The present study explored whether a significant relationship exists between academic procrastination and academic achievement in high school learners within South Africa. It furthermore examined whether certain personality traits of individuals are more prone to procrastination than others. It lastly investigated the relationships between gender and academic procrastination, age and academic procrastination, number of siblings and academic procrastination; and area of residence and academic procrastination. The research sample consisted of 349 high school learners aged between 12 and 19 years old (n=167 male, n=180 female, n=2 gender not disclosed). Data was collected by means of the Personal Information Questionnaire (PIQ), the Tuckman Procrastination Scale (TPS) and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). A significant negative correlation was found between procrastination and academic achievement. The correlations between procrastination and gender, age, area of residence and number of siblings respectively were not significant. Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability were both found to be significantly negatively related to procrastination, however, the relations between procrastination and Extraversion and Agreeableness respectively were not significant. An anomaly found in the present study was the negative relation between procrastination and Openness to Experience, and it is postulated that this finding may be due to the TIPI's inability to measure the individual facets of each Big Five Factor domain or that it could be ascribed to the need for cognition.


As a fundamental experiment for the study on the role of growth hormone in mouse mammary gland, some immunological properties of rabbit antiserum to mouse growth hormone (MGH) were studied.Antiserum was obtained by immunizing New Zealand White male rabbits with MGH preparation extracted from mouse anterior pituitaries. The precipitin titer of the antiserum by precipitin ring test against MGH preparation was 1: 16. The antiserum did not react with mouse serum, and extracts of brain, liver, kidney, spleen and heart. The immunoelectrophoretic pattern of polyacrylamide gel after electrophoresis of anterior pituitary with the antiserum or the reaction of antiserum with MGH and mouse prolactin (MPL) preparations on the Ouchterlony agar plate showed two precipitin arcs or lines; one appeared to be due to MGH and another due to MPL. The absorption of the antiserum with MPL preparation resulted in the development of a single precipitin line between the absorbed antiserum and MGH preparation on the Ouchterlony agar plate. Further, immunoelectrophoretic pattern of polyacrylamide gel after electrophoresis of mouse pituitary homogenate with the absorbed antiserum showed one precipitin arc at the corresponding site of MGH band. Inhibition by the antiserum of the biological activity of MGH was proven in rat tibia test and in body and mammary growth of a mouse.All the results have demonstrated that the antiserum absorbed with MPL preparation is specific only to MGH.


To the Editor: With the recent interest in interferential current therapy in the United States, several manufacturers now are promoting their own ideas about interferential current. Because Nemectron Medical invented this concept over 35 years ago and held the patent on it for almost 20 years, we feel obligated to the physical therapy profession and to patients to help waylay possible misunderstandings or misleading definitions.

Interferential current as defined by Nemectron consists of two medium-frequency currents (above 2,000 Hz) with a slight difference in frequency (eg, 4,000 Hz and 4,100 Hz). By crossing these two currents, a low-frequency modulation is accomplished in the superposition or treatment area. The depth of penetration is guaranteed by using medium-frequency currents because skin resistance decreases with increasing frequency. You can refer to Nemectron's publications Interferential Current Therapy: An Advanced Method in the Management of Pain and New Research Results: Demonstration of Interferential Current in Deep Biological Structures for further information.


A high-temperature in situ route has been employed for the synthesis of carbon nitride supported manganese sulfide nanoparticles (CNMS). The hybrid material was characterized using different analyt...


Reliability-focused benchmarks are used to test systems in harsh operating conditions, including space and terrestrial radiation environment. The sensitivity to single-event effects of a microprocessor in a radiation environment depends on the set of input vectors used at the time of testing due to logical masking. This article analyzes the impact of the input test set on the cross section of the microprocessor and proposes a mechanism to derive a high-quality input test set using automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for radiation testing of microprocessor's arithmetic and logical units.


This thesis examines the subject of dominant local identities and the construction of urban representations in Sweden 1903-1955, as articulated in the city Helsingborg. The main focus falls on arch ...


'Most people want to know about their past, and to see and hear about the evidence of it. They want to learn about past history, and some places are particularly suited to achieving this. Conservation of such places is important to national or local self-identity.' Looking After Heritage Places is a comprehensive reference and sourcebook for anyone managing a heritage place-an Aboriginal site, historic building or any other place of cultural importance to the community. The authors provide a step-by-step guide to: * identifying a heritage place * assessing and documenting the site * implementing conservation practices * visitor management * international and Australian legislation. Looking After Heritage Places offers a wealth of information on preserving and conserving heritage places for administrators, owners, caretakers, volunteers, students and professionals. Pearson and Sullivan survey key issues currently being debated in the field and in the wider community and discuss their implications for heritage management.


An eighty-five-year-old female lost consciousness after drinking hot water, following coughing. As she was found to be in a deep coma with bradypnea, she was transported to our Level 1 emergency and critical care center. She had hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dementia, cataracts, had undergone gastrectomy for gastric ulcers, cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis and had required admission for postoperative adhesive intestinal obstruction three times. Upon arrival 30 minutes from the initial call, her consciousness had improved. She complained of left chest pain and her left respiratory sounds revealed stridor and peristalsis. Her arterial blood gas under the inhalation of oxygen at 4 liters per minute revealed a pH of 7.210, PCO2 of 65 mmHg, PO2 of 102 mmHg, HCO3 of 25mmol/l and a lactate level of 3.8mmol/l. An electrocardiogram was negative for abnormalities. A chest roentgenogram revealed left diaphragmatic eventration with distension of colon gas. A computed tomography scan was negative for abnormalities, and a rupture of the diaphragm was ruled out. She received a diagnosis of carbon dioxide narcosis due to aspiration and chest pain due to bowel adhesion accompanying diaphragmatic eventration. She was treated in the intensive care unitwith biphasic positive airway pressure, oxygen and antibiotics, which resulted in improvement of her respiratory function and consciousness. In cases with diaphragmatic eventration, the differential diagnosis of chest pain requires a thorough examination for intra-abdominal pathogenic disease.


Summary

Totest the hypothesis that formal school training is a more effective method of preparing naval apprentices for the lowest petty officer level than is on-the-job training, advancement examination scores of Navy Basic Training School graduates were compared with those of non-graduates. Both were matched with respect to general ability level.

Two samples were independently drawn and studied. The first sample included 1,674 matched pairs of apprentices distributed among 30 naval occupations. The second sample included 1,716 matched pairs of apprentices distributed among 24 naval occupations.

From the findings of this study it definitely appears that formal school training is a superior method compared with on-the-job training of preparing apprentices (who possess at least minimal basic abilities and aptitudes) in the skills and knowledges required of petty officers, third class, in the U. S. Navy.


Guided Imagery during venipuncture in twelve year old school children Guided Imagery during venipuncture, 12-year old children's experiences from a CD screening : An intervention evaluated with FAS, VAS and written narratives


Emerging services enabled by software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) are introducing new challenges to network monitoring. One such network service is "service chaining", where the complexity of the data path forwarding is coupled with the heterogeneity of service functions. This makes it extremely difficult to monitor and troubleshoot networks with a reasonable resource overhead. We propose a framework that can be applied for service chain monitoring. A monitoring hierarchy is defined, which converts a monitoring intent to monitoring zones and probes for on-demand monitoring. To minimize the cost of probe deployment, we design a heuristic algorithm that conducts dynamic pruning and search. We also identify the possibility for monitoring-rule consolidation when multiple probes are co-located, and introduce the use of Bloom Filters to optimize monitoring resource usage. Our performance evaluation shows reduced probe-deployment cost by our Tree Search algorithm in various settings, and significant memory savings by rule consolidation.


We searched for HDO emission in our infrared database of six Oort Cloud comets (C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang), C/2001A2 (LINEAR), C/2000WM1 (LINEAR), C/1999 H1 (Lee), C/1999 S4 (LINEAR), and C/1999 T1 (McNaught-Hartley)). Spectral lines of the fundamental vibrational band of HDOwere sampled using high resolution infrared spectra acquired with both CSHELL at NASA's IRTF and NIRSPEC at the W.M. Keck Observatory. Of these comets, the recent apparition of the bright Comet Ikeya-Zhang, with its high gas production rate and good geocentric Doppler shift, provided an exceptional opportunity to search for minor constituents such as HDO. We report tentative detections of HDO in three Oort Cloud comets with upper limits determined for the remaining three. These data, combined with future observations, will be used to test models of nebular chemistry and delivery of water and organics to the early Earth.


There have been a large number of magistrates in Wenzhou from the Jin dynasty to Qing dynasty, and it is worthystudying on their ranks, native places, imperial examinations' places, work time and their achievements. The paper will focus onabove-mentioned factors of these magistrates.


The paper presents method of diagnostics of imminent failure conditions of synchronous motor. This method is based on a study of acoustic signals generated by synchronous motor. Sound recognition system is based on algorithms of data processing, such as MFCC and Nearest Mean classifier with cosine distance. Software to recognize the sounds of synchronous motor was implemented. The studies were carried out for four imminent failure conditions of synchronous motor. The results confirm that the system can be useful for detecting damage and protect the engines.


During the Ming and Qing Dynasties,a large number of military immigrants settled down in Dali,thus brought the changes in the composition of the population in Erhai region and in reconfiguration of local water and soil resources.From that time on,agriculture of Dali has changed from multi-planting to rice farming.Rent and pay taxes on farmland in Dali basin have gradually become the basic daily matters,and it can be seen that rice cultivation is closely related to the adjustment of social order in ethnic border areas.As population pressure increases,rice cultivation has become a profitable business;the local ecological environment inevitably has been changing with the land expansion for the planting.


Abstract The influence of females on the amount of scent-marking behavior displayed by male Mongolian gerbils was investigated. Males isolated from females scent mark at a low level which increases more than two-fold if females are present in the room for three weeks without direct contact with the males. A similar increase is obtained by application of pooled female urine directly onto the males' noses.


The development of increasingly complex systems with improved quality levels becomes more and more challenging. Engineering data frameworks with integrated system models have been developed to manage such systems. This paper presents the experiences that have been made in digital systems engineering in the aerospace domain and focuses on the roadmap that has been taken to establish a knowledge engineering framework. While working with first versions of these tools, it became obvious that an engineering framework reflecting all aspects of an engineering data object was required. In addition, data analytics and technologies used to check data consistency became increasingly relevant. As a consequence, semantically rich data models expressed by ontologies come into focus of forming the engineering framework baseline in conjunction with related technologies such as reasoning, error avoidance based on data analytics, and knowledge-driven engineering environments.


This paper discusses the concept of character formation as it can be positively impacted by folk arts in education. A long-standing tradition in U.S. education is for the teacher to take a leading role in molding the character of young people, as outlined through the years by such scholars as Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, and Rachel Davis DuBois. The document compares what these scholars exhorted with what intercultural programs in Florida and Arkansas have proposed, and asserts a prime opportunity exists by such scholars for intercultural education to take place within state guidelines. A function of intercultural education is explored that attempts to shape personality through curriculum, which ultimately enhances student self esteem while promoting the local community's ethics. Contains 11 references. (DQE) *********k**:.AAAAAH.AAA-A**.k,.****AA*--4:cA********************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** A Tie That Binds: The Concept of Character Formation in Folk Arts (-9 in Education and the History of Education in the United States c)


Existing vulnerabilities of Web-resources threaten the regular work of information systems. To
improve the identification process, classification system of vulnerabilities of Web-resources, which will provide
the better understanding of this problem, was proposed. General features as well as the specific details of the
vulnerabilities were chosen as criteria. Vulnerabilities are classified by using the qualitative characteristics
which were defined.


Introduction: Osteochondroplasty of the anterior head-neck junction is often performed to treat femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) on the assumption that the underlying deformity is inadequate anterior offset of the femoral head. However, other morphologic abnormalities, including reduced anteversion, posterior slip, and widening of the neck can all cause loss of joint motion. In this study we examine whether the impinging femur is a mixture of each of these abnormalities, or whether each abnormality is distinct, suggesting that individualized treatments may be needed for successful outcomes. Materials and Methods: Sixty-six cadaveric femora (30 male and 36 female, average age: 76 years) were obtained from a large osteologic database. Thirteen femora were morphologically normal and 53 were abnormal with the following distribution of primary deformities: Cam-type FAI (Ganz) (n=15), Posterior slip (n=22) and Retroversion (n=16). Computer models were generated by reconstructing high-resolution CT scans of each femur. Each 3D model was segmented into bodies corresponding to the head, the neck, and the diaphysis. Axes and coordinate sytems were derived for each anatomic body. Multiple morphologic measurements were taken to describe the shape of each anatomic body and its relationship to the rest of the femur. Additional parameters included the α angle, the β angle, the anterior offset ratio (OSR), the anterior head-neck ratio, the posterior 'slip' of the femoral head, the neck shaft angle and the femoral neck anteversion.


This paper attempts to assess the possibilities for oil substitution in the Sudan. The authors begin by analyzing the expected growth of energy demand between 1984 and 1990 basing their work on official reports and published statistics. They then turn to identifying the scope for oil use ratios at both the industry and industry subsector levels. The achieving of potential energy substitution is then examined in the light of available alternative technologies and fuel supplies. Finally they turn to discussing their findings' implications for public policy in the energy sector in the Sudan.


Natural living systems such as wood frogs develop tissues composed of active hydrogels with cryoprotectants to survive in cold environments. Recently, hydrogels have been intensively studied to develop stretchable electronics for wearables and soft robots. However, regular hydrogels are inevitably frozen at the subzero temperature and easily dehydrated, and have weak surface adhesion. Herein, a novel hydrogel‐based ionic skin (iSkin) capable of strain sensing is demonstrated with high toughness, high stretchability, excellent ambient stability, superior anti‐freezing capability, and strong surface adhesion. The iSkin consists of a piece of ionically and covalently cross‐linked tough hydrogel with a thin bioadhesive layer. With the addition of biocompatible cryoprotectant and electrolyte, the iSkin shows good conductivity in wide ranges of relative humidity (15–90%) and temperature (−95–25 °C). In addition, the iSkin can adhere firmly to diverse material surfaces under different conditions, including cloth fabric, skin, and elastomers, in both dry and wet conditions, at subzero temperature, and/or with dynamic movement. The iSkin is demonstrated for applications including strain sensing on both human body and winter coat, human–machine interaction, motion/deformation sensing on a soft gripper and a soft robot at extremely cold conditions. This work provides a new paradigm for developing high‐performance artificial skins for wearable sensing and soft robotics.


In freshwater bodies algae provide key ecosystem services such as food and water purification. This is the first systematic assessment of biodiversity, biomass and distribution patterns of these aquatic primary producers in the Okavango Delta (Botswana), a subtropical flood-pulsed wetland in semiarid Southern Africa. This study delivers the first estimate of algal species and genera richness at the Delta scale; 496 species and 173 genera were observed in 132 samples. A new variety of desmid (Chlorophyta) was discovered, Cosmarium pseudosulcatum var. okavangicum, and species richness estimators suggest that a further few hundred unidentified species likely live in this wetland. Rare species represent 81% of species richness and 30% of total algal biovolume. Species composition is most similar within habitat types, thus varying more significantly at the Delta scale. In seasonally inundated floodplains, algal species / genera richness and diversity are significantly higher than in permanently flooded open water habitats. The annual flood pulse has historically allowed more diverse algal communities to develop and persist in these shallower and warmer environments with higher mean nutrient levels and more substrata and more heterogenous habitats for benthic taxa. These results support the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, Species-Energy Theory and Habitat Heterogeneity Diversity hypotheses. Higher algal biodiversity supports higher algal biomass in the floodplains, where species form three-dimensional communities of attached and periphytic algae requiring more nutrients than phytoplankton assemblages. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that habitat type, flooding frequency and conductivity most importantly influence the relative abundance of algal species, genera and phyla in the Okavango Delta. This study's findings highlight how the preservation of water level fluctuations and habitat heterogeneity is crucial to maintaining biodiverse and thus resilient food webs in this unique ecosystem which faces increasing anthropogenic threats, such as global warming and upstream water abstraction plans.


SUMMARY In this paper, a new design of neural networks is introduced, which is able to generate oscillatory patterns in its output. The oscillatory neural network is used in a biped robot to enable it to learn to walk. The fundamental building block of the neural network proposed in this paper is O-neurons, which can generate oscillations in its transfer functions. O-neurons are connected and coupled with each other in order to shape a network, and their unknown parameters are found by a particle swarm optimization method. The main contribution of this paper is the learning algorithm that can combine natural policy gradient with particle swarm optimization methods. The oscillatory neural network has six outputs that determine set points for proportional-integral-derivative controllers in 6-DOF humanoid robots. Our experiment on the simulated humanoid robot presents smooth and flexible walking.


Aim: The aim of this study is to visualize the structural changes of both the matrix collagen meshwork and the chondrocyte cytoskeleton of articular cartilage when it is subjected to tensile strain. Materials and Methods: Dumbbell-shape specimens were harvested from the articular surface of the femur. Specimens were placed with the articular surface uppermost each in individual mini tension device and subjected to a graded series of tensile strains, whilst being observed with phase contrast light microscopy. Thereafter each specimen was fixed in its particular position of strain, and stained with fluorochrome conjugated primary antibodies specific for actin and vimentin and with DAPI for nuclear staining for observation by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results: Phase contrast microscopy visualized the reorganization of the matrix which became aligned parallel to the direction of strain, resulting in the deformation of the chondrocyte and their nuclei into an elliptical shape. CLSM demonstrated the reorganization of the matrix and chondrocyte cytoskeleton; at no strain, the vimentin meshwork spanned the cytoplasm from plasma membrane to nuclear membrane. At 20% strain, the vimentin meshwork became aligned parallel to the direction of strain and the nucleus was deformed into elliptical shape. Discussions: There are two possibilities to explain the structural changes in the chondrocyte under tensile strain. 1.The collagen meshwork becomes aligned parallel to the direction of tensile strain, squeezing the chondrocyte into the observed elliptical shape subsequently with the cytoskeleton reorganizing in response to it. 2.The collagen meshwork transfers the tensile strain through the plasma membrane to the vimentin meshwork which reorganizes and subsequently results in the changes in chondrocyte morphology. Further explanation is required to test the above two hypotheses.


Background: We evaluated laryngeal mask airway (LMA) insertion conditions, hemodynamic changes and bispectral index (BIS) responses during the induction of anesthesia with target controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol. Methods: Ninety patients (ASA 1 or 2, 18-64 years) were allocated randomly to receive an infusion to achieve and maintain target blood concentration of a 4, 5 and 6/ml. LMA was inserted after loss of consciousness. LMA insertion conditions, hemodynamic and BIS responses were evaluated. Results: Loss of consciousness and LMA insertion were more rapid in patients with propofol target blood concentration of a 6/ml than at the other concentrations. Also, full attenuation of larygeal reflexes on the first try was greater in the 6/ml group than the other groups. Conclusions: We conclude that propofol administration at a target blood concentration of 6/ml allow successful insertion of LMA without major hemodynamic changes.


Objective:To investigate the correlation on maintenance hemodialysis(MHD) patients with physical activity and quality of life.Methods:101 cases of hemodialysis patients in four hospitals of Xi′an city were investigated with profile scale of human activities and the World Health Organization quality of life scale.Results:The patients with MHD total score of life quality and physiological,psychological field,field independence field,social relations,the spiritual pillar of domain scores were lower than the normal population;total score of life quality and physical activity score there was significant correlation between.Conclusion:The patients with MHD physical activity and quality of life correlated significantly,therefore,nurses should strengthen the patients physical activity and quality of life assessment,guide the patients to perform the appropriate physical activity,improve the quality of life for patients.


This Innovative Practice Category, Work in Progress paper presents an undergraduate electronics course that aims to better allow students to see the application of analog electronics at the system level. System-level analog electronics design is lacking in many of today's curricula, with many students finding the use of operational amplifiers and negative feedback techniques in application sensitive engineering confusing. The purpose of this paper is to present curriculum that attempts to address this issue by exposing students to a more top-down (as opposed to bottom-up) approach towards analog electronics. In the process, two projects are used (one in power management, and another in bio-potential instrumentation) to create a handson environment where students can test and apply the concepts taught towards realizing systems that meet certain performance specifications.


BACKGROUND According to UNDCP World Drug Report, the problem of substance abuse in adolescence is fast assuming alarming proportions in both developed and developing nations. Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh has regularly been in media headlines for extensive cannabis cultivation and abuse of other substances. The study was conducted to provide an essential source of information about substance abuse and its correlates in this Himalayan region.


Allow me to introduce the subject of patient autonomy with the true story of a family friend whose elderly father required surgery. The anaesthesiologist came in and offered him several choices in terms of how he wanted the anaesthesia done. The patient felt overwhelmed by the choices and asked that the anaesthesiologist make the choice for him. Frustration ensued when he was told that he had to make the decision himself. He ended up storming out and not having the surgery until several days later because he was so upset. Clearly, the fact that the patient stormed out of the hospital and put off his surgery for several days is indicative of the fact that his medical needs were somewhat neglected by the doctors in charge of his care. The question that immediately comes to mind is: what made the anaesthesiologist so insistent on the patient making his own decision? Although some might argue that the anaesthesiologist refused to make the patient's decision for him on legal grounds (i.e., legal ramifications for ill-advice in the event of complications), this paper will explore the possibility that respect for patient autonomy could have motivated the anaesthesiologist to act as he did. In this case, respect for patient autonomy may be interpreted as the need for the patient to make his own uncoerced choice regarding his treatment options. However, considering that the patient explicitly requested that the doctor make a decision on his behalf, it would seem that autonomy in this case would dictate that the anaesthesiologist ought to do as the patient requested. The purpose of this paper is to explore what, in the teachings of modern Western medicine, could have led the anaesthesiologist to make a decision that seems to be grounded in a misinterpretation of medical ethics. Where did patient autonomy come from and how did it fail this patient? But first, let us explore autonomy in the context of other cultures and their medical systems.


Hanung Fadlillah, NIT: 51145248.N, 2018, "Operation Procedure Ballast Water
Exchange On MV. Navios Coral On Entering Baltimore Harbor,U.S.A ",
Minithesis Nautica Departement, Diploma Program IV, Merchan Marine
Polytechnic of Semarang, Supervisor I: Capt. Samsul Huda, M.M, M.Mar,
Supervisor II: H. Suharso, S.H, S.Pd, SE, M.M.
In order to maintain its stability, commercial ships use ballast water as a
medium to maintain the stability of the vessel. Water ballast exchange is required
as a preventive measure to avoid damage to ecosystem in a region, especially in
writing this mini thesis that port of Baltimore, USA. The purpose of this mini
thesis is to know about how the operation of water ballast exchange, the impact of
water ballast disposal, and eliminating the constraints in the implementation of
water ballast exchange. In writing this essay, the authors describe the theory of
water ballast exchange as a foundation for solving existing problems.
The method used in this research is descriptive (when viewed from the
aspect of presentation level) and also qualitative (when viewed from the way of
data processing), then analyzed with fishbone analysis method to determine the
problem of each factor and technique of data analysis ultrasound (Urgency,
Seriousness , Growth) to determine which issues are the top priority. In this case
the technique of collecting data in the form of approach to the object through
observation, interview directly to the subject and using documents and data
related to the process of water ballast exchange.
From the results of the research, there were found problems in the
preparation of the implementation and the equipment which includes the activities
of the cause not implemented, the obstacles not implemented, and the effect on the
stability of the ship. Chief officer as an officer responsible for this activity should
be more assertive, especially in training and supervision. Equipment maintenance
is not routine, and the implementation of water ballast exchange is not in
accordance with the procedure resulted in water ballast exchange process is not
running effectively and efficiently. As for the suggestion of the author of the
company also play a role by conducting guidance or training to crew that will go
aboard and also at the time aboard by chief officer, applying technology of AOT
(Advance Oxidation Technology) that can kill dangerous microorganisms and
standard operational procedure (SOP) that is clear on board. So it can be done
well according to the rules set by the water ballast management convention.
Keywords: ballast exchange, water ballast, SOP, harmful aquatic species


The term pyodermia gangrenosum signifies a suppurative destructive process of the skin. In recent literature, a definite relationship between certain well defined ulcerative lesions of the skin and infections of long duration elsewhere in the body has been noted. The study and observation of such a case prompt us to report our findings. Our patient, a woman, showed a widespread progressive ulceration of the skin. She also suffered from a prolonged infection of the gallbladder and marked pyuria. It was evident that the lesions of the skin were directly dependent on these conditions. Accompanying an exacerbation of either condition there was a marked recrudescence of the ulcers. The apparently parallel relationship between an underlying infection and certain types of cutaneous lesions is the unusual feature of the condition. The recognition of this fact moved Brunsting, Goeckerman and O'Leary 1 to report a group of similar cases. They


The topology optimization design problem with multiple constraints for the complex vertical tail structure is studied in this paper. The variable density structural topology optimization method is improved by introducing a constraint factor. According to the different structural constraints and design requirements, variable factors and element pseudo density are initialized via finite element method. This method is controlled by the constraint factors, and the improved method combining with Rational Approximation of Material Properties (RAMP) density-stiffness interpolation model with optimality criteria methods (OC), the vertical tail's stiffness optimization has been finished. The density-stiffness interpolation model, the mathematical model of variable density method with constraint factor, the structural optimization model, the solution model of the OC method, the design variables iterative format, are given in this paper and the algorithm with Matlab program is realized. Lastly, a sample vertical tail case is introduced to validate the feasibility of the algorithm by operating the results and analyzing the data.


Learning Objectives: After reading this issue, the participant should be able to:Describe the role of cytoreductive surgery in treatment of patients with advanced and/or recurrent ovarian cancer.Describe the benefits of cytoreductive surgery in patients with advanced and/or recurrent ovarian cancer.


Fric tion and wear of two diffe rent types of graphit e fiber co mposites we re s tudied in a pin·di sk s lid · ing contac t wear mac hine. Compos ites re inforced (62% by volume) with low mod ulus, high s trength c ir · c ular fib er (Modm or II) exhibited very high res istance to wear [a threshold wear load of 20 N , a max· imum bearing load of 50 N, and a wear coeffi c ien t of 106] when worn by hardened stee l pins. How · ever , the co mpos ite produced extreme abras ion on the s tee l count erface. Composites reinforced (62% by volume) with high modulus, lower strength , non circular fib er (GY70) a lso exhibited high res istance to wear (a thres hold wear load of 25 N, a maximum bearing capacity of 20 N, and a wear coeffi c ient of ]06 ) when worn by harde ned s tee l, but these composites developed a s urface film whic h prevented abrasional damage to the s tee l counterface. Poten ti a l applications of the two different types of composites in bearings are discussed. The ad· vantages of th ese co mposi tes in bearings subject to corrosion, vibrat ion, loss of lubrication, or impact damage are noted.


Visible light communication (VLC) is a data communications variant which uses visible light communication between 400 and 800 THz (780–375 nm). Is subset optical technologies. LiFi is a new technology for short range wireless technology to provide unprecedented connectivity within a localized data-centric environment. Li Fi is a transmission of data through illumination, sending data through a red light bulb that varies in intensity faster than human eye can follow. This sort of communication can be called as Visible light communication (VLC). Using this technique, the user can transmit the data through light from one device to another. LiFi technology works on a simple digital principle which is nothing but an led is ON a digital data 1 can be transmitted and if it is OFF digital data 0 can be transmitted. So, in this project work we are going to switching the LEDs very quickly . These fast switching can be achieved by PWM technique to transmit digital data stream containing strings


A highly stereospecific preparative route to R1R2R3Si*H is described involving the reaction between R1R2R3Si*X (X = OMe, F, or Cl) and Grignard reagents possessing β-hydrogens (Et, Prn, Pri, Bun, Bui) activated by a nickel catalyst.


This article is aimed at an analysis of the imagining of Indian Nationalism and in locating scholarship that highlights such nationalism's inability to encompass the intense cultural diversity of the country. The article reviews a) early writings on Indian Nationalism that insisted on some form of homogenising civilizational core that would promote a sense of 'Indian-ness' above group identities to b) current scholarship's understanding of Indian Nationalism as a nation of multiple histories and voices not needing any sort of homogeneity and locating firmly the Nation as a site of debate and dispute. It is at this point that a reading of B.R.Ambedkar's conception of Indian nationalism provides a unique insight into the current thinking on the imagining of the nation. Ambedkar argues that democracy can provide for a site of debate and dispute and also the much needed homogeneity or sense of belonging that is required among peoples for effective non-ascriptive nation building. The article also analyses how this version of democracy can be viewed as a progenitor of deliberative democracy formulated by Jürgen Habermas and at the same time provide for meaningful perspective on possibly solving some of the issues that Habermas' conception failed to answer. Introduction There is consensus among current thinkers that the nation is based on consent, on some form of collective mental construct, of 'shared memories' in common which are in a sense, magined by individuals who want to live together under a single nation. Nationalism is today widely recognized as a modern occurrence, strongly motivated by Enlightenment, Romanticism, developed in an economic environment heavily influenced by Industrial capitalism and the product of particular lineages of Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries which led to the transformation of authoritarian dynastic empires into democratic nation-states. The conception of the nation in Europe therefore came to be closely associated with the ideas of self-determination, states and sovereignty. Such an idea then travelled to the sub-continent through the pathways of empires. However the European model of the 'nation' had very little association with the existing ethnic, racial and religious communities in the sub-continent. It was this mismatch of the idea of the 'nation' and its 'soil' (the life world of the people) from which the processes of nation building began to emerge. This 'mismatch' led to various problems in imagining the nation in the British Indian Empire. Firstly there were numerous languages, castes, two major religious groups, the Hindus and Muslims and a large number of minor religions. Looking at the pre-colonial history of state formation we find that unlike in Europe, sovereignty was not conceptualized as a centralized absolute power; it was always shared with the periphery. There are various historical arguments that support the above contention. During the period of the Mughal Empire the emperor shared his power with regional polities. The political structures that existed prior to the colonial era shared their power and sovereignty with lower level leaders. There was a sense of incorporation of lesser sovereigns rather than subordination. In such a political system it was very difficult to imagine firm territorial boundaries of states drawn on maps. The fixed drawing out of territorial demarcations happened only with the arrival of the colonial era. The consequence of such fluid territorial boundaries in pre-colonial India was


Based on that high speed motorized spindle system has characteristics of the complex electromechanical system, the view of electromechanical coupling analyses on high speed motorized spindle is put forward. Coupling phenomena of several physical processes and parameters multidimensional coupling that exist in the high speed motorized spindle system are extracted and summed up. Global coupling relation block diagram of high speed motorized spindle system is given. The configuration and coupling situation of high speed motorized spindle's motor-spindle subsystem are analyzed. The coupling relation block diagram of the subsystem is gained and the physical model of the subsystem is also set up. Founded on the electromechanical system dynamics theory and the variational principle, voltage equation and mechanical movement equation are built up by Lagrange equation. Simultaneous equations of voltage equation and mechanical movement equation are the mathematical model of the subsystem. So the dynamical equation of the subsystem is educed, which provides the theoretical basis for further research on the electromechanical coupled dynamical performance of high speed motorized spindle system.


It has been shown that synthetic zeolites such as ZSM-5 can be used to convert oxygenated compounds derived from biomass materials into hydrocarbon compounds which can be used as fuels and chemical feedstocks. However, the pyrolysis oils obtained from woods by different thermoliquefaction processes show poor hydrocarbon yield and high tar content when contacted over ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts at high temperature. Since the pyrolysis oils are composed of a wide variety of oxygenated compounds such as cyclopentanone, furfural, phenol, acid and carbohydrate derivatives, it is difficult to point out exactly which family of compounds is contributing more to the observed tar content and to the deactivation of the catalysts.


One of the current development alternatives is Tourism Development, mainly rural tourism. The fundamental problem is how the right strategy to achieve these development goals. The development of a tourism village can consider the potential of local, government, private, formal, and informal economic sectors and internal and external interest groups. This study seeks to reveal the right strategy in developing tourism in the village of Telaga Biru Bangkalan based on local resources. This study uses a literature review with a tourism development approach within a qualitative method frame. The data is in the form of interpretations of research results published in national and international journals that are analyzed descriptively to produce conclusions. The result of this study is the formulation of a form of tourism in a tour package that includes batik schools, traditional Madurese games, and traditional art performances, regional culinary specialties, and lodging with the Tanean Lanjhang concept. The Strategy for the Implementation of Batik Tourism Village program through stages, including First, increasing community capacity with knowledge as the main target of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of the local community through community-based education and training activities (CBT). Second, human resource inventories for local guides, Batik school instructors, traditional Madurese game teams, Madurese culinary providers. Third, the institutionalization of tourism village management at the village level will be responsible for the sustainability of the tourism village. Fourth, the efforts of bridging and linking with the Bangkalan tourism office and investors. Fifth, cooperation with the travel agencies in Madura. Sixth, branding, and promotion through social media and tourism village websites. Implementing this strategy will create a new tourist destination, "Batik tourism village" in a different form and will increase the community economy and regional income.


This Working Paper should not be reported as representing views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper examines the issue of whether countries can improve their welfare by coordinating macroeconomic policies. The main purpose is to compute the gains from international monetary cooperation as the difference between the steady state consumption levels associated with the Nash and the cooperative outcomes of the game in which monetary authorities pursue active monetary policy. A numerical second-order approximation makes the solution of the model possible. Contrary to Obstfeld and Rogoff (2002), who claim that the gains from international cooperation in monetary policy are negligible, the paper finds that they could be very significant and reach as high as 2.2 percent of steady state consumption. This suggests that individual countries could experience significant welfare losses if they concentrate only on domestic stabilization policies. JEL Classification Numbers: F41, F42


war play video games and the future of armed conflict is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our digital library hosts in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the war play video games and the future of armed conflict is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Based on adsorption of fine grained coke from coke plant against phenol in wastewater, the influences of various main factors on the adsorption rate of phenol have been studied. The experimental results showed that under the conditions of 25℃, amount added and particle size of fine grained coke at 2.5% and 0.076~0.097mm, pH=2.0, reactionaty time in 120min, the removal rate of phenol in the solution containing phenol concentration at 40mg/L over 98%. At the same time, the feasibility for the treatment of phenol wastewater from coke phant with fine grained coke has been discwsed.


A benthic sampling programme was carried out in 1985/1986, in winter and summer, in order to characterize the intertidal community structure in the Mondego Estuary (Portugal). Echinogammarus marinus (Amphipoda, Gammaridae) was considered a key species in the algal-covered areas, and was particularly associated with Fucus spp. A study of its life cycle, population dynamics and production was therefore carried out. The results reinforce the generalized notion that estuaries are highly productive systems, and reflect the important role of Amphipods in the productivity of habitats colonized by them.


As the optical potential transformer (PT) that measures voltage at the intermediate electrode inside the pinhole at grounding electrode, we made a trial production of the optical PT for three-phase in one enclosure type gas insulated switchgear (GIS). The optical PT which uses Bi12GeO20, has highly insulation capacity, and is compact, and hard to be affected by electric fields of other-phases. Through various tests, the optical PT for three-phase in one enclosure type GIS showed a possibility of practical use.


One of the technical challenges in power systems operation is to prevent/tackle undervoltage, which can result in overheating of the equipment or even cascading failures under severe circumstances. Hence, it can be considered as an intention for cyberattackers to target smart distribution systems leading to undervoltage(s). This paper proposes a bi-level framework to attack a distribution network such that: 1) load centers and renewable-based distributed generation units are simultaneously targeted, 2) the attack bypasses the AC state estimation-based bad data detection, and most importantly, 3) the attacker targets the most vulnerable region of the system at the optimal time instead of attacking random sections/entire system at a random time. The effectiveness of the framework is validated on an IEEE standard distribution system modified to contain photovoltaic arrays.


This work proposes a methodology to include into Medical Software Development Lifecycle activities that helps improve security. The methodology uses assessment techniques and methods, applied to each phase of software lifecycle, that address security concerns and help to improve software quality. As a result, a partial analysis using the methodology proposed was performed in medical software at development stage to help reduce its gap between safety and security requirements. Keywords-information security; security software; hackers; medical software lifecycle; security risks.


Our country started to carry out land change surveys according to new mechanism and new method in 2010,but as far as the present situation is concerned,there exist a series of questions such as imperfect system,disunity standard,incomplete survey content,low accuracy,incorrect data,time-consuming etc.Starting from features of land change surveys and related situation over the years,this paper finds out the problems about current land change surveys,analyses the reasons for the problems,discusses the issues of land change surveys in new period,proposes some ideas of solving existing problems to perform land change surveys at last.


The invention relates to a cabbage packaging production line. The cabbage packaging production line is used for solving the problems of low work efficiency and labor waste when cabbage is packaged manually in an unarmed mode. The cabbage packaging production line comprises a first conveying assembly, a cutter assembly, a separating assembly, a metering assembly and a second conveying assembly, wherein the first conveying assembly comprises a belt conveyor and cabbage supports, and the cabbage supports are uniformly arranged on the belt conveyor; the cutter assembly is arranged on one side of the first conveying assembly, a rotary table is mounted at the upper part of a first rack of the cutter assembly in a rotating mode, a plurality of cutter shafts uniformly arranged in the circumferential direction are mounted on the rotary table in the rotating mode, and a cutter is fixedly mounted on each cutter shaft; the separating assembly is arranged at the tail end of the first conveying assembly, and the separating assembly comprises a second rack and a separating plate; the metering assembly is arranged at the low end of the separating plate, and a second conveying assembly is arranged below the separating plate. The cabbage packaging production line can remove broken cabbage leaves outside cabbage; moreover, the separation of the cabbage leaves and the cabbage is realized, the treated cabbage is packaged, and the work efficiency is high.


Pollutants in drinking water above permissible level may prove to be hazardous to human health. The present study was carried out to assess the ability of electrocoagulation with Iron and Aluminium electrodes for water treatment process. Electrocoagulation presents a robust novel and innovative alternative in which a sacrificial metal anode doses water electrochemically. This has the major advantage of providing active cations required for coagulation, without increasing the salinity of the water Electrocoagulation is a complex process with a multitude of mechanisms operating synergistically to remove pollutants from the water. A wide variety of opinions exist in the literature for key mechanisms and reactor configurations. A lack of a systematic approach has resulted in a myriad of designs for electrocoagulation reactors without due consideration of the complexity of the system. A systematic, holistic approach is required to understand electrocoagulation and its controlling parameters. In this project, electrocoagulation with Iron and Aluminium electrodes will be carried out and a comparative study will be investigated. Several key parameters affecting the efficiency of electrocoagulation will be investigated with laboratory scale experiments in search of optional parameter values. Optimal values of parameters will be determined on the basis of the efficiency of hardness removal from ultrafine suspensions. Various parameters that would be studied are pH, chlorine content, alkalinity and Voltage. Parameters affecting electrocoagulation process, such as initial pH, applied voltage, COD and time of electrocoagulation process would be investigated Keywords— Electrocoagulation, conventional coagulation, PH, electrolyte, composition, hardness, conductivity, turbidity


Isaiah 7:14 and the virgin birth. Despite the fact that Matthew 1:22-23 uses Isaiah 7:14 to legitimise the virgin birth - or, rather the virgin conception - Isaiah 7:14 can not be interpreted to be a prediction of the virgin birth. Matthew 1 :22-23 is a total reinterpretation of Isaiah 7:14 and cannot be applied as a criterion to the reading of Isaiah 7:14. These are two unique texts, each having its own junction and message.


The last will (wasiat) of deceased person is a part of law regulation that conducted by society. This regulation generally has been introduced by Islamic law and other system of law  in Indonesia. The will according to fiqh is only one side's action and it becomes charity agreement, meanwhile according to Alquran and prophet tradition, the position of the will consitutes integrative position in term of Islamic inheritance law. For that reason, it needs reinterpreting so that the will will becomes as an instrument to change family law in Indonesia.


The aim of mutual recognition is that in an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, judicial decisions should circulate freely from one Member State to another other and be treated as equivalent. For mutual recognition to operate smoothly, it is necessary to reinforce mutual trust. The Commission also recommends practical non-legislative measures such as (1) training; (2) evaluation mechanisms to assess practical needs of the justice system/practical conditions for implementing EU instruments/best practice/ conditions in which judgements are produced; and (3) promoting networking among practitioners. The Commission noted that although Member States broadly support the principle of mutual recognition in criminal matters, a number of difficulties are encountered with respect to negotiating, transposing and applying instruments on mutual recognition. Keywords: mutual recognition; Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)


There is a growing concern among academics regarding the poor class attendance patterns of undergraduate students. The reasons why students choose to attend or not attend classes have been investigated from numerous perspectives. Many have sought to explore the relationship between class attendance and academic performance. While there is much coherence in the findings of these studies, it is also apparent that contextual influences play an important role. Thus, this article describes a study undertaken at Stellenbosch University under the auspices of its First-year Academy. While the study demonstrated much agreement with earlier research, it also highlighted interesting trends among the different programmes and faculties, and among different groups of first-year students. Ultimately, the article points to a way forward in which students are made more directly aware of the potential value of attending class. Implicit, however, is the caveat that such classes offer meaningful learning opportunities.


Abstract Intrareaction occurs between moieties attached to copolystyrene-2% divinylbenzene resin as used in solid phase synthesis even when only 0.5% of the phenyl residues are functionalized. Evidence for this interaction has been obtained from the dimeric products resulting from Dieckmann cyclization of resin bound sebacates and ω-cyanopelargonyl thiol resin esters, from kinetic and product data on radioactivity scrambling during the Dieckmann cyclization of uniquely singly labeled tertiary alkyl pimeloyl resin esters, and from anhydride formation with carboxymethyl resin. The extent to which site-site interactions can occur as a function of the percentage functionalization has been measured quantitatively by radiotracer studies on intraresin anhydride formation from carboxymethyl substituted resin. The synthesis and characterization of the resin bound re-actants is described, and the significance of these observations is discussed.


The planning of Net-Zero Energy Factories might contribute to the better integration of power generated by volatile renewable energy sources into manufacturing systems. However, the investments needed for operating a Net-Zero Energy Factory might dissuade facility operators. The application of a blockchain might represent the missing element to make Net-Zero Energy Factories an attractive solution. The aim of this study is to present a cost-benefit analysis to plan a German carpentry as a Net-Zero Energy Factory. Businesses can increase the transparency of their energy usage by storing the Net-Zero Energy Factory's information, such as energy production, consumption and manufactured goods, in a blockchain. The increase in transparency can help to satisfy the regulatory compliance of green energy set by their respective governments. It is also helpful for businesses to demand higher prices while selling their products to customers, retailers and government projects.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Chronic liver disease due to viral hepatitis, alcohol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, etc are risk factors for HCC development. Triphasic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abdomen are modalities for HCC diagnosis best for lesions >2 cm size. For lesions <2 cm size, liquid biopsy with the determination of cell-free DNA in the blood is a newly emerging technique for diagnosis as well as for the planning of molecular targeted therapy. With the new concept of "Treatment stage migration", the updated Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) algorithm for HCC management allows the best treatment modality for an individual patient. In addition to definitive therapy of resection and liver transplantation, palliative therapies like ablation, transarterial embolization, and others can be used. Among molecular targeted therapies for advanced BCLC stage C HCC, lenvatinib as first line, regorafenib and cabozantinib as second line therapy have been approved recently. The checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs), nivolumab and pembrolizumab, have revolutionized oncology practice in other solid organ cancers and have shown promising results in HCC management.


Through the experiments on non-pressure irrigation,the text studied the influence of irsigation water volume to water movement.The results show that the figure of the soil infiltration body is sphere,and it has nothing to do with external elements such as soil type,meteorological condition,etc.The experience equation has been proposed to appraise the soil infiltration body size with irrigation water volume.The distribution rule of soil moisture content show that it is closed to the change tendency of soil moisture content which lies in the per horizontal and vertical direction,the soil moisture content in the fixing point hardly changes during the irrigation process,the increasing of irrigation water volume is only used to enlarge the soil infiltration body size.The findings have the important value to formulate the irrigation water volume.


The present invention provides a plate heat exchanger having an integral (4) and may be significantly high capacity evaporator sink work (14), the evaporator (14) does not require more space than other types of conventional, but refrigerant having a smaller (10) than the prior art devices fill volume. This overall shape plate heat exchanger (4) substantially follows the housing (6) and the shape of the lower level, a secondary refrigerant (26) is provided with at least one inlet connection (24.1) and at least one outlet connection (24.2 ), the volume of the upper housing as a liquid separator. Compared with other conventional evaporator sink, using this design has a tiny space. The reason is that a good use of the internal volume. It is generally used in an end portion (22) or welding A cylindrical housing (6) is screwed, which is mounted inside a cylindrical shape having an outer diameter portion (6) is smaller than the inner diameter of the housing of a plate heat 5-15mm exchanger (4). Thus, to achieve a having one (10) filled with a low amount of refrigerant evaporator sink (14).


(57) Abstract: The present invention is a therapeutically effective amount of (i) AT Down syndrome, primary and pulmonary hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, glomerulonephritis, scleroderma, glomerular sclerosis, renal failure conditions, such as proteinuria primary renal disease, and also renal vascular hypertension, diabetic sex retinopathy, the management of other vascular disorders such as migraine, Raynaud's disease, tube growth, the treatment or prevention of a method of a condition or disease selected from the group consisting of (such as Alzheimer's) cognitive disorders and seizures, and to corresponding pharmaceutical combination composition.


To investigate the effect of intercurrent infections, 30 insulin‐dependent diabetics and 12 normal subjects were followed prospectively during one winter, with short‐term periods of control being assessed by the degree of glycosylation of plasma proteins. Eight diabetics and 7 normal subjects developed an intercurrent infection. During stable control, the diabetics had a mean ± 1 S.D. glycosylation of 0.90 ± 0.06 nmol HMF/mg protein/2 hour incubation, compared with the normal subjects of 0.63 ± 0.04 nmol HMF/mg protein/2 hour. Following infection, there was no increase in glycosylated plasma protein in the normal subjects, but the diabetics increased at 3 and 6 days to 1.07 ± 0.17 and 1.12 ± 0.17 nmol HMF/mg protein/2 hour respectively (p<0.05 and p<0.01). This was similar to levels (1.09 ± 0.20 nmol HMF/mg protein/2 hour) found in 12 diabetic subjects admitted to hospital because of marked loss of control with ketonuria. The marked protein glycosylation effect of temporary loss of glucose control following 'minor' intercurrent infections suggests that more attention should be paid to diabetic control during brief illnesses.


In order to utilize the full range of benefits of autonomous systems, an understanding of how operators trust an automated system is vital. The level of risk in an environment is an important factor that many have suggested affects trust in automated and autonomous systems, but it has not been studied extensively. This study aims to explore the effect differing levels of risk can have on trust in an autonomous system with individuals that vary in their own risk profile. Using a UAV management task, participants worked with an autonomous teammate to protect an area from incoming enemies. Risk was assessed by how much money a participant stood to lose by not protecting the safe zone. Results partially support the hypothesis that trust decreases with increased risk, but results vary regarding behavioral trust and subjective trust. Overall, this experiment provides evidence that risk is an important situational factor that affects trust in automation.


Species' biogeographical patterns are already being altered by climate change. Here, we provide predictions of the impacts of a changing climate on species' geographical ranges within high‐latitude mountain flora on a sub‐continental scale. We then examined the forecasted changes in relation to species' biogeographic histories.


Optimistic methods of concurrency control are gaining popularity. This is especially true with the resurgence of mobile and distributed databases during the last decade, which inherently rely on optimistic techniques to improve availability and performance of the distributed database systems. A key problem with optimistic techniques is that they do not perform well in highly conflict prone environments. Pessimistic techniques, especially locking, perform much better under these circumstances. In this research effort, the authors explored a hybrid technique called optimistic locking architecture that provides locking for high conflict data items and optimistic access for the rest. The model uses self-tuning that does not require the transaction manager, the transaction or the user to incorporate any additional knowledge or to specify which data items or transactions are optimistic. Rather, the system uses a data structure called lock buffer to maintain optimal level of locks in the system. The empirical results obtained show that the performance of optimistic concurrency control techniques can be significantly improved by using a relatively small lock buffer. The analysis of the results also show improved performance degradation which is suitable to the distributed database environment. ACM Classification: C.2.4: Distributed Systems


Objective To assess the value of MicroPure, a new ultrasound image processing technique, in identifying microcalcifications (formed by monosodium urate crystals) in the first metatarsophalangeal joints attacked by gout compared to gray-scale ultrasound images. Materials and Methods Thirty-six patients who fulfilled the study inclusion criteria underwent gray-scale ultrasound and MicroPure examinations of the first metatarsophalangeal joints attacked by gout. Static images of the target areas were acquired using gray-scale ultrasound and MicroPure. Two independent and blinded investigators analyzed the images to determine the number of microcalcifications and to score for image quality and artifacts. Results The two investigators observed significantly more microcalcifications with MicroPure compared to gray-scale ultrasound (ρ<0.001). The level of agreement between the investigators consistently increased from gray-scale ultrasound to MicroPure imaging (gray-scale interclass correlation coefficient of 0.69 vs. MicroPure interclass correlation coefficient of 0.81). One investigator preferred the MicroPure image quality over gray-scale ultrasound (ρ<0.001), but the other investigator disagreed (ρ<0.001). Both investigators observed fewer artifacts with MicroPure than with gray-scale ultrasound (ρ<0.009). Conclusion MicroPure imaging identified significantly more microcalcifications than gray-scale ultrasound.


To schedule the continuous production of a single product system is relatively not a complex problem and most Nigerian Industries operate outside this area. The small to medium scale industries in Nigeria (which constitute over 98%) operate multi-product intermittent systems using limited resources. Scheduling the production of goods and services in these industries must follow the scientific techniques which optimize the deployment of the limited capacities. The "first come-fist served" (FCFS) scheduling technique generally and instinctively applied by Nigerian industries often has serious limitations. Unless more professional production scheduling techniques are adopted, Nigerian industries will not realize their potentials.


Summary Variations in the embryo proteins (salt soluble fraction) separated by SDS-PAGE have been observed in five accessions of Oryza sativa ssp indica and the densitographs of these embryo proteins is distinct and each profile is unique and showing considerable variations among themselves which emphasize that the systematic analysis of data based on electrophoretic variations of embryo proteins can provide reliable information for easy detection of varietal differences or testing the genetic purity of seeds in rice.


This thesis researches on the method of categorizing texts base on rough set.A double feature selection method to select the features was proposed.This method unify the weight added TF-IDF and CHI methods to extract the features.Taking the intersection of the two methods as the final result.Using this method can filter out some weakly representative features.The heuristic algorithm reduction base on the core of the discrimination matrix was improved that a strong representative feature set was added,in order to avoid some importanter representative features be reducted.The experimental results indicate that the double feature selection method and improved attribute reduction algorithm were used in text categorization can receive a better result.


The backwardness of Yunnan's economy stems mainly from the underdevelopment of county-level economy which resulted from several reasons. To promote the county-level economy, the government fiscal policy plays a significant role.


The graphene, since 2004, had show some exceptional mechanical, thermal and electronic properties in se- veral configurations such as optical modulators, transistors, gas detectors, electrocromic devices, electrodes, thermal dissipaters and integrated circuits. There is an inconvenient in the atom by atom manipulation for obtain the specific properties for each function in each proposed device. We account between them, the disorder in the graphene structure and the intercalation of impurities in the hexagonal structure and the imperfections of the substrate that incorporate ripples in the graphene structure. Nevertheless, these do not modify the cones of the valence and conduction bands. The Dirac point remains. Other options has been suggested to induce a gap between the K and K′ symmetry points where lay the Dirac points in which converge the two charge carrier cones, electrons and holes. One of them is to build an artificial hexagonal lattice over a two dimensional electron gas which found near to the interface of the two semiconductor material with different gaps, GaAs/AlGaAs. Therefore, the objective of the present work is to verify if the artificial hexagonal lattice simulate the electronic properties of graphene, i.e., to verify the existence of Dirac points in an artifical hexagonal lattice.


As the pillar industry of Guangzhou, the automobile industry is getting larger and larger, and the level of intra-industry trade is increasing year by year. Through the empirical research of econometric models, it's found that the automobile intra-industry trade in Guangzhou is mainly influenced by the following factors such as the average level of Guangzhou's automobile market size, the RMB exchange rate, the scale economy of the automobile industry, the degree of trade imbalance, and R&D expenditure. Among them, the scale economy of the automobile industry and R&D expenditure are in positive correlation, while the other factors indicate a hindrance.


The article analyzes the requirements for temperature and humidity conditions for long-term storage of certain types of products. The requirements for control systems are considered. The main aspects of temperature and humidity mapping of storage facilities are outlined.


We show that if the evolution of cosmic ray sources follows that of active galactic nuclei, the upper limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos from the Pierre Auger Observatory marginally constrains the proton fraction at the end of the energy spectrum. We also discuss prospects to uncover new physics leptophobic interactions using future Auger data.


Porto-pulmonary hypertension (PoPH) is an uncommon (reported prevalence 5.3%),[1] but a dreaded complication of chronic liver disease (CLD) in patients undergoing liver transplant (LT). Since its development is not related to the severity of liver dysfunction[2] and the symptoms are non-specific, screening for POPH with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is recommended. On TTE, the maximum tricuspid regurgitant flow velocity is used to calculate right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP).[3]


Objective To compare clinical effect of two kinds of emergency methods in processing of acute pulpitis.Methods 120 cases of acute pulpitis patients admitted to our hospital from 2010 to 2012 were randomly divided into experimental and control groups.The experimental group sealing deactivator immediately after opening the chamber,in control group sealing deactivator after draining 2 ~ 3d.Pain relief and total treatment time were observed in two groups.Results The experimental group,29 cases markedly effective in 24 cases,with a total of 88.3% in the control group,21 cases markedly effective in 22 cases,with a total efficiency of 71.7%.In experimental group,the total efficiency is significantly higher than that of the control group(P 0.05).Percussion pain remission in 38 patients(63.3%) in experimental group,23 cases of referral remission in control group(38.3%),the response rate of the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group(P 0.05).1 case in experimental group occurred periapical(1.7%),3 cases(5.0%) was significantly less than control group(P 0.05).Number of visits and total treatment time in the experimental group were significantly less than the control group(P 0.05).Conclusion Sealing deactivator immediately after opening the chamber has a better therapeutic effect more timely and effectively in relieving pain in patients of acute pulpitis.


ORIGINAL ARTIOLESThe Making of a University, by J. A. L. Matheson 791 Wound Dehiscence In Acute Renal Failure, by J. Nayman, F. T. McDermott and F. W. Gurr 799 Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Pharyngitis In General Practice, by D. D. Smith, S. M. Bell and K. S. Cranney 803 A Survey of Accidents to Children Aged Under 15 Years Seen at a District Hospital In Sydney In One Year, by W. A. Lopez and T. F. Rennie 806


Heizer, J. & Render, B. Operations Management. 9 ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Make sure that the textbook you purchase comes with the student video library (3 disks) as well as the student CD-ROM. Optional; however, students in the past have found these interactive tutorials useful. Textbooks are available through the NMSU bookstore: (http://www.nmsubookstore.com/nmsu/) You may want to try to purchase the textbook through another website to hopefully save money, although there is no guarantee when the book will arrive. I recommend www.bigwords.com.


The multidimensional assignment problem (MAP) is a natural extension of the well known assignment problem. A problem with s dimensions is called a SAP. The most studied NP-hard case of the MAP is the 3AP. Memetic algorithms have been proven to be the most effective technique to solve MAP. The use of powerful local search heuristics in combination with a genetic algorithm, even if it has a simple structure, provides high quality solutions without a lot of effort. We perform an experimental evaluation of a basic genetic algorithm combined with a so called dimensionwise variation heuristic and show its effectiveness against a more complex state-of-the-art memetic algorithm for MAP.


—In this paper, the problem of detection and tracking of emitters by multiple flying-vehicles, working in a cooperative manner, is considered. The radio sensor on each vehicle is capable of measuring the distance of the vehicle to the radio emitter. The goal is to detect the presence of such emitters, localize, and then track them. Meanwhile, the emitter can be moving or stationary, and may go beyond some environmental obstacles that prevent it from being sensed. The proposed procedure optimizes the routes and tasks of the employed flying-vehicles by minimizing a suitably-defined cost function. Moreover, the appropriateness level of the assigned routes and tasks is continuously assessed, so that if it drops below an acceptable threshold due to the dynamics of the scenario, optimization is performed again and the routes and tasks are renewed. The simulations, as well as the complexity discussion, verify effectiveness of the proposed method, considering the applied requirements and limitations.


Recent studies demonstrate that a selective imidazoline I2 receptor ligand CR4056 has potent analgesic activity in rat models of chronic pain when the drug is administered acutely. However, because chronic pain treatment requires repeated dosing, the pharmacological consequence of repeated I2 receptor agonist treatment is unclear. This study examined the effect of acute and repeated I2 receptor agonist treatment in two rat models of chronic pain: complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)‐induced inflammatory pain and chronic constriction injury (CCI) induced neuropathic pain. In CFA‐treated rats, morphine (0.32 – 10 mg/kg, i.p.) as well as two I2 agonists, 2‐BFI (3.2 – 17.8 mg/kg) and BU224 (3.2 – 17.8 mg/kg), produced dose‐dependent anti‐allodynia effects, and the effects of 2‐BFI were attenuated by an I2 receptor antagonist idazoxan (3.2 mg/kg). In addition, daily treatment with 10 mg/kg 2‐BFI or 32 mg/kg CR4056 for 7 days did not alter the anti‐allodynia effects of 2‐BFI and CR4056. In CCI‐injured rats, 2‐BFI (1 – 10 mg/kg) produced a dose‐dependent anti‐allodynia effect and the effect remained unchanged during 10 days of daily 10 mg/kg 2‐BFI treatment. Together, these data suggest that activation of I2 receptors have marked analgesic effects and repeated treatment produces little analgesic tolerance. Imidazoline I2 receptors may represent a novel drug target for pharmacotherapy of chronic pain conditions.


Enforcing quality guarantee of basic education in countryside can scientifically grasp the general situation of China's basic education quality in the countryside and it also promotes the widespread basic education efficiently to increase China's population competence and develop human resource of the country.Meanwhile,the steady promotion of basic education quality shows education fairness and guarantees the new socialistic countryside building.This article points out that making a scientific quality standard,establishing a scientific quality conception,setting up perfect organizations and implementing quality control totally help construct the rural basic education with the features of science,high-quality and long-term efficiency.


CSTR (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor) is an important subject in chemical process and provide a wide range of research in the field of control and instrumentation engineering and chemical engineering. Various controllers have been applied on the process (CSTR) to control the temperature. This paper shows the analysis of response of conventional PID controller and Fuzzy Logic used in Mamdani type of Controller for Temperature control of CSTR in the presence of disturbances acting on it. Mathematical model of CSTR (Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor) is developed by the set of differential equations. Furthermore, Fuzzy controller gives more accurate behaviour in control action for temperature in CSTR as compare to PID Controller. Keywords— CSTR, Fuzzy controller, Fuzzy Logic control, Proportional – Integral – Derivative (PID).Introduction


Sustainable development problem involves several conflicting criteria on economy, energy, environment and social aspects and some sources of uncertainty due to its attribute. It is necessary to mitigate risks in sustainable development schedule. However, the existing literature includes limited quantitative research on robust strategies for sustainable development under uncertainty. Under these concerns, this paper presents a robust multi-objective optimization formulation for allocating labor across economic sectors to simultaneously satisfy economy (gross domestic product, GDP), environment (greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions), energy (electricity) and society (labor), in which the per capita GDP, per capita electricity consumption, per capita GHG and per capita rate of unemployment are robust uncertainty. There are three conflicting objectives in our sustainable development problem. The first objective maximizes the sectoral GDP, the second objective minimizes the sectoral electricity consumption and the third objective minimizes the sectoral GHG emissions. We adapt -constraint method to deal with the multiple objectives for the sustainable development problem, and obtain a more flexible result via an interactive decision-making process. Since uncertainty has often led to computationally intractable models, we reformulate the proposed model using robust optimization method into the tractable robust counterpart (RC) forms under two types of uncertainty sets. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability for our model, we conduct a case study for meeting year 2030 sustainable development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The numerical results show: (a) the robust multi-objective model is effective in uncertain environment and provides a reliable decision tool than deterministic model for integrated multi-objective sustainable development problem; (b) when the possibility distributions of uncertain parameters are available, fuzzy optimization model can provide better decision-making than robust model under box uncertainty set.


ABSTRACT Electrochemical characterization of the free radical scavenging of baicalein was performed. A sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor for the characterization of the reaction between free radicals and baicalein was fabricated based on a nanoaluminum oxide modified carbon paste electrode. The modified carbon paste electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic activity for the characterization of free radical scavenging capacity of baicalein. In 0.2 M phosphate buffer at pH 7.4, a pair of well-defined cyclic voltammetric oxidation peaks of baicalein appeared with the maximum at 700 mv. The superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical, lipid peroxyl radical, and of 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl were used for investigating the free radical scavenging of baicalein. Baicalein showed varying scavenging capacities to these free radicals. The scavenging capacity of baicalein with the hydroxyl radical was the highest, followed by baicalein with the lipid peroxyl radical, 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl, and the superoxide anion radical.


ABSTRACT In this article we recount some of the memories, hopes and strategies of 22 older migrants who are ageing in their adopted country of Aotearoa New Zealand. Having arrived as young adults in the 20 years after World War II, most of the immigrants have lived on 'foreign' soil for twice as long as their brief sojourns of childhood and early adulthood in their country of origin. Arriving from a variety of backgrounds in 12 different countries, they can all be considered 'white' immigrants in relation to New Zealand's indigenous Māori population and other non-European immigrant groups such as those from Pacific Island Nations or Asia. Their lives encompass the experience of globalisation and transnationalism in communication technologies and inter-country migration. As they recount the meaning of living through these changes, these older folk discuss the delicacies of assimilation in post-World War II New Zealand and the interplay between the daily life of New Zealand as 'home' and the homeland as Heimat. Their stories argue against the assumption that decades of residence, particularly for white immigrants in a white-majority nation, imply an 'assimilation' of cultural identity. Instead, the stories evoke recognition of the negotiation of gain and loss which continues as they, and their contexts, change over time.


Market participants have an obligation to periodically explain the economic role of futures trading and the role of speculators in these markets. This will be the main task of this paper. In addition, this paper will discuss two other challenges in the commodity markets: the impact of the Risk On/Risk Off (RORO) environment in managing commodity risk, and the prospects for the imposition of commodity position limits.


A quadrahedral reflector that provides ideal moving target Doppler shifted radar returns so that field measurements can determine the actual clutter rejection of the radar has been developed. The development of the measurement technique, results of measurements performed on the US Customs aerostat radar located at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, and results of measurement on the US Customs aerostat radar located at Marfa, Texas, are described. A typical method for measuring the moving target indication (MTI) improvement factor is to inject synthetic target signals with offset Doppler into the front end of the radar, but this method does not account for transmitter instabilities and scanning losses which could significantly affect the MTI performance.<<ETX>>


The genetic algorithm is based on the rules of probability transformation and has high ability in global optimization in searching the minimum in the possible solutions to the given problem,but the speed of convergence is lower. As for the simulated annealing algorithm, convergence to the global minimum can be achieved theoretically if the calculation time is long enough,but the result of global optimization is not ideal in practice because of the restriction of calculation speed and time. In this paper,a hybrid adaptive genetic algorithm,which is the combination of the simulated annealing algorithm and the genetic algorithm,is presented to enhance the speed of calculation and improve the global optimization.


The national student loan work is that the party is central,State Department implementation section teaches to make a country strong strategy of an important make policy,is the demand that adapts to our country education system reform and development.Strengthen a national student loan risk management,is each commercial bank faces of need solution urgently of problem.Set out from the characteristic of national student loan risk,analytical loan risk of become because of,put forward the counterplan suggestion of guarding against the national student loan risk.


In this article we evaluated the relationship of specific capillaroscopic changes with clinical and immunological subtypes and endothelial function in patients with systemic sclerosis. Characteristic changes in the capillaries were found in 98 % of subjects with systemic sclerosis. The association capillaroscopic patterns with the presence of pulmonary hypertension, lung damage and the level of N-terminal peptide natriuretic peptide in the blood was found.


A modern market way of doing business in the economically developed Western countries was extremely convenient for a development of automatic identification, bar codes scanning, POS development, The Track and Trace system appliance and for other uses of information technologies. Their practical appliance in all the tasks, such as: dial up, GPRS, Ethernet and other high quality tracking and tracing systems and for the "of parcel" deliveries, are important in B2B operations due to their speed, reliability and timeliness of delivery, which gives them an increased commercial


On April 15, 2000, more than 30 million taxpayers who itemized deductions on their tax returns were able to claim tax deductions for any contributions made to their favorite charities. The effect of the deduction was to lower the taxpayer?s cost of giving one dollar by amounts ranging from 15 cents to almost 40 cents. But many taxpayers who contribute to charities were not eligible for a charitable deduction because they claimed the standard deduction instead of itemizing deductions on their tax returns.


The new era of the 4IR requires changes in teachers' initial education and in their professional advancement. Serbia is a developing country whose institutions of education are technologically underdeveloped and whose expansion in the field of digitalization is still insufficient to be on par with the developed western countries. The authors' research goal was to determine whether potential improvement in teachers' digital competences has occurred. The general hypothesis postulated implied a low level of the use of digital tools in schools on the territory of Serbia. The descriptive method and scaling technique were used. The research results show that science and technology teachers apply digital tools while teaching more frequently than the teachers of social sciences and humanities. The research implies that a strategic approach to Serbian teachers' digital education is necessary even during their undergraduate studies by introducing digital technology courses and subjects in the conventional academic curricula.

Keywords: Education, Digital competences, Teachers, Serbia, Fourth Industrial Revolution


Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) documented about 100,000 formulae during past 2500 years. To use and customize them by modern pharmaceutical industry, we make an interdisciplinary effort to study the activity of new drug research and development (R&D) in TCM by introducing data mining approaches to it. We used the migraine formulae as a training set to investigate the possibility of developing new prescription by means of data mining. The activity of new drug R&D of TCM consists of two steps. The first step is to discover new prescriptions (candidates for drugs) from migraine formulae. We present an unsupervised clustering approach based on data mining theory to address the problem in the first step and automatically discover ten new prescriptions from the formulae data. The second step is to develop and optimize the prescriptions discovered by current biomedical approaches. Since Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort (LCH), a kind of herb, is often used to treat migraine and appears in the new prescriptions, we use it as an example and apply supervised regression method based on data mining theory to study the drug R&D activity of TCM. We revised two linear regression methods in order to establish the nonlinear association between three chemical ingredients of LCH and corresponding pharmacological activity and used it to predict the activities. The association is validated by in vitro experiments and we found that the experimental results are consistent with the prediction. Unsupervised clustering and supervised regression cover most part of data mining theory, which means that data mining approaches play a crucial role in new drug R&D in TCM and present a better solution to establish the platform of drug R&D in TCM.


I am from the web.
Well AOL really, I was a little late to the party. You wont't find my geocities page using the Wayback Machine. Sorry


ABSTRACT Increasing self-control is a key-factor in the rehabilitation process of young criminals. Based on two well-established theories of self-control, we tested a short mindfulness training and the motivational effect of group identification on a standard self-control measurement in an sample of 57 incarcerated male youth from a German youth detention center. In accordance with our hypothesis, both treatments led to higher self-control than a control group. These findings indicate that mindfulness and group identification foster self-control even in an untrained sample of incarcerated young men and contribute therefore to resource-oriented successful rehabilitation programs.


This article provides an analysis of existing methodologies for assessing the efficacy of a region's budgetary/taxation policy and identifies their strengths and weaknesses. The author argues in favor of that the efficacy of a region's entire budgetary/taxation policy can be assessed by the efficiency of the activity of the executive authorities in the above focus areas based on the correlation of goals set and results achieved. An objectively set criterion of the efficacy of a region's budgetary/taxation policy is the minimum degree of chasms between goals set and results achieved. The author proposes quantitatively measured indicators as criteria of the efficacy of budgetary/taxation policy. On the strength of the analysis conducted, the author proposes a way to assess the efficacy of a region's budgetary/taxation policy, which is based on systematizing an aggregate of measures with a breakdown into structural determinants and calculating the integral coefficient, which, compared with existing methodologies, makes it possible to give an integral and structured, in terms of key blocks, assessment of the efficacy of a region's budgetary/taxation policy both over time and through comparison with other regions and increase the validity and accuracy of the assessment for working out practical recommendations. The author chooses as the basis of his calculation of the integral indicator of the efficacy of a region's budgetary/taxation policy the method of distances, which is based on taking account of the proximity of objects under examination to the touchstone object by indicators compared.


The present manuscript examines different forms of Initial-Value Problems (IVPs) featuring various types of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) by proposing a proficient modification to the famous standard Adomian decomposition method (ADM). The present paper collected different forms of inverse integral operators and further successfully demonstrated their applicability on dissimilar nonlinear singular and nonsingular ODEs. Furthermore, we surveyed most cases in this very new method, and it was found to have a fast convergence rate and, on the other hand, have high precision whenever exact analytical solutions are reachable.


We consider the transition semigroup Pt of the Φ 4 2 stochastic quantisation on the torus T 2 and prove the following new estimate (Theorem 3.10) |DPtφ(x) · h| ≤ c t |h|C−s‖φ‖0 (1 + |x|C−α) γ , for some α, β, γ, s positive. Thanks to this estimate, we show that cylindrical functions are a core for the corresponding Kolmogorov equation. Some consequences of this fact are discussed in a final remark.


With the depletion of fossil fuels, the need to develop green technologies to produce energy or chemicals increased. Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising candidate regarding its renewability and availability at a low price. Lignin, which represents ca. 30%, is a macromolecule formed by the random polymerization of three monomers: p-coumaryl, coniferyl and sinapyl alcohol[1]. This results in a three-dimensional phenolic bio-polymer. Those structures depend on the source and extraction process. Nowadays it is essentially produced by the Kraft process (paper pulp production) and used as energy source for it[2]. Nevertheless, a part of that lignin can be redirected for other applications without endangering this industry.
In order to valorize lignin, we studied its transformation to produce aromatic building blocks for polymers or fine chemicals by catalytic oxidation using heterogeneous catalysts in aqueous media under mild conditions. In this work, a softwood lignin, provided by FCBA after extraction and purification from a Kraft black liquor by precipitation with H2SO4, was engaged.
Alkaline solutions of lignin (0.5%wt) were treated in the presence of Au/TiO2 catalyst in a 300mL batch reactor under 40bar air at temperature varying from 50°C to 150°C. At completion, the catalyst was separated by filtration. The complexity of the reaction mixture encouraged us to design a protocol allowing evaluation of the transformation that occurred during the reaction. High molecular weight molecules were precipitated by HCl addition and separated by centrifugation giving so-called "precipitate". Then, the remaining aqueous phase was washed with dichloromethane to recover monomeric fraction while oligomeric fraction remained in water. This fractionation allowed careful analyses of the different fractions by complementary techniques (IR, NMR, GC...). The influence of different parameters was evaluated throughout our study. It was shown that base loading has a great impact on the rate of lignin depolymerization. Indeed, increasing NaOH concentration resulting in a decreased "precipitate" amount. However, it seems that addition of catalyst had no notable effect on this aspect(fig. 1). In both cases, the recovered precipitate looks alike but completely different from the starting lignin. As a matter of fact, IR analysis showed disappearance of a characteristic band of lignin corresponding to aromatic vibrations together with apparition of bands corresponding to carbonyls. Concerning the monomeric fraction, rising the amount of base improved the yields toward the target molecules; however, adding the catalyst lowered the yields in monomers by favoring over-oxidation(fig. 2).
In conclusion, the catalytic oxidation of lignin has been realized in an alkaline media under mild conditions. While the base seems to favor the formation of monomeric compounds, the use of gold catalyst lowered them due to over-oxidation.


6. We propose a dynamical theory of hadrons in terms of partons. Partons are defined as free particle-like states in a ; reference frame moving with the velocity of light. Lorentz cor variance properties of the theory are investigated; we give a method of constructing a class of covariant interactions directly in terms of parton operators. A transverse harmonic oscillator potential between parton pairs is suggested as an effective interaction giving rise to the observed meson spectrum. The parton-system exhibits collective excitations; in a Hartree-Fock approximation the latter correspond to free mesons. The elastic scattering amplitude of spinless mesons is calculated in an exter-


Dopamine transporter imaging is widely used for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonism. Only limited data are available on the relationship between striatal dopamine transporter binding and dopaminergic cell loss in the substantia nigra (SN). We analyzed postmortem SN cell counts in patients who had previously undergone dopamine transporter single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Pathological diagnoses included Parkinson's disease (n = 1), dementia with Lewy bodies (n = 2), multiple system atrophy (n = 1), corticobasal degeneration (n = 2), atypical parkinsonism with multiple pathological conditions (n = 1), Alzheimer's disease (n = 1), and Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (n = 1). [123I]β‐CIT SPECT had been performed in all subjects using a standardized protocol on the same triple‐head gamma camera. The density of neuromelanin‐containing and tyrosine hydroxylase–positive substantia nigra neurons/mm2 was evaluated in paraffin‐embedded tissue sections by morphometric methods. Mean disease duration at the time of dopamine transporter imaging was 2.3 years, and the mean interval from imaging to death was 29.3 months (range, 4‐68 months). Visual analysis of dopamine transporter images showed reduced striatal uptake in all seven patients with neurodegenerative parkinsonism, but not in Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease cases. Averaged [(right+left)/2] striatal uptake was highly correlated with averaged SN cell counts (rs = 0.98, P < 0.0005 for neuromelanin‐ and rs = 0.96, P < 0.0005 for tyrosine hydroxylase–positive cells). Similar strong correlations were found in separate analyses for the right and left sides. Striatal dopamine transporter binding highly correlated with postmortem SN cell counts, confirming the validity of dopamine transporter imaging as an excellent in vivo marker of nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society