The problem of population is one of the problems in the Province of West Sumatra, especially in the City of Padang, Kota Bukitinggi, and the City of Payakumbuh which has a very fast population growth rate, this occurs due to several factors such as births, deaths, residents who come, and residents who leave. The highest population growth occurred in Padang City in 2018 amounting to 939,112 residents and the smallest population growth occurred in the City of Bukitinggi in 2014 amounting to 120,491 residents. The purpose of this study is to predict population growth that will occur in 2019 in the cities of Padang, Bukittinggi and Payakumbuh. The method used in this research is descriptive correlational by applying backpropagation neural networks. The application used is Matlab. Based on the problems and methods obtained, the predicted results in 2019 in Padang City amounted to 124,7150, Bukittinggi numbered 126,8040 and Payakumbuh totaled 128.7830.  Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, Backpropagation, Matlab.


markupest implements the markup estimation micro-approach proposed by De Loecker and Warzynski (AER, 2012), and the macro estimation routines proposed by Hall (JPE, 1988), Roeger (JPE, 1995) and Hall (WP, 2018).


DOI https://doi.org/10.15294 /ijcet.v9i2.36645 Abstract ___________________________________________________________________ Starting from 2015, the ministry of religions and affairs of Indonesia has developed a type of formal education service, specially for pesantren by announcing Pendidikan Diniyah Formal (PDF). Some pesantren in Indonesia have implemented this kind of curriculum, so that it is necessary to conduct a study related to its implementation in order to acquire the whole description of its actualization in pesantren. This study aims to describe the implementation of PDF at APIK (Asrama Pendidikan Islam Kaliwungu), one of pesantren in Kaliwungu. This study belongs to case study and uses qualitative approach. The data were collected through interview, observation, and documentation in order to know the planning, implementation, and evaluation process of PDF. This study uses the model of Miles and Huberman which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing in analyzing the data. The research result shows the implementation of PDF at APIK including its learning objectives, materials, sources, time allotment, as well as the evaluation system has been appropriate with the basic rule of PDF established by the government. However, it still remains the specific characteristics of pesantren, including its local content, classroom management, as well as the learning strategy used such as bandongan and sorogan. The result of this study can be used as reference for other pesantren applying PDF and to facilitate some pesantren which have applied PDF in spreading its existence among Indonesian people, so that their graduates can be accepted in higher education institution as well as other formal institutions.


This paper aims to present the appropriate way to implement ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), so its desired operation is achieved. To do so, the conditions of implementation for proper operation are explained. The focus of this work is to clarify two important terms that have been misunderstood and affect the operation of GFCIs: the equipment grounding conductor and the main bonding jumper. As it will be seen, the misinterpretation of the National Electrical Code leads to an erroneous connection of the neutral conductor to ground on the load side of the electrical system. Such a connection is not necessary but inadequate and only carries the GFCI to trip when unnecessary or vice versa. Moreover, the improper operation of GFCIs implies the rise of costs associated to take the system out of service, yet the use of these devices is essential to protect people from electrocution. Finally, as a plus of this paper, the computational model of a system with a GFCI and the results of its simulation in ATPDraw are presented to show the different cases of proper and improper operation of GFCIs.


In Cote d'Ivoire, tree crops are an important source of agricultural income. Unfortunately, the disquieting expansion of Loranthaceae is observed on many annuity crops like cocoa trees, coffee trees and rubber trees. This situation can harm the economy generated by the activity out coming from these speculations. The aim of this study is therefore, to know the diversity of Loranthaceae and to determine the extent of their infestation on crops, in rural area on the periphery of the University Jean Lorougnon Guede. The inventories were carried out by surface and roving survey methods coupled with direct observations on individuals of cocoa trees, coffee trees and rubber trees. In total, 3 species of Loranthaceae: Globimetula danglagei, Phragmanthera capitata var. capitata and Tapinanthus bangwensis (T. bangwensis) were inventoried in the plantations. T. bangwensis is the most abundant parasite on crops. Forty-one host species divided into 34 genera and 21 families have been identified within the plantations. The Fabaceae (19.51%) and the Malvaceae (9.75%) are the most infested families. On cocoa trees, coffee trees and rubber trees, the parasitism of Loranthaceae respectively indicated the following pairs of values (incidence and severity index): (42.86±7.02% and 33.99±7.10%), (25.93±11.65% and 21.92±3.11%) and (6.38±0.97% and 6.72±1.55%). The results indicated a significant difference between the incidences of infestation, the crop severity index as a function of Diameter Breast Height (DBH). The incidence of Loranthaceae infestation on all the annuity crops is around 24.93±17.20% and the severity index is 20.88±12.47%.


Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosome-dependent catabolic mechanism to maintain cell homeostasis. The defect of autophagy was lined to the pathogenesis of many diseases. Beclin-1 is a key factor in the regulation of macroautophagy for its function to recruit key autophagy proteins in the forms of Beclin-1 containing core complex with Vps34 , and Vps15. As a BH3-only Bcl-2 family protein , Beclin-1 is regulated by Bcl-2 family proteins through its BH3 domain. The expression levels , phosphorylation , subcellular localizaon of Beclin-1 and other Bcl-2 family anti-apoptotic proteins , as well as other BH3-only proteins were known to regulate the Beclin-1 functions. Thus , Beclin-1 could be serving as a switching factor to determine whether the cells undergo autophagy or apoptosis.


Dermatological conditions are prevalent across all population sub‐groups. The affected body part is of importance to their diagnosis, therapy, and research. The automatic identification of body parts in dermatological clinical pictures could therefore improve clinical care by providing additional information for clinical decision‐making algorithms, discovering hard‐to‐treat areas, and research by identifying new patterns of disease.


With the complexities in computing optimal low thrust trajectories, easily-computed, good sub-optimal trajectories provide both a practical alternative for mission designers and a starting point for optimisation. The present paper collects in one place for easy reference and comparison several exact solutions that have been obtained in the literature over the last few decades: the logarithmic spiral, Pinkham's variant thereof, Forbes spiral, the exponential sinusoid, the case of constant radial thrust, Markopoulos's Keplerian thrust arcs, Lawden's spiral, and the analogous Bishop and Azimov spiral.


Since its introduction in 2009, application of the rehydroxylation (RHX) technique for dating fired-clay ceramics has been controversial, with very few satisfactory dating results collected in the interim. The stability and efficiency of this technique has been called into question by several investigators in the last few years, who have struggled to reproduce and validate this new dating method. Based on our new mass gain measurements for ca. 2000–7000 yrs old ceramic artifacts, the reproducibility in the RHX process rate is analyzed and discussed. Timespan analysis was performed, and age uncertainty related to RHX dating technique was evaluated by considering the error propagation. The results show poor reproducibility of the RHX process in the samples of the same origins, which give new evidence for a revision of the RHX protocols.


A modified internal model control (IMC) structure is proposed for representative industry process. The structure combines the control principle and new Luus-Jaakola (NLJ) optimization algorithm. The advantage of the structure is that set-point tracking and disturbance rejection can be designed separately. Design for a typical processes shows that the control structure can be tuned easily and achieve good tradeoff between performance and robustness. This method has a simplified structure and proposes a novel way for the optimization and the advance control of the process systems.


Objective:To explore the role of thymidylate synthase(TS) in occurrence and development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia(CIN) and cervical carcinoma and its relationship with prognosis. Methods:Immunohistochemical SP method was used to detect the expression levels of TS and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) in chronic cervicitis,CIN and cervical carcinoma. Results:Compared with chronic cervicitis group,the expression rates of TS in CIN group and cervical carcinoma group increased significantly(P=0.006,0.004,respectively).There was no significant difference in expression rate of TS between CIN group and cervical carcinoma group(P=0.780);there was no significant difference in expression rate of TS among subgroups of CIN group;in cervical carcinoma group,the expression of TS correlated with clinical stages(P=0.033) and lymph node metastasis(P=0.015),but it was not related to degree of cell differentiation(P=0.343) and depth of myometrial invasion(P=0.350).The expression rates of PCNA in CIN group and cervical carcinoma group were significantly higher than that in chronic cervicitis group(P=0.029,0.000,respectively),the expression rate of PCNA in cervical carcinoma group was also significantly higher than that in CIN group(P=0.000);in CIN group and cervical carcinoma group,there was correlation between TS expression and PCNA expression(Pearson contingency coefficient=0.3169,χ2=8.371,P0.005). Conclusion:As a kind of proliferating protein,TS plays an important role in the occurrence of cervical lesions,which has a certain prognostic value in cervical carcinoma.


The present invention provides an antiviral activity, particularly with influenza virus proliferation zo inhibitory activity. More preferably, a cap-dependent endonuclease display inhibitory activity, substituted 3-hydroxy-pyridone derivative.


The problem of location estimation of a source of random signals using a network of sensors is considered. A novel maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) based approach using copula functions is proposed. The measurements received at the sensors are often spatially correlated and characterized by a multivariate distribution. Using the theory of copulas, the joint parametric density of sensor observations (joint likelihood) is approximated assuming only the knowledge of the marginal likelihood functions of the sensor observations. The problem of selecting the best copula function to model the joint likelihood is approached as one of model selection and a model fusion strategy is used to reduce the effect of selection bias. An example involving source localization of a Poisson source is presented to illustrate the proposed approach and demonstrate its performance.


− Bluetooth is a promising wireless technology to form the personal area network and is being applied in versatile areas including both IP and non-IP protocol services. The current transport service can only provides best-effort for all master-slave connections. It is a challenge for providing quality of service (QoS) in the Bluetooth piconet because of the feature of master driven Time Division Duplex (TDD). The Bluetooth standard doesn't address how to meet the QoS requirements. There are several works had addressed this issue, but all works of these approaches require to modify existing Bluetooth specification and devices. To solve the problem, some requirements as following must be meet in an ideal mechanism: (1) practicability for the existing Bluetooth specification and devices, (2) QoS for both IP and non-IP protocol services, (3) different treatment in accordance with protocol service, (4) scalability without any changes to slaves. In this paper, a traffic shaper is proposed in the Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP) on master to provide QoS for both IP and non-IP packets and without any modification in the Bluetooth specification. This approach regulates the traffic of different protocol services to comply with the constrained rate in Bluetooth piconet. The prototype is implemented and tested in Linux platform. Experimental results show that our scheme provides QoS and it is practicable in Bluetooth piconet.


In today's circumstances, operational personnel often face crimes violating the constitutional rights of citizens, including violation of the telephone conversation secrecy. Documentation of these crimes implies that field investigator has special knowledge in the sphere of computer technology. When documenting criminal actions, it is necessary to take into account the type of crime characteristics mentioned in this article.


The characteristics of the histopathological image of chronic periodontitis are alterations in the final section of blood vessels. Coenzyme Q by the influence on the vascular wall may have a favorable effect on the improvement of the parodontium condition. Vitamin E intensifies the cell type response. The aim of the research was evaluation of the parodontium condition after oral application of Coenzyme Q with Vitamin E. Thirty patients with chronic periodontitis were examined. After the initial examination, scaling and root planning the hygiene indicators: plaque index (PlI), interdental hygiene index (HYG), parodontium indicators: gingival index (GI), sulcus bleeding index (SBI) ± and measurement of the periodontal pockets depth (PPD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) was performed. The patients have been taking the Coenzyme Q with Vitamin E drug for two months. In this time the indicators were once again estimated and the measurement of the periodontal pockets depth was performed. The total antioxidant status (TAS) in the mixed saliva by the colorimetric method was determined twice. The average value of PlI decreased from 1.0 to 0.36, and the average value of HYG was reduced from 39.51% to 6.97% after two months of taking the medicine. The parodontium condition also improved. Average values of GI decreased from 0.68 to 0.18, and the values of SBI decreased from 7.26 to 0.87. Periodontal pockets shallowed by 30%. The laboratory examination result improved by 20%. Coenzyme Q with Vitamin E has a beneficial effect on the periodontal tissue.


An ethylene propylene rubber polyampholyte (EPR-g-PA) containing zwitterionic ammonium carboxylate grafts is prepared by reacting maleated EPR (EPR-g-MAn) with a tertiary amino alcohol, 2-[2-(dimethylamino)ethoxy]ethanol (DMAEE). EPR-g-PA has equivalent viscoelastic properties to an EPR that is lightly cross-linked using a peroxide cure, but with a higher strain hardening coefficient and elongation at break. EPR-g-PA has similar adhesion to metals and improved adhesion to other ionomers, whereas the adhesive strength to a polyamide substrate is reduced compared to the EPR-g-MAn. The in situ reaction of EPR-g-MAn with DMAEE during blending with PP produced a blend with superior impact properties compared to the thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) blend of peroxide cross-linked EPR-g-MAn and PP.


When a visual stimulus that occupies a large area of an individual's visual field moves uniformly in one direction, that individual perceives an illusion of self motion in the opposite direction. In this paper, we investigated the influences of visual contrast on perception of visual stimulus elicited the illusion of linear self motion (linear vection). Fourteen young adult male volunteer subjects participated in the study. The experimental stimuli were generated onto screen by computer. The subjects' visual field was simultaneously stimulated by blue sine-wave patterns that moved in opposite directions. The visual stimuli changed into five spatial frequencies (0.033, 0.053, 0.084, 0.130, and 0.210 cycle/deg) and six contrast conditions. Subjects were asked to report the perceived motion velocity using the magnitude estimation method. In addition, the latency of linear vection has been recorded by computer. Our results suggested that the linear vection to be more compelling when the spatial frequency from 0.045cycle/deg to 0.286 cycle/deg with high contrast of visual stimuli.


As sport-fishing pressures increase in coastal marine waters, management agencies are expected to lose direct control over fishing effort, total harvest, and fishery-based information for stock assessment. Harvest control will be difficult because most sport fisheries remain open to unlimited public use without direct license or effort limitation. Without effort control, management tactics such as bag limits aimed at controlling total harvest typically fail because they regulate individual anglers. We develop a simple model of recreational fishery dynamics to show that current harvest-control methods should not be expected to control or reduce exploitation rates in open-access sport, fisheries. The model predictions are (1) linear effort response to changes in fish abundance, (2) fish abundance limit below which effort is not attracted, and (3) rapidly increasing exploitation at low effort. Also, exploitation is expected to be insensitive to effort over a relatively wide range. Empirical data show that harvest restrictions tend to reduce participation by consumptive anglers, and we incorporate this effect into the effort-response model. We conclude that typical regulations such as bag limits and seasonal closures are not drastic enough to affect total exploitation. Although bag limits are usually ineffective for their intended purpose (direct harvest reduction), they probably act as an indirect means of effort control, but only temporarily. We suggest that managers of sport fisheries should consider direct license limitation or harvest permits where control of exploitation is needed.


There are different views with reference to age as an influential demographic factor in decision making. Some studies claimed age is just a number and does not represent any constraint or limitation. On the contrary some studies proof that cognitive abilities of an individual declines as he age. The present study is an attempt to analyze the impact of this crucial demographic variable on investment decision making of the individual investors. Five investment characteristics are being included namely investment objective, time horizon, selection parameter, comparison benchmark and portfolio revision. Data is collected from respondents all over India. Chi square test and fisher exact test is been used to analyze the data. The study concludes that age does have an impact over financial decisions of investors. The reported variations in investment preference may be due to varying cognitive abilities or the difference in need and priorities of individuals at different stage of life.


Objective to explore the pattern and experiences of breast-feeding practices among diabetic women. Design retrospective cohort study using maternal records and postal questionnaires in a Baby-Friendly hospital. Participants from the total group of respondents, 81.9% intended to breast feed. The actual breast feeding rates were 81.9% at birth, 68.1% at 2 weeks and 28.7% at 6 months postpartum. Major themes that were identified from women's experiences included information and advice, support vs. pressure, classification and labelling, and expectations.


: Schön's contribution is significant in defining and understanding design inquiry, though he wrote little about its socio-cultural aspects, as Dewey initially intended. While ethnographic research has provided insight into the socio-cultural aspects of designers' inquiry, it poses several methodological challenges for observing designers in action in real-world contexts. In reference to pragmatist theories of design and professional action, this article proposes a theoretical model for qualitatively observing and analyzing designers' inquiry in real-world contexts. The model aims to capture design inquiry in a richer and more holistic way, by including its socio-cultural aspects. The model serves as a collection and analysis tool compatible with the


In the United Kingdom (UK), under successive governments, there have been many changes over the years on 'cooking in schools' policy, ranging from the removal of cooking from the curriculum to a promise from the current government to make cooking compulsory for all 11–14 year olds by 2011. This paper reports on the current activity around cooking in schools policy in the UK. It also looks at how previous approaches led to these activities and to changes in the school environment, and the problems associated with an un-coordinated approach to the introduction of cooking in schools.


Mast cells act as central effector and regulatory cells in many inflammatory disorders, including T helper 1 (TH1)‐mediated inflammations such as autoimmunity and TH2‐mediated inflammations such as allergy and parasite infections. One characteristic for mast cell‐mediated inflammations is the accumulation of mast cells in the inflamed tissue. The factors regulating mast cell recruitment in these inflammations are still not fully characterized. We have investigated the potency of TH1‐ and TH2‐secreted cytokines to mediate mast cell migration. Supernatants from six different TH1 and TH2 clones were tested for mast cell‐chemotactic activity using the human mast cell line (HMC‐1) as a responder cell. All six clones produced factors that induced mast cell migration. Using blocking antibodies to a broad range of cytokines, we found that anti‐tumour necrosis factor‐α (anti‐TNF‐α) reduced the migration of mast cells to supernatants from TH1 clones. In contrast, the main mast cell chemoattractants secreted by TH2 clones were found to be interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) and IL‐8. The potency of these cytokines to act as mast cell chemoattractants was confirmed by using recombinant IL‐4, IL‐8 and TNF‐α. Our results suggest that TNF‐α can be involved in the recruitment of mast cells in TH1‐mediated inflammations, whereas IL‐4 and IL‐8 might play a similar role in TH2‐mediated inflammations.


. The purpose of the article is to study the transformation of types of local taxes in the tax system based on a retrospective analysis of their legal regulation; to identify the shortcomings and positive experience of taxation lawmaking. Research methods . The general scientific (comparison, generalization) and special (retrospective analysis, content analysis, logical-legal method) methods of scientific knowledge were used to achieve the goal. Results. The experience of delegation of legislative powers by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the legal grounds for conducting a taxation experiment were analyzed. The author examined the sequence of adoption of normative legal acts, which regulate the establishment and procedures for collecting local taxes, by legislative and executive bodies. As a result of comparison of the lists of local taxes that are simultaneously enshrined in two legal acts (The Law of Ukraine "On the Taxation System" and the Decree "On Local Taxes and Fees"), which were in force from October 1, 1994 until the adoption of the Tax Code of Ukraine, the non-identity of the names and terms enshrining individual local taxes was revealed. The local taxes collected to attract the additional funds to local budgets in the short term and in order of the experiment were emphasized. It is noted that for the first time the concept of "tax agent" was legally fixed and the intended use of their tax revenues was settled in the legal acts which established the procedure for collecting of local taxes by experiment. Conclusions. The Ukrainian tax system is characterized by the reduction of local taxes. Since 2015, it comprises two local taxes. The decision on their collection in a particular territory is made by the local government. The mechanism of legal regulation of local taxes, which started working after the proclamation of Ukraine's independence in 1991, is constantly evolving and being improving. However, the rulemaking process requires the following: 1) to improve the coordination of actions of legislative and executive authorities; 2) to take into account the norms enshrined in interrelated documents; 3) executive authorities to comply with the limits of tax authority established by law.


Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a treatment administered to an individual to prevent the development of infection or reduce the severity of illness after a potential or documented exposure to a microorganism. This may primarily be for the protection of the exposed individual concern, or in the case of a pregnant woman, for protecting the foetus in utero. PEP may also be useful in public health to reduce the risk of secondary spread of infection. A good history is required in order to make a proper assessment of the risk. The following questions should be asked: A. Which infection is suspected and is the source infectious? It is straight forward if the diagnosis of the source of exposure is already known, e.g. known HIV, established diagnosis of tuberculosis. However, in many cases, the diagnosis of the source may not be certain, e.g. needle stick injury involving a needle of unknown origin, bitten by a stray dog, exposed to a child with a non-specific rash. In such cases, a risk assessment is required to assess the likelihood that the source may be infectious. Knowledge of local epidemiology or recent outbreaks in a particular locality may help in such risk assessment. B. What is the nature of the exposure? Knowledge of the mode of transmission of a microorganism is important to establish if there is any risk of transmission through the exposure In the case of mother-to-child transmission, PEP to the neonate born to a mother with an infection is effective if the mode of transmission is predominately perinatal, e.g. hepatitis B. If the mode of transmission is transplacental, it is too late to administer PEP to the baby after delivery. Instead, the expected mother should be given prophylaxis during pregnancy to prevent infection, e.g. chicken pox, or given antivirals to reduce infectivity, e.g. maternal hepatitis B with a high viral load when transplacental infection may occur. In HIV, where transmission can occur both transplacentally and perinatally, antiretroviral therapy (ART) needs to be given during pregnancy and often during labour as well as to the baby after birth.


Persistence and dissipation of deltamethrin is reported on straw and pods of mungbean following application of 0.05 per cent deltamethrin at seedling and flowering stage of crop growth. Deltamethrin residues persisted up to 7 days in leaves and 3 days in pods. In these periods, residue levels were above the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) of 0.05 ppm. Residues dissipated from 6.5 ppm to 0.20 ppm (96.92 per cent) within 10 days after first and 5.10 ppm to 0.41 ppm (91.96 per cent) within 7 days after second spraying in summer 1997. Same trend was observed in kharif season but initial deposition (8.10 ppm) was higher than summer season. In pods initial deposition was lower than leaves. It was only 1.15 ppm and 2.15 ppm during summer and kharif season, respectively. Initial deposition after first spraying (at seedling stage) was always higher than second spraying (at flowering stage). Half life varied from 3.10 to 4.59 days in leaves and 1.15 to 1.72 days in pods. Waiting periods ranged from 3.67 to 7.99 days in leaves and 3.65 to 5.21 days in pods.


Cloud resource providers provide the compute, storage and network resources in an on demand manner from cloud infrastructure. Resource Provisioning is one of the biggest challenging tasks in the cloud infrastructure, due to the dynamic nature of cloud resources and on demand user application requirements. However, in the cloud infrastructure, failure is one of the most essential factors that plays a main role in the completion of jobs within the user-specified deadline and minimize the execution cost. The proposed failure-aware resource provisioning mechanism involves three stages: (1) Predict the availability of cloud resources (2) Cluster the cloud resources based on the availability (3) Optimal Selection of Clustered resources. The proposed approach is integrated with the Cloud Broker to allocate the cloud resources for provisioning in an optimal manner. It is evaluated by performing the various simulation experiments. The simulation results prove the effectiveness in terms of makespan, execution cost and failure rate of the jobs.


This study uses the mathematical software Maple for the auxiliary tool to evaluate two types of integrals. We can obtain the closed forms of these two types of integrals by using Leibniz differential rule and differentiation with respect to a parameter. At the same time, we provide some integral examples to do calculation practically. The research methods adopted in this study involved finding solutions through manual calculations and verifying these solutions by using Maple. This type of research method not only allows the discovery of calculation errors, but also helps modify the original directions of thinking from manual and Maple calculations. Therefore, Maple provides insights and guidance regarding problem-solving methods. As information technology advances, whether computers can become comparable with human brains to perform abstract tasks, such as abstract art similar to the paintings of Picasso and musical compositions similar to those of Mozart, is a natural question. Currently, this appears unattainable. In addition, whether computers can solve abstract and difficult mathematical problems and develop abstract mathematical theories such as those of mathematicians also appears unfeasible. Nevertheless, in seeking for alternatives, we can study what assistance mathematical software can provide. This study introduces how to conduct mathematical research using the mathematical software Maple. The main reasons of using Maple in this study are its simple instructions and ease of use, which enable beginners to learn the operating techniques in a short period. By employing the powerful computing capabilities of Maple, difficult problems can be easily solved. Even when Maple cannot determine the solution, problem-solving hints can be identified and inferred from the approximate values calculated and solutions to similar problems, as determined by Maple. For this reason, Maple can provide insights into scientific research. Inquiring through an online support system provided by Maple or browsing the Maple website (www.maplesoft.com) can facilitate further understanding of Maple and might provide unexpected insights. For the instructions and operations of Maple, (1)-(7) can be adopted as references. In calculus and engineering mathematics courses, we learnt many methods to solve the integral problems, including change of variables method, integration by parts method, partial fractions method, trigonometric substitution method, and so on. In this paper, we study the evaluation of the following two types of indefinite integrals which are not easy to obtain their answers by using the methods mentioned above. 


For the realization of high-performance organic static induction transistors (OSITs), it is important to investigate the effect of a hole injection barrier at the interface between a pentacene films and a source electrode in OSITs. In this study, the OSITs based on pentacene films were fabricated on various metallic source electrodes with different work functions and on copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes with different CuPc thicknesses. The hole injection barrier was affected by the work function of metallic source electrodes (ITO, Au, and Pt) and the thickness of CuPc (0, 3, and 5 nm). The obtained results demonstrate that a high on/off ratio is achieved when a hole injection barrier with a moderate height is formed at the interface. It was found that controlling the hole injection barrier is effective for improving the characteristics of OSITs.


The development and application of insulating tapes made of heat shrinkable films were described.The material is characterized by high mechanical strength,good electric insulation performance and application process.It can be used in avoiding the loss of impregnating resin from the end of electric motor stators during the vacuum pressure impregnation process that effectively protects the end insulation.


There were mainly six types of formalization models found in the study for 95 city and county names in China's Hunan province, namely, the environment in a place for the place, the wish of the nomenclator for the place, the relative position of a place for the place, the resident for the place, the legend for the place, and the function of a place for the place. In the six formalization models, environment in a place for the place was the most in number, forging 47 names. Besides, the wish of the nomenclator for the place and the relative position of a place for the place came the second, taking 20 names respectively. The cognitive operation participating in the formalization was primarily single metonymy with only a few complex metonymies. Metaphtonymy could be only noted in the model of the wish of the nomenclator for the place. It was notable that single metaphor was missing in the cognitive operations.


As a system of understanding reality, the organizational culture and symbolism perspective is similar to Romanticism. Both movements arose out of the recognition of the inadequacies of rationalism, and both attempt to chart areas of the human experience through the imagination in terms of metaphors, symbols, and myths. A comparison of the two, therefore, serves to explain the rise of the cultural and symbolic perspective in organizational studies and its theoretical basis. Further, the comparison at once suggests the potential of the symbolist perspective as well as its problems, especially relativism and the love of distance, while indicating how that perspective may evolve as a total system.


A method for determining a predetermined signal amplitude of an examination object (12) in a magnetic resonance measurement, in which at a pulse sequence in a pulse train a plurality of RF pulses with a repetition time TR is less than the T - setting a target magnetization for substantially all of the RF pulses of the pulse train for a predetermined time after irradiation of the respective RF pulse, - determining for substantially all of the RF pulses of a Zielkippwinkels and a target phase for different areas of the object depending on the respective target magnetization and an existing magnetization, - determining a respective time characteristic of the amplitudes and phases for substantially all of the RF pulses to generate the respective target magnetization by irradiating the respective RF pulse, and - irradiation of the RF pulses with each specific amplitude and phase response.


Covert communication is crucial to ensure the safety of wireless communications in Internet of Things (IoT) systems. In this article, a multiantenna relay is employed to enhance the communication link and avoid the transmission being detected by the multiantenna warder simultaneously. Considering the dynamic fluctuating fading channels of IoT systems, a novel adaptive coordinated direct and relay transmission (ACDRT) scheme is proposed where the relay switches on/off adaptively to maximize the achievable covert rate. The covertness constraint requirements are derived with instantaneous and statistical warder-related channel state information based on the availability of the channel information in practical systems. Since both the direct and the relay links impact the system performance, the optimization problem is formulated, where the beamforming vectors are coupled. A semidefinite relaxation-based line search method is proposed to address this problem. Besides, the globally optimal solutions can be obtained by the proposed method, which is rigorously proved mathematically. In addition, the conditions for achieving a positive covert rate are analyzed with the multiantenna warder. Simulations demonstrate that the performance of the ACDRT is robust to covertness requirements when the positive rate condition holds, and significant covert rate gains can be obtained by the ACDRT with the multiantenna relay compared with the conventional systems.


Safe and reliable operation is still one of the major challenges in the development of fusion energy. In magnetic fusion devices, perfect plasma confinement is difficult to achieve. During transient loss of plasma confinement, high plasma power and particle beams (power densities up to hundreds of gigawatts per square meter in time duration on the order of milliseconds) strike the reactor walls, particularly the divertor plate, and can significantly damage the exposed surfaces and also indirectly damage nearby components. To predict the resulting damage of the direct plasma impact on the divertor plate, comprehensive multiphysics multiphase models are developed, integrated, and implemented in the High Energy Interaction with General Heterogeneous Target Systems computer simulation package. The evolution of the divertor material, resulting vaporization, heating and ionization of vapor plasma to higher temperatures, and, consequently, the resulting photon radiation, transport, and deposition around the divertor area are calculated for typical instability parameters of the edge-localized modes and disruption for an ITER-like geometry.


The distribution of electron density in the ionosphere can be imaged using computerized tomography techniques. Because of the limited view angle, resolution in the vertical direction is poor but can be improved by using a priori information in the reconstruction algorithm. The orthogonal decomposition algorithm provides a theoretical framework that unifies several traditional tomographic reconstruction algorithms, depending upon the choice of basis functions for the image domain. In this algorithm, the image is reconstructed as the weighted sum of a set of orthonormal basis functions. For ionospheric tomography, a priori information on the radial distribution of electron density can be used to guide the selection of basis functions. The resolution performance of the orthogonal decomposition algorithm depends upon the geometry used for the reconstruction. This paper analyzes three possible geometries. The factors that influence the selection of a particular geometry are (1) the ability to incorporate a priori information into the algorithm and (2) the ability to solve for the radial distribution. An analysis of the radial resolution in ionospheric tomography is also presented.


In the article, we study the non-isotropic twisted Laplacian where . We have found its spectrum and the associated eigenfunctions, its fundamental solution, and the associated heat kernel explicitly through its connection with the Kohn's sub-Laplacian on the Heisenberg group. We study the solution of the wave equation associated with L a , and prove a result of the finite speed propagation of its fundamental solution.


Stainless steel crowns are invaluable restorative material for the treatment of badly broken down primary teeth in pediatric dentistry. But it is difficult to fit margin because selection of size is not easy and they are not adjusted for Korean children. The purpose of this study was to examine and analyze the marginal adaptation of stainless steel crown of posterior primary tooth. Marginal surface was taken by Fine Pix S602 digital camera and measurements of crown were recorded at 20 points that were randomly selected for marginal gap evaluation by Kappa image base program. 1. Mean marginal gap were large upper 2nd primary molar, lower 1st primary molar, lower 2nd primary molar, upper 1st primary molar in order(p


Electroweak baryogenesis fails in the SM because of too small CP violation and the lack of a strong first-order phase transition. It has been shown that supersymmetric models allow for successful baryogenesis, where the Higgsinos play an important role in the transport processes that generate the asymmetry. I will demonstrate that also non-supersymmetric models can provide the observed baryon asymmetry. The top quark takes the role of the Higgsinos. Focusing on the two-Higgs doublet model, I will discuss details of the phase transition and consequences for Higgs physics and EDM searches.


Experiments on malachite green adsorbed on silica show that Mirage spectroscopy (photothermal deflection spectroscopy) allows analytical quantitative measurements, still better than in photoacoustic spectroscopy. We have used this technique to measure the kinetics of activation of a sphalerite, that is the surface coverage of ZnS by A ~ + , pb2+ and cu2+ cations. Mirage spectroscopy gives information on light absorbing species present at the surface of a solid (1). It seems a particularly convenient technique for solid-liquid interfaces studies for three reasons. First, it is a non-destructive in-situ technique. Secondly, it can work whatever the surface roughness and the shape of the solid dipped into the liquid. Finally, due to its simplicity, expansive apparatus are not required. We shall not recall the principles of Mirage spectroscopy which can be found in ref.(l). We shall point out that in our study only pcwdered samples have been considered since our purpose is the study of the mechanisms of ores flotation which deals with small particules, typically 50 microns. This involves that the beam issued from the monochromator used to get a wide wavelength range (3.50-1200 nm) arrives downwards on the powdered sample . I INSTRUMENTATION The home made double beam spectrometer (half mirage half ph0toacoustic spectrometer) included a Xenon source, a large aperture (F/2) monochromator and a carbone black photoacoustic reference cell. Fig. 1 represents a schemalic diagram of the spectrometer. The light beam of a Xenon arc lamp (450 W) is modulated by a mechanical chopper (5 to 400 Hz) electronically servo-controlled. The chopper is set up in front and not behind the monochromator in order to decrease damage of its optical surfaces(mirrors, grating) by the high flux of the lamp. The monochromator (Jobin-Yvon HL-W) has a concave holographic grating corrected from aberrations (9 = 150mm, r = 335mm, aperture number F/2, dispersion = 2 nm.mm-I). Though blazed at 350 nm, it has been used up to 1.2 microns. Wavelengths are scanned by a stepping motor. At the exit of the monochromator, the light beam is focussed with an Article published online by EDP Sciences and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jphyscol:1983649


Baby fish tilapia is mostly consumed by society in fried the fish and crispy forms, but the information on the nutritional composition of the fish is limited. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the chemical composition and fatty acids of baby fish tilapia harvested in different periods reared under aquaponic system. The research was conducted in factorial design with single factor namely different harvesting periods (14 days, 21 days, 28 days, and 35 days). The parameters measured were morphometric (body weight, total length and body length), chemical composition, and fatty acids. The results showed that the body weight affected the chemical composition. Statistical analysis showed that the proximate analysis was significantly different among the treatments (p<0.05). The highest saturated fatty acid (SAFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) was palmitate (C6:0) dan linoleat (C18:2n6) respectively obtained at fish harvested in 14 days.


GaN nanobelts were synthesized in mass by direct reaction of metallic gallium with flowing ammonia using nickel as a catalyst. X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the products. The results showed that the products are of hexagonal wurtzite structure. The widths of nanobelts were in the range of 50–200nm with the thickness ranging from 3to10nm and their lengths up to several tens of microns. The catalytic growth mechanism of the GaN nanobelts was also discussed.


Many Navy standard and other widely used underwater acoustic propagation models were developed through an evolutionary process to address applications featuring narrow‐band or single‐frequency cw signals. A consequence of this development process is that, although the models may handle the originally intended problem very well, they are not necessarily able to describe the propagation of high resolution pulses or transients, where time‐domain or multi‐frequency FFT approaches seem called for. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of several propagation models to characterize short duration signals. The models tested represent a variety of physics‐based approaches: parabolic equation, rays and Gaussian beams, modes, and hybrid approaches. The evaluation criteria include an ability of the modeling system to accommodate real‐world, in‐situ environments, accuracy of the results in the context of intended applications, and reasonable execution time.


The COVID-19 pandemic is a community and global health disaster marked not only by illness, death and trauma, but also by historically structured economic, social and cultural causes, conditions and consequences. COVID-19 reveals, perpetuates and produces structural violence and disaster capitalism. To introduce social workers to a new way of thinking about disasters, we offer a critical conceptual model depicting the historic and systemic progression of what disaster scholars and practitioners refer to as 'risk and vulnerability' in the US context. We reflect on 'returning to normal', arguing that pre-COVID-19 existence was, in fact, abnormal and deadly. We call on social workers to radically re-imagine the future in solidarity with transformation efforts taking root, turning this disaster into an opportunity to build a healthier, more caring and more equitable world.


We analyze the relativistic proton emission from the Sun during the eruptive event on 2017 September 10, which caused a ground-level enhancement (GLE 72) registered by the worldwide network of neutron monitors. Using the neutron monitor data and interplanetary transport modeling both along and across interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) lines, we deduce parameters of the proton injection into the interplanetary medium. The inferred injection profile of the interplanetary protons is compared with the profile of the >100 MeV γ-ray emission observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, attributed to pion production from the interaction of >300 MeV protons at the Sun. GLE 72 started with a prompt component that arrived along the IMF lines. This was followed by a more prolonged enhancement caused by protons arriving at the Earth across the IMF lines from the southwest. The interplanetary proton event is modeled using two sources—one source at the root of the Earth-connected IMF line and another source situated near the solar western limb. The maximum phase of the second injection of interplanetary protons coincides with the maximum phase of the prolonged >100 MeV γ-ray emission that originated from a small area at the solar western limb, below the current sheet trailing the associated coronal mass ejection (CME). A possible common source of interacting protons and interplanetary protons is discussed in terms of proton acceleration at the CME bow shock versus coronal (re-)acceleration in the wake of the CME.


The invention discloses a preparation method for an attapulgite clay/calcium carbonate composite filling for polyurethane leather. The preparation method comprises the following steps: raw material attapulgite clay, of which the mass content of attapulgite is larger than 90% is processed into powder, of which the particle size is smaller than 2 m and the ratio of the length to the diameter is greater than 6, and the powder is placed in a drying box to be dried for 1-3 hours at 105-170 DEG C; calcium carbonate is processed into powder, of which the particle size is smaller than 4 m, and the powder is placed in the drying box to be dried for 1-3 hours at 105-170 DEG C; the attapulgite powder and the calcium carbonate powder are placed in a mixer according to the mass ratio of (1:20)-(1:10), stearic acid, which accounts for 1-5% of the mass sum of the attapulgite powder and the calcium carbonate powder is added, and under the circumstance that the temperature is not higher than 80 DEG C, the mixture is stirred for 5-10 minutes at the rotational speed of 1500-3000r/min to obtain the attapulgite clay/calcium carbonate composite filling. The preparation method disclosed by the invention is simple and convenient to operate, raw materials are inorganic mineral materials which are easy to obtain, environmental pollution cannot be caused, flexible fibrous attapulgite clay and rigid particulate calcium carbonate are compounded, and according to the synergetic enhancement principle, the appearance and the mechanical property of the polyurethane leather are improved when the attapulgite clay/calcium carbonate composite filling is added in the polyurethane leather.


An initial synchronization method for a communication signal is provided to reduce the variation of a symbol boundary estimator by using a double correlator in comparison with a single correlator. An initial synchronization method for a communication signal includes the steps of: searching a symbol boundary; estimating a fractional frequency offset; compensating for the fractional frequency offset; searching a frame boundary; estimating an integral frequency offset; compensating for the integral frequency offset; searching a preamble segment ID; and searching a preamble cell ID. The step of searching the symbol boundary comprises the step of estimating a boundary of a current data symbol using a correlation index for the current data symbol and the correlation index for a next data symbol.


The invention relates to a device for the automatic installation of beacons in the track bed. A substantially automatically operating and extremely precise in relation to the creation of a route atlas laying apparatus is characterized in that a laying robot (7) with a process computer (1) is connected, wherein the process computer (1) a first function block (2) for data and having the program management, a second function block (3) for balises disposition, in particular with regard Balisenprojektierung and ortbezogener Balisenprogrammierung, a third function block (4) for robot control and a fourth function block (5) for controlling / monitoring of peripheral systems.


Bleeding caused by ionizing radiation involves many factors, the mechanism is complicated
 and the management is difficult. Bleeding is recognized as one of the main causes
 of death after ionizing radiation. In this paper, we summarize the pathophysiological
 mechanisms of ionizing radiation bleeding syndrome (IRBS) from the aspects of platelet
 abnormality, coagulation disorder and vascular damage. Besides, we expound the clinical
 characteristics of IRBS in terms of the degree, time and site of the bleeding. Combined
 with experimental results, we put forward ideas and possible approaches for the treatment
 of IRBS, and the key factor is to promote the recovery of megakaryocytes and rapid
 platelet production after radiation exposure.
 摘要:电离辐射引起的出血, 涉及原因多, 机制较复杂, 救治困难; 出血更是电离辐射后患者死亡的主要原因之一。本 文从血小板异常、凝血障碍、血管受损等方面, 综述了电离辐射出血综合征的病理生理机制;从出血程度、出血时间、出
 血部位等方面, 阐述了电离辐射出血综合征的临床特点;结合实验研宄结果, 提出了治疗电离辐射出血综合征的思路 与可能途径, 关键因素是尽快促进巨核细胞的恢复和快速产生血小板。


Microprobe and digitized electron-backscatter image data reveal that eighteenth-century Bow porcelain consists of a silica polymorph(s) (25–43 vol. %), a calcium phosphate phase (42–55%) with homogeneous and stippled textural variants, and a silicon-, aluminium-, and calcium-rich, former melt phase represented by discrete domains (14–20%) and micron-scale blebs that occupy 20–70% of the stippled calcium phosphate. Bulk compositions calculated from these data are deficient in calcium phosphate components and more siliceous than those determined by microprobe analysis of fused powders of the same samples. This reflects difficulties in determining representative values for the composition and volume of the melt phase, and underscores the limitations of the method where applied to media containing compositionally- or texturally-heterogeneous phases.


Classification is defined as the problem of assignment of objects to the predefined classes. In general view, classification problems divided into two groups: classification and sorting problems. Sorting problems define the case of existence of ordered classes for objects, while classes are not ordered in classification problems. Besides these two groups of classification problems, Inverse Multiple Criteria Sorting Problem (IMSCP) is also introduced into the literature in recent years. IMSCP deals with finding the possible actions that can change the assignment of objects to classes in order to obtain the desired classification of objects. The main aim in this study is to propose an extension of IMSCP with fuzzy parameters with a proper solution approach. A case study of building energy labelling improvement in an existing building site in Ankara is solved by using parametric fuzzy solution approach of Carlsson and Korhonen. Obtained results of the application presents the possible actions to improve the energy labels of the buildings within the site. Also, solution results show that the proposed model in this study can be used to improve current Building Energy Performance model in Turkey to a new one with efficiency improvement suggestions.


ABSTRACT The reliability of feature matching can decide the accuracy and robustness of the feature-based registration result. Aiming at the problem that the number of final feature matches preserved by many popular outlier removal methods is small, and the position accuracy of final feature matches is not high enough, we propose an accurate and robust image registration framework based on outlier removal and feature point adjustment in this paper. This framework increases the number and improves the position accuracy of inliers while eliminating most outliers. The increased number of inliers improves the robustness of image registration, and high accurate inliers improves the accuracy of image registration. Firstly, the initial feature matches are extracted by a commonly used feature-based registration method, such as the scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT)-based method. Then, outliers of the initial feature matches are eliminated by a frequency domain similarity measure, called PHase-based Structural SIMilarity (PH-SSIM) proposed in this paper. Considering the inherent error of the feature matches that still exist after the outlier elimination, a PH-SSIM-based feature point adjustment strategy is designed to fine-adjust the position of the preserved feature points in the reference image. Finally, the registration parameters are calculated by the fine-adjusted feature matches. The proposed framework has been evaluated by several remote sensing images with different resolution, grey-scale, texture, and scene, and compared with four state-of-the-art image registration methods. Experimental result demonstrates the high accuracy and robustness of the proposed method.


Due to their particular feature, DC Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) installations are peculiar loads that cause moderate to severe Power Quality (PQ) disturbances. Among them, voltage fluctuations and waveform distortions are the most impactful ones, and they should be adequately addressed in order to mitigate the detrimental effects on power systems. Several types of models have been developed in order to evaluate the effects of EAFs on networks, and chaotic models have been specifically recognized as suitable tools to evaluate the impact of EAFs in terms of PQ disturbances. This paper compares the performance of three chaotic models (Chua, Lorenz and Rossler) aiming at estimating PQ indices values of DC EAFs. An optimization procedure is proposed to find the parameters of the three chaotic models. The procedure exploits a block diagramming tool of the DC EAF installation and minimizes the deviation of estimated PQ indices from the actual ones. Actual data collected at an Italian DC EAF installation are used to conduct a numerical comparative analysis and to validate the effectiveness of the models in estimating the PQ disturbances.


For the multi-objective optimization of controllable reactor of transformer type, the number of turns of control winding and control winding voltage must be got. So, the paper regards a new magnetic integrated structure of CRT as the research object and analyzes the equivalent circuit of a basic unit of structure. Each control winding current is taken as the integer times of the maximum of currents which are converted from control winding side to work winding side. According to the proportional relationship of current and voltage converted before and after, the number of turns of control winding and control winding voltage can be determined in the sequential single branch operation mode. Calculation results show that it is reasonable to take each control winding current as the integer times of the maximum of currents which are converted from control winding side to work winding side.


Business succession is critical to have for the continuity of family business. This research focuses on the non-agricultural MSMEs managed by families and located in the Surabaya because BPS data shows that the number of MSMEs in the non-agricultural sector in Surabaya is the highest compared to other cities in East Java Province. This research aimed to determine the effect of financial technology, succession planning, financial self-efficacy, and personality systems on family business succession. They are using a sample of 110 respondents of MSME owners from online and offline questionnaires. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and processed using SPSS 26. This research shows that the variables financial technology, financial self-efficacy, and personality system have a significant positive effect. In contrast, the variable succession planning has a significant negative effect. It is hoped that the Surabaya government can use the results of this research to improve socialization related to financial technology, financial self-efficacy, and personality systems for the succession of family businesses can be sustainable.


We examined thin epitaxial films ${\text{La}}_{5/8\ensuremath{-}y}{\text{Pr}}_{y}{\text{Ca}}_{3/8}{\text{MnO}}_{3}$ $(\text{LPCMO}:y=0.275\ensuremath{-}0.3)$ in situ by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and other microscopy methods. Clear evidence was obtained for the competing two-phase coexistence of antiferromagnetic charge-ordered (CO) and ferromagnetic (FM) phases that exhibit mesoscale phase separation below the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) at $\ensuremath{\sim}164\text{ }\text{K}$. In addition, we observed some regions of mixed CO- and FM-domain contrast attributed earlier to formation of the new CO-FM phase. Using in situ heating/cooling TEM experiments, we interpret this effect as the interfacial wetting phenomenon inherent to the first-order CO-FM phase transition, rather than to the formation of new CO-FM phase. It is evidenced by the partial magnetic melting of CO phase at interfaces with the FM phase, thereby creating charge-disordered spin-glass metastates. For coexisting CO- and FM-domain configurations, we directly refined the relationship between charge-orbital and spin-ordering vectors, consistent with FM moments pinned by (101)-crystal twins in LPCMO films. We also discuss the striking linear dependence observed below MIT for the log-resistance behavior and the CO fraction in LPCMO directly measured by TEM. Such linear dependence does not follow typical percolation equations, suggesting that percolation model needs further revisions for transport description of manganites.


Suppose you believe that the ice on your local pond is thinner than it looks. Very likely you will decide not to skate today. If you happen to be a humanitarian sort, you will warn others as well. You might even contact the local authorities and demand that they put up a sign forbidding anyone from going out there until the condition of the ice improves. Each of these actions would be entirely natural, and, in many circumstances, predictable.Readers may recognize this hypothetical as a gloss on an example deployed by the philosopher Gilbert Ryle in his clever demonstration that to believe a proposition p means not simply to have a particular state of mind concerning p but also to have a disposition toward a particular set of actions that are consistent with p.1 Even critics who consider "disposition" the wrong concept concede that Ryle is on to something: when we speak of "belief," we are invoking a far more complicated set of concepts than simply an evaluation of the likelihood that p is true.2Specifically, Ryle argues that "believe" is what he calls a "motive word," an explanation for one's disposition to say certain things or act in certain ways.3 The concept therefore is quite different from what we call knowledge (although, as Ryle says, they play in the same field). But it is also different from guessing, or from calculating probabilities. Belief plays a unique role in human thought. And religious belief, in important ways, provides the apotheosis of the concept.Consider a particular proposition p1: "The spirit that guides my destiny must be nourished with the blood of a freshly killed animal six times a year, or the spirit will die and my life will end in disaster." Anna believes p1. Anna is a member of a faith community that also believes p1. Anna, however, is also a member of a political community, a majority of whose members decide that killing animals is wrong. Her fellow citizens explain: "You are free to believe p1 if you choose, but you may not act on that belief."4According to Ryle, from Anna's point of view the statement is incoherent. Her belief in p1 involves a disposition to act. If Anna believes that her guiding spirit will die if not properly nourished, she will naturally seek to nourish it, and, if she is a humanitarian sort, will help other believers to nourish their guiding spirits too. If she is sufficiently kind and loving, she might even try to persuade others who do not believe p1 that they, too, should believe p1.Therefore to say that Anna is not free to act as her belief in p1 disposes her is, in practice, to say that she is not permitted to believe p1. We might well have good reasons for prohibiting Anna from acting on her belief; but we should not pretend that we are nevertheless permitting her to hold it. What we are doing instead is telling Anna that we have decided that p1 itself is wrong and using coercive force to keep her from acting as belief in p1 disposes her to act.5The example comes to mind in response to Ronald Dworkin's final book, Religion Without God. Until his untimely death last year, Dworkin was perhaps our foremost philosopher of law, and certainly among the staunchest defenders of liberalism. The book is beautifully written, intellectually challenging, and powerfully argued. Its central thesis is admirable and rich. But its understanding of religious belief is flawed, and the flaw carries over into the discussion of constitutional law.Dworkin's thesis is stated in his title. He seeks both to describe and to defend the concept of religion without God. In Dworkin's telling, both today's militant atheists and today's adamant religionists are missing a larger truth. Theistic religion is but one way of responding to our realization that there is such a thing as objective value, that "the universe and its creatures are awe- inspiring," and that "human life has purpose and the universe order."6 In understanding the theistic religions, says Dworkin, we should separate their science - their accounts of creation, for example - from their values - their "convictions about how people should live and what they should value. …


Comparison of new matrix(rice husk)disk seedling(NMDS)and conventional soil seedling(control)was investigated by using of Longjing 18 in Xinhe village in Qiqihar city.The results showed that the seedling quality was better in NMDS than that of the control,especially rooting capacity,which could promote seedling growth after transplanting.Otherwise,yield in NMDS was slightly higher than that of the control;quality traits in NMDS were slightly better than that of the control.Therefore,NMDS was better than soil seedling,and could replace soil seedling for rice cultivation as a new seedling technology.


A long-term in situ test was performed on two soil–bentonite (SB) cutoff walls with different dimensions. The total stresses and pore pressures in the walls were monitored for 8 months, and the lat...


Extraordinary soaring flights, such as Klaus Holighaus' world record over a 1400 km triangular course and Helmuth Fischer's speed world record over a 1000 km triangular course of 769.7 km/h, have put the spotlight on South Africa as one of the prime "hunting grounds" for world records. Due to the lack of understanding of Southern Africa's weather mechanism, the potential of this area has not been fully explored. Record attempts were mainly undertaken duringrelatively short periods and launch points were not systematically chosen. This is not surprising as to date no in-depth analysis exists of the South African weather conditions in respect of soaring flights. With this paper the author attempts to shed some light on the subject.


Financing Agreement (Small and Medium Enterprise Development Facility Project) between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the International Development Association (with schedules, appendix and International Development Association General Conditions for Credits and Grants, dated 1 July 2005, as amended through 15 October 2006). Colombo, 8 November 2010


We have previously reported that voltage‐gated Na+ channels (NaV) are expressed in freshly dissociated smooth muscle cells from the mouse portal vein, which displays spontaneous, rhythmic contractions. However, the physiological function of NaV in smooth muscle is controversial. Here, we explored the role of NaV in arterial vascular contractility. Isolated mesenteric arteries from male Wistar rats (200–300g) were mounted in a wire‐myograph for tension recording. The NaV activator veratridine elicited concentration‐dependent (1–30μM), but endothelium‐independent, contractions. These contractions (at 10μM, 8.8±0.7mN; n=8) were greatly inhibited by 1μM tetrodotoxin (TTX), a NaV blocker (1.3±0.9mN, n=4) and abolished in Na+‐free physiological salt solution (−0.2±0.1mN, n=4). To probe the expression of NaV isoforms (NaV1.1–1.9), we used conventional reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) with mRNA extracted from the isolated vessels. The presence of TTX‐sensitive NaV isoforms (1.2, 1.3, 1.6 and 1.7) was evident. Based on these data, we propose that functional NaV are expressed in arteries without spontaneous rhythmic contractions and may play a role in the regulation of vascular tone.


A radial inflow turbine installed in a large extraction facility in Canada has shown to be a significant contributor to the noise generated in that facility. These high sound pressure levels have led to the expenditure of millions of dollars in sound abatement measures over the last 20 years, and pose a health danger to employees.Based on shop testing and field data, it was believed that a new rotor design could dramatically reduce the noise generated. It was further believed that Computational Fluid Dynamics with Aeroacoustic analyses was capable of predicting this improvement. Such a process can allow parts to be designed and installed quickly, when time and budget does not allow for detailed factory testing.This paper describes this turbine redesign procedure and the details of the analyses performed throughout the process.This new rotor has now been installed on-site, and measurements have been made before and after the replacement. This offers a unique opportunity to validate the numerical work performed through this redesign, which is also presented in the paper.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


In this paper, a model based on principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) is used for the risk assessment in the electrical power network planning project to discriminate good projects from bad ones, and a set of comprehensive index system is established here according to the practical situation. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method, a group of actual projects are given and the experimental results show that the model has high correct classification accuracy.


In American politics, the two major political parties are more separated ideologically than at any point in the last fifty years. This separation, commonly referred to as polarization, implies an intense disagreement in the preferred policy solutions and preferences of political actors. It is well known that American political elites, especially those in the national political context, have been polarized for some time (Theriault 2008; Fleisher and Bond 2004; Wood and Jordan Forthcoming). Evidence at the mass level is more mixed; it is unclear whether American individuals hold relatively moderate (Fiorina, Abrams, and Pope 2011) or more extreme (Abramowitz and Saunders 2008) policy positions. At the very least, citizens' evaluations of the other party have grown more extremely negative (so-called affective polarization; Iyengar and Westwood 2015). While polarization in the national political arena is evident with every media story as well as at the forefront of American politics research, we have had less exploration of this phenomenon at any subnational level. State government scholars have measured ideology of citizens and elites (Erikson, Wright, and McIver 1993; Berry et al. 1998), party competition (Ranney 1976), and divided government (Bowling and Ferguson 2001). More recently, Fiorina, Abrams, and Pope (2011) made a cross-state comparisons of political polarization. Broadly, over the last several years, scholars have begun discussing "fragmented federalism" or how party polarization might impact and complicate policymaking in states (Gamkhar and Pickerill 2012; Bowling and Pickerill 2013). States make policy on most issues directly impacting their citizens as well as implement federal law and rules: in these "laboratories of democracy," policy can be innovative, mainstream, or ideologically extreme. Thus, it becomes extremely important to investigate the extent of polarization among state elites and among individuals within states to understand the effect of either form of polarization on the politics within the states. The special issue of State and Local Government Review begins this exploration. It features five articles illustrating important potential consequence of polarization within the states. The articles address changing an individual's perception of state governments, citizen evaluations of the policy outputs of the states, and, perhaps more importantly, the effects of polarization on the policy outputs themselves. We introduce these papers individually after briefly outlining the broader improvements in data availability that have made such state-level research a possibility.


The Guodian Kuche power plant air-cooling tower is the largest air-cooling tower in Xinjiang, the height of air-cooling tower X pil ar is 26m, section is big and inclined 70 DEG, supporting rack erection is complex; the height of cylin-der wal is 157 m, vertical transportation difficulty is big, quan-tities is large, radius is large, horizontal transportation has gr-eat dif iculty. We use the advanced construction technology, improve the efficiency of work.


THE XX will be doing a few tiny gigs in London later this month. Tour Dates: May 14th - Electrowerkz Islington May 15th - Claptons Chats Palace ...


Depletion of myelin and neurobehavioural deficits are indications that vanadium crosses the blood‐brain barrier and such neurotoxic effects of vanadium on the brain of Wistar rats have been elucidated. The effect however on the peripheral nerves, is yet to be reported. Thus, this work was designed to evaluate the axonal and myelin integrity of sciatic nerves in Wistar rats following exposure to vanadium.


The revision of a textbook as widely used as Williston Walker's—for many students not a but the history of the Christian Church—deserves our attention. The arduous task of revision has been shared by Cyril C. Richardson, who was responsible for the work from the beginnings to the Later (eleventh century!) Middle Ages, Wilhelm Pauck, who carried it from that point through the Reformation, and Robert T. Handy on the period from Puritanism to the Modern Day.


Hot compressive tests were carried out on Gleeble-1500 D thermal simulation test machine to investigate the hot deformation behavior of T91 rare-earth steel at temperatures 1100℃-1250℃ and strain rate of 0.5s-1-5s-1.The constitutive equation was constructed by introducing Zener-Hollomon parameter.The results show that,the true stress-true strain curves of T91 steel show a bimodal characteristic at high deformation temperature and low strain rate.Its mechanism is continuous dynamic recrystallization.With the deformation temperature increasing and strain rate decreasing,the dynamic recrystallization is easy to occur.With the strain rate decreasing,the flow stress decreases obviously.The deformation activation energy of the steel is 509.04 k J·mol-1.


Modern Chinese native movies vary in features and patterns with one similarity: to step into the public horizon via the models won in international movie festivals.This pattern of nationalization reveals their veils and contributes to the film's classical value.The independent shooting of Chinese native movies can find causes in the Chinese movie system,which in general can be divided into three types: movies in the plan of the Chinese movie system,movies out of the plan of the Chinese movie system,movies without relation to the Chinese movie system.


The aim of this research was to perform comparative analysis of the publicly avaiable data of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) on sickness absence of insured persons in Poland in 2016-2021 (before the outbreak and during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Materials and methods. The research material consisted of data from the Social Insurance Institution for the years 2016-2021 (Q1) concerning the sickness absence of the insured. Due to the publication of data in an aggregated form, quantitative analysis was performed instead of statistical analysis. The data used in the analysis included the number of insured persons, the number of people receiving sickness benefits, the number of issued medical certificates on temporary incapacity to work and the reasons for the incapacity to work.
Results and Conclusion. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, following numbers have increased compared to 2019: the number of people receiving sickness benefit in Poland (by 10%), the number of days of sickness absence (by 7%) and the number of issued medical certificates of temporary incapacity for work (by 4%). The largest increase in the number of beneficiaries, the number of days of sickness absence and the number of medical certificates was recorded in the Q4 of 2020 (respectively by 21%, 16% and 24% compared to Q4 of 2019). Due to COVID-19, 4.84 million days of sickness absence were used in 2020 – it was the tenth cause of absence.
The largest changes in the number of people receiving sickness benefit and the number of days of sickness absence can be observed in Q1 and Q4, which may result from the seasonality of COVID-19 and the subsequent wave of infections. Importantly, COVID-19 is not the only factor contributing overall increase in the number of days of sickness absence in Poland – absence due to non-communicable diseases also increased during the pandemic.


The fungicidal and nematicidal activity of an emulsifiable formulation of furfural (2-furan- carboxaldehyde) against root rot and root-knot pathogens was studied in laboratory, greenhouse and field experiments. The linear growth of tested soilborne pathogenic fungi was dramatically reduced with the increasing of furfural concentrations added to the growth medium up to 4 000 ppm where no growth was observed, while the bacterial and fungal bioagents showed more tolerance to these concentrations and failed to grow at 6 000 and 7 000 ppm, respectively. Pot and field experiments indicated that furfural at 6 000 ppm combined with bioagent treatments proved to have superior suppressive effect against tomato root rot incidence, caused by Fusarium solani and Rhizoctonia so- lani, comparing with each individual treatment. Numbers of nematodes in soil declined sharply in direct response to furfural application with the sharpest reductions in its population. No symptoms of root-knot incidence, caused by Meloidogyne incognita as well as no detected galls and eggmasess were observed in the root system of tomato plants grown in either artificially or naturally infested soil with the parasite at the same concentration under greenhouse and field conditions. Results from these experiments indicate that a variety of effective broad-spectrum formulations of furfural can be developed for control of economically important soilborne pests.


Multi-ribbed composite slab(MCS) is one of main bearing member in multi-ribbed composite slab structure(MCSS).The force transferring characteristics and seismic properties of the slab are key points of computational theory and design method of MCSS.Based on the tests of MCS under low-cycle lateral loading,lateral resistance and deformation performance of the slab are analyzed in this paper.Using the neural networks,lateral resistance and drift of the slab are evaluated,and the results indicate that the average error is 5.4%.The model of skeleton curve and the curve of stiffness degradation of the slab are presented,and the uniform expressions are given,which provides the foundation for successive study.


A new species of Trianaea from eastern Ecuador, T naeka, is described and illustrated. Several new combinations in the genera Trianaea, Schultesianthus, and Juanulloa are made in preparation of a larger work on the phylogeny of the tribe Juanulloeae. A recent phylogenetic study of the tribe Juanulloeae (Persson et al., 1994) has necessitated several new combinations in the genera Trianaea, Schultesianthus, and Juanulloa. These nomenclatural changes are made here in preparation for a conspectus of the tribe and a more ample discussion of relationships within the groups. In addition to the nomenclatural changes identified, several new taxa were discovered, one of which is described here. Other new taxa will be described as more material becomes available. Trianaea naeka S. Knapp, sp. nov. TYPE: Ecuador. Morona Santiago: Colinas, above the Misi6n Salesiana-Shuar, 800-1000 m, 3?25'S, 78?35'W, 6 Nov. 1986, Neill & Cer6n 7449 (holotype, MO; isotypes, NY, QCNE). Figure 1. Species Trianaeae nobili Planchon & Linden similis, sed foliis linearis pubescentibus, inflorescentiis unifloribus differt. Epiphytic shrub or liana at forest edge; stems densely hirsute, the trichomes 4-5 mm long, consisting of a simple, 2-4-celled, uniseriate tip arising from a multicellular, multiseriate, pustular base, the apex minutely glandular, golden brown, the uniseriate tips of the trichomes often deciduous, leaving the pustulate base; bark of older stems pale tan, loose and somewhat exfoliating. Leaves 0.4-1 x 5-10 cm, linear, coriaceous, drying dark olive green, the venation obscure, ca. 8-10 primary veins, densely hirsute with simple, uniseriate, minutely glandular trichomes like those of the stems, but lacking the pustular bases, arising directly from the epidermis, the base attenuate, the margins revolute, the apex acuminate; petiole 5-8 mm, somewhat winged from the attenuate leaf base, drying dark brown. Inflorescence terminal, consisting of a single flower. Buds not known. Pedicel at anthesis 18-20 cm long and flexuous, 2 mm diam. at the base, ca. 10 mm diam. at the apex, densely pubescent with simple uniseriate 2-4-celled trichomes, the trichomes 4-5 mm, less rigid than those of the stems, lacking pustulate bases. Flowers with the calyx tube 1.5-2 cm, conical, the lobes 4-5 cm, triangular, pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the pedicel, sparsely pubescent within; corolla campanulate, greenish brown or purplish ("clear lila" fide van der Werff& Gudirfo 11246), the tube flaring, ca. 5 cm long, the lobes rounded, 1.5-2 cm long, reflexed at anthesis, sparsely pubescent with trichomes like the calyx, the trichomes weak and crumpling; stamens with the filaments ca. 3.5 cm, inserted in the basal V of the corolla tube, the anthers ca. 7 x 3 mm, ventrifixed; ovary glabrous, the style 5.5-6 cm long, glabrous, the stigma globose, ca. 5 mm diam., papillose. Fruit and seeds not known. Distribution. Known only from wet premontane rainforest in eastern Ecuador, from 800 to 1000 m elevation. Trianaea naeka is a striking plant and cannot be confused with any other species of Trianaea, or with any other species of epiphytic Solanaceae. The narrowly linear, densely pubescent leaves are found nowhere else in the tribe. Pollen morphology is of the Trianaea nobilis type (Persson et al., 1994), where the exine ornamentation is reticulate at the equator and at the poles but the muri are not joined in the mesocolpium to form a tectum. The specific epithet, naeka, is the Shuar name (given by Antonio Wampash, Shuar informant) for this plant. Paratype. ECUADOR. Morona Santiago: along new road Mendez-Morona, km 30-35, 800 m, 19 Aug. 1989, van der Werff & Gudiflo 11246 (QCNE). Trianaea brevipes (Cuatrecasas) S. Knapp, comb. et stat. nov. Basionym: Trianaea spectabilis Cuatrecasas var. brevipes, J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 49: 271. 1959. TYPE: Colombia. Cundinamarca: Monterredondo between Guaybetal and Limoncito, Cordillera Oriental, forests, 18002100 m, 6 July 1955, Vogel 6 (holotype, US; isotype, M). NOVON 5: 281-283. 1995. This content downloaded from 22.214.171.124 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 06:11:59 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms


Instilling character in students is very important to be strengthened to fortify and improve the morale of the nation's young generation, and teachers as the spearhead of national education who play a major role in carrying out the character planting of students are expected to not stop innovating and be creative in creating effective and efficient strategies for improve the morals of students according to the goals of national education. The benefits and importance of this research are to identify the fiqh teacher's strategy in instilling religious character in students at MTsN 1 Pesisir Selatan through curricular and extracurricular activities. This study uses a qualitative approach and a descriptive type of research, taking the background at MTsN 1 Pesisir Selatan. The results of this study indicate that: The fiqh teacher's strategy in instilling religious character values in students through curricular activities is through several strategies, namely: a) Fiqh Teachers internalize religious character values into teaching materials; b) Support and control by the principal for fiqh teachers to innovate, c) Strengthening religious character; d) Implementation of learning in class through preliminary, core, and closing activities. The fiqh teacher's strategy in instilling religious character values through extracurricular activities is a) the activities of reciting juz 30 and Asmaul Husna in the morning followed by dhuha prayer in congregation, b) Tahfidzul Qur'an activities; c) tartilul qur'an activities.


ABSTRACT Seasonal dormancy in deciduous fruit trees is a complex physiological state, which is regulated by many plant hormones and genes. Abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellic acid (GA3) are known to be particularly important in controlling dormancy. We measured the concentrations of these two hormones in flower buds (collected during para-, endo-, and eco-dormancy, and at the dormancy-release stage) and vegetative buds (collected monthly from 20 November 2012 to 20 February 2013) of two cultivars of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc), 'Bungo' and 'Taoxingmei', using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Levels of expression of two zinc-finger family genes CCCH and C2H2 and the GA20ox (gibberellin 20 oxidase) gene (GenBank Accession No. Pm013607), as candidates for dormancy-controlling genes, were analysed at each sampling time using real-time RT-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Expression analyses indicated that both zinc-finger family genes exhibited high transcript levels in flower buds of both cultivars during para-dormancy, concomitant with high ABA concentrations. The zinc-finger family genes were relatively highly expressed in vegetative buds of both cultivars on 20 November 2012 (autumn). In addition, high concentration of GA3 in flower buds at the dormancy-release stage suggested that GA3 plays an important role in controlling the release of bud dormancy. High levels of expression of the GA20ox gene during eco-dormancy and at the dormancy-release stage might have a prominent effect on dormancy-release by regulating gibberellin (GA) signalling in Japanese apricot. These results will contribute to increasing our understanding of ABA- and GA-mediated seasonal dormancy mechanisms in Japanese apricot.


Cost:
Free (if completed within 21 days)
Pre-requisites:
None.
Target Audience:
This is induction level e-learning training aimed at all those working with children, young people and families.
Aim:
To raise awareness of various ty...


Wolkersdorfer, Ch.; Sartz, L.; Weber, A.; Burgess, J.; Tremblay, G. (Editors) Abstract At the Campbell Complex (Ontario, Canada), Goldcorp is assessing the feasibility of using permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) to intercept and treat tailings-related seepage, with As, Co and Fe representing the primary parameters of concern. Based on the distribution of hydraulic conductivity and geochemical species, most of the seepage is inferred to ow through a discontinuously con ned sand and gravel aquifer. Arsenic shows a strong degree of attenuation in groundwater. In contrast, Co exhibits strongly conservative behaviour that can be linked to the presence of non-labile complexes. Dissolved Fe shows variable behaviour that is likely linked to variations in redox conditions. Implications for PRB design are discussed.


ZnS nanoparticles have widely applications because of their uniquely optical,electronic,magnetic,and tribiological property.However,the applications are restricted from their bigger particle size and wide distributions.In this paper,a solvothermal colloid chemistry technique was developed to prepare dispersible surface-modified ZnS nanoparticles.The infrared spectrum(IR), ultraviolet-visible spectra(UV-vis),and thermal-gravity analysis(TG) were used to characterize the product.


Based on a practical project,the key technology and implementation method of networked orbital weighing-machine management systems using Java language are studied.Using J2EE technology,C/S and B/S combinative mode,orbital weighing-machine automatic management system integrating data collection,processing,storage and business managements functions is developed.The system satisfies the requirement of authenticity and reliability and achieves the objectives of database management and network-application for weighting business with convenience and security.Under the condition of satisfying project requirement,the system prevents all kinds of rigged occurring and provides the basic guarantee for the realization of data sharing between enterprise departments and the enhancement of economic efficiency and level of information.


The port system is a complex transport logistics system, and modern tendencies of globalization of the transport market, integration of the transport sectors and development of innovations, automation and digitization of ports, greatly change the ways of functioning and organization of the port system and initiate adaptation to new processes, trends and initiators of development. Furthermore, port systems are an important part of the economy of a country as well as of the region, so they cannot be observed and analyzed only on the basis of the characteristics of the port, but it is necessary to include the needs and views of all users, participants in the traffic and operations of the port. Therefore, the research of the importance and competitiveness of ports and port systems is imposed as a condition for successful competitive functioning of a transport route.


Wildrice possesses important characteristics which rice lacks. In this paper, the morphologic characters, growth habits, quality properties of wildrice in China are reported. It will be expected to be valuable germplasm resource for rice breeding.


In this study it is investigated that the effect of high temperature on mechanical and physical properties of mortars with calcined bentonite additive. The cement used in mortars replaced with calcined bentonite in ratios with 10%, 15% and 20%. The compressive strengths are investigated on 7, 28 and 56 days cured specimens. In addition, 56 days cured specimens were subjected to high temperature at 250, 500, 750 and 1000 o C. The ultrasound pulse velocity, water absorbtion, porosity, weight loss and compressive strength test results are compared with before and after high temperature exposure on these specimens. According to test results, the lowest strength loss is obtained with referance specimen at 500°C and 10% bentonite additive specimen at 750 and 1000 °C respectively.


First illustrates the reasons and characters of the fans unbalance,and then with the aid of ADAMS,creating the virtual prototype of sometype fan system and simulating under different working conditions.The result of the signal under normal and fault conditions both in the time and frequency domain are given.The validation was suggested by comparisons of the simulation and theory results.It provides reference for the applied feasibility of virtual-prototype based fault diagnose of rotary machines such as the fans.


It is a key step for the design of the high voltage transmission line to control the corona loss and the corona effects under a reasonable level.The evaluation of the corona onset is especially important for the corona control.We present the derivation and the simplification of a widely used criterion for coaxial cylinders considering the photoemission,and clarify the physical significance of every parameter in the criterion.Moreover,a geometric factor and its expanded expressions characterizing the photo absorption in the ionization region of the cylindrical electrode are proposed.The results by the criterion and its simplified form under different conductor radii are compared and the difference between them is significantly small under the same conditions.The results by the criterion also well agree with Peek's experimental data for a wide range of conductor radii.


Purpose of review Recent evidence supports shorter courses of antibiotics for several common infections and prophylactic indications. Unfortunately, solid organ transplant patients are often underrepresented or excluded from these studies. As a result, prolonged antibiotic durations are often used in clinical practice despite a lack of demonstrable benefit. This paper reviews recent publications addressing antibiotic duration of therapy in SOT recipients. Recent findings Although largely limited to observational studies, longer courses of antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis, urinary tract infections, and bloodstream infections have not demonstrated benefit compared to shorter courses. In some instances, longer courses of therapy have been associated with harm (i.e., adverse drug events and development of resistance). Summary Although the data remains limited, findings from retrospective studies evaluating shorter courses of antibiotics in SOT patients is encouraging. More robust research is desperately needed to define the optimal duration of antibiotics for common infections in SOT patients.


In this paper, we develop a systematic method for deriving bounds on the stationary distribution of stable Markov chains with a countably infinite state space. We assume that a Lyapunov function is available that satisfies a negative drift property (and, in particular, is a witness of stability), and that the jumps of the Lyapunov function corresponding to state transitions have uniformly bounded magnitude. We show how to derive closed form, exponential type, upper bounds on the steady-state distribution. Similarly, we show how to use suitably defined lower Lyapunov functions to derive closed form lower bounds on the steady-state distribution. We apply our results to homogeneous random walks on the positive orthant, and to multiclass single station Markovian queueing systems. In the latter case, we establish closed form exponential type bounds on the tail probabilities of the queue lengths, under an arbitrary work conserving policy.


Nylon 66 microfibers were obtained by a carbon dioxide (CO2) laser-thinning method. A laser-thinning apparatus used to continuously prepare microfibers consisted of spools supplying and winding the fibers, a continuous-wave CO2-laser emitter, a system supplying the fibers, and a traverse. The diameter of the microfibers decreased as the winding speed increased, and the birefringence increased as the winding speed increased. When microfibers, obtained through the laser irradiation (at a power density of 8.0 W cm−2) of the original fiber supplied at 0.23 m min−1, were wound at 2000 m min−1, they had a diameter of 2.8 μm and a birefringence of 46 × 10−3. The draw ratio calculated from the supplying and winding speeds was 8696×. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the microfibers obtained with the laser-thinning apparatus had smooth surfaces not roughened by laser ablation that were uniform in diameter. To study the conformational transition with winding speed, the changes in trans band at 936 cm−1 and gauche band at 1136 cm−1 were measured with a Fourier transform infrared microscope. The trans band increased as the winding speed increased, and the gauche band decreased. Young's modulus and tensile strength increased with increasing winding speed. The microfiber, which was obtained at a winding speed of 2000 m min−1, had a Young's modulus of 2.5 GPa and tensile strength of 0.6 GPa. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 802–807, 2006


A phase meter with a switched-capacitor all-pass network as a controlled phase shifter within a feedback loop has been constructed. This phase meter works on the feedback compensation principle. Satisfactory operation of the device is possible, even if the signal is overwhelmed by noise and DC offsets, for the input phase range of - pi /2< Phi < pi /2 radians. The influence of noise and loop parameters on the phase jitter and acquisition time are studied using experimental results and by simulation.


In the present study, titanium nitride which shows exceptional stability, extreme corrosion resistance, good electronic conductivity and adhesion behaviour is used to support platinum particles and then used for methanol oxidation in an alkaline medium. The catalyst shows very good CO tolerance for the electrochemical oxidation of methanol. In situ infrared spectroelectrochemical data show the remarkable ability of TiN to decompose water at low over potentials leading to -OH type functional groups on its surface which in turn help in alleviating the carbon monoxide poisoning associated with methanol oxidation. TiN supported catalysts are found to be very good in terms of long term stability, exchange current density and stable currents at low over voltages. Supporting evidence from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data and cyclic voltammetry clearly demonstrates the usefulness of TiN supported Pt catalysts for efficient methanol oxidation in alkaline media.


Abstract This article deals with teaching of the virtue Respect through Storytelling and with creating Sound Effects in Music Education classes. The theoretical foundation is in Aristotle's philosophy. The hypothesis is that Ethics can be taught through virtues in Music Education classes in the Elementary School. The objectives of the research are: to establish the relationship between Ethics and Music Education; and to perform an activity on the virtue Respect. The research is qualitative. It is possible to conclude that students understood the meaning of the virtue Respect and the relevance of practicing virtues for living in society.


We study the combination of face verification algorithms in order to improve the verification performance. Although the different face experts that we consider provide their output scores on the basis of the same image, they are complementary to each other and their combination, using a simple sum rule, outperforms the best individual expert. Our experiments were conducted on the standard XM2VTS face database.


A scheme for selecting resonant frequencies for the analysis of gaseous air pollutants using long-path absorption of narrow-band infrared sources is presented. A computer search is conducted using existing spectrometric data to determine lines with minimum interference and maximum sensitivity. Results are given for the pollutants O/sub 3/, N/sub 2/O, CO, CH/sub 4/, and the nonpolluting species, H/sub 2/O and CO/sub 2/. (auth)