The main purpose of this paper is to review existing knowledge on metal alloy behaviour in contact with highly reducing syngas in coal gasification plants, presently close to commercialization. A secondary purpose is to compare laboratory and plant corrosion data. Present commercial practice indicates that most metal alloys will be used as heat exchangers to evaporate steam at 350–450°C. Smaller but significant future applications may be superheaters or hot-gas clean-up equipment exposed at 500–600°C. The alloys will probably be in contact with non-equilibrium gases quenched from much higher gasification temperatures in the range 1000–1500°C. Under these conditions the formation of chromia- rich protective oxide scales is rarely observed. The growth rate of less protective oxide/sulfide scales varies considerably with temperature, gas composition and alloy composition. For most applications, available Fe-Cr-Ni alloys can be found to provide adequate service life, provided carburization after long exposure...


The octant of the atmospheric mixing angle $\theta_{23}$ is still undetermined by neutrino oscillation experiments. Long-baseline experiments like NO$\nu$A, T2K and DUNE offer good prospects for determining the octant of $\theta_{23}$. However, their capability to do so may be compromised by the possible presence of non-unitarity in the leptonic mixing matrix. In this paper, we study in detail the octant degeneracy with and without non-unitarity at the level of oscillation probabilities and events for these experiments. We also analyze their octant sensitivity and discovery reach and show that they are hampered in the presence of non-unitarity.


The Official Document Routing System is an important part of e-government system.This paper introduces some conceptions involved in workflow,builds the model of document on the document disposal flow,and realizes the design of the official document routing system by adopting the .NET languange and SQL Server database technology.


As far as the essence of environmental audit is concerned, the content of environmental audit should include examining the formulation and the execution of the regulation and law on the environment protection, the environment protection's plan and funds, the environmental report and the environmental effect to economic activity. Considering the practice, it is emphasized on the stresses of the three subjects, the scientific definition on the obligation scope. Considering the audit objective, the content of environmental audit should include the regularity, the three part of the funds application. The premises to carry out the environmental audit include seven parts such as the improving environment protection consciousness of the people, formulating the law on environmental audit, establishing the mechanism and improving the audit staffs etc.


If tricuspid regurgitation (primary and secondary) is left untreated, it will be associated with significant complications and death, even if left ventricular dysfunctions are corrected, TR does not decrease in many cases. Since many studies have not been conducted in this area, we decided to evaluate the results of tricuspid repair. In this retrospective study conducted since 2006 to 2011, 448 patients undergoing tricuspid surgery with different methods with or without surgery were studied. Statistical analysis was performed by Friedman, Fisher exact and Pearson chi-square methods. In the Mod and Severe RV dysfunction section, the mean age of the patients was 52 years, 289 were female (64%), 343 (76%) had rheumatic pathology, 79 (17%) had myxomatous pathology, 12 (2%) had endocarditis pathology, and 14 had an unknown pathology. Before surgery, Mod and Severe dysfunction was seen in 226 patients (40%) and after surgery (follow up), it was seen in 85 patients (19%). Before surgery, Mod and Severe TR was seen in 356 patients (79%) and after surgery, it was seen in 91 patients (20%). The mean of PAP before surgery was 54 mmHg and after surgery, it was 37 mmHg, which was significant in all cases (P <0.05).


The preliminary results of infectious complications in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) using FK 506 as a primary immunosuppressive agent were encouraging.1 This early experience, however, was limited to only 20 patients who were followed for a short period of time. We have now extended our observations to 110 consecutive adult liver transplant recipients of first livers enrolled in the first human clinical trial of OLT under FK 506. A longer follow-up period (5 to 12 months) has allowed us to compare FK 506 with previous studies of infections in the cyclosporine (Cy A) era2 and to assess whether this new agent alters the infectious profile and overall rate of infection. The influence of FK 506 on well established risk factors for infection were specifically addressed, and include preoperative patient status, requirement for additional immunosuppression, reoperation, and retransplantation.


Single‐photon zero‐kinetic‐energy pulsed‐field‐ionization spectra have been measured for the v^+=0 and 1 levels of CO^+ (X  ^2Σ^+) and the v^+=0 level of N_2^+ (X  ^2Σ_g^+) by coherent XUV radiation. In spite of similarities in the electronic structure of CO and N_2, the measured ion spectra show dramatically different intensities for the Q branches. These threshold spectra are interpreted on the basis of ab initio calculations of the ion rotational distributions. Agreement between the calculated and measured spectra is very encouraging. Improved values for the ionization potentials of CO (113 025.6 and 115 211.2±1.5 cm^(−1) for v^+=0 and 1, respectively) are reported and the unusual dynamics favoring ΔN<0 transitions are discussed. The CO spectra show quite different behavior for the ΔN<0 transitions for v^+=0 and v^+=1 bands, which is interpreted in terms of the relative importance of rotational autoionization in the two bands.


Cruise ship tourism has great potential and bright prospects in China. As one of the cruise ship tourism development experimental zones in China, Tianjin has a unique advantage and huge development potential to develop cruise ship tourism. This paper focuses on the development potential in Tianjin based on the foundation of its current situation, and aims at studying the solution on the development of cruise ship tourism in Tianjin,taking its unique advantages into consideration. Keywords-Tianjin;cruise ship tourism;development;poten-tial;study


In this paper we study some tree properties and their related indiscernibilities. Firstly we prove that SOP$_2$ can be witnessed by a formula with a tree of tuples holding `arbitrary homogeneous inconsistency' (e.g. weak $k$-TP$_1$ conditions or other possible inconsistency cofigurations). Secondly we introduce a notion of tree-indiscernibility which preserves witnesses of SOP$_1$ and by using this, we investigate the problem of (in)equality of SOP$_1$ and SOP$_2$. As is well-known SOP$_2$ implies SOP$_1$ but it is not known whether the converse holds. We introduce the notions of antichain tree property (ATP) and 1-strictly strong order property (SSOP$_1$). We show that the two notions are in fact equivalent, and implying SOP$_1$, but the converse does not hold. And we show that they must appear in any theory (if exists) having SOP$_1$ but not SOP$_2$ (NSOP$_2$). Lastly, we construct a structure (a prototype example having ATP) withnessing SOP$_1$-NSOP$_2$ in the formula level, i.e., there is a formula having SOP$_1$, while any finite conjunction of it does not witness SOP$_2$ (but a variation of the formula still has SOP$_2$).


The important effect of connectivity upon the nature of intramolecular exchange coupling of unpaired electrons by the biphenyl group was investigated by cryogenic matrix photolysis of diazide precursors expected to yield biphenyl-3,4'-dinitrene (1), biphenyl-3,3'-dinitrene (2), and biphenyl-4,4'-dinitrene (3). System 1 was predicted by parity-based qualitative models to exhibit a high-spin ground state. By Curie law analysis of its electron spin resonance (SSR) spectrum at cryogenic temperatures in frozen 2-methyltetrahydrofuran solution, 1 was found to be a quintet ground-state dinitrene with zero field splitting (zfs) parameters of |D/hc|=0.153 cm -1 , |E/hc|=0.003 cm -1


Pure strontium titanates have been successfully fabricated in this work via sol gel route. The obtained powders were calcined at various temperatures and effects of calcination and sintering on phase development, crystallite size, lattice parameters, microstructure etc. were investigated by XRD and SEM techniques. The development of phase with temperature has been investigated using DTA/TG technique. The dielectric and electrical parameters were analyzed and effects of temperature and frequency variation on these parameters were studied.


With the popularity of Web development patterns and diversification of business requirements, development of Web applications based on frameworks has showed remarkable advantages such as simplifying development processes and improving efficiency of software development. However, traditional Web-based frameworks usually do not care the consistency and interactivity of their user interfaces. This paper presents the approach to rapid development of Web applications using SmartGWT, a GWT-based framework, as well as Ajax technologies. It also gives the real case applied to the development of Role Based Access Control System, which proves that the approach could accelerate the development process of Web-based


No detectable aerobic methane efflux from plant material, nor from adsorption/desorption processes M. U. F. Kirschbaum and A. Walcroft Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand Received: 27 May 2008 – Accepted: 5 June 2008 – Published: 4 July 2008 Correspondence to: M. U. F. Kirschbaum (email@example.com) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.


The purpose of mathematical training of bachelors of technical specialties in the framework of the competence approach is the formation of mathematical competence of the specialist, which is expressed in the ability of graduates to apply mathematical methods in professional activities. Competences are acquired by students in the process of mastering the content of education fixed in educational standards and curricula of disciplines. Using new methods and forms of organization of the educational process, using new teaching tools, competencies are formed in lectures and practical classes in higher mathematics.


In this paper, recurrence relations for single and product moments of generalized order statistics from Exponentiated Lomax Distribution have been obtained. Specializations to order statistics and records have been made. Further, using a recurrence relation for single moments we obtain characterization of Exponentiated Lomax Distribution.


Significance magazine is written by statisticians for those with an interest in analysis and data. To find out how the magazine works and where story ideas originate, we asked the editor, Brian Tarran, the following questions.


Theories of crisis (de-)escalation often focus on conflict, stress, and information problems. However, crisis (de-)escalation may sometimes hinge on how de-escalation is interpreted by domestic audiences. In this article, I combine Putnam's two-level games model of diplomacy with Erving Goffman's concepts of interaction order and face to create a mechanism I call "diplomatic presentation." I show how diplomatic presentation can be instrumental for the crafting of diplomatic outcomes that states believe are in their mutual interest but that run the risk of being rejected by their domestic publics. Successful diplomatic presentation requires that states collude together to manage their performance, engage in teamwork, and control the impact of unsympathetic audiences. In evaluating this mechanism, I analyze the diplomacy surrounding the Iran Hostage Crisis. During this crisis, regime officials from the United States and Iran colluded in a theatrical "scenario," in which both sides adopted specific roles in order to satisfy the sentiments of US and Iranian publics. I show that complications regarding the presentation of this scenario explain escalation of the crisis better than prominent alternatives. This argument contributes to the growing literature on symbolic diplomacy in international relations, while also challenging common assumptions about the adversarial nature of crises.


1. The abductor limp is not eliminated by transplantation of the external oblique muscle, but it may be lessened.

2. Most patients have reported a substantial increase in their sense of security and an improvement in their gait.

3. Transfer of the insertion of the external oblique muscle to the greater trochanter has reduced fatigue and increased endurance.


Based on the latest division of operational modes in manufacturing lines(manufacturing modes)by Bart Victor,Andew C. Boynton and B. Joseph Ⅱ,this article respectively discusses characteristics of the four different manufacturing modes,innovation mode,mass-production mode,sustainable-improvement mode and mass-customization mode. Enterprise life-cycle theory is employed to explain the possibility of transfers between the four manufacturing modes. A healthy coupling reflection mode is established between the diverse stages of enterprise life-cycle and different modes transfers.


Part I – Overview – on the nature of learning community and supporting engaged learners Leslie (15 min) Introduction In exploring the nature of UWSP as learning community, we consider an engaged community that can be cultivated throughout campus and within each department. An engaged community of learners thrives on a dynamic environment where we each are participating as teachers and as learners. The reciprocity of such a context can serve to energize and support us in our study and work together, while also creating a climate of respect and care.


Nineteen years ago Dr. Lloyd Shinners (1962) did a synopsis of Dicerandra in which he described a new, shrubby species, D. jrutescens , from peninsular Florida. In 1963 still another new woody Floridean species, D. immaculata was added by Olga Lakela. Thus, what for years was thought to be a genus of three annuals turned out to be a much more complex group. My practical interest in Dicerandra was stimulated by having to write descriptions, together with forest management implications, for the three species that are federally listed as threatened or endangered. As a result of this, involving some field work on the plants going back to 1975, I came to have enough information to add to Dr. Shinners' synopsis and had written up what appeared to be yet another new Dicerandra from Florida. I have, however, been informed that this same taxon has been published in advance of my own, under the name D. cornutissima by Ms. Robin Huck (1981). However, it was gratifying to know that my opinion was arrived at independently by a full-time student of the genus. In that a full study has been planned for Dicerandra by Ms. Huck, my own necessarily is confined to remarks on morphology, distribution and habitat.


You are on the cutting edge with development tools and your small team is having a great time and delivering quickly -- but what happens when you grow beyond your current size? Much of Google runs on Angular where large teams of many different roles collaborate to build products. I'll explain how we take advantage of Angular's unique capabilities to include distributed teams, designers, testers, and other roles in the full process.


During our study of the caddisfly fauna of the Danube, its branches and oxbow lakes, including the urban and suburban areas of Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia), we made an unexpected record of the species Tinodes maculicornis (Pictet, 1834), which is the first documented occurrence of this species in the Pannonian ecoregion (Hungarian lowlands) and also the easternmost record so far.


For the long life, small samples, non-failure and high costs of equipments, the reliability assessment is very difficult, which is limited by the number of samples data, so the paper puts forword to study the methods of reliability assessment and prediction based on multi-parameter performance degradation. For the multi-parameters characteristics, the paper proposes the data fusion technique based on the algorithm of support vector data description(SVDD) to form a comprehensive performance parameter, and then forecasts the trend of the comprehensive performance parameter based on the algorithm of support vector regression (SVR). The experiment shows that the methods can estimate correctly the reliability of the specified system.


This extended essay is an examination of the extent to which the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels is a reflection of Jonathan Swift. It involves the exploration of this research question in terms of politics, religion, attitude to women and family; with references to this piece of literature and some secondary resources when necessary. The quotations from published literary criticism are either refuted by examples from the novel or supported in the light of evidence from the novel. Other secondary resources include Swift's two other prose works, The Modest Proposal and A Letter to a Very Young Lady on Her Marriage, which are referred to briefly for clarification of the evidence. The purpose of this study is to analyse in what ways and to what extent the protagonist is an author-surrogate in the abovementioned ways.
This essay is comprised of two sections, namely "politics and religion" and "women and family", each focusing on a particular aspect of the investigation. In the first section, Swift's political and religious standpoint is discussed extensively in order to correctly evaluate Gulliver's paradigm. By making connections between the beliefs of the author and those of Gulliver, the relation between the two is established to support the claim of this essay. In the second section, the female figures in the novel and Gulliver's perception of them are inspected. The plot is also taken into consideration in this part of the inquiry although the central focus is on the persona.
In the conclusion, it is validated that Gulliver is a reflection of Jonathan Swift with regard to political and religious vision, and attitude towards women and family, by juxtaposing and assembling the main elements of personification of Gulliver and Jonathan Swift's personal ideas and experiences.


"Oscillations" is an installation that features six Tibetan singing bowl robots, each carrying two singing bowls that produce pure sustained tones that mark out a meditative and immersive sound field. These robots are controlled by a virtual environment (written in Processing) in which virtual player and striker agents move through the space using Brownian motion, weighted by video tracking of the presence of people in the gallery. When the player agents coincide with the position of the Singing Bowl robot in the virtual world, a command is sent over the wireless network to cause that robot to play. The combined effect is a set of beautifully made musical robots producing a meditative omnipresent series of harmonics that form an immersive sound field. The robots can also be taken down and used for perambulatory or gorilla style performances.


The ability to apply a slow shift clock and an at-speed capture or functional clock is required to keep the average power down during test. A clock control macro (CCM) that can be attached to a PLL has been designed to meet the functional and structural test clocking needs of the Cortextrade-A8 microprocessor core. This includes a glitchless multiplexer, the ability to control separate clocks in isolation and the ability to switch between the reference clock and the PLL VCO clock. This clock control macro is different from previous ARM CCMs in that it has extra capability and it was coded to be synthesizable for reuse.


This paper reports a novel graphene metasurface exhibiting near‐unity absorption over a wide bandwidth of 9.74 THz ranging from 2.06 to 11.80 THz with a fractional bandwidth of 140.86% with respect to the center frequency of 6.93 THz within the terahertz gap of the electromagnetic spectrum. The proposed structure consists of two layers of graphene separated by silicon dioxide (SiO2). On the top of SiO2, a modified fractal‐shaped 1 nm thick graphene pattern is deposited while a square‐shaped graphene pattern of identical thickness completely covers the backside of the SiO2 substrate. The absorber was found to be polarization independent under the normal incidence of the approaching electromagnetic wave (EM) toward the top layer of the structure due to its 4‐fold structural symmetry. The designed structure offers stable absorption up to 60° incident angle under TE polarization and 40° incident angle under TM polarization. The structure is ~λ/55.9 thin and maintains periodicity of ~λ/21.7; thereby validating the effective homogeneity condition in the sub‐wavelength domain. This graphene‐based absorber can find several applications including, sensors, detectors, spatial light modulators, and in spectroscopic detectors, and so forth, in the "Terahertz Gap" for next‐generation 5G communication system and beyond.


The atmosphere and land surface can alter the structure of a landfalling tropical cyclone (TC), resulting in complex spatial patterns of rainfall. Rather than average observations from many TCs, this study utilizes a Geographic Information System (GIS) to spatially analyse radar reflectivity data that define the rain shield of TC Dennis (1999). The effects of the atmosphere and land surface upon the rain shield are quantified through the calculation of six shape metrics: areal coverage, elongation, compactness, fragmentation, orientation, and distance and bearing of the polygon centroid from the storm circulation centre. Analysis of the data in hourly intervals reveals the extent to which the landfall process, vertical wind shear, dry air intrusion, interaction with mountains, and extratropical transition (ET) affect the location, size, and shape of the rain shield. Results illustrate the influences that multiple forcings can have upon TC structure and demonstrate that the calculation of the shape metrics can provide a method to evaluate the effects of environmental conditions upon multiple TCs. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society


Effects of NH 3 on PEM fuel cell performance are reported. Traces of NH 3 in the anode feedstream cause a decrease in cell current. The extent of the effect depends on NH 3 concentration and time of exposure of the anode to NH 3 . We discuss possible mechanisms by which NH 3 affects cell performance.


Aims: To analyze the socio-demographic and reproductive risk profiles of pregnant women with a history of hypertensive syndromes, as well as their clinical and obstetric conditions and the characteristics of the care given during prenatal, labor and post-labor care in maternity hospitals caring for women at high risk. Method: transversal and quantitative study using the medical records of 164 pregnant women. Results: The predominance of adult and black women, with low education levels, low income, multiple pregnancies and multiple reproductive risk factors. Insufficient prenatal clinical and nutritional care, the presence of hypertension at the moment of the labor and little attention given to reproductive planning during post-labor period have been were also observed. Discussion: The care given at the maternity hospital is insufficient to meet the health needs of the women, which indicates fragmentation and discontinuity. Most of the women's situations were characterized by a combination of individual, social and programmatic vulnerability factors. Conclusion: Meeting the reproductive health needs of these women demands comprehensiveness, coordination and continuity of health care; professional capacity to handle the risks; transformation of vulnerability situations.


This study proposed multifunctional alkoxyamine 2-({tert-butyl [[1-
(diethoxyphosphoryl)-2,2-dimethylpropyl]amino}oxy)-2-methylpropanoic acid
(MAMA-SG1) initiators for the 'grafting-from' method to obtain star architecture of
poly 4-vinylpyridine (P4VP) from JEFFAMINE®. The structure of macroinitiator
was confirmed by amide bond present in NMR and FTIR spectroscopy.
Furthermore, the macroinitiator was used to polymerise 4VP. P4VP from
JEFFAMINE-SG1 shows a monomodal peak in the SEC chromatogram, indicating
more control polymerisation process.


Recent budgetary perspectives of the current presidential administration indicate that recognition of preservation and adaptive use as a sustainability strategy has fallen short of what it can and should be. With the emergence of programs, such as the United States Green Buildings Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding incentives, it is time to expand the language and interdisciplinary nature of preservation to give a broader voice to enhance the public perception that sustainability stems from preservation rather than the common general misperception that preservation and adaptive use of existing older buildings can not enhance sustainability in the built environment. This research explores the basic tenets of sustainability through the integrated lens of social, environmental, and economical factors. Specifically, this research provides insights into a holistic view of interdisciplinary practice. By advancing beyond the current practice of "going green," preservationists can use these factors to promote a greater understanding how reusing existing buildings is a viable sustainability strategy. This presentation will supplement the social argument for community revitalization through preservation and adaptive use by exploring the implications of energy utilization indices, the impacts of demolition and replacement, vernacular climatebased design and low technology comfort strategies that are inherent in many older and historic buildings. Lastly, the findings will demonstrate the economic incentives available and the types of collaborative partnerships and incentive programs that have been used to make a project meet the economic goals of the developer or investor. This latter exploration provides the primary thrust to promote the argument in economic terms that drive the actual realization of a project.


An even temperature light emitting diode light bulb comprises a base, a plurality of cooling fins, a substrate, a plurality of luminous chips, a light guiding shell and a reflective layer, wherein the base is a round plate body, and certain ends of the plurality of cooling fins are connected to the back face of the base, and the other ends are connected with a power connector; the luminous chips are arranged on the substrate in a circular shape, and are arranged on the frontal face of the base by virtue of the substrate; the light guiding shell is basically in the shape of a semicircular sphere, and is arranged on the frontal face of the base, and one side, tightly clinging to the base, of the light guiding shell is provided with an incident face which can cover the plurality of luminous chips; the arrange positions of the plurality of luminous chips are respectively aligned to the connection positions of each of the cooling fins and the base.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for trisomy 21 (T21), trisomy 18 (T18), trisomy 13 (T13), sex chromosome aneuploidies, chromosomal microdeletions and microduplications using cell-free fetal DNA from peripheral blood samples of pregnant women.

METHODS
A total of 15 237 pregnant women who had undergone NIPT testing at the Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital of Zaozhuang from February 2015 to December 2021 were enrolled in this study. For those with a high risk by NIPT, amniotic fluid samples were collected for G-banding chromosomal karyotyping analysis and chromosomal microarray analysis to verify the consistency of NIPT with results of prenatal diagnosis. All of the women were followed up by telephone for pregnancy outcomes.

RESULTS
Among the 15 237 pregnant women, 266 (1.75%) were detected with a high risk for fetal chromosomal abnormality were detected. Among these, 79 (29.7%) were at a high risk for T21, 26 (9.77%) were at a high risk for T18, 9 (3.38%) were at a high risk for T13, 74 (27.82%) were at a high risk for sex chromosome aneuploidies, 12 (4.51%) were at a high risk for other autosomal aneuploidies, and 66 (24.81%) were at a high risk for chromosomal microdeletions or microduplications. 217 women had accepted invasive prenatal diagnosis and respectively 50, 13, 1, 25, 1 and 18 were confirmed with T21, T18, T13, sex chromosome aneuploidies, autosomal aneuploidies and microdeletions/microduplications, and the positive predictive values were 75.76%, 68.42%, 11.11%, 40.32%, 10% and 35.29%, respectively. For 13 042 women (85.59%), the outcome of pregnancy were successfully followed up. During the follow-up, one false negative case of T21 was discovered. No false positive cases for T13 and T18 were found.

CONCLUSION
NIPT has a sound performance for screening T13, T18 and T21, and is also valuable for screening other autosomal aneuploidies, sex chromosome aneuploidies and chromosomal microdeletions/microduplications.


Highly oxygenated, biomass-derived oils can be upgraded to high quality hydrocarbon fuels by catalytic hydrotreating. Pacific Northwest Laboratory has successfully converted both high-pressure liquefaction oils and low-pressure pyrolysis oils to a highly aromatic, gasoline boiling range fuel. These studies were conducted in a 1-liter, continuous-flow reactor system. Six different biomass-derived oils and one peat-derived oil have been tested. 17 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs.


In the world of art forests, the characteristics of ancient Chinese sculpture art are unique, and they have maintained outstanding artistic value after thousands of years of baptism. In the sculpture art of our country, the artistic achievements in Qin and Han Dynasties are more prominent, and they have their unique artistic characteristics influenced by the political, cultural and economic factors of Qin and Han Dynasties. In the 400-year history of Qin and Han Dynasties, the territorial unity and strong national strength are the period of establishment and consolidation of the feudal state in China, and the development of art was paid great attention to. Sculpture art is an important means of propaganda in the display of the kingship and unity of the work. Therefore, during Qin and Han Dynasties, a large number of monumental sculptures and cemetery sculptures appeared in China, achieving outstanding artistic achievements and reflecting unique aesthetic standards. This paper mainly expounds the sculpture art in Qin and Han Dynasties, and explores the aesthetic standards of Qin and Han Dynasties by analyzing the characteristics of sculpture.


In summary, these studies are of potential clinical importance considering the interindividual variation that occurs in response to β-adrenergic receptor blocker treatment in heart failure treatment. Identifying Leu 41 carriers would allow waiving β-adrenergic receptor blockade in these selected patients, avoiding potential harmful effects despite lack of therapeutic efficiency. Future efforts to identify the genetic variants in individual drug response to heart failure therapeutics, further underscore the significance of pharmacogenomics and develop the scientific findings of selected gene–drug interactions towards personalized medicine.


AbstractNumerical simulations of earthquake fault rupture propagation can be used to design structures to resist damage from induced ground deformations. Several researchers have developed numerical models for analyzing the responses of soil and structures to underlying fault movement. Often, however, a relatively simple Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model that is modified to incorporate strain softening or other material nonlinearity is used. In this work, a modification of the UBCSAND soil constitutive model, one that has been shown to capture well the nonlinear shear response of soil for many stress paths, was used. The UBCSAND model was modified to add postpeak strain softening with a response that is dependent on the mode of fault rupture, a nonlinear failure envelope that is stress dependent, and a modified flow rule that is dependent on the mode of shear deformation. The numerical simulations captured well the observed trends in carefully performed geotechnical centrifuge experiments. The Modified-UBCS...


AbstractRetention tanks are constructed to mitigate peak floods and capture sediments by storing combined sewage overflows. A rotatable bucket is used to sweep the settled particles at the bottom o...


Heavy metal music, once only a fringe branch of rock music, grew enormously in popularity in the 1980s. By the end of the decade, groups such as Guns-N-Roses and Metallica were selling millions of records and performing to sell-out audiences in large arenas all over the country. Other groups, such as Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer, developed an avid following of "metalheads" (as heavy metal fans call themselves; a.k.a. "headbangers") who could be counted on to buy tens of thousands of any record they released. Characterized by a highly distorted gu i ta r sound, pounding rhythms, and lyrics more screamed than sung, heavy metal songs were generally avoided by mainstream radio stations seeking a wide audience. However, through occasional radio airplay, through exposure on MTV, and —most of all —through word of mouth among fans of heavy metal, the popularity of these groups skyrocketed. In 1989, the group Guns-N-Roses reported a 2-year income of over $20 million (Associated Press, 1989).


In recent years, people have faced the fastest spreading and most widespread disaster in human history, the COVID-19 pandemic. Undoubtedly, the most direct factor affecting the effectiveness of epidemic prevention and control is the level of science and technology, especially medical science and technology. However, the level of public governance, especially public health governance, as well as cultural traditions and living habits also have a major impact on epidemic prevention and control. In 2022, Russia and Ukraine also broke out a military. Due to the impact of the epidemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the global economy has been gradually brought serious impact, inflation and other problems have also emerged. As one of the important indicators to measure the performance of the macroeconomy, the fluctuation of the inflation rate will be closely watched by the general public and the government departments that specify the macroeconomic policy. In this paper, the causes and consequences of inflation will be studied by discussing the effects of the novel coronavirus epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the global consumer price index (CPI) and the economic trade between the three major economies.


A 46-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of anal bleeding. Digital examination of the rectum revealed an extramural mass in the posterior wall of the rectum. Barium enema and colonoscopic examinations demonstrated extrarectal compression for the posterior side in the lower rectum. These examinations revealed the anal bleeding to have been caused by an internal hemorrhoid. CT scans, transrectal endoscopic ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a well marginated cystic mass with a smooth surface in the presacral space. The mass was removed by a parasacral approach. Macroscopically, the mass was a cyst containing yellowish granular marterial and no tumorous lesion was seen in the wall. Microscopically, the cyst was composed of fibrous tissue and stratified squamous epithelium without appendages. Based on these findings, the lesion was diagnosed as an epidermoid cyst.


In this paper will be analyzed the legal framework of Credit Un- ions in Spain and the evolution of the institution to reach the current troubled situation in which, after the financial crisis experienced in recent years, is in- 1 Trabajo realizado en el marco del Proyecto de I+D del MINECO sobre «Integracion cooperativa y reestructuraciones socialmente responsables» (DE3-48864-C2-1-P) y del


Aim to solve the phenomenon that the pipe air preheater is blocked in large area existed in many big and medium-sized thermal power plants,including mine-sided power plants which threat the safety of equipment seriously.A block-broke system which combine the high pressure fluidicjet technology with machines was designed.This research has a important meaning to the big equipments fix,safely running and the hot efficiency increased of the equipments.


In a banking credit contract, a Bank is usually more interested in mortgage given by a debtor that can bound with collateral. The collateral has to legally belong to the debtor according to the prevailing legal provisions. The research used judicial normative and descriptive analytic. The result of the research shows that the hypothecation is implemented when a debtor is default in paying off his debt so that creditor has the fight to sell the collateral in auction hall in order to get his right and give the remaining to the debtor. The legal ground of judge's consideration in revoking the foreclosure sale because the debtor has no right to give the collateral under the verdict. that the Bank as the creditor who holds Hypothecation certificate does not have any authority/privilege as stipulated in UUHT No. 4/1996 on the Collateral. Besides that, credit contract between creditor and debtor doe not have any collateral anymore although hypothecation contract has been signed


The stability of a metastable state produced by laser irradiation on arsenic‐diffused Si is studied by measurement of the sheet resistance as a function of postlaser heat treatment between 300 and 900 °C. The good conductivity produced by laser irradiation decays at as low as 400 °C within 1 h. This preempts the advantage of good conductivity produced by transient annealing and sets a severe restriction on the application of transient processing.


The authors of the book's 12 chapters, academic librarians representing a broad range of colleges and universities, explore the evolution of the embedded librarian from physical to virtual, suggest how to develop and implement unique programs in and out of the classroom and explain how to scale programs once they are embedded.


A human epithelial cell line, FaDu, from a squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx has been isolated and established from a patient from Calcutta, India. The cell line has a population doubling time of approximately 50 hours. Ultrastructural observation reveals the presence of bundles of tonofilaments in the cells and desmosomal regions distributed at the boundaries of adjacent cells. The cell line is susceptible to infection by some RNA‐ and DNA‐containing viruses.


UNLABELLED
Drug administration during the last trimester of pregnancy may have adverse effects for the newborn.

CASE REPORT
A hemolytic anemia occurred during the first hours of life in a full-term neonate whose mother had taken nitrofurantoin during the last month of pregnancy.

CONCLUSION
The immature enzymatic systems of the neonate are exposed to this adverse effect and justify the recommendation not to prescribe nitrofurantoin at the end of pregnancy.


In this paper, a systematic approach is proposed to deal with boundary value problems containing circular boundaries. Null-field integral equations are employed to solve the problem. The mathematical tools, degenerate kernels and Fourier series, are utilized. The kernel function is expanded to degenerate form and the boundary density is expressed in terms of Fourier series. By moving the null-field point to the boundary, the singularity novelly disappears. By matching the boundary condition, a linear algebraic system is obtained. After obtaining the unknown Fourier coefficients, the solution can be obtained by using the integral representation. This systematic approach can be applied to the Laplace, Helmhotz and biharmonic problems. Finally, several examples are demonstrated to check the validity of present formulation.


Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) is a process of mapping input into the desired output using fuzzy logic
theory where decisions can be made or pattern are dscerned. Ths study aims to discuss on how non-fuzzy
clustering output can be used to constmct a model of FIS. Here, the proposed idea is to show the efficient use
of the FIS as a predction model for the data classification. In this study, employment income, self-employment
income, property and tramfer received are taken into account for clustering the household income data. Then,
the FIS prediction model is built using the center values of clusters formed and the output of FIS is compared
to the original cluster in whch the best fit predction model to the data is determined. In conclusion, the best
predction model in identify~ngin come class is dscovered based on the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value
computed.


diiodonaphthalene was synthesized by Sandmeyer reaction in anhydrous acetic acid. When the solvent was replaced by dilute sulfuric acid, 2,3-naphtho-triazole was obtained. The solvent effect of anhydrous acetic acid was described in detail.


This study presents the preliminary magnetic results from analyses ofthe Quaternary red-soils and the fine grain sediments within the underlyingconglomerate bed of the Linkou Terrace in northern Taiwan.Magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that the fine grain sedimentstaken from the conglomerate bed have extremely low susceptibilitiesrelative to those of the red-soils.This phenomenon suggests that the sourceof the red-soil probably did not originate from the weathering of the conglomeratebed.From both paleomagnetic and rock magnetic results,it isthought that the red-soil bed was deposited during the period between theJaramillo normal event and the Brunhes normal epoch,or later.Stratigraphic variations of magnetic susceptibility of the red-soilsamples before and after CBD(citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite)treatmentshow the same trend:the lower part of the red-soil bed has values abouttwo times higher than those of the upper part.In addition,susceptibility ofthe upper part after CBD treatment has been reduced by more than 60%,but that of the lower part only has been reduced by less than 40%.It isknown that CBD treatment can resolve hematite,goethite and ultra finegrainedmagnetite.So,the results of this study might suggest that the upperpart has much more soil development and lateritization than the lower part.Furthermore,the major(and possibly the original)magnetic mineral ofthe red-soil is magnetite.In the area neighboring the Linkou Terrace to the north,there was alot of volcanic activity during the early Quaternary.Magnetite has beenidentified as the major magnetic mineral of the volcanic rocks.Thus,it isproposed that the source of the red-soil bed in the Linkou area developed,at least partly,from the volcanic rocks.In addition,the boundary betweenthe two groups,with distinct very different magnetic susceptibilities,mightbe used as an indicator for stratigraphic correlation in the study area.


Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data is the most commonly used vegetation proxy from remote sensing data to model the vegetation biophysical properties. The longest time-series data of NDVI from the earlier era of remote sensing satellites is available from AVHRR GIMMS employing the red and near-infrared bands in NOAA sensors from 1981 to 2015 in 8-km spatial resolution in the monthly interval. This study aims to evaluate the compatibility of NDVI data from the newer sensors such as MODIS Terra (MOD13C2), Proba-V and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) data when combined with GIMMS data. Calibration between two time-series data from different sensors was constructed by using image-matching Pseudo Invariant Features (PIF) method and the fitness levels using all pixels and at different land-cover classes were assessed. In addition, structural change analysis was conducted to identify the sensor-shift problems at the best data combination. Our results suggested the best fit of GIMMS when being paired with VIIRS data with the R2 of 0.91 (n = 3132) and 0.89 (n = 1044) for model and validation analysis. Although the fitness level from the linear regression showed a good fit, an artifact as a result of sensor-shift problems still can be detected from structural change analysis, revealing the imperfection of linear calibration method. Future works should aim to explore the performance of non-linear methods to calibrate the different time-series data and explore the combination with other sensors.


Myocardial structural remodeling, a progressive, often self-perpetuating process, is an important marker of progressive heart failure. Myocardial cell loss, through any number of mechanisms mediating cellular death, is an important component in its genesis.1 Traditionally, necrosis has been regarded as the pathological hallmark of myocardial cell death. However, there is accumulating evidence that cells can die through a number of other mechanisms including programmed and nonprogrammed cell death. The elegant study in this issue of Circulation Research by Kostin and colleagues2 makes an important addition to the list of intriguing ways that life or death decisions are made in the failing heart. They found that in addition to apoptosis and necrosis,3,4 cardiac cells can also die through autophagy associated with ubiquitylated protein accumulation. Apart from mechanistic insights, these kinds of new data might have a therapeutic potential. A broad look at cell survival or death and its implications may thus be in order.


The anaerobic biodegradability of water from crude oil production coming from the extraction of light petroleum (APPL), medium petroleum (APPM) and heavy petroleum (APPP) was studied under thermophilic conditions. Three batch reactor of 500 mL capacity were mounted containing water from the patio of tank Ule, Maracaibo. Initially the reactors were operated under mesophilic condition and then the temperature was in creased to a ratio of 1°C/dia until reaching the temperature of 55°C ± 1°C. The time of reaction in all the cases was of 24h. The pursuit of the systems was carried out by of the measured of the chemical organic demand (COD), volatile suspended solids (VSS) and total (TSS), alkalinity, pH, volatile fats acids (VFA), biogas produced, methane percent age in the biogas. The results show that the waters from crude oil production provide the nutritional requirements for the development of the anaerobic microorganisms. The biodegradability of the APPL was not improved when being treated under thermophilic condition. It was a contrary case with the APPM and APPP. On the other hand, the biodegradability of the water from crude oil production is related with the composition of crude which ones the water is associated.


The last deglaciation provides as unique a framework to investigate the processes of ice sheet and climate interaction during periods of mass loss as in the current climate. Here we simulate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) northern hemisphere ice sheets climate, surface mass balance (SMB), and dynamics with the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2, Danabasoglu et al., 2020)) and the Community Ice Sheet Model version 2 (CISM2, Lipscomb et al., 2019). This LGM simulation will be later used as starting point for coupled CESM2-CISM2 simulations of the last deglaciation.

CESM2 is run at the nominal resolution used for IPCC-type projections (approx. 1 degree for all components). The model includes an advanced snow/firn and SMB calculation (van Kampenhout et al, 2019; Sellevold et al, 2019) the land component (CLM, cite) that has been evaluated and applied to the simulation of the future Greenland melt (van Kampenhout et al, 2020, Muntjewerf et al., 2020a,b, Sellevold & Vizcaino, 2020).

Our analysis examines how the global, Arctic, and North Atlantic climate result in the simulated radiative and turbulent heat fluxes over the ice sheets, and the mass fluxes from precipitation, refreezing, runoff, and sublimation. We also examine the simulated ice streams in CISM2, which is run at 8 km under a higher-order approximation for ice flow.


The magnetar model involves an isolated neutron star with a very high magnetic field (B~10^14-10^15 G), and is invoked to explain the emission processes of two classes of sources, the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) and the Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters (SGRs). Five of them have been recently identified to be persistent sources in the hard X-ray band (20-200 keV). AXPs, in particular, present the hardest known persistent spectra in the hard X/soft gamma-ray energy range. The broad band modeling of their spectra still suffers from the non-simultaneity of the observations and from a lack of sensitivity above 20 keV. We present the Simbol X simulated observations of these objects and show that that this mission could surely help to disentangle the contribution of the different spectral components, and to understand how they contribute to the secular flux variations observed in these sources.


The Insurance Law will soon be under revision and there is much controversy over quite a lot of problems such as nature of the insurance contract, informing obligations, and principles of insurance benefits etc. Solving these problems is in close coordination with carrying out the insurance law and properly operating the insurance business.


Dear Editor, Hair loss (HL) is a frequent reason for seeking dermatologic assistance following COVID19. Thus, we read with interest the publication from Michellini et al.1 reporting four women with postCOVID19 telogen effluvium (TE) that progressed to histologic fibrosis and nerve hypertrophy, despite the absence of inflammatory infiltrate. We commend the authors for this research and would like to provide some additional insights regarding the mechanisms of hair shedding following COVID19 infection. Within the first 3 months after COVID19 infection, 48% of patients reported HL. This was associated with the duration of the illness and inflammatory symptoms, including high fever, severe dyspnoea and myalgia. Notably, 77% of these patients reported HL onset within the first 30 days after acute COVID19 symptoms, and 15% reported onset between 30 and 60 days, while trichodynia occurred in 68% of these patients with HL.2 The high prevalence of earlyonset hair shedding in COVID19 patients suggests a pathogenic mechanism distinct from the immediate anagen release seen in acutefebrile or postinfectious TE. We found dystrophic anagen effluvium in patients who experienced HL during hospitalization (<15 days after the onset of acute COVID19). Histologically, there was no inflammatory infiltrate or a predominance of anagen terminal follicles without miniaturization.3 The observation of clusters of intracellular spherical particles inside the outer root sheath by transmission electron microscopy indicates a distinct mechanism underlying early postCOVID19 HL, which presents a short duration and an excellent prognosis.4,5 Nevertheless, HL has been reported in up to 20% of patients with longCOVID syndrome after 6 months of infection, and the onset of hair shedding varied from 30 to 120 days following acute symptoms.6 These patients presented a typical TE, which may be elicited by multiple stimuli that can interfere with the hair cycle beyond the direct cytopathic effect of the virus.7,8 The severity of COVID19 symptoms can vary widely. Prolonged fever is related to the release of high levels of TNFα, and severe dyspnoea is associated with hypoxia. Moreover, longCOVID is associated with an increased release of IL6. Finally, several drugs used during acute infection (heparin, nonsteroid antiinflammatories and antimalarials) can interfere with the hair cycle. Therefore, the assessment of HL following COVID infection may consider the time of onset, disease severity (particularly fever and myalgia), hospitalization, weight loss, emotional stress and drugs used in the preceding months.7 Notably, the different clinical, histologic and trichogram presentations of the cases from Michellini1 and Miola3 evidence different pathogenetic processes underlying HL in early and late COVID19 infection. Additionally, the prognoses of the cases reported by Abrantes (earlyonset)5 and Rossi (TE)8 emphasize the need for the careful characterization of HL following COVID19 infection, as HL can be a transitory effect or comprise part of a longCOVID condition. Table 1 presents the rationale for the characterization of the main causes of effluvium following COVID19 infection. In the series from Michellini, the histologic findings were heterogeneous, and the characterization of neural hypertrophy (dermal hyperneury) in the four subjects was severely Received: 8 April 2023 | Accepted: 26 April 2023


ABSTRACT
 The paper describes cytogenetic observations of Pachytodes erraticus (Dalman 1817) for the first time. Also presented are the distribution of this species in Turkey with a map and in the world, chorotype classification of the species, photos of male genitalia, the mitotic metaphase stage and karyogram. The results indicate that the chromosome number is 2n = 18.


In highly competitiveness market core competence has emerged as a central concept for competitive strategy. Core competence is the knowledge set that distinguishes a firm and provides a competitive advantage over others. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between core competence, competitive advantage and organizational performance. Core competence was measured through three dimensions: shared vision, cooperation and empowerment. Competitive advantage was also measured through flexibility and responsiveness. The proposed model was tested in the context of Paint Industry in the UAE. The survey was administered electronically to a total of 77 managers. Results indicate that it appears to be consistent and reliable scales. Finding indicates that, while core competence has a strong and positive impact on competitive advantage and organizational performance, competitive advantage has also significant impact on organizational performance. Results confirm the varying importance of core competence dimensions on competitive advantage and organizational performance. It has also been found that flexibility have higher impact on organizational performance than responsiveness. To remain competitive and obtain competitive advantages, managers can try to increase organizational performance by managing each dimension of core competence i.e. shared vision; cooperation and empowerment.


The inhibition effect of imidazoline quaternary-ammonium-salt and alkyl-phosphate ester respectively and the synergism of the two chemicals on corrosion of carbon stee1 A3 in a CO2-saturated artificial brine were investigated by electrochemical method.The results indicated that a appreciable positive synergistic effect could be seen when imidazoline quaternary-ammonium-salt and alkyl-phosphate ester were used together with a proportion of 1∶1.In comparison with any individual inhibitor of the two,the corrosion inhibition efficiency for carbon steel A3 could be increased by 20% due to the combination use of them.Imidazoline quaternary-ammonium-salt could mainly inhibit the corrosion caused by cathode reaction,while alkyl-phosphate ester could mainly inhibit the corrosion caused by anode reaction.The two corrosion processes induced by cathode and anode reactions could be effectively inhibited by the combination use of imidazoline quaternary-ammonium-salt and alkyl-phosphate ester.


Software RM (23) and the network RM (24) is a server in the pool, previously, software and installation for the server group to which add interest, the network settings have read the information system resource DB (26), read carry out the information and use. Then, and if the server included in the server group fails, when the load of the server group is increased, the pre-performed server settings software or network, to add to the server group.


To understand why environmental federalism is different in Canada and the United States, one might begin with the initial strategic realities that faced the Fathers of Canadian Confederation and the Framers of the Constitution of the US. This essay examined federalism from a game theoretic point of view, to integrate and expose the rational properties of the decision to federate and the logical entailments of that choice for environmental policy within two specific strategic contexts. Specifically, the author suggests that American environmental federalism has arisen in response to the strategic reality of a prisoner's dilemma, while Canadian environmental federalism can be analyzed as an effort to regulate confrontations within a game of chicken. In addition to the analysis of each federated structure, evidence from five case studies demonstrates the usefulness of games to the study of comparative federalism.


Software maintenance is an element-key of the life cycle of software. However,the techniques of software maintenance do not consider the diversity and the complexity of decisions which do not stop increasing. So, there are at present a few tools, susceptible to insure the relevance and the efficiency of the decision-making in this phase. The work presented in this paper aims to eliminate or at least to reduce the effect to fall in an expensive change by reducing the time to find a compromise on the adequate change. The development of the decision support system for software maintenance is an answer to the problem. The developed tool allows:-to make a fast diagnosis on the software by using the coupling metrics;-to help the decision-makers of the maintenance, according to their preferences often conflicting, to adopt a change among several proposed. To answer this group decision where various points of view are considered, we propose a negotiation protocol. This protocol try to find a compromise that suits best all the decision-makers.


Transfer learning(TL) aims to solve related but different target domain problems by using plenty of labeled source domain data. When the task from one new domain comes, new domain samples are relabeled costly, and it would be a waste to discard all the old domain data. Therefore, an algorithm called TL-SVM based on the SVM algorithm is proposed, which uses a small amount of target domain tag data and a large number of source domain old data to build a high-quality classification model. The method inherits the advantages of the maximum interval SVM based on empirical risk minimization and makes up for the defects that traditional SVM can not migrate knowledge. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


With the development of mobile communication, users put forward a higher security requirement in the process of intelligent mobile terminal to access different applications. A cross-domain authentication mechanism in the mobile Internet environment has been designed in this paper, which is B/S pattern. Firstly, the trust relationship between the Single Sign-on servers has been established by using SAML, then the design frame is Single Sign-on, as well as using HTTPS and ECC to encrypt data and the data transmissions. The user only needs to authenticate identity successfully in one trusted domain, then he can visit other trusted domains easily and does not need to authenticate identity again under the context that without exit. It is shown that a cross-domain authentication mechanism in the mobile Internet environment has been designed which raises the reliability of mobile terminal. This article uses identity-based encryption to calculate the public key and private key. Finally the paper verifies the proposed mechanism. Experiments show that this mechanism is convenient for the user's authentication, meanwhile it ensures the security and scalability of the system. It is proved that the cross-domain authentication mechanism has some reference meanings in the future research in this field.


Using the FM,the misclassification error rate and running time as a measure of improved LF algorithm,the colony different mobile strategy algorithm research.These mobile strategy including completely random mobile,jump directly under the guidance of local memory,orientation under the guidance of local memory close to random,jump directly under the guidance of the global memory,global memory,under the guidance of directional random near and local memory and global memory common guiding under the directional random near the six kinds of mobile strategy.For each strategy,the operating parameters of the fixed algorithm,run on the UCI datasets Iris data and Wine data results show that the global memory under the guidance of directional random near the best strategy run effect,and the speed of convergence can effectively avoid local optimization problem.


Through a formalization of the working definitions of Middle Power and seapower, the paper tries to show the existence of a correlation between the energy dependence of energy supplies by sea and the "use of navies". This latter concept has been formalized through the creation of a Navy Use Index (NUI) that underlines the importance of navies and naval forces for the states included in the sample. The final aim is to answer the research questions on "why" and "how" the naval instrument is important as a foreign policy means to secure and protect the essential energy supplies from abroad, highlighting the theoretical link between energy security and seapower and analysing the existence of regional differences between Asian and European middle powers.


Practical monitoring and analyzing a building energy conservation demonstration project,Tianqi Park,authors provide references for the check and evaluation of building energy conservation projects in hot\|summer and cold\|winter areas.


This paper presents a new transistor level design flow where it is possible to optimize the circuit with a wide number of logic functions and drive strengths. Different from the standard cell approach, our methodology is not limited to a previously characterized library of cells. The proposed design flow provides a virtual library with around 15,000 cells for logic synthesis and performs a transistor sizing optimization step to improve the timing of the circuit during layout generation. A transistor-level layout generator allows to explore these wide number of cells and drive strengths while optimizing the layout concerning connections and transistors. Circuits generated by our methodology were compared to the standard cell approach in which presented around 11 % of delay improvement and more than 30% of power savings.


Abstract In this paper we analyze elastic and anelastic deformations of a continuous system with non-Euclidean structure. The focus of this study is the intrinsic material metric, gαβ, for the measurement of distances between material particles in the reference configuration. The main results of the theory of deformation are reformulated taking into account the non-Euclidean structure. The consequences of the second law of thermodynamics have been investigated both for thermoelastic and viscoanelastic solids.


In this paper,single-axial creep tests of SBS modified asphalt isolation layer are conducted under different loading stress at 18 degrees centigrade.Through regression analysis on the test data by Origin8.0 software,the creep compliance expression of Burgers creep model can be obtained.Based on the parameters extracted from the test data,the FLAC3D software simulates the creep test.The result shows that FLAC3D can simulate long-term creep tests of the modified asphalt mixture and the numerical simulation results match the creep test results well.


The drive for improved railway performance is a fundamental commitment of both UK Government and the railway industry. This drive is apparent in many of the initiatives involving collaboration, competition, investment, incentives and metrics. However, the experience of the last few years highlights the complexity of assessing train performance within a dynamic system, and demonstrates that performance forecasts can carry a significant margin of uncertainty. A further challenge for the industry is the need to effectively manage the often conflicting performance requirements of capacity, reliability and journey time at lowest life cycle cost, whilst maintaining acceptable levels of safety. An important contribution to meeting the performance challenge is the development and application of modelling techniques to improve the quantitative understanding of performance, and the complex system relationships that exist. Such understanding is supporting better decision-making at both strategic and tactical levels. Modelling techniques also enable the setting of meaningful performance related system requirements, thus ensuring that performance gets 'designed-in' from the outset. Looking forward, it is suggested that advances in system dynamics modelling might provide a means for better understanding of the complex interactions and trade-offs that characterise the railway system.


Summary A sample of 30 teachers were given a questionnaire about how they viewed the relationship between playful fighting and real fighting. In addition, these teachers and 20 children aged five to seven were shown a videofilm of 20 fighting episodes, some playful and some real, and asked to make judgements about them; the responses of teachers and children were compared. Teachers reported difficulty in distinguishing playful from real fighting for about one‐third of occasions ‐ sometimes due to false information from children, and sometimes due to missing the whole of a complex sequence. They also thought that play fighting was about twice as frequent as real fighting, with both much more frequent in boys than girls; and that nearly one‐third of play fighting episodes would turn into real fighting (more often for boys than girls). The video analysis showed that the teachers tended to agree with children about the nature of episodes, but verbally reported a wider range of cues in making their judgements....


A considerable amount of research on early bilingualism investigating the plasticity of the perceptual system in L2 learning has focused on the Catalan mid vowels /e/ and /ε/ [1,2,3]. This research has shown that even early Spanish-Catalan bilinguals who are highly proficient in Catalan exhibit an asymmetric behaviour in lexical decision tasks in which Catalan-dominant bilinguals obtain higher error rates in the identification of /e/-nonwords than /ε/-nonwords. The source of this asymmetry may be attributed to the coexistence of native and mispronounced Spanish-accented /ε/-words in the mental lexicon of Catalan-Spanish bilinguals (/gaλεdə/ vs.*/gaλedə/) [4,5] or to the phonetic " weakness " of the mid-vowel contrasts due to various factors, including the pervasive influence of Spanish in a bilingual environment [6,7]. Evidence of this trend is provided by production data from children whose mid-vowels have been found to vary as a function of amount of exposure to Spanish in Barcelona [8]. In the present study we examined vowel production data from a group of 82 Spanish-Catalan (S-C) bilinguals born and raised in Barcelona (selected form a larger pool of 719 S-C bilinguals), first exposed to their L2 by school age (3-6 years), who had been found to perceive the mid-The participants read a passage in Catalan at normal speed containing target words with the 7 stressed vowels of Catalan. 5-8 words per vowel were selected according to consonantal place of articulation. Vowel frequency measurements (F0, F1, F2) were converted to Bark (B) and then normalized by computing the difference between Bark-converted F1 and F0 (B1-B0) and between Bark-converted F2 and F1 (B1-B0) for vowel height and frontness-backness, respectively [9]. Euclidean distances between B1-B0 and B2-degree of overlap in production; greater spectral distances on a two-dimensional vowel space representing greater robustness of contrasting vowel pairs in production [10,11]. as the within-subjects factor yielded a significant main effect for vowel (F(3, 76)=71.3; p<.001) and a non-significant main effect for subject group (F(3, 78)=71.3; p=.457). However, a significant vowel x subject group interaction (p=.005) indicated that differences in vowel production across subject groups were dependent on vowel type, as /ε/ and /ѐ/ varied consistently as a function of subject group: the more frequently Catalan was used, the more open and less fronted (less Spanish-like) the mid vowels were. Similar analyses with spectral distance scores as the dependent measure revealed significant differences according to subject group for Tukey post-hoc tests revealed that MostlyC subjects produced …


Seasonal variations and accompanying morphological changes of 'Gagome-kombu' (Saccharina sculpera) from Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture were observed for three years. The growth, maturation and renewal of first-year, second-year and third-year plants were documented. Between January and July, first-year plants with frond lengths less than 5 cm emerged and grew slowly to 10 cm by October. Although renewal was observed in first-year plants during October and January, no mature plants were observed. Second-year plants grew between January and July into large plants over 2 m in length, withered between August and October and reached maturity between October and November. Although renewal into third-year plants were observed in about 40% of 400 second-year plants, most of these plants withered and died by April of the third-year. Only 2% of the second-year plants continued to grow until July, withering between August and October and maturing in October and November. All the plants withered and died by December of the third-year.


Constructions of masculinity and femininity can be reinforced through written and spoken language, creating stereotypes and inequality between genders. Gender representations in music lyrics have b ...


Captions blocking visual information in live television news leads to dissatisfaction among Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) viewers, who cannot see important information on the screen. Prior work has proposed generic guidelines for caption placement but not specifically for live television news, and important genre of television with dense placement of onscreen information regions, e.g., current news topic, scrolling news, etc. To understand DHH viewers' gaze behavior while watching television news, both spatially and temporally, we conducted an eye-tracking study with 19 DHH participants. Participants' gaze behavior varied over time as measured by their proportional fixation time on information regions on the screen. An analysis of gaze behavior coupled with open-ended feedback revealed four thematic categories of information regions. Our work motivates considering the time dimension when considering caption placement, to avoid blocking information regions, as their importance varies over time.


Walton Bridge comprises a steel thrust arch with pad foundations supporting a steel–concrete composite ladder deck. The arch ribs have parabolic profile and varying hexagonal cross-section, tapering from springing points to crown, and span 96·1 m. The total rise of the arch is 14·77 m with a span to rise ratio of 6·5. The bridge deck is suspended from the arch by bar-type hangers. Continuous end spans carry the bridge deck between the arch and end abutments, which are full-height reinforced concrete. This paper discusses the method of design employed, including the impact of construction methodology and environmental constraints, together with analysis of aerodynamic effects. It focuses on a number of innovations that were introduced and challenges that were resolved. Two key issues had to be addressed. First, the arch design utilising plastic section properties with reductions to account for the continuously curved steel plating making up the arch ribs. This required local non-linear analysis to demonstr...


From Summary: "Results are presented in dimensionless form suitable for design purposes. The method for solving the problem of a disk of variable thickness with a temperature gradient is also presented."


The application relates to a method for controlling a separate flow of linked program blocks (20-24), which are designed to implement functions of safety-related systems, especially in motor vehicles. The method provides that a first of the program blocks (20) on a processor (140) is executed, the first program block (20) in a first portion (10, 110) of a memory (130) is present. The processor (140) accesses the memory (130). During the execution of the first program block (20), a second of the program blocks (22) is called. The second program block (22) is in a second portion (12, 112) which is different to the first portion (10, 110) of the memory (130). The access to the memory (130) is monitored by a memory protection means (150) which triggers an exception if in the monitoring of access from the memory protection means (150) it is determined that during execution of the first program block (20) of the second program block (22) is called. An exception handler (160) locked if the exception occurs the first portion (10, 110), and outputs the second portion (12, 112) is free for execution. Preferably, access to data, in particular write access of the memory protection means (150) by means of exceptions and consequent locks and releases is controlled. Furthermore, the invention relates to a control device for performing the method.


The dataset consists of data gathered from Deakin University staff and students. Staff-derived data consists of qualitative data relating to advantages and disadvantages of teaching online; manifestation of cultural diversity in online learning environments; strategies to accommodate cultural diversity online; and using online environments to support cultural diversity Student-derived data consists of quantitative and qualitative data relating to student perceptions of online learning; student demographics; student expectations of their university experience; students' approach to learning and online learning; perceptions of online learning and online team work; and perceptions of student and teacher roles at university.


Objective To study on the serum zinc(Zn),copper(Cu) and iron(Fe) content changes in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM) in their early gestations and to provide experiment foundations for clinicians to apply medical nutritional therapy in population with high risks of developing GDM.Methods The contents of serum Zn,Cu and Fe in pregnant women of GDM group,normal control group and reference group in their gestations were assayed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry.Results The difference in serum Zn content in the early gestations between the GDM group and the normal control group was statistically significant(14.86 μmol/L ± 3.42 μmol/L vs 16.11 μmol/L ± 3.38 μmol/L,P 0.01),that in serum Cu content between the two groups was statistically insignificant(20.18 μmol/L ± 3.91 μmol/L vs 19.37 μmol/L ± 3.88 μmol/L,P 0.05),and that in serum Fe content betywen the two groups was statistically significant(20.14 μmol/L ± 4.45 μmol/L vs18.81 μmol/L ± 4.34 μmol/L,P 0.01).Serum Zn,Cu and Fe levels were analyzed as binary variables separated by the medians,binary logistical regression analysis was conducted,and the results indicated that the risk of GDM was increased in pregnant women with serum Zn content ≤15.24 μmol/L when compared with those with serum Zn content 15.24 μmol/L(OR = 2.899,95% CI:1.714 ~ 4.906) and in pregnant women with serum Fe content 19.42 μmol/L when compared with Zn ≤15.24 μmol/L(OR = 2.488,95% CI:1.521 ~ 4.070).Conclusion GDM pregnant women have suffered from metabolic disorders of Zn,Cu and Fe elements since their early gestation,thus,in the population with high risks of GDM,the contents of the above elements should be assayed in time,diet guide be enhanced,zinc be appropriately supplemented,and the intake of heme iron from foods be reduced.


Introduction: Management of early recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter or atrial tachycardia (ERAF) post AF ablation patients is often very difficult. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome with dofetilide therapy in these refractory patients with ERAF after AF ablation. Methods: We reviewed 2272 patients presenting for ablation between Nov 2000 and Dec 2011. Prospectively collected data from 41 consecutive patients (65±9 years, 31 male), in whom dofetilide for ERAF post-AF ablation was used during hospitalization, was analyzed. Results: The baseline AF type was paroxysmal AF in 11 patients and persistent AF in 30 patients. Mean LVEF was 57±11%, mean LA volume index was 46±16 cc/m2. In addition to pulmonary vein isolation, 30 of 41 patients underwent additional ancillary linear or CFAE-related ablation. After ablation, the recurrent atrial arrhythmia was AF in 29 patients and atrial tachycardia in 12 patients. Dofetilide was initiated at doses of 250 mcg BID (n = 25) and of ...


This paper discusses the connotations of scientific culture, scientific education, scientific curriculum and scientific exploration, respectively. And through probing into the four representations during the course of cultivating before high schools' science teachers accede, which collide with the new requirement of curriculum reformation, this paper puts forward six new assumptions about cultivating teachers and the required courses during cultivating teachers in order to change their educational level. We hope normal universities carry out basal education reformation as soon as possible.


The measurement of Inequality of Opportunity has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, despite of the fact that it is very limited by the scarce availability of data on family background. In this paper we propose a method to overcome this limitation, which consists of using another variable, widely available, as a proxy of socioeconomic origin: capital income. Using data of 24 European countries we first show that capital income is strongly related to parental education and occupation. Secondly, we compare the results of our approach to estimate Inequality of Opportunity (which includes a measure of capital income in the set of circumstances) to those obtained with a "standard" procedure (i.e., including parental education in the circumstances set), and conclude that our method can be employed when we do not have information on parental background. Finally, we apply it to estimate Inequality of Opportunity for the full length of the EU-SILC database, which covers every year from 2003 to 2015. To the best of our knowledge, this method allows to measure Inequality of Opportunity in more countries and periods than ever before.


This article explores alternate ways that technology can be utilized to teach mathematics. This is accomplished by examining the concept of the computer classroom, which is the integration of computers and their associated technologies in the teaching process. In conclusion, a comprehensive solution, based on research, is outlined and specified.


Abstract The paper examines how secondary schools implement the code of conduct to maintain positivediscipline. It adopted a qualitative approach and employed a case study design. Four secondary schools andparticipants who comprised one Education Officer, four school heads; twenty members of the disciplinary committee, forty prefects and four School Development Committee chairpersons were purposively selected. Data werecollected using semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and document analysis and were analysedthematically. The paper established that school personnel were involved in crafting the code of conduct andlearners had limited involvement; schools experienced challenges in implementing the code of conduct. It concludedthat there were pockets of good practices in implementing the code of conduct. The paper recommends that theMinistry of Primary and Secondary Education should come up with a policy which abolishes use of reactivestrategies to deal with learners who breached the code of conduct.


A short study of two versions of the Historia de preliis, the most widespread Latin medieval version of the Alexander romance (which is said to have been written by the Neapolitan Archpresbyter Leo, who was sent to Constantinople where he found his Greek original), written by a German philologist and historian of literature Karl Kinzel (1849–1926). Year of publishing: 1884.


This article examines contemporary economic, political and social conditions in Latin America. A combination of three key analytical concepts are used to provide an integrated and global conceptualization of the predominant social structures, processes and relations in the societies located in this important region of the world. These three concepts are capital, inequality, and injustice. The application of these analytically powerful concepts to the analysis of the historical development and contemporary affairs of the Latin American societies reveals the fundamental social relations of contemporary capitalism that are primarily responsible for the pronounced extent of inequality and injustice that characterize the societies in this region. 1V10RE THAN TWO decades ago, two Latin American social scientistsFernando Henrique Cardoso and Enzo Faletto-produced what soon became a classic analysis of the economic, political and social development of Latin America. In the preface to the English edition of this much-acclaimed book, they stated the fundamental basis of their perspective as follows: We seek a global and dynamic understanding of social structures instead of looking only at specific dimensions of the social process. We oppose the academic tradition which conceived of domination and sociocultural relations as &dquo;dimensions,&dquo; analytically independent of one another, and together independent of the economy, as if each one of these dimensions corresponded to separate spheres of reality. In that sense, we stress the sociopolitical nature of the economic relations of production, thus following the nineteenth century tradition of treating economy as political economy. This methodological approach, which found its highest expression in Marx, assumes the hierarchy that exists in society is the result of established ways of organizing the production of material and spiritual life. (Cardoso and Faletto, 1979, p. ix.) This article is based on the same perspective as that employed by Cardoso and Faletto.2 Over the last three decades, many scholars have produced analyses of the prevailing conditions and historical development of the region based upon a similar perspective (see, for example, Marini, 1974; Bambirra, 1976; Vasconi, 1978; * Institute of Global Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay, CA 93955-8001, U.S.A.


Microencapsulated phase change materials (MePCMs) using melamine–formaldehyde resin/SiO2 as shell were investigated in this paper. Organically modified SiO2 particles were employed to stabilize Pickering emulsion, and in situ polymerization of melamine and formaldehyde was carried out to form hybrid shell. The performances of resultant MePCMs with hybrid shell were investigated comparatively with the MePCMs with polymer shell. SiO2 particles raise the microencapsulation efficiency by improving the stability of emulsion and providing a precipitation site for melamine–formaldehyde resin. Also, the mechanical strength, thermal reliability, and anti-osmosis performance of MePCMs were improved significantly by SiO2 particles in the shell. Our study shows that Pickering emulsion is a simple and robust template for MePCMs with polymer-inorganic hybrid shell. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Anyone who has attempted to learn LISREL by reading its manual (and lived to tell about it) will have a deep and abiding appreciation for this book. It succeeds admirably in its mission to provide both the novice and the expert with valuable information and insight into structural modeling. Though I have been a user of the technique for some years, I found Hayduk' s treatment interesting and helpful despite my strong disagreement with some aspects of his perspective (discussed shortly). More important, however, is that the book is a well-written bridge from basic regression/correlation methods to LISREL for the social scientist. It describes esoteric concepts in relatively plain English and provides examples of applications, complete with LISREL input source and annotated program output, that enhance the reader's ability to integrate the material. Hence the book is a wise choice for either the instructor of a course on structural regression techniques seeking a text or the scientist attempting to learn the technique on his or her own. I certainly still agree with the author's advice to the novice to "do it with a friend!" (p. xvi). The theory and application of a complex technique like LISREL cannot be learned solely from any book, no matter how well written. However, this book is the best effort I have seen to make the technique accessible to persons not already initiated in the mysteries and rituals of LISREL. The book cannot stand alone as an introduction to the methodological theory of structural equation modeling. Its emphasis is mainly on the technical aspects of using the LISREL program and interpreting its output. Fortunately, the bibliography contains the best references in the sociological and psychological literature on the foundations of modeling techniques and the author does a good job in each section of the book of explicitly citing both the references and the reasons for reading them. JMR readers will note that the bibliography is far from complete in the area of econometric and marketing apEDITOR: Donald E. Stem, Jr.


Background and Aim: The diagnosis of COVID-19 is an essential step toward controlling the pandemic. For this purpose, a series of laboratory methods have been developed. This study evaluated the efficiency of the ELISA method for COVID-19 IgM and IgG detection. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 46 blood samples from PCR positive COVID-19 patients and 49 samples from PCR negative COVID-19 subjects were collected. Subsequently, the presence of IgM and IgG in all blood samples was assessed using the Pishtaz Teb ELISA kit. Results: The data demonstrated that among 49 PCR negative, 40 (81.6%) were IgM negative and 9 (19.1%) were IgM positive. Besides, out of the 49 PCR-negative patients, 42 (85.7%) and 7 (14.3%) were IgG negative and positive, respectively. In 46 PCR-positive individuals, 40 (87%) were IgM negative, while 6 (13 %) were IgM positive. Of the 46 PCR-positive patients, 24 (52.2%) were IgG negative, and 22(47.8%) were IgG positive. Conclusion: Our results showed that detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM using Pishtaz Teb ELISA kit is not enough for COVID diagnosis, but it can serve as a diagnostic RNA supplement to confirm infection with SARS-CoV-2 in approved clinics and other scientific communities, owing to its easy, rapid, and inexpensive availability.


The invention relates to a method for measuring the traffic flow in a building having a people mover system, in which method the following succession of steps is performed: - at least two monitoring units (20) with at least one sensor (40) are temporarily installed in the vicinity of entrance- and/ or exit area(s) (30) of at least one people mover (10), - each of the monitoring units is provided with a power supply (44) for being operated as an independent unit, - events caught by the sensor are associated with the current event time and with the location/ position of the corresponding monitoring unit as correlated event/ event time/ event location data, which correlated event/ event time/ event location data is used to compute a traffic flow in the building. This data can be advantageously used in the call allocation of a new people mover system of said building.


The study examines the form and function of ritual dialogue in marriage customs. Particular attention is paid to Scotland, and more precisely the betrothal ceremony or reiteach in Gaelic tradition. Analogues from Brittany and Wales are also examined in detail. The examples from the Celtic tradition are prefaced by a general examination of the role of ritual dialogue in the wider context of Indoand non-Indo-European tradition. Various elements of the dialogues, and the ritual dramas ofwhich they form a part, are shown to be linked to concepts of the evil eye and to the motif of the 'false' or 'former' bride familiar to European folklorists. Building on the concept of one and two-way thresholds, the dialogues are also shown to be related in structure to other dialogic threshold rituals in Celtic society including seasonal and territorial ritual and those connected to the bardic order. The role of the liminal figure of the matchmaker/bard and the relationship between the ritual dialogic forms presented and dialogic traditions such as flyting and bardic contest is also explored. I certify that this thesis has been composed by the undersigned, and is my own work.


Background: Late intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) and stillbirth are a cause of concern and not widely reported though it contributes a large chunk in perinatal mortality. It is a traumatic experience for the family and obstetrician. If the cause of fetal deaths can be ascertained, preventive strategies can be formulated.

Objectives: This study was done to estimate the incidence and suspected causes leading to IUFD and stillbirth.

Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Government Institute of Medical Science and Research (VCSGGIMS&R) and RI and its attached hospital. Retrospective data of all the cases of IUFD were recorded in a predesigned performa from for April 2016–March 2017. Data was compiled and analyzed statistically using simple statistical measures such as percentage and proportions.

Results: The incidence of stillbirth in our study was 24.8/1000 live birth. Among all factors responsible for IUFD, hypertensive disorder of pregnancy was present in 14 (18.42%) of the patients; placental abruption was present in 10 (13.2%) cases. In 28.95% of cases, no apparent cause of IUFD could be ascertained.

Conclusion: Poor socioeconomic background, illiteracy, and late seeking of antenatal care are the predisposing factors for IUFD. Many of the causes of intrauterine deaths are preventable such as placental abruption, hypertensive disorders, and diabetes which can be avoided by proper antenatal care. Early detection of high-risk pregnancy and timely referral to equipped center will help in decreasing IUFD.


Although the pioneering studies
of G. I. Barenblatt [ On some unsteady motions of a liquid or a gas in a porous medium ,
Prikl. Mat. Mekh. 16 (1952), 67–68] and
A. G. Aronson and L. A. Peletier [ Large time behaviour of solutions of some porous
medium equation in bounded domains , J. Differential Equations 39 (1981), 378–412]
did result into a huge industry around the porous media equation, none further study
analyzed the effect of combining fast, slow, and linear diffusion
simultaneously, in a spatially heterogeneous porous medium.
Actually, it might be this is the first work where such a problem
has been addressed. Our main findings show how the heterogeneous
model possesses two different regimes in the presence of a priori
bounds. The minimal steady-state of the model exhibits a genuine
{\it fast diffusion behavior}, whereas the remaining states are
rather reminiscent of the purely {\it slow diffusion model}. The
mathematical treatment of these heterogeneous problems should
deserve a huge interest from the point of view of its
applications in fluid dynamics and population evolution.


The invention discloses a finger vein authentication system. The finger vein authentication system comprises a finger vein image acquisition device (1), an image processing module (2), a registering template storage module (3) and a control management module (4), wherein the control management module (4) sends out a reading image requirement signal to the finger vein image acquisition device (1); the finger vein image acquisition device (1) acquires a finger vein image signal according to the reading image requirement and sends the finger vein image signal to the image processing module (2); and the image processing module (2) pre-processes the finger vein image signal to obtain finger vein characteristics, transmits the finger vein characteristics to the registering template storage module (3) for storage and registration, or compares the finger vein characteristics with the finger vein characteristics which are stored and registered by the registering template storage module (3) for authentication. The system overcomes the defects that the conventional biological special identification technology is easy to copy and easy to damage, has a small size, and is high in authentication speed and high in accuracy.


In the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, the rights to work and health are considered fundamental. The history of human society has convincingly and long ago proved that labor and health, their relationship and place in the scale of human values are among the priority problems of life. The area of scientific knowledge and practical human activity that unites these two most important values is, first of all, occupational medicine.