With the continuous improvement of the diagnosis rate of benign pancreatic disease and the younger age of disease onset, the demand for minimally invasive pancreatic surgery is increasing, meanwhile, how to keep the normal pancreatic tissue as much as possible to reduce the impact on the patients′ life has gained surgeons′ thinking. The Da Vinci robotic surgical system, providing a clearer 3D vision and more accurate operation, makes some difficult minimally invasive pancreatic surgery such as pancreaticoduodenectomy can be carried out extensively. Based on clinical experiences and related literatures, this paper will analyze the present situation of Da Vinci robot-assisted pancreatic surgery and give prospects.

Key words:
Pancreatic neoplasms; Surgical procedures, operative; Da Vinci robotic surgical system


SUMMARYKaryotypes of Aulacaspts sp., Diaspis echinocacti, Pseudaulacaspis sp., Aonidiella sp., Aonidiella auratitii, Aonidiella orientalis, Aspidiotus nerii, Clavaspis group, and Hemiberlesia palmae belonging to seven different genera and two different tribes of the family Diaspididae have been cytologically studied from embryos of gravid females. The diploid number ranges from 8 to 16 among these 9 species. Karyomorphometrical analyses were attempted in all 9 species. The trend in chromosome diversity found among congeneric and confamilial species under family Diaspididae led one to believe that tribe Aspidiotini is the latest form in the pathways of armored scale evolution.


terms, as the Universal is to the Particular, a ratio that also holds for their respective gods. We see, then, why the narratives of the advent of the stranger-hero function as all-round cultural constitutions. The union with the other, which is also an elemental combination of an external masculinity and an internal femininity, gives rise to


This paper explores the potential of using an interactive voice response system to maange information in institutions of religious domain. We first explain the terminologies involved such as an interactive voice response system, computer telephony integration, information management, and
religious domain. Then we look at how information is managed through an interactive voice response system. IVR application supports two kinds of communications, i.e. real time communication and message type communication. Users could make either a real time communication or a message type communication as needed. Real time communication includes accessing databases in order to get instant and updated information within the real time during the call is made through the system. Message type communication includes voice mail application using telephone recording. The suitability of using interactive voice response for institution of religious domain is studied, and we also
describe a few options for the implementation of the system.


As with most clonal organisms, hydractiniid hydroids display a range of morphological variation from sheet‐like to runner‐like forms. Life history differences correlate with these morphological traits, exhibiting patterns commonly found in studies of heterochrony. Experimental studies of two hydractiniid species show that both morphological and life history heterochronies correlate with patterns of gastrovascular circulation. Similar experimental perturbations of energy metabolism, however, have opposite heterochronic effects on the two species. Treatment with 2,4‐dinitrophenol, an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, produced diminished peripheral circulation and sheet‐like peramorphic morphologies in the runner‐like species, Podocoryne carnea. In contrast, similar manipulations of the sheet‐like species, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, produced variable peripheral circulation and more runner‐like, juvenilized morphologies. These results diverge at the level of morphological and life history pattern, but are consistent when viewed in terms of the physiology of the gastrovascular system. Interpretations of patterns of heterochrony must focus on the physiological and developmental mechanisms which mediate the expression of heterochronic traits.


Objective To investigate the adenoidectomy on secretory otitis media in children,the clinical effects and on hearing.Methods From January 2008 to January 2010 in author's hospital,90 children with secretory otitis media in children,47 patients were randomLy divided into treatment group and control group of 43 patients in the control group received non-surgical treatment(routine treatment)the treatment group underwent adenoidectomy,compared two groups,hearing threshold and complications and hospitalization time and so on.Results The total effective rate of the treatment group was 97.87%,the total effective rate of the control group was 73.72%,total effective rate were significant differences(P0.05),the incidence of complications in the treatment group was 8.51%,The incidence rate of complications in the control group was 34.89%,the incidence of complications between the two groups was statistically significant(P0.05).Compared with the control group,the total effective observation group was significantly higher in the observation group of children with more significant hearing improvement,and low complication rate,shorter hospital stay,the two groups by statistical analysis the difference was significant(P0.05).Conclusion If a clear indication of adenoid surgery should be as early as possible adenoidectomy can improve hearing function in children,and fewer complications,shorter hospital stay,should be promoted and applied.


Arthralgia (joint pain or stiffness) occurs in up to half of women receiving aromatase inhibitors (AIs) for breast cancer and is the most common reason


Buddhism acknowledges scientific rationality standards; on the other hand, it emphasizes moral and existential aspects of a modern Vietnamese's life. With the teachings upholding love, compassion, selflessness, and selflessness, Buddhism has become a national religion and has influenced most areas of human spiritual life. The findings of this study have shown that Vietnam from conceptions and ideas; ethics, lifestyle; customs, and practices; to the fields of culture, art, and style of behavior and communication, not only in the family and society but also in the protection of the natural environment. However, besides the positive effects of Buddhist ethics on the moral life of Vietnamese people, it inevitably has certain limitations affecting self-concept, way of thinking, and lifestyle. behavior. It can be said that, despite certain limitations, the noble values that Buddhist ethics contribute to the nation and country cannot be denied.


The paper considers some classes of block matrices that can be regarded as block generalizations of the class of H -matrices and interrelations among them. New bounds for the infinity norm of inverses for matrices in the classes under consideration are suggested. Bibliography: 16 titles.


A seawater hydraulic actuator system for a subsea robot has been developed. The system consists of a high pressure axial piston pump, flow control servovalves and actuators which transform controlled flow into motion, and it is very effective in miniaturizing a subsea robot. In order to confirm overall characteristic of this power systems, a prototype telemanipulator for underwater work has been also developed. A manipulator control system is based on a master-slave method with some telepresence technique to provide easy operation of a manipulator. Through running experiments in underwater manipulation, overall characteristic of the seawater hydraulic system and working performance of the prototype subsea manipulator have been confirmed to be good enough for practical use.<<ETX>>


Cocoa fruit is one of the fruits with local wisdom that can benefit Indonesia. But its used still limited to the fruit


This case report described a 59‐year‐old man with superficial hyperkeratotic candidiasis on the palms and soles. This rare form of cutaneous candidiasis is regarded as a complication of chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis or other immunodeficient disorders. However, the patient had no underlying disease and his cellular immunity was normal. The main abnormal findings in laboratory studies were markedly high IgE values and low vitamin A values. It was assumed that these played some role in the pathogenesis of the disease. The patient was cured through the oral administration of ketoconazole. Nine cases of superficial hyperkeratotic candidiasis on the palms have been reported in Japan, but the case given here is the first reported instance of this disease on the soles.


The culture of an organisation is the organisation, it is the people, the values, attitudes, approaches, feelings and what they expect of themselves. During the last decade or so, corporations have concentrated on achieving better performance, largely through structural changes and maintenance of a promotion mentality. In that same period layers of management have been taken out of organisations and we have seen the application of technology change the face and sometimes the fabric of corporations. We are now looking towards achieving productivity improvement and efficiency gains through establishing the right set of attitudes, approaches and values which are the culture of the organisation. The right set will create a winning culture, a culture in which employees are self-motivated and fulfilled.


For modeling the isotopic composition of fuel, and maximum temperatures at different moments of time, one can use different algorithms and codes. In connection with the development of new types of fuel assemblies and progress in computer technology, the task makes important to increase accuracy in modeling of the above characteristics of fuel assemblies during the operation. Calculations of neutronphysical characteristics of fuel rods are mainly based on models using averaged temperature, thermal conductivity factors, and heat power density. In this paper, complex approach is presented, based on modern algorithms, methods and codes to solve separate tasks of thermal conductivity, neutron transport, and nuclide transformation kinetics. It allows to perform neutron-physical and thermal-physical calculation of the reactor with detailed temperature distribution, with account of temperature-depending thermal conductivity and other characteristics. It was applied to studies of fuel cell of the VVER-1000 reactor. When developing new algorithms and programs, which should improve the accuracy of modeling the isotopic composition and maximum temperature in the fuel rod, it is necessary to have a set of test tasks for verification. The proposed approach can be used for development of such verification base for testing calculation of fuel rods of VVER type reactors


The purpose of this research is to investigate the induction of a feeling of pleasure caused by vibration. In this research, feelings were modeled in order to evaluate pleasuredispleasure. As a result, pleasure-constructing axes consisted of active pleasure passive pleasure. Next, physiological and psychological evaluation experiments were carried out using a rocking chair to evaluate the feeling of pleasure under oscillation stimulation. The rocking chair was chosen for the experiments because it could give long-period vibration with which people feel comparatively comfortable. And, in order to evaluate the feeling of pleasure under controlled vertical vibration stimulation, people were made to sit in an automotive seat attached to a vibration seat. As a result, it was confirmed that the feeling of pleasure such as the passive pleasure and the active pleasure could be induced by vibration, and effective physiological and psychological indexes for evaluating the feeling of pleasure were revealed.


The aim of the article is to explore Home pages development trends evaluating the Latvian Higher Education website design specifics.The methods of research: theoretical – investigation and analysis of relevant literature, internet sources and regulatory documents. Empirical – methods of data collecting group discussion; methods of data processing: comparative analysis, content analysis.


Objective:To know actuality of prevalence and knowledge on reproductive tract infection (RTI) among women at childbearing age in mountainous area.Methods:1329 women at childbearing age selected with stratified-cluster sampling were one by one investigated by questionnaires and clinical and lab examination, the data were analyzed by SAS6.12 software. Results:Incidence of reproductive tract infection was 25.52%, the infective rate with two kinds of pathogens was 1.77%; incidence of trichomonal, candidal and bacterial vaginitis and chlamydia infection was 4.09%, 9.25%, 8.40% and 5.40% respectively, there was 1 case with syphilis and 1 case with condyloma acuminatum. The awareness rate about correlated knowledge was within 26.4% ~ 49.4%; 57.2% of women thought that wives with RTI had certain correlation with their husbands, 62.2% thought their husbands should receive treatment at the same time. The women considering regular medial examination accounted for 78.4%.Conclusion:High prevalence of RTI in mountainous area suggested that they lacked correlated knowledge and had lower awareness.


The utility model relates to a piece of wireless audio processing equipment, a wireless audio player and a household karaoke system. The wireless audio processing equipment comprises a first wireless receiving module used for receiving first audio signals sent by a microphone; a second wireless receiving module used for receiving second audio signals sent by audio playing equipment; an audio synthesis module used for performing synthesis processing on the first audio signals and the second audio signals so as to acquire third audio signals; and an audio output interface used for outputting the third audio signals. When a user uses the wireless audio processing equipment and the wireless audio player to listen to music or learn a language, the user can hear the humming or reading sounds of herself/himself The self-entertaining and language learning effects are significantly enhanced.


An e.s.r. study of the ion pair formation between pyrene and alkali metals in various ether solvents has been carried out. Depending on the nature of the solvent and the alkali metal ion, various types of species are observed. Loose ion pairs or free ions were observed in dimethoxyethane (DME) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) with lithium, sodium and potassium at all temperatures. Thermodynamic data for the dissociation of ion pairs into free ions were obtained for the systems K + MTHF (methyltetrahydrofuran), Cs + THF, and Li + DEE (diethyl ether). Line broadening effects gave additional kinetic data on the interconversion between tight and loose ion pairs in the Li + DEE system. The experimental data taken with considerations of cation spin density proton splittings and solvating power of the solvents have led to a consistent although speculative model of the ion pair structures formed.


The technique of extracting total RNA of plant virus from plant tissues is frequently used in modern biology research.Now a method by which obtained total RNA of plant virus extracting from plant tissues is reported,with this improved method,extracted total RNA of PVX from diseased potato leaves and cloned PVX-CP gene.RNA extracted by this method can meet the demands of gene cloning.


This paper examines the roles of the ICT-producing sector and of key ICT-using industries in overall productivity growth in OECD countries. The ICT manufacturing sector, in particular, has been characterised by very high rates of productivity growth in many countries and provides a large contribution to labour productivity growth in Finland, Ireland and Korea. In a few countries, notably the United States and Australia, certain ICT-using services have also experienced an above-average pick-up in productivity growth in the second half of the 1990s. Further structural reform may be needed before ICT use will also show up in the productivity statistics of other OECD countries. Differences in the measurement of productivity in ICT-producing and -using industries across countries complicate the cross-country analysis.


This paper proposes a V2G operation method of EV to be able to perform frequency regulation, EV charging, and SOC management. This method exhibits the multifunctionality in regard to instantaneous discharging EVs during the charging against frequency drop; primary driving and power grid ancillary services for example, frequency stabilization by simultaneously managing the desired state of charge (SOC) of the batteries. Hence, it can bring the benefits in stabilizing grid frequency under high penetration of renewable energy. We also develop the mathematical models based on characteristics of the proposed EV charging method for analysis and design. The outcomes indicate charging/charged EV can participate in frequency regulation so that EV demand adjustment helps embrace renewable energy variation and stabilize the power system. The feasibility of this method is verified for a real power grid model to demonstrate efficacy of EV charging control for SOC management using DIgSILENT/PowerFactory.


As a by-product of a study of embryonic adaptation to temperature in anurans of the southwestern United States,' I have accumulated series of tadpoles of several species native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico. Some of these species are poorly known or even unknown in the larval stage, and for none is there a description of the early larva. The present paper is the first of a projected series; others treating the genera Scaphiopus and Bufo will be prepared as opportunity permits. In an account providing a detailed description of the early development of Bufo valliceps, Limbaugh and Volpe (1957, p. 1) state that "published descriptions of anuran tadpoles have been based principally on samples collected in the field. Larvae rarely have been reared through metamorphosis or obtained experimentally from known parents to insure positive identification." These authors also note the reluctance of most workers to treat any but "mature" tadpoles, thereby overlooking a significant part of the life history. The utility of larval stages in taxonomic work will be increased if characters can be traced through development and compared in related species, though as yet few authors have described other than "mature" tadpoles. Among papers treating Hyla, those of Orton (1947), Gosner and Black (1957), and Gosner and Rossman (1960) are notable exceptions.


The various problems experienced by Doplang Village are the lack of competence and capacity of managers in developing local potential and the absence of involvement of all elements for the role of communities in the advancement of tourist villages.. Another problem is the not optimal use of sosial media in the development of tourist villages. The resolution presented by the team is the competence and capacity of managers in developing lokal potential to support the creation of a tourist village. The various solutions offered will be realized in the form of comprehensive outreach, training, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation in order to obtain optimal results. For this reason, the Sosial Media Optimization program for Empowering Tourism Villages in Doplang needs to be implemented immediately in order to increase the competence and capacity of youth. This program is more focused on empowering the lokal potential of Doplang Village through facilitation and capacitation of Karang Taruna in Doplang Village. The outcome of this endeavor is a rise in the capacity of youth organizations; the pioneering Doplang tourist village managed by Karang Taruna.


Following the UK's vote to leave the EU in a national referendum there has been much debate over the correct legal process to be followed under both domestic law and the EU Treaties to give effect to this decision. This article seeks to contribute to these discussions by focusing on an aspect of the withdrawal process which, in the author�s view, has not been given full consideration to date; namely, the need for the consent of the European Parliament before any withdrawal agreement may be completed.


The development of Swedish auditing, in light of the increase in legislation of limited liability companies and the international history of audit at the turn of the 20th century, is investigated. An important factor is the description of the contemporary view of control and management in trade and industry. The separation between ownership and administration made the lawmakers realise the necessity of supervision of companies, the starting point of the investigation is thus the control structures in the companies, which gradually increased. The paper evaluates the auditor´s business as affected by the introduction and development of control structures of companies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries together with the developing legislation of limited liability companies. A case study investigates the auditor´s business in a number of companies in Sweden (southern Halland) from different angles, including the election of auditors as well as questions of independence, responsibility and confidentiality. The paper discusses the audit business including the use and development of memoranda and auditor´s reports. Auditors´ business experience was more important than audit practice. Their integrity was great in relation to the clients. Auditors were elected far before legislation. Audit standards gradually increased.


An all-optical transistor working on the single-photon level is implemented using an ultracold atomic cloud as a medium. The interaction mechanism between gate and source photons is achieved by mapping these photons onto strongly interacting Rydberg excitations. Using a single gate photon more than 100 source photons can be switched. As an application of this transistor, we demonstrate nondestructive detection of a single Rydberg atom with a fidelity of 0.79.


Background: Dental restorative staff is the persons who have the obligation to look after sick persons and improve their recovery and accomplish excellent level of nursing care. Therefore health care providers specially nurse should have awareness and strictly adhere to Safety measures to prevention of infection. Dental restorative staff should have proper knowledge and they should practice according to standard isolation precautions while giving care to patients as an initial level of infection control. Safety measures is a way to stop the spread of hospital acquired infection which may be in the form of blood, secretions, excretions, body fluids and mucous membrane that may contain contagious infectious agents and material. Safety measures is a method through which we can prevent the spread of infectious agents for the purpose of patient's regaining of health, attendants and health care providers safe from contagious agents.(Lacerda, 2003). Objectives: To Judge of the acquaintance' Towards Safety Measures among Restorative. Staff at Selected Dental Clinics, Saudi Arabia. Method: A survey was conducted at dental Clinics, Saudi Arabia. Thirty three items selfadministered questionnaire was provided to 160 restorative staff in the research setting based on to assess the level of Acquaintance towards Safety Measures among Restorative staff at Selected Dental Clinics, Saudi Arabia. Results: This study data reflected that, acquaintance towards the aspects of acquaintance about Safety Measures among restorative dental staff working at the dental clinics within the selected setting was variable. The majority152 (95.0%) of the dental staff had a high level of acquaintance toward Contact Precautions. Followed by majority151 (94.37%) of the dental staff had a high level of acquaintance toward Contact Precautions. While, 126 (78.75%) of the dental staff had a lowest level of acquaintance toward Transmission-Based Precautions. Subsequently, 134 (83.75%) of the dental staff had a lowest level of acquaintance toward Standards of Safety Measures. Conclusions: The current study results revealed that there were high levels of acquaintance & practice of the measures of Safety Measures within the study setting.


A set of long period grating devices have been fabricated in photosensitive single mode fibre coated with a series of copper rings (period of 380 μm, 50% duty cycle and length of 4cm). The long period gratings were inscribed with a uniform UV-laser exposure across the entire length of the copper ring patterned coating. The devices ranged in copper thickness from 0.5 μm to 1.5 μm. In addition, a control long period grating was fabricated in the same type of fibre with the same period for comparison. The refractive index and temperature spectral sensitivity of these devices were investigated and it was found that the index and temperature sensitivity is a function of the thickness of the copper rings, as supported by theoretical modelling. Furthermore, the index sensitivity of these devices in the 1.333 index region is greater than the control long period grating. The patterned 0.5 μm coated long period grating gave a sensitivity of Δλ/Δn =-74 nm leading to a resolution of 1.4x10-3 compared to the control which had a sensitivity of Δλ/Δn = -32 nm with a resolution of 3.2x10-3 in the index region of 1.320 to 1.380 (aqueous solution regime). This demonstrates a two fold increase in the sensitivity. This novel fibre long period grating device shows potential for increasing the resolution of measurements of the index of aqueous solutions.


ed aspect of historical reality (the life and thought of a privileged class). Outside of the classroom, students are encouraged (but not required) to join political study-and-discussion cadres. Most of these are organized by the Young Communists in the school and hold their meetings outside of classroom hours. Such cadres read the writings of Marx and Lenin, have discussions with party members, and also help to organize rallies, special work activities, and special lectures and presentations. (The younger the students, the less such activity-especially the actual organizingthey carry out.) The level of political awareness among Cuban students (from upper-elementary school onward) is extraordinarily high. They read newspapers avidly and are amazingly well informed about events in the world. For example, the Cubans as a whole, and the youth in particular, are enormously sympathetic to the Vietnamese and their struggle against U.S. aggression. A few years ago, one reporter asked several students their first wish, assuming it could


Donor element for forming an OLED device by transferring the organic material, a transparent support and; a first metal layer which generates heat in response to radiation through said transparent support; said be provided on the first metal layer, the second metal layer and which reacts with either or both of water and oxygen; organic layer having a transferable organic material disposed on the second metal layer comprises bets, organic material in response to the absorbed radiation by the first metal layer is transferred to the OLED device.


The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method has become a new choice for the fabrication of diamond grinding tools with excellent wear resistance. Different diamond abrasive particles were deposited on the lapping and sandblasting pretreated silicon nitride ceramic substrate by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method to fabricate CVD diamond abrasive tools. To analyze the influence of pretreatment methods on adhesion strength, the micromorphology, surface roughness, Raman stress, and Rockwell indentation of CVD diamond abrasive tools with different parameters were characterized. Meanwhile, grinding tests on cemented carbide wire drawing dies were carried out, and the grinding performance of different abrasive particles was evaluated. The results show that sandblasting pretreatment can increase the matrix surface roughness, accelerate the growth of diamond abrasive particles and improve the adhesion between the abrasive layer and substrate, and the CVD diamond grinding tool with sandblasting pretreatment substrate and coarse particle has the best dust removal ability and the longest grinding life. The cemented carbide grinding tests of the CVD diamond grinding tool and electroplated diamond grinding tool with the same particle size are processed and compared, it shows that the grinding life of the CVD diamond grinding tool is longer, and the surface roughness value of the workpiece is lower than that of the electroplated diamond grinding tool.


Searches for the exo and endo transition states for the ene reaction of methyl acrylate with propene, using split-valence 3-21G and 6-31G basis sets, suggest less asynchronous character in the bond reorganization as compared with the parent ene reaction between propene and ethylene.


The authors received no direct funding for this research. Abstract Ethiopia has huge potential for beekeeping because of its endowment with diversity in climate and vegetation resources that potentially favor beekeeping. The gap in honey marketing is the main problem though Gera district is known for its high production of honey. Thus, this research attempted to analyze determinants of honey marketed surplus in Gera district of Oromia regional state. Multi stage sampling procedure was employed to draw sample of 139 honey producers. Descriptive statistics was used for characterizing farmers and econometrics analysis was used for identifying factors affecting honey marketed surplus. The two-stage least square regression model results showed that quantity of honey produced, family size, type of beehive used, beekeeping experience, distance to nearest market, frequency of extension contact and sex of the house hold head significantly affected honey marketed surplus. The study findings suggest that improving the input supply system, improving beekeeper's knowledge, encouraging adult education, improving production of honey, expanding accessibility of market infrastructure and strengthening supportive institutions.


Bishop D. Manuel de Almada lived during almost the whole of the 16 th century, a period of important transformations, some of which were to be reflected in his career and personality. In the reconstitution of his life, is present a case study of a prelate who rose to the diocesis of Angra - in the Azores Islands - during a period of reform marked by the Council of Trent, though prior to its conclusion, making him a paradigmatic figure of this epoch of change. This perception led to a questioning of relevant antecedents such as social standing, and it was found that he was born into a family with a tradition of high office in the magistrature. A university education in canonical law and priestly orders opened up the way to service to the Crown and to the Church. Canon of Lisbon Cathedral and later chanter, he was to serve in the Inquisition, the great gateway to the episcopacy. Though he never visited his diocese, he remained in office in positions within the sphere of central power and court life. It was during the period of duality of duties that the great crisis of dynastic succession broke out with the death of king Sebastiao. On becoming a follower of D. Antonio, the prior of Crato, he challenged the power of Filipe II. During this struggle, death was to reap one who, to the end of his life, held the title of bishop, though long retired, of Angra.


ABSTRA C T We present a spectro-photometric catalogue of the evolution of supernova 1988Z, which combines new and published observations in the radio, optical and X-ray bands, with the aim of offering a comprehensive view of the evolution of this object and deriving the total energy radiated since its discovery. The major contribution to the total radiated energy comes at optical to X-ray frequencies, with a total emission of at least 2 10 51 erg (for H0a 50 km s 21 Mpc 21 U in 8.5 yr. A model-dependent extrapolation of this value indicates that the total radiated energy may be as high as 10 52 erg. The high value of the radiated energy supports a scenario in which most of the kinetic energy of the ejecta is thermalized and radiated in a short interaction with a dense circumstellar medium of nearly constant density. In this sense, 1988Z is not a supernova but a young and compact supernova remnant.


There are more than 30 layers steep seams in the Urumqi coal mine, in which many groups seams in south section, such always is the difficult problem in caving. Sublevel caving with combining mining in the close seams have developed in such kind of seams these years, mostly observing harvest of mining stress are introduced and fringe analysis has done with three-dimensions numerical simulation in this paper.


This paper presents the visualization approach for enhancing analyses of the ongoing Renewable Integration Impact (RIIA) Assessment by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and brings the following contributions. First, this paper details the customization of state-of-the-art, open-source visualization code to complement existing power system visualization tools and data analytic processes used in MISO. Second, this paper describes how MISO integrates this visualization tool within a novel and holistic process for studying renewable integration issues. This visualization tool provides additional insights for RIIA from multiple aspects with fine spatial-temporal granularity, including the comparison of thermal generation performance at different renewable integration scenarios, improved understanding of complex interactions between regions within MISO, the effects of transmission upgrades on curtailment reduction using optimization techniques, and the improved verification of MISO's simulation results. Lastly, we make the updated visualization code package publicly available.


The article presents strategies and methods to reduce the stigma of people with mental handicap. These aspects were debated in the Pilot Seminar in the Project Public Health-Mental Health, Sante Publique - Sante Mentale (SPSM). The project aims to train specialists in the professional insertion of mental handicap. The aim of article is to describe a better method of reducing the stigma of persons with mental handicap. This method will be useful to elaborate mental health policies. The method of research analyzes: literature, tools and practices of specialists in the field of mental handicap. In the project seminar, there were made exchange between specialists to ameliorate the work instruments and specific skills in order to find the best method to reduce stigma in this field. This method is adapted to the tendencies in European mental health needs. The conclusion of research is: the best way to reduce stigma in this area is employing persons with mental diseases.


Against the load optimal distribution problems in power plants after dedusting,desulfurization,and denitrification,a whole plant load distribution model considering environmental cost and a controllable exploration particle swarm optimization(PSO-CE)algorithm satisfying the real-time request of power dispatching were proposed,from the aspect of improving the plant comprehensive economic benefit.The net coal consumption characteristic model and the multiple contaminants emission concentration characteristic model were constructed on the basis of the unit actual operating data.Then,the load distribution model for optimal comprehensive economic benefit and the self-adaptive load constraint condition were established,based on the dedusting,desulfurization,and denitrification compensation electricity price and the standard expense of pollutants emission.Moreover,the velocity factor of controllable random exploration and maximum velocity limiting factor of dynamic adjustment were introduced to the standard particle swarm optimization algorithm to balance the computing cost and search ability.Simulations on the load distribution of a power plant with 4units reveal the validity of the proposed method.


Using first-principles calculations, we study the diffusions of interstitial defects Cd, Cu, Te, and Cl in CdTe. We find that the diffusion behavior is strongly correlated with the electronic structure of the interstitial diffuser. For Cd and Cu, because the defect state is the non-degenerated slike state under Td symmetry, the diffusions are almost along the [111] directions between the tetrahedral sites, although the diffusion of Cu shows some deviation due to the s - d coupling. The diffusions of the neutral and charged Cd and Cu follow similar paths. However, for Te and Cl atoms, because the defect state is the degenerated p-like state under Td symmetry, large distortions occur. Therefore, the diffusion paths are very different from those of Cd and Cu interstitials, and depend strongly on the charge states of the interstitial atoms. For Te, we find that the distortion is mostly stabilized by the crystal-field splitting, but for Cl, the exchange splitting plays a more important role.


BACKGROUND
Neurotransmitters had progressive effects on various cancers via their different type of receptors.

OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to determine the pattern of serotonin receptors, respectively, 5HTR2A and 5HTR3A gene expression in MCF-7 cells and evaluate their selective antagonist effects on them.

METHOD
RT-PCR was performed to determine the pattern of serotonin receptor gene expression in human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). MCF-7 cells were cultured and treated via different doses of tropisetron (5HTR3A antagonist) and ketanserin (5HTR2A antagonist) for 48 hours. Oxidative and reductive enzyme activity was carried out by MTT assay. Subsequently, nuclear morphology of cells was observed by mixed dye florescent staining. To validate cell proliferation inhibition, Real time PCR was carried out for determining the descending rate of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene expression in treating MCF-7 cells. Assessment of quantification of apoptosis and its discrimination with necrosis at single cell level using Flowcytometry technique was performed.

RESULTS
Results showed that 5HTR2A and 5HTR3A have expression in MCF-7 cells. Based on our finding, tropisetron and ketanserin had suppression effects on MCF-7 cells proliferation. (93.35% in tropisetron 50 µmoll(-1) and 72.36% in Ketanserin 25µmoll(-1) concentration).

CONCLUSION
Therefore, the use of tropisetron and ketanserin as an antagonist of serotonin receptor may be as new approaches are recommended for the treatment of breast cancer cells.


: This paper aims at using the tools of semiotic analysis and semiotics of play in order to re-organise and specify the terminology surrounding the concept of gamification. In the first part, we propose an overview on the different theories and ideologies surrounding the topic, and we will underline the strengths and contradictions of the different approaches. In the second part we will propose a semiotic approach to the topic, drawing from Lotman's semiotics of culture, in order to redefine more precisely the different actions and metaphors related to the implementation of game and play mechanics in ordinary life contexts.


Software defects fix effort is an important software development process metric that plays a critical role in software quality assurance. People usually like to apply parametric effort estimation techniques using historical lines of code and function points data to estimate effort of defects fixes. However, these techniques are neither efficient nor effective for a new different kind of project's fixing defects when code will be written within the context of a different project or organization. In this paper, we present a solution for estimating software defect fix effort using self-organizing neural networks.


Expectant Mother Care (EMC) is one of the most successful crisis pregnancy organizations in the entire country. Now in its 27th yearof operation, EMC has served over 100,000 clients, saved more than 32,000 preborn children and continues to grow daily.


There have been many recent excellent reviews of the role of care, support and treatment (CST) factors in the onset and course of disease like HIV&AIDS infection. As knowledge of the underlying immunological mechanisms in HIV & AIDS is developed, more attention was directed at possible links between the immune system and psychosocial and biological influences, as well as the immune and central nervous system. This study was aimed to disclose the CST influences to biological parameters (CD4, total T lymphocytes) and clinical changes of HIV&AIDS patients. This study used observational design with panel study approach in IDICU. Fourteen HIV&AIDS infection patients taken by simple random sampling were enrolled in this research. Fourteen persons with a high risk of HIV infection non-reactive served as control. Three times examinations were done in this research. The first, when the patients had not known the HIV infection status in the first day of signing the informed consent, the second (day-7) they were are in acute stress condition after HIV infection diagnosis is informed, and the third (day-31), they were in chronic stress condition and acceptance of this disease. The result of this research was subjected to multivariate analysis. The result of the first examination reveal that CD4 declined both of the HIV infection and non HIV infection group, less than 1000 cells/mm3. The decline progressed faster in the HIV group. Second examination showed CD4 declined not only by stimulation of biological stress HIV to lymphocytes but also to other immune cells. The decline also progressed faster in HIV group The result of the third examination revealed that CD4 decline progressed faster in the HIV than non-HIV group. It wasfound that lymphocyte count of both the HIV infection and non-HIV infection groups had no significant difference. Care, support and treatment can reduce stigma and other negative consequences of being HIV-positive and in this way make people less reluctant to seek HIV counseling and testing. In conclusion, CD4, total T lymphocytes and clinical performance are very unique on HIV/AIDS patients. CD4 decline is not always followed by the decline performance status. Associations of PLWH, peer group, family members, doctors, nurse, community support are a good example of community mechanisms that provide both of psychological and psychosocial support.


265Background: Small bowel neuroendocrine tumors (SB-NETs) frequently involve regional lymph nodes (LNs). The prognostic value of LN positivity on recurrence of disease is not well defined. The number of LNs needed to accurately stage patients is unknown. Methods: All patients with primary SB-NETs who underwent curative-intent resection at 8 institutions in the US Neuroendocrine Tumor Study Group between 2000 and 2016 were identified. Patients with distant metastatic disease were excluded. The association of LN positivity with recurrence of disease and the extent of lymphadenectomy required were analyzed. Results: Of 2182 patients with resected NETs, 203 had SB-NETs. Median age was 60 yrs, 56% were male, and median follow-up was 39 months. 83.5% of patients (n = 157) had LN positive disease. There was no difference in 3-year recurrence free survival (3-yr RFS) among patients with 1 or 2 positive LNs compared to patients with negative LNs (p = 0.63). Patients who had 3 or more positive LNs had a worse 3-yr...


As Failure evolution processes algorithms of brittle rocks usually comply with the Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) model, implementation efforts using such hardware resources are suitable. Graphics processor (GPU) is available SIMD hardware component nowadays, which can lead to substantial increase of computing performance. In this paper we propose a novel parallel cellular automaton algorithm for failure evolution processes of brittle rocks based on GPU. The details of implementation and optimized methods are presented. The performance results show that our GPU implementation achieves 39 times faster than original algorithm on common general purpose processor (CPU).


Photoemission spectroscopy is used to investigate interfacial chemistry at Au/InP(110) and Ag/InP(110) interfaces with one monolayer Sb interlayers. As long as we look at only the spectra of the In 4d and P 2p core levels, it is very hard to see any evidence of chemical reactions between the InP and the overlayer. However, a comparison between attenuation patterns of the In 4d and P 2p emission intensities suggests that P atoms are apt to segregate into the overlayer as compared with In atoms. On the other hand, a large change in the line shape of the Sb 4d is observed, suggesting that reactions are taking place between the Sb and the overlayer. Curve fittings also suggest that there is some outdiffusion of Sb atoms into the overlayer


In its 2006 fiscal year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") initiated 6371 civil enforcement actions against violators of federal environmental laws.1 Among these actions were 4647 administrative penalty complaints,2 1438 administrative compliance orders, and 286 case referrals to the United States Department of Justice for filing in federal district court.3 Despite these large numbers of cases, however, alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") was used in only 116 actions in 1998, the last year in which total ADR cases were reported.4 Further, while the EPA keeps robust numbers of the various types of enforcement cases, total ADR cases were not tracked between 1998 and


Tannaka Duality describes the relationship between algebraic objects in a given category and their representations; an important case is that of Hopf algebras and their categories of representations; these have strong monoidal forgetful "fibre functors" to the category of vector spaces. We simultaneously generalize the theory of Tannaka duality in two ways: first, we replace Hopf algebras with weak Hopf algebras and strong monoidal functors with separable Frobenius monoidal functors; second, we replace the category of vector spaces with an arbitrary braided monoidal category. To accomplish this goal, we introduce a new graphical notation for functors between monoidal categories, using string diagrams with coloured regions. Not only does this notation extend our capacity to give simple proofs of complicated calculations, it makes plain some of the connections between Frobenius monoidal or separable Frobenius monoidal functors and the topology of the axioms defining certain algebraic structures. Finally, having generalized Tannaka to an arbitrary base category, we briefly discuss the functoriality of the construction as this base is varied.


Endothelins (ETs) are involved in inflammatory events, including pain, fever, edema, and cell migration. ET‐1 levels are increased in plasma and synovial membrane of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, but the evidence that ETs participate in RA physiopathology is limited. The present study investigated the involvement of ETs in neutrophil accumulation and edema formation in the murine model of zymosan‐induced arthritis. Intra‐articular (i.a.) administration of selective ETA or ETB receptor antagonists (BQ‐123 and BQ‐788, respectively; 15 pmol/cavity) prior to i.a. zymosan injection (500 μg/cavity) markedly reduced knee‐joint edema formation and neutrophil influx to the synovial cavity 6 h and 24 h after stimulation. Histological analysis showed that ETA or ETB receptor blockade suppressed zymosan‐induced neutrophil accumulation in articular tissue at 6 h. Likewise, dual blockade of ETA/ETB with bosentan (10 mg/kg, i.v.) also reduced edema formation and neutrophil counts 6 h after zymosan stimulation. Pretreatment with BQ‐123 or BQ‐788 (i.a.; 15 pmol/cavity) also decreased zymosan‐induced TNF‐α production within 6 h, keratinocyte‐derived chemokine/CXCL1 production within 24 h, and leukotriene B4 at both time‐points. Consistent with the demonstration that ET receptor antagonists inhibit zymosan‐induced inflammation, i.a. injection of ET‐1 (1–30 pmol/cavity) or sarafotoxin S6c (0.1–30 pmol/cavity) also triggered edema formation and neutrophil accumulation within 6 h. Moreover, knee‐joint synovial tissue expressed ETA and ETB receptors. These findings suggest that endogenous ETs contribute to knee‐joint inflammation, acting through ETA and ETB receptors and modulating edema formation, neutrophil recruitment, and production of inflammatory mediators.


Let r, s be two fixed integers greater than 1. A positive integer will be called r-free if it is not divisible by the rth power of any prime. In a series of papers ((l)–(5)) Evelyn and Linfoot considered the problem of determining an asymptotic formula for the number Qr, s(n) of representations of a large positive integer n as the sum of s r-free integers; for s ≥ 4 their results were subsequently sharpened by Barham and Estermann(6).


The objective of this work was to present ACCESSibility as a public and accessible resource capable of promoting continuous actions that allow the inclusion and permanence in higher education of students targeted by Special Education, being developed in the region of Presidente Prudente (SP). Using an exploratory qualitative approach methodology, the results with the resource answered questions related to the characteristics and specificities of people with disabilities in the undergraduate: how they learn, which facilitates them in terms of technology and adaptations, and be open to explicitation of their pedagogical suggestions to improve the didactic relation graduating with the teachers; without embarrassment or fear. As conclusions, it is understood that accessibility is not only physical access to sites, but a broader concept, which involves the information and establishment of communication networks.


We present an extended set of moment equations which allow us to investigate hot‐electron effects and ballistic transport in semiconducting devices with inhomogeneities in the submicron range. This model extends the familiar drift‐diffusion description but nevertheless is computationally not much more involved. In contrast to full solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation, which can be obtained only in very simple limits, our model can describe realistic geometries and general collision processes. We find reasonably good agreement with rigorous solutions where these exist.


This paper presents Intelligent Systems based on Natural Computing for solving economic load dispatch problems. The proposed methods use three different natural computing techniques: Cultural Algorithms, Artificial Immune Systems and Fuzzy Inference Systems. The base for the methods is a real- coded Immune System centred on the clonal selection principle. Two Cultural variations are presented, where the operators of the Immune System are guided by knowledge accumulated through the evolutionary process. One of the cultural variations uses a Fuzzy Inference System to decide the knowledge to be applied. Three test problems are used to validate the proposed methods which are compared with state-of-the-art algorithms.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the component attributes of an Arabian city, caught between tradition and modernization, with focus on their reactions to climate and religion.Design/methodology/approach – A platform of comparison between Old Kuwait Town and Kuwait City is provided while showing the effects of oil money on the city's urban morphology. The paper's first section describes the emergence of the Islamic city in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf and identifies key concepts in city morphology. An Islamic School of Law, furthermore, is selected to explain who interprets religious text and how concepts in Islam, such as domestic privacy, are translated into design guidelines, which have influenced the Kuwaiti vernacular typology and street pattern. The transition is made to the second section, which compares Old Kuwait Town and Kuwait City based on knowledge gained in the preceding section. Finally, the third section of the paper recommends some architectural and planning specifications...


Abstract Burning of liquid chlorinated waste is often accomplished by spray combustion, leading to diffusion flames surrounding an individual or a cloud of droplets. We have previously reported on the gasification and flame extinction characteristics of individual droplets of a series of mono-chlorinated alkanes and mixtures of nonane and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane. These studies have been extended to include octane/tetrachloroethene mixtures and several chlorinated benzenes, compounds whose complete combustion was anticipated to be more difficult. Effects of mixture composition and changes to the ambient environment surrounding the droplets, i.e., H2O and O2, concentrations, were observed in order to produce a data set that can be used for future modeling studies. The burning rate data obtained indicate that equal volatility mixtures of octane/tetrachloroethene burn readily. However, as the Cl/H ratio of a mixture increases and approaches unity, burning rates diminish toward the vaporization rate as was p...


The Covid-19 pandemic has forced all aspects of community activities to adapt to the changes that occur. The prohibition of gathering or gathering is one of them, so everything must be done online and done at home. This pandemic has had a very bad impact on economic sustainability, there are many people experiencing a decrease in income due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and even many people have lost their jobs. Not to mention the people of Kendung Village, Sememi Village, Benowo Sub-district, Surabaya, and Medokan Ayu, Medokan Ayu Village, Rungkut Sub-District, Surabaya. Many people who are married have decreased income, so they experience difficulties in their household economy. Strengthening the household economy with digital business literacy during the Covid-19 pandemic in Kendung Village and Medokan Ayu Village, Surabaya City is expected to provide education about digital business so that it can be a tool in improving the household economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. The method used is interviews and action research in the form of counseling and education about digital business. The activities were carried out well and regularly, the people of Kendung and Medokan Ayu villages were very enthusiastic about wanting to know more about digital business systems/strategies.


. This paper gives an overview of the conducted research on Lithuanian multi-word expressions, particularly, collocations, and presents the developed resources. Beginning from the identification, analysis, and lexicographic description of MWEs in general, the focus of the research was narrowed down to collocations and their certain features, such as arbitrariness, during the later stages. Arbitrary collocations were seen as having lexically motivated relations and a certain degree of restricted collocability of constituents. Within the framework of the two projects, PASTOVU (2016-2018) and ARKA (2020-2022), corpus-driven approaches were applied to extract and document Lithuanian collocations and develop a number of lexical resources to be discussed in this paper.


This study aims to evaluate the perceptions and attitudes about Dengue, from the users in the health regions of the city of Aracaju, Sergipe. It is a cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative study with 378 subjects enrolled in eight health regions. A semi-structured interview was conducted, including application of an assessment form, followed by content analysis and bivariate data analysis, using the chi-square test and Pearson correlation (p<0.05). The significant majority of the subjects recognized that disease transmission occurs due to mosquitos or the presence of standing water (p = 0.035); the specific actions to prevent Dengue show that in regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, the subjects prioritized community prevention (p<0.0001); individual and family protection attitudes are demonstrated by the care to avoid standing water, predominantly in regions 2, 6, and 7 (p<0.0001); covering water containers, vessels, and supply tanks has higher representation in regions 5 and 8 (p<0.0001). The significant majority of the subjects who relate that Dengue can lead to death, and of those who misidentified the vector, take peridomestic cleaning precautions (p=0.03). The assimilation of knowledge about Dengue supports effective prevention practices by the population in order to reduce infestation and proliferation of Aedes aegypti.


Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the usage and accessibility problems faced by the disabled (whether in pain or not) users of assistive devices (conventional wheelchairs), identify physical barriers that limit their mobility, and recognize the socio-cultural practices excluding them from the design process of such devices. Another main purpose of this paper is to improve the ergonomic criteria that influence the design and manufacture of assistive devices. Materials and methods: Study population: 15 patients with any of the following diagnoses: ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, or amputees using wheelchairs in Mexico and Colombia. Design: Qualitative study. Thematic analysis with a theoretical industrial design approach for employing usability testing for ergonomic analysis. Results: We identified 6 issues associated with usability problems from the patient's standpoint: barriers for use of wheelchairs (usability and acceptability), creative adaptations, potential use of technical devices, independence, body perception and assistive devices, and architectural barriers. The ergonomic and usability requirements and the resulting level of independence vary across wheelchair users with chronic pain and those whose disability does not involve pain. The latter are more independent in their movements and decisions. Conclusions: User input is essential in the design of assistive devices. The proposal of "design from and for the user" must rely on both engineering and medical perspective on the ergonomy as well as the user interpretation of the environment and the experience of the disease. Thus we can arrive at a "usercentered design". © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved. Problemas con el uso de sillas de ruedas y otras ayudas técnicas y barreras sociales a las que se enfrentan las personas que las utilizan. Estudio cualitativo desde la perspectiva de la ergonomía en personas discapacitadas por enfermedades reumáticas y otras condiciones


Pharmaceutical residues originating from use in human medical care are broadly discharged from municipal sewage treatment plants into surface waters. Due to their slow biodegradation and polarity, photodecomposition caused by solar irradiation may be of major significance in the natural elimination process. The irradiation experiments were carried out in air saturated batch experiments with simulated UV-sunlight. The photodegradation of carbamazepine, clofibric acid, iomeprol and iopromide showed a pseudo first-order kinetics. The influences of natural organic matter (NOM) and the presence of other pharmaceuticals on the photochemical degradation rate in aqueous solutions were investigated. During irradiation degradation products were formed, which could be partially identified and quantified. The intensity of the applied solar radiation was measured by polychromatic actinometry.


Most of the included studies were observational and reported on water births in hospital. Over half of the studies were conducted in the UK, and over 80% were conducted in Europe. All, but one study, reported maternal outcomes; all, but three, reported neonatal outcomes. Maternal outcomes were use of analgesia, perineal state or laceration or need for episiotomy, postpartum haemorrhage, and perception of relaxation and pain relief, among others. Neonatal outcomes were Apgar score, admission to neonatal intensive care, and death, as well as a range of complications. Study participants were not described. Most births were in hospital; three studies were in birth centres; and one study examined hospital, birth centre, and home water births.


Objective To investigate the changes of flash electroretinogram(FERG) and oscillatory potentials(OPs) in patients with hypertensive retinopathy. Methods 15 healthy subjects(30 eyes) and 49 patients with Essential hypertension (98 eyes) were examined by funduscope、FERG and OPs. Results 1. The peak latency of a wave: the grade Ⅱ、Ⅲ were longer than that of the healthy subjects group; there were significant differences between grade Ⅰ and Ⅲ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ groups. The amplitude of a wave: except between healthy subjects and grade Ⅰgroups, there were significant differences between all groups. 2. The peak latency of OPs: The four wavelets of the grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ prolonged significantly in comparison with healthy subjects group; there were significant differences between grade Ⅰ and Ⅲ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ. The amplitude of OPs: The four wavelets decreased significantly in comparison with those of the healthy subjects group except OP3 of grade Ⅰ; while in the other groups there were significant differences between grade Ⅰ and Ⅱ except OP4. Conclusion FERG and OPs may be valuable objective indexes in the diagnosis, degree of illness and prognosis of patients with hypertensive retinopathy.


Objective: It is well known that ABO and Rh (Rhesus) blood groups vary with region and ethnicity, and this may also change temporarily. The ABO blood group appears to be a marker for various human diseases and also it has been suggested that it is associated with certain personality characteristics. We aimed to investigate the frequency of ABO and Rh blood groups and their relationship with some demographic characteristics and anthropometric parameters. Methods: ABO and Rh blood groups were determined among 7268 participants from the MASHAD cohort study and their relationship to some demographic, lifestyle characteristics and anthropometric parameters were evaluated. Results: The most common blood group was O (n=2457, 33.7%) followed by A (n=2196, 30.2%), B (n=2016, 27.7%) and AB (n=599, 8.2%). The prevalence of Rh positive and Rh negative subjects was 88.2% and 11.8%, respectively. There were no significant associations between ABO blood groups and demographic and anthropometric characteristics, apart from demi-span (half the distance between their hands outstretched to either side in cm) which was significantly associated with ABO blood groups (p=0.03) even after correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusion: Blood group may be associated with some anthropometric indices such as demi-span, although the reason for this association is still unclear.


To address the anomaly detection problem in the presence of noisy sensor observations and probing costs, we in this paper propose a soft actor-critic deep reinforcement learning framework. Moreover, considering adversarial jamming attacks, we design a generative adversarial network (GAN) based framework to identify the jammed sensors. To evaluate the proposed framework, we measure the performance in terms of detection accuracy, stopping time, and the total number of samples needed for detection. Via simulation results, we demonstrate the performances when soft actor-critic algorithms are sensitive to the probing cost and actively adapt to different environment settings. We analyze the impact of jamming attacks and identify the improvements achieved by GAN-based approach. We further provide comparisons between the performances of the proposed soft actor-critic and conventional actor-critic algorithms.


During the period of Independence in Venezuela (1808-1830) it was the military element which structured both the political and social imaginary and the political practices. The object of this article is to analyse the (sometimes contradictorial) logics which take part not only in the definition of the modern political body (the citizens) but also in the elaboration of a system of values susceptible of constructing a shared «national» memory.


Since most tillage practices weaken the soil surface and cause impacts on different soil and slope types, research results in applying a methodology to evaluate presumed land fragility on the Corumbatai River Watershed, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, are provided. Based on research data, a matrix was used for correlating mechanization, soil type and slope factors. This resulted in thematic maps that show the spatial distribution and percentage for land fragility. The latter has been classified into severe, high, moderate, low and very low classes. Four types of tillage were analyzed: no tillage, chisel, moldboard plow and rotovator. According to results, one may conclude that a strong convenience exists in the adoption of no tillage and chiseling soil-preparing systems as a way of mitigating environmental impacts caused by soil mobilization due to agricultural management in the Corumbatai watershed


The amplitudes of the propagating acoustic modes associated with T‐waves decay exponentially below their ray equivalent turning points, and cannot be excited directly by an earthquake. The modal decomposition for a T‐wave producing earthquake that occurred near the western tip of the Blanco TFZ has been computed. The directly excited higher order modes are characterized by relatively large amplitudes in the ocean crust, significant water‐borne components, and often strong interface components at the ocean‐bottom boundary. Employing the modal scattering theory of Park and Odom (1999), it is found that energy has been transferred from higher order modes to the Stoneley fundamental and the lower order modes have significant amplitude at the water‐bottom interface. Scattering from irregular ocean bottom bathymetry is the mechanism for the energy transfer. The lowest order acoustic modes, modes 1 and 2, are only very weakly excited because they have very small amplitudes at the bottom. This is consistent with the interpretation of de Groot‐Hedlin and Orcutt (1999). [Work supported by the NOPP Program and ONR.]


The mobile telecommunication is one of the major contributors to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission. In a typical cellular system, the base stations (BSs) contribute 60%-80% of the energy consumption of the whole network. Improving the energy-efficiency of the BSs can significantly reduce both the operational cost and carbon footprint. Therefore, to reduce the cost and the amount of energy conseved in cellular network, the reinforcement method is used. This project is mainly proposed for improving the energy conservation of base stations in cellular radio access networks by Markov decision process along with reinforcement learning approach. Here the traffic is calculated through the online processing by Markov decision process. To speed up the ongoing learning peocess, a transfer actor-critic algorithm is used. The process which is mentioned above is completed successfully. Further process of this project is to consider the influence of fast fading effect and noise.


This article draws upon the Deleuzian/Guattarian idea of territorializing movements to trouble the notion of the identity of the learning pre‐school child, produced by developmental psychology, as an individual, natural and developing child as well as the more recent image of the child characterised by autonomy and flexible behaviour. Accordingly, a child's apprenticeship of walking is associated here with the movements of a surfer. This association disturbs the orthodox thought of recognition and representation that makes us define, include and exclude children who do not fit into pre‐established schemes of development and learning. What is created with the image of the walking child as surfer is a line of flight out of a territory marked by resemblance and error. This line of flight challenges the assumption of a theorist of good will, who with the best intentions knows what is best for children.


Los Angeles, Cal., Dec. 13, 1894. To the Editor: —TheJournalof December 8 contains the report of an interesting case of cleft uvula, by Dr. Hal Foster, of Kansas City. I say, cleft uvula, because it is a case of cleft uvula rather than double uvula. I have a similar, if not identical case, in a boy of 12 years, a native Californian. There is nothing in his voice to indicate the anomaly, neither is there any interference with deglutition. I can not believe the cleft in Dr. Foster's case has anything in particular to do with phonation, as the "fine" voice of his patient is in contrast with a rather coarse voice in my patient. The cleft is also complete in my case and does not involve other tissues or organs. The two rather long appendages frequently adhere but oftener separate and are carried outward and upward, until


A 60-year-old man with symptomatic neurosyphilis was treated with penicillin G procaine in the dosages recommended by the Public Health Service, and a less than spirocheticidal level of penicillin G was found in the cerebrospinal fluid.


Artificial oscillations in contact force due to non-smooth contact surface are treated by isogeo- metric analysis (IGA). After brief overview of B-splines and Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) rep- resentation, the mortar-based contact algorithm is presented in the frictionless small deformation regime. Contact constraints are regularized by penalty method. The contact algorithm is tested by means of contact patch test.


For layout design of T-type river conjunction, several basal elements as scouring, silting, and navigation should be considered, based on several hydraulic elements, such as water level, discharge, and flow direction. Based on experimental data collected at river conjunction of Nanguan River and Songshui River, relevant problems are analyzed and discussed. The feasible layout and suitable angle of T-type river conjunction, scouring boundary and method of preventing the river from silting were put forward in this paper.


Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV‐ECMO) is a therapeutic strategy for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There are inconclusive data in this regard and causes of VV‐ECMO failure are not yet understood well.


Europium is the most-studied and least-well-understood rare earth ion (REI) dopant in 15 GaN. While attempting to increase the efficiency of red GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) by 16 implanting Eu+ into p-type GaN templates, the Strathclyde University group, in collaboration with 17 IST Lisbon and Unipress Warsaw, discovered hysteretic photochromic switching (HPS) in the 18 photoluminescence spectrum of doubly doped GaN(Mg):Eu. Our recent work, summarised in this 19 contribution, has used time-, temperatureand light-induced changes in the Eu intra-4f shell 20 emission spectrum to deduce the microscopic nature of the Mg-Eu defects that form in this 21 material. As well as shedding light on the Mg acceptor in GaN, we propose a possible role for these 22 emission centres in quantum information and computing. 23


This paper examines the design of unknown input observers from a frequency domain point view and shows that a UIO design can be formulated as a perfect H2 or Hinfin disturbance rejection problem that many tools in robust control field can be applied. In particular, it is shown that a more general non-perfect disturbance rejection or approximate UIO problem may be considered and potentially interesting open problems are outlined. The paper also establishes the connection between residual error based on the UIO fault detection filter and residual error based on a standard observer. It is shown that a UIO based filter may be useless for fault detection. Hence it is critical to find the suitable UIO filters from the family of all possible UIO filters to fit the specific fault detection needs


A series of stilbenes has been synthesised in one pot from benzyl alcohols and benzylidenetriphenylphosphorane through a Wittig-type olefination reaction in the presence of nickel nanoparticles.


Following the "students-oriented" educational ideas,this paper aims to construct "Multidimensional System" of teaching evaluation model in aerobics course which is focused on training students' ability to take up teaching as a profession according to social demands for physical education majors.Meanwhile,combining the characteristics of aerobics and the teaching reform experience of aerobics course for physical education majors,it carries out teaching reform program in general aerobics study class for physical education majors entering university in 2006 and 2007.With diligent exploration of the new way in aerobics teaching,good teaching results have been achieved.


Searching an accurate and effective simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm is fundamental to autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to perform robust autonomous navigation. FastSLAM is one of the most popular SLAM algorithms. In spite of its wide applications, it still suffers from two major drawbacks, inconsistency and particle degeneration. In this paper, a modified FastSLAM algorithm is proposed using First-Estimates Jacobian (FEJ) to obtain a more consistent map and innovatively applying simple particle swarm optimization (sPSO) to address the particle degeneration problem. The modified FastSLAM algorithm effectively improves the accuracy of navigation and enhances the consistency of estimation. The paper also evaluates the proposed method with our own research platform, C-Ranger AUV, through sea trials in Tuandao Bay. The results of simulation and sea trial reveal that the modified algorithm has better performance in terms of the accuracy and consistency compared with standard FastSLAM.


The low pier rigid bridge is different from long span high pier continuous rigid bridge.Because of its characters,the behavior of the low pier bridge is intensively affected by the temperature and the asymmetry settlement of foundation.In this paper,according to the finite element calculating,the behavior of the low pier bridge is presented.Finally,the corresponding conclusion and suggestion is given.


The awareness of the proximity of Judaism and Islam to Christianity was nearly lost in the secularization process. Christian affinities with Judaism and Islam ceased to be a matter of evidence, immediately recognizable. More and more, literati started perceiving Christianity as a (or rather the) European religion, while its Near Eastern roots were trimmed far back, or even, in some cases, pulled up entirely. In German-speaking lands, in particular, the Romantic movement and the "discovery" of Sanskrit brought to the perception of "Indo-Europeans," or Aryans and Semite peoples, throughout history, in contradistinction and opposition to one another. Within a climate of growing racist anti-Semitism, Jewish scholars started to develop modern scholarship on Judaism.


Radial distribution functions of dusty plasma particles are calculated by the application of the Langevin dynamics to a system of particles interacting through the Yukawa potential. Proposed numerical model is first validated by the comparison of the numerical results with available experimental data. Both numerically determined and experimental radial distribution functions demonstrate a good coincidence, thus, enabling a calculation of the structural properties of dusty plasma for a wide range of parameters. On the basis of the performed calculations, dependencies of internal energy and excess pressure from the coupling and density parameters are presented (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Cytosolic calcium enters the mitochondrial matrix through the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) where it acts as a signal that regulates ATP production (1), metabolic fuel selection (1⇓–3), and if excessively high, triggers cell death (4). The complete complex of the MCU subunits is now referred to as the mitochondrial calcium uniporter holocomplex (MCUcx) (5). In PNAS, Vais et al. (6) focus on how the levels of Ca2+ inside the mitochondrial matrix ([Ca2+]m) can regulate the MCUcx itself. Here, the MCUcx was investigated by patch clamping a vesicular preparation made from the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) of a single mitochondrion, called a "mitoplast" (Fig. 1 A ). This approach was pioneered 17 y ago by Yuriy Kirichok, Grigory Krapivinsky, and David Clapham (7) and was a huge step toward our understanding of how mitochondria work. By patch clamping single mitoplasts from COS-7 cells or a region of the mitoplast membrane, they identified a femto-Siemens (fS) single-channel conductance under physiological conditions. It was highly selective for Ca2+ and had an open probability (Po) that was steeply voltage dependent. They suggested that this channel was a good candidate for the MCUcx (Fig. 1 B ). Two independent groups (8, 9) then showed that a molecular component of MCUcx was the likely pore-forming subunit, here called MCUpore but also frequently called "the MCU." Elucidation of MCUcx structure and function also included the identification of key auxiliary subunits including MICU1-3 (mitochondrial calcium uptake 1-3) and EMRE (essential MCU regulator) (10, 11). Hugely important to our broad understanding of MCUcx was the follow-up work by the Kirichok laboratory. They suggested that there were critical differences in the multisubunit MCUcx in different tissues (12). For example, mitoplasts from different tissues had …

[↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: jlederer{at}som.umaryland.edu.

 [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1


Abstract This article analyzes the financial assistance provided to Greece in the first two rescue packages granted by the Troika (European Union, European Central Bank, and IMF). By drawing on official data and documentation, this study concludes that 97.3% of the disbursed sums were used to repay interest payments and debt principal and to recapitalize Greek banks. The article also reviews the literature on the topic, which varies widely in assessments. It critically discusses different suggested means of assistance, such as the TARGET 2 system, and alternative outlays for the sums disbursed, such as the financing of capital flight and the stability of Greek pensions and depositors.


This thesis presents new methods and algorithms for a number of related computer vision tasks: foreground-background segmentation with fixed or moving camera, object tracking, sequential face detection, and illumination correction. These topics are of particular importance for visual surveillance systems. These tasks are mostly approached by modeling and classifying patterns. So the performance depends largely on how accurately the patterns are modeled and how effectively the patterns can be classified by the algorithms.
The first part of the thesis introduces a novel transform domain approach for foreground segmentation with a static camera. The use of the DCT features and a simple temporal prediction scheme results in robust segmentation with fast computation. It is also able to handle some typical difficulties in these problems, including illumination change and repetitive background motion. In the second part of the thesis, a histogram-based appearance model is employed for tracking based on the segmentation result. To make the tracking more robust to camouflage and partial occlusion, an irregularly-shaped feature selection and confidence propagation scheme is introduced. The third part deals with segmentation with a moving camera, where the knowledge of the motion flow and the focus of expansion are exploited to estimate the 3D camera ego-motion. With the estimated 3D motion, the segmentation is carried out by detecting the motion flow outliers. Different noise models are analyzed and the corresponding maximum likelihood estimates are compared. The forth part of the thesis studies a fast face detection system using sequential detection to trade off detection accuracy with computation time. The detection consists of a feature point detection step, a subregion-based Bayesian detector, and a wavelet-based Bayesian detector. This part also includes a discussion of the general discriminant analysis methods, discriminative feature selection, and Bayesian error reduction. The last part of the thesis presents a general illumination correction algorithm that is designed to enhance the local contrast on images with a large dynamic range. An affine model is employed to simulate the multiplicative and additive effects of illumination, and a fast low pass filtering method is proposed to estimate the affine model parameters.


WWW.MDEDGE.COM/DERMATOLOGY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE E18 FOR THE DIAGNOSIS An 18-month-old child presented with a 4-cm, atrophic, flesh-colored plaque on the left lateral aspect of the abdomen with overlying wrinkling of the skin. There was no outpouching of the skin or pain associated with the lesion. No other skin abnormalities were noted. The child was born premature at 30 weeks' gestation (birth weight, 1400 g). The postnatal course was complicated by respiratory distress syndrome requiring prolonged ventilator support. The infant was in the neonatal intensive care unit for 5 months. The atrophic lesion first developed at 5 months of life and remained stable. Although the lesion was not present at birth, the parents noted that it was preceded by an ecchymotic lesion without necrosis that was first noticed at 2 months of life while the patient was in the neonatal intensive care unit.


This video retrieval system focused on how to deal with large-scale data and online real-time retrieval.First,the shot boundary detection algorithm based on mutual information had good performance on retrieval,however,there were such problems in the method as its calculation was complex and inefficient.This paper advanced such a video retrieval method based on the combination of dynamic sliding window and mutual information(DSMI).Secondly,the system used GPU's parallel computing ability to achieve accelerated retrieval.Experiments show that the method can improve the operating efficiency of shot boundary detection,and the system using GPU acceleration to achieve 20 times improvements and highly scalability.


This easy-to-use technique, virtually no-cost, is a creative way to improve not only writing skills, but, indirectly, reading, spelling, and grammar skills as well.


Original chromosome counts are presented for 95 species in 78 genera of Leguminosae. Of these, 50 are first reports for genera, and 71 are first reports for species. The evolutionary or systematic significance of much of the data has been discussed in a separate paper (Goldblatt, 1981), and this article serves mainly for full documentation of the counts. New information, not previously dealt with, concerns Myroxylon (Papilionoideae-Sophoreae). The genus was previously reported as n = 14, but material I have studied clearly has 2n = 26, which is compatible with the number of n = 13 in the related genus Myrospermum.


Hippocampal atrophy is one of the main hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is still controversy about whether this sign is a robust finding during the early stages of the disease, such as in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Considering this background, we proposed a new marker for assessing hippocampal atrophy: the local surface roughness (LSR). We tested this marker in a sample of 307 subjects (normal control (NC) = 70, SCD = 87, MCI = 137, AD = 13). In addition, 97 patients with MCI were followed‐up over a 3‐year period and classified as stable MCI (sMCI) (n = 61) or progressive MCI (pMCI) (n = 36). We did not find significant differences using traditional markers, such as normalized hippocampal volumes (NHV), between the NC and SCD groups or between the sMCI and pMCI groups. However, with LSR we found significant differences between the sMCI and pMCI groups and a better ability to discriminate between NC and SCD. The classification accuracy of the LSR for NC and SCD was 68.2%, while NHV had a 57.2% accuracy. In addition, the classification accuracy of the LSR for sMCI and pMCI was 74.3%, and NHV had a 68.3% accuracy. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, and education were used to estimate the relative hazard of progression from MCI to AD based on hippocampal markers and conversion times. The LSR marker showed better prediction of conversion to AD than NHV. These results suggest the relevance of considering the LSR as a new hippocampal marker for the AD continuum.


BACKGROUND
Little is known about the prevalence of burnout among Irish midwives and how traumatic perinatal events in work contributes to this.

AIMS
To establish the prevalence of burnout among midwives in Ireland and whether exposure to traumatic perinatal events in work contributes to this.

METHODS
A cross-sectional study utilizing a designed questionnaire was carried out in a tertiary-referral maternity hospital involving all clinical midwives (n = 248). Demographic details and frequency of perinatal events deemed traumatic were recorded. The extent of distress was documented on two visual analogues read in combination to reflect the impact of the distressing events. Burnout severity was assessed using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory.

RESULTS
The response rate was 55% (n = 137). Mean scores for personal, work-related and patient-related burnout were 56.0, 55.9 and 34.3, respectively. Over 90% of respondents experienced exposure to a traumatic event in work in the previous year, with 58% reporting a frequency of monthly or greater. No significant relationship was demonstrated between frequency of trauma and burnout; however, the extent of distress experienced was positively related to burnout in each domain (R2 = 0.18, 0.15 and 0.09, respectively, P < 0.01). A modest negative linear relationship exists between personal and work-related burnout and increasing age (ρ = -0.25 and -0.27, P < 0.01). A significant difference in work-related burnout score was evident between midwives with less experience and more experienced colleagues (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Burnout is common among midwives. Exposure to discrete traumatic perinatal events experienced by women under their care contributes to this.


Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is a technique to extract subtle surface deformation from sets of scatterers identified in time-series of SAR images which feature temporally stable and strong radar signal (i.e., Persistent Scatterers, PS). Because of the preferred rectangular and regular structure of man-made objects, PSI works particularly well for monitoring of settlements. Usually, in PSI it is assumed that except for surface motion the scene is steady. In case this is not given, corresponding PS candidates are discarded during PSI processing. On the other hand, pixel-based change detection relying on local comparison of multi-temporal images typically highlights scene modifications of larger size rather than detail level. In this paper, we propose a method to combine these two types of change detection approaches. First, we introduce a local change-index based on PSI, which basically looks for PS candidates that remain stable over a certain period of time, but then break down suddenly. In addition, for the remaining PS candidates we apply common PSI processing which yields attributes like velocity in line-of-sight. In order to consider context, we apply now spatial filtering according to the derived attributes and morphology to exclude outliers and extract connect components of similar regions at the same time. We demonstrate our approach for test site Berlin, Germany, where, firstly, deformation-velocities on man-made structures are estimated and, secondly, some construction-sites are correctly recognized.


A high resolution Nd-YAG pulsed Laser Radar "LIDAR" system is proposed for detecting and tracking Airborne cooperative retro-reflector carrying targets against noise, clutter and back-scatter sources. A previous range computation method is improved and new possibilities of coherent heterodyne detection and phase conjugate elements are discussed.The presented analysis and computation method has proved to be valuable in the feasibility and design stages of operation LIDAR detection and tracking systems.


In contemporary economics companies operate in a fast changing environment which forces them to adapt constantly. The never ending development seems to constitute the necessary condition for achieving the ultimate purpose of a company's function - the maximization of shareholder wealth. The main objective of the research was to measure the short- and long-term impact of innovation announcements on the market value of equity of tourism enterprises. Research aimed also at creating and verifying empirically the model explaining the relationship between innovation and the market value of tourism enterprises.
In this research a systematic model-building procedure was applied. In order to build the exhaustive design the method of systematic literature studies SALSA was employed. The study covered the period between 2000 and 2015. The empirical research covered all the tourism enterprises listed on the main markets of the most important stock exchanges in the European Union in the period between February 2011 and February 2016. There were 111 such companies. The abnormal changes in the market value of equity resulting from innovation announcements of tourism enterprises constituted the subjects of analysis. Content analysis of the 9,000 innovation announcements was performed.
The first result of the empirical research reported in the book is the indication of the positive relationship between innovation announcements and the market value of equity of tourism enterprises. In the short term the effect concentrated in the event windows directly surrounding the event. In the +/- 1 day event window, the statistically significant increase in market value of equity was 0,38%. In the 6-months period it was 3,94%. Moreover in line with the initial hypothesis the research demonstrated that the effect of product innovation on the changes in market value resulting from innovation announcements was greater than that of other innovation types. New products may directly increase sales and impact positively on the company's cash flow. Furthermore it pointed out the positive effect of the first innovation announcement in relation to second and further releases. The informative value of the announcements beyond the first one was relatively small and caused little market reaction. In the context of market reactions the delivering of new information is essential. Moreover it was ascertained that in the short term the market rewarded the high advancement of the announced innovation and the high R&D intensity of the announcing company. In the case of hardly innovative tourism enterprises the market responded slightly to the development news and waited for the proof in the form of the innovation introduction. The high level of R&D intensity allowed tourism companies to differentiate themselves and increase innovative capabilities which was positively perceived by investors. In the long term investors acknowledged the positive effects of developing innovation in collaborative structures as it allows companies to benefit from the experience of collaborators and diminishes the risk.


Through document and questionnaire investigation, interview and data statistics. The author makes an investigation on the developing situation of the managerial table tennis place. Through the investigation, analyzing the present conditions and questions, providing methods for its market development and people's keeping fit plan.


Violence features in human life, not only as actual physical confrontation but also as stories. Stories of violence are particularly important in violence-prone subcultures and among those partaking in the illegal drug economy. Drawing on narrative analysis, this study examines stories of violence among a population of incarcerated Norwegian drug dealers. Four widespread story types are identified: business narratives, intimidation narratives, moral narratives and survivor narratives. We explore the content of these stories and the work they do for tellers while keeping a keen eye on their ambiguous nature. We argue that stories and storytellers plurivocality is often missed when stories of violence are described within established criminological traditions.


In this paper, we consider the problem of clustering the long financial time series of the Chinese A-share market, applying k-means, k-Shape, agglomerative hierarchical clustering, affinity propaga...


Semiempirical quantum mechanical AM1 calculations were performed for the chemically activated reactions of acetylene with vinyl, 1-buten-3-yn- 1-yl, 1, 3-butadien-1-yl, phenyl, 1-ethynylphenyl, 2-naphthyl, and 4-phenanthryl radicals. The reaction rate coefficients were then calculated on the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) level of theory, using the AM1 molecular parameters corrected to reproduce available experimental data. The results obtained support the hypothesis that reactions of multiring aromatic species are in principle similar to those of benzene and phenyl. The calculated rate coefficients are tabulated for the conditions of interest to combustion modeling.


ion that is essential to virginity. There is "no way of speaking about virginity that does not imply its loss, no poetics of praise that is not already complicit in the violence of rape, no magnification of the perfection of women abstracted that is not a taking of possession" (112). Bloch, of course, draws connections between virginity and "courtly" love. 24Bloch, Medieval Misogyny 99. Adams: "Pour un petit de nice semblant" / 23 010 FF28-3 (1-24) 2/20/04 2:41 PM Page 23


The objective of this research is to determine the degree to which the recent antipollution laws will affect the location of industrial plants.


Objective To survey the imipenem(IMP) resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the hospitalized patients in the First People's Hospital of Yueyang from March 2009 to July 2010,and to ana1yze antimicrobial susceptibility of imipenem-resistant strains. Methods The MIC values of resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to IMP and other 9 antimicrobial agents were tested by agar-plating diluted technique. Results The resistant rate to IMP resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was l3.5%,20 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant to IMP also had a higher resistance to other 9 antimicrobial agents.2 strains isolated were resistant to the total l0 antimicrobial agents. Conclusions Pseudomonas aeruginosa not only has a high resistance to IMP but also has a resistance to many antimicrobial agents.It is necessary to pay close attention to the bacterial resistance changes and to adjustment of treatment plans at the right moment in order to use antimicrobial agents rationally.


A novel light source using a laser diode is proposed for optical heterodyne interferometry. The light from this source has a two- frequency beam with mutually orthogonal polarization directions. The light source consists of a laser diode and some optical elements. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer using polarizing beam splitters and a right-angle prism creates orthogonal linearly polarized two-frequency light. The laser diode is easily available to give frequency modulation by current injection. A two-frequency beam is created by giving the time difference due to different optical paths in the Mach-Zehnder interferom- eter. The frequency difference between two beams remains constant regardless of frequency modulation of the laser diode. Moreover, in order to compensate for the power fluctuation by injection current modulation and to keep the total power constant, another incoherent laser diode is added. This light source is suitable for practical applications and requires a smaller and less expensive unit than such conventional light sources as a Zeeman laser or an acousto-optic modulator. This source is applied to a differential interferometer to demonstrate utility for three-dimensional surface profilometry. © 1996 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. Subject terms: optical heterodyne interferometry; laser diode; frequency modulation; differential interferometer; surface profilometry.


Since the start-up of the laser driven rf gun based photoinjector at the TESLA Test Facility (TTF) late 1998, several cathodes have been used. We report on the properties of Cs/sub 2/Te and KCsTe cathodes under operating conditions, their quantum efficiency and lifetime. Darkcurrent emitted by the RF gun or the cathodes have been a major concern in the first year of operation. Meanwhile, new cathode production techniques and a conditioning effect of the RF gun has reduced the darkcurrent significantly.


To explore patterns of contraceptive reporting data on 1055 matched married couples from the 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) who said that they were monogamous and 592 such couples from the 1994 Zimbabwe DHS were examined using bivariate analyses. In Kenya two-thirds of the couples gave consistent responses about their contraceptive use: in 38% both partners said that they were not currently using a method while in 28% both said that they were. When spouses disagreed the husband was more likely than the wife to report using a method (29% vs. 6% overall). On the other hand in four-fifths of Zimbabwean couples both spouses gave the same answer when asked about their contraceptive use: 30% were consistent in reporting that no method was being used and 47% that they were using a contraceptive. Overall womens reports of contraceptive use received greater corroboration from their husbands than mens reports received from their wives. Furthermore most of the significant multivariate findings were associated with increased odds that only wives would report contraceptive use or decreased odds that only husbands would do so.


This case report details the successful anesthetic management of a morbidly obese parturient patient who presented for a repeat, elective cesarean section. The preanesthetic evaluation and the indications for choosing a continuous spinal anesthetic are discussed. Evaluation of the anesthetic plan is also discussed through a review of the postoperative scenario.