z exists whenever X has higher mean than Y . We further show that if X and Y have equal mean, but the first has lower variance, then Z can be chosen so that X + Z dominates Y + Z in terms of secondorder stochastic dominance. The conditions of having higher mean or lower variance are necessary for the results to hold, and no other assumptions are imposed on X and Y . We present applications of our findings to choice over lotteries in the presence of background risk, to the characterization of mean-variance preferences of Markowitz (1952) and Tobin (1958), and to mechanism design with risk averse agents.


The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to model complex cryocooler components and systems has been rare until the last few years. With more computational power and robust CFD codes available, the ability to create CFD models is becoming a reality. Efforts to characterize and predict flow through the regenerator have been ongoing for 50 years. Use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to predict pressure drop through regenerator wire mesh screens would facilitate development of a cryocooler system model. Three types of CFD regenerator models are presented. The modeling results are compared and the most promising candidate for integration into a system level model is discussed.


Aggressive behavior represents a symptom, a clinical predominant syndrome and in many cases it may be associated with psychomotor agitation. In the clinical assessment of violent behavior, particular attention will be paid to matters affecting the patient's past or present situation, such as aggressive ideas, plans and acts of violence careless driving, acts of vandalism, family history of violence. In order to administer therapy in aggressive or violent cases, infringement and seclusion techniques are sometimes necessary. Keywords: aggressive behavior, violence risk, pharmacological management


Abstract: Violence in British jails is increasing. Explanations of this rise are often couched in terms of the psychological characteristics of the perpetrators. This paper argues that the characteristics of the regime have a significant role in the etiology of violent incidents. The evidence relating to violent incidents in prisons, special hospitals and secure units is reviewed. It is concluded that regimes which allow more inmate participation, increased contact with the outside world and which are operated by more highly trained prison officers, are likely to have a positive effect on the rising tide of violence in British jails.


This article aims at constructing a quality evaluation system from the perspective of all students involved in the evaluation of classroom teaching quality evaluation,establishing mathematical models by the use of level analysis method and vague theory,and evaluating quality of classroom teaching in colleges and universities by combining qualitative and quantitative methods.


BACKGROUND:Jatrophacurcasseedisarichsourceofoil;however,itcannotbeutilisedfornutritionalpurposesduetopresence oftoxicandanti-nutritivecompounds.Themainobjectiveofthepresentstudywastoquantifythetoxicphytochemicalspresent in Indian J.curcas (oil, cake, bio-diesel and glycerol). RESULTS: The amount of phorbol esters is greater in solvent extracted oil (2.8 g kg −1 ) than in expeller oil (2.1 g kg −1 ). Liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy analysis of the purified compound from an active extract of oil confirmed the presence of phorbol esters. Similarly, the phorbol esters content is greater in solvent extracted cake (1.1 g kg −1 ) than in cake after being expelled (0.8 g kg −1 ). The phytate and trypsin inhibitory activity of the cake was found to be 98 g kg −1 and 8347 TIU g −1 of cake, respectively. Identification of curcin was achieved by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the concentration of curcin was 0.95 g L −1 of crude concentrate obtained from cake. CONCLUSION: Higher amounts of phorbol esters are present in oil than cake but bio-diesel and glycerol are free of phorbol esters. The other anti-nutritional components such as trypsin inhibitors, phytates and curcin are present in cake, so the cake should be detoxified before being used for animal feed. c � 2011 Society of Chemical Industry


In this dissertation we investigate various techniques for analysis, summarization (online and offline), indexing, clustering and classification, as well as similarity search of multidimensional data. Multi-attribute, or multidimensional data can be collected in many diverse fields, such as environmental, epidemiological and medical applications. The focus of this work is on multidimensional time-series, however the majority of the proposed methods, are directly applicable for most multidimensional datasets. In the context of this research study, the methods that are presented constitute new or improved methods for time-series analysis, and tackle important problems such as burst discovery, periodicity detection, similarity search, stream summarization etc.
The focal point of this research, the multidimensional time-series, are prevalent nowadays in many applications, such as spatiotemporal tracking from sensor networks, video surveillance data, motion capture video etc. For the fast and efficient analysis and exploration of this data, there is an imperative need to provide fast and robust similarity models, that can accurately capture flexible similarities even under the presence of noise. While some of similarity models that are used can be expensive to compute, we are able to provide tight lower and upper on the distance estimation, and we prove that no false dismissals are introduced. The major contributions of this work are: (1) We present the tightest known lower bound for the one-dimensional Euclidean distance and Dynamic Time Warping distance between time-series (given the same disk space for sequence approximation). (2) We propose a flexible index structure for multidimensional sequences that can accommodate multiple distance measures, such as the Euclidean, Time Warping and Longest Common Subsequence without any reconstruction or modification. (3) We present new rotation invariant similarity measures for multidimensional time-series. (4) We propose techniques for time-series stream summarization, that utilize a user parameterized forgetful factor. (5) We show the utility of non-linear dimensionality reduction techniques for improving the accuracy of classification schemes. (6) Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of our methods in a variety of applications, such as handwriting recognition, motion capture, GPS tracking etc. We verify empirically the generality of our methods, by testing them on more than 60 real world datasets.


Dropped by helicopter into remote, mountain villages of Nepal in mid-May, a medical disaster team worked to address public health problems, evacuate earthquake victims for orthopedic treatment, and comfort traumatized villagers.


Is long CEO tenure detrimental to firm performance in a dynamic environment? If it is the case, what factors may make long CEO tenure more or less harmful? We attempted to answer these questions by considering the moderating effects of CEO origin, CEO power, and the degree of strategic change on the relationship between CEO tenure and firm performance. Focusing on the process through which the rigidity of CEO paradigm leads to strategic persistence and ultimately to lower firm performance, this paper shows that CEO origin, CEO power, and the degree of strategic change moderate the relationship in different mechanisms and directions. Using a sample of firms from the technology hardware and equipment industry in a period from 1998 to 2009, we found a much flatter inverted-U shaped relationship between CEO tenure and firm performance than that of previous research and CEO power and the degree of strategic change moderate the relationship.


Abstract : Mathematical models were developed for a variety of Air Cushion Landing System components which include aircraft flight model components, wind, engine and air flow components, inelastic-elastic-trunk and cushion, air bag skid and arresting gear model components etc. The models were developed for utilization in the EASY-ACLS dynamic analysis computer program simulation. (AUTHOR)


A system for vibration detection, in particular for percussive hand tool machine includes a dosimeter to be worn by a user and a transponder for attaching to a handheld power tool, wherein, in the transponder a characteristic of a vibration load of the power tool is stored. The transponder can contain an RFID chip.


This study aims to analyse the determinants of the quality of information on the financial statements of the Deli Serdang district government with supervision as a moderating variable. In this study, we use the variable of human resources competency, government accounting standards, internal control systems and quality of local government financial report information. The population in this study were 90 employees in the accounting department at the SKPD in the Deli Serdang district, Indonesia. The data were collected using a survey questionnaire and analysed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Partial Least Square (PLS). Also, it is assisted by SmartPLS-3. The result indicates that government accounting standards and internal control systems significantly affect the quality of local government financial statement information. In contrast, human resource competence does not significantly affect the quality of local government financial report information. Regional financial supervision cannot moderate the relationship between human resource competence, government accounting standards, and internal control systems on government financial report information quality.


The author mentions that everyone is doing well. The author is going to take her children to town to see a show and she has a meeting the next Sunday. Bettie and her mother went to town and got two dresses. Old Pros is working with Old Kit's colt for seventeen days. Mollie Loves' baby had a cold and Alice Donnell wants to see the author's sister. The author is going to make a dress and suit for a wedding between Dock D. and Miss Fallen. Bettie is pregnant with Abe's child. Willie has a brief letter to his aunt about jackets and going to the show next week. Mr. Wilson has land in Ellis County. There is also a letter to Mr. Moore from W. H. McGee. Henry's eyes are bad so McGee is writing for him. There has been a bid on his land and he is considering moving to Texas if he could get some cheap land in Mr. Moore's neighborhood. Henry hopes to write himself next time.


An investigation on termite damage degrees,species,damage sites and distribution of dams were taken in Lin'an.169 reservoirs including small reservoir(type one and type two) and dam height at 15 meters were researched and managements were taken at the same time.Comprehensive control was achieved in about one year.This paper summarized the results of the research and the control in Lin'an,2010,and suggestions were given according to the results.


In this paper the state space model for 2D filters originally proposed by Attasi (1976) is re-examined. A necessary and sufficient condition for the Attasi state space model to be minimal is shown. A canonic form is developed for this state space model. The canonic form is then used to provide a computationally beneficial technique for realizing the Attasi state space model from 2D filter pulse response data.


Subtitle: Digital AIP is an interactive aeronautical map and database management system that employs a user-friendly graphical interface and powerful multimedia capabilities


Daily discharge volumes of Comal Springs, the largest artesian spring of the Edwards Aquifer (EA) in Central Texas, were utilized to characterize the flow of Comal Springs for the period of record spanning 1933–2007. The influence of water extraction (pumping) on discharge characteristics during the record was examined and found to be statistically significant for both volume and variability of spring discharge (p < 0.01). Pumping explains approximately a quarter of the variation in annual discharge (r2 = 0.25) and nearly a third of the daily variability (r2 = 0.32) within the Comal Springs discharge record.


Body size may influence both adult fecundity and the probability of survival through each life stage. Previ - ous studies of burying beetles (Nicrophorus, Coleoptera: Silphidae) have revealed reproductive advantages for larger adults and the role of parental care in determining larval size and number. In this study I measure the effect of size on survival over the winter period and the correlation between larval size and the size of emerging adults. I collected data from 24 groups of 20-25 larvae sorted by size and overwintered outside under natural conditions in Colorado, U.S.A. There was a significant positive correlation between larval size and adult size at emergence and a significant effect of size on overwinter survival. Data from 2 years yielded the following mean survival rates: small, 47.3 ± 1.0%; medium, 73.2 ± 0.7%; large, 85.7 ± 0.4%. These values were then used to accurately predict adult emergence from broods of larvae whose range of size was measured prior to the overwinter period. The results indicate that selection for large body size may result from an overwinter survival advantage and not just from reproductive success. This has implica- tions for fitness models of parental care and models of population dynamics.


Vertical MOSFETs are a promising approach for ultra short channel length transistors. Theoretically, vertical MOSFETs have small lateral size due to their three-dimensional geometry channel compared to the three-dimensional type of conventional MOSFETs. Thus, vertical transistors are very attractive for high density integrated circuits (ICs). The feasibility study concentrates on the layouts of conventional and vertical CMOS for inverter and two-input NOR gates to validate the theory. In this study, the size of the active area and the overall area for gates designed using both types of transistor were compared and analyzed. Based on the comparison, the size of the active area for the gates designed using both types of transistors were equal. However, the overall area of the gates designed using vertical MOSFETs were larger than that of conventional MOSFETs due to the limitation of interconnection of metal between the transistors. Based on the study, although the channel size can be optimized, due to the interconnection requirement in IC implementation, the overall IC area cannot be minimized.


The invention discloses an image processing method and image processing apparatus. An image processing apparatus and method for processing an image using a multi-view image and pixel information are provided. The image processing method includes determining a view image that corresponds to a predetermined display direction of a display pixel of a display, determining at least one view image pixel corresponding to the display pixel in the determined view image based on a position of the display pixel in the display and pixel position information of the determined view image, and determining a pixel value of the display pixel based on a pixel value of the determined at least one view image pixel.


A generic nonparaxial model for pulse envelopes is presented. Classic Schrödinger-type descriptions of wave propagation have their origins in slowly-varying envelopes combined with a Galilean boost to the local time frame. By abandoning these two simplifications, a picture of pulse evolution emerges in which frame-of-reference considerations and space-time transformations take center stage. A wide range of effects, analogous to those in special relativity, then follows for both linear and nonlinear systems. Explicit demonstration is presented through exact bright and dark soliton pulse solutions.


Illumination conditions are crucial factors affecting the growth and biosynthesis of microalgae. In this study, monochromatic red, blue, or the combined red and blue light illumination was applied to Dunaliella salina culture to study the effects of illumination on the growth and biocomponents productivity of the microalga D. salina. The monochromatic blue light (peak wavelength, 455 nm) did not significantly enhance D. salina growth but boosted the cellular contents of lipid, protein, and carbohydrate. Both cellular content and productivity of carotenoid produced by D. salina in the white light control were the highest compared to other monochromatic treatments. Interestingly, simultaneous application of red and blue light in various ratios showed a major boost not only on growth but also on cellular lipid content, and resulted in higher lipid productivity. This result is different from many published literatures reporting the enhancement of biomass or cellular lipid content individually. The optimal ratio of red and blue light was 4:3 (4 dose of red light to 3 dose of blue light), which significantly improved lipid productivity by 35.33% compared to the white light control. The result suggested a monochromatic red and blue light combination of illumination could be employed to increase the biomass yield as well as cellular lipid content of D. salina simultaneously for the production of biofuel.


The serum concentrations of circulating immune complexes, immunoglobulins G, M, and E, and the C3 complement component of 35 patients with acute apical abscesses were measured. These levels were compared with those of people without acute apical abscesses. Statistically significant differences between the levels of immune complexes, immunoglobulins G and M, and C3 complement component were found between the two groups. In addition, significant differences were also noted in eight patients in the mean levels of concentration of immune complexes, immunoglobulins G, M, and E, and C3 complement component before and after root canal therapy or extraction of involved teeth. It appeared that acute periapical lesions may lead to measurable systemic immunological reactions, but the clinical significance of these changes remains unclear.


Abstract In a recent Antiquity article, Ammerman et al. (2017) suggest that three radiocarbon dates on seventh- or eighth-century AD samples obtained by coring beneath St Mark's Basilica—including two peach stones—illuminate the earliest settlement of the historic centre of Venice. Excavations at several other locations, however, have yielded in situ settlement remains at least as old as the peach stones, some of which are securely dated by a floating tree-ring chronology and radiocarbon dates from stratified structural samples. Here, the authors summarise this evidence, and propose that a large area of the historic centre may have been settled by, or during, the mid seventh century AD.


This study investigated the extent to which different pedagogical gestures contribute to learners' foreign or second language (L2) narrative recall, and further discussed how task complexity and task difficulty (i.e. working memory capacity or WMC) influence recall performance. Sixty-four adolescent learners, assigned to four different gesture viewing conditions (iconic gestures, deictic gestures, beat gestures, or no gesture), were required to listen to an instructor telling two stories (one complex and one simple) and then retell both stories twice: once immediately after listening (immediate recall) and a second time two weeks later (delayed recall). Recall performance was evaluated by the number of relevant pieces of event and motion information produced in the participants' retelling. The results show that L2 learners who were exposed to deictic and iconic gesture conditions outperformed the other gesture groups, particularly in delayed narrative recall, but only in complex tasks where cognitive demands were increased. It was also found that event and motion information was retained for a longer period of time in the deictic and iconic conditions respectively. Although both high and low WMC groups benefitted from viewing gestures, this finding further indicates that the beneficial effect of gestures on learners could possibly compensate for low WMC by providing scaffolding that reduces cognitive burden in narrative recall.


One of the important objectives and concerns today is to find efficient means to manage the information security risks to which organizations are exposed. Due to a lack of necessary data and time and resource constraints, very often it is impossible to gather and process all of the required information about an IT system in order to properly assess it within an acceptable timeframe. That puts the organization into a state of increased security risk. One of the means to solve such complex problems is the use of multicriteria decision-making methods that have a strong mathematical foundation. This paper presents a hybrid multicriteria model for the evaluation of critical IT systems where the elements for risk analysis and assessment are used as evaluation criteria. The iterative steps of the design science research (DSR) methodology for development of a new multicriteria model for the objectives of evaluation, ranking, and selection of critical information systems are delineated. The main advantage of the new model is its use of generic criteria for risk assessment instead of redefining inherent criteria and calculating related weights for each individual IT system. That is why more efficient evaluation, ranking, and decision-making between several possible IT solutions can be expected. The proposed model was validated in a case study of online banking transaction systems and could be used as a generic model for the evaluation of critical IT systems.


ABSTRACT Maintenance scheduling (MS) of vehicles is related to uncertainties due to different aspects such as vehicle movement over different terrains, varying loads, fuel efficiency, etc. The fuzzy approach efficiently takes into account such uncertainties to arrive at a reasonable decision. The MS of vehicles is one of such domain of engineering applications. It is dependent on parameters having uncertainties like past running hours, operating condition of the vehicle, fuel consumption rate. The vehicle maintenance scheduling (VMS) is used to assess the condition of vehicle from preventive maintenance prospective of the vehicle so as to enhance the ability of proactive failure situation identification. The stochastic nature of MS has been taken into account by using Monte Carlo simulation, etc. The case example corroborates the efficiency of the proposed fuzzy approach for dealings with VMS for pragmatic applications taking uncertainties into account.


The transmission properties of semiconductor surfaces can be changed by surface texturing. We investigate these changes experimentally and find that an enhancement of the angle-averaged transmission by a factor of 2 can be achieved with optimum texturing parameters. This enhanced transmission provides an additional light extraction mechanism for high-efficiency surface-textured light-emitting diodes. External quantum efficiencies of 46% and 54% are demonstrated before and after encapsulation, respectively.


Acute respiratory infections (IRA) and diarrheal diseases (EDA) are the major causes of child mortality in Colombia and throughout Latin America. The present study describes the knowledge and practices of mothers of children under 5 years attending a health facility in the city of Santa Marta on diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections. We performed a quantitative study of descriptive characteristics and transverse section whose sample consisted of 114 mothers of children under five years who attended an emergency health center in the city of Santa Marta to present EDA and / or IRA. This study found that children under 5 years and, within these, infants 0-12 months are most vulnerable to suffer from EDA and IRA. IRA mortality and EDA are more common in children who dropped out before breastfeeding the first 6 months of life and affect their appearance unfavorable living conditions such as overcrowding, poor medical care and low income.


www.PosterPresentations.com Introduction. Combining online learning with the more traditional face-toface (F2F) clinical instruction appears to provide opportunity to engage leaners at remote clinical training sites. The purpose of this research study is to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of the blended-learning format for 3rd year medical students who participated in the pediatric blended learning supplement by investigating post-exercise survey responses, end-of-rotation examination (COMAT) scores and final course grades. Methods. 264 OMS3 students completed the four-week pediatric clerkship in the 2014/15 academic year (78 blended learning supplement, 186 traditional F2F). Students in the study group were provided opportunity to complete a post-exercise survey regarding their experience with the blended learning format. End-of-rotation exam (COMAT) scores and final course grades were also compared between groups. Results. Overall students valued the blended learning experience. 53 completed post-exercise survey (67.9% response rate). 88% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "This was a practical learning experience," and 85% agreed or strongly agreed with "The integration of eLearning and face-to-face learning helped me learn pediatrics." Overall, 85% reported "I was satisfied with the overall learning experience." A large number of comments requested an increase in the amount of clinical exposure and F2F time with patients. COMAT scores did not differ between groups (p=0.321). Compared to the control group, more students in the blended learning group received a final grade of Honors (p=0.015). Conclusion. Results of this study support the use of blended learning in a clinical training environment. Students valued the blended learning approach, While end-of-rotation examination scores were not improved, they may have benefited from the blended learning supplement by receiving higher course grades. Online activities may enhance but should never fully replace F2F learning with real patients. ABSTRACT


Abstract : In this paper we consider the elementary but important case of excitation in which the leakage from the coaxial cable is caused by partially disconnected connector. The coax center conductor is assumed to be continuous but the connector outer fitting is assumed to be unscrewed, effectively leaving a gap in the outer connector of the coax. It is through this circumferential slot that electromagnetic energy reaches the exterior region. In general, the current induced on the exterior surface of the outer coaxial conductor is strongly dependent upon where this gap is located along the length of the coax, and, in turn, exterior fields upon directly upon this surface current. Therefore, in this investigation, the exterior fields are computed for numerous values of the displacement of the faulty connector from the center of the finite-length coaxial cable. (Author)


Several pediatric orthopaedic conditions appear to be related to mechanical influences on bone growth. In this study we tested the hypothesis that there is a relationship between bone growth rates and mechanical stresses which are present in the growth plate during normal development. The model selected was the rabbit distal femur, which exhibits a dramatic growth plate curvature resulting from variations in bone growth rates.


We always hear news about hacker's being arrested or a group of internet saboteurs discovered. Hacking techniques have improved to the point that little or no traces of unauthorized access is left. Computer security experts often use a tool called honeypot to entrap intruders. The present paper outlines honeypot techniques, its variants and various technologies applied to this effect.


By the use of statistical decision theory and space-and-time correlation function of coherent field, scattered by moving rough object, probability density function (PDF) of these fields in the presence of additional background fields is deduced. The PDF is used as an information capacity measure of random coherent field, scattered by moving object, so it enables development of an algorithm for processing the coherent field scattered by the object with an arbitrary surface shape and motion parameters during the observation time of the scattered field. This algorithm requires forming the coherent image of the moving object and taking the Fourier-Fresnel transform of the field in each point of this image. The algorithm can be used for determining the dynamic parameters and shape of moving objects even if the imaging system has very low resolution.


In order to study the mist phenomenon on phosphate glass, the chemical composition of the hydrolysis layer on the glass surface of phosphate glass was investigated. The solid and liquid components of the used slurry and the surface composition of polished phosphate glass were tested. The experimental results show that the SIMS test results show that the content of K does not change with depth, and the content of Mg, Al, Nd firstly increases with depth and then tends to be gentle; K element does not participate in chemical reactions during polishing, just simply mechanical removed; but Mg, Al, and Nd elements are not only mechanically removed but also participate in chemical reactions and are precipitated as ions, which is consistent with the XRF test results. It is proposed a new substance generated on the surface of phosphate glass during polishing process, a hydrolysis layer formation model was proposed. The mist phenomenon is related to the hydrolysis layer, which is different from the substrate material and properties (density, light reflectance, etc.). So different scattered light is seen and the thicker the hydrolyzed layer, the stronger the scattered light. Moreover, the severity of mist is related to the thickness of the mist layer, and the thicker the thickness, the more severe the mist.


Lactobacillus bulgaricus(L.b) was incubated to high cells population by modified MRS culture micro-filtration membrane , and growth curve and LD content of the bacteria at different time were determined respectively during the incubation.The changes of ultramicrostructure of L.b were systematically observed by ultrathin section TEM at different time during super-concentrated incubation.The results show that microscopic morphology changes of bacteria exist obviously during super-concentrated incubation in culture, and they are related to the rule of energy metabolism and acid producing.


This paper reviews the 'state of the art' in the use of interlocking paving blocks in Australia. First introduced in 1974, the use of interlocking concrete paving in Australia is now approaching 3,000,000 m**2 per annum. 'unipave' and 'pavelock' profiles, the first types introduced, continued to dominate municipal and engineering works. Some 70 per cent of the market is, however, held by the Australian designed concrete 'cobblestone' - a 'rumbled' prism suited only to light traffic conditions. The need for a finite method of design for interlocking pavement became apparent and resulted in the sponsorship of a testing programme in a full scale road simulator. Manufacturing and construction specifications have been agreed by industry and are given in the appendices. A major problem is to find a suitable test for abrasion resistance capable of use for routine production testing (a).


Materials are important resources for teachers in assisting pupils to learn English. In broader view, materials can be defined as anything which is used specifically with the intention of increasing pupil's knowledge and experience of the language. Therefore materials may include textbooks (course books), workbooks, story books, videos, cassettes, pictures, brochures, menus, interactive CDs, or other real-life artifacts, (Moon, 2003: 86). In choosing and selecting materials for the teaching practices, we need to have several considerations like whether we have to create the materials ourselves, how we can select appropriate materials for our pupils, how we can adapt the materials in assisting our learners in learning, and what the benefits are of either adapting or creating our own learning materials. The article then aims at discussing these considerations in choosing, selecting, or creating learning materials in the teaching of English for your learners.


About 80 or 90 percent of high school graduates associate their life plans with study in higher and specialized secondary educational institutions and with work in the area of professions of mental labor. However, the real prospect for the majority of youth entering independent life in the 1970s and 1980s is the acquisition of a labor skill. Today the choice of a path in life by youth is in many respects spontaneous and random. Only about 40 percent of those entering higher educational institutions are confident of the correctness of their choice, and about one-third of the graduates are unhappy with the choice they made. When he takes a job, a young person, after ten years in school, is not only compelled immediately to fill gaps in his knowledge and relearn things but to reorient himself psychologically. For many it is only at that moment that the tortuous "search for themselves" begins, and in connection with a job, a migration from job to job. The losses to all concerned that this involves have a comm...


Recent studies have independently shown that cyclic adenosine 3′5′‐monophosphate (cAMP) modulation prior to in vitro maturation (IVM) and epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐like peptide supplementation during IVM improve subsequent oocyte developmental outcomes. This study investigated the effects of an IVM system that incorporates these two concepts. Cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected from pre‐pubertal mice either 46 hr post‐equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) (IVM) or post‐eCG + post‐human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulation (in vivo maturation; IVV). IVM COCs were treated with the cAMP modulators forskolin and IBMX for 1, 2, or 4 hr (pre‐IVM phase) prior to IVM. COCs then underwent IVM with the EGF‐like peptides amphiregulin or epiregulin, or with the common IVM stimulants follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) or EGF. A pre‐IVM phase increased the size of the subsequent blastocysts' inner‐cell‐mass compared to standard IVM, regardless of IVM treatment (P < 0.05). Unlike FSH or EGF, amphiregulin or epiregulin significantly increased blastocyst quality (trophectoderm and total cell numbers) and/or yield (P < 0.01) compared to standard IVM, and were the only treatments that produced blastocysts comparable to IVV‐derived blastocysts. Forskolin acutely up‐regulated EGF‐like peptide mRNA expression after a 2‐hr pre‐IVM phase (P < 0.001), although EGF receptor and ERK1/2 activities were not significantly different than control. IVV‐like levels of EGF‐like peptide mRNA expression during IVM were maintained only by supplementing with EGF‐like peptides and EGF, since expression levels induced by FSH were significantly lower in vitro than during IVV. However, EGF receptor and ERK1/2 phosphorylation levels were not significantly different across treatment groups. In conclusion, a pre‐IVM phase in conjunction with IVM in the presence of EGF‐like peptides endows high oocyte developmental competence, as evidenced by increased embryo yield and/or quality relative to FSH and EGF. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 81: ???–???, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A model of the homogenous CO2 laser plasma is presented which can be used to describe the efficiency of laser operation for both the DC and the RF- discharge. As laser gas a mixture of CO2, N2, and He with an admixture of Xe was used. To simplify the calculations the distribution of the electron energy was considered to be a Maxwellian one which makes it possible to avoid the solution of Boltzmann's equation. In addition only the most important collision cross sections were used, namely the cross sections for excitation of vibrational modes in CO2 and N2, for attach-ment and electronic excitation of CO2, for ionisation of CO2, N2, and Xe, for elastic collisions and for momentum transfer. Under these assumptions the energy and the particle density balances for electrons can be put up. As a result the energy transfer to the different levels in CO2 and N2 and the electron density can be calculated which can be used to estimate the efficiency of the conversion from electrical power to laser radiation. The evaluation of this model showes that the efficiency of the RF- discharge is a little bit higher than that of the DC- discharge which is mainly due to the more favourable conditions for ionisation in the RF- discharge. The admixture of xenon causes a sig-nificant increase of the electron density for a given value of E/N which raises the efficiency considerably.


To determine specific characteristics useful in sex determination in Cercopithecus ascanius crania, 17 cranial measurements and 10 cranial indices were derived from twenty-seven adult male and seventeen adult female crania and were subjected to discriminant function and canonical analysis. Significant differences between male and female skulls included overall size, especially in the palatal and orbital areas of the cranium. Important differences also existed in the shape of the palate, orbits, and cranial vault in relation to the facial region. Comparison and application of the results of this study to data on other Old-World monkey species indicated that information useful in assessing possible panprimate patterns of sexual dimorphism may be inferred, as differences between male and female crania in the orbital, facial, and palatal areas were common to other species investigated.


The aim of this pa per is to de velop, in a de ter min is tic frame work, a model of eco nomic growth that ex plains its de ter mi nants en dog e nously. The pro posed model also de scribes the be hav ior of the dy nam ics of the agent's con sump tion and cap i tal paths. It is sup posed that the econ omy is pop u lated by iden ti cal and in fi nitely lived in di vid u als that wish to max i mize their util ity for the con sump tion of a sin gle per ish able good. Sev eral sat is fac tion in dexes are re vised. Firms share the same tech nol ogy. In such a tech nol ogy it is as sumed that the mar ginal prod uct of cap i tal re mains con stant through time. In this con text, the con sumer's de ci sion prob lem is stated as a de ter min is tic op ti mal con trol prob lem in con tin u ous time. Con sumer's op ti mal de ci sions are ex am ined by us ing MATLAB © subroutines.


Semiconducting BaTi03 can be prepared by substituting small amounts of ions of highvalency for Ba or Ti ions. At higher concentrations the foreign ions are compensated by metal ion vacancies. Poly-crystalline samples prepared in air show an enormous increase in resistivity above the ferro-electric Curie point, monocrystalline samples prepared in Na2C03 f!ux not show. According to this behaviour, Heywang model and other model previously proposed to explain the anomalous increase in resistivity. Theoretical treatment on the proposed Heywang model leads to an inter司 pretation of the physical processes invalued and achieves good agreement with out experiment.


This letter addresses the performance of M-PSK communications systems in the presence of gain/phase imbalances and DC-offsets in in-phase and quadrature channels. A model is established to represent the gain/phase imbalances and DC-offsets in both the transmitter and the receiver, and two closed-form formulas are derived to calculate the symbol error rate (SER) of the M-PSK communications systems in the presence of these impairments. Computer simulations are conducted to validate the derivation, and the results show that the SER calculated from the formulas closely matches the simulation results. The formulas provide an accurate guideline for communications system architects/engineers to evaluate the impacts of various imbalances and offsets on the system performance and to determine the required component specifications.


Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients have a lower risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and its comorbidities, which might be associated with the usage of metformin. The objective of the study was to evaluate the role of metformin in the process of AAA development. Method PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched up to May 15th, 2021. We implemented several methods including the risk of bias graph, GRADE system and funnel plot to assess the quality and possible bias of this study. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis were applied to address quality differences and validate the robustness of the final results. Result Ten articles were enrolled after screening 151 articles searched from databases. The pooled results showed that, compared with T2DM patients without metformin, metformin prescription was associated with a slower annual growth rate of the aneurysm (mean difference (MD) -0.67 cm [95% confidence interval (CI) -1.20 ~ -0.15 cm]). Besides, metformin exposure was associated with a lower frequency of AAA events (odds ratio (OR) 0.61 [95% CI 0.41-0.92]). Conclusion Metformin alleviated both annual expansion rate and aneurysm rupture frequency in AAA patients with T2DM. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO, identifier https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=217859 (CRD42020217859).


Although the demand for high accuracy kinematic positioning using multiple base stations has increased over the last several years, most commercial GPS processing software still only provides single-baseline solutions. Thus, methods were investigated to improve the accuracy of kinematic positioning by using network configuration on the basis of several single-baseline solutions. As discussed in this study, the positioning accuracy and network stability are improved by applying geodetic network adjustment theories to a kinematic positioning application. Four different methods to remove the rank-deficiency (RLESS, BLIMPBE, SCLESS, and PMINOLESS) are analyzed in this study. The 3D RMS (root mean squared) error has been improved from 4.4 cm (maximum) to 2.7 cm by using network-based kinematic positioning, and BLIMPBE is preferable over other methods in terms of the minimum bias in the rover position and the reproducing property of the reference stations.


Chemical Plating bath is different from electroplating bath, and unstable such as that nickel ion contained in the bath is deposited without catalizer under certain conditions, that pH and temperature of the bath affect quantity and quality of the deposit, that composition of the bath changes successively in the course of plating operation. The authors have been studying the control of the chemical plating bath, and the obtained data for controling the composition as well as variable factors of the chemical plating bath are herewith reported.Reducing reagent must be added to the chemical plating bath within about one hour before the plating operation, then, pH is adjusted with ammonia water or sulfuric acid solution. Variable factors of chemical plating bath are nickel ion and hypophosphite ion concentration, pH, impurities, etc. Moreover, the temperature at plating operation affects quantity and luster of the deposit.


Trachea, lung, and conjunctive samples from 51 commercial layer farms from Bastos region, Sao Paulo, Brazil, were submitted to nested-PCR and virus isolation in SPF chicken embryos for ILT diagnosis. This region experienced an outbreak characterized by respiratory signs, decrease in egg production and increased mortality. Out of the 51 tested field samples, 23 were positive for ILT by nested-PCR, 22 were positive after the virus isolation, and 24 were positive when both techniques were used. Newcastle disease virus, Avian pneumovirus, or Mycoplasma gallisepticum were not detected. Infectious bronchitis virus was detected in one farm and Mycoplasma synoviae was detected in eight farms. The high incidence of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) detection, the high correlation between the observed clinical signs and the ILTV detection, and the results of differential diagnosis demonstrated that ILTV was the causative agent of the outbreak of respiratory disease observed in Bastos region, Sao Paulo, Brazil.


This paper investigates the causal relationship between electricity consumption and GDP in Slovenia, for the time period 1990-2010 and in Albania and Bulgaria for the time period 1980-2010. The causality is tested with the Granger causality test. But first we check whether or not the time series of GDP and electricity consumption are stationary. The augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and Phillips-Perron test are used to evaluate whether these two series have unit root. It can be concluded that the first differences of the two time series are stationary, i.e., they are integrated of order 1. The Johansen cointegration test shows that there is no cointegration equation for GDP and electricity consumption in these three countries. From the Granger causality test it can be concluded that there is unidirectional causality from GDP to electricity consumption for 2 and 5 years lags and a unidirectional causality from electricity consumption to GDP for 1 year lag. In the case of Albania and Slovenia the results suggest that there is no causality between electricity consumption and GDP.


In this paper, we propose a vague words retrieval method over text field of relational databases. This method is expected to get an ideal retrieval result from text field of relational databases when a set of incorrect keywords is submitted. The solution to this issue is: to create a "hot words library", then let the input incorrect keywords match with the word of "hot words library", based on the modified dynamic programming algorithm of k-difference approximate string matching. Finally, Experiments show that this solution has a good query performance.


New documents have led to identify the altarpiece of Saint Bartholomew as Felipe Bigamy's and Leon Picardo's work of 1515 for San Esteban in Burgos. Sold to the church of San Lesmes in Burgos, has allowed us to study the style of Leon Picardo, his high quality and his dependence on flemish models. The catalogue of Picardo is drawn up, comprising works attributed to him or to his studio.


Abstract The catch population of forty-six hemipteran species trapped at light are analysed under different moon positions. The abundance of such insects has been due to all positive correlation between the catch and relative humidity rather than temperature. The period of full moon recorded the lowest catch. Majority of bugs trapped in remainder of three moon periods is suitable time for the control, Operational measures if employed for these sap-suckers during this period might minimize t.he use of pesticides and their hazardous effects, Accordingly in a cropland ecosystem 18 species have also been assessed to be important at Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh).


Reverse-mode operation shutters have been achieved by combining the techniques of the traditional means of making polymer-dispersed liquid crystals and nematic curvilinear aligned phases. Nematic microemulsions, obtained by a thermally induced phase separation, have been photopolymerized in an external force field. After the polymerization, films show 85% transmittance in the OFF state, while it decreases to less than 1% when an electric field of about 2 V μm−1 at 1 kHz is applied. The rise-time values, about 2 ms, are in the same range as those obtained with normal-mode polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal films. On the contrary, decay time shows longer values.


The increasing popularity of video (i.e., audio-visual) applications or services over both wired and wireless links has prompted recent growing interests in the investigations of quality of experience (QoE) in online video transmission. Conventional video quality metrics, such as peak-signal-to-noise-ratio and quality of service, only focus on the reception quality from the systematic perspective. As a result, they cannot represent the true visual experience of an individual user. Instead, the QoE introduces a user experience-driven strategy which puts special emphasis on the contextual and human factors in addition to the transmission system. This advantage has raised the popularity and widespread usage of QoE in video transmission. In this paper, we present an overview of selected issues pertaining to QoE and its recent applications in video transmission, with consideration of the compelling features of QoE (i.e., context and human factors). The selected issues include QoE modeling with influence factors in the end-to-end chain of video transmission, QoE assessment (including subjective test and objective QoE monitoring) and QoE management of video transmission over different types of networks. Through the literature review, we observe that the context and human factors in QoE-aware video transmission have attracted significant attentions since the past two to three years. A vast number of high quality works were published in this area, and will be highlighted in this survey. In addition to a thorough summary of recent progresses, we also present an outlook of future developments on QoE assessment and management in video transmission, especially focusing on the context and human factors that have not been addressed yet and the technical challenges that have not been completely solved so far. We believe that our overview and findings can provide a timely perspective on the related issues and the future research directions in QoE-oriented services over video communications.


The Civil Procedure Law of 2007 modified the way to claim the remedies of an outsider in the course of the execution made by The Civil Procedure Law of 1991.The outsider may file a lawsuit to claim the remedies for the damages.In order to realize the value of the lawsuit filed by an outsider,it is necessary to enforce different regulations from the normal lawsuit,such as the plaintiff,the defendant,the claim of the lawsuit,the jurisdictional court,and the restriction of filing a lawsuit by the outsider,etc.


With the issues that the complex loads can't be applied by the existing load forms of the general finite element analysis software,a loading method is put forward for complex loads based on ANSYS APDL by the static analysis of inertial load connecting rod of a marine diesel engine. The mechanics simulation and analysis on the connecting rod under complex loads show that the method can implement the calculation of inertial force of different nodes easily and efficiently and the force loading on large number of nodes.


In many situations, visual input tends to dominate other modalities in perceptual and memorial reports and in speeded responses. Visual dominance appears to be related to the relatively weak capacity of visual inputs to alert the organism to their occurrence. In response to this reduced alerting, subjects tend to keep their attention tuned to the visual modality. This bias works via prior entry to allow vision to control the mechanisms that subserve conscious reports. The study of visual dominance provides a model situation in which chronometric and phenomenological techniques can be brought together to produce a more complete picture of the relation between information processing and awareness. Process models of perceptual phenomena (Chase, 1973) usually emphasize the flow of information within and between such systems as visual and acoustic analyzers, short- and long-term memories, and decision and response systems. Most often, some form of mental chronometry (Posner, in press), such


The temporal stability of azo second-order nonlinear optical chromophores linked with a perfluorocyclopentenyl moiety doped in polymers was examined. The retention of second-order nonlinear optical coefficient (d33) of 1,2-bis [4[4[Nethyl N -(2 hydroxyethyl)amino] phenylazo] phenylthio] perfluorocyclopentene doped in poly(methyl methacrylate) after 530 h at 50°C was 5 %. That of 1,2-bis [4(2,4 diaminophenylazo)phenylthio] perfluorocyclopentene doped in poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) was improved to 45 % by the amido formation between azo dye and polymer matrix. Key-words: Azo dye, Temporal stability, Second-order nonlinear optical coefficient (d33), Functional dye, Perfluorocycloalkenyl


The elements (/') (/': X' -» Y') of the genus - G(f) of a map/: X -* Y are equivalence classes of homotopy classes of maps /' which satisfy: For every prime p there exist homotopy equivalences f^: X'p —» Xp and kp: Y'p -* Yp so that fphp — kj'p. The genus of / under X - Gx{f) and the genus of / over Y - Gy(f) are defined similarly. In this paper we prove that under certain conditions on /, the sets Y. In some cases we calculate the genus and compare it with those of X and Y. All spaces considered are pointed and of the homotopy type of simply connected CW-complexes of finite type and either with a finite number of nonzero homology groups or with a finite number of nonzero homotopy groups. Throughout this paper we work in the homotopy category. We recall that for a CW-complex X, the genus of X is the set G(X) of homotopy types of spaces Y with Yp « Xp for every prime p (where ( ) denotes the p-localization operation). We define analogously the genus G(f) of /, Gx(f)-the genus of maps under X and Gy(f) the genus of maps over Y. 1.1. Definition. Let/: X -» Y be a map. The elements (/') G G(f) (/':*'->• Y') are equivalence classes of homotopy classes of/' which satisfy: For every primep there exist homotopy equivalences A : X^—> Xp and k : Y'p -+ Yp so thatj^A^ — kjfl. (We denote the genus off either by G(f) or by G(X, Y,f).) The elements (/') G Gx(f) (/': X —» Y') are equivalence classes of homotopy classes of maps /' which satisfy: For every prime p there exists a homotopy equivalence kp: Yp -» Y so that kj' ~-fp- (Two maps /: X —> Yi, i = 1, 2, are equivalent under X if there exists a homotopy equivalence k: Yx —» Y2 with kfx~f2.) The elements (/') G GY(f) (/': A" -» Y) are equivalence classes of homotopy classes of maps /' so that for every prime p there exists a homotopy equivalence hp : XL -> XB so that/A —/"'. p p Jp p Jp


Sometimes, usually in studies testing a small number of hypotheses, there is an interest in CIs for the accepted hypotheses, or separately for the accepted and rejected hypotheses. There has been a concern, especially in the social sciences, with the inadequate power of most research, stemming from the work of Cohen (1962), who was the first to estimate the typical power of psychological research studies. In these cases, often the magnitude of a departure from the null value is not of special interest, as long as the null is rejected, and CIs are calculated for accepted hypotheses to give an indication of the range of plausible parameter values, in view of the presumed low power due to practical constraints. Given acceptance, parameter values close to the null are more likely to be included in the interval than when the null hypothesis is rejected, and the CIs have conditional coverage probabilities greater than the nominal probability 1 − α or noncoverage probabilities less than α, whereas for parameter values far from the null, the conditional confidence coverage probabilities approach 0 and noncoverage probabilities approach 1. For m = 1, with the test statistic distributed N(θ,1) and for θ = 0, .5, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, when CIs are calculated only if the hypothesis is accepted, the conditional noncoverage probabilities are 0, .02, .03, .05, 1, 1, and 1, whereas the marginal noncoverage probabilities are 0, .02, .02, .02, .02, 0, and 0. These values suggest that the FCR approach may be less useful for parameters selected when hypotheses are not rejected, because the CIs may be too wide for useful inferences.


Multi-phase filamentary structures around brightest cluster galaxies (BCG) are likely a key step of AGN-feedback. We observed molecular gas in three cool cluster cores, namely Centaurus, Abell S1101, and RXJ1539.5, and gathered ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) and MUSE (Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) data for 12 other clusters. Those observations show clumpy, massive, and long (3−25 kpc) molecular filaments, preferentially located around the radio bubbles inflated by the AGN. Two objects show nuclear molecular disks. The optical nebula is certainly tracing the warm envelopes of cold molecular filaments. Surprisingly, the radial profile of the Hα/CO flux ratio is roughly constant for most of the objects, suggesting that (i) between 1.2 and 6 times more cold gas could be present and (ii) local processes must be responsible for the excitation. Projected velocities are between 100 and 400 km s−1, with disturbed kinematics and sometimes coherent gradients. This is likely due to the mixing in projection of several thin (and as yet) unresolved filaments. The velocity fields may be stirred by turbulence induced by bubbles, jets, or merger-induced sloshing. Velocity and dispersions are low, below the escape velocity. Cold clouds should eventually fall back and fuel the AGN. We compare the radial extent of the filaments, rfil, with the region where the X-ray gas can become thermally unstable. The filaments are always inside the low-entropy and short-cooling-time region, where tcool/tff <  20 (9 of 13 sources). The range of tcool/tff of 8−23 at rfil, is likely due to (i) a more complex gravitational potential affecting the free-fall time tff (sloshing, mergers, etc.) and (ii) the presence of inhomogeneities or uplifted gas in the ICM, affecting the cooling time tcool. For some of the sources, rfil lies where the ratio of the cooling time to the eddy-turnover time, tcool/teddy, is approximately unity.


The use of two magnetised plasma waves as electron temperature diagnos-tics for the Maryland centrifugal ecperiment (MCX) are explored. First, microwave emission in the whistler mode is examined and ultimately found to be a poor candidate for diagnostic purposes owing to reflections from elsewhere in the plasma confusing the signal. Second, the electron Bernstein wave is found to offer promise as means to measure the radial electron temperature profile. Several numeric codes are developed to analyze the observed microwave emission and calculate the electron temperature profile. Measurements of electron Bernstein wave emission indicate that the electrons in the plasma attain temperatures close to 100 eV. Clear evidence is shown that the measurements are not influenced by reflections or emission from hot (T e > 1keV) superthermal electrons. The measured electron temperature is shown to be in reasonable agreement with recent measurements of the plasma ion temperature. Dedication To my parents. Without them, where would I be? ii Acknowledgments There is a long list of people to thank helping me complete this work. This is true for every thesis, but doubly so when the funding for your experiment dries up halfway through your work! Many of these people have not only been outstanding colleagues but also friends, making IREAP a wonderful home these last six years. Dr. Ellis, my advisor, who gave me the opportunity to do this research and somehow found funds to keep me working though the completion of my thesis. Dr. William Young, who's time as a graduate student on MCX overlapped most of mine, taught me how to run MCX, assisted late into the night taking data and made MCX a great place to work. Dr. Carlos Romero-Talamás, who has truly been a bottomless source of support, advice and encouragement throughout. Dr. Adil Hassam, who taught me plasma physics and was always willing to talk about any aspect of the field. Dr. John Rodgers lent me essentially all of the microwave hardware, who also taught me everything I know about microwaves and high voltage systems. Christina Allen, who first demonstrated microwave emission from MCX as a summer student. Jay Pyle and Don Martin who not only assisted in the manufacture of mission critical hardware but also lent me their wisdom and humor. Brian Quinn who treated my facilities problems like they were his own. Dr. Tim Koeth who lent me a truly excellent X-ray camera, and Dr. …


Financial technology has emerged as a game-changer to complement and enhance how the Millennial and Generation Z conduct transactions. Responding to calls of prior research, this study used the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to understand how performance expectancy and effort expectancy factors influence consumers' intention to use financial technology. Performance expectancy (PE) and effort expectancy (EE) were investigated as exogenous variables towards the intention to use financial technology (FinTech) that act as endogenous variables in this study. The authors collected 284 Millennial and Generation Z respondents and analysed the data using PLS-SEM. The result from the study's structural model suggested that FinTech continuance use intention was dependent on performance expectancy and effort expectancy on engaging with young vibrant consumers and establishing attractive FinTech elements. In addition, Millennial and Generation Z consumers with a high-performance expectancy were found to emphasize FinTech components in the engagement process.


Atomic force microscopy (AFM) study of low energy (10 keV) electron beam irradiated polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) surface was performed. PMMA thin film of (20 mum), were used in lithography technique. AFM in tapping mode has been utilized to investigate the morphological changes on the surfaces of sample as a function of fluence. TM-AFM showed the hills of the nano size surrounded by crater type features in all irradiated samples. The root-mean-square (rms) surface roughness of the samples changed from 2.666 nm to 5.617 nm with fluence from 2times1014 e/cm2 to 1times1016 e/cm2. It shows that roughness increases with fluence.


The article explores the necessity to employ the cognitive approach to instilling civic consciousness through education. Civic consciousness within the frame of this approach is viewed as the choice procedure of ОМСКИЙ НАУЧНЫЙ ВЕСТНИК № 3 (78) 2009 221 КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЯ. ИСКУССТВОВЕДЕНИЕ civic priorities of altruistic and not egoistic behavior patterns toward the native country citizens.


Purpose: To compare primary surgery and surgery after
neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) in locally advanced breast cancer (LABC)
patients. Methods: Between January 2011 & December 2015, 112
patients with LABC were treated at KAAH & OC-Jeddah-KSA, Of whom 42 were treated by
NCT followed by surgery either mastectomy or conservative surgery, then
adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The rest patients (70) were treated by
primary surgery (mastectomy or conservative resection) and followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
All patients received adjuvant antiestrogen. Patients were followed for a
median duration of 33 months. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival
(OAS) were studied for all patients, compared between both groups and related
to the extent of surgery and menopausal status. Results: median age was
46.5 years for all patients; 48 years, and 46 years for
NCT and primary surgery groups respectively. Median DFS was 15 months for all
patients, 16 & 15 months for NCT and primary surgery groups. Median OAS was
24 months for all patients, 22 & 24 months for NCT and primary surgery
groups. Difference in DFS & OAS were highly significant in favour of
postmenopausal patients (p = 0.05 for DFS & p = 0.03 for OAS) while in
primary surgery group the differences between pre and postmenopausal patients
in DFS & OAS were statistically insignificant (p = 0.4). NCT followed by
surgery group patients showed significant improvement in DFS & OAS in
patients performed conservative surgery while in primary surgery group the
difference was insignificant. Freedom of disease was seen in 28.6% in the NCT
group and 37.1% for the primary surgery group. Conclusion: Surgery
post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy neither prolongs DFS nor OAS in comparison with
primary surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Postmenopausal patients felt much better than premenopausal patients regarding
DFS & OAS.


Purpose
The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of age and vocal loading on the respiratory and laryngeal systems.

Method
Fourteen younger (M = 20 years) and 13 older (M = 75 years) healthy individuals participated in a 40-min vocal loading challenge in the presence of 70-dB background noise. Respiratory kinematic and laryngeal measurements were obtained before and after the challenge.

Results
Following the loading challenge, participants in both groups reported greater speaking effort. Sound pressure level increased in the older group and decreased in the younger group after loading. Younger adults, but not older adults, used lower lung volume initiations and higher lung volume terminations after loading. Cepstral peak prominence increased with loading in both groups, but this change was of small magnitude and not clinically significant.

Conclusions
The negative effects of loading were observed in respiratory and laryngeal measures, although the pattern of changes differed across the groups. These data increase our knowledge of underlying respiratory and laryngeal physiological changes following a loading challenge and may reflect some of the physiologic mechanisms underlying vocal fatigue.


An in-band interference occurs when a part of transmission band is simultaneously used by another application. The effect of in-band interference in chirp modulated frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) data is to raise the noise floor in the power delay profiles. a technique that alleviates the effect of in-band-interference in FMCW mobile radio channel data is desirable. In this work, Wiener filter were used to reduce the effect of interference in the FMCW channel data.


Objective. This is an integrative review to analyze the factors that influenced the prevalence of neck pain in the period before the Covid-19 pandemic and compare it with the factors that caused neck pain during the pandemic. Methods. The bibliographic survey was divided into two different steps: the first was to include articles published between 2015 and 2019 with the selection of 18 articles and used the following keywords: neck pain, work, and prevalence; the databases were PubMed and Google Academic. The second step was to analyze articles published between 2020 and 2021 in the context of the pandemic and the keywords were: cervical pain, telework, quarantine, and Covid-19. The searches were conducted using the Scielo, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. Results. With the analysis of the results found, it became evident that mental health and incorrect ergonomics differentiated the occurrence of neck pain in the pandemic compared to the period before the pandemic. Conclusion. Furthermore, teleworking has a great tendency to be a working model in force even after the release of the pandemic. It is noticed that it will be necessary for companies to provide adequate means for employees to work remotely to decrease damage to physical health.


The problem of resolving conflicts between processes in distributed systems is of practical importance. A conflict between a set of processes must be resolved in favor of some (usually one) process and against the others: a favored process must have some property that distinguishes it from others. To guarantee fairness, the distinguishing property must be such that the process selected for favorable treatment is not always the same. A distributed implementation of an acyclic precedence graph, in which the depth of a process (the longest chain of predecessors) is a distinguishing property, is presented. A simple conflict resolution rule coupled with the acyclic graph ensures fair resolution of all conflicts. To make the problem concrete, two paradigms are presented: the well-known distributed dining philosophers problem and a generalization of it, the distributed drinking philosophers problem.


Alcohol-soluble reduced glutelin (ASG) from corn endosperm was fractionated by ion exchange chromatography on phosphocellulose. The ASG was dissolved in 0.01M sodiumlactate buffer (pH 3.8) containing 60% isopropanol and 0.05M 2-mercapto- ethanol and loaded onto phosphocellulose columns equilibrated with the same buffer. Columns were developed with a linear 0.0-0.5M NaCl gradient formed in the starting buffer, yielding 2 major overlapping peaks (each with shoulders) and 4 minor peaks. Each peak and subpeak was analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by isoelectric focusing. Five fractions contained essentially a single size component. The 2 late-eluting fractions were further characterized. Each had the same mol. wt. (27 500) and was heterogeneous when analysed by isoelectric focusing. These fractions were partially soluble in water, rich in proline (26%) and glutamic acid (16%), and deficient in lysine (0.1%) and had threonine as the NH2-terminal residue. Polypeptides in these 2 fractions were similar in physicochemical characteristics to water-soluble ASG, and appeared to be coded by homologous genes.


This report provides information on the current pension arrangements for women in different martial circumstances of different ages, and with and without children. It is based on a secondary analysis of the General Household Survey (GHS) 1990,1991 and 1992.


Ingestion of caustic substances often leads to severe morbidity and, frequently, death. Eymologic, the term corrosive is used for the action of acidic substances on the tissues and for the effect of the alkaline substances the term caustic is used. Currently, for both types of substances the term caustic is used [1]. For a long time, many authors agreed that the acids cause more damage to the gastric mucosa, whereas alkalis have a tendency for greater damage to the esophageal mucosa [2]. However, it is now known that these agents cause mucosal injuries in both the organs with no selective preference [3,4]. The symptomatology differs depending on the digestive segment predominantly affected. Thus, if the patient has dysphonia, dyspnoea then the lesion is in the epiglottis and larynx and represents a medical emergency that endangers the patient's life, causing acute respiratory failure [3]. If the corrosive substance has particularly damaged the esophagus, then the main symptoms of the patient are dysphagia and odynophagia. Stomach involvement causes epigastric pain or hematemesis [5,6]. Caustic agents can be acidic or alkaline in nature. Common alkali-containing caustic agents are household bleaches, drain openers, toilet bowel cleaners, dishwashing agents and detergents. Strong alkalis sold in liquid and granular forms are the principal causes of severe damage. Household bleach, dishwasher detergents, and other cleaning agents, all of which are mildly alkaline, are the most common caustic substances ingested. Alkalis commonly used are hydroxides of sodium and potassium. Acidic agents, frequently responsible, are the ones that are commonly available such as cleaning agents (hydrochloric acid) and a gold solvent, which is a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acid (aqua regia) [7]. Alkaline substances are tasteless, colorless, odorless and have a viscous consistency, so their ingestion tends to be mostly accidental and in large quantities. [8] The most commonly used alkaline substance is sodium hydroxide. The acids have a pungent odor and an unpleasant taste, which is why the amount of the substance ingested is small and most often suicidal. The slightly alkaline pH of the saliva buffers the acidity of the substance, thus the lesions being milder in the esophagus. [1]. Acid-containing agents implicated in caustic ingestion include toilet bowl cleaners, anti-rust compound, swimming pool cleaners, vinegar, formic acid used in the rubber tanning industry and other similar acids [9,10]. The type of caustic agent most commonly implicated in poisonings varies from country to country. In a report, the most commonly implicated caustic agent was the alkali-sodium hypochlorite, which was found in bleaches, toilet bowl cleaners, drain cleaners and household disinfectants. Local experiences from some contries Denmark, Israel, United Kingdom, Peru, Spain, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey also showed that alkaline agents were more commonly involved in caustic injury[10]. Indian data, on the other hand, showed that majority of ingestions in their country were due to acids since these were cheaper and more readily available[9,10]. Some authors reported that bleach seems to constitute approximately 30% of all caustic substances ingested by children; drain or grease cleaners make up 30% of the total and various acid or alkali cleaners and detergents such as oven, toilet, tile, and drain cleaners, lye solvents, and battery acids make up 40% [11–13].