In Reply.— Ms Chancy's letter raises important questions and states some common misconceptions. My answer was based on extensive experience, not only in this country but in Sweden, Holland, England, and Japan. I have studied and performed gastrointestinal examinations in all of these places. As for the relation of the barium enema to the upper gastrointestional examination, I quote from Margulis and Goldberg. 1 In many instances the upper gastrointestinal examination is done before the barium enema examination when the large bowel is not obstructed clinically or radiologically. Seemingly, this type of approach is easier on the patient as rigorous preparation of the colon is necessary only once. This sequence also facilitates a meticulous preparation of the colon. It allows inpatients more time for a clear liquid or low residue diet and for administration of cleansing enemas. Residual barium in the colon from the upper gastrointestinal examination is easily seen


authenticity (and how one keeps it, measures it, and enforces it). Haenfler examines this complexity in rich ethnographic detail. In addition, his own reflections on the scene's offerings in his youth contribute to our appreciation of the career of youth subcultural membership. Haenfler writes in an engaging and clear personal style, which draws the reader in from the first page. While painting a picture of the larger scene, he considers some of the more compelling aspects of the scene—its appeals (which he sincerely conveys) and its ironic features. In these respects, the book should please academics interested in what subcultures tell us about the structure of social movements and the status of youth/ideology; in addition, those enticed by the Straight Edge scene will benefit from the book as well. Both audiences will appreciate the author's satisfying prose, his grasp of the scene, and the intrinsically interesting subject matter.


AimThe aim of this study has been to examine differences and similarities between five universities with physical education teacher programs. The focus has been on the syllabi regarding the subject ...


With the support of satellite edge computing, Internet of Vehicles (IoV) are utilized more and more widely, especially in ground network unreachable situations. To support more complex edge computing services, the aggregation of satellite computing resources becomes a possible solution. This paper models the aggregated resource management to be a non-cooperative two-stage Stackelberg game framework, and a distributed algorithm is proposed to speed up the convergence of resource allocation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can acquire maximum utilities of both ground vehicles and satellites.


Specular X-ray reflectivity (XRR) has been employed in the characterization of a novel series of ZnO/Al2O3 multilayer materials prepared by atomic layer deposition in a custom-built hot-wall reactor. All multilayers studied are approximately 1200 A thick and consist of 1−128 ZnO/Al2O3 bilayer subunits. Reflectivity data are treated both qualitatively and quantitatively by computer-aided simulation and modeling. Surface roughness is observed to increase dramatically with increasing ZnO layer thickness. ZnO density is determined to be within 5% of bulk values, while the Al2O3 layers exhibit densities less than 80% of that expected for crystalline alumina. Thickness parameters determined by computer simulation correspond to deposition rates of 1.71 and 1.28 A/reaction cycle for ZnO and Al2O3, respectively. XRR-determined thickness and density parameters are in clear quantitative agreement with analyses of single-component films by other techniques. Conventional and grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction show th...


An organic silver complex compound is provided to show high solubility in a solvent and be present in the liquid state at room temperature, thereby the content of silver in a conductive pattern-forming paste being increased without an extract solvent or with a small amount of the solvent and forming the conductive pattern forming paste with excellent stability and easy industrial applicability without adding a dispersant. An organic silver complex compound is characterized in that an organic ligand including an amine group(-NH2) and a hydroxyl group(-0H) is bonded with aliphatic silver(Ag) carboxylate at an equivalent ratio of 2:1 to form a complex, wherein the aliphatic silver carboxylate is a silver salt(Ag) of a primary or secondary fatty acid having 2-20 carbon atoms, the organic ligand is selected from the group consisting of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary amines substituted with an alcohol group. Further, a viscosity of the organic silver complex compound is 50 to 2000 cPs at room temperature.


In order to achieve pinpoint landing under various constraints during powered descent phase of landing on Mars, model predictive control (MPC) is employed in this paper by designing a novel performance index. Its main advantage is that it can ensure the pinpoint landing with online calculation and handle constraints as well, both of which are important in practical engineering missions. Detailed derivational process is given. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed guidance.


We propose a scheme to measure both the current-phase relation and differential conductance dI/dV of a superconducting junction, in the normal and the superconducting states. This is done using a dc Superconducting Quantum Interference Device with two Josephson junctions in parallel with the device under investigation and three contacts. As a demonstration, we measure the current-phase relation and dI/dV of a small Josephson junction and a carbon nanotube junction. In this latter case, in a regime where the nanotube is well conducting, we show that the non-sinusoidal current phase relation we find is consistent with the theory for a weak link, using the transmission extracted from the differential conductance in the normal state. This method holds great promise for future investigations of the current-phase relation of more exotic junctions.


BackgroundAlthough the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying self-sustaining atrial fibrillation (AF) are unclear, recent studies suggest that one requirement for reentry, slow conduction, is frequently present in patients with AF. However, these observations limited to paroxysmal AF may not necessarily apply to chronic AF. Therefore, electrophysiological properties of the atrium and sinus nodal function in chronic lone AF were evaluated. Methods and ResultsElectrophysiological studies were performed after electrocardioversion in 12 patients with chronic lone AF. Atrial enlargement was absent in the patients with AF. Twelve patients without atrial arrhythmias served as the control group. The patients with AF had a higher incidence of sinus nodal dysfunction, a shorter atrial effective refractory period (215 ± 19 msec versus 238 ± 23 msec, p < 0.02), and a longer P wave duration than control patients (115 ± 16 msec versus 86 ± 16 msec, p < 0.01). The conduction delay zone was significantly greater in patients with AF (60 ± 12 msec) than that in the control patients (8 ± 13 msec, p < 0.01), and the maximal conduction delay was also greater in the study patients than those in the control group, both to the His bundle region (31 ± 12 msec versus 10 ± 15 msec, p < 0.01) and to the coronary sinus (41 + 15 msec versus 15 ± 11 msec, p < 0.01). The fragmented atrial activity zone was wider in the study group (23 ± 25 msec) than in control subjects (1.7 ± 4 msec, p < 0.02). Repetitive atrial firing was observed in four patients with AF but it was not seen in the control group. ConclusionsThese electrophysiological features, which are manifestations of the abnormal atrial electrophysiology, would favor production of atrial reentry in chronic lone AF.


The paper introduces the development process of polymer flooding technique from growing of nothing and from small to large in detail based on theory and practical examples and also expounds to form a complete set technique,main methods and main understandings during the polymer flooding study and application courses.It is believed that these techniques and understandings achieved during long practices should have a guiding sense for other company both at home and abroad to use the experiment in oilfield tertiary recovery.


A large number of theoretical and experimental studies have shown that the performance of kerosene combustion increases significantly if combustion is being assisted by the addition of hydrogen to the fuel/air mixture during the combustion process. It reduces the amount of CO, CO2 and NOx emissions, while increasing the flame stability limits. It also helps in bruning fuel/air mixtures at much leaner equivalence ratios. The same principle could be applied to gain benefits in gas turbine combustors. Hydrogen for this purpose could be produced by the reforming of hydrocarbon fuels using a reformer module. This paper presents key hydrogen reforming technologies which, by implementation in gas turbine combustors, hold potential for improving both their performance and service life.


The Timor Leste secession conflict lasted for 25 years. Its last wave of violence in 1999, following the withdrawal of Indonesian troops, generated massive displacement and destruction with widespread consequences for the economic and social development of the country. This paper analyzes the impact of the conflict on the level and access to education of boys and girls in Timor Leste. The authors examine the short-term impact of the 1999 violence on school attendance and grade deficit rates in 2001, and the longer-term impact of the conflict on primary school completion of cohorts of children observed in 2007. They compare the educational impact of the 1999 wave of violence with the impact of other periods of high-intensity violence during the 25 years of Indonesian occupation. The short-term effects of the conflict are mixed. In the longer term, the analysis finds a strong negative impact of the conflict on primary school completion among boys of school age exposed to peaks of violence during the 25-year long conflict. The effect is stronger for boys attending the last three grades of primary school. This result shows a substantial loss of human capital among young males in Timor Leste since the early 1970s, resulting from household investment trade-offs between education and economic survival.


The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have issued a warning notice which suggests that solicitors who facilitate tax avoidance are necessarily breaching the SRA Code of Conduct. This article shows that to be false. While there are risks associated facilitating tax avoidance, both with regards to breaching professional ethics and negligence, the concept of and the facilitation of tax avoidance in and of itself does not necessarily entail such breaches or negligence. By seeking to restrict the availability of legal advice the SRA have probably breached their own regulatory objective of supporting the constitutional principle of the rule of law.


1,1′-Dihydroxy-5,5′-bitetrazole(H2DHBT) was synthesized via the reactions of substitution and cyclization using dichloroglyoxime as starting material with the total yield of 73.4%.The thermal stability of H2DHBT was studied by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).Its exothermal decomposition peak temperature was 231.46 ℃.The theoretical density of optimized geometry of H2DHBT obtained by the quantum chemical calculation was 1.789 g·cm-3.The heat of formation of solid state H2DHBT was 558.9 kJ·mol-1.The detonation velocity and detonation pressure of H2DHBT predicted using Kamlet-Jacobs formula were 8 475 m·s-1 and 32.4 GPa,respectively.Results show that H2DHBT has simple sysnthesis process,better thermal stability and detonation performance,and can be used as a potential candidates as energetic anion through deprotonation of hydroxyl groups.


This research was aimed at finding out the types of errors made by the students in writing descriptive text. In conducting the research, the researcher used descriptive qualitative design. The researcher analyzed and described students' errors based on surface strategy taxonomy. The population of this research was the first-grade students of SMAN 14 Bandar Lampung in the academic year 2020/2021. The sample of this research was X science 2 which consisted of 32 students. The instrument of this research was a writing task. The writing task was used to collect data on errors committed by the students. The result of the analysis showed the students committed all types of errors in omission, addition, misformation, and misordering. It shows that the frequency of the errors from the students' descriptive writing based on surface strategy taxonomy that is an omission that consists of 65 or 25%, the second is an addition that consists of 52 or 20%, then the third is misformation that consists of 130 errors or 50%, and the last is misordering that consists of 13 or 5%. Based on the result of this research was most of the students still committed all four errors types of Surface Strategy Taxonomy. It means that although the students were taught English especially in the descriptive text in Junior High School, they still had problems in writing descriptive text.


The olefin polymerisation activity of metallocene catalysts strongly depends on the counteranion provided by the activator system. The relative activities of a number of new diborate anions [Z(BAr 3 ) 2 ] - have been quantified (Z = CN, NH 2 , N(CN) 2 ; Ar = C 6 F 5 or o-C 6 F 4 C 6 F 5 ). The kinetic parameters for the initiation, propagation and termination steps of propene polymerisations catalysed by (SBI)ZrCl 2 have been determined using quenched-flow kinetic and batch techniques [SBI = rac-Me 2 Si(1-Ind) 2 ]. Comparison of two activator systems, (i) CPh 3 [B(C 6 F 5 ) 4 ] / triisobutylaluminium (TIBA) and (ii) methylaluminoxane (MAO) shows, surprisingly, that the concentration of species actively involved in chain growth at any one time is comparable for both systems, although the MAO-activated catalyst is about 20 times less active than the borate system. It is concluded that the counteranion remains sufficiently strongly bound to the metal centre throughout the chain growth sequence to modulate the energetics of monomer insertion. A model suggesting that the monomer binding follows an associative interchange (I a ) mechanism is proposed.


The invention relates to a nut (1) for a ball screw thread with at least one with a certain pitch circumferential recessed ball race (2), which is limited laterally by corresponding helically encircling, elevated ridges, and at least one respective further recessed deflector (3) to the return line each ball orbit (2) after approximately one revolution in itself. DOLLAR a It is composed of individual modules are arranged in the axial direction.


A large number of election studies have been carried out in recent years in the UK, especially since the 1983 Parliamentary election. These studies are worthy of note for their number, but even more for the renewal to which they testify concerning the methods of electoral analysis : search for criteria other than the sacrosanct class cleavage, new definition of the various socio-economic categories, emphasis on long-term trends, new concem for the geographical and regional dimensions. This renewal must be hailed, even if the variety of the approaches leads to somewhat confusing and sometimes contradictory conclusions.


Objective: Childhood obesity has been found in children in situations of vulnerability in which the underweight is usually more prevalent. However, trends in the prevalence of these outcomes in populations supported by an income transfer program are not usually reported. This study aimed to examine the underweight, overweight, and obesity trends in children in the North of Brazil. Methods: A total of 242,465 children (aged five to 10 years), were evaluated in this population-based study with public data collected annually from 2009 to 2019. Children included were beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Program, which is a conditional cash transfer policy. The prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity were estimated using the Body Mass Index for age. Logistic regression was used to determine significant trends in the prevalence of the investigated outcomes. Results: Between 2009 and 2019, underweight prevalence increased significantly from 4.5% to 8.5% for boys and 4.6% to 7.1% for girls. In the same period, overweight declined from 13.3% to 11.7% for boys but increased from 10.5% to 12.8% for girls. Trends in increasing obesity were observed, from 8.0% to 9.9% in boys and from 5.5% to 7.8% in girls. Children in 2019 were more likely to present the outcomes investigated when compared to those in 2009, except for overweight in boys. Conclusion: Low-income children have become increasingly obese, but underweight is still a persistent problem. It is necessary to develop public health promotion policies that do not increase obesity when the focus is to reduce underweight. Research Article Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity Trends in Low-Income Children from North Brazil, 2009-2019 Guilherme Ribeiro, Andreia Pelegrini, Mateus Bim and André Pinto* Health Sciences Research Center, University of Santa Catarina State, Brazil


Ultracompact directional optical nanoantennas are rapidly gaining popularity yet still challenging tasks to construct at the nanoscale. Here, we experimentally demonstrate unidirectional emission from a fluorescent nanodiamond coupled with a single gold nanorod. Different configurations of the assembled hybrid nanostructures were realized via step‐by‐step atomic force microscope nanomanipulation. The emission patterns can be controlled by adjusting the configurations, i.e., the gold nanorod orientation and separation with respect to the nanodiamond. Numerical simulation results reveal that the unidirectional emission can be ascribed to the interference between the electromagnetic fields produced by the dipole‐like source and the out‐of‐phase dipole induced in the gold nanorod. The proposed hybrid nanostructures remarkably exhibit highly unidirectional emission even when the emitter is positioned up to 50 nm away from the nanorod antenna and present a broad working spectral bandwidth of ∼200 nm. The distinct features of this hybrid structure suggest potential applications for novel nanoscale light sources, sensing, and quantum information.


Educating youth is of prime impor tance to parents and the State . The Un ited States Supreme C ourt echoed th is prin c i p l e when it wrote : "The American people have always re garded educat ion and the acquis i t ion of know l edge as matters of supreme i mportance wh ich shou ld be d i l i gently prom oted" (Meyer v. Nebraska, 1 923 , p . 393 ). I n many ways, educating a c h i ld is the essence of parenting. "The h istory and c ulture of Western c iv i l i-


Problems of symbolic regression aim to develop a function, described in symbolic form, that fits a given target fitcases. Artificial bee colony programing algorithm (ABCP) is one of the most feasible automatic programming methods that was proposed to solve symbolic regression problems. ABCP concept is based on swarm bee optimization and proved to achieve satisfactory performance. This paper proposes a novel variant of ABCP algorithm referred to as scaled artificial bee colony programming (SABCP). The SABCP variant results from structural modifications of ABCP which apply to food sources and solution representation as well as prediction model output form. The designed variant is checked for performance on symbolic regression problems and compared to other programming methods.


Tremor is the most common movement deficit and manifests in a variety of disorders, including Essential Tremor, Parkinson's Disease, Dystonia, and Cerebellar Ataxia. Although medication and surgical interventions have significantly reduced patient suffering, they are only partially effective and can carry undesired side effects, leaving many patients without satisfactory treatment options. Wearable tremor-suppressing devices could provide an alternative to medication and surgery. Multiple research groups have developed orthotic prototypes to low-pass filter tremor, but these devices have not yet been optimized for in-vivo use. Optimizing non-invasive tremor suppression requires an understanding of where the tremor originates mechanically (which muscles) and how it propagates to the hand (where it matters most). Here we present on the beginnings of our multi-pronged work to determine the origin, propagation, and distribution of Essential Tremor, and we provide preliminary results.


The aim of this study is to examine the efficiency of Islamic banks during and after the financial crisis, specifically in Asian countries from 2007 to 2011. This is evaluated using a non-parametric approach, in the form of a data envelopment analysis. The data was extracted from the BankScope database for the five-year period (2007-2011). The aim of this study is twofold firstly, it attempts to investigate sources of (in)efficiency in Asian Islamic banks during the recent financial crisis and the recovery period. Secondly, by using a Tobit regression analysis, it assesses the determinants of efficiency in the countries examined. An assessment of the efficiency levels of Islamic banks during the financial crisis and the recovery period, as well as within an international context, has policy ramifications for central banks in terms of enhancing the levels of efficiency and competitiveness of Islamic banks in the region. Accordingly, this will also help Islamic banks to weather future financial crises better and, in turn, improve their efficiency levels.


. Hybrid teamwork between humans and conversational agents (CA) is a promising approach to augment humans ' thinking and problem solving during task work. To realize a natural interaction, it is inevitable to consider research insights from human-centric disciplines for the design of CAs, as human team members have underlying assumptions regarding team work that need to be addressed to achieve valuable outcomes in hybrid teamwork settings. In this paper, we conducted a systematic literature review to consolidate past research on considered teamwork-specific psychological concepts for the design of CAs. The in-depth analysis of 19 publications demonstrates that, both, studies with a conceptual focus and CA instantiations, are primarily concerned with task-related teamwork concepts, while mostly disregarding relationship-related concepts. The results are discussed and implications for future research are identified.


This paper presents two types of wideband filters that have been developed at 5 and 28-GHz frequency bands, respectively. These filters have been fabricated with low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) multilayer technologies. Each filter has approximately 20% and 12% 3dB bandwidth, insertion loss less than 1.5 dB, and has an attenuation over 30 dB at fit plusmn15% respectively. Design procedure is described and design examples are given to demonstrate the features of the proposed coupling structure. A wide-band LTCC filter is simulated and successfully built. The advantages of multilayer LTCC technology such as high integration and vertical stacking capabilities were employed to design edge- coupled embedded microstrip wide BPF. The difficulties in controlling the precise distance between two adjacent resonators in LTCC edge-coupled BPF were overcome by locating the resonators on different layers.


The benzylic hydroxylation of ethylbenzene, p-diethylbenzene, tetralin, indane, and toluene by the fungi Mortierella isabellina, Cunninghamella echinulata, and Helminthosporium species has been investigated by the use of deuterium-labelled substrates. An intermolecular primary isotope effect kH/kD 1.04 ± 0.05 was observed for conversion of ethylbenzene into 1-phenylethanol. The secondary deuterium isotope effect for this conversion was large and positive (kH/kD averaging 1.27 ± 0.05). p-Diethylbenzene, tetralim, and indane were hydroxylated at the benzylic position with an intramolecular primary deuterium isotope effect averaging 2.6 ± 0.2. The use of R-(–)- and S-(+)-1-deuterioethylbenzenes as substrates with the fungus M. isabellina show that hydrogen removal is specific for the pro-R position of substrate. Toluene is converted into benzyl alcohol by the fungi Mortierella isabellina and Helminthosporium species; in the latter case, the product is further metabolized. [α-2H]-, [αα-2H2]-, and [ααα-2H3]-toluene have been used with M. isabellina in a series of experiments to determine both primary and secondary deuterium kinetic isotope effects for the enzymic benzylic hydroxylation reaction. The values obtained, intermolecular primary kH/kD= intramolecular primary kH/kD= 1.02 ± 0.05, and secondary kH/kD= 1.37 ± 0.05, lead to the suggestion of a mechanism for benzylic hydroxylation involving benzylic proton removal from a radical-cation intermediate in a non-symmetrical transition state.


Multichannel electronic cell counters are now in widespread use in haematology laboratories. Platelet counts are given routinely by many instruments and low platelet counts generate much further investigation. A falsely low platelet count may expose the patient to unnecessary and expensive investigation and treatment, and we report two illustrative cases. The platelet counts were performed on blood anticoagulated with ethylene diamine tetra acetate (EDTA) using a Coulter S Plus IV analyser. Blood anticoagulated with 3-8% acid citrate dextrose was analysed simultaneously. In the second case, platelet counts were also performed on heparinised blood.


Ultrathin van der Waals (vdW) magnets provide a possibility to access magnetic ordering in the two-dimensional (2D) limit, which are expected to be applied in the spintronic devices. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful characterization method to investigate the spin-related properties in 2D vdW magnets, including magnon and spin–lattice interaction, which are hardly accessible by other optical methods. In this paper, the recent progress of various magnetic properties in 2D vdW magnets studied by Raman spectroscopy is reviewed, including the magnetic transition, spin-wave, spin–lattice interaction, symmetry tuning induced by spin ordering, and nonreciprocal magneto-phonon Raman scattering.


OBJECTIVES: Develop a statistical model to predict disease progression and outcomes in COPD patients using the ECLIPSE database. METHODS: Based on a conceptual model of COPD disease progression and outcomes and data from 2,164 COPD patients we estimated associations between central attributes of disease progression (exacerbations, lung function, exercise capacity and symptoms) and outcomes (SGRQ and survival) while adjusting for baseline characteristics (co-morbidities, BMI, fibrinogen, history of exacerbations, smoking, age and gender). Random coefficient models were applied to estimate the longitudinal association between central attributes in order to describe disease progression. Non-linear functional forms were used characterize the nature of the data. Endogeneity among the central attributes of the CM was addressed by use of time-lagging in the regression models. RESULTS: Moderate & severe exacerbations were associated with a decline in FEV1 of 8ml and 10 ml (P CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a COPD disease progression model that represents associations between the central attributes of the disease and their impact on health status and mortality. Sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline RD Study SCO104960).


I would like to thank you for the privilege of partaking in this second international conference for youth leaders. It was my privilege to be intimately involved with the Regional Conference in/for Africa. I believe (implicitly) that this enriching contact between churches with a Reformed confession should be encouraged and is in the interest of congregational youth work. It is in fact a matter of integrating youth into the full life and work of the RES.


Dynamics-gas analysis of trust reversers with rotating cascade and buckets was performed. Interaction effects of gas-flow with a solid body and efflux of gas-flow from trust reversers of engines NR-8-2u, D-30-RU and PS-90A were considered. The main cause of does not effective operation trust reversers of these type of engines was established. The way of trust reversers effectiveness increasing has demonstrated based on the trust reverser operation of the engine PS-90A.


As cyber attacks continue to grow in number, scope, and severity, the cyber security problem has become increasingly important and challenging to both academic researchers and industry practitioners. We explore the applicability of game theoretic approaches to the cyber security problem with focus on active bandwidth depletion attacks. We model the interaction between the attacker and the defender as a two-player non-zero-sum game in two attack scenarios: (i) one single attacking node for Denial of Service (DoS) and (ii) multiple attacking nodes for Distributed DoS (DDoS). The defender's challenge is to determine optimal firewall settings to block rogue traffics while allowing legitimate ones. Our analysis considers the worst-case scenario where the attacker also attempts to find the most effective sending rate or botnet size. In either case, we build both static and dynamic game models to compute the Nash equilibrium that represents the best strategy of the defender. We validate the effectiveness of our game theoretic defense mechanisms via extensive simulation-based experiments using NS-3.


In the novel Stiller and in the play Don Juan, both published in the early 1950s, Frisch already focuses on the problem of identity as one of his major themes, but it is not yet situated in a political context as, for example, in the play Andorra. In these works, the identity-problem is situated in the domain of intimate relationships and artistic creativity, offering the possibility to discuss Frisch's concepts of art and love, which unfold through Frisch's treatment of the traditional literary figure of Don Juan and his hubris. Frisch's Stiller and Don Juan do not believe in God; but their frame of mind stays the same, while the position of God and his attributes are assigned to love, art and geometry. Although both literary figures in the course of events realize that this substitution is a mistake, they are unable to alter their concepts of love and art. Instead of altering the concepts, they rather resign in silence, while Max Frisch continues to search for alternatives in reflecting on the process of fictionalization and in developing innovative narrative and dramatic structures.


Currently, treatments for vaginal infections are mostly given orally or subcutaneously. However, because of extensive first-pass metabolism, the exposure of unchanged drug to the vaginal mucosa (i.e. bioavailability) after oral or subcutaneous dosing may be as low as 2.92%. Meanwhile, ointments for external application may result in pain or hypersensitivity. To address these problems, we proposed a novel composite dosage form consisting of polyurethane (PU) foam and aquagel impregnated therewithin. The PU/aquagel dosage form was shaped into a circular pad having diameter of about 5 cm, which made it suitable for being inserted into the vagina (average diameter 3 cm) thereby acting directly on cells within the inflamed lesion. We had successfully developed hydrophilic PU foam with an excellent water retention rate of about 1674%, which may retain 6.5-fold water as compared to convention PU foam. The hydrophilic PU foam comprised inter-connected cells which allowed the continuous flow of the aquagel along t...


This article introduces on a calculation method of hydrogen ion in weakpolybasic acid salt and weak polyacid base salt with represent of (NH4)2A . A simple calculation method of hydride ion concentration on the amphiprotic substance species with represent of (NH4)2A has been studied with distribution fraction. 


Context: Automatic classification of crowdsourced test reports is important due to their tremendous sizes and large proportion of noises. Most existing approaches towards this problem focus on examining the performance of different machine learning or information retrieval techniques, and most are evaluated on open source dataset. However, our observation reveals that these approaches generate poor and unstable performances on real industrial crowdsourced testing data. We further analyze the deep reason and find that industrial data have significant local bias, which degrades existing approaches. Goal: We aim at designing an approach to overcome the local bias in industrial data and automatically classifying true fault from the large amounts of crowdsourced reports. Method: We propose a cluster-based classification approach, which first clusters similar reports together and then builds classifiers based on most similar clusters with ensemble method. Results: Evaluation is conducted on 15,095 test reports of 35 industrial projects from Chinese largest crowdsourced testing platform and results are promising, with 0.89 precision and 0.97 recall on average. In addition, our approach improves the existing baselines by 17% - 63% in average precision and 15% - 61% in average recall. Conclusions: Results imply that our approach can effectively discriminate true fault from large amounts of crowdsourced reports, which can reduce the effort required for manual inspection and facilitate project management in crowdsourced testing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to address the test report classification problem in real industrial crowdsourced testing practice.


Objective To study the effect of differeences between open reduction and internal fixation and artificial shoulder joint replacement for Neer three and four parts fracture of proximal humeral in seniles. Methods Collected 70 cases of Neer three and four parts fracture of proximal humeral in seniles, then divided them into artificial shoulder joint replacement group (group A, 30 cases) and open reduction and internal fixation group (group B, 40 cases), the operation time, intraoperative bleeding and postoperative Neer scores after 18 monthes between two groups were observed. Results Operation time and intraoperative bleeding of group A were lower than group B, the difference was statistically significant (P 0.05). The pain, function and mobility of group A were obviously better than group B after 18 months with, the difference was statistically significant (P 0.05). Conclusion The clinical effects of artificial shoulder joint replacement for Neer three and four parts fracture of proximal humerus in seniles are better than open reduction and internal fixation, it can be recommended in clinic.


Multi-particle transverse energy correlation(MTEC) functions are proposed to study minijet production in high energy proton-antiproton collisions. Obtainable with both the D0 and the CDF detector, the high-order MTEC functions are shown to be sensitive probes of jet internal structure as well as promising observables of detecting minijet production in $\sqrt{s}$=1.8 TeV $p\bar{p}$ collisions.


This textual analysis examined the framing of Ferguson, Missouri, that emerged following Michael Brown's death in 2014. The analysis indicates tweets focused on the protests that followed and the racial nature of the incident. The most salient themes characterized Ferguson within the context of "bigger picture" issues, "otherness" narratives and "protest" frames. Many tweets transmitted a racialized tone, characterizing Ferguson as a "less than desirable town with mostly Black residents and low-life thugs." This study provides support for the use of textual analysis in studies of social media platforms and indicates it is imperative to look at representations of race, power and cultural narratives in popular mass media messages.


In order to solve the chaperone service and medical problems of empty nesters,we have researched to design a remote control system based on Freescale MC9S12XS128 singlechip and VB epistatic machine,and on this basis to develop the principle prototype of home medical chaperonage robot——"Little Boy".The control system was composed by four subsystems:telecommunication system,intelligent voice system,visual information acquisition system,medical service system,which can not only help the old men do the basic grab and so on,but also can realize intelligent speech recognition,dialogue,audio and video remote real-time transmission.This platform can carry a variety of medical apparatus and instruments,such as non-contact thermometer,pulse blood pressure measuring instrument etc.The experimental results show that the design has actual application value,and lay the foundation for the research of network remote control of domestic medical robot


Traditional search engines can no longer meet the increasing amount of information in today's world, and often face problems such as blurred results and long search times for some queries. And the addition of ontology makes information retrieval more intelligent, so that information data between various fields can be shared, to achieve the purpose of getting the answers users want quickly and accurately. This paper firstly introduces the definition of ontology and analyzes the traditional information retrieval system, and finally summarizes some experimental results in recent years in ontology-based intelligent information retrieval and reviews them to get a more efficient and accurate information retrieval system to achieve the effect of improving the accuracy of search engines.


This paper,based on foreign language teaching theories and college English-teaching reality in China,argues for the necessity and feasibility to integrate the advantages of both networked autonomy model and classroom-teaching model.Furthermore,it proposes,with reference to the teaching target and curriculum laid down in College English Teaching Requirements,the ways and the fundamental principles to combine the two different models,which may provide possible theory and practice guide for current college English teaching reform.


Impression material has been used to take facial impressions to make maxillofacial prostheses. The design of a prosthesis has depended considerably on the experience and esthetic sense of the person making it. We describe a non-contact three-dimensional measurement system that can be used instead of impression taking. Facial wax-models are then made by a milling machine. This process led to a satisfactory maxillofacial prosthesis. This system was applied to an epithesis in a patient who had a large defect of the left mid-facial area following surgery for a maxillary tumor. A laser surface scanner did not deform the patient's face or cause stress. Scanning the face digitally facilitates the preservation or transmission of date, if necessary. A mirror-image could easily be made by modifying the data, which allowed the epithesis to be designed objectively.


A composition for the prevention or treatment of inflammation and allergic disease comprising the extract of Aralia cordata Thunb is provided to reduce side effects of the prevention or treatment, and to inhibit 5-lipoxygenase dependent production of leukotriene C4 which participates in allergy and inflammation responses. The composition for the prevention or treatment of inflammation and allergic disease comprises the extract of Aralia cordata Thunb as an effective ingredient, wherein the Aralia cordata Thunb extract is obtained by extracting Aralia cordata Thunb with a solvent selected from water, methanol and ethanol; the composition treats an animal model having inflammation induced by croton oil and phorbol myristate acetate; the amount of Aralia cordata Thunb extract is 0.01-50% based on the total weight of the composition; and the inflammation and allergic diseases are acute or chronic inflammation disease, bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma or allergic dermatitis.


The genus Delphinus comprises two species and one subspecies: the short-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus delphis (Linnaeus, 1758), distributed in continental shelf and pelagic waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the long-beaked common dolphin, D. capensis (Gray, 1828), distributed in nearshore tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific and Southern Atlantic Oceans, and the Arabian long-beaked common dolphin, D. capensis tropicalis van Bree, 1971, which occurs in the Indian Ocean. Here we present a worldwide phylogeographic study based on sequences of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene. A total of 279 individuals were analysed: 211 D. delphis from the Northeast (82) and Northwest (27) Atlantic, and Northeast (28) and Southwest (74) Pacific; 26 D. capensis from the Northeast Pacific, 18 D. capensis from the Southeast Atlantic, and 24 D. capensis tropicalis from the Indian Ocean. Haplotype and nucleotide diversities of most populations were high when compared with other cetacean species, which is possibly a signature of large, long-term effective population size. Shared haplotypes between the two common dolphin species and subspecies were found, as well as between all oceans sampled. Fixation indices (φST and FST) show that the tropicalis and D. capensis samples from the NE Pacific are differentiated from samples from all other regions. D. delphis from the Northeast and Southwest Pacific also show some differentiation from samples from other regions, but with relatively low values of fixation indices. In contrast, the median-joining network reveals clusters of haplotypes without a clear geographical or taxonomic correspondence. Overall, these results suggest that relatively high levels of gene flow occur between regions and possibly among recognized species, questioning current taxonomy, confounding population history and making the establishment of population boundaries very difficult. Several phylogeographical hypotheses for the observed patterns are currently being tested with recently developed methods that use coalescent models for estimating demographic parameters. Additionally, data on a powerful set of microsatellite markers are being obtained in order to document the direction and magnitude of events of recent gene flow between populations and oceanic regions.


Glare is a Fibre Metal Laminate that consists of alternate aluminium sheets and glass fibre preimpregnated layers. For higher stress levels, the aluminium sheets will become plastic. For relatively thick Glare plates this also implies that buckling will take place non-elastically. In this paper, a methodology is proposed to calculate plasticity reduction factors for flat Glare plates either loaded in compression or shear. This method uses J2-deformation theory to describe the plastic behaviour of the metal laminae in combination with a RambergOsgood stress-strain relation. A number of non-linear FEM calculations is made on imperfect plates using J2-flow theory for the metal laminae. The effect of the imperfection on the buckling load is studied and a comparison is made between the reduction factor calculated both ways. Possible set-ups for an experimental verification of the theory are also discussed.


As well as possessing advanced computer skills, hackers are typically highly intelligent. However, it is commonly assumed that hackers have personality traits that tend to be negative and detrimental in their effect on society. Hackers fall into three main categories: white hat hackers, grey hat hackers and black hat hackers. The aim of this study is to determine hacker personality profiles in relation to these categories. To do so, the author uses a measuring instrument focusing on the 'big five personality traits' – that is, openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. This study focused on 30 hacker subjects and utilized descriptive qualitative research: the data collection techniques used were in the form of personality trait rating scales, interviews and research documents. Based on the research results pertaining to the 30 hacker subjects, it can be deduced that the white hats demonstrate agreeableness as a dominant personality trait, black hats openness to experience, and grey hats neuroticism.


How to understand household savings rate and its influencing factors has always been a hot issue discussed in economists. Existing literature mainly used the macro dynamic data to explore the influencing factors of per capita savings rate, but per capita savings rate and personal savings rate are not completely equivalent, the average of per capita savings rate ignored the individual differences of residents. Using a cross-sectional survey data of People's Bank of China, the paper theoretically analyzed and empirically tested the impact of rural residents' industry and rural credit services level expectation on the personal savings rate of rural residents. The paper found that the rural residents engaging in breeding industry have significantly lower personal savings rate compared with the rural residents engaging in the food planting; rural credit services level expectation and the personal savings rate of rural residents were significantly positively correlated, In other words, rural residents believe that the lower the level of rural credit services, the more difficult to obtain loans from formal financial institutions, and then the lower the personal savings rate.


Medetomidine @ 30µg/kg body weight (group A) and a combination of medetomidine @30µg/kg and pethidine @2 mg/ kg body weight (group B) were given in atropinized dogs divided into 2 groups of 5 animals each. Animals of group A showed only moderate sedation/analgesia but group B animals were completely anaestheized for 30-45 mm with excellent muscle relaxation. Transient but significant (P < 0.05) increase in heart rate and decrease in respiratory rate was recorded in both the groups. Arterial pressure and central venous pressure also showed significant increase (P<0.05) in both the groups but changes between the groups were insignificant. Haematological parameters (Hb, PCV, TEC, TLC) were not altered significantly in both the groups. Pethidine enhanced the analgesic and sedative effects of medetomidine substantially without potentiating its cardiovascular effects. The combination may be used safely for anaesthesia in dogs.


The National Water-Use Information Program (NWIP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is a Federal-State Cooperative Program designed to compile, store, and disseminate wateruse information locally and nationally. A reliable water-use data base is needed in Puerto Rico to provide historic water-use information to enable scientists to estimate the hydrologic effect of future water demands. The Puerto Rico WaterUse Information Program (PRWIP) was implemented in 1980 to meet this need. Several studies have been conducted by USGS and local cooperative agencies in order to obtain reliable data for selected water-use categories. This report presents information about the accuracy of wateruse data reported by categories such as public supply, sewage treatment, and hydroelectric water-use categories. The reported information was compared to site-inspections, production read-outs, USGS unpublished data, and continuous surface-water monitoring data for station 50027750. Public-Supply Wells


Laboratory experiments were conducted to measure the diffusion coefficient of trona in water. The diffusion coefficient of trona from saturated solution in water was measured to be 1.167 *10/sup -5/ cm/sup 2//s with a standard devition of 6.2% at 25/degree/C.30 10/sup 9/ refs.


Synthetic neighborite, NaMgF3, has been synthesised via a eutectic transformation in the NaF-MgF2 system. Crystal plates extracted from the two-phase structure exhibit extensive micro-twinning. An analysis of the crystallography of twinning by electron microscopy and difiraction indicates their formation as a result of the asymmetric distortion accompanying the transformation from the tetragonal (pseudocubic) form at the growth temperature to an orthorhombic form on cooling.


Human civilization has changed forever since induction motors were invented. Induction motors are widely used and have become the most prevalent electrical componentsdue to their beneficial characteristics. Many control strategies have been developed for their performance improvement, starting from scalar to vector to direct torque control. The latter, which is a class of vector control, was proposed as an alternative to ensure separate flux and torque control while remaining completely in a stationary reference frame. This technique allows direct inverter switching and reasonable simplicity compared to other vector control techniques, and it is less sensitive to parameter variation. Yet, the use of hysteresis controllers in conventional DTC involves undesired ripples in the stator current, flux, and torque, which lead to bad performances. This paper aims to minimize the ripple level and ensure the system's performance in terms of robustness and stability. To generate the appropriate reference control voltages, the proposed method is an improved version of DTC, which combines the power of fuzzy logic, neural networks, and an increased number of sectors. Satisfactory results were obtained by numerical simulation in MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed method was proven to be a fast dynamic decoupled control that robustly responds to external disturbance and system uncertainties.


In this paper, we present an innovative instrument for near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy. The system is based on eight custom-designed pulsed diode lasers emitting at different wavelengths in the near-infrared region (635–1050 nm), all exhibiting an average optical power higher than 1 mW at 40 MHz pulse repetition rate, two custom-made single-photon detectors based on wide-area silicon photomultipliers and two time-measurement units based on a custom time-to-digital converter with 10 ps timing resolution. The system instrument response function has a width narrower than 160 ps (fullwidth at half-maximum) and stability better than ±1% for several hours for all the wavelengths. All the components of the instrument were designed in order to be compact. The entire system will be hosted in a standard 19 inches, 5U rack case (size 48 × 38 × 20 cm3 ). The system communicates with the external computer through a USB 2.0 link and is designed to be employed in a clinical environment. The proposed instrument, thanks to the reduction of its cost and dimensions, paves the way to a wider diffusion of multiwavelengths near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy systems.


Neisseria meningitidis is remarkable for the diversity of interactions that the bacterium has with the human host, ranging from asymptomatic nasopharyngeal colonisation affecting virtually all members of the population; through focal infections of the meninges, joints, or eye; to the devastating and often fatal syndrome of meningococcal septic shock and purpura fulminans.


Leg 153 of the Ocean Drilling Program drilled five sites on the western wall of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between 23°20′N and 23°30′N, at distances of 5–35 km south of the Kane Transform (Figure 1). This area—referred to as the MARK—is one of the most extensively studied portions of the mid-ocean-ridge system. Core recovered on Leg 153 represents the most continuous sampling to date through a section of sub-oceanic mantle, as well as temporally and spatially diverse sections of the lower crustal plutonic rocks. Results from postcruise research programs will specifically address models of magma evolution, tectonic activity, and hydrothermal alteration in slow-spreading oceanic crust.


The paper covers organizational issues of the selection and training of the first female cosmonaut group for a space flight, they are: the group membership, tasks of the first female space flight, training specifics, first flight results.


Previous work on classifying Twitter users' political alignment has mainly focused on lexical and social network features. This study provides evidence that political affiliation is also reflected in features which have been previously overlooked: users' discourse patterns (proportion of Tweets that are retweets or replies) and their rate of use of capitalization and punctuation. We find robust differences between politically left- and right-leaning communities with respect to these discourse and sub-lexical features, although they are not enough to train a high-accuracy classifier.


Aim: Child abuse and neglect (CAN) may be defined as physical, sexual and/or psychological maltreatment of the child. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of dentists about CAN, to give basic information on the topic and to take feedback. Methods: It was an observational study that the questionnaire that consisted 26 questions in four parts was sent by e-mail with an electronic link via Turkish Dental Association to Turkish dentists. At the end of the questionnaire, a short education by power-point presentation was given to volunteered participants and self-competence feedbacks were taken. Results: A total of 326 dentists (113 males and 213 females) aged 23-70 years, answered the questionnaire. Only 16.2% of dentists reported that they know their legal rights and information on reporting CAN. 79.5% of dentists noted that they did not receive education on CAN during their undergraduate years. 95.6% of the participants volunteered to attend the education provided. Feedbacks showed that information obtained by the education had a beneficial impact on dentists' awareness and knowledge. Conclusions: Turkish dentists' knowledge and awareness of CAN were inadequate. Educational efforts may enable them to recognize cultural misperceptions, take necessary precautions, to be confident in reporting child abuse and neglect without hesitation and fulfill their legal obligations.


The insulation design is a very important aspect of the overhead power transmission line design. There are respective demands for mechanical intensity,electrical insulation and length. For simplicity,the article mainly introduce the ordinary methods in traditional insulation design.


Social capital is referred to as personal assets that provides tangible advantages to those individuals, families or groups who possess them, in distinguishing who you know as distinct from what you know. Empirical studies suggest that gender mediates access to networks of relationships from which vital social capital are generated for career advancement purposes in the world of work. W hile career seeking women understand the positive impacts of social capital for their career advancement in the world of work, studies infer that they are most often excluded from the networks that generate such. This has been adjudged as one of the reasons women are underrepresented in leadership positions in organisations. The suggestion therefore is that women who seek to advance to leadership positions in organisations should engage in extensive networking within and without their industry, including breaking into male dominated networks. This study explored the strategic networking tools that women in executive management positions in the banking industry in Nigeria deployed in generating enormous volumes of social capital that aided in their career success. The research explored the mix of networking platforms and activities engaged by the women and ascertained the pivotal roles these played in enhancing their career advancement opportunities. The study further explored if the women re-defined the concept of social networking as applied in literature or invented other context specific networks that aided them in their careers quests. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 women in executive management positions in the public and private sector banks in  Lagos, South west Nigeria. The study findings show that while gender and other societal and organisational factors mediate access to vital career networks in the banking industry in Nigeria, high career aspirational women in the industry do not rely on solo network platforms to generate social capital for career advancement purposes. Such women contrive a cache of gender sensitive networks, as well as leveraging on male dominant networks as the case maybe. Such networks when designed in consideration of their individual preferences and the sensibilities of their significant others, tend to avail women of high volumes of social capital for career advancement and attainment of executive management positions in the banking industry in Nigeria. Given the frequently suggested connection between network relationships and women's career advancement, an understanding of gender and context in social capital accumulation for women is of industry and national importance. Key Words: Women, Social Capital, Networks, Banking Industry, Executive Management.


The characteristics of irregular algorithms make a parallel implementation difficult, especially for PC clusters or clusters of SMPs. These characteristics may include an unpredictable access behavior to dynamically changing data structures or strong irregular coupling of computations. Problems are an unknown load distribution and expensive irregular communication patterns for data accesses and redistributions. We propose task pool teams for implementing irregular algorithms on clusters of PCs or SMPs. A task pool team combines multithreaded programming using task pools on single nodes with explicit message passing between different nodes. As an application example, we use the hierarchical radiosity algorithm.


Services for Children, Adolescents, and Their Families. Ecological trajectories in child mental health. Family preservation services for families with children who have mental health problems. Community- and neighborhood-based services for youth. Effective community-based treatments for serious juvenile offenders. Approaches to intervention with chronically neglecting families. Interventions for adolescents who abuse substances. The east Baltimore mental health partnership. Vocational initiatives for transition-age youths with severe mental illness. Approaches for Severely Ill Adult Populations. From the hospital to the community: the great American paradigm shift. Treating substance abuse in patients with severe mental illness. Family psychoeducation: basic concepts and innovative applications. Rural assertive community treatment: taking mental health services on the road. Adult foster care: the forgotten alternative? Mobile psychiatric emergency medical services. Optimal psychiatric inpatient care: from comprehensive to efficient treatment. Innovative services for elderly populations. Enhancing vocational outcomes for persons with psychiatric disabilities: a new paradigm. Policy Issues. Why don't the knuckleheads use common sense? Downsizing state psychiatric hospitals. Medicaid financing. Statewide program dissemination in Michigan. Strategies for reforming state mental health systems. An EPA for children: empowerment, prevention, and advocacy at work. Ethical issues in research on child and adolescent mental disorders: implications for a science of scientific ethics. Behavioral therapy research: a conceptualization of a process. Index.


The present work relates to the investigations an zinc-organic cell wherein alkaline
solutions are used as the electrolyte. The effect of concentration of the electrolyte,
temperature and the discharge rates on the voltage+urrent and voltage-time characteristics
of the cell, have been studted and the data are presented in the paper. The important
features of the cell system are fairly flat voltage-time characteristics at different current
drains and high energy density in comparison to the cells using certain inorganic depolarisers


In the early responses to the poetry of Nikolay Alekseevich Zabolotsky (1903-1958), the name of Gogol does not appear. It was difficult for Zabolotsky's contemporaries to perceive and comment on the presence of 'Gogolian spirit' permeating his poetry. However, Gogol and the interpretation of Gogol are present even in Zabolotsky's biography. One of his teachers was V. A. Desnitsky (Stroev), one of his close friends was N. L. Stepanov - both of whom where Gogol's scholars and both of whom participated in editing his work. References to Gogol's creative universe and to his texts in Zabolotsky's poetry are subtle - even to respected scholars they are perceptible on an associative, rather than a demonstrative level. Nevertheless, after the poet's death the parallel 'Zabolotsky-Gogol' became so firmly implanted in the cultural consciousness, that it prompted the title of the article, published in the United States on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Zabolotsky's birth : 'Gogol for the 20th century.' The article lists a number of parallels and examples of Gogolian reminiscences in Zabolotsky's poetry, with varying degrees of 'recognisability'. The findings presented in this article are important, as they lay the foundation for a further examination of this question.
In this article the focus is on Zabolotsky's poem 'Poprishchin', which is one of the most challenging of his works. The poem is constructed in such a way that it allows for a dual reading - linear and concentric - which prevents the reader from deciding which of the names appearing in the poem is real, and which is false : Poprishchin or Ferdinand? It is a poem in which Zabolotsky proceeds to decipher Gogol's tales - in a sense similar to the process adopted by scholars such as the Polish Slavist and semiologist, Jerzy Faryno. Departing from the realities of a classroom classical text, Zabolotsky moves to the 'text-generating arrangement', finding in it something that is important in the context of his own poetic model of the world. Although connected to the world presented in the collection Stolbtsy, the poem 'Poprishchin' could not have been inscribed into this world (for instance, none of the poems in the collection is tri-tonic) and into the strictly defined (in all its editions) composition of the book : the poem presents the pre-history of this world. The St Petersburg of Gogol is a sui generis embryo of the Soviet Leningrad that emerges from the pages of Stolbtsy.


Abstract Prologue. Ten o'clock at night and dark, the great mass of York Minster looming huge over them, two men unlocked the door to the Chapter library. I Raising their brace of lanterns against the ebon air, they entered purposefully, passing at once to a recess that held a quarto tome entitled Senecae Miscellanea. Then, while John Eyre, senior prebendary, looked on, the Reverend Thomas Frog Dibden ruffled through the pages of the volume, which proved indeed to be a miscellaneous collection. Standing out from the diversity was Lydgate's Chorle and Birde, along with another of his poems, printed by Caxton in r477. With this discovery begins the story of a false 'embleme' that won a place in the Oxford English Dictionary, where it remains to this day.


Grinding, a technique for removing abrasive materials, is a chip-removal process that uses an individual abrasive grain as the cutting tool. Abrasive material removal processes can be very challenging owing to the high power requirements and the resulting high temperatures, especially at the workpiece-wheel interface. This paper presents a novel system that uses graphite particles impregnated in an aluminum oxide matrix to form a grinding wheel. This study specifically investigated grinding wheels with a graphite content of 0.5 wt%. The new grinding wheel was compared with conventional grinding wheels by comparing the factors of grinding performance, such as surface roughness, morphology, wheel wear ratio, grinding temperature, and grinding forces, when the wheels were used under two different coolant strategiesdry and with minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) using pure water. This study found that there is a considerable improvement in the grinding performance using graphite-impregnated grinding wheels over the performance obtained using conventional grinding wheels. The use of 0.5 wt% graphite provided better surface roughness and topography, lower grinding temperature, and decreased force; in addition, wheel consumption was lower, resulting in extended wheel life.


An appropriate understanding of soil properties' spatial variability could help to perform sustainable soil nutrient management. The study aims to identify the most important soil characteristics driving spatial variability in tropical soil. A total of 5000 sample locations were randomly generated from the Sub-Saharan Africa map and the sample values were obtained from www.soilgrid.org. Various variogram models were tested and the best fitted variogram parameters were used to simulate 10000 replications of each attributes and the spatial dependence indices were computed. Results suggested that soil N, pH and organic carbon are the most driving spatial variability to better control experimental error.


Although data are collected routinely about the care of mothers andbabies admitted to hospitals in the four countries of the UnitedKingdom and about those who die, there is no parallel source of routinedata about care provided to women and babies in general practicesettings. The General Practice Research Database (GPRD) wasoriginally established for use in studies of prescribing in generalpractice. It has been used in a number of studies of contraceptive useand exposure to specific drugs in pregnancy but so far there have beenno routine analyses of data about all babies in the GPRD. Previousanalyses have grouped together all children under the age of five, as didearlier studies on Morbidity Statistics from General Practice.


The motor of an electric vehicle and its equipment are connected to the battery via a junction box that contains power relays that ensure current flow when closed but can break the current in abnormal situations. The contacts of such relays have to ensure and maintain a low contact resistance and support a shorting current of a few kA and an acceptable breaking capacity under a normal load of a few hundred amps. We have developed a test involving a shorting current of 4000A passing during 50ms through closed contacts in which we study welding and arcing phenomena. The origin of arcing has been attributed to the shorted contact produced by the electromagnetic repulsion force that is able to counterbalance the contact force and separate the contact. The power arcing burns during the short circuit and a irreversible damage is observed when the accumulated arc energy exceeds a certain critical value. In this paper, the main cause of the repulsion phenomena and minimum arc energy criteria inducing substantial damage and capsule breaking is studied. By varying conditions of current for two relays equipped with different materials, filled with a specific gas and employing a magnetic field we found that shorting damage was not avoided below 2KJ. Fortunately breaking capacity is achieved without damage and relay function is ensured.


Treatment for advanced colorectal cancer (ACC) consists primarily of systemic treatment, mostly without curative intent. Systemic therapies are associated with potentially severe side effects. Furthermore, treatment is not effective in all patients. Currently, pre-treatment predictors for efficacy and toxicity in systemic treatment of ACC are scarce.
Germline genetic variation in genes encoding for enzymes involved in pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics of cytotoxic drugs could explain intra-patient differences in treatment effects. Pharmacogenetic studies aim at finding such germline genetic predictors. This thesis focusses on pharmacogenetics of capecitabine and oxaliplatin in treatment of ACC.
First, it is established that results derived from DNA in archived tumor samples can be reliably compared to those using DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes. Then, germline genetic markers in MTHFR and MTRR, as well as markers derived from an in vitro genome-wide association study (GWAS) are tested for their association with capecitabine toxicity. Next, effects of ERCC1 genotype on oxaliplatin cytotoxicity in vitro and in clinical association analysis are addressed. The influence of genetic variation in organic cation transporters on oxaliplatin-induced neurotoxicity is examined. Lastly, the results of a GWAS searching for germline predictors of treatment efficacy of capecitabine, oxaliplatin and bevacizumab, with or without cetuximab, are presented.


From the early 1980s, the British economy became the subject of an allembracing economic experiment. At the heart of this economic leap-in-thedark was a switch in philosophy from the "managed capitalism" of the postwar era to one of "market capitalism". The former commitments to full employment, progressive taxation and inclusive welfare were dropped. Most elements of the postwar settlement – and its belief in economic fine-tuning, greater equality and a strong state – were discarded. Regulations were swept away and corporate and top income tax rates axed. Markets were given more freedom. Although this shift to market capitalism was applied most strongly in the United Kingdom and the United States, weaker versions were eventually introduced across much of the rich world.


It is primarily a matter of politics in the USA. I emphasize this when I talk with German and European colleagues whose thinking is deeply rooted in the Rechtsstaatsprinzip. We don't have the same assumptions about judicial control of political actions. Maybe the best proof of this is the fact that we don't have a thick body of Supreme Court jurisprudence that guides our thinking on security issues such as this.


Catastrophic forgetting is a problem affecting many areas in machine learning, where one model is required to perform several tasks. One area in which this phenomenon is observed is domain adaptation in neural machine translation, where a specific-domain NMT system would initially be trained on a general-domain training set and then retrained on the specificdomain training set. While this improves the performance on the specific-domain test set, the performance on the general-domain test set degrades significantly. The aim of this dissertation is to explore solutions to reduce this degradation at the decoding and training stages of the NMT system. The first solutions explored are interpolation techniques, namely fixed and Bayesian interpolation. Fixed interpolation was able to improve the performance of the NMT model on the specific-domain test set without significant degradation on the general-domain test set. These results were used to set the weights for Bayesian interpolation, which also was able to reduce degradation of performance on the general-domain test set. Finally, elastic weight consolidation, a regularisation technique, was used to retrain the NMT model on the specific-domain test set. This was also able to limit the degradation on the general-domain test set while improving the performance on the specific-domain test set after 20,000 iterations on the biology training set, although the degradation was still greater than that under any of the interpolation techniques. A further 20,000 iterations led to significant improvements on the specific-domain test set, while any reduction in degradation on the general-domain test set was lost.


Bikeshare programs have transformed the urban transportation landscape. However, their impacts on rail transit have not been fully examined. Some researchers find shared bikes help reduce the first-mile/last-mile gaps and boost rail transit ridership, although others see bikeshare as a competitor for riders. Previous studies have mostly relied on surveys of bikeshare program users as the data source, and few have addressed this question using more rigorous methods. In this paper, the authors take the Washington metropolitan area as an example and use statistical methods to quantify the impact of the bikeshare program on rail transit ridership. Using detailed ridership data between 2010 and 2015, they break down Metrorail ridership by type (entries vs. exits) and time of the day (AM peak vs. PM peak) to analyze how Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) interacts with Metrorail. Furthermore, Metrorail stations are categorized into core stations and peripheral stations to examine the impacts of CaBi in different built environments. Regression results show that the impacts of CaBi vary by Metrorail station location. For core Metrorail stations, CaBi docking stations within ¼-mile of a Metrorail station reduce rail ridership in all measures. In particular, CaBi would reduce the number of AM-peak exits by 4,738 per station per month. However, CaBi complements Metrorail in peripheral neighborhoods. Having CaBi installed nearby would increase monthly Metrorail ridership by 1,175 AM-peak exits, 1,417 PM-peak entries, 2,284 AM-peak entries, and 2,422 PM-peak exits. Based on the findings, the authors suggest a collaboration between Metrorail and CaBi to add more bikeshare stations within ¼-mile of peripheral Metrorail stations to increase the ridership of both systems.


The best way, theoretically, to maintain ideal voltage conditions on a given feeder is to equip each of its phases with a regulator. However, other factors in addition to voltage regulation must be considered in a practical co-ordinated design. The engineering approach toward accomplishing a purpose with the minimum physical facilities must be adhered to both in improving an old substation and in designing a new one. A very strong incentive to streamline and simplify substations as an outgrowth of congested conditions in old stations and as a means of reducing time and money requirements in building new ones, finds an ally in the closely coupled and densely loaded condition of today's distribution system. The availability of economical and reliable tap-changing equipment and the existence of short distribution feeders together permit, by group regulation, realization of very significant simplifications of substation design, construction, and operation. The preceding examples of conversion to group regulation have three important points in common: 1. The underlying reasons for the changes have been to make space and/or eliminate indoor oil-filled equipment. 2. The work to regroup the feeders by bus section voltage has been an engineering problem only, inasmuch as the change from open-type bus work to metal-enclosed switchgear required moving the feeders physically within the three stations regardless of voltage requirements. 3. Voltage conditions have improved thus far as normal development and changes of the distribution system have occurred during group operation.


Abstract Radiation and chemotherapy are toxic agents; their clinical utility, nevertheless, and curative effect are restricted by toxic side consequences such as nephrotoxicity. This study aims to determine the potential protective effects of Garcinol (G) (10 mg/kg/orally/daily for 4 weeks), a natural polyisoprenylated benzophenone, against renal injury in cyclophosphamide (CA) (150 mg/kg i.p. single-dose) and/or radiation (R) delivered as fractionated doses of 2 Gy/week up to total cumulative dose of 6 Gy to induce toxicity in rats. Kidney injury has been examined by histopathological investigation. Garcinol treatment showed amelioration by a significant decrease in the inflammatory markers (IL-1β and IL-6). Similarly, Garcinol-injected rats exhibited a significant decline in monocyte chemotactic protein-1(MCP-1), macrophage inducible c type lectin (Mincle), spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), transcriptional factor (NF-kB), and toll-like receptor (TLR-4) compared to the CA + R group. Additionally, histopathological and immunohistochemical examination showed that the administration of CA and/or γ-irradiated rats induced severe injury in kidney, and a decrease in Cyclin d1 immunostain level compared to the control group. Finally, this work may verify the protective role of Garcinol significantly shielding the kidney from damage by inhibiting Mincle expression, which also promotes M1 to M2, and prevents Syk and TLR-4/NF-kB activation.


The focus in the paper is on the physical reconstruction of the city core. This is especially important in areas that have suffered discontinuity in the development, as a result of the historical flow of events and war disaster. The specificity of the German cities is the combination of the cultural heritage of different periods that survived the war destruction, renewed structures, more or less according to the originals and reconstructed parts of the urban tissue in the style of the contemporary epochs and trends. One of the important conclusions is how we treat our urban heritage, no matter from which period dates. The rebuilding of the architectural content creates a testimony of duration, lifestyle, and adaptability. The beauty of the city and its identity is in visible layers set in unique dialogue.


Chapter - 00: Introduction Chapter - 01: What do you really think about customers? Chapter - 02: What is a value proposition? Chapter - 03: The value-focused approach Chapter - 04: Creating your value proposition Chapter - 05: Value Proposition Builder: Market Chapter - 06: Value Proposition Builder: The value experience Chapter - 07: Value Proposition Builder: Offerings Chapter - 08: Value Proposition Builder: Benefits Chapter - 09: Value Proposition Builder: Alternatives and differentiation Chapter - 10: Value Proposition Builder: Proof Chapter - 11: Value proposition template and value proposition statement Chapter - 12: Message development Chapter - 13: Implementation Chapter - 14: Starting and sustaining Chapter - 15: The value-focused enterprise


Cultural entrepreneurs are rightly called the heartbeat of the global economy as they are the ones who step in where governments fail to tread. Cultural entrepreneurs can instigate safeguarding of the timeless heritage of people with a pro-poor mission of generating collective awareness and encouraging community skill development. Cultural entrepreneurship is a significant requirement for the sustainability of the tourism sector of a country like India, as the 'culture' component has been the game changer in the Indian tourism scenario and has truly endowed the industry with its unique brand identity. The following chapter draws important examples from the industry and analyzes the business prospects based on heritage and pilgrimage tourism, thematic routes, events and festivals, as well as creative tourism for the budding entrepreneurs to present India in a never experienced before avatar as the challenges that are an irreplaceable part of such a sensitive endeavour.


It is a difficult point to detect and recognize artificial targets under the disturbance of the complex ground clutter when remote sensing and detection to the earth. Using the different polarization information between artificial object and natural scenery, the ability to distinguish artificial targets from natural scenery can be promoted effectively. On account that the differences of polarization characteristics is an important factor in designing the target recognition method, this paper focuses attention on the application of remote sensing and reconnaissance and makes detailed research on the long wave infrared polarization characteristics of several typical metallic targets, such as aluminum plate and iron plate and the aluminum plate that be coated with black paint or yellow green camouflage. Then, the changing rules of the degree and angle of the long wave infrared polarization changing with the measurement temperature are analyzed and researched. Work of this paper lays the theoretical foundation for the design of remote sensing and detection system based on the infrared polarization information in the future.


Besides its construction as a quotient of an abelian surface, a Kummer surface can be obtained as the quotient of a K3 surface by a Z/2Z-action. In this paper, we classify all such K3 surfaces. Our classification is expressed in terms of period lattices and extends Morrison's criterion of K3 surfaces with a Shioda–Inose structure. Moreover, we list all the K3 surfaces associated to a general Kummer surface and provide very geometrical examples of this


A new methodology proposes the asymmetrical multilevel inverters in which the condensers are exercised as DC-links to produce the staircase wave shape. A smaller quantity of DC sources can be used to give off the 13-level output voltage. However, the unequal DC sources are used to turn out the 13-level output. The major snag of the multilevel inverters is devices count; here, the 2 self-charging capacitors and 14 semiconductor devices are used to produce the desired output. Without auxiliary circuits, the proposed scheme created the inherent state to produce the outputs of the negative level. Lesser number of components usage desirable to use in many applications. The proposed configuration is schematized from a Back-to-Back assembly of two T type inverter and other elements. In a connection of cascaded module, it can be producing different voltage levels at higher voltages. Nearest level Control switching modulation is exercised to attain the effective sine waveform. MATLAB/Simulink platform is used to attain the simulation outcomes and a prototype module can be developed to justify the outcomes.


FIELD: manufacture of monolithic glass. SUBSTANCE: first sol is prepared by mixing 100 weight parts consisting of high-density silica powder with 100- 300 weight parts of deionized water and rapid drying by adjusting pH of first sol from 9 to 11. First dried sol is heat treated at temperature of equal to or above 600 C, and second sol is prepared by mixing heat-treated first sol with 100-200 weight parts of deionized water. Second gel is transformed into molded gel, dried, heat treated and sintered. EFFECT: manufacture of monolithic high-purity quartz glass. 5 cl, 2 dwg


Abstract: A low students' motivation in grade X4 evidenced by students are classified some students often make joke in the classroom during the learning process. Low learning motivation cause low student learning outcomes. Based on these problems, then the researcher implemented innovative learning, using Roundhouse diagram techniques through a panel discussion. The results of this study indicate that the implementation of this techniques can enhance student motivation and learning outcomes. In cycle I, the learning motivation of students was 65.70%, while in the second cycle increased to 71.40%. The results of data analysis on students' cognitive learning outcomes indicate that the classical students achievement in the cycle I was 65.70% and in the second cycle also 65.70%. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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Abstract Introduction : Numerous legal acts are in place to protect the personal data of patients. The Act on the Protection of Personal Data contains basic information on the principles of data processing, as well as specifying what criminal sanctions are in place for non-compliance. The aim of the study was to assess the level of knowledge about personal data protection among nursing staff working in the Świętokrzyskie Province. Additionally, an analysis of the subjective assessment of whether there is a need for training in the field of personal data of the above-mentioned professional group was performed. Materials and methods : The study was conducted among 141 male and female nurses working in the Świętokrzyskie Province. The study group consisted of 109 people working in the hospital and 32 people working in primary health care. The average age of respondents was 41.3 years. The study used the diagnostic survey method. A tailored questionnaire was used to assess knowledge about the protection of personal data. The obtained results were statistically developed using Excel. The present study used the χ2 test and statistical significance was assumed at the level of p < 0.05. Results : Among of respondents 89% selected paper and electronics as the leading methods of storing data. A very small number of respondents, namely about 4% of the surveyed people, have passed patient information to a third party. Among of people 81% are aware of the criminal liability for violating the provisions on the protection of personal data. Less than half of the respondents (38%) knew the correct length of time that medical records can be stored – 20 years. No relationship was found between the type of workplace and demand for training, and the type of workplace and the subjective assessment of the level of knowledge of the respondents in the field of personal data protection. Conclusions : Nursing staff working in primary health care show a greater need for training on the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) than nursing staff working in hospitals. There is no statistically significant difference between the workplace of nursing staff and the demand for training. The subjective assessment of knowledge of the respondents in the field of personal data protection in the case of hospital nurses is low, and in the case of primary health care employees is average.


A simple and inexpensive method of making latex microballoons for neuroradiologic procedures is described. The balloons have been tested in experimental animals and used in human clinical procedures. Preliminary experience and results are presented.


A study was made on graft copolymerization of maleic anhydride onto polyethylene. Effects of reaction conditions on graft ratio were investigated. The graft copolymer structure was characterized by infrared spectrum. The effects of graft ratio and PVC contents on tensile strength of the blend were studied. Interfacial morphology of the blends were observed by scanning electron microscope. The results showed that compatibility and mechanical properties of PE-LD-g-MAH/PVC blends were raised. When the graft ratio was about 10 % and PVC contents was 40 %, the tensile strength of the blend was 13.8 MPa.


The blood-meals of bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) were examined for serum protein haptoglobins (HP) in order to detect potential multiple feeding by these insects. If natural multiple feeds in bugs which have fed on human hosts with different Hp types can be detected this would indicate the likelihood of hepatitis B virus being transmitted mechanically between humans by interrupted feeding.


The thought of Eschatology in Russian religion has profound influence on Russian literature.A great number of writers were affected by the thought.In Plaha,one of Ajtmatow's novels,the thought of eschatology was vividly revealed by the description of the miserable lives of different characters.The writer shows the dissatisfaction and criticism towards the cruel and ugly reality and expresses his wish for creating a wonderful world by trying to sentence the doom.


Sir, Koilonychia is a syndrome characterized by eversion of the edges of the nails, while the central portion of the nail becomes concave. This dystrophy usually involves several fingers, especially the thumb. The underlying tissues may either be healthy or affected by subungual hyperkeratosis. Classification of koilonychia includes idiopathic forms (hereditary and congenital, sometimes associated with other anomalies) as well as acquired forms (secondary to avitaminoses, dermatoses, kidney transplantation, carpal tunnel syndrome, cardiovascular and haematological disorders, infections, endocrine disorders, traumatic and occupational forms) (1). The first three digits are frequently involved in occupational forms of koilonychias, probably because they are more exposed to pressure during handwork (1). Tazarotene is an acetylenic retinoid selective for retinoic acid receptors (RARa) and is approved as a topical treatment for psoriasis (2). It has a strong antiproliferative effect and it modulates keratinocyte differentiation (3). We present a case of occupational koilonychia treated with tazarotene 0.1% gel.


Studies on the inheritance of corolla colour, type of androecium, time of anthesis, and fruit taste have been conducted for the first time in interspecific crosses of Luffa and on the fruit surface in the intervarietal cross in L. acutangula; new gene symbols for the genes controlling corolla colour and type of androecium have been proposed.


A relationship has been identified between the blood group and infectious diseases. COVID-19 is an infection caused by a new coronavirus designated as SARS-CoV-2, which has rapidly spread worldwide. In this retrospective study, COVID-19 patients who were referred to Razi Hospital in Ahvaz from February 2020 to May 2020 were evaluated and analyzed using SPSS v.16.0. The relationship between the ABO blood group and COVID-19 was assessed using the Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman correlation coefficient. The frequencies of blood types O, AB, B, and A were 40.2, 11.8, 25.5, and 22.5%, respectively, Among the 8016 COVID-19 patients, the frequencies of blood types O, AB, B, and A were 41.9, 9.3, 25.7, and 23.1%, respectively, and no significant difference was observed in terms of the distribution of blood groups between the healthy and infected people (P = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.66-1.23). In addition, patients admitted to the ICU ward had blood groups of O, AB, B, and A, with a percentage of 21.3, 31.29, 33.6, and 35.3%, respectively. Furthermore, dead patients had A, B, AB, and O blood types with a percentage of 10.0, 11.4, 11.05, and 16.3%, respectively. A significant relationship was observed between the blood group and disease severity and death in COVID-19 patients (p=0.05, 95% CI = 1.02-1.73). The study showed that people with blood types A and O are at higher and lower risk of infection, severity, and death from COVID-19, respectively.


In this paper, a modified compensated matching method for designing a low-noise broadband microwave amplifier with guaranteed stability is proposed. Compensated matching method is formulated as an optimization problem. A hybrid optimization algorithm based on the combination of the genetic algorithm and conjugate gradients method is used to the design of the low-noise stable broadband RF amplifier. The new hybrid algorithm obtains low-noise figure, gain flatness, stability, and loss factor correlated with each reactive element and matching network accomplishment included. An 8–16 GHz broadband microwave amplifier is designed to verify its application. This paper shows that a hybrid technique improves the accuracy of the design and speeds up the design procedure significantly.


The purpose of the paper is a description of an algorithm and technique of modeling allowing one to replace complicated analytical accounts for calculation of Green's tensors for multilayered strip and slot waveguide designs by simple and evident procedure of construction of researched structure decomposition scheme and its subsequent analysis by methods of the theory of microwave circuits.


It is widely understood that policy-level interventions have had far greater effects on reducing tobacco use than individual-level measures. Yet, many continue to view the tobacco epidemic as a problem of individual decisions to use harmful products, rather than a problem of governments' failure to properly protect the public from those unnecessary, addictive and lethal products in the first place. The papers in this e-issue consider the multiple impacts of policy changes and point to the importance of how those impacts are measured, as well as what we decide to measure and why it matters.

The research-policy relationship, as noted by Warner and Tam in 2012,1 is a complicated and sometimes cyclical one in which research influences policy adoption, policy adoption changes the environment and policy impacts may turn out to be different than anticipated, opening up new research areas. Many policies remain unevaluated, and such evaluations, given the complexity of policy contexts, are highly challenging to do well, requiring consideration of multiple factors that may not always be obvious. The paper by Been et al 2 is illustrative. They used an interrupted time series design to assess the effects of Scottish implementation of a national smoke-free policy on children's hospitalisations and deaths from respiratory infections. Using their prespecified model, they found a puzzling gradual increase in such hospitalisations. Post-hoc exploratory break point analyses demonstrated that the increase actually preceded the implementation of the law by 16 months. After accounting for this, the policy was found to be associated with a modest, gradual decrease in respiratory events.

But health outcomes are not the only relevant measures of policy impact. Policy …


We present a mathematical and algorithmic scheme for learning the principal geometric elements in an image or 3D object. We build on recent work that convexifies the basic problem of finding a combination of a small number shapes that overlap and occlude one another in such a way that they "match" a given scene as closely as possible. This paper derives general sufficient conditions under which this convex shape composition identifies a target composition. From a computational standpoint, we present two different methods for solving the associated optimization programs. The first method simply recasts the problem as a linear program, while the second uses the alternating direction method of multipliers with a series of easily computed proximal operators.


The utility model relates to a wrapper pressing machine, in particular to the wrapper pressing machine of steamed dumplings. Symmetric cams are respectively installed at two sides of the frame, a die push rod is hinged on the symmetric cam shaft, an installation table is fixedly connected at the upper side of the frame, the installation table is provided with a material inlet box. Symmetric movable cranks of the material pressing device are respectively installed at two sides of the frame, a movable connecting rod is connected between the symmetric movable cranks, a forming die is installed on the movable connecting rod. A transmission wheel of the transmission mechanism is installed at two ends of the frame, a transmission belt is installed on the transmission wheel. The forming die can be formed in a way of extruding by the material pressing device of the wrapper pressing machine, thereby the production efficiency is increased, and the workload of producers is decreased. Because the wrapper is formed by a die, the kinds and styles of finished products are also increased at the same time of improving the quality of the finished products, so that the application field of the finished products is developed.


We consider a single-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system in which the transmitter has access to both the channel covariance and the channel mean. For this scenario, we provide an explicit second-order approximation of the ergodic capacity of the channel, and we use this approximation to show that when the channel has a non-zero mean, the basis of the optimal input covariance matrix depends on the input signal power. (This basis is independent of the signal power in the zero-mean case.) The second-order approximation also provides insight into the way in which the low-signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) optimal input covariance matrix is related to the optimal input covariance matrix at arbitrary SNRs. Furthermore, we show that the design of the input covariance matrix that optimizes the second-order approximation can be cast as a convex optimization problem for which the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions completely characterize the optimal solution. Using these conditions, we provide an efficient algorithm for obtaining second-order optimal input covariance matrices. The resulting covariances confirm our theoretical observation that, in general, the low-SNR optimal signal basis does not coincide with the optimal basis at higher SNRs. Finally, we show how our second-order design algorithm can be used to efficiently obtain input covariance matrices that provide ergodic rates that approach the ergodic capacity of the system.


The invention discloses a method for playing segmental videos in gapless mode in a television set and the television set. The method comprises the following steps that the television set receives an instruction message of playing multiple segmental video files, and head index information of the multiple segmental video files is downloaded from a medium server; the downloaded head index information is analyzed and combined to generate one piece of new head index information capable of reflecting all the segmental videos; a player of the television set is initialized according to the novel head index information; the television set downloads audio and video flow data information, corresponding to the novel head index information, of the multiple segmental video files from the medium server, and the audio and video flow data information of the multiple segmental video files is played continuously through the player of the television set. By means of the method for playing segmental videos in gapless mode in a television set and the television set, when the player of the television set plays the multiple segmental video files, a next video file can be played without restarting the player of the television set, a user can continuously watch the multiple videos through the player of the television set, and the waiting time for the user is shortened.