Vehicle bounding box tracking (VBBT) is a new problem that is becoming increasingly important in autonomous driving. It is defined as a problem in which not only the position but also the size of a target vehicle is estimated using a sensor. In this paper, novel VBBT using a low-end three-dimensional (3D) laser scanner is proposed. Compared to previous methods, the proposed VBBT has three distinctions: (1) the center of a rectangular vehicle is defined as its position, and the motion model that uses the center of the vehicle as the state is developed; (2) a new measurement model is proposed that models the measured size of the target vehicle as a sample from a uniform distribution; and (3) a Bayesian filter for the proposed motion and measurement model is developed and it is named as the Pareto Kalman filter (PKF). Finally, the proposed method is applied to six scenarios, and its validity is demonstrated through experimentation.


A topological index, also known as connectivity index, is a molecular structure descriptor calculated from a molecular graph of a chemical compound which characterizes its topology. Various topological indices are categorized based on their degree, distance, and spectrum. In this study, we calculated and analyzed the degree-based topological indices such as first general Zagreb index , geometric arithmetic index , harmonic index , general version of harmonic index , sum connectivity index , general sum connectivity index , forgotten topological index , and many more for the Robertson apex graph. Additionally, we calculated the newly developed topological indices such as the and Sanskruti index for the Robertson apex graph G.


(a) I refer to the initial four-momentum of the cosmic ray photon by q µ 1 and the photon in the background q µ 2. The requirement for the pair production is (q 1 + q 2) 2 = 2q 1 · q 2 > 4m 2 e. We choose our coordinate system such that q 1 is along the z-axis, q µ 1 = E 1 (1, 0, 0, 1). According to the assumption in the problem, photons in the background have four-momenta q µ 2 = E 2 (1, sin θ cos φ, sin θ sin φ, cos θ) with E 2 = 3×10 −4 eV. 2q 1 ·q 2 = 2E 1 E 2 (1−cos θ), which is maximized when cos θ = −1.


Under the omni-channel supply chain by mobile internet, considering both cooperation and competition, this article establishes the pricing model before and after the integration of the omni-channel supply chain by mobile internet and the coordination strategy model under the mobile internet e-commerce logistics cooperation, so as to obtain the wholesale price decision and retail price decision and compensation decisions etc. of supplier S. Furthermore, it can also obtain the corresponding price of retailer T accordingly. Based on the analysis of the above two models, numerical simulations are carried out to compare the optimal decision-making volume before and after the integration of the omni-channel supply chain by mobile internet and the overall profit level. With the help of the numerical simulation results of the above models, the effectiveness of the integration of the omni-channel supply chain by mobile internet is demonstrated which achieving win-win and multi-win in both greater breadth and depth in the supply chain.


The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the possible components of structural autonomy that influence Nurse Practitioners' (NPs) perceptions of independence in practice. The components identified were NP state regulatory practices, educational background, and managed care environment. The study explored the relationship between NP structural autonomy as it relates to the above components and attitudinal autonomy as it relates to perceptions of independence in practice. A conceptual framework derived from a review of the literature demonstrated the possible relationships. The investigator employed a mail survey to collect data from certified NPs in six eastern and mid-eastern states. Current state regulations regarding advanced nursing practice were used to establish current state practice scores. The Nursing Autonomy Scale (Pankratz & Pankratz, 1974), the Index of Work Satisfaction (Stamps & Piedmonte, 1986), and the Professional Inventory (Hall, 1974) measured perceptions of autonomy. Additional information was collected to determine the NP demographic background, educational background, practice setting and managed care circumstances. Of 300 surveys mailed, 227 participants responded. Data analysis included correlation analysis, t-tests, analysis of variance, and multiple regression procedures. Demographic information was summarized with descriptive statistics. The


Faucet improved structure, comprising a housing, a valve and the inner tube, the lower housing and the upper housing from housing abutting each other, a housing comprising a fixed end and extended end, which valve is provided with a fixed end, which extending end is provided with a water outlet, the water located inside the housing, both ends thereof connected to the outlet end of the valve housing and the outlet, respectively. The present invention overcomes the faucets widely believed to produce only the casting process bias, the decomposition of the upper and lower housing creatively tap housing, and the inner pipe disposed in the housing, the components can be molded according to various required processing technology, greatly reduces the limitations of the process, the rejection rate of the production process is greatly reduced, and the assembly process extremely simple, and therefore costs are reduced.


The paper proposes an integrated framework which uses knowledge representation theory and languages to annotate relevant product information in a semantically rich and unambiguous fashion so disclosing several added-value services in multiple supply chain stages, without depending on a back-end infrastructure. EPCglobal RFID protocol standard has been extended and further applied in an innovative supply chain model where production, packaging and logistics have a reduced ecological impact. Particularly, on-product information are leveraged in a more general Intelligent Transport System (ITS) framework enabling advanced delivery scheduling and product tracking.


We isolated a novel receptor-like kinase with leucine-rich repeat by a differential screening for genes that were specifically expressed in inflorescence shoot apices of Arabidopsis, and named it IRK (inflorescence and root apices receptor-like kinase) after its expression pattern and structural features. IRK contains sequentially from the amino- to carboxy-terminus: a potential signal peptide for membrane targeting, a leucine-rich repeat between two conserved cystein motifs, a transmembrane domain, and a serine/threonine kinase domain. The kinase domain expressed in E. coli showed an autophosphorylation activity in vitro, indicating that IRK encodes an active protein kinase. The IRK protein fused to green fluorescence protein was targeted to plasma membrane, indicating that IRK is a membrane-localized receptor kinase. IRK was expressed not only at shoot apices but also in root tips and developing flowers. Thus, IRK seems to be a receptor-like kinase with a relatively general function in inflorescence and root apices for an unknown signaling mechanism.


Context switching between threads belonging to different user-side processes is a time consuming procedure because of the need to move a potentially large number of memory mappings around and to the need to flush the data cache on hardware architectures which utilise a virtually tagged data cache. This invention allows the modification of page directory entries and the flushing of the data cache during a context switch to occur with pre-emption enabled; if a third process needs to run during a context switch, and this third process doesn't own or require any user memory modification of the page tables, this is now possible. By means of this invention, switches to kernel threads and threads in fixed user processes can occur much faster; these threads don't belong to processes that own any user memory and are the very ones that need to run with a lower guaranteed latency to ensure real-time performance.


This work recommends that instead of prescriptive rules, the focus ofthe teaching of demonstrative pronouns should be the functionality of their various uses. We willdiscuss that, regardless the deictic field, inwhich the showing is established, theopposition in Portuguese is generally binary, not ternary, deviating from what isfound in descriptive schemes in thetraditional grammar. In parallel, we willargue that the selection is determined of different, concurrent motivations, which also contributes to apparent fluctuation inthe rules of use.


The role of the police in modern life has attracted considerable attention in recent years.' Both social scientific research and ideological pronouncements have sought to explain police behavior in terms of such variables as ethnicity, social class, religion, role conflicts, age, rank, and organizational differences in police departments.' Others have examined the police from a more psychological vantage point stressing factors such


IN 1970 THE Association of American Medical Col? leges (AAMC), seeking to reverse a long history of racial discrimination, set a goal to have blacks repre? sent 12 percent of total medical school entrants, a percentage paralleling their presence in the United States population. That goal was never reached. Twenty years later African Americans entering medical schools represented less than 6 percent of all first-year students. And in terms of doctors in practice, blacks represented only 3 percent of the 587,000 doctors in the country. So, in 1991, the AAMC, whose members include 126 degree-granting institutions, set a new goal: Project 3000 by 2000. This program sig? naled that by the year 2000 the association intended to have 3,000 so-called underrepresented minorities ? called URMs ? entering medical schools each year. When Pro? ject 3000 by 2000 was launched, U.S. medical schools were enrolling 1,580 URMs. In other words, the goal is to virtu? ally double minority enrollment. African Americans would make up about 1,900 of the 3,000 minority enrollees sought by the year 2000. (Other groups included as URMs are Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and American Indians. Asian Americans are not considered underrepresented.) Project 3000 by 2000 is a serious program, reaching down to college and high school levels, and the AAMC reports that it is working. By 1993 the number of URMs admitted to medical schools had soared to a record 1,863. Blacks, as a percentage of all students at medical schools, reached the 7.8 percent level. More black physicians were also being graduated. AAMC figures show that the number of blacks receiving medical degrees increased from 850 in the 19911992 year to 940 in the 1992-1993 year. The AAMC attributed the gains to a number of factors. For starters, the association's project to lift minority enrollments has


According to characters of internal and external over-voltage in transmission network,an on-line over-voltage monitoring system based on virtual instrument is designed,which takes the resistance-capacitance voltage divider as the signal acquiring equipment.The signal conditioning unit processes the signal from voltage divider.The trig-in-advance technology is used to effectively start signal acquisition when over-voltage comes.The system software is based on virtual instrumentation technology.Cooperated with high-speed digitizer,it calls and analyzes data,and displays them in graphics.Data compression technology and network technology are applied for remote accessing to field over-voltage.The simulative test in high-voltage lab and the site operation show that,the system is stable and accurate,and the tested data and recorded waveform reflect the power line over-voltage truely.


© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2021. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. DESCRIPTION A 58yearold man, awaiting lung transplantation, was admitted to our hospital with severe acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He had been treated with supplemental oxygen and domiciliary nocturnal noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for several years. At admission, standard therapy including systemic corticosteroids and tazobactam/piperacillin was administered. In addition, he was initiated onto the use of inhaled tiotropium/olodaterol, and the NIV was extended to 24 hours a day. However, his dyspnoea did not improve. Morphine hydrochloride (5 mg orally) was then administered to improve the severe dyspnoea. Within 10 min of taking the oral morphine, his respiratory rate had decreased from 23/min to 13/min, and the wheezing had resolved. His dyspnoea was completely relieved 20 min after taking the oral morphine. The logged data on the NIV shortly before taking the morphine revealed tachypnoea (25/min) accompanied by intense inspiratory effort (figure 1, arrow) and below zero expiratory flow before the next inspiration (figure 1, arrow head). This denoted intrinsic positive endexpiratory pressure. Twenty minutes after taking the morphine, the logged data showed improved tachypnoea (15/min), an expiratory flow that had reached zero before expiration ended (figure 2, arrow head) and sufficient inspiratory time (figure 2, arrow). Arterial blood gas analysis was performed while breathing O2 at 1 L/min through nasal prongs before taking oral morphine and was as follows: pH 7.31, PaCO2 56.3 mm Hg and PaO2 89 mm Hg. These values while breathing the same amount of oxygen through nasal prongs improved the next day and were as follows: pH 7.35, PaCO2 53.8 mm Hg and PaO2 112 mm Hg. Oral morphine 10 mg/day was continued for 8 days and then reduced to 5 mg/day for 3 days. Morphine was then discontinued safely and the patient was discharged 2 weeks after discontinuation. Oral morphine is the most commonly prescribed opioids for dyspnoea. Opioids may have multiple mechanisms of action, including reducing ventilation and oxygen consumption, increasing sensitivity to hypercapnia, and reducing the central perception of dyspnoea and anxietyassociated dyspnoea. NIV is used to provide relief from dyspnoea. In the present case, the inspiratory and expiratory positive airway pressures were set at 12 cmH2O and 6 cmH2O, respectively, in the spontaneous mode. Higher pressures, which may have improved the patient's ventilation and dyspnoea, could not be tolerated because of pain and oppressive feeling by the higher pressures. The problem with opioids is that they are mostly evaluated subjectively by tools such as the symptom scale. This report highlights the advantage of using logged NIV data as an objective way of monitoring the effect of morphine in acute exacerbations of COPD, as described here.


A fourth-order filtering technique (FOFT) based control is used for the improvement in power quality of the single-stage three-phase grid-connected solar PV system. The filter is used to extract the fundamental in-phase component from the distorted grid voltage, which is contaminated by lower-order harmonics. In this paper, Perturb and Observe (P&O) MPPT technique is utilized to derive optimal power from the solar PV array. The FOFT based control for VSC is required to resolve several power quality issues like DC offset rejection, harmonics elimination, compensation of reactive power and the most important is to maintain the power factor near unity under abnormal grid condition. The system's output is evaluated using the MATLAB/Simulink platform, and it is found to be satisfactory. The main purpose of the FOFT based control is to deliver sinusoidal current waveform to the three-phase weak AC grid. The system is tested under various abnormal grid conditions and the injected grid current is found to be sinusoidal having THD restricted to 5%, which satisfies the criteria mentioned in the IEEE-519 standard.


This paper discusses types of non-verbal communication and its application in English teaching.The literature survey shows that a large proportion of message in face-to-face communication is conveyed through non-verbal means.Accordingly,attention should be given to the application of non-verbal communication in the English teaching so as to improve the practical communication abilities of students.


The teaching of middle school science courses also has the function of humanistic psychic education. Middle school science teachers are required to be not only academically proficient, but also highly humamistic-education-minded, and well-versed. They should pay attention to their psychic examplary role and create a comfortable and harmonious atmosphere for teaching.


We have observed acoustic phonons, absorbed as nanosecond heat pulses directly by the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) of a GaAs-Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 As Modulation Doped Field Effect Transistor (MODFET) structure. The effect of phonons was to increase the electron temperature of the 2DEG and also the mobility. From a comparison with the effect of electrical heating, it was possible to determine the absolute level of the phonon power observed. Finally by comparison with data on TA and LA phonon absorption by the 2DEG, it could be concluded that the deformation potential was the dominant electron-phonon coupling mechanism in GaAs.


Saving ancient culture is a very important task of biological history researches.The Book of Songs is the choice of culture before Ch`in Dynasty. There are 14 species of fishes mentioned in the Book of Songs. Many names of the fishes in ancient times are very different with their names called today. In this article, the author figures out the linkage between the ancient names and the modern ones via the methods of Zoology and Xunguxue, communicating ancient with today, communicating China with the overseas.


Objectives The Surviving Sepsis Campaign has been shown to improve the outcome of patients with severe sepsis or septic shock in Europe and North America. We aim to examine the impact of implementing the severe sepsis resuscitation bundle as part of standard care at the National University Hospital Emergency Department (ED) and assess its feasibility in Singapore. Materials and methods Adult patients presenting to the ED with severe sepsis and septic shock from 1 July 2008 to 31 December 2009 were included. Implementation of the bundle was divided into six quartiles: Baseline, Education and four Quality Improvement quartiles. The primary outcome of interest was bundle compliance. Other clinical outcomes include mortality and difference in treatment between the two groups. Results One hundred and seventeen patients were included. The median age was 58 years and the median APACHE II score was 20. The overall in-hospital mortality was 26.5%. Compliance to all items of the bundle was 0, 10, 24, 24, 7 and 40%, respectively, over six quartiles. Patients who received the entire bundle had a crude mortality of 11.1%, which is 18.2% lower than those who received only some or none of the bundle components. Patients receiving the entire bundle tend to receive about 1 litre more intravenous fluids in the ED. Conclusion There was zero compliance to the severe sepsis resuscitation bundle at baseline. Quality improvement initiatives resulted in better compliance and outcome for patients, showing that such a protocol of management is feasible in a typical Singapore ED.


Using data on 951 savings and loans, we compare two nonparametric methods for measuring efficiency: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and algebraic methods based on Varian (1984). We show that both methods are vulnerable to measurement error, although both theoretically and empirically we find the Varian-style measures to be less vulnerable. We also suggest simple methods to identify problematic observations and to reduce their influence on the results. Because we have data on the future insolvency of our savings and loans, we can directly compare the two methods by seeing which does a better job of predicting insolvency (working under the hypothesis that efficiency and insolvency should be negatively correlated). We find that the Varian-style methods do better; moreover, we find that some of the DEA measures yield the implausible result that efficiency and insolvency are positively correlated.


The present invention relates to nonaqueous electrolytic solution three-level nitrile compound, the nonaqueous electrolytic solution and secondary cell that include it.A kind of nonaqueous electrolytic solution three-level nitrile compound, it has the structure that formula (1) represents: Wherein, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 It is independently selected from alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, phenyl or aryl;Or R 1 , R 2 , R 3 It is independently selected from the group containing at least one of boron, silicon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulphur, fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine element;Wherein, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 Respectively independent substituted radical;Or R 1 , R 2 , R 3 Combine cyclization for adjacent group.The present invention relates to excellent output characteristics and the good nonaqueous electrolytic solution secondary battery of high-temperature stability.


Due to undeveloped rural economy,urban-countryside dual system,single investment channel,unsound management system and lack of legal system,the progress of pension insurance system in countryside is impeded.Pension insurance system in countryside should be perfected through the enlargement of investment and issuing rural pension insurance law.


Social media marketing can increase consumer awareness and recognition of a brand (brand awareness) from a product or service. Brand awareness can ultimately influence the formation of consumer visit intentions for these products and services. RSU Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (RSU UMM) is one of the Type C general hospitals conducting social media marketing since 2018. This study aims to determine the effect of social media marketing on the visit intention of patients at the hospital. The research was conducted with a quantitative observational method in a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire through Google Forms. The research sample was 96 people who were loyal consumers (followers) of the social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) of the RSU UMM. Data analysis was carried out by using Partial Least Square (PLS). The findings showed a positive and significant influence of social media marketing on the patient's visit intention, mediated by the patient's brand awareness. This research concluded that RSU UMM's social media marketing efforts positively and significantly affected patient visit intentions and strengthened by the influence of brand awareness. Therefore, RSU UMM must improve its marketing strategy, primarily through social media marketing.


Introduction Differentiating an acute from chronic compression fracture of the thoracolumbar (TL) spine can pose a dilemma for radiologists interpreting spinal imaging following trauma. Mild wedging of the vertebrae can be due to spondylosis or osteoporosis, whilst acute simple compression fractures may not always be associated with loss of body height. In this observational study, we hypothesize that the presence of a vertebral body cortical step is a reliable sign of an acute compression fracture on Computed Tomography (CT) scans. Methods In a retrospective review of thoracolumbar CT scans following trauma, two observers analysed for the presence of a cortical step at the anterior or posterior vertebral body cortex, fracture morphology and associated injuries. A 'cortical step' is defined as a break of hyperdense cortex on CT scans, intervening non-sclerosed trabecular bone, and sharp overlap of the underlying cortex. MRI of the spine was used as gold standard. Results 187 consecutive CT scans over 2 years were assessed. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of cortical step sign were 100%, 90.2% and 97% in diagnosing an acute thoracolumbar compression fracture, respectively. The interobserver reliability was high (kappa = 0.97). False positive cortical step was seen in Kummel's disease and large Schmorl's nodule. Conclusion Our results demonstrate high sensitivity and specificity of 'cortical step sign' in diagnosing acute vertebral body compression fractures of TL spine on CT scans in patients with trauma. This sign can be useful to radiologists for safe clearance of the thoracolumbar spine following trauma, helping distinguish acute trauma from chronic causes of vertebral body height loss.


The differentiation of adult neural progenitors (NPCs) into functional neurons is still a limiting factor in the neural stem cell field but mandatory for the potential use of NPCs in therapeutic approaches. Neuronal function requires the appropriate electrophysiological properties. Here, we demonstrate that priming of NPCs using transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1 under conditions that usually favor NPCs' proliferation induces electrophysiological neuronal properties in adult NPCs. Gene chip array analyses revealed upregulation of voltage‐dependent ion channel subunits (Kcnd3, Scn1b, Cacng4, and Accn1), neurotransmitters, and synaptic proteins (Cadps, Snap25, Grik4, Gria3, Syngr3, and Gria4) as well as other neuronal proteins (doublecortin [DCX], Nrxn1, Sept8, and Als2cr3). Patch‐clamp analysis demonstrated that control‐treated cells expressed only voltage‐dependent K+‐channels of the delayed‐rectifier type and the A‐type channels. TGF‐β1‐treated cells possessed more negative resting potentials than nontreated cells owing to the presence of delayed‐rectifier and inward‐rectifier channels. Furthermore, TGF‐β1‐treated cells expressed voltage‐dependent, TTX‐sensitive Na+ channels, which showed increasing current density with TGF‐β1 treatment duration and voltage‐dependent (+)BayK8644‐sensitive L‐Type Ca2+ channels. In contrast to nontreated cells, TGF‐β1‐treated cells responded to current injections with action‐potentials in the current‐clamp mode. Furthermore, TGF‐β1‐treated cells responded to application of GABA with an increase in membrane conductance and showed spontaneous synaptic currents that were blocked by the GABA‐receptor antagonist picrotoxine. Only NPCs, which were treated with TGF‐β1, showed Na+ channel currents, action potentials, and GABAergic currents. In summary, stimulation of NPCs by TGF‐β1 fosters a functional neuronal phenotype, which will be of relevance for future cell replacement strategies in neurodegenerative diseases or acute CNS lesions. GLIA 2013;61:1767–1783


In wireless multi-hop networks, a fundamental problem is to disseminate continuous data traffic from a source node to all other network nodes, which is known as the broadcast problem. Such a problem becomes even more complicated in wireless multi-hop networks with energy-harvesting capabilities at nodes when facing the interaction between stochastics of traffic arrivals at the source and randomness of energy-harvesting process at nodes. In such networks, the energy consumable at a node cannot exceed the amount of the energy harvested at the node. In this paper, we investigate the throughput-optimal broadcast problem in time-varying directed acyclic wireless multi-hop networks with such energy harvesting constraints. The topologies of such networks change dynamically with time while satisfying the directed acyclic property and the energy arrival time and harvested amount at a node are random, which causes the consumable energy in each time slot to fluctuate with time. Existing throughput-optimal broadcast algorithms did not consider such energy-harvesting constraints in their designs and therefore their throughput-optimal properties do not hold anymore in such a network. In this paper, we characterize the energy-harvesting uncertainties at nodes by using time-varying per-slot-based supportable transmission rates of wireless links. We consider the time-varying property of supportable link transmission rates caused by energy-harvesting dynamics in the per-slot transmission scheduling and propose an online max-weight broadcast algorithm. We derive a tight upper bound of broadcast capacity of the wireless networks under study in this paper and further prove that our proposed algorithm is throughput-optimal. We evaluate the throughput and latency performance of the proposed algorithm by simulations and the simulation results affirm our theoretical analysis.


Based on the preheat treatment(1 050 ℃air cooling+750 ℃ air cooling+1 050 ℃ oil cooling +680 ℃ air cooling)of 2Cr3WMoV, this paper deals with the nitriding processes of technology of 2Cr3WMoV at 540℃, 560 ℃, 580 ℃, and different holding time(37 h, 45 h, 50 h)for 560 ℃. The result shows that its surface hardness is stronger than HV 940 and depth of nitriding is 0.45 mm~0.65 mm.


Crash and pyro shock tests, which are used to improve or test technical safety structures, are represented by high g and high bandwidth excitations. Accelerometers used to record these tests must be able to closely capture data under extreme conditions without major distortions. Therefore, reliable calibration schemes have to be developed that allow for a sensor characterization over the whole measurement range. Existing approaches are either restricted in bandwidth or in amplitude. In the current paper, we present a methodology that can be applied to typical MEMS accelerometers based on air gap damping and that considerably improves sensor accuracy even at high g and high bandwidth ranges.


ABSTRACT With increasing numbers of women entering the workforce in Turkey, efforts have been made to provide services for children and their families. In 2016, 33.2% of 3- to 5-year olds in Turkey were attending preschool. This figure is lower than that of most OECD countries, but the important point is to increase the attendance rate by ensuring quality. Research indicates that only quality services can ensure good outcomes for children and their families. The Turkish educational system faces serious challenges in instituting consistent policies. These include multiple institution types that are accredited and regulated by different governmental entities. Providing consistent quality across ECEC services is extremely difficult due to the discrepancies in funding and regulation systems. This article maps out the current state of early childhood education in Turkey. Different types of ECEC services for young children are discussed and information related to measuring quality are provided.


The density,velocity and impact force are three key parameters among those representing the characteristics of debris flow dynamics.Following review of literatures about estimation of those parameters at home and aboard,the methods for estimating these parameters are summarized and compared.The results show that there is no method applied to all kinds of debris flows in the world,and that present empirical equations for the three parameters can only be applied locally due to the complexity of the constitutes and the movement of debris flows.At present,it may be the most practical to establish different empirical equations according to the specialty of debris flows at different areas.The statistical methods to establish the multivariable equations considering particle size groups may be more resonable among the estimations of density.The empirical equations for a debris flow's velocity are different among China,former Soveit Union and the Western countries.The former two is based on the Manning's equation,and the Western countries use the forced vortex equation with superelevation in channel bends as the major parameter.Momentum theorem is the basic theory to estimate the impact force in the world,whereas differences lie in the empirical coefficients.The characteristics of the blocking structures are generally taken into account in terms of the impact of boulders of debris flows.


Abstract The Belmont Report is central to human research ethics. It is not a policy nor regulatory legislation. It addresses more the being of research integrity than its doing. The impact of The Belmont Report is in its significance as a living tradition. This paper will reflect on the implications of Belmont's three principles: Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice. These form the fundamental ethos underlying human subject protections. These three principles must be interpreted anew in each age and each context so that research is shaped by the preservation of human dignity. In this way research itself is shaped, preserved, and protected as a process leading to truly human and humane progress. Introduction: Belmont as Ethos History, whether of individuals or cultures, is a never ending process of milestones and markers each building upon or veering away from the experience of each other. Sometimes, these markers and milestones stand out and seem to capture the very essence of a person's life or the soul of a culture. Americans look to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation as two exemplar events that have marked the conscience of a nation struggling to evolve from a noble experiment to become an experience. In this light, there are any number of historical markers that vividly bring into high relief the profound significance of human subject protections in the evolving history of research. One of the most significant is The Belmont Report of 1979. On 12 July 1974, the National Research Act was signed into law and established the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Among other charges, the Commission was directed to identify and articulate the ethical principles that must form the basis of all human subjects protections in research. Over a four year interval, the Commission convened physicians, behavioral and biomedical researchers, academic theologians, ethicists, philosophers, and lawyers to discuss from a wide variety of perspectives the common bases from which could be articulated the fundamental ethical principles for protecting human participants in any form of research. In April 1979, the Commission issued The Belmont Report and in it identified its three principles that are the foundations for the protection of human research subjects: respect for persons and their autonomy, beneficence, and justice. Memory and perspective are curious human phenomena. The work of the Commission and its principles are often unfortunately discussed in popular experience from a particular bias favoring law or regulations. However, the work of the Commission was clear that the principles of respect, beneficence and justice are not ethical codes as one might find in other documents. They are not black and white regulations or easy minimalist standards. Rather, these principles and the Report itself are an analytical framework or paradigm better understood by the origin of the word ethics itself. The term ethics comes from the Greek ethos. Ethics are sets of regulations or standards against which behaviors can be measured. Ethos is the fundamental character of a person, an institution, a society, or a culture. In the ideal, ethics or codes should be born from the originator's ethos (i.e. fundamental character). Ethos'is something profoundly more fundamental than any set of regulations. The three principles articulated in The Belmont Report are three fundamental markers of the ethos of human subjects protections. All paradigms are subject to the process of hermeneutics, namely, the act of interpretation. Under this process, the three principles of "The Belmont Ethos" must undergo a hermeneutic and thereby be understood anew in each age and each context so that research efforts are tempered and shaped by human dignity and integrity. Research is best preserved and protected in this manner as a humane pathway always leading investigators, institutions, human participants, and society toward the good and always away from anything less. …


Science and Social Inequality: Feminist and Postcolonial Issues, by Sandra Harding, Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2006, 224 pp., cloth $40, paperback $20. Finding race and gender in science is a challenge. Science in its contemporary globalized incarnations appears to be both multicultural and multinational in its workforce and objective in its focus on highly technical fields of specialization. There may well be fewer women and fewer non-white leading figures in science, but this is arguably both changeable and changing. More than ever, additionally, science both grapples with serious matters (global warming, HIV/AIDS, security) and promises the world a lot (stem cell therapy, nanotechnology, astonishing computing speeds, wireless communication). Even within the social sciences and the humanities, consequently, to criticize science today seems churlish, nitpicking, even irresponsible. And yet, social science and humanities scholars continue to analyse science from the 'outside', trying to develop understandings of how science is in culture and how it actively en-cultures. Like science itself, the world of science studies is also globalized, multicultural and multinational, and seems to involve increasing numbers of women. These realities have become evident to me in my experience as a new PhD (co-)supervisor: my first three students, from Taiwan, Japan and India, respectively, have travelled to the UK to write dissertations detailing the ways in which science happens in their countries of origin. This work, based on empirical research in particular locations, tells complex stories about the ways in which race, nationality and gender (to use the bluntest of terms) are articulated in contemporary science. I describe these projects briefly here in order to demonstrate the diversity of possible research questions and approaches when it comes to theorizing race and gender in contemporary science. Wen-Yuan Lin's dissertation, 'Bodies in action: multivalent agency in haemodialysis practices' (2005), details how the 'Western' biomedical technology of kidney dialysis comes into relation with a variety of people in Taiwan (doctors, patients, activists, Science as Culture Vol. 16, No. 1, 101–105, March 2007


In this paper we discuss the existence of solutions of a system of nonlinear and singular partial differential equations constituting a phase field model with convection for non‐isothermal solidification/melting of certain metallic alloys in the case where two different kinds of crystallization are possible. Each one of these crystallization states is described by its own phase field, while the liquid phase is described by another one. The model also allows the occurrence of fluid flow in non‐solid regions, which are a priori unknown, and then we have a free‐boundary value problem. Thus, the model relates the evolutions of these three phase fields, the temperature of the solidification/melting process and the fluid flow in non‐solid regions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Wireless sensor networks have proven to be cost-effective tools for structural health monitoring (SHM). The elimination of long cables has rendered wireless sensor nodes an attractive alternative to conventional cable-based systems. Embedded computing is an integral aspect of wireless SHM systems, and many algorithms have been proposed for on-board processing of data in an attempt to reduce wireless data traffic. This paper highlights the advantages of embedded computing in wireless structural health monitoring systems. A wireless SHM system is proposed, able to perform automated modal analyses in a decentralized fashion. The wireless SHM system is composed of sensor nodes with embedded algorithms able to perform on-board fast Fourier transforms of collected acceleration response data in order to identify the natural frequencies of the monitored structure. The proposed wireless SHM system is validated through laboratory experiments on a scaled model of an existing suspension bridge. The consistency of the results is corroborated through multiple repetitions of the experiment. Finally, conclusions are drawn on both the dynamic characteristics of the bridge model and the performance of the proposed wireless structural health monitoring system. This research has been conducted within the 2015 Bauhaus Summer School at Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany.


This paper investigates resource allocation design for intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)-aided joint processing coordinated multipoint (JP-CoMP) downlink cellular networks with underlaying device-to-device (D2D) communications. In particular, the IRS is employed to establish favorable communication channel conditions and to mitigate the malignant interference caused by D2D devices. We aim to maximize the total weighted system sum-rate by jointly designing the cellular user (CU) association, the active beamforming at the base stations (BSs), the passive beamforming at the IRS, and the transmit power of each D2D transmitter. The resource allocation design is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem while taking into account the quality of service requirement of CUs and the power allocations for both CUs and D2D pairs. We propose a computationally efficient suboptimal iterative algorithm, which is guaranteed to converge to a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) solution of the design problem. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can significantly improve the system sum-rate over various baseline schemes adopting existing solutions. Also, our results confirm the superiority of introducing IRS for managing interference in wireless communication systems.


The radioprotective action of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) in rats is specifically reversed by 5HT antimetabolites and antagonists of the b- haloalkylamine group, which block D receptors on smooth muscle cells. This reversal is not obtained with those antihistamines that have a very weak antiserotonin activity, despite their reversal of histamine protection. There is no correlation between the extractable 5HT in rat tissues, using bioassay techniques, and the radioprotection induced by exogenous administration of 5HT, by the anti-5HT-brominated lysergic acid (BOL), or by reserpine, singly or in combination. The sudden endogenous release of tissue 5HT gives radio-protection, but depletion of such endogenous 5HT by reserpine fails to alter radiosensitivity in vivo. There is no correlation between hypothermia and radiosensitivity of rats in respect to 5HT and reserpine. The precursor of 5HT in metabolism, 5hydroxytryptophan as the L antipode, fails to afford protection against ionizing radiations quantitatively similar to 5HT: the slight protection which results is probably due to the formation of the amine in vivo following decarboxylation. The results fail to support the protective action of 5HT in terms of either radical capture or the formation of radio-resistant amine-macromolecule complexes. The results favor a simple exposition of 5-hydroxytryptamine protection in terms ofmore » pharmacologically induced tissue anoxia and a reduction in the oxygen effect. (auth)« less


T OO OFTEN in discussions of the waterborne commerce of the United States, commerce upon the Great Lakes System has been relegated to an inferior position, if not dismissed altogether after a few brief statements. Yet the Great Lakes System occupies a position of extreme importance in our commerce. The inter-port tonnage on the Great Lakes frequently exceeds that entered and cleared in the foreign trade of our Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific ports combined. In I939 this tonnage was I I3,309,000 short tons. A comparative statement of our domestic and foreign water-borne commerce in selected years appears in Table I. The Great Lakes System consists of the five Great Lakes of North AmericaSuperior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario-together with their connecting channels.1 In Table II the commerce on


To investigate cost in working hours for initial integration of interictal EEG source localization (ESL) into clinical practice of a tertiary epilepsy center, and to examine concordance of results obtained with three different ESL pipelines.


The quick flow searching method includes for the router to judge the retransmission to be performed by the return flow based on the flow classifying result, to fill with one idle, to alter some fieldof entering flow data package with the flow action item number or the flow mark and to store original field information temporarily in the entering flow stage; for the router to alter flow action item of the entering flow via adding some flow action item number before the flow action item of the entering flow and storing original information of the field temporarily in some place; to read out theflow mark of the return flow from the altered field to find out the flow action item; and to restore the temporarily stored field information. The said method can avoid repeated flow classification and raise search speed.


Intercomparison among six terrestrial laser scanner systems focused on the measurement of small elements ( < 0.5 m) is performed. Phase shift (PS) and time of flight (ToF) scanners are considered. Two standard artefacts containing three-dimensional printing spheres and steps of variable height are used for the experiment. Results show errors between −4.5 and 3.5 mm in the measurement of distances between step planes. The most stable systems for measuring small elements seem the Leica C10, Faro Photon and Riegl LMS Z390i. The quality of the results is linked to the overall quality of the system rather than the specific technology used for range measurement (PS or ToF) which does not appear to be a determining factor.


By combining with the typical loess geological condition of Yanmaigou tunnel,the paper points out some construction measures,such as the excavation,the support,the waterproof and drainage,the inverted arch and the pavement construction in tunnel,so as to ensure the quality of the tunnel construction and to be significant for similar tunnel construction.


(57) Abstract: flexible there insulating tape (16) comprises a substrate having flexibility (18), silicate matrix such as mica or mica and (20), between the base material the insulating resin (17), there is an intervening metal ions (12), and ions (12) resin (17) are in a close relationship adjacent to the mica (20).


Among a variety of techniques for broadband access, the infrastructure based on Passive Optical Network (PON) is one of the most viable solutions. In 10- and 40-Gigabit capable PON, the downstream wavelength in optical line terminals (OLTs) has been set in L-band. The electroabsorption modulated laser (EML) is a popular lasing source in such PONs due to its low chirp and high modulation speed. However, its complicated epi-growth technology of active layers poses a serious reliability issue and causes a substantial increase of the fabrication cost. The conventional DFB laser has advantages of compact structure, reliable operation, low cost and power consumption. It has been well recognized that the major obstacle of implementing the L-band DFB laser in such system is its relatively large parasitic frequency chirp when directly modulating the injection current. This chirp broadens the linewidth of the output spectrum, aggravating the dispersion power penalty seriously, especially when the operation wavelength is far away from the zero-dispersion wavelength for the standard single mode fiber (SMF). Gain detuning is an effective method to reduce the linewidth enhancement factor (LEF). Based on this idea, this paper aims at investigating the potential design to reduce the LEF of the L-band InAlGaAs DFB laser through the optimization of the strained layer multiple quantum well active region, including the layer thickness, strain and band-gap energy, etc. The band structure is obtained by solving the Schrodinger's equation where the valence band structure is described by 6 × 6 Luttinger-Kohn Hamiltonian with spin-orbit coupling taken into consideration. The optical material gain of a quantum well derived from Fermi's golden rule is applied. The differential gain and the refractive index change are then calculated, followed by the LEF. The calculated change of LEF with the lasing wavelength detuning is shown in Fig. 1, in which each dot presents a design achieved by a certain combination of active region parameters when they are scanned within their respective reasonable range of variation. The laser chip with the optimized design is then fabricated and tested in a system shown in Fig. 2. The lasing wavelength is approximately 1589 nm. After the standard uncooled transistor-outlet (TO) packaging, such device is directly modulated under 10 Gbps, and the output optical signal is transmitted over the standard SMF for 20 km. The eye-diagram after the transmission is shown in Fig. 3, which suggests that the optimized design could be a promising candidate in PON system where the L-band lasing source is needed.


Clinically, the most obvious disturbance of water and electrolyte metabolism in congestive heart failure is a progressive accumulation of edema. It is not, however, the only abnormality. In addition, potassium is lost, and the composition of extracellular fluid is altered. Patients lose potassium partly as a result of the tissue wasting that develops in chronic heart disease, but largely because their cells become depleted of potassium (Flear, 1967). Levels of sodium and chloride in extracellular fluid are often low, whereas that of potassium tends to be high (Flear, 1960a & b). Deterioration in the condition of patients is commonly accompanied by abrupt falls in the levels of sodium and chloride and a rise in the potassium level (Weston et al., 1958; Flear, 1960b, 1966). Moreover, patients in severe congestive heart failure show greater fluctuation from day to day in the serum levels of sodium, potassium, and chloride than do healthy individuals (Flear & Hughes, 1963). For a number of reasons, I believe that all of these disturbances are directly caused by the progression of heart disease. Throughout the tissues of the body, cells have their own problems of exchange of water and ions with the extracellular fluid. Many lines of evidence indicate that disturbances at the cellular level can provoke net gains or losses from cells, which in turn will, if sufficient cells are involved, determine the balance for the body as a whole, and may also alter the composition of extracellular fluid. Tissue perfusion is progressively impaired in heart failure, which must affect cellular metabolism, and there is indirect (Flear and Domenet,1961; Flear, 1966, 1967) and some direct (Flear et al., 1961) evidence indicating that cells do, in fact, lose organic solutes, including anions, and gain sodium. Alteration in the amount of solutes contained within cells must cause a net shift of water, whereas change in cellular organic anions will alter the potassium content of cells. Further support for these conclusions is presented in this paper from an examination of the variability met in the water, sodium, potassium, and chloride contents of replicate samples from a single tissue in a given patient in congestive heart failure. This evidence complements that previously adduced, since the approach involves different assumptions and approximations. If circulatory inadequacy is responsible for cellular disturbances underlying the alterations of water and electrolyte balance and distribution in congestive heart failure, then one might anticipate some variability in its impact on cells within a tissue. Local factors such as differences in the thickness of the film of extracellular fluid investing cells, differences in the amount of extracellular edema and in the distance of cells from their nearest capillary, and differences in tissue perfusion may well lead to variation in cellular disturbances through-


SUMMARY: In this study indoor air humidity levels have been measured in 117 houses in Trondheim, Norway. The houses were randomly selected for each of the following types; detached one family houses, semidetached two family houses, undetached (chained) houses and apartment buildings. The temperature and relative humidity were measured at 15 minutes interval over a period of one week during the heating season. The measurements were made in bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, cellars/basements and outdoors. The moisture supply, which is the difference between indoor and outdoor air water vapour content, were determined. The dependence on outdoor temperature were analyzed. The effect of other influencing factors such as occypancy (area per person), type of house, type of room, age of house and ventilation type were also investigated.


The intelligibility of speech uttered in a hyperbaric helium-oxygen (heliox) respiratory mixture is affected in the main by an overall nonlinear frequency translation of the speech spectrum. Spectral resonances (formants) in the short-time spectrum of voiced speech in particular have generally been characterised by a deterministic nonlinear shift curve relating formant centre frequencies in normal air speech to their corresponding frequency locations in helium speech. New results are presented which, whilst supporting the general principle of a nonlinear formant shift in heliox, are the antithesis of the classical theory relating to the formant shift characteristic. It is shown that different speech sounds (phonemes) exhibit characteristic formant shift profiles independent of gas mixture and pressure. These results imply that the helium speech characteristic is affected not only by the properties of the respiratory environment itself, but also by apparently deliberate attempts by the diver torender his own speech intelligible to hirnself as he perceives it. INTRODUCTION, SPEECH MATERIAL AND METROD OF ANALYSIS Advances in real time signal processing have led to technologically complex electronic systems .for unscrambling speech in a helium-oxygen environment at hyperbaric pressures, and yet there has still been cause to vilify the quality of the unscrambled helium speech they produce. There are two corollaries into which the root causes for the poor performance of these systems may be divided: (1) there may be assumptions pertaining to the acoustic events in helium speech which these systems make which are false, or indeed the devices may be deficient in their provisions for processing certain acoustic attributes of the signal which have an important bearing upon intelligibility; and 12l the unscrambling algorithms which are implemented in these devices may affect the resultant unscrambled speech in some manner which is antagonistic to good intelligibility. In this paper, new phenomena are presented from an acoustic analysis of helium speech which support proposition (1) above. The speech material to be recorded was chosen on the basis that ( a l the material should not be linguistically difficult to pronounce and should lend itself to as natural a pronunciation as possible; (b) it should provide a high confidence in terms of constancy of performance of the subject from reading to reading. The material chosen consisted of Iists of carrier phrases of the form "I say heed sometimes", with the total list comprising 10 voiced vowel sounds targeted for analysis: /ii/, /o/, /u/, /uh/, /i/, Iei, Ia/, /aa/, /uu/ and /@@/ (MRPA). It was possible only to use one volunteer male diver, and recordings were made in a diving simulation hyperbaric chamber, with all lists being spoken once only at, nominally, 100ft depth intervals during the compression phase of the dive, down to a maximum depth of 500ft. The subject had already experienced a hyperbaric heliox atmosphere several times before, but had no phonetic training whatsoever. All readings, including the reading in air at surface pressures, were made within the chamber, with the subject standing in a free atmosphere, uneneurobered by personal breathing apparatus. The effective recording bandwidth both for air and heliox was from 20Hz to 10kHz. The first 3 formants of speech tCentre for Speech Technology Research, University of Edinburgh, 80 South Bridge, Edinburgh EHl lHN,


Based on the analyzing and examining Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Composite Index,the article empirically analyzes the month effect and beginning-of-a-month effect through statistical analysis,parametric technique and non-parametric technique(Kolmogorov-Smirnov testing,Kruskal-Wallis testing,Mann-Whitney testing).The results have shown that month effect doesn't exist in the two markets but that the beginning of a month effect is prominent.In the selected timeline beginning from the last trading day of the month ending with the sixth day of the next trading month,the average daily yield is greatly positive,much higher than that of the rest days in the month.


Abstract Background: Rheumatic fever (RF), rheumatic heart disease (RHD), and congenital heart disease (CHD) are still major problems among Thai school children. Objective: To examine trends in the prevalence of RF/RHD and CHD along with the socioeconomic status of school children in urban Khon Kaen, northeastern Thailand. Methods: We conducted cross-sectional survey of 8,555 school children aged 5-15 years from 4 schools in urban Khon Kaen from January to March 2006. Pediatric cardiologists examined the school children and all cardiac diagnoses were confirmed by echocardiography. Socioeconomic data were also collected. Schools were divided into high and low socioeconomic status (SES) schools, based on the prevailing levels of parental education and household income. All positive cases of heart disease were followed and reviewed at a university hospital up to December 2013. Results: Of 8,555 children examined, 2 had RF/RHD, and 10 had CHD. The prevalence of RF/RHD was 0.23 per 1,000 (95% CI 0.03-0.84), and the prevalence of CHD was 1.2 per 1,000 (95% CI 0.56-2.15). Prevalence of RF/RHD among urban school children in the center of northeastern Thailand had declined from 1.13 to 0.23 per 1,000 since 1986. The indices of socioeconomic development revealed marked improvement during this 20 year interim. The prevalence of RF/RHD was higher among low SES schools (4.6 per 1,000) compared with high SES schools (0 per 1,000). Conclusion: There is a low prevalence of RHD in school children in this region compared with the period before 1986.


This paper studies a searching problem in an unknown street. A simple polygon P with two distinguished vertices, s and t, is called a street if the two boundary chains from s to t are mutually weak...


Cultural participation and its usual forms have been almost exclusively studied for Western industrialised countries. We fill this gap by analysing newspaper reading in Colombia, where this form of cultural participation is particularly important and potentially enables significant crossovers at societal level. We apply an economic model with rational addiction to national micro data from the i°Survey on Cultural Consumption 2012i±. In a country where the habit of reading on paper still resists a relative diffusion of the Internet, we show the persistence of a certain participation gap even if with some distinctive features with respect to general cultural participation. The average profile of a Colombian newspaper reader corresponds to a middle-high educated white/mixed male in his working age, married/cohabiting and living in metropolitan areas. Regressions results show that both the likelihood and the intensity of reading newspapers are positively influenced by higher levels of education and having a habit of reading in general, a higher age, being a male and resident in major cities. From a policy perspective, our findings point to possible socio-economic leverages in order to lower such a participation gap, and hence contribute to foster more egalitarian conditions among the population.


In determining internal radiation absorbed dose it is frequently not possible to assume a uniform distribution of radionuclide in an infinite, homogeneous, absorbing material. When the source-target geometry is such that the target is source-free, special considerations must be given to the dose contributions from electrons. Electron dose reduction coefficients determined at appropriate distances from the source surface are multiplied by the electron doses determined from the general absorbed dose equation. Utilising scaled point kernels for monoenergetic electrons, electron dose reduction coefficients have been determined as a function of depth from the source surface for cylindrical source-free regions of radii 0.5, 0.05 cm and infinity, and seven gamma -ray-emitting radionuclides: 51Cr, 67Ga, 99Tcm, 111In, 113Inm, 169Yb and 203Pb.


DepartmentofRadiationOncology,�CancerInstitute,�ImamKhomeiniHospital,�KeshavarzBlvd,�Tehran,�Iran� ABSTRACT� RadiaƟ on induced sarcoma is a rare but recognized complicaƟ on of radiotherapy and is associated with poor prognosis, frequently occurs 5 years aŌ er compleƟ on of treatment. We report radiaƟ on-induced sarcoma in a 42 years old male, involving the leŌ parietooccipital scalp region following treatment of brain tumor with craniotomy and post-operaƟ ve radiaƟ on with 60 Co machine. Diagnosis of radiaƟ on induced sarcoma was confirmed by history, latency period and biopsy. This RadiaƟ on induced malignancy was diagnosed only 2 years aŌ er compleƟ on of Radiotherapy for primary lesion.


One hundred and fifty (150) Anak-2000 day-old broiler chicks were used to investigate the effect of toasted white sesame seed meal (TWSSM) as a source of methionine on growth performance, carcass characteristic, haematological and biochemical indices of broiler finisher chickens. The chicks were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments consisting of three replicates of ten chicks per replicate in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments were TWSSM at 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16% representing treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. For eight weeks, data were collected on feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio. At the end of the experiment, 6 birds were randomly selected from each treatment and slaughtered to determine the effect of TWSSM on carcass characteristics and internal organs weight. Blood samples were also collected from 6 birds in each treatment for haematological and biochemical studies. Results from growth performance revealed that all the growth parameters were not significantly (P>0.0) affected by the levels of TWSSM supplementation except feed intake which was significantly (P 0.05) across the treatments. Significant (P<0.05) variation was however observed in the values of abdominal fat which increased with increasing level of TWSSM. Supplementation level of TWSSM did not affect the haematological parameters while biochemical indices such as protein, urea and glucose were significantly influenced by the treatment diets. It appears therefore that supplementation of TWSSM at 18% did not affect the performance and


A previous epidemiologic study reported a 30% reduced risk of colorectal cancer among users of high doses of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). We assessed the association of colorectal cancer risk with SSRI and tricyclic antidepressant use in our hospital‐based Case Control Surveillance Study.


Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of the intraoperative online optical coherence pachymetry (OCP) during LASIK surgery and assess its value during laser ablation. Setting: International Eye Hospital, Cairo, Egypt Methods: A prospective comparative study of 78 patients (156 eyes) with mild to moderate myopic/myopic astigmatic refractive error who underwent LASIK with Schwind Amaris Excimer Laser system equipped with optical coherence pachymetry (OCP). Preoperative, preand postablation stromal beds were measured with ultrasound pachymetry and optical coherence pachymetry. Only the Moria M2 microkeratome was used, and the flap thickness and actual ablation depth were calculated. Results: The preoperative measurements taken with the non-contact OCP were significantly lower than that with the contact ultrasound pachymeter, while there was a good correlation between them in the preablation stromal bed and postablation stromal bed thicknesses. The calculated ablation depth by both techniques also matched the assumed maximum ablation depth calculated preoperatively with Schwind-CAM software.Conclusion: Intraoperative online optical coherence pachymetry may be considered a useful tool to assess the flap thickness and the residual stromal bed during LASIK surgery. [Rany E. Mitwally, M. Tarek El-Naggar, FRCS, Mohamed A. Marzouk. Comparison of Corneal Thickness with Online Optical Coherence Pachymetry and Ultrasound Pachymeter. Life Science Journal. 2011;8(2):791-795] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com.


The automation of taxi guidance and control in large fixed wing commercial aircraft potentially has significant economic value and therefore there is scope in developing systems for eventual introduction of such automation in commercial operations. This paper proposes the use of a variation of the pure pursuit algorithm as the basis of a more complex control system that adapts the core algorithm's parameters according to aircraft states. Speed control is also proposed as part of the overall taxi control algorithm. The algorithm is evaluated on a number of test paths of varying complexity and its performance in terms of the ability to keep the aircraft on the desired path is investigated.


Abstract French archaeology has experienced a separate development from the rest of Europe partly because of the preponderant importance of Palaeolithic researches. After a century dedicated to classification of artefacts, the interest has shifted towards excavations. The largest improvements and changes during the past two decades have been concerned with methods and strategies of excavation as well as data collecting. Open‐air and urban excavations have been adopted under the influence of B. Soudsky and British and Dutch archaeologists. Ethnographic excavations are a more specific creation of French palaeolithic archaeologists. Several approaches are currently developing which focus on ecology, technology and socio‐economics. But discoveries and improvements are due to individuals, and if a dynamic policy of development of the field is not engaged in the next years, French archaeology will suffer a serious crisis.


Enterprise donation,government investment,colleges self-raised,built collection mine power supply,ventilation and drainage,tunnel excavation and supporting,coal mining,ascension,a large-scale integrated transport underground simulation at the mine.For students in the real,safety of coal mine environment for learning,improve the learning efficiency.


This guide commemorates the 100 year anniversary of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Is the article, book, or other material you want not in our collection? Try GIL Express or ILLiad and have resources you need sent to Henderson Library.


Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an internship on its participants in an educational administration program.Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzed the interns' reports or reflections on their internship experience to decipher what was learned by the participants based on Nonoka and Takeuchi's knowledge creation model (tacit to explicit knowledge).Findings – The study found that tacit knowledge was both contextual and released spontaneously to capture the nuances of the task/issue/problem at hand. It was contextual because the situation provided meaning and connectedness. The tacit knowledge was externalized in the process of solving a particular problem or in response to a particular issue. It was spontaneous because the actions or conversations were not predetermined, or structured; they were provoked or emerged through deductions and inductions as interns and principals worked together to find solutions.Research limitations – The findings of this research sho...


Author(s): Noi, Evgeny; Rudolph, Alexander; Dodge, Somayeh | Abstract: Many classic exploratory data analysis tools in quantitative geography, designed to measure global and local spatial autocorrelation (e.g. Moran's I statistic), have become standard in modern GIS software. However, there has been little development in amending these tools for visualization and analysis of patterns captured in spatiotemporal data. We design and implement a new open-source Python library, VASA, that simplifies analytical pipelines in assessing spatiotemporal structure of data and enables enhanced visual display of the patterns. Using daily county-level social distancing metrics during 2020 obtained from two different sources (SafeGraph and Cuebiq), we demonstrate the functionality of the developed tool for a swift exploratory spatial data analysis and comparison of trends over larger administrative units.


In many systems, the normal force at friction contacts is not constant, but is instead a function of the system's state variables. Examples include machine tools, friction dampers, brake systems and robotic contact with the environment. Friction at these contacts has been shown to possess dynamics associated with changes in normal force. In an earlier paper, the authors derived a critical value of system stiffness for stability based on a linearized analysis of constant velocity sliding (Dupont and Bapna, 1994). In this paper, the domain of attraction for the steady sliding equilibrium point is characterized for a system in which normal force is coupled to tangential displacement. Perturbations consisting of sudden changes in the displacement and velocity of the loading point are considered. These perturbations can be viewed as either actuator disturbances or changes in control input. The effect and interaction of the frictional and geometric parameters are elucidated. The results are applicable to the design and analysis of systems in which steady motion without friction-induced limit cycles is desired.


Agriculture is one of the most significant economic activity. They are many ways that leads to the low productivity of agriculture, but the best method to protect the crop is by detecting the diseases in the early stage. In most of the cases diseases are caused by pest, insects, pathogens which reduce the productivity of the crop at the large scale. If pests are detected on the leaves then, precautions should be taken to avoid huge productivity loss at the end. The main objective of this paper is to identify the pests using image processing techniques like Gaussian blur, segmentation, watershed separation, morphological operations. These techniques are more efficient and less time consuming while identifying the pests over the leaf image with high intensity.


Natural cessation of menses before the age of 40 yr was defined premature ovary failure,Abnormal chromosome,gene mutation,enzyme deficiencies,radiation,chemotherapy,gonadotropin and itsreceptor abnormalities,autoimmunity may influence the occurrence of premature ovary failure.


This article discusses the varying approaches adopted by states with respect to whether to recognize wrongful conception, wrongful birth, and wrongful life, with special attention paid to Virginia jurisprudence both because Virginia has case law supporting the recognition and the non-recognition of a cause of action for wrongful life and because neither the Virginia Supreme Court nor the Virginia legislature has yet addressed that issue. The article suggests that many of the justifications offered for refusing to recognize some of these causes of action (e.g., a desire not to promote abortion) do not support a blanket ban on their recognition but at most a limitation on the contexts in which they might be recognized. The article concludes that states should re-examine their approaches regarding whether to recognize the birth-related torts to make the jurisprudence fairer, more consistent, and more likely to promote good public policy.


Bellman's challenge to find the shortest path to escape from a forest of known shape is notoriously difficult. Apart from a few of the simplest cases, there are not even many conjectures for likely solutions let alone proofs. In this work it is shown that when the forest is a convex polygon then at least one shortest escape path is a piecewise curve made from segments taking the form of either straight lines or circular arcs. The circular arcs are formed from the envelope of three sides of the polygon touching the escape path at three points. It is hoped that in future work these results could lead to a practical computational algorithm for finding the shortest escape path for any convex polygon.


The second method for producing a ferrite fine Steel using a dynamic transformation is provided. Times invention, in weight%, C: and including 0.003 ~ 0.03%, residual iron and the additional inevitable impurities: 0.02 ~ 0.3%, Si: 1.5% or less, Mn: 2.0% or less, Ti: 0.005 ~ 0.1%, N comprising: providing a steel material that satisfies the 1.2≤Ti / N≤3.4; After the steel material is re-heated to the austenite grain size of less than 50㎛, Thr - by the dynamic recrystallization rolling, total deformation amount is equal to or greater than 10% at a temperature region of 50 ℃ ~ Thr + 50 ℃ the particle size to less than 15㎛ controlling; And the step of the hot rolling, the total rolling reduction is such that 40% or more while keeping a one-pass reduction rate per temperature range of the austenite grain size of the control steel Ar Dynamic recrystallization, dynamic ferrite, second fine steel


The invention relates to a yawing sector management and optimized control system and a yawing sector management and optimized control method for a wind generating set. The system comprises a yawing sector position detection module, a section control strategy module and a control mode switching module. The method comprises the following steps of: dividing all space swept by the yawing of the wind generating set into sectors; designing running and control algorithms according to wind energy characteristics of the sectors; detecting the current wind facing position of an impeller of a wind turbine in real time and determining a sector which the wind turbine enters currently; and switching to a corresponding running and control algorithm according to the entered sector, and outputting a control signal for control according to a result. The invention is applied to modern horizontal axis wind generating sets, and can improve the running conditions of sets in wind fields with complicated topographic conditions, reduce running load, optimize the control effect of wind turbines in wind fields in intertidal zones, and improve the wind energy utilization efficiency.


[Objective] The study aimed to analyze the detection bacteria of hygienic indexes in the process procedure of wastewater from public toilets.[Method] The samples were collected randomly from many sites in the septic banks of public toilets of Yunnan Normal University.The wastewater from public toilets was processed by hydrostatic anaerobic-natural aeration processing system with retention time of 32 d.The fecal coliform and total amount of bacteria in intaken and discharged water samples were measured.[Result] The fecal coliform in the wastewater from public toilets could be removed by 99.03% through three-grade continuous anaerobic process,it reached the hygienic standard GB7959-87 for removal rate in fecal innocence.The correlation between retention time of processing procedure of anaerobic digestion and total amount of bacteria was not obvious,indicating that the hydrostatic anaerobic fermentation process could kill fecal coliform better and reduce the total amount of bacteria.After the fecal coliform was processed by continuous anaerobic processing,the color of isolated colonies on plate became lighter,also indicating that the anaerobic fermentation reduced the harmfulness of harmful bacteria.[Conclusion] The processed wastewater from toilets could be used as irrigation water in urban greening so as to relieve the stress of water resources,but the supervision on processing procedure should be enhanced to avoid secondary pollution.


The UK Universities' Global Atmospheric Modelling Programme hybrid‐isentropic general‐circulation model (HIGCM) uses a flexible σ‐θ;‐p vertical coordinate, where p is pressure, θ is potential temperature, and σ = p/p* where p* is surface pressure. Three major improvements to the HIGCM are presented. the first improvement is a modification to the vertical‐difference scheme so that spurious vertical motions in the isentropic domain are minimized. the second improvement is a modification to the implementation of the radiation scheme so that it is now able to damp, and does not itself create, noisy temperature profiles; this allows the model to be run without ad hoc extra vertical diffusion and so allows a cleaner comparison with σ‐p simulations. the third improvement is to extend the isentropic domain up to the top of the model thus allowing σ‐θ or σ‐θ‐p simulations to be performed.


In tangential point tracing grinding process of a crankshaft parts,the characteristics of the grinding points on the crankpin are analyzed.Based on these analyses, a mathematical model of two universal driving shafts is established according to the principle of constant removal rate of grinding.The machining errors caused by the different sizes between the actual grinding wheel and the standard one and the NC interpolating errors are discussed as well.


The catecholamide ''H'' shaped ligands show excellent promise as actinide chelators for environmental and human decontamination. Greater than 99% of the plutonium in an aqueous buffer solution was removed in a single pass. Additionally, 38% of the plutonium was removed from plutonium spike blood plasma in a single contact. Future studies will evaluate the performance of the ligands for actinide removal from waste water and plutonium clearance studies from animals. 1 fig., 2 tabs.


Hydroponics or soilless method of cultivation, has revolutionized modern agriculture by offering a sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional soil-based farming. However, the success of  hydroponic cultivation relies heavily on various factors that influence plant growth and overall system performance. This review study aims to investigate the effects of different factors on hydroponic cultivation. Factors such as light intensity, quality, and duration; nutrient composition and balance; water quality; temperature and humidity; air circulation and ventilation; growing medium; pH and electrical conductivity; plant variety and genetics; system design and maintenance; and monitoring and control were discussed. By understanding the impact of these factors, farmers and researchers can optimize their hydroponic cultivation to achieve higher yields, healthier plants, and sustainable agricultural practices. The discussion of this study will contribute to the advancement and implementation of hydroponics as a viable solution for future food production.


This paper uses newly available data on plant level regulatory status linked to the Census Longitudinal Business Database to measure the impact of changes in county level environmental regulations on plant and sector employment levels. Estimates from a variety of specifications suggest a strong connection between changes in environmental regulatory stringency and both employment growth and levels in the affected sectors. The preferred estimates suggest that changes in county level regulatory status due to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments reduced the size of the regulated sector by as much as 15 percent in the 10 years following the changes.


objective : With the thorough development of the micro creation surgery in the gynecology and obstetrics domain,discuss the feasibility and the security of non-uterused benign womb and pathologically changeable womb implementing the vagina type womb excision method.Methods :From January,2003 to December,2003,1 to 2004-12.61 examples trouble benign womb disease and non-uterused womb and womb malignant disease implemented the vagina type womb excision and the abdomen type womb excision surgery.Result :The average surgery time of the vagina type group and body temperature and anus exhaust time after surgery are less than or equal to 48 hours.After surgery the ratio causing diseases and the hospitalizing time are less than those of the abdomen type womb excision(P0.01).The hemorrhage quantity is a little more than that of the abdomen type womb excision but the difference is not remarkable(P0.05).Conclusion: The vagina womb excision method expands the indication of the vagina womb excision method.The surgery time is short.The abdominal cavity has little disturbance.After surgery the stomach and intestines function restores very soon and the average body temperature is lower.The ratio causing dieases is low,too.The hospitalizing time is shorter.Abdominal wall will not leave any the scar.The non-uterused benign womb excision shows that the micro creation excision method is very simple and effective.


Protection in Ethiopia: The Politics of Land and 'Graduation' Agriculture and social protection are inextricably interconnected in Ethiopia. Smallholder farming is the dominant livelihood activity for most Ethiopians, but is also a major source of poverty and food insecurity. In terms of agricultural policy, the government's belief in agriculture as the backbone and main source of economic growth is reflected in its view that land is the ultimate 'safety net' for rural households, who should therefore be prevented from selling it. In terms of social protection, the fact that farmers are the main recipients of food aid has fuelled the government's fear of 'dependency' in rural communities, which explains the predominance of public works projects as their preferred delivery mechanism, as well as recent shifts in safety net thinking towards cash transfers rather than food aid, with predictable transfers expected to lead to 'graduation' within 3 5 years. The discourse on agriculture and social protection in Ethiopia can be expressed as a stark policy dilemma: in a high-risk environment, should government adopt conservative strategies such as food self-sufficiency that aim to reduce chronic food insecurity but will keep most poor people poor, or push aggressively for export-led growth to 'grow out of poverty'? Recent policy statements, notably the 'Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty' (PASDEP), signal the government's impatience with the failure of the former approach, and shift agricultural policy sharply towards commercialisation and export promotion. At the same time, the 'Productive Safety Net Programme' (PSNP) represents an impatience with decades of food aid that have failed even to assure basic food security. In a twopronged attack on rural poverty, therefore, the PSNP injects cash into a fragile agrarian economy, while PASDEP promotes market chains and commercial crops that will generate further cash income (Government of Ethiopia, 2007). This is a major move away from a 'survivalist' preoccupation with growing food for subsistence and delivering food aid when production is inadequate. This Briefing Paper argues that agricultural and social protection policies in Ethiopia have become increasingly synergistic, by exploring the complex relationship between smallholders and land, and by analysing the intentions and impacts of the 'Productive Safety Net Programme'


This paper adopts the concept of status inconsistency from the wider sociological literature in order to explain one of the social psychological processes possibly underlying the linkage between organizational demography and occupational stress. In doing so, we review the methodological and theoretical difficulties that arise in applying status inconsistency to an organizational setting. After explicitly discussing our assumptions, we develop out of the literature a series of propositions explicating the nature of the relationships between demography, status, status inconsistency and occupational stress. In offering these propositions we not only attempt to show how status inconsistency may be used to explain many of the empirical relations found to exist between demography and occupational stress, but also try to show the potential value of the status inconsistency concept as both an independent and dependent variable in general organizational research.


The purpose of this article is a contribution to the search for theoretical, rather than orthodox, approaches that allow an understanding of the current systemic crisis in the world. The article raises the thoughts of Carlos Marx as an alternative, with a base that allows for a more complex approach to social reality. The article carries out a synthetic history of the formation of this thought and its theoretical debt to Hegel and Feuerbach through which Marx re-elaborates the inheritance of his teachers to form a dialectical and historical materialist method. The above theories are listed along with the characteristics of Marx method and how to identify them throughout his work, particularly in Das Kapital (The capital). Added to the above, in summary form, are the visions of some contemporary Marxists, given the complexity of the current crisis, in order to amplify the comprehension of an approach to the complexity and method of Carl Marx to promote an explanation of its suitability toward that purpose.


The invention discloses a kind of video friend-making adaptation method, storage medium, electronic equipment and systems, are related to the video friend-making field of network direct broadcasting.Steps of the method are: server-side carries out subregion and classification to all direct broadcasting rooms, is grouped to all users;After user inputs direct broadcasting room subregion, classification or user's group name, server-side shows corresponding user;User establishes after video connects and actively close, and the video for comparing two parties is made friends scoring, makes friends scoring according to video dynamically to modify the high-quality friend-making number of user, the identical object of the high-quality friend-making number of subsequent adaptation carries out video friend-making.The present invention can be user's adapted video friend-making object, and then significantly improve the quality of video friend-making, significantly promote user experience according to behavioural information of user during video is made friends.


In this chapter, the five global models' simulations using various greenhouse gas emissions scenarios are used to analyze the possible future changes to extreme climate events in China, and some adaptive management measures are proposed. Extreme climate, as one of the factors affecting disaster risk, will also have a greater impact on different climate change related industries (such as water conservation, agriculture, food security, forestry, health, and tourism). The effect of extreme weather events will greatly depend on the degree of exposure and the vulnerability of specific areas. New challenges are posed by the changing extreme climate events, threatening national disaster risk management, and requiring changes to adaptability, responsiveness, flexibility in the face of these new risks. Risk sharing and transfer mechanisms should be established across different levels, on the local and national scale, and new financing means should be provided to improve the adaptability to extreme events. Keywords: China; extreme climate events; greenhouse gas emissions


A step mat has been designed and manufactured for measuring the gait pattern of patients. It is a portable, low profile mat which does not require any attachments to the patient. Information such as stride length and walking velocity during each stride are displayed on a computer VDU and this information may be automatically stored on a computer file for comparison with previous or subsequent performance of the patient. Preliminary trials at the Withers Orthopaedic Unit at Musgrave Park Hospital have shown that the system gives quick, accurate, and reliable results.


This article assesses the technological, economic, and environmental aspects of installing the first 7.8 kW PV installation on a rooftop of a domestic house in Bahrain for a period of 2 years (20th March 2018 to 31st March 2020). The maximum solar electricity generated was 1,228.9 kWh (August 2018), and the least was 728.16 kWh (December 2019). The maximum daily specific yield (SY) was 6.12 kWh/kWp (on 14 April 2019). The annual average daily specific yield for this domestic building was 4.13 kWh/kWp. The average performance ratio (PR) of the PV system was 73.0% in 2019. The self-sufficiency (SS) of this installation was found to vary from 15.3% to 50.7%. The average SS value in 2018 was 22.8%, while in 2019 it was 28.6%. Furthermore, a cubic relation correlation was established, relating the month number (X) and the monthly average of the daily specific yield (Y). It was found that installing a solar PV system will cut about 39.0% of CO2 annually, which is equal to 4.637 tons and hence saves 38,567 ft3 of natural gas. The initiative of encouraging the use of rooftops in Bahrain to produce zero-carbon electricity is a step towards retrofitting the built environment to combat climate change.


We report RNA‐Sequencing results on a cohort of patients with single suture craniosynostosis and demonstrate significant enrichment of heterozygous, rare, and damaging variants among key craniosynostosis‐related genes. Genetic burden analysis identified a significant increase in damaging variants in ATR, EFNA4, ERF, MEGF8, SCARF2, and TGFBR2. Of 391 participants, 15% were found to have damaging and potentially causal variants in 29 genes. We observed transmission in 96% of the affected individuals, and thus penetrance, epigenetics, and oligogenic factors need to be considered when recommending genetic testing in patients with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis.


This paper describes the program assessment methods used in a computing sciences department which assesses programs in computer science, information systems, and information technology. The program...


Based on energy functional and with the inclusion of high-order incompatible dynamic displacement modes, a formulation for 3-D finite dynamic element method (DEM) is developed and a new 8-node solid element is derived in this paper. Numerical results exhibit that the present method provides the most economical and efficient solution when compared with the usual FEM and DEM. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This article, in its first part, presents a theory related to the creation of an employer and social media brand as a new group of tools supporting employer branding. The second part depicts the results of qualitative research carried out among ICT sector enterprises to illustrate the phenomenon described above. The aim of the article is to show the importance of social media in emploer branding. The research method used in the article are individual interviews carried out among managers of the ICT sector enterprise.


DURING the past ten years the number of nursing schools has decreased by about 10 percent. How has this trend affected the hospitals which formerly had schools of nursing? Do the clinical facilities continue to be used by professional or practical nurse students? How are schools of nursing using the facilities of institutions of higher learning? Hospital and nursing service administrators, as well as nurse educators, are concerned with the problem of utilizing clinical facilities for educational purposes. They recognize that when a nursing school is associated with a hospital, doctors and graduate nurses may have an added incentive to demonstrate that they are giving the best possible care to patients. When a school is connected with a hospital, or if the hospital provides experience for students from other schools, the mere fact that an educational program is offered may attract more and better qualified nursing personnel. Nursing students often join the nursing staff of the home hospital after graduation. And if the clinical facilities are utilized as a practice field for practical nurse students, a nursing service administrator has this possible source of prepared personnel which she can draw upon. A nursing school is not apt to have much opportunity to develop, however, if it is administered by a hospital with a small daily average patient census. Also, students have a broader concept of nursing as it meets the needs of people if they have experience in a variety of clinical fa-


The radio frequency plasma slit jet, which produces 150 mm wide streaming plasma outside the jet body, exhibits exciting self-organization phenomena that resemble the self-organized patterns of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) filaments. Similarly, as in DBD, the filaments are surrounded by an inhibition zone that does not allow two filaments to come closer to each other. With fast camera imaging, we observed the filamentary character of the discharge in all the studied gas feeds (Ar, Ar/N2, and Ar/O2). Still, the visual appearance of the filaments in the plasma and their interaction with a dielectric surface depended significantly on the gas feed. As the breakdown voltage in pure Ar is relatively low compared to the applied one, new filaments form frequently. Such newly created filaments disrupted the characteristic inter-filament distance, forcing the system to rearrange. The frequent ignition and decay processes in Ar led to short filament lifetimes (0.020–0.035 s) and their high jitter speed (0.9–1.7 m s−1), as determined with an image processing custom code based on Gwyddion libraries. The number of filaments was lower in the Ar/O2 and Ar/N2 mixtures. It was attributed to a loss of energy in the excitation of rotational and vibrational levels and oxygen electronegativity. Since the probability of low-current side discharges transitioning into the full plasma filaments was limited in these gas mixtures, the self-organized pattern was seldom disrupted, leading to lesser movement and longer lifetimes. Unlike in Ar or Ar/O2, the constricted filaments in Ar/N2 were surrounded by diffuse plasma plumes, likely connected to the presence of long-lived nitrogen species. We demonstrated in the polypropylene treatment that the self-organization phenomena affected the treatment uniformity.


The purpose of the current study is to examine the cross-language transfer relationship between morphological awareness and spelling. Results from structural equation modeling indicate that English learning Korean-speaking children in Grades 4 and 6 tend to transfer morphological awareness skills acquired in the course of learning their first language to the process of learning to build English words. To be more specific, the result reveals that 68% of the total variance in English spelling is explained by Korean morphological awareness, along with the mediation of English vocabulary. Further, the extent of the relationship between Korean morphological awareness and English spelling seems to be affected by the developmental level of the children. The pedagogical implications of these results are discussed at the end of the paper especially from the context of English teaching in Korea.


Safeguarding the peasant laborer rights and interests and constructing socialism new countryside have the intrinsic compatibility.Presently,as a result of the system,organization's and self reasons,phenomenon that peasant laborer's economy,politics,social and person rights and interests are suffered injury still generally exist.Therefore,We should take a series of countermeasures, practically safeguard peasant laborer's legitimate rights and interests,advance constructing socialism new countryside.


The invention discloses a method for realizing picture-in-picture in an IPTV, comprising the following steps: when playing a common channel of the IPTV, a set-top box (STB) opens a picture-in-picture (PIP) window after receiving a command for playing a PIP channel; the STB acquires a playing address of the PIP channel from an electronic program guide (EPG) server and acquires media stream of the PIP channel from a media server according to the playing address of the PIP channel; and the STB plays the media stream of the PIP channel acquired from the media server in the PIP window. By realizing the PIP function in the IPTV, the invention leads IPTV users to freely switch and preview other video programs in the situation of not withdrawing from the video program which is viewed, thus bringing brand-new experience for the users.


From learning communities project aims to answer to prevailing inequalities in information society turning traditional educational practices of industrial society through a dialogic approach which uses as main tool dialogic learning. Within educational success measures supported by the international scientific community developed in learning communities find tutored library. This study is an investigation of this educational practice that uses a case study research to analyze whether the library tutored in a learning community allows developing specific approaches of dialogic learning and if there are limitations in academic, organizational or material areas that endanger the practice.


In this paper we present a critical comparison of calculations of phonon-dispersion curves for aluminum, based on pseudopotential and empirical force-constant methods. The former method is based on both perturbative and nonperturbative evaluations of the total energy of the crystal. In the perturbative approach the total energy is evaluated to second order in the electron-ion interaction with a local pseudopotential. In the nonperturbative approach the electron-ion interaction is treated exactly using a nonlocal ab initio pseudopotential. In the empirical force-constant method the total energy is represented by a sum of two-body and three-body terms, the latter being restricted to interactions among triplets of nearest neighbors and of nearest and next-nearest neighbors