Based on the background presented that the learning process will still becarried out even with limited face-to-face, then researchers are interested inconducting research to know the implementation of learning during thepandemic, then the researcher formulated a common problem of this study ishow to implement learning during the covid-19 pandemic. The purpose is todescribe how to implement learning during the covid-19 pandemic in gradeIV C. The research method used is qualitative research. This type of researchis descriptive research. Research location in the field. The research subjectconsists of teachers and students. Research data sources include primary andskunder data. Data collection techniques with observation, interview, anddocumentation techniques. The results showed that the implementation oflearning has been running face-to-face but the results have not been effective,student learning outcomes are still relatively low because it is difficult toassess objectively, student activities while in school are still not good, studentresponses to learning activities vary, namely some who receive well there arealso still adapting, and there are still factors that support and inhibit theongoing learning activities.Keywords: Activities, Implementation of Learning, Inhibitory andSupporting Factors, Learning Outcomes


■■■■ Calcium β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation has been reported to reduce muscle catabolism and promote gains in fat-free mass and strength in subjects initiating training. However, whether HMB supplementation promotes these adapations in trained athletes is less clear. This study examined the effects of HMB (as the calcium salt) supplementation during resistance training (6.9 ± 0.7 hr × wk–1) on markers of catabolism, body composition and strength in experienced resistance-trained males. In a double-blind and randomized manner, 40 experienced resistance-trained athletes were matched and assigned to supplement their diet for 28 d with a fortified carbohydrate/protein powder containing either 0, 3 or 6 g × d–1 of calcium HMB. Fasting venous blood and urine samples, dual energy X-ray absorptiometer-determined body composition, and isotonic bench press and leg press one repetition maximums (1 RM) were determined prior to and following 28 d of supplementation. HMB supplementation resulted in significant increases in serum and urinary HMB concentrations. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in general markers of whole body anabolic/catabolic status, muscle and liver enzyme efflux, fat/bone-free mass, fat mass, percent body fat, or 1 RM strength. Results indicate that 28 d of HMB supplementation (3 to 6 g × d–1) during resistance-training does not reduce catabolism or affect training-induced changes in body composition and strength in experienced resistance-trained males.


In what follows, "persons" are ideal-typical concepts of human beings, deployed expressly or supposed implicitly in particular theoretical contexts. Thus, the person of Kantian moral philosophy is a pure bearer of moral predicates, bereft of all properties that empirically distinguish human beings from one another: properties that, in Kant's view, are irrelevant to moral deliberation. No man or woman, actual or possible, could be so starkly featureless. But Kant's aim was not to describe human beings in actual or possible deliberations, but moral agency as such. Similarly, homo oeconomicus, economic man, is not a composite man or woman, but also a person, a theoretical construct introduced for explanatory purposes in models of economic behavior. My aim is to investigate capitalist persons: ideal-typical concepts of human beings deployed in justifying theories of capitalist property relations. I shall identify two capitalist persons, and impugn one of them. To situate my position historically, I call the impugned person Lockean, and the other Kantian. It is tempting to designate the Lockean person "the capitalist person." However, this characterization would be misleading. Justifying theories of capitalism can employ either concept, and both can serve in accounts of socialist economies. Nevertheless, the Lockean person is tendentially procapitalist while the Kantian person is not. What follows is therefore relevant to the broader capitalism/socialism debate. To fault the Lockean person is not quite to fault capitalism itself. But a case against the Lockean person, if successful, would undermine an important strain of procapitalist argument. More importantly, the considerations I will adduce suggest a way of thinking about distributive justice and, ultimately, an ideal of equality that socialism, but not capitalism, can in principle accommodate.


The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of a HyperCard simulation upon student's concepts, opinions, and option-rankings on solid waste management, and to investigate what cognitive activities of the students were involved in the decision-making processes. One hundred eighth-grade students in Taiwan participated in this investigation. The subjects were randomly assigned into the computer-assisted-learning, the simulation-printed-materials, and control groups. The subjects received preand post-tests of achievement, opinion, and option-ranking on solid waste management. Students' decision-making behaviors were traced by the computer program for understanding the students; decision-making processes. Interviews verified the consistency of students' decision-making behavior. There were no significant differences on the achievement test score, the opinion assessment score, and the option-ranking score among the three groups. However, the subjects in the computer-assisted-learning group changed significantly on their option-ranking behaviors after the treatment. It was found that the students' information-searching behaviors were very different from each other, though the strategy used most frequently by the students for searching information is the conjunctive strategy. Interviews suggested that students made decisions by using their personal intuitive conceptions and feelings about solid waste management. Contains 16 references. (MDH) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************


Abstract Recently a special group of soils, the paddy soils, has been recognized for soils on which irrigated rice is cultivated (1,2). They are soils which have developed special morphological and chemical characteristics, such as surface gley and plowpan formation, as a result of the artificial flooding associated with rice cultivation. Paddy soils occur extensively in the ricegrowing areas of southeast and east Asia, but only in Japan have extensive studies been reported with regard to their formation and classification (6,7,8). In Indonesia, where rice is one of the most important crops, information concerning paddy soils is fragmentary and for the most part concerned only with agronomic problems (3, 9).


Disclosed are steel sheet and a manufacturing method thereof capable of minimizing the deviation of a tissue in a thickness direction by controlling alloying components and process conditions, and obtaining excellent low temperature toughness and high elongation percentage by miniaturizing the size of crystal grains at the center of the thickness. The steel sheet comprises 0.03-0.06 wt% of C, 0.2-0.3 wt% of Si, 1.5-1.6 wt% of Mn, 0.01 wt% or less of P, 0.001 wt% or less of S, 0.02-0.05 wt% of Al, 0.4-0.5 wt% of Ni, 0.2-0.3 wt% of Cu, 0.1-0.2 wt% of Cr, 0.01-0.02 wt% of Nb, 0.05-0.08 wt% of V, 0.01-0.02 wt% of Ti, 0.001-0.004 wt% of Ca, and the remainder consisting of iron (Fe) and other inevitable impurities. The steel sheet has 550-650 MPa of tensile strength (TS), 450 MPa or greater of yield strength (YP), and 50% or greater of elongation percentage (EL). The micro tissue has a complex tissue containing acicular ferrite, polygonal ferrite, and bainite and has 90% or greater of aspect ratio of a cross section of the acicular ferrite + the polygonal ferrite.


The role of location quality in housing consumption is an increasingly important research objective given the demand‐side considerations stemming from economic and socio‐cultural changes in urban and metropolitan housing market areas. In circumstances involving diversified demand, the consumption pattern comprises a set of different preference profiles. From an operational point of view, such outcome can be generated through ranking location attributes with respect to their relative importance for the house buyer or renter. This procedure may, for example, be based on pair‐wise comparison of attributes based on expert judgements and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This study is based on expert elicited residential location quality profiles in the inner city of Budapest, and builds on prior work on housing market analysis reported elsewhere. Here the particular issue, typical for post‐communist circumstances, concerns a mismatch between the range of available product groups and the increasingly quality conscious and differentiated buyer preferences.


Because of southwest - northeast orientation of Aravalli hill in Rajasthan, aspect effects may be an important factor in forest growth and composition. To study the effect of aspect on tree and shrub diversity and consequent effect on soil carbon storage a study was carried out in Borawad Forest block in Pali Forest Division, Rajasthan. Twenty five plots of 0.1 ha area were laid at 200 m interval at both east-west (longitude) and north-south (latitude) directions. Based on the slope facing in a particular direction, these plots were categorized into north-east (NE), south-east (SE), south-west (SW) and North-west (NW). The study indicate that the aspect affected the distribution patterns of incoming solar radiation and water balances, resulting in changes in vegetation pattern. Though this forest represents Anogeisus pendula type of forest, but there were wide variation the species dominance in different aspects that is preferred by different species. Southeast (SE) aspect were more suitable for tree diversity whereas shrub diversity and their population were highest on southwest aspect indicating that shrubs species prefers relatively xeric environment. Soil carbon stock was highest on southeast followed by southwest aspects showing strong relation with tree and shrub diversity.


For advance of the quality of medical care, nurses must perform Critical Thinking (CT) processes to clarify the evidence of one's own decision-making explicitly and to validate it. To train CT skills, it is important to analyse characteristics of CT task as a base of our learning scheme design. In this paper, we firstly analyse the characteristics of CT to specify design principle for our learning system based on the analysis. Then, we propose a learning system which facilitates valid decision-making processes. And then, we illustrate a scenario of a learner's system utilisation to encourage CT learning.


The invention relates to a device and a method for testing high temperature and high flow rate naphthenic acid corrosion, which is characterized in that an oil storage tank provided with a built-in pre-heater is used as a center, and an oil pipeline is led out from the oil storage tank, then passes through an oil filter, a pipe flow circulating pump or a spraying circulating pump, an external heating system, a pipe flow test device or a spraying test device in turn, and returns to the oil storage tank to form a sealed test circulation loop; and an oil return branch is arranged on an oil outlet of the external heating system, and the oil storage tank and the external heating system form a sealed oil return circulation loop through the oil return branch. The device and the method are used for realizing erosion-corrosion experiments under the high temperature and high flow rate conditions, develop material damage mechanism research under the combined action of high temperature and corrosive media, and further carry out deep system research of erosion-corrosion mechanism and control law of oil refining device materials in the high temperature and high flow rate naphthenic acid medium.


The behavior of a fault with a fluid-filled region is studied for the extraction of heat from hot, dry rock masses. A fault is viewed as a prefractured plane in the earth's crust and is modeled by an interface across which two elastic bodies contact with each other, where frictional forces against the relative movement between two surfaces of the interface are taken into account. Once fluid is injected between the two surfaces, the fault will be opened up over a region where the pressure acting on the fault plane before the injection is locally smaller than that on the neighboring regions. The size of the fluid-filled region is compared with that of a crack opened by a hydraulic pressure in a homogeneous medium to show that the fluid-filled region could be used as a reservoir for the extraction of geothermal heat. The resulting slip caused by the reduction of frictional forces due to the injection of fluid is analyzed by the use of two models, i.e., an interface with frictional resistance only and an interface with both frictional resistance and fracture toughness. It is shown that the two models do not exhibit any significant difference in the size of the slipped region when the fluid-filled region is of dimensions of practical interest.


This paper analyzes the processes involving subjectivity production engendered in educational actions directed to youngsters from Rio de Janeiro peripheral areas. It has been inspired by works developed by an important NGO: a professional qualification experimental activity directed to artistic-cultural education including elements from the spheres of music, theater and circus. We were determined to understand the several
meanings expressed in the learners' condition from a perspective that composes health, work and art, having borrowed the Greek concept of self-experience learner. This notion sets youngsters beyond prevalent meanings and envisions learners as individuals full of possibilities that can be continuously invented. From such perspective, we were able to detect experiences that face and create alternatives to conflicts undergone by peripheral youth, confronted by prevailing ways of life that tend, above all, to take hold of and format learners' bodies and conditions. According to our study, these conflicts and formats oscillate and make up non-excluding poles of Art, either as a market product or as a way-of-life transformation process. Having overcome those dilemmas, we came across a great number of connections, variations and peculiarities established by youngsters in a work liable to art intersections: space to share life experiences, professional growth, socializing, exercising playful activities, artistic skills development and others. So, we have concluded that experience taken as an analysis devise is a valuable kind of social laboratory of singular experiments, which, by matching health, work and art, produce innovating social practices and become reference to other governmental or nongovernmental actions focused on young learners.


Chloro derivatives of N-methylcarbazole (1), N-phenylcarbazole (2), N-acetylcarbazole (3), N-benzoylcarbazole (4) and 2-methoxy-N-methylcarbazole are synthesized. They are compounds 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d and 5e. Some of them are described for the first time. By using semiempirical PM3 method theoretical substituent effects on the chlorinating reaction are calculated. A chlorination mechanism of carbazoles and N-substituted carbazoles are compared.


Aiming at the problems of low accuracy and detection efficiency of traditional artificial detection methods, this paper proposes a detection algorithm of slight apparent damage for aluminum workpiece based on improved SD (Segmentation and Decision) network. Firstly, we carry out dataset augmentation and make dataset by LabelMe. Secondly, we filter the noise by the image preprocessing and improve the image contrast by CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization). Then, the channel attention mechanism is introduced into the decision network to improve the ability of feature extraction for small defects. Finally, we optimize the loss function of the segmentation network to improve the effect of defect segmentation. The experimental results show that this algorithm can effectively detect the defects such as pits and scratches, and it is practical for detecting the surface-defect of Stadge.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of nano-emulsion (thermodynamically stable, transparent, dispersion of oil and water having droplet size less than 200nm). Formulation of self-Emulsifying system of Dronedarone as a model drug, by using Myristic acid isopropyl ester, Tween80, Ethanol as oil phase, surfactant and co-surfactant respectively and water. Various o/w nano-emulsion formulations were prepared by spontaneous self- emulsification method. The area of nano emulsions were identified by constructing pseudo ternary phase-diagrams. The nano-emulsions that were prepared subjected to thermodynamic stability testing. The tests were characterized by using droplet size, Scanning electron Microscopy (SEM), viscosity, zeta potential and pH and in-vitro dissolution studies. The in-vitro dissolution studies of optimized formulation was compared with nanoemulsion. Thus these results suggested that nano-emulsions are the key vehicles for improved emulsification delivery of Dronedarone.


In this paper we present a new visualization framework incorporating self organizing maps (SOM) and a metaphoric data glyph approach. The combination of data glyph, U-matrix visualization and SOM creates a virtual 3D underwater cartoon environment from an arbitrary data table. The entire system is called REEFSOM (REndering of Emergent Fish SOM) since the environment simulates an underwater scenario. We propose to use REEFSOM for (a) exploratory data analysis in interdisciplinary research and for (b) teaching in neural information processing. The appeal of the REEFSOM is demonstrated with three case studies.


Transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) is the single most important cytokine promoting renal fibrogenesis. p21‐activated kinase‐2 (PAK2) and activa‐ tion of abelson nonreceptor tyrosine kinase (c‐abl) have been shown recently to be smad‐independent, fibro‐ blast‐specific targets downstream of the activated TGF‐β receptor. In the current study we show that in cultured NRK49F‐renal fibroblasts (but not in tubular or mesangial cells) TGF‐β similarly activates PAK2 as well as c‐abl and induces cell proliferation. Inhibition of the c‐abl kinase with imatinib mesylate prevents increased proliferation after TGF‐β addition without affecting PAK2. These in vitro findings were extended to rats with unilateral obstructive nephropathy, a dis‐ ease model of TGF‐β‐driven renal fibrogenesis. In obstructed kidneys, PAK2 and c‐abl activity were in‐ creased but only c‐abl activation was blocked by ima‐ tinib. Treatment with imatinib did not prevent renal interstitial infiltration of macrophages or phosphoryla‐ tion and nuclear translocation of smad2/3 in ob‐ structed kidneys. In contrast, imatinib substantially inhibited an increase in the number of interstitial fibroblasts and myofibroblasts and reduced the expres‐ sion and interstitial accumulation of collagen type III, collagen type IV and fibronectin. These findings indi‐ cate that TGF‐β‐induced activation of the nonreceptor c‐abl tyrosine kinase regulates fibroblast proliferation and, by this means, is a costimulatory signal in TGF‐β‐ dependent renal fibrogenesis. Inhibition of c‐abl activ‐ ity with imatinib mesylate ameliorates experimental renal fibrosis in rats.—Wang, S., Wilkes, M. C., Leof, L. B., Hirschberg, R. Imatinib mesylate blocks a non‐ Smad TGF‐β pathway and reduces renal fibrogenesis in vivo. FASEB J. 19, 1‐11 (2005)


With the advent of cloud computing, secured data deduplication has gained a lot of popularity. Many techniques have been proposed in the literature of this ongoing research area. Among these techniques, the Message Locked Encryption (MLE) scheme is often mentioned. Researchers have introduced MLE based protocols which provide secured deduplication of data, where the data is generally in text form. As a result, multimedia data such as images and video, which are larger in size compared to text files, have not been given much attention. Applying secured data deduplication to such data files could significantly reduce the cost and space required for their storage. In this paper we present a secure deduplication scheme for near identical (NI) images using the Dual Integrity Convergent Encryption (DICE) protocol, which is a variant of the MLE based scheme. In the proposed scheme, an image is decomposed into blocks and the DICE protocol is applied on each block separately rather than on the entire image. As a result, the blocks that are common between two or more NI images are stored only once at the cloud. We provide detailed analyses on the theoretical, experimental and security aspects of the proposed scheme.


Approved: _______________________________ Thesis Chairman Chapter 1: Introduction Wireless communication is a convenient way to transmit voice or data from point to point, and is essential for mobile communications. Commercial applications include cellular telephony, globalpositioning satellite, direct-broadcast satellite, and wireless computing. A block diagram of a radiofrequency transceiver structure used for wireless communication is shown in Figure 1. LNA MIXING DETECTION BASEBAND SIGNAL PROCESSING POWER AMP MODULATION DATA OUT


In this paper deals with the investigation of partial discharge and flashover characteristics of the ceramic and non-ceramic insulators in order to succeed a best diagnostic tool to determine the pollution severity of exterior insulators. In this experiment, laboratory based tests are achieve on the ceramic and non-ceramic insulators under AC voltage at various pollution levels manipulate the sodium chloride (NaCl) a as contaminant. Initially the test are conducted by the pure and contaminated at sample of insulators. In supplement, Partial discharge (PD) occurs on the contaminated surface of the sample insulator is to be measured and to investigate the PD wave form. The PD detection is sufficient to analyze maintenance of insulators of the transmission line. To evaluate the statistical analysis of PD patterns in order to accomplish a numerical judgment of pollution severity of the ceramic and non-ceramic insulators. In consequence, ceramic and non-ceramic insulator exhibit the pollution severity of the exterior insulators should be recognized from the partial discharge patterns investigation.


An on-line preconcentration system was coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) for the determination of copper(II) in water using poly(acrylamide-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) synthesized via a hierarchical double-imprinting process. The on-line preconcentration procedure was based on loading the sample into a minicolumn packed with the synthesized material, followed by elution with 1.8 mol L−1 HNO3. To achieve the highest performance, the method was optimized by 25-1 fractional and 22 full factorial designs. Under the optimum conditions, the following analytical parameters were obtained: detection limit of 0.48 µ gL−1, quantification limit of 1.61 µgL−1, preconcentration factor of 31.0, consumption index of 0.58 mL, preconcentration efficiency of 8.63 min−1, and sample throughput of 15 h−1. The precision of the method was evaluated as the relative standard deviation (n=10) of 10.0 and 150.0 µgL−1 copper(II), yielding values of 3.27% and 1.97%, respectively. The analytical efficacy of the proposed method was justified by successful determination of copper(II) in water. The synergistic effects of copper(II) and cetyl trimethylammonium bromide, employed as templates, improved the preconcentration, thus improving the method without the double imprinting effect.


(1) The influence of the temperature of preparation on the forma?ion of platinum-carbonyl sol from the chloroplatinic acid solution by the action of carbon monoxide were investigated at various temperatures between 5° and 80°C., together with the influence of the concentration of solution ranging from 0.01 to 0.1% with respect to H2PtCl6·6H2O. (2) Stable sols having a tinge of red with a dash of purple may be produced from the solutions of concentrations between 0.01 and 0.08% in a wide range of temperature; sols of various colours such as brownish red, brown as well as dark brown may be formed in the same limits of concentration as the above at the elevated temperatures. (3) Sols tinged with red slightly inclining to purple may be obtained, though unstable, from the 0.1% acid solutions only at lower temperatures. (4) The colouration effects above-mentioned were spectroscopically analyzed with the Nutting's spectrophotometer, and it was found that the extinction curves for the sols tinged with red reach a...


Abstract Purpose: Develop a measure to quantitatively assess perceived pressure to breastfeed and examine associations between perceived pressure, emotional distress, and the breastfeeding experience and self-efficacy among women with 2- to 6-month-old infants. Study Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online survey to assess perceived pressure to breastfeed, emotional distress, and the breastfeeding experience and self-efficacy was conducted. Participants were recruited through ResearchMatch, a national online service that matches potential participants to research studies, and online community forums (e.g., Facebook). Results: Women (n = 187) reported themselves and society as the greatest sources of pressure. Pressure to breastfeed was negatively associated with the breastfeeding experience (r = -.34, p < .01) and self-efficacy (r = -.39, p < .01), but not emotional distress. Pressure to breastfeed remained a significant explanatory factor, even when considering demographic covariates, with the final models accounting for 16% and 20% of the variance in the breastfeeding experience and self-efficacy, respectively. Clinical Implications: Perceived pressure to breastfeed may be an important psychosocial factor to consider when aiming to improve women's breastfeeding experiences. Reducing perceived pressure may be beneficial for promoting breastfeeding outcomes. This study reports on a measure to quantitatively assess perceived pressure to breastfeed and examines associations between perceived pressure, emotional distress, the breastfeeding experience, and self-efficacy among women with 2 to 6-month-old infants. Women reported themselves and society as the greatest sources of pressure. Pressure to breastfeed was negatively associated with the breastfeeding experience. Perceived pressure to breastfeed may be an important psychosocial factor to consider for improving women's breastfeeding experiences. Reducing perceived pressure may be beneficial for helping women meet their breastfeeding goals.


Metacognition ability is the ability of a person in doing the thinking process, so that when the learning process takes place then reflected in student learning activities. One to develop students' metacognition ability is to use a portfolio. Portfolio which is the work of a student, as the implementation of performance tasks determined by the teacher, with the teacher to achieve the learning objectives. This study aims to determine the effect of the portfolio to develop students' metacognition skills on organizational life materials in SMPN 2 Sawahan. This research is in the form of quantitative research and using experimental method of Intact-Group Comparison with control class that is class VII A amounted to 24 students are taught by lecture method and experimental class that is class VII C amounted to 24 students by using portfolio. Data collection techniques use learning outcomes and metacognition ability questionnaires. Data analysis technique using Independent Sample T-Test Test using SPSS version 16. The result of research with α = 5% shows that t count> t table (5,051> 2,3139) and P value (0,000 <0,05) hence Ho is rejected And Ha accepted, thus proving that there is a portfolio influence to improve students' metacognition ability


This paper will particularly introduce a read and a spontaneous speech corpus to show how to collect and annotate the task dependent speech corpora. Additionally, segmental labeling convention SAMPA-C and prosodic labeling convention CToBI are depicted. Finally, known and new results are given or compared for these two annotated corpora.


The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the creation process of the Instituto Iberico Oriental in Barcelona after the Spanish civil war. In order to do so, we analyze the theoretical basis of the project, the individuals involved in its creation as well as the possible causes of its failure.


Abstract The c-myb proto-oncogene encodes an obligate hematopoietic cell transcription factor important for lineage commitment, proliferation, and differentiation. Given its critical functions, c-Myb regulatory factors are of great interest but remain incompletely defined. Herein we show that c-Myb expression is subject to post-transcriptional regulation by microRNA (miRNA)-15a. Using a luciferase reporter assay, we found that miR-15a directly binds the 3'-UTR of c-myb mRNA. By transfecting K562 myeloid leukemia cells with a miR-15a mimic, functionality of binding was shown. The mimic decreased c-Myb expression, and blocked the cells in the G1-phase of cell cycle. Exogenous expression of c-myb mRNA lacking the 3'-UTR partially rescued the miR-15a induced cell cycle block. Of interest, the miR-15a promoter contained several potential Myb protein binding sites. Occupancy of one canonical Myb binding site was demonstrated by ChIP analysis, and further shown to be required for miR-15a expression in K562 cells. Finally, in studies employing normal human CD34+ cells, we showed that c-Myb and miR-15a expression were inversely correlated in cells undergoing erythroid differentiation, and that overexpression of miR-15a blocked both erythroid and myeloid colony formation in vitro. In aggregate, these findings suggest the From bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org by guest on June 8, 2013. For personal use only.


Abstract The policy response to the COVID-19 shock included regulatory easing across many jurisdictions to facilitate the flow of credit to the economy and mitigate a further amplification of the shock through tighter financial conditions. Using an intraday event study, this paper examines how stock prices – a key driver of financial conditions – reacted to regulatory easing announcements in a sample of 18 advanced economies and 8 emerging markets. It finds that regulatory easing announcements contributed to looser financial conditions but effects varied across sectors and tools. News about regulatory easing led to lower valuations for financial sector stocks, mainly in jurisdictions with relatively lower capital buffers. These results stand in stark contrast with valuations of non-financial sector stocks, which increased in response to regulatory relief announcements, particularly in industries that are more dependent on bank financing. The effects also differed across tools. Valuations declined and financial conditions tightened following announcements related to easier bank capital regulation while equity valuation rose and financial conditions loosened after those about liquidity regulation.


Solid-phase growth of [a-Si/a Feo.4Sio.5Geo.1]n stacked-structures has been investigated. [aSi/a-Feo.4Sio.5Geo.1]n/c-Si (n=1, 2, 4) samples were annealed at 700-900°C for 30 min in a vacuum. The grown layers were analyzed by using Auger electron spectroscopy, the X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and the transmission electron microscopy. After annealing at 700°C, 0-FeSi2(Ge) strained by 0.4-0.5% was successfully formed for the sample with n=1. The strains became small with increasing n, i.e., with thinning layer. In addition, superstructures consisting of f-FeSi2 and c-Sio.7Geo.3 nanocrystals were obtained by Ge segregation after annealing at 800°C. These new structures are useful for fabrication of opto-electrical devices.


This paper presents the successes of the Summer Technology & Engineering Preview at Stout for Girls ("STEPS for Girls"). In 1997, the University of Wisconsin-Stout (UW-Stout), in partnership with the Society of Manufacturing Engineering Education Foundation (SME-EF), initiated an outreach program for girls entering the seventh grade. "STEPS for Girls" is a one-week introduction to the world of manufacturing. The girls manufacture radio-controlled model airplanes from raw materials. The components are fabricated in various laboratory activities using real production equipment. Each girl has an opportunity to fly her airplane with the assistance of skilled radio-controlled aircraft pilots. "STEPS for Girls" campers gain direct hands-on experience in math, physics, chemistry, packaging, computer aided design, rapid prototyping, computer aided manufacturing, CNC machining, metals casting, plastics processing, robotics, web-page development, and printing. Industry, University, and SME-EF support have been key to the success of this program. The camp has been free to all campers due to the generous donations of industry and university sponsors. The seventh grade outreach program, which has recently completed its sixth camping summer, now has over 900 female graduates from the UW-Stout camp. In addition, there are several hundred other female graduates from branch camps established by SME in Minnesota and Michigan. Evidence will be presented detailing the outstanding experiences of "STEPS for Girls" graduates and the influence this program has had on their high school course and career directions. Evaluation of the program is conducted centrally by SME-EF. Our first graduates are now high school seniors. Surveys of their college plans will give us our first indication of the impact of the program. Results of the evaluation will be shared. In addition, the paper will present the informal surveys of camp participants taken during their week of activities. UW-Stout anticipates there will be an influx of female students into engineering programs in our region over the next decade as a direct result of the science, math and technology confidence the "STEPS for Girls" campers gain during their summer week long camp. P ge 8.046.1 Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition ©2003, American Society for Engineering Education "We were initially nervous about attending and thinking the camp would be boring, by the end of the week we wanted to be duct-taped to our beds so we could stay longer. "STEPS for Girls" expanded your mind and your self-esteem. It was flattering to be accepted from all the seventh grade girls in Wisconsin." Two 1997 campers The paper will conclude with a summary of UW-Stout's plans for a new tenth grade "STEPS for Girls" program, and will provide information regarding how other campuses may develop a "STEPS for Girls" camp. Beginning in 2004, an Advanced "STEPS for Girls" camp will be conducted at UW-Stout. Campers will manufacture radio-controlled model cars, from designing the body on the computer, to machining a body form on a computer controlled mill, to extruding plastic sheet from which they will thermoform the body, and fabricating an electronic sensor controlled timer for each car, as well as experiencing several other manufacturing activities, including a visit to the Ford Ranger assembly plant in St. Paul, MN. "STEPS for Girls" – History and Rationale A Manufacturing Engineering program at UWStout began officially in the fall of 1994. The enrollment of female students has averaged between 10 and 15%, and that of minority students has been even lower since the programs inception. It is felt that the most effective means of changing this situation is a long term one: to expose girls and all children of color to the opportunities for careers in engineering before they make limiting curriculum decisions in middle school and high school. Several organizations document the participation rate of women in science, technology, and engineering professions or recommend interventions of innovative programs that encourage girls to enter undergraduate science, technology and engineering studies. While women make up 46% of the U.S. labor force in 1997, women make up only 8% of the overall engineering workforce. Since much emphasis is placed on salary equity issues, national reports have recently been emphasizing women earning at 76% of equivalent male earnings. This low figure is a cumulative average across all fields of employment. 1997 median salaries of engineers with less than five years of experience are identical at $40,000, indicating salary equity at the beginning engineering levels. 1 Young women exhibit less confidence in their math skills than young men. Girls also indicate they like math and science subjects less than do boys. A low rate of participation of women and minorities in engineering careers is well established. In addition, there presently are 268,000 unfilled technology positions in the United States. By the year 2010 these unfilled positions are projected to grow to 1.6 million. "Innovative programs for girls and young women provide opportunities for them to interact with women in science and technical fields". In addition, girls benefit from programs that build on their strengths and encourage them to explore meaningful possibilities for their futures. Society is denied the services of talented young women in technology fields, who, were it not for gender or cultural biases, have the potential to become excellent engineers. Without interventions similar in spirit to those represented by the "STEPS for Girls" program, most young female students might make critical high school curriculum choices that would limit their ability to enter, participate in, and succeed in an engineering program in college. Therefore, it is essential to reach these potential students early with solid information about the excitement of an engineering career and what it takes to achieve and succeed in one. The "STEPS for Girls" program was designed for that purpose. P ge 8.046.2 Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition ©2003, American Society for Engineering Education "My daughter attended the "STEPS for Girls" program two summers ago in 1999. She has gained so much from it I can't put it into words. Her self-confidence has skyrocketed to the moon. Her grades have followed. Old grades were 2.5 2.7 range. Since the program, 3.7-4.0. Yes, straight A's a couple times. Our entire family attributes the change to the "STEPS for Girls" Program. She is a real leader and go-getter the last couple years. She always tells us that "she found out that she wasn't dumb" at the camp. No other changes in her life. She has surrounded herself with great friends and consistently gets high remarks from her instructors in school. Truly an amazing life change for her." Father of 1999 camper As a result of these concerns, the concept of a summer engineering and technology camp for girls entering the seventh grade was developed. The first camp was conducted in the summer of 1997 to expose women to the opportunities available in technical careers early enough to influence their choices of math, science, and technical courses in middle and high school. The ultimate goal is to increase the participation of women in these career fields. The College of Technology, Engineering, and Management (CTEM) at the University of Wisconsin-Stout publishes an annual "STEPS for Girls" report. Much of the information provided in this paper is summarized in more detail in this report. "STEPS for Girls" Activities The activities of the camp were developed to achieve an appropriate balance between technical and recreational activities and to conform as closely as possible to UW-Stout's "hands-on, minds-on" philosophy in a small group setting. Selected activities focused around manufacturing concepts, involving both processes and production systems. No more than two consecutive hours were scheduled for any technical activity to avoid surpassing the attention span of the youthful audience. Instructors were tasked to develop activities that were not only instructive and interesting but also fun. As many women role models as possible from both technical and administrative contexts were presented to the campers. The campers were given an experience as close to college life as could be provided. Upon arrival the campers were organized into four teams of ten, each team identified by a distinctively colored T-shirt (red, blue, yellow, and green). This serves to provide the experience of participation in diverse social groups and organizations. They also lived together in a dormitory for their week of camp attendance, ate meals in the Merle Price Commons cafeteria, attended classes in college classrooms and labs, and were taught by real college professors. From arrival of the campers on Sunday afternoon until departure on Friday afternoon, there were 52.5 hours of scheduled time other than routine meals. The following shows the balance among the various types of activities: • Technical Activities 20.0 hours • Developmental Activities 18.0 hours • Recreational Activities 14.5 hours Technical activities were designed around the manufacture of a radio-controlled model airplane. The aircraft was final assembled in the Transportation Lab after other lab activities produced parts as "subcontractors", or analyses and information as "consultants". Several of the activities in the production of the airplane are described as follows:


Background and purpose: Anatomy is a branch of science that deals with different parts of human body and its organizational structure. It has various goals, such as insight into the divine perfection and understanding the causes of diseases and their treatments. Anatomy in the Islamic era included physiology too. This research aimed at providing an overview on anatomy in the Reference Materials of Persian Medicine. Materials and methods: A qualitative study (content-analytic library research) was performed based on the books of Persian medicine. This study was conducted at several stages; finding the keywords, searching in reference texts of Iranian-Islamic medicine, in history books and Islamic encyclopedias, and in Persian and Latin electronic banks, then sorting, organizing, and comparing the information. Results: Anatomical knowledge is prerequisite to treatment and surgery. The works of Muslim scientists on anatomy, like the Europeans, were found to be influenced by the works of Galen. According to evidence, Muslim doctors performed autopsy and were great surgeons. Conclusion: The basis of the new anatomy enhanced by Vesalius is similar to the IranianIslamic anatomy that was introduced to Europe after revising the texts of Galen. Considering the holistic viewpoints in Persian medicine, further research is needed to adapt that to modern medicine.


Abstract Assyriologists have a variety of methods available to assign unprovenienced materials with educated certainty to its ancient site. The occurrence of specific toponyms and month names as well as the detailed study of prosopography, paleography, orthography, lexicography, tablet shape, format and sealing practices assist specialists in reconstructing the ancient context of a specific object. Now, with the fluorescence of technology, new digital tools are being developed and refined that may contribute to the complex process of provenience assignment. Text mining, the practice of deriving information from blocks of text using pattern recognition or trend analysis, has already been applied to corpora ranging from Shakespeare to Twitter. For an example of previous text mining analysis on cuneiform sources, see, ENEA's TIGRIS Virtual Lab (http://www.afs.enea.it/project/tigris/indexOpen.php) With the ability to search for statistically significant correlations in large blocks of text following user-defined criteria and rules, statistical methods, here accessed via text mining software, have significant potential for revealing new levels of data in cuneiform texts.


Technical report of the project to produce and evaluate the use of metal matrix composites that incorporate coal fly ash in the commercial manufacture of cast automotive parts.


This research investigates the impact of time pressure and individual differences on performance and learning in a Real-Time Dynamic Decision Making (RTDDM) task. Our results indicate that individuals with high spatial WM capacity improved their performance in a high time pressure environment, while individuals with low spatial WM capacity did not. Our results also indicate that individuals with high linguistic WM capacity performed worse than individuals with low linguistic WM capacity. These results suggest that in high time pressure tasks, spatial thinking helps decision makers to build more efficient and effective cognitive models of the environment. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for training and for the design of computer support in RTDDM tasks. Introduction Real-Time Dynamic Decision Making (RTDDM) tasks have three main characteristics: a) the decision maker has to make a series of interdependent decisions; b) the environment changes because of exogenous events and because of prior decisions; and c) the pacing of decisions is dictated by the task rather than by the decision maker (Brehmer, 1990). This research investigates the impact of time pressure on performance and learning in a RTDDM task. It also studies the impact of linguistic and spatial Working Memory (WM) capacity on performance and learning. Theory WM is the system for holding and manipulating information during the performance of cognitive tasks (Baddeley, 1990). Limitations in WM capacity have been recognized as a major bottleneck in human cognitive processing. We would expect that differences in WM capacity will have a great impact on how individuals perform and learn in RTDDM tasks because these environments impose high cognitive workloads. More specifically, we would expect that individuals with high WM resources should be better able to cope with rapidly changing environments. Also, since WM is used for both performance and learning, we would expect that decision makers would learn better decision strategies when they are first trained in a low time pressure environment, and then they are asked to make decisions in a higher time pressure environment. Conversely, individuals that are trained from the beginning in a high time pressure environment should find it harder to learn better decision strategies because all their cognitive resources are devoted to executing the task, and they have less spare resources devoted to learning. This prediction should be mediated by individual differences in WM capacity. WM is divided into two subsystem: 1) a linguistic sub-system, and 2) a spatial sub-system. In the linguistic sub-system, information is kept in linguistic code, and the processing of this information can be characterized as sequential and propositional. In the spatial sub-system, information is kept in visual code, and the processing can be characterized as more parallel and analogical. There is a strong evidence that language processing and spatial thinking are supported by separate pools of WM capacity (Shah and Miyake, 1996). Prior studies have shown that individuals with high linguistic WM capacity perform better than individuals with low linguistic WM capacity in a variety of real-time tasks such as reading comprehension (Just and Carpenter, 1992) and phone-based interaction (Huguenard, Lerch, Junker, Patz and Kass, 1977). Therefore, we would expect that individuals with high linguistic WM capacity will perform and learn better than individuals with low WM capacity in a RTDDM task. We did not make any predictions about the impact of individual differences in spatial WM capacity since our task is embedded in a scheduling decision making environment that requires the processing of numbers. Number processing is mainly handled by the linguistic sub-system in WM (Shah and Miyake, 1996). But it is possible that decision makers with high spatial WM capacity may decide to build a spatial model of the task, and use this model to make decisions. Since spatial thinking exhibits more parallel processing than linguistic processing, individuals with high spatial WM capacity may be better able to handle the high cognitive demands of RTDDM tasks if they can build a visual model of the task.


Scientific Visual uses the pictures, images to describe the physical phenomenon. A design for program that calculates and describes Radiated electromagnetic fields was discussed by this paper. This programe makes the scientific calculation and timing simulation a whole, thus displaying the data calculated through the method easily understood and compared.. Also it can carry out mutual analyzing.


An accurate procedure to extract contact resistivity from contact resistance measurements made on both D-Resistor and L-Resistor type Kelvin cross test structures with both upper and lower resistive layers is presented. The method is based on the obtention of a set of "Universal Surfaces" through computer simulation. Using adimensional variables these surfaces can be employed in all experimental conditions, eliminating the need of further simulations.


We study the star algebra of ghost sector in vacuum string field theory (VSFT). We show that the star product of two states in the Siegel gauge is BRST exact if we take the BRST charge to be the one found in hep-th/0108150, and the BRST exact states are nil factors in the star algebra. By introducing a new star product defined on the states in the Siegel gauge, the equation of motion of VSFT is characterized as the projection condition with respect to this new product. We also comment on the comma form of string vertex in the ghost sector.


As big as the Caspian Sea as recently as 8,500 years ago, Lake Chad is now Africa's fourth largest lake, with a maximum extent of 25,000km. One of three major wetlands located within the Sudano-Sahelian zone (the others being the Niger River Inner Delta in Mali, and the Sudd Swamps in Sudan), Lake Chad is rather shallow and has been particularly susceptible to the increasing variability and irregularity of rainfall during the last 40 years. It has fluctuated greatly during this period, shrinking by up to 80 per cent in 1985, but reaching 19,000km once more in 2001. 1


This study quantifies the frequency of simple and complex races (races that can infect two or more components) of Puccinia striiformis in mixtures of wheat cultivars possessing different race-specific resistance genes. Treatments were designed so that the complex race changed depending on the host mixture, thus enabling us to observe the influence of pathogen complexity in different genetic backgrounds. Six cultivar mixtures and one pure stand of winter wheat were inoculated with three races of P. striiformis at two locations for two seasons. Potted plants of three winter wheat cultivars, each susceptible to one of the three races of the pathogen, were used to sample the pathogen during the field epidemics. Disease incidence on the differential cultivars was used to calculate the proportion of the three races in each treatment. The specific cultivars included in the mixtures influenced the frequencies of the three races. Increasing the number of virulent races in a mixture reduced the frequency of the complex race relative to the other two races. The results suggest that genetic background of the pathogen race, host composition, and interaction among pathogen races may be as important as cost of virulence in determining race frequencies in mixtures.


How might development influence and be influenced by domestic service? Part I poses potential connections between the two phenomena, followed by general tr...


Let S be a collection of n rigid bodies in 3-space, and let D be a set of k directions in 3-space, where k is a small constant. A k-directional assembly sequence for S, with respect to D, is a linear ordering (s{sub 1},...., s{sub n}) of the bodies in S, such that each si can be moved to infinity by translating it in one of the directions of D and without intersecting any s{sub j}, for j > i. We present an algorithm that computes a k-directional assembly sequence, or decides that no such sequence exists, for a set of polyhedra. The algorithm runs in O(km{sup 4/3+{epsilon}}) time, where m is the total number of vertices of the polyhedra. We also give an algorithm for {open_quote}k-directional{close_quote} rotational motions.


Low contrast and shortage of gray levels are two main characteristics of infrared image and the real-time image enhancement technology is the key to ameliorate infrared imaging system performance and improve image quality. In this paper, the basic principle of a new histogram-transforming algorithm is described in detail and the special gray-level transforming function is presented. This paper proposes flexible hardware circuit architecture to realize the real-time infrared image processing based on DSP+FPGA techniques. The experiment results show that this method has good real-time characters and the image brightness contrast as well as the recognizing capability of human eyes can be increased significantly. In the infrared image television system, this method can be used directly and has high commercial value. Moreover, this hardware and associate programmable environment is suitable for other signal processing occasions.


Wife battering is a ground for divorce in the Malaysian Shariah Courts. Some husbands claim that it is their prerogative right to discipline their wives by corporal punishment based on their superficial understanding of the Qur'anic text 4:34 which seems to justify this argument. Some feminist organizations condemn this and allege that if physical assault is lawful in Islam, it leads to a woman's persecution. This paper examines the issue of wife battering from both Islamic perspective and Malaysian legal provisions. It clarifies the misconception that exists regarding the above issue which is in fact, due to lack of understanding and prejudice against Islamic law.


The scale of recurrent population in northwest China has consistently increased and influenced the development of regional economic since 1999 when the central government implemented west development strategy. Therefore,in order to launch the development of northwest China and promote the sustainable development of human and environmental resources,we should grasp the situation of the recurrent population in northwest China precisely,know about the subsistence and development conditions of recurrent population deeply and lead the orderly migration and propel the equalization of basic public service for recurrent population. On the basis of the original data investigated and dynamic monitored by the National Population and Family Planning Commission in 2012,We systemically analysis and summary the essential feature,employment,social security,public services,income and consumption of recurrent population in northwest China. We also focus on the status quo of the interaction between recurrent population and the local residents. And then,we find out problems of the issue above and give some policy advice to trouble-shooting.


Despite the widespread use of facilities, which include humid rooms with a low temperature, for example, underground structures of civil defense facilities, filter rooms of water intake facilities with an open water surface, underground facilities of filter rooms with main water lines, etc., the organization of the required parameters of the air regime in them is practically not studied. In the existing normative documents there are no recommendations establishing requirements to the parameters of microclimate in such rooms depending on physical and climatic influences and offering effective engineering solutions to ensure optimal conditions of air regime of premises. The unsatisfactory condition of the heat and moisture regime, the lack of recommendations for the design of heating and ventilation systems in humid areas with low temperatures of the internal air require research in the field of creating the necessary microclimate in them.


: This study investigated the comparative changes in hematological and certain biochemical parameters such as glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride calcium, phosphorus and total protein during the transition period in Angora and Akkeçi goats aged 2–4 years. For this purpose, blood samples were regularly taken from the vena jugularis of each goat at 3, 2, and 1 weeks before kidding (–3, –2 and –1), on the day of parturition (0) and 1, 2, and 3 weeks after kidding (+1, +2 and +3). According to the statistical analysis results, the differences between the averages of the groups in terms of MCHC, MCH, Lym, THR, Pct and glucose were not statistically significant. However, there were found statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences among the periods for WBC, MPV, PDW, cholesterol and total protein, while there were found statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences between the genotypes for Hb, RDW, and cholesterol. Additionally, genotype x period interactions were statistically significant (p < 0.05) in terms of RBC, MCV, HCT, Mon, Gra, triglyceride, calcium, and phosphorus. In conclusion, in the transition from pregnancy to lactation, which are different physiological periods, certain similar important metabolic adaptations have occurred in both goat breeds.


Deep learning has been widely applied for jobs involving face inpainting, however, there are usually some problems, such as incoherent inpainting edges, lack of diversity of generated images and other problems. In order to get more feature information and improve the inpainting effect, we therefore propose a Generative Adversarial Network of Skip Connection (SCGAN), which connects the encoder layers and the decoder layers by skip connection in the generator. The coherence and consistency of the image inpainting edges are improved, and the finer features of the image inpainting are refined, simultaneously using the discriminator's local and global double discriminators model. We also employ WGAN-GP loss to enhance model stability during training, prevent model collapse, and increase the variety of inpainting face images. Finally, experiments on the CelebA dataset and the LFW dataset are performed, and the model's performance is assessed using the PSNR and SSIM indices. Our model's face image inpainting is more realistic and coherent than that of other models, and the model training is more reliable.


Introduction: Vermian fossa (VF) is also known as middle cerebellar fossa of Verga. It is present at lower part of internal occipital crest of occipital bone, over which inferior vermis of cerebellum lies. As very few studies are done on VF, so the present study was conducted. Objective: To know the incidence, morphology, and morphometry of VF in adult dry human skulls. Materials and methods: In the present study, 60 dry human skulls were examined for the presence or absence of VF, and shape and depth of VF. Morphometry of VF was done with digital Vernier caliper. Results: In the present study, incidence of VF was 66.7% (in 40 skulls). Among observed VF (40), 32 (80%) were type I (triangular) and 8 (20%) were of type II (quadrangular) in shape, and 75% were shallow and 25% were deep. Average length of VF was 16.98 ± 4.3 mm, and width was 13.52 ± 2.25 mm. Conclusion: In the present study, incidence of VF was quite higher than other studies but almost similar to other Indian studies. Although the sample size of the present study is less, this may provide some help to neurosurgeons, clinicians, and morphologist as the studies on VF are very less.


ABSTRACT Ultrasonic surface shot peening (USSP) treatment was conducted on the WC-8Co composite. The effects of different USSP-treated time on surface roughness, microstructure, mechanical and corrosion resistance were investigated. The results show that continuous bombardment on the surface of WC-8Co cemented carbide induced by high kinetic energy particles during USSP makes the WC particles and Co phase broken and refined. A nanostructured layer is generated on the top-surface of WC-Co cemented carbide and the thickness is about 3.14 µm. Due to the polishing and washing of all samples, the results of surface roughness don't change much. Microhardness of nanostructured surface layer increases by 15.8% compared with the untreated sample. Electrochemical experiment results indicated that the refinement of grain are the main reasons for the enhanced corrosion behavior of the samples. At the same time, the most suitable shot peening time of USSP for WC-8Co cemented carbide is 30 min.


Our nation has been founded in what we may call our American religion, baptized and reared in the faith that a man requires no master to take care of him, and that common people can work out their salvation well enough together if left free to try. William James, "Robert Gould Shaw Oration," 1897 [T]he civic religion of which Whitman and Dewey were prophets … centered around taking advantage of traditional pride in American citizenship by substituting social justice for individual freedom as our country's principal goal … You have to be loyal to a dream country rather than to the one to which you wake up every morning. Richard Rorty, "A Cultural Left," 1997 James and Rorty refer here to what sociologists used to call the American civil religion. In 1967, Robert N. Bellah coined this phrase to suggest how Americans, shaped by the complex interplay of republican and Christian traditions, believe they have an obligation "to carry out God's will on earth." Since the 1970s, though, it has been historians like J. G. A. Pocock who have shown how republicans throughout the modern West have for the last five centuries blended the millennialist beliefs of Christianity with the ancient conviction that humans realize their political nature through the virtuous acts required to sustain republics in a cosmos ruled by fortune. As James once said of pragmatism, republicanism is a new name for an old way of thinking.


The reactions of N,N-dimethyl-p-anisidine (1a), N,N-dimethylaniline (1b), and N,N-dimethyl-p-fluoroaniline (1c) toward secondary anilines 2(a−d)-H in the presence of thallium triacetate sesquihydrate have been studied as representative of a novel oxidatively activated aromatic substitution affording 1,4-benzenediamine derivatives 3a−d. All of the substrates considered gave substitution with diphenylamine (2d-H). However, with anilines 2b,c-H, only 1a underwent substitution, and substrates 1b,c were practically unreactive. The observed differences in reactivity are well accounted for within a mechanistic framework wherein oxidative activation of both the substrate and the secondary aniline is regarded as alternatively (or simultaneously) possible, depending on the redox characteristics of the reactants. For instance, it can be stated, beyond any reasonable doubt, that reactions of 1a with 2b,c-H proceed via nucleophilic attack of the latter on 1a+•, and that the reaction of 1a−c with 2d-H must involve the ...


The inverse kinematics (IK) problem for many common robot manipulators may be decomposed into canonical subproblems which are solved by finding the angles on circles where they intersect with other geometric objects. We present new algebraic solutions and geometric interpretations for six subproblems using a linear algebra approach, and we demonstrate significant computational performance improvements over existing IK methods. We show that IK for any 6-dof all revolute (6R) robot with three intersecting or parallel joint axes may be solved in closed form using subproblem decomposition. For any other 6R robot, subproblem decomposition reduces finding all IK solutions to a search over one or two joint angles. The first three subproblems, called the Paden-Kahan subproblems, are Subproblem 1: Circle and Point, Subproblem 2: Two Circles, and Subproblem 3: Circle and Sphere. The other three subproblems, which have not been extensively covered in the literature, are Subproblem 4: Circle and Plane, Subproblem 5: Three Circles, and Subproblem 6: Four Circles. Our approach also finds the least-squares solutions for Subproblems 1-4 when the exact solution does not exist.


This study was carried out to determine the effects of betaine on the growth performance and carcass synthesis of Caspian Roach ( Rutilus rutilus caspicus ) fingerlings. Fish with mean weight about 1.91±0.01g after adaptation were divided to 2 treatment groups (0.5 and 1% of diet) and control (0%). After 8 weeks feeding with betaine added diet, data was analyzed by excel 2010 and Spss 18.Added betaine had anincreasing effect on final weight, weight gain (BWI), and a decreasing effect on FCR, but not significantly. Food intake increased significantly as added betaine increased (p<0.05).  Betaine is known as a flavor attractant and improves growth factors of Caspian Roach ( Rutilus rutilus caspicus ) fingerlings.


The present experiment was carried out during 2018 to 2020 in Departmental Research Field of Department of Horticulture, SHUATS, Prayagraj. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design (RBD), with ten treatments and each replicated thrice. The treatments were T0:Control, T1:100% N@ Poultry manure, T2:100% N @ Vermicompost, T3:100% N @ FYM (Kg), T4:50% N + 50% P @ Poultry manure, T5:50% N + 50% P @ Vermicompost, T6:50% N + 50% P @ FYM, T7:25% RDF + 100% @ Poultry manure, T8:25% RDF + 100% @ Vermicompost and T9:25% RDF + 100% @ FYM. On the basis of present investigation it is concluded that the treatment T7 25% RDF + 100% @ Poultry manure is proved as a best combination of different organic and inorganic fertilizer for the improvement of brinjal cultivation through organically; where treatment T7 25% RDF + 100% @ Poultry manure significantly enhances the growth, flowering, fruit yield and quality traits of brinjal. The maximum benefit cost ratio (1:3.85) was found in T8.


A radioimmunoassay of carcinoembryonic antigen inplasma isdescribedand evaluated.The assay can be easilyperformedand implemented in a clinical laboratory. Assessed by Rodbard's statistical quality-control procedure, the assay is shown tobe highlysensitive, precise, and reproducible.


, The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) plan is an indispensable part of all cycles of industrial projects. By the way, it results to compose the initial matrix of data in the preliminary assessment of the screening step. Iranian industrial projects recognized miscellaneous material streams introduced into industrial ambient and in released shapes. One of the important assessments posed in the EIA plan refers to costs/revenue assessment that assigns Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to discover the performance of industrial projects along with statistical tests. The objective of the current study prosecuted to discern the cost/revenue analysis in statistical language. Therefore, the empirical equations and SPSS Software of IBM 20 were employed in the analysis of financial reports. The findings were succeeded to present linear relationships for the dependent and independent variables and in full compliance with diagrams developed by SPSS software. The results of the DEA model ended up with the emergence of an efficiency border for 8 industrial groups (334 industries) around a range of 0 to 0.4 by scatter plot. There were no significant differences between dependent and independent variables in different models assessed via T and F and ANOVA tests. It can be concluded that the findings of the DEA model displayed by the scatter plot are a benchmarking level for industrial projects once before complete construction. of Technology and Education of the Amazon (ITEGAM). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0).


Electronic medical records as dynamic case management has replaced traditional paper records as still management.It is a remarkable progress.The core value of electronic medical records depends on directing clinicians to make correct clinical decisions.Therefore current national electronic medical records are focusing on changing functions of writer.In other words,clinicians can't gain the greatest benefits from the electronic medical records.This essay is analyzing development phases of electronic medical records which are concerned on study of clinical decision support system.Consequently,provide a reference for Chinese electronic medical records marching toward the direction of knowledge and intelligence.


We improved the universal training model that had been used for bedside training at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,Kyushu University of Health and Welfare,making it into a pharmaceutical universal training model for checking various administration routes.The advantages of the model are as follows : (1)various gastric tubes can be inserted into gastric and intestinal fistulae ; (2)training on more organs is possible ; (3)suppositories can be simply inserted ; (4)easy to change bedsore pads,and (5)puncture site facilitates the checking of subcutaneous,intramuscular,and intravenous injections and intravenous hyperalimentation.We conducted a questionnaire survey of students regarding the following points before and after the training : checking of various administration routes (tubal feeding,injection routes),practice in rectal administration to patients,bedsore care procedures and drug selection based on bedsore stage.Since there was a significant increase in the recognition of the necessity of these items and students understanding of them (p<0.01),we consider that the introduction of the pharmaceutical universal training model in clinical pharmacy training for pharmacists will improve their skill and ability to determine the best way of using drugs in treatment.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the third leading cause of death in the US, results in poor mucociliary clearance and increased lung colonization by opportunistic pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa). Pa drives a decrease in levels of the ion channel CFTR, which regulates the fluid balance at the air‐liquid interface of the lungs for proper mucociliary clearance. Pa acts on CFTR through the secretion of an epoxide hydrolase, CFTR Inhibitory Factor (Cif). Here we show that Pa decreases mucociliary transport in vitro. Deletion of the Cif gene from Pa prevents this decrease. Cystic fibrosis patients, a group chronically infected with Pa, harbor serum antibodies to Cif, indicating that Pa secretes Cif in situ. Further work ties Cif's hydrolase activity to the decrease of CFTR and thus to the observed mucociliary transport defect. To gain an understanding of Cif's substrate selectivity and enzyme kinetics, we employed hydrolase null mutants and small molecule inhibitors. Utilizing a combination of X‐ray crystallography and fluorogenic reporter assays, we can describe Cif's steric requirements for substrates and the cross talk occurring between the monomers of the dimer during hydrolysis and inhibition. This work provides a rare look into the enzymatic intermediates of a bacterial toxin, and produces structural insights key to the development of second‐generation inhibitors with the potential to act as a complement to antibiotic and disease therapies


Writers and thinkers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were widely engaged in the reception and transmission of a variety of earlier works, and recent scholarship has perhaps concentrated too much on the special case of the reception and transmission of the Greek and Latin classics. A study of the publishing history of the Aristotle commentaries of Thomas Aquinas may throw light on a different phase of the same general process, the Renaissance fortuna of a medieval rather than of an ancient author.


Genetic relationships among four Veneto native breeds of chickens were studied on the basis of microsatellites polymorphisms. A total of 190 DNA samples (45 Robusta Lionata, 43 Robusta Maculata, 45 Ermellinata di Rovigo, 45 Pèpoi) and a commercial broiler line (12 Golden Comet) were genotyped at 20 microsatellite loci. The average number of alleles per locus was 5 and the expected heterozygosity resulted lower for the local breeds than for the commercial broiler line used as reference. The inbreeding coefficient showed a deficit of heterozygotes, highest for the Robusta Lionata breed. Nei's standard genetic distances corrected for bias due to sampling of individuals (Da), based on allele frequencies, and Reynolds distances (DReynolds) were calculated among breeds. The Robusta Lionata and Robusta Maculata resulted very similar approving the same genetic origin. A Neighbor-Joining tree drawn from DReynolds distances clustered three groups, one including the Robusta Lionata and Robusta Maculata breeds, the second one formed by the Ermellinata di Rovigo and the Golden Comet commercial line and the third by the Pèpoi. The results showed the genetic differences occurring between the local chicken breeds.


The rate of decomposition of Deyeuxia angustifolia litter, the P content and weight in decomposed residue of litter, and P content in the corresponding soil from May to October in Sanjiang Plain were studied. At the same time, the simulation models were listed in the paper. The results showed that the rate of weight lost of decomposition of Deyeuxia angustifolia litter is 29.80% and the maximum of daily rate of weight lost is 0.25%. The P content and weight in the decomposed residue of litter decrease with the decomposing process, the decresement amount of the both were respectively 57.69mg/kg and 1.6199mg after decomposing for 157d, which were 72.80% and 76.30% of its previous amount. In addition, there is a polynomial minus correlationship of P content between the variation in corresponding soil and the decomposed residue of litter at the corresponding period.


A series of metal ion (M = Sn, Fe, Ni, Co, Ag, Cu) exchanged tungstophosphoric acid (H3PW12O40; TPA) catalysts with tunable Brønsted/Lewis acidity were synthesized and exploited for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BzOH) to benzaldehyde (BzH) using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as oxidant. The structure of these M-TPA composite salts was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and solid-state P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe molecule method. Among these M-TPAs, the Sn1/2H2PW12O40 catalyst, which presented strong Brønsted acidity, the synergistic effect of Brønsted/Lewis and pseudo-liquid characteristic property, exhibited excellent catalytic activity and durability with 98.2% of BzH selectivity and 95.1% of BzH yield. The optimal conditions for the oxidation of BzOH optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) were as follows: n(BzOH)/n(H2O2) = 1:1.25, catalyst amount of 5.5 wt.% to BzOH, water amount of 17 mL, 3.3 h of reaction time, and temperature 393 K. Moreover, further kinetic study confirmed that the reaction order was 2.64 and the activation energy was 21.75 kJ mol.


The axiom that diagnosis must precede treatment holds true for the management of short stature. What matters is the current rate of growth and the potential for further growth; it is essential to measure accurately the rate of gain in height and the radio logical bone age. Early detection of subnormal rate of growth can lead to prevention of dwarfism, but a dwarf with epiphyses closed is beyond remedy. A child's rate of gain in height is determined by genetic factors that require a benign internal environment for their full expression. No form of therapy can alter a genetically determined height velocity; treatment is possible if an adverse internal environment can be corrected. Smith1 gave an excellent account of the various forms of dwarfism, including the many eponymous genetic syndromes. The genetic short stature of atypical Turner's syndrome may not be recognized unless the karyotype is known from chromosomal studies. A more common difficulty in diagnosis is the normal slow-growing short child of short parents; the normality is obvious only if the child's height is corrected for parental height, using the data of Tanner et al.2 Any prolonged illness creates an adverse environment that slows the rate of gain of height. In the same way cyanotic congenital heart disease, chronic hepatic or renal failure, and uncontrolled diabetes mellitus stunt growth. Deficient food intake or absorption are more easily rectified causes of subnormal rate of gain of height. The dietary intake, both in quantity and quality, must be discovered. Steatorrhoea may present as short stature with minimal symptoms referable to the gut. The curious phenomenon of low height velocity due to emotional deprivation3 is difficult to separate from the nutritional stunting that may affect such unfortunate children. Obviously successful treatment of short stature depends on identifying and removing these adverse environmental conditions. Endocrine causes of subnormal height velocity are not common. Primary thyroid failure severely limits statural growth and may not be immediately apparent. Adequate tests of thyroid function are always required in assessing growth failure. It is also difficult to distinguish primary from secondary failure of the thyroid due to pituitary lesions. Pituitary function is modi fied by primary thyroid failure and the secretion of growth hormone is diminished. Therefore, it is not possible to obtain an accurate measure of the pituitary's capacity to secrete growth hormone unless the level of circulating thyroid hormone is normal. That glucocorticoid excess can seriously diminish height velocity is well known from the study of Cushing's


A complete and thorough examination of the nasopharynx has been repeatedly emphasized in recent years by Carmody, 1 Hill, 2 Coates 3 and others. Otolaryngologists who have heeded these stimulating papers have had the satisfaction of solving perplexing diagnostic problems. However, there are still many who are relatively neglecting this important area and are thereby not only jeopardizing their professional reputation but failing the referring physician and not keeping faith with the patient who confidently places himself in the hands of a recognized specialist. The purpose of this paper is not to offer anything new but to arouse further interest in the nasopharynx by presenting proved methods of examination and by stressing the importance of the pathologic conditions that may be present. The nasopharyngeal space located posterior to the nasal choanae and the soft palate is not visible to the casual examiner, but it can be thoroughly inspected either through the nose or


Operation limits for temporary riser system are determined according to some probability of exceedance of a relevant variable. Accordingly, consistent statistical analysis and probability modelling of the data is required. The common industry approach is to rely on the classical narrow-banded Gaussian process assumption when considering time series of variables of interest. Thus, the time series peaks are characterized by means of the Rayleigh distribution and the relevant extreme values are estimated based on this. However, non-linearities present in riser systems may yield non-Gaussian (wide-banded) processes, rendering the classical approach inappropriate. In the present work, an approximate and practical method is presented to address above issue. It is demonstrated that the approximate method is capable of consistently estimating the relevant extreme values, even where the classical method comes short.Copyright © 2016 by ASME


Feed represents the largest component to the cost of heifer production (Gabler et al., 2000) and is such a large proportion that it easily represents the major way to control heifer costs. We are often reminded of the importance of feed efficiency (lb milk/lb feed) for lactating dairy cows; however, the concept is seldom mentioned for the growing heifer. Of course in heifers, we measure feed efficiency not in milk production, but in lb of gain/lb of feed. There are several factors that can greatly impact feed efficiency in the dairy heifer, such as genetics, forage quality (digestibility), growth rate or stage of growth, body condition or gain in body composition, gestation, heat or cold stress (environmental stresses), and exercise level.


SUMMARY Most of modern distributed generation (DG) sources are connected to local grid or AC loads via power electronic-based interfaces. Hence, control techniques of these interfaces are of the great concerns. In this paper, a novel control strategy applicable to multifunction DG-grid interfaces is introduced. The active power management is achieved through the d-component extraction from the current injected by DG. Also, an innovative method, called complex-recursive least square (C-RLS) algorithm is proposed to generate the reference signal for power quality (PQ) improvement. The proposed algorithm is primarily assessed by simulation under MATLAB software environment in estimating sequence harmonic components of a set of three-phase dynamically changing artificial signals. Afterwards, simulation of a modelled multifunction DG-grid interface system connected to a test distribution utility and local loads with the proposed control strategy is carried out to investigate the performance of the suggested algorithm. The control scheme, which is based on C-RLS, is evaluated in both forward and reverse interconnected modes of operation in which the local load active power demand is higher or less than DG active power injection, respectively. Simulation results indicate that the structure shows an excellent performance in both cases when the proposed reference signal generation scheme is employed to control a three-leg four-wire split DC-voltage source inverter (VSI) to simultaneously manage the transferring of DG active power, as well as harmonic, unbalance and neutral currents compensation and power factor improvement in the test distribution network. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


FIELD: oil and gas industry. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a method for continuous instantaneous conversion of heavy fossil hydrocarbons (HFH) mixture, comprising one or more of bitumen, coal of any kind, oil sands, oil shales, oil resins, asphaltenes and predasphaltenes, as well as any other kerogen-containing materials. The method comprises: flowing a continuously fed stock, containing said HFH mixture and process gas through a reaction zone having more than 0.9 atmospheres pressure; dspersing said HFH mixture and the HFH distillation catalyst in the liquid in the process gas, and contacting said HFH mixture and catalyst at least in the reaction zone; concentrating microwave or radio frequency (RF) energy in the reaction zone using a microwave source or RF energy; and the generation of dielectric discharges in the reaction zone. In this case, said HFH mixture and the catalyst have stay period in the reaction zone less than 30 seconds. Also, the invention relates to two variants of continuous conversion system for HFH mixture. EFFECT: invention allows to reduce the environmental impact of heavy fossil hydrocarbons, and also allows conversion at lower temperature and pressure. 30 cl, 16 tbl, 5 dwg


Objective: To investigate the impact of early rehabilitation therapy on motor function of cerebral haemorrhage in elderly patients and evaluate its clinical significance.Methods: 86 cases of cerebral haemorrhage in elderly patients admitted in our hospital from January 2010 to June 2011 were collected and randomly divided into the experimental group and control group.Patients in the experimental group were received early stages of movement rehabilitation during the treatment of cerebral hemorrhage,including massage rehabilitation,active movement rehabilitation,and passive exercise rehabilitation;patients in the control group were simply received clinic treatment of cerebral hemorrhage.The FMA score and MBI score were calculated and compared 3 months after treatment.Results: At the beginning of treatment,no significant difference of FMA score and MBI score was observed between the two groups(t=-1.206,P0.05;t=0.902,P0.05).3 months after treatment,the FMA score and MBI score in the experimental group were both significantly higher than those in the control group(t=-10.742,P 0.01;t=-32.687,P0.01).Conclusion: Early rehabilitation training in the treatment of elderly patients with cerebral hemorrhage was able to promote the recovery of motor function,and had a great importance to the prognosis of cerebral haemorrhage in elderly patients.


The complete extirpation of regional lymph node is a most important concern in the curative resection of rectal cancer to prevent further dissemination.In order to disclose preoperatively the lymphatic spread of cancer of the rectum and anal canal, the direct lymphography has been performed on 58 cases in our clinic. The procedure of lymphography was performed by Kinmonth's method which had been presented on his paper. When the injection of the contrast media (38% Lipiodol ultra fluid) is finished, a first X-ray photograph is taken in which very fine lymphatic chanells will be demonstrated, so it is called as lymphangiography. A second X-ray photograph is to be taken after 24 hours, in which all the lymph nodes in the inguinal pelvic and para aortic regions, so it is usually called as lymphadenography. Both photographs are necessary to know the aspects of the lymphatic chanells and nodes.The injected contrast media reach to the inguinal nodes which are devided into two main groups-the superficial and the profound one. All proceed further to the external iliac group. This external iliac group is forked into three chains, namely the internal, middle and external one. But these chains communicate each other.The lymphatic drainages of the rectum will be devided into three groups on the basis of the course of their efferent vessels. These are grouped as superior, middle or lateral and inferior zone. But regions visualized by lymphography are limited and possibility of the metastasis into these region is little.By my investigation metastasis into the external iliac group was about 10% and into the inguinal group was about 8%. These frequencies are almost same as other reports.The main roentgenologic findings which suspect the metastasis of cancer to the nodes on lymphography are as follows : the peripheral or central filling defect of node, dilation of lymphatic channells and existence of bypathes. These findings were made sure by Softex photograph of the removed nodes.Fortunately, the majority of cases had no invasion in the regions which visualized by lymphography. It is said that the metastasis of the rectal cancer is mainly progressed through the superior zone. But this zone is not visualized by this procedure. However the lateral and inferior zone are adequately visualized, so it is emphasized that the prognosis, the degree of invasion and operative procedure should be decided by lymphography.


We report a comprehensive investigation of the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties in a quasi-two-dimensional planar antiferromagnet ${\mathrm{BaNi}}_{2}{({\mathrm{PO}}_{4})}_{2}$, which crystallizes in the rhombohedral structure (space group $R\overline{3}$) consisting of honeycomb layers of ${\mathrm{Ni}}^{2+}$ ions. Magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity data reveal a long-range antiferromagnetic ordering of ${\mathrm{Ni}}^{2+}$ ions at ${T}_{N}=24$ K. Interestingly, an applied magnetic field induces a dielectric anomaly and an electric polarization at ${T}_{N}$ with the polarization proportional to the applied magnetic fields, demonstrating the linear magnetoelectric effect in ${\mathrm{BaNi}}_{2}{({\mathrm{PO}}_{4})}_{2}$ with a coupling coefficient of 1.67 ps/m. It is interesting to note that the magnetic symmetry associated with the magnetoelectric effect is ${\overline{1}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$, which allows all tensor elements of the magnetoelectric susceptibility.


Optimal bounds on the L p (IR n) smoothing and decay are established for certain viscously damped conservations laws, of which the vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes equation on IR 2 is a basic example. From the smoothing bounds, we obtain pointwise bounds that provide optimal control on the spatial decay of solutions. We apply this in a study of the physically important case in which the integral of the initial data (i.e., the total vorticity in the example) vanishes. We show in this case that as the time t increases, the L 1 (IR n) norm of the solution decays to zero in two stages: for large initial data, there is a slow decay period during which the L 1 (IR n) norm falls off with an inverse power of the logarithm of t. Then, once the norm has fallen below a critical value, it decays away to zero with t −1/2. Again, this is optimal, and all of the constants in these estimates are explicitly computable in terms of the initial data.


In terms of prevention, I will focus on 4 main issues. First, there is the problem of identifying those recently infected with HIV. Annual HIV transmission rates in the United States are 3.5-fold higher among persons with undiagnosed infection as among those who know they are infected.1 Groups classically identified as low risk for HIV infection, such as married heterosexual men with children, are at particularly high risk for late testing.2 But there is no clear plan as to the best, most cost-effective means for accelerating early identification of new HIV infections, be it opt-out testing, concentrating efforts on those most at risk for transmission (MART), or some combination of the two.3 Of additional concern was the persistent failure of physicians to recognize patients with primary HIV infection (PHI). In upwards of 90% of persons with PHI, a symptomatic seroconversion illness develops.4 Although symptoms of PHI are nonspecific, it is at this initial stage in the disease course that there is a chance to make a diagnosis of HIV infection before the development of advanced disease. Diagnosis during PHI offers an opportunity to intervene to prevent HIV transmission at a time of markedly heightened infectivity.4 Unfortunately, diagnosing PHI has been problematic. In a large study of patients with recent HIV infection seen in an HIV clinic in the United Kingdom, the diagnosis of PHI was missed about half the time.4 In the period between 2003 and 2005, recent infection (defined as a previous negative HIV antibody test within 18 months, an evolving Western blot analysis result, or identification via a serological testing algorithm) was diagnosed in 108 persons.4 Of these, 93 (86%) were men who have sex with men (MSM) and 76 (70%) reported seroconversion symptoms, including fever (55%), rash (37%), pharyngitis (33%), diarrhea (28%), and lymphadenopathy (21%). Of these 76 with symptoms, 40 (53%) presented to a health care provider during this symptomatic period, and in only 21 (52%) of these patients was PHI diagnosed.4 Of the 19 "missed opportunities," 16 were MSM, 1 was a bisexual man, and 2 were heterosexual women. All were white. Second, there is the issue of how to prevent HIV transmission once the infection is recognized. There has been good news and bad news. Encouraging data derived from a 3-year study of the effect of antiretroviral therapy on sexual HIV transmission risk in Africa. Between May 2003 and May 2007, 928 antiretroviral-naive persons were enrolled in a home-based AIDS care program in Uganda.5 HIV seroconversion rates were determined among cohabitating HIV-discordant couples following antiretroviral therapy initiation. Although the proportion of sexually active participants reporting risky sex declined somewhat, from 22% at baseline to 14% at 36 months, the median HIV RNA level of those reporting risky sex fell dramatically, from 122,500 copies/mL to undetectable over the same period.5 This was accompanied by a 92% reduction in estimated risk of HIV transmission, from 45.7 to 4.2 per 1000 person-years. This does not mean that lesser forms of antiretroviral therapy, such as a single drug used to attempt preexposure prophylaxis, will be effective. Daily and intermittent preexposure prophylaxis regimens of increasing antiviral activity were recently assessed in a macaque model closely mimicking human transmission.6 Using emtricitabine alone or in combination with tenofovir at concentrations typically


Leaves from the plant Moringa Oleifera have been found to improve insulin resistance, reduce inflammation and lower plasma lipids in several animal models. The polyphenols/flavonoids present in Moringa leaves (ML) appear to be the bioactive components responsible of these beneficial effects. In this study we hypothesized that Moringa leaves (ML) would improve lipid profile by modulating the size and number of lipoprotein subfractions (large, medium or small) and affect reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) in guinea pigs. Twenty four 3‐month old male Hartley guinea pigs, were given a hypercholesterolemic diet with 0.25% cholesterol and were randomly allocated to either one of three Moringa groups (n=8/group): control (0% ML), Low Moringa (10% ML) or High Moringa (15% ML), corresponding to a daily intake of 0, 3 or 4.5 g ML/day. Animals consumed these diets for 6 weeks. Macro and micronutrients were adjusted for all diets, the only difference being the flavonoids and polyphenols present in ML. After sacrifice, blood was collected and plasma was obtained by centrifugation. Plasma was aliquoted to measure total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and insulin. VLDL, LDL and HDL subfractions concentrations and size were measured by nuclear magnetic resonance. Lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and cholesteryl ester protein (CETP) activities, major regulators of RCT, were also measured by fluorometric methods. Unexpectedly, no changes in plasma lipids, glucose or insulin were observed among groups. However both ML groups had lower concentrations of the medium HDL, which has been postulated to be pro‐atherogenic. Values were: 0.56 μmol/L for control, 0.11 ± 0.21 μmol/L for 10% ML and 0.21 ± 0.13 μmol/L for 15% ML groups. Further LCAT activity was increased by 55% (p< 0.05) by ML intake while CETP activity was not different among groups. These results suggest a potential role of ML in modulating RCT


Submitted for the MAR14 Meeting of The American Physical Society Zero-bias peak and soft superconducting gap in differential conductance calculations of semiconductor-based Majorana nanostructures JOHN STENGER, TUDOR STANESCU, West Virginia University — Recent experiments on semiconductor wire-superconductor hybrid structures aiming to realize and detect zero-energy Majorana bound states have revealed the presence of a substantial sub-gap conductance, in addition to the predicted zero-bias anomaly that appears, as expected, above a certain critical magnetic field. The origin of this soft gap is controversial and remains highly problematic. It has recently been suggested [1] that the coupling of the semiconductor nanowire to a large normal-metal lead is, in fact, the reason for the soft gap. Here, we confirm this mechanism by explicitly calculating the differential conductance of a normal metal – semiconductor wire – superconductor hybrid structure and we discuss the dependence of the soft gap on the relevant system parameters. [1] Tudor D. Stanescu, Roman M. Lutchyn, and S. Das Sarma, arXiv:1311.2075 (2013). John Stenger West Virginia University Date submitted: 15 Nov 2013 Electronic form version 1.4


The aim of this study is to investigate and describe how, through development work in the form of an in-service training programme, preschool teachers were able to change their approach to initiati ...


Hydrotalcites (HTs) were found to have high anionic exchange capacity for the removal of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) which is one of the textile dyes used in the industry. In this study, MgAlNO₃-LDH was synthesized by co-precipitation method. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) is a class of ionic lamellar solids with positively charged layers with two kinds of metallic cations and exchangeable hydrated gallery anions. They are also known as anionic clays or hydrotalcite-like compounds in the name of polytypes of corresponding (Mg-Al) based minerals. Different parameters that affect the adsorption of dye were studied in this experiment which includes the effect of contact time, the effects at different initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, pH and temperature. Equlibrium sorption isotherms and kinetics were also investigated. The kinetic data obtained at different concentrations have been analyzed using pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order kinetic model. The equilibrium data are fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations. From these, the adsorption efficiency, adsorption energy, adsorption capacity and the rate constant value for the adsorption process is calculated. The temperature thermodynamic parameters like ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° are calculated based on the effect of temperature. The results revealed that MgAlNO₃-LDH was a promising sorbent for the removal of reactive black 5 from aqueous solution.


Dielectric properties of glass-ceramics based on SBN(SrO-BaO-Nb2O5) and PSBN(PbO-BaO-Nb2O5) are investigated. When heat-treated, they will be crystallized in tetragonal structure. The two are compared in dielectric constant and dielectric loss. Their dielectric properties are in accordance with those of the crystal in tetragonal structure. (5 refs.)