The price is an indicator that accumulates information about the cost of production, balance between supply and demand, its quality evaluation by consumers, the variety of offer by manufacturers and other characteristics. The price is formed not only as a mathematically calculated value depending on the cost price or accompanying costs, but it considers the market situation. Prices on agricultural products are influenced by such industry specific as production seasonality.
The source data base was analyzed to study prices evolution for some agricultural products in Ukraine. In particular, the features of changes in price indicators were revealed and described for fruit, berries, potatoes, grains, legumes, and oil crops.
Vegetable price data set was analyzed to reconstruct evolution of price fluctuations for the period of January 2010 - December 2021. Decomposing method was applied to extract trend, seasonal and random components from time series. It allowed to build short- and long-term tendencies on the base of its fluctuations. A multiplicative model was approximated to understand dynamics of price index and reveal its behavior in impact circumstances of nature and economic factors. Price fluctuations for agricultural products is presented monthly and in years. It helped to describe long-term trend of price evolution. Moreover, modelling let us to predict values for 2022 and 2023. Forecasted values were compared with factual data from official statistical sources.
According to results of analysis predicted dynamics almost completely repeated real tendency, in seasonality. Nevertheless, prices of 2022-2023 years were influenced by Russian invasion consequences. Prices soared over the predicted values. That happened because of destruction of the logistics for agricultural products supply, loss of farm assets, contamination of land with explosive substances, rise of inflation, increase of costs and demand on deficient goods, shortening of products and raw supply. At the same time, it is demonstrated that prices of products of so-called "borscht set" have been constantly increasing since 2013. That was caused by inflation and poor harvests. Mentioned factors led to that certain vegetables were imported from abroad.


1,1,3-Tricyano-2-amino-1-propene stimulates by more than one order of magnitude the incorporation in vitro of uridine into the RNA of dipteran salivary glands. The inhibition by actinomycin D is blocked. Higher doses cause a complete inhibition from which a proportion of the glands recover rapidly upon withdrawal of the substance.


IEEE802.11 employs distributed coordination function (DCF) as a media access control method. In order to address the hidden terminal problem, the DCF equips the virtual carrier sensing function in addition to the traditional carrier sensing function, CSMA. The virtual carrier sensing is realized by the RTS/CTS short packets exchange and the NAV. The RTS/CTS exchange can keep terminals other than the sender and the receiver silent for ensuring a data packet transmitted correctly. The NAV is a timer that indicates the amount of time that the medium will be reserved. The first modification is to replace the NAV for RTS of DCF to the one used in the protocol MACA (the idea of RTS/CTS exchange is originally proposed in the MACA). Simulations show that this modification improves the throughput performance. On the other hand, the DCF is designed to use ACK packet for ensuring correct data transmission in the media access control layer, while the ACK did not used in the MACA. We secondly show that the use of the ACK reduces the throughput performance of DCF when the RTS/CTS exchange is in use, concluding that by omitting the ACK from the DCF, the performance can be improved. This paper not only shows that these two simple modifications can improve the performance of the DCF but also points out that the functions being implemented in the DCF do not always work well for realizing higher performance.


Performance-based seismic analysis and design of tall buildings have become increasingly common in the United States and have been the standard practice in Japan for a long time. The methodologies for seismic hazard analyses, selection of earthquake records for design, and acceptance criteria, however, are widely different in the two countries. Japan experiences large earthquakes and strong shakings of buildings significantly more frequently than the United States, and the data on actual seismic performance are richer in Japan than in the United States. Comparison of performance and calibration between the two design procedures can help to improve the quantitative assessment of seismic performance of buildings in the United States. This article presents the application of US and Japanese procedures to a tall building archetype once proportioned, analyzed, and designed according to US practices and once per Japanese practices. The structural systems selected are very different; for the United States, the archetype is designed using a core reinforced concrete shear wall building with composite floor systems and steel columns as the gravity system, whereas for Japan, the archetype is designed using a steel moment frame made of square concrete-filled steel tube (CFT) columns and composite beams and installed with oil dampers. Although the design procedures followed are vastly different, the seismic performances of the systems are rather similar during serviceability, design basis, and maximum considered events. As will be presented in the second part of this article, the collapse safety margins of the two designs are significantly different.


Members Present Representing Ray Hashimoto Building Industry Association Roberta Hughan Santa Clara County Judi Kirkham South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Gaye Morando Santa Clara County Chamber of Commerce Coalition Charlotte Powers City of San Jose Sally Probst Senior Citizens Connie Rogers South County Cities Martin Schulter, Chairperson Disabled Persons Laura Stuchinsky Silicon Valley Leadership Group Noel Tebo City of San Jose


In recent years, microfibers released from synthetic fabrics have been identified as the main contributor to primary microplastic pollution. These pollutants have been detected in several products for human consumption. This work aims to evaluate the efficiency of a specific device used with the purpose to monitor and reduce this anthropogenic pollution in potable water. The device was tested using potable water from several cities in Slovenia by mounting the device containing the porous membrane directly to the faucet in private and public buildings. The results highlight the effectiveness of the applied device in removing natural and synthetic microfibers from tap water and confirm the abundance of microfibers as a contaminant of potable water.


As a result of the daily workflow in the design development departments of companies, databases containing huge numbers of 3D geometric models are generated. According to the given problem engineers create CAD drawings based on their design ideas and evaluate the performance of the resulting design, e.g. by computational simulations. Usually, new geometries are built either by utilizing and modifying sets of existing components or by adding single newly designed parts to a more complex design. The present paper addresses the two facets of acquiring components from large design databases automatically and providing a reasonable overview of the parts to the engineer. A unified framework based on the topographic non-negative matrix factorization (TNMF) is proposed which solves both aspects simultaneously. First, on a given database meaningful components are extracted into a parts-based representation in an unsupervised manner. Second, the extracted components are organized and visualized on square-lattice 2D maps. It is shown on the example of turbine-like geometries that these maps efficiently provide a wellstructured overview on the database content and, at the same time, define a measure for spatial similarity allowing an easy access and reuse of components in the process of design development. Keywords—Design decomposition, topographic non-negative matrix factorization, parts-based representation, self-organization, unsupervised feature extraction.


[77-48-5] C5H6Br2N2O2 (MW 285.93)

InChI = 1S/C5H6Br2N2O2/c1-5(2)3(10)8(6)4(11)9(5)7/h1-2H3

InChIKey = VRLDVERQJMEPIF-UHFFFAOYSA-N

(benzylic bromination of arenes; bromoperoxylation and bromofluorination of alkenes)

Alternate Names: DBH; 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylimidazolidine-2,4-dione; dibromantin.

Physical Data: mp 197–199 °C (dec).

Solubility: slightly sol acetone, THF, 1,4-dioxane, H2O (hot), CCl4 (reflux).

Form Supplied in: white powder or crystals; widely available.

Analysis of Reagent Purity: determined by the standard iodide–thiosulfate titration method.

Preparative Methods: DBH has been prepared by reaction of Br2 (1 mol) with 5,5-dimethylhydantoin (0.5 mol) and NaOH (1 mol) in ice-water at 0 °C.1a 5,5-Dimethylhydantoin is widely available commercially, and can be prepared from KOCN, (NH4)2CO3, and acetone in water at 85 °C.1a After removal of water and excess reagents by distillation, the resulting solution can be used directly for the preparation of DBH. 1,3-Dibromo-5-ethyl-5-methylhydantoin has also been prepared and has the advantage of greater solubility.1b

Purification: in an efficient fume hood (caution: bromine evolution), an impure sample of DBH (40 g) is dissolved as quickly as possible in 4 L of preheated water at 90–95 °C. The solution is filtered if necessary, and the filtrate is then immediately chilled well in an ice bath to effect crystallization. After most of the aqueous portion has been decanted, the white crystals are collected by filtration through a bed of ice and washed with water. The crystals are dried in vacuo (63–70% recovery).1a

Handling, Storage, and Precautions: 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin should be stored refrigerated and protected from light and moisture to avoid decomposition. DBH is an irritating solid and precautions should be taken to avoid inhalation of the powder or contact with skin.


[Objective] To analyze the reasons and the epidemiological characteristics of an outbreak of infectious diarrhea in dinner party in a hotel,provide a scientific basis for future prevention and control.[Methods]Based on the field epidemiological investigation,the detection of norovirus nucleic acid was conducted by RT-PCR.[Results]There were 82 cases in this outbreak with the attack rate of 0.82%.Among 24 stool samples collected from patients with diarrhea,7 were positive by RT-PCR nucleic acid detection.The leftovers and 21 environmental samples were negative.[Conclusion]According to the results of field epidemiological investigation and laboratory test,this infectious diarrhea outbreak is caused by Norovirus.


The problem of load sharing between stiffeners in a semi-infinite unidirectionally stiffened panel when a concentrated load acts on the panel, either on the stiffener or on the plating between stiffeners, has been studied numerically using the finite element method under the assumption of linear structural behaviour. The emphasis is on the dispersive characteristics of the panel as a function of its geometric and stiffness properties. Effects of various modelling approaches are underscored and results are presented using a nondimensional scheme which is simple to apply.


The embodiment of the invention discloses a Namenode switching method and device of a distributed system. According to the Namenode switching method and device of the distributed system, at least two Namenodes are configured, the Namenodes are connected to a temporary node and connecting parameters are obtained, a master Namenode and at least one slave Namenode are determined, only the master Namenode provides services for the distributed system, and the slave Namenode in the temporary node is triggered to execute a callback function when the master Namenode is disconnected with the temporary node and then a new master Namenode is used for providing services. According to the Namenode switching method and device of the distributed system, a new master Namenode can be determined from other set Namenodes to continue to provide services for the distributed system when the master Namenode of the distributed system does not provide services, then normal work of the distributed system is guaranteed, and stability of the distributed system is greatly improved.


1. Overview of Information Literacy (IL) The concept of information literacy skills have been widely discussed by professional bodies such as the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL, 2011), Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL, 2011), American Association of School Librarians (1998), and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, 2008). The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (2006:17) described information literacy as the ability to identify when information is needed, ability to carry out a specific task or for problem solving purposes, cost-efficiently search for information, organise or reorganise sources of information, interpret, analyze and retrieve necessary information, appraise the accuracy and reliability of the information, and observe the ethical use of information sources. IFLA (2006:7) distinguishes the Information Literacy concept from other aspects of literacy like computer literacy, network literacy, digital literacy, information technology literacy and media literacy although these types of literacy are quite related. UNESCO (2004) considered Information Literacy as all activities concerned with teaching and learning regarding the whole variety of information sources and formats. UNESCO (2004) notes that to be information literate, an individual must be equipped with the why, when, and how to apply all IL tools and develop the ability to think decisively about the information they provide. According to the Scottish Information Literacy Project (2013), Information Literacy is the panacea for promoting problem solving abilities, especially those problems that comes with the use of modern facilities channel towards accessing information. The document further shows that IL helps to equip scholars with critical thinking skills, ability to seek answers to critical questions, ability to find information from various sources, form intelligent opinions, and evaluate sources of information for informed judgement necessary for decision making. Information Literacy is important for a number of reasons especially to educators. According to SILP (2013), it helps in promoting problem solving ability, helps critical thinking, boosts the ability to ask questions and seek logical answers, find information, shape opinion, and evaluate sources of information. For an individual, being information literate is imperative in order to be a functional member of the society. Therefore, a government is expected to integrate the knowledge of Information Literacy into academic programmes so as to make people become more productive and equipped as functional global citizens of the 21st century (Rodney-Wellington, 2014:75). Lincoln (2011: 4) observed that Information Literacy is essential because of the plethora of readily accessible information and that people are expected to acquire appropriate skills befitting the twenty first century to locate, evaluate, analyze and put to effective use information from various sources. The knowledge of Information Literacy is a must for everyone because it will determine the level of success at every professional level and is a key component of education. Davis, Lundstrom and Martin (2011:17) cautioned that there may be misconceptions among the modern generation who are information savvy that because they've grown up in an environment driven by technology that they are information literate, but ability to you modern information gadget does not mean being information literate. The knowledge of Information Literacy is important because access to information is driven by technology which must be learnt for an individual to be a competent information user (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2010; Mordini 2007:544). Juutinen, Huovinen and Yalaho (2011) emphasise that embracing technology can help in improvement of people's lives. Information Literacy is an essential skill that is utilitarian in nature because of the beneficial effect it has on a large number of those who embrace the knowledge. …


Aeolian features on Venus include dune fields, eroded hills (yardangs), wind streaks, (miniature dunes of 10 to 30 cm wavelength). Although and possibly microdunes (in repetitive imaging by Magellan did show changes in the appearance of the surface, these changes are attributed to radar artifacts as a consequence of look direction rather than to physical changes of the surface. Nonetheless, measurements of wind speeds near the surface of Venus and wind tunnel simulations suggest that aeolian processes could be currently active on Venus. Study of radar images of terrestrial analogs shows that radar wavelength, polarization, and viewing geometry, including look direction and incidence angle, all influence the detection of dunes, yardangs, and wind streaks. For best detection, dune crests and yardangs should be oriented perpendicular to look direction. Longer wavelength systems can penetrate sand sheets a meter or more thick, rendering them invisible, especially in arid regions. For wind streaks to be visible, there must be a contrast in surface properties between the streak and the background on which it occurs. Nonetheless, more than 6000 aeolian features have been found on Magellan images of Venus, the most common of which are various wind streaks. Mapping wind streak orientations enables near-surface wind patterns to be inferred for the time of their formation. Type P streaks are associated with parabolic ejecta crater deposits and are considered to have formed in association with the impact event. Most Type P streaks are oriented westward, indicative of the upper altitude superrotation winds of Venus. Non Type P streaks have occurrences and orientations consistent with Hadley circulation. Some streaks in the southern hemisphere are oriented to the northeast, suggesting a Coriolis effect.


Microelectronic Engineering 32 (1996) 271-282 Scaling silicon MOS devices to their limits S.J. Wind*, D.J. Frank, H.-S. Wong IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA The scaling of silicon CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) devices to 100 nm channel lengths offers significant potential for high speed circuit performance gains at low levels of power consumption. Continued miniaturization beyond 100 nm dimensions faces various daunting challenges. Overcoming these challenges will require technological innovation in device design as well as fabrication techniques. If these challenges can be met successfully, there is room to scale silicon technology well into the nanometer regime.


A three—dimensional numerical model was implemented to PFC3D Code to simulate cone penetration test in Ticino sand in a calibration chamber. The model is calibrated using laboratory test results. The full/half/quarter calibration chamber was used to examine the effect of symmetry on the results. Examination of specimen homogeneity was done by (i) visual observation of the network of the contact forces developing between particles, (ii) examination of the porosity, d50 and Cu distributions inside the specimen by using a representative elementary volume (REV). Some overall results from these simulations are also presented here and compared with the experimental results from a calibration chamber test database.


Raw data of methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the sedge-grass marsh ecosystem measured by the non-steady state flow-through chamber system were analyzed using a recurrence plots of a time trajectory returns. The recurrence plots can help to understand process of gases emission and optionally can exploited to characterize the system's behavior. According to recurrence plots we can to state that behavior of system is mostly stochastic with determination parts with chaos transitions.


Copepodid stages of Conchyliurus quintus Tanaka, a poecilostomatoid copepod associated with bivalve mollusks, are described . Comparisons with other poecilostomes were made on the developmental changes of appendages . Some general patterns of poecilostomatoid leg development and characteristics in C. quintus are shown.


Surface topography of a tool plays an important role as it predominantly controls the frictional behavior at the interface. In the present study, Inclined Scratch Tester was used to understand the effect of directionality of surface grinding marks on coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation. EN8 steel flats were ground to attain different surface roughness with unidirectional grinding marks. Then Al-Mg alloy pins were scratched against the prepared EN8 steel flats. Grinding angle (angle between direction of scratch and grinding marks) was varied between 0° and 90° during the scratch tests. It was observed that the coefficient of friction and transfer layer formation depend primarily on the directionality of grinding marks of the harder mating surface, and independent of surface roughness of harder mating surface. The grinding angle effect on coefficient of friction was attributed to the variation of plowing component of friction with grinding angle.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


The Society for Consumer Psychology (Division 23, American Psychological Association [APA]) represents the interests of social scientists in the fields of psychology, marketing, advertising, communication, consumer behavior, and other related areas. Each year the Society sponsors a national conference program (February), an Advertising and Consumer Psychology conference (May), and a national conference program in conjunction with the annual meeting of the APA (August). The Society publishes the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Advertising and Consumer Psychology Book Series, conference proceedings, and The Communicator (a newsletter published online).


The concept of the EPOLA (electron positron lattice) is elaborated, and elastic deformations and electric polarization of the EPOLA are considered. Also examined are the calculation of polarization and displacement currents, the motion of free electrons and conduction currents in the EPOLA, the lattices of solids in the EPOLA, and the response of free electrons in solids to electric fields.<<ETX>>


There is controversy regarding surgical treatment of gallbladder carcinomas. Generally, simple cholecystectomy alone (including laparoscopic cholecystectomy) is an adequate treatment for pathologic stage T1a gallbladder carcinoma. T1b tumors are associated with good long-term survival even after simple cholecystectomy, but are associated with a slightly elevated locoregional recurrence rate. Therefore, a definitive curative treatment with liver resection and lymph node dissection should be performed. According to anecdotal experiences at our institution, simple, minimally invasive, laparoscopic cholecystectomy in certain patients (T1a) is likely to provide an acceptable surgical outcome compared to radical surgery in treating gallbladder carcinoma. And as evidence for minimally invasive surgical treatment for gallbladder carcinoma with T1b and T2 gallbladder carcinomas has increased and technical improvements have occurred in laparoscopic lymph node dissection, we have extended the indication of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery (including da Vinci Robotic surgery) to T2 gallbladder carcinoma. Even though we cannot draw firm conclusions because the sample size was small and study duration was short, preliminary results are intriguing. a) Among 15 patients with T1a gallbladder carcinomas who were treated with minimally invasive surgery, there has been no recurrence to date. b) Among 7 patients with T1b lesions, one patient had liver metastasis 2 years after surgery. c) Among 15 patients with T2 lesions, two patients had disease recurrence in the para-aortic lymph node area 1 and 5 months, respectively, after surgery (laparoscopic simple cholecystectomy). d) After doing regional lymph node dissection (sometimes aortocaval lymph nodes as well) in 2006, 2 of 10 patients (20%) had positive regional lymph nodes after surgery but no recurrence has occurred to date. For suspected T1 and T2 gallbladder carcinomas without regional and systemic metastasis, after a preoperative study (using EUS and PET) for the main lesion and metastasis, we found that we can treat them with minimally invasive laparoscopic (or da Vinci Robotic) cholecystectomy and lymph node dissection (if needed, including aortocaval para-aortic lymph nodes).


Even if it is believed that in the near future optical image stabilization will be mounted on mobile consumer devices, thus providing a reliable and fast way to deal with camera shaking problems, for the time being, under critical acquisition conditions, handheld captured photography suffers from motion blur effects. This article summarizes a low-cost digital technique to deal with the aforementioned problem employing a mixture of multi-capture, algorithmic stabilization and de-noising techniques.


The invention discloses a method for synchronizing playing course of a media file. The method comprises the steps of receiving parameter information sent by a playing device through a mobile terminal, wherein the parameter information include the current playing course and total time length of the currently playing media file of a playing device; stating to time through the mobile terminal while receiving the parameter information; calculating the real-time playing course information of the media file based on the preset time intervals and according to the parameter information and the timing information; displaying the real-time playing course information by the mobile terminal through a display interface. According to the technical scheme, the method has the advantages that the problem of unstable data transmission can be avoided, and thus the display accuracy of the media playing course can be improved.


Sixty four clinical isolates were collected from children with Necrotizing Enterocolitis admitted to the Children's Protection Hospital at the Medical City in Baghdad. These isolates included (41) stool samples, (14) blood samples and (9) urine samples for the period from 29/1/2018 to 4/4/2018. All the samples were cultured on MacConkey agar and Blood agar for diagnosis. All isolates were identified depending on macroscopic, microscopic, and biochemical tests, with Vitek-2 compact system. Forty three isolates were obtained from all samples; (26) isolates as Klebsiella pneumoniae (60.46%), 8 isolates as Escherichia coli (18.60 %), 4 isolates as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.30%), 2 isolates as Klebsiella oxytoca (4.65%), 2 isolates as Enterobacter cloacae (4.65%) and 1 isolate as P roteus hauseri (2.32%). The results showed that K. pneumoniae was the predominant in the samples taken from infants infected with Necrotizing Enterocolitis .


We study cosmological effects of explicit Peccei-Quinn breaking on the QCD axion dark matter. We find that the axion abundance decreases or increases significantly depending on the initial position, even for a tiny Peccei-Quinn breaking that satisfies the experimental bound of the neutron electric dipole measurements. If the axion first starts to oscillate around a wrong vacuum and if it gets trapped there until the false vacuum disappears due to non-perturbative QCD effects, its abundance increases significantly and is independent of the decay constant fa , as first pointed out in ref. [1]. Thus, the axion produced by the trapping mechanism can explain dark matter even when the decay constant is close to the lower limit due to stellar cooling arguments. On the other hand, if the axion starts to oscillate about a potential minimum close to the low-energy vacuum, its abundance is significantly reduced because of the adiabatic suppression mechanism. This relaxes the upper limit of the axion window to large values of fa . We also discuss how the axionic isocurvature perturbation is affected by the Peccei-Quinn breaking term, and show that it can be suppressed in both regimes. In particular, the isocurvature bound on the inflation scale is relaxed by many orders of magnitudes for fa ≳ 1011 GeV compared to the conventional scenario.


Iron uptake mechanism of Vibrio alginolyticus was primarily investigated. V.alginolyticus could survive in the medium with high-concentration iron chelator. The strain of V. alginolyticus isolated from diseased fish produced more siderophore than that from marine environment. The extract of siderophore from V. alginolyticus could stimulate the growth of Escherichia coli mutant AN93. Under iron limitation,the growth rate was decreased and several outer membrane proteins were induced. Adding iron into the iron-limited medium the normal growth could be recovered.


The research on dairy industry became popular in recent years. Some researchers found that the gap in the profitability of dairy enterprises mainly comes from the differences in their capital structure and operating efficiency. However, there is still a lack of unified understanding of the specific influencing factors and the competition pattern between different enterprises. Therefore, this paper mainly uses the data analysis method to select Mengniu and Yili, two leading dairy enterprises, and Guangming Dairy, which is in the second echelon, as the research object. Through collecting relevant indicators such as profitability, this paper conducts a comparative analysis to explore the competitiveness of different dairy enterprises and the reasons behind it. The research found that Mengniu Dairy had the highest equity beta, while Guangming lotion had the lowest equity beta, and gave investment suggestions.


A study was designed to isolate potentially pathogenic, endophytic fungi of red alder (Alnus rubra). Apparently healthy leaves and 2- to 3-year-old twigs were collected at three and eight sites, respectively, surface sterilized, cut into small pieces, and incubated on 2% malt extract agar. Ninety percent of the leaves and more than 80% of the twigs were colonized by endophytic fungi; 40 different fungi were isolated and identified. Fungi previously recorded as plant pathogens dominated the endophyte community of leaves (Gnomonia setacea, Gnomoniella tubaeformis, and Septoria alni) but were only minor components of the fungal population of twigs (Melanconis alni and a Nectria species). Abundance of each fungus species and the species composition depended on the plant organ sampled and collection site. In twigs, three main types of endophyte associations occurred among sites: the first was dominated by the unidentified "Black Mycelium 2," the second by Phomopsis sp. 2, and the third by Ophiovalsa suffusa, P...


In this paper, the processes of electron-ion scattering in the plasma of inertial confinement fusion in a magnetic field were studied. The proposed model for studying the processes of scattering between charged particles is based on solving the equation of motion in a central field taking into account the external magnetic field, as well as the Coulomb logarithm, which is determined using the scattering angle in a pair collision. Collisions between an electron and an ion that interact via the Yukawa potential were investigated. Also, the Coulomb logarithm in a dense plasma in a magnetic field was calculated. The effect of taking into account the magnetic field on the scattering angles, the scattering cross-section and the Coulomb logarithm are studied. From the results obtained, it is established that taking into account the magnetic field led to a non-monotonic change in the scattering angle and a decrease in the scattering cross-section for weak particle interactions. It is also revealed that for large values of the interaction parameterβ, the magnetic field does not affect the value of the Coulomb logarithm. Thus, the obtained results allow us to study the effect of taking into account the magnetic field on the processes of electron scattering on an ion in the approximation of pair collisions in an external constant magnetic field in a dense plasma.


Whether administrative divisions can be interposed rationally or not is important to a country's political stability,to the efficacy of the central and local administration,to the scientific allocation of resources and rational distribution of productivity,and to the healthy development of economy and society.With the prompt propulsion of local administrative divisions reform,the voice for provincial administrative divisions reform becomes increasingly higher.It has already turned into an important issue the academic circle studies.Having analyzed the present research,the author thinks that urban administrative system innovation is the priority of China's provincial administrative division's reform and trans-provincial area governance is the only way for that.


A reappraisal was made of the relationship between exposure to atomic radiation in 1945 and the occurrence of salivary gland tumors in heavily exposed survivors. This was made possible by the discovery of 8 additional patients; the total now reported consists of 30 cases. In those exposed to 300+ rads, the number of cases was significantly (p < .01) greater than expected. This was found for the combined group and for malignant types, but not for histologically benign tumors. Our prior conclusion regarding the high‐dose radiation effect upon salivary gland neoplasia remains unchanged in the reanalysis; however, our suggestion that younger persons were at significantly greater risk is weakened.


Many businesses that work with a large number of product lines face the problem of choosing a supplier of goods or services. The problem of finding suppliers is faced by most businesses that do business and are looking for new ways to optimize costs. Enterprises need to periodically search for suppliers, and this is much more difficult for them due to lack of experience, especially in relations with foreign suppliers. Procurement planning is carried out by selecting suppliers who must meet previously established criteria set by the company's standards and legislation. The search and analysis of suppliers should be carried out systematically using all possible sources of information. At the present stage, conservative methods of searching, analyzing and selecting suppliers are being improved and supplemented with new forms and methods, but none of the existing methods of selecting a supplier properly takes into account the current operating conditions. Therefore, supply chain management is particularly relevant and requires improvement. The article suggests a model that allows identifying potentially unscrupulous suppliers even before the contract is executed in the supply chain and using management. The article presents a block diagram of the supply chain risk management model. The model specifies a key condition aimed at combining the work of all departments in order to increase the transparency of procedures. At the same time, the model will reduce the risks of the supply chain and improve the process of making logistics decisions within 3 main blocks. Information about the entire lifecycle of equipment, media, and items is stored in the supply chain information system, reflecting the status and attributes of all aspects and providing a variety of data support for decision - making


We report on the progress on a first generation of realistic size metascintillators for time-of-flight PET. These heterostructures combine dense LYSO or BGO plates, interleaved with fast scintillator layers producing a bunch of prompt photons from the energy leakage of the recoil photoelectric electron. From a Geant4 simulation of the energy sharing distribution between the dense and the fast scintillator on 42 LYSO-based and 42 BGO-based configurations, a detailed study of the timing performance has been performed on a selection of the most promising 12 LYSO-based and 14 BGO-based metascintillators. A Monte Carlo simulation was first performed to extrapolate from direct measurements of the performance of the metascintillator components, the detector time resolution (DTR), and sensitivity on the basis of the simulated amount of energy leakage to the fast scintillator. An analytic algorithm was then applied to determine an equivalent coincidence time resolution (CTR) from the random association of the DTR distributions from two metapixels in coincidence. This equivalent CTR is calculated in order to obtain the same variance in the reconstructed image as the combination of the DTR distributions of 2 metapixels. Preliminary results confirm that with these simple and still nonoptimized configurations, an equivalent CTR of 150 ps for BGO-based and 140 ps for LYSO-based metapixels of realistic size can be obtained.


Abstract An automatic method involving an Auto analyzer system for the direct potentiometric determination of sodium in river and mineral waters is presented. The accuracy and reproducibility of the system proved to be excellent.


After moving away from the psychometric and the integrative language testing paradigms toward the communicative language testing paradigm, experts in writing and assessment have been concerned with creating conditions under which learners can experience and display writing in an authentic way so that their writings will tally the ones in non-test situations. As an alternative assessment option, portfolio-based writing assessment has recently received considerable attention in the field of ESL/EFL writing. However, self- assessment as a corner stone of portfolio pedagogy has received scant empirical attention in the second/foreign language teaching literature. Therefore, the present study aimed at comparing teacher assessment and students' self-assessment of writing in a portfolio program in Iranian EFL context. Also, it aimed at eliciting students' perceptions about self-assessment. To analyze data, independent samples t-test was used. The results showed that there is a significant difference between teacher's assessment and students' self-assessment at the beginning and the end of the portfolio program. Students' perceptions were also elicited through interviews. The results seem to have some implications for curriculum development and teaching and assessment of L2 writing.


Abstract Digitized curd firmness data were fitted to an exponential equation by a nonlinear, least squares regression computer program. Solutions were obtained for actual coagulation time, curd firming rate, and theoretical maximum firmness. Actual coagulation time occurred before an increase in firmness was detectable and coincided with the inflection point of apparent absorbance changes of coagulating milk. Only the initial portion of the curve of firmness on time could be fitted to the exponential equation. Beyond this region, experimentally observed curd firmness lagged behind predicted firmness. Apparent absorbance measurements indicated this was from effects of "microsyneresis", the consolidation of casein micelle chains into strands and the concomitant formation of micro-droplets of milk serum between strands of the gel network. Actual coagulation time corresponds to the instant when an extended space network of casein particles is formed. For this network to be formed, aggregating micelle clusters must reach a critical volume subsequent to which any further diffusion results in immediate collision with another cluster. Dilution of milk inhibits attainment of this critical point, and a curd is not formed. Determination of coagulation time visually or rheologically is an estimate of actual time, and close correspondence of coagulation time to actual depends on the methods. In general, visual time is more than actual because a finite amount of rigidity must be produced before coagulation can be detected.


A set of scientific and sensible evaluation indicator systems is a must in conducting the evaluation of water resources,which includes single properties and comprehensive properties of water resource.The former refers to the evaluation of bearing capacity,abundance, fragility, value, ecological and environmental effects, exploitation and utilization,management of water resource and so on. The latter concerns the evaluation of water resource sustainable utilization. Based on the present situation of the research, this paper discusses the characteristics of the evaluation indicator systems, including the choice, operability and methods of indicators, the access of basic data, the scale and range of evaluation, the application, verification and promotion of the evaluation indicator systems,etc.


Summary form only given. An experiment has been designed to study harmonic operation of the ubitron in <e1>Ku</e1> band with the first-harmonic interaction below cutoff. The first-harmonic interaction is studied and compared to the higher harmonics. The experiment is designed to interact with either the TE01 or TE/TM11  modes. The TE01 mode interacts with the odd harmonics of the electron wiggle motion with no contribution from nonlinear bunching due to a first-harmonic interaction. The TE/TM11 modes interact through the second-harmonic periodic position. The experimental parameters are <e1>V</e1>b=55-250 kV, <e1>I</e1> b= 10-50 A, <e1>L</e1>w= 3 cm, <e1>B</e1>w = 1-1.5 kG, waveguide=1.372×0.622 in (WR137), and <e1>f</e1>=15 GHz. The interaction waveguide is overmoded. Three-dimensional nonlinear simulations of the interaction predict unenhanced efficiencies of 3% for the third harmonic (at 55 kV) and 7% for the second harmonic (at 120 kV). Operation in the first harmonic requires a beam voltage of 250 kV with a predicted efficiency of 15%


One hundred fifty genotypes of wheat were screened for Karnal bunt resistance under artificial inoculation condition in field during 2009-10 rabi seasons. Significant variability in the incidence of disease was observed among genotypes where the per cent disease incidence ranged from 0.2-63.1 at grains harvest stage. Out of one hundred fifty genotypes screened, 12 were rated as highly resistant, 6 as resistant, 6 as moderately resistant and rest as moderately susceptible to highly susceptible genotypes against Karnal bunt of wheat.


Employment is an essential function in the process of recovery for persons with serious and persistent mental illness. Unfortunately the SPMI population has had a static unemployment rate of 90% since the 1970's. This rate appears to be as such due to the difficulty many people have in retaining their employment and managing their symptoms. An intervention that has been shown to be successful is the integration of mental health supports in vocational programming for the mentally ill. With such supports clients have shown a higher likelihood to be able to


In one aspect, the apparatus (600) of the charging apparatus comprising a charger and a controller (610). The charger comprises a capacitor (CI, C2) and having the charger output and charger input. The charger input for receiving an AC input voltage waveform, and the output of the charger output voltage waveform and a current waveform output. The controller (610) determines the amplitude of the output voltage waveform of the voltage is within range. Determining in response to the output of the amplitude of the voltage waveform is within the voltage range, the controller controls the output amplitude of the current waveform and the guide amplitude waveform of the AC input voltage is substantially proportional. Responsive to determining the amplitude of the output voltage waveform is not within the voltage range, the controller increases the capacitance charger (CI, C2) to said output voltage waveform to the amplitude adjustment the voltage range.


We study the problem of moving a vertex in an unstructured mesh of triangular, quadrilateral, or tetrahedral elements to optimize the shapes of adjacent elements. We show that many such problems can be solved in linear time using generalized linear programming. We also give efficient algorithms for some mesh smoothing problems that do not fit into the generalized linear programming paradigm.


Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of argon plasma coagulation(APC) with painless colonoscopy in treating elderly patients with colon polyps.Methods According to the different treatment methods,70 elderly patients(94 polyps) were randomly divided into treatment group(36 cases,50 polyps) and control group(34 cases,44 polyps).Colon polyps in treatment group were treated by APC after anesthesia with fentanyl and propofol,and control group was conventionally treated by colonoscopy microwave.The indicators of preoperative,intraoperative,and postoperative vital signs were compared,as well as the patients' tolerance,the proportion of surgical complications and cure rate.Results Compared with the preoperative indicators,vital signs of treatment group were stable during the treatment,which had no statistical significance.The blood pressure and heart rate of control group were up at different levels during the treatment,which had statistical significance in contrast with the preoperative indicators.The colonoscopy was successfully inserted into the patients in treatment group,who had well tolerance fewer complications and a high cure rate.The effects were better than that of the control group.Conclusions Argon plasma coagulation with painless colonoscopy in treating elderly patients with colon polyps is effective,safe and worthy of clinical using.


An unusual Salmonella typhimurium hybrid with sensitivity to coliphage lambda and salmonella phage P22 has been recovered from matings between an Escherichia coli K-12 Hfr donor and an S. typhimurium recipient. The hybrid is an excellent host for achieving genetic recombination between lambda and P22. Two broad classes of hybrid phages were isolated. The lambda-P22 hybrid class, which has the protein coat of lambda, contains at least the c region of P22. The P22-lambda hybrid class has the protein coat of P22 and has inherited at least the c marker of lambda.


Congesting cuffs or "rotating tourniquets' are often used to treat patients with acute pulmonary edema secondary to left heart failure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of congesting cuffs in pooling blood in the extremities and decreasing pulmonary congesting pressures in patients with left heart failure and to define optimal congesting cuff pressures. Congesting cuffs on three extremities were inflated to 20, 40, 60 and 80 mm Hg in 16 patients with left heart failure and in 7 normal subjects. The extremities were elevated to collapse the veins before inflating the cuffs. The amount of venous pooling was measured with mercury-in-silastic strain gauge plethysmographs. Inflation of the cuffs produced significantly less venous pooling in patients with heart failure than in normal subjects. Decreases in right atrial pressure during inflation of the cuffs were also significantly less in the patients with heart failure than in the normal subjects. In patients with heart failure, pulmonary congesting pressure (left ventricular diastolic pressure or mean pulmonary arterial wedge pressure) averaged 24.2 ± 1.5 (SE) mm Hg in the control period and 24.6 ± 2.2, 22.9 ± 1.9, 23.2 ± 2.1 and 20.3 ± 1.6 mm Hg during inflation of the cuffs at 20, 40, 60 and 80 mm Hg, respectively. The decreases in pulmonary congesting pressure (PCP) were not significant (P> 0.05) at cuff pressures of 20, 40 and 60 mm Hg. Decreases in PCP were statistically significant at a cuff pressure of 80 mm Hg, but only 6 of 16 patients had decreases greater than 4 mm Hg. The results suggest that in patients with heart failure the effectiveness of congesting cuffs is limited by decreases in venous distensibility which are characteristic of heart failure.


Background and Aim:  In Japan, peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is treated clinically with a combination of a mucosal protectant and acid suppressants, but there is scant information regarding the effects of these drugs on normal gastric mucus cells. In the present study, the effects of co‐administration of methylmethionine sulfonium chloride (MMSC) and famotidine on rat gastric mucus cells were investigated using both biochemical and histological methods.


AbstractWe describe di erent implementations of the 3D Heisenberg spinglass model for Graphics Processing Units (GPU). The results showthat the fast shared memory gives better performance with respect tothe slow global memory only if a multi-hit technique is used. Keywords: Spin Systems, GPU, Vector Processing. 1 Introduction In spite of the availability of high performance multi-core systems basedon traditional architectures, there is recently a renewed interest in oatingpoint accelerators and co-processors that can be de ned as devices that carryout arithmetic operations concurrently with or in place of the CPU. Amongthe solutions that have received more attention from the high performancecomputing community there are the NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units(GPU), originally developed for video cards and graphics, since they areable to support very demanding computational tasks. As a matter of fact,astonishing results have been reported by using them for a number of appli-cations covering, among others, atomistic simulations, uid-dynamic solversand option pricing. Simulations of statistical mechanics systems based onMontecarlo techniques are another example of applications that may bene- t of the GPU computing capabilities. In the present work we report theresults obtained by following di erent approaches for the implementation1


This bachelor thesis deals with optimalization of railway transport on the local line Lovosice - Louny. Traffic on the line is managed according to the regulation SŽDC (CD) D3 for simplified dispatching of railway transport. Suggested solution retains control of the traffic according to the regulation SŽDC (CD) D3. The abjectin increase of transport safety, shortening of travel time and making more attractive personal/commuter railway transport.


Particulate filled polymer composites are becoming attractive because of their wide applications and low cost. In this study the effects of mica with varying concentration on the mechanical, thermal, electrical, rheological and morphological properties of polyester thermoplastic elastomer (Hytrel ® ) was investigated. Composites of Hytrel ® with varying concentrations (viz. 5 to 40 weight %) of mica were prepared by twin screw extrusion. Mechanical properties such as flexural strength and modulus were found to increase with mica concentration, whereas tensile strength was found to decrease at higher concentrations. Electrical and thermal properties of composite were found to increase with filler concentration. Morphological studies revealed that there is a good dispersion of filler in the polymer matrix at lower concentrations.


Respiratory rates of Macoma balthica, Mulinia lateralis and Mya arenaria were determined under an experimental design using acclimation and exposure temperatures ranging from 1 to 30 C. Rates decreased with increasing size and in general varied directly with temperature. However, high temperatures (30 C)depressed metabolism of cold-acclimated Mulinia and Mya. Very young Mya were less affected by high temperature (30 C) than were )Viva a few months older. Mya and Mulinia demonstrated acclimation pattern III A. Small Macoma had pattern III B, which changed to IV C for larger animals. Macoma was least affected by high or low temperature stress, followed by Mya, then Mulinia. All three species were able to compensate for temperature change to a varying extent. Unseasonal artificial warming of the benthic environment could elevate metabolism of the species studied, which could lead to starvation if food were scarce, especially in winter.


We propose a video image recognition system for a kinetic analysis of rehabilitation trainings. The experimental results show our method can be applied to noisy video inputs without requiring ad hoc equipment. The aim of our project is to develop a video image recognition system for a kinetic analysis of rehabilitation trainings. To make an effective rehabilitation program, it is important to analyze difference between movements of a physically impaired person and an unimpaired person. An analysis system of improvement of impaired person will make it possible to propagate effective training method and to practice remote rehabilitation in a depopulated area. For the kinetic analysis system, it is necessary to have robustness for noisy inputs. Conventional systems require a patient to walk in special equipment or to wear ad hoc equipment to avoid effect by noises. In this paper, we extend our previously proposed method for gesture recognition system to tracking method for applying the kinetic analysis system. We propose a new self-organization method using Maximum Neural Networks for tracking human movements. The experimental results show Maximum Neuron Model can be applied to a long time series of inputs avoiding effects by input noises. Acknowledgment This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for the research on the rehabilitation program diffusion toward the reduction of bedridden elderly.


Graph coloring is a highly effective approach to intraprocedural register allocation. In this paper, we describe a new algorithm for intraprocedural register allocation called HECRA, an algorithm that extends a classic graph coloring register allocator to use a hybrid evolutionary coloring algorithm. The experiments demonstrated that our algorithm is able to minimize the amount of spills, thereby improving the quality of the generated code. Besides, HECRA is interesting in contexts where compile time is a concern, and not only the quality of the generated code.


A Grand-canonical Monte-Carlo simulation method extended to simulate a mixture of salts is presented. Due to charge neutrality requirement of electrolyte solutions, ions must be added to or removed from the system in groups. This leads to some complications compared to regular Grand Canonical simulation. Here, a recipe for simulation of electrolyte solution of salt mixture is presented. It is then implemented to simulate solution of 1:1, 2:1 and 2:2 salts or their mixtures at different concentrations using the primitive ion model. The osmotic pressures of the electrolyte solutions are calculated and shown to depend linearly on the salt concentrations within the concentration range simulated. We also show that at the same concentration of divalent anions, the presence of divalent cations make it easier to insert monovalent cations into the system. This can explain some quantitative differences observed in experiments of the MgCl$_2$ salt mixture and MgSO$_4$ salt mixture.


Abstract During the mid-first millennium AD, new kingdoms and states emerged across South Asia. At this time, land grants made to Hindu temples are thought to have led to wide-ranging societal transformations. To date, however, neither the land-grant charters nor the changes they are said to have driven have been studied archaeologically. Here, the authors present the results of the first archaeological investigation of the charters and their landscape context. Bringing together the textual record with a survey of 268 religious and residential sites, the results establish historical baselines against which the longue durée developments of South Asian social, political and economic formation can be profitably re-posed.


A virtual community is a precious information collation source allowing a company to identify conditions on which to base bubble information and indications regarding the time and manner on which the bubble should be triggered. Observations of virtual community dynamics, people entering and exiting, the length of their stay and so on, are fertile indicators for bubble potential in terms of dimension and timeframe.


^ *th a coloured plate, containing six figures. London, 1824. Q^uctical Remarks. Part I. On Acute and Chronic Phthalmia. Part II. On Remittent Fever, viz. Simple ^Complicated. By Thomas O'Halloran, M.D. Author v, treatises on the Barcelona and Andalusian Yellow Fever Pldemics. Octavo, pp. 148. London, 1824. T is Opt,, Ver.v probable, as Mr. Hewson observes, that venereal lllia *s coeval with the other secondary symptoms of ttw, among which it holds a distinguished place. It is


To make the algorithm available for real-time tracking system, a four-template correlation tracker has been developed successfully. The multi-sub-template correlation algorithm is studied, which is proved to be practical by use of a lot of software method. By contrast test of tracing different kind of targets, it is pointed out that four-template with eight pixel overlapped can make algorithm fit to trace small and large targets.


Dear Sir: Many elderly patients are known to require and/ or tolerate only 20-50% of the usual adult dose of psychotropic medication. However, as illustrated by the following 3 cases, some elderly patients seem to require and/ or tolerate much less than 20% of the usual adult dose. Case I. A 78 year old physically healthy widowed female with a diagnosis of paranoid state, irregularly noncompliant with oral medication, was started on Fluphenazine Decanoate 6.25 mg. i.m. every three weeks administered by a visiting community nurse. Within three weeks there was a marked improvement in her psychiatric symptomatology but the patient developed a severe Parkinsonian syndrome with decreased mobility and home functioning. Subsequently, medication was reduced in stages: symptoms are now well controlled with only mild Parkinsonian features by Fluphenazine Decanoate 2.5 mg. i.m. every four weeks. (The community nurse uses an insulin syringe to administer the medication). Case 2. A 69 year old physically healthy male with severe anxiety and atypical depression, who was unable to tolerate the anticholinergic side effects of even small doses of tricyclic antidepressants, was started on Phenelzine 15 mg. daily. When he complained again of side effects the medication was reduced in stages to Nardil 3.75 mg. daily. With this dose he reported no side effects but good symptom relief within two weeks. Case 3. A 76 year old physically healthy widowed female with bipolar affective disorder was experiencing manic and depressive episodes of increasing frequency uncontrolled by combinations of antidepressant-neuroleptic medication. She reported that Lithium Carbonate had been tried in the past but had been discontinued because she had become toxic. Nevertheless, in view of her deteriorating clinical state, it was decided to start her on Lithium Carbonate 300 mg. daily. Within ten days she developed signs and symptoms of early Lithium toxicity. When the dose was lowered to Lithium Carbonate 150 mg. daily, signs and symptoms of Lithium toxicity disappeared and her mood normalized. In the five years since, the patient's Lithium carbonate requirement has varied from 150 to 300 mg. daily but her course has been relatively stable. Thus, it appears that some aged patients require very small doses of medication. In all of these cases, the very small doses resulted in improvement and increased doses resulted in toxic or disabling side effects. These findings were independent of any changes in the therapeutic relationship, and because these patients were taking only the psychotropic medication prescribed there was no reason to suspect drug interaction effects. Whether due to unusual aspects of absorption, distribution, excretion or receptor sensitivity, such mini-doses of medication seem to be therapeutically necessary in some elderly psychiatric patients. M. Cole, M.D. Montreal, Quebec


Cloud phase and relative humidity (RH) distributions at −67° to 0°C over the Southern Ocean during austral summer are compared between in situ airborne observations and global climate simulations. A scale-aware comparison is conducted using horizontally averaged observations from 0.1 to 50 km. Cloud phase frequencies, RH distributions, and liquid mass fraction are found to be less affected by horizontal resolutions than liquid and ice water content (LWC and IWC, respectively), liquid and ice number concentrations (Ncliq and Ncice, respectively), and ice supersaturation (ISS) frequency. At −10° to 0°C, observations show 27%–34% and 17%–37% of liquid and mixed phases, while simulations show 60%–70% and 3%–4%, respectively. Simulations overestimate (underestimate) LWC and Ncliq in liquid (mixed) phase, overestimate Ncice in mixed phase, underestimate IWC in ice and mixed phases, and underestimate (overestimate) liquid mass fraction below (above) −5°C, indicating that observational constraints are needed for different cloud phases. RH frequently occurs at liquid saturation in liquid and mixed phases for all datasets, yet the observed RH in ice phase can deviate from liquid saturation by up to 20%–40% at −20° to 0°C, indicating that the model assumption of liquid saturation for coexisting ice and liquid is inaccurate for low liquid mass fractions (<0.1). Simulations lack RH variability for partial cloud fractions (0.1–0.9) and underestimate (overestimate) ISS frequency for cloud fraction <0.1 (≥0.6), implying that improving RH subgrid-scale parameterizations may be a viable path to account for small-scale processes that affect RH and cloud phase heterogeneities. Two sets of simulations (nudged and free-running) show very similar results (except for ISS frequency) regardless of sample sizes, corroborating the statistical robustness of the model–observation comparisons.


Wildlife preservation and protection is a necessary condition for the implementation of sustainable development. It is a determining factor in the possibility of continued human existence as a species at the present stage of biosphere development. The reduction of natural ecosystems' territories, and, as a result of this, the reduction of their biodiversity, negatively affects the quality of life of different regions and of humanity as a whole. One of the ways to optimize the environment, preserve natural ecosystems and improve the quality of human environment is creation of ecological frameworks of the regions. Shipov Forest, Tellerman Forest, Khopersky Reserve, Voronezh State Nature Reserve named after V.M. Peskov, a forest-green zone of the city of Voronezh (currently under construction) will be the main centers of the ecological framework of the Voronezh region. At the same time, there are 244 specially protected natural territories of regional and local subordination in the Voronezh region. They belong to different areas of protected territories, categories and profiles. When creating an ecological framework, these territories are included into ecological framework, thereby expanding its territory and strengthen its environment-forming functions.


Geological modelling aims at defining the spatial extent of geological units (GU) in a mineral deposit, from fragmentary information (drill hole data and surface mapping). To this end, the implicit surface or boundary modelling (ISM) is a novel approach in the mining industry imported from the computer graphic field. The ISM application to model the boundary of a GU is the following: for every drill hole sample, calculate the distance to the nearest sample belonging to another unit, assign a positive sign if the sample belongs to the target unit and a negative sign otherwise, then interpolate the signed distances in the 3D space using radial basis functions. Finally the zero-distance iso-surface (representing the boundary of the target GU) is extracted and transformed into a wireframe representation. This work presents a method combining implicit surface modelling and existing geostatistical approaches to generate an uncertainty model for a geological unit. The proposed method simulates the distance to the geological boundary in the study area, conditionally to the information at the data locations, in order to get the simulated GU by considering the zero-distance iso-surface. The variogram parameters and the distribution of distances can be derived from a reference geological model so that the simulated GU reproduces desired features. The proposed approach is applied to a data base from the Rosario Oeste deposit and compared to a traditional approach. Relevant aspects of ISM application in the geological modelling framework versus its original field of application are discussed. INTRODUCTION The geological modelling process consists in defining the spatial extension of geological units related to a petrophysical property such as lithology, alteration or mineral zone. To this end, one can distinguish between two main approaches:  Deterministic modelling, which provides a unique geological model to describe the deposit. The most common method is hand contouring and direct digitization of the geological unit boundaries.  Stochastic modelling, which uses geostatistical methods such as sequential indicator, truncated Gaussian and plurigaussian simulation in order to generate several plausible scenarios of the geological setting. This approach allows determining spatial uncertainty measures and aspects such as selectivity-dilution, optimal grid spacing and information effect, among others. In the scope of deterministic modelling, a new approach called implicit boundary modelling uses functions based on distance to extract the surface or boundary between different geological units. In recent years, implicit boundary modelling has been gaining popularity in the mining industry because of the easy generation and rapid update of geological models, as well as the repeatability of the process. The attractive features and the mathematical background formulation of implicit modelling make it interesting to explore and expand to the stochastic modelling approach, by combining implicit modelling and geostatistical methods. OVERVIEW OF CURRENT GEOLOGICAL MODELLING APPROACHES Hand Contouring-Direct modelling It consists in defining polygons to represent the extension of the geological units, based on drill hole data projected into planes such as vertical sections and plan views. Then, one generates a 3D wireframe that honours the contacts of the units at the drill hole locations. This approach allows the explicit incorporation of geological knowledge of the deposit; however, it can be time consuming depending on the complexity of the geological units and the required resolution. Another drawback is the non-repeatability and possible geologist "bias" effect. Implicit Modelling The implicit boundary modelling is an imported technique from the computer graphic field, designed to generate a surface representation from a dense scattered 3D point data set, from 3D laser scanners [1]. It is important to notice that the original aim of the method is to find a surface representation of dense scattered data, whereas the goal of geological modelling is to predict the spatial extension of the geological units using a surface representation based on fragmentary and scarce data, such as drill holes and surface mapping. The core of the method, in the case of modelling two complementary geological units, can be summarised as follows:  For each available drill hole sample, calculate a distance to the nearest geological contact. Such a distance can be the Euclidian distance or an anisotropic distance. Assign a positive sign to the previous calculated distance if the sample belongs to the target geological unit and a negative sign otherwise.  Interpolate the signed distance function over the domain of interest by using an exact interpolator such as radial basis functions, inverse distance interpolation or kriging.  Extract the zero-distance iso-surface as the boundary of the target geological unit, or flag the estimated nodes depending on the sign of the interpolated distance function. The process is illustrated on a synthetic example shown in Figure 1, using four vertical drill holes and two units. Stochastic models The most common methods to generate a stochastic geological model are sequential indicator simulation (SIS) [2] and truncated Gaussian simulation (TGS) [3]. Both methods rely on a codification of the geological units into indicators. Figure 1 Example of application of implicit boundary modelling: (a) drill hole data; (b) distances calculated in samples and interpolated distances; (c) final geological model after truncation Sequential Indicator Simulation (SIS) This method rests on the estimation of the conditional distributions of the geological unit indicators at each target node, by means of indicator kriging [4], using the sample data and the previously simulated nodes as conditioning information. From the conditional distributions, a unit is then drawn by Monte Carlo simulation. The main advantages of the method are the simple incorporation of hard and soft data and the possibility to express spatially continuous patterns. As a counterpart, indicator kriging suffer from mathematical inconsistencies such as order relation violations, which need to be corrected [5]. Truncated Gaussian Simulation (TGS) This method relies on the truncation of a Gaussian random field (GRF) in order to generate realisations of geological units. The main features are the reproduction of the indicator variograms associated with the geological units and a hierarchical contact relationships between units. This method is therefore adequate for deposits where the units exhibit a hierarchical spatial distribution, such as depositional environments or sedimentary formations. Plurigaussian simulation [6] is an extension of truncated Gaussian simulation that incorporates two or more Gaussian random fields and a truncation rule and allows reproducing complex contact relationships between the geological units. IMPLICIT BOUNDARY SIMULATION (IBS) Implicit boundary simulation has been explored as a global uncertainty model, based on the available data [7] or on a reference model to infer parameters [8]. The proposed simulation approach is presented for both options. Implicit Boundary Simulation From Available Data If the available data is dense enough to infer the spatial configuration of the geological units, the following approach can be used:  Calculate the distance of each sample to the nearest contact  Transform the calculated distances into normal scores  Perform variogram analysis of the transformed distances  Simulate the transformed distances, conditionally to the available samples, by using a multivariate Gaussian simulation algorithm [9, 10]  Truncate the resulting realisations using the Gaussian value associated with the zero distance. As an illustration, Figure 2 presents an example showing two realisations of the transformed distances (top) and the associated categorical realisations after truncation (bottom). Figure 2 Example of implicit boundary simulation, showing simulated Gaussian distance fields (top) and categorical realisations (bottom) Implicit Boundary Simulation Using a Reference Model When the available data are scarce or one wants to impose the properties of a certain phenomenon to the realisations, a reference model (RM) can be used. The RM can be derived from a picture or an existing geological model. In this case, the following approach is used:  In the reference model, calculate the distance D RM of each node to the nearest contact  Transform the calculated distances into normal scores. Store the RM transformation function and the Gaussian value associated with the zero distance.  Perform variogram analysis of the transformed distances  In the sample data base, calculate the distance D sample of each sample to the nearest contact. Since the data base represents only a part of the reality, D sample is actually the maximum possible distance to the nearest contact, and the true distance to the contact (D true ) can range from 0 to the distance calculated from the samples: ] , 0 [ sample true D D   Using the transformation function and variogram determined with the reference model, simulate the true distances D true of the samples to the nearest contact, conditionally to the previous interval constraint. This can be achieved using an iterative algorithm known as the Gibbs sampler [6, 11].  Simulate D true over the domain, using a multivariate Gaussian simulation algorithm  Truncate the resulting realisations to obtain the simulated geological units. By repeating this procedure, a set of realisations reproducing the indicator variogram and proportion of the reference model, as well as the known geological units at the sample locations, can be generated. APPLICATION TO A MINING DATA SET Presentation of the Data Implicit boundary simulation is applied to the mineral zones of the Rosario Oeste deposit, owned by Compañia Mine


"The Gold-Embedding-Silver" Project launched by the Xiamen City has not only enhanced industrialization and rural urbanization but also ensured,to certain degree,the employment and income of the farmers whose land is acquired by the government.The project is a new mode of overall-planned economic and social development in urban and rural areas.However,the new mode under research has inevitably produced "sequela" in the aspects of "internal-silver" reconstructions,"gold-frame" management,the planning and the layout of the matching education facilities and service facilities in the project areas.Therefore,it is necessary to upgrade and perfect the positives of the mode in well-targeted manners,such as,by quickening the construction of public matching facilities in industry-concentration areas,innovating management mechanism,and furthering policy supports.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the stress corrosion cracking behavior of austenitic alloys in pure supercritical water (SCW) and to gain a better understanding of the stress co...


Using Hegyi single wooden model of competition index,two 6-year-old mixed plantations where masson pine and hybrid pine were mixed respectively with Castanopsis hystrix at the proportion of 1:1 were investigated..The results showed that average competition intensity of masson pine and hybrid pine objective trees decreased gradually with the increase of DBH;interspecific competition was greater than the intraspecific.Intraspecific and interspecific competition intensities in hybrid pine mixed plantation were 49.5% and 50.5% respectively;For masson pine mixed plantation,the intraspecific and interspecific competition intensities were 48.1% and 51.9% respectively.The relationship between DBH and CI appeared a cubic polynomial function.


Acute kidney injury (AKI) has received increasing attention in recent years. Our previous study has revealed that Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) ameliorated ischemic AKI by inhibiting the inflammatory response, which might be implicated in the aberrant expression of miR-146a. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to elucidate the role of miR-146a in the renal protection of AS-IV. Rats were orally administered 15 mg·kg-1 AS-IV for 7 days prior to ischemic-reperfusion (I/R), and were sacrificed for the evaluation of injury and inflammation at 12 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h after I/R. We found that pretreated with AS-IV significantly attenuated the functional deterioration and histological damage induced by AKI, as well as decreased the inflammatory mediators, such as myeloperoxidase (MPO), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), monocyte chemo-attractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). In addition, AS-IV pretreatment significantly elevated the expression of miR-146a, which had a lower expression in AKI rats and in injured rat renal epithelial cell line (NRK-52E), originally. Moreover, up-regulation of miR-146a in injured NRK-52E cells could deregulate the levels of MCP-1, ICAM-1 and TNF-α. Furthermore, in the protein levels, interleukin-1-receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK-1), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL-2), hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and the phosphorylated p65 subunit of NF-κB (p-p65) were also greatly decreased. Taken together, our results provide important evidences that AS-IV pretreatment ameliorated ischemic AKI and inhibited the inflammatory response by up regulating the expression of miR-146a, implying that miR-146a might be serve as a potential therapeutic target against AKI.


A large number of national and international grid codes require the performance of Under Voltage Ride Through (UVRT) tests. According to the state of the art, these tests are performed in the field using a shunt impedancebased test facility. However, it is also possible to perform them under laboratory conditions on a system test bench, where inverter-based grid simulators usually provide an artificial grid. There are differences between the two test variants both for the test execution and evaluation. An essential difference is the origin of the voltage profile. In the traditional test method, this is a reaction to the connection of the impedances used. As a result, the impedance at the DUT's connection point also changes. The grid simulators represent a fully controllable voltage source. The voltage curve is therefore calculated in advance and input to the controller. A second essential distinguishing feature is the short-circuit branch, which is no longer present in the grid simulators. Often, the current flow through the short-circuit branch indicates the beginning of the under-voltage event. To determine the start and end times, a specially developed methodology based on the tolerance bands defined in VDE-AR-N 4120 is applied during tests on the grid simulators.


The myeov gene has been isolated by the tumorigenicity assay and is localized at chromosome 11q13, a frequent site for chromosomal rearrangements in various carcinomas and B-cell neoplasms. In addition, myeov is coamplified with cyclin D1 and overexpressed in carcinomas of various organs. The mechanisms of myeov regulation remain enigmatic. The 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) of the myeov gene is long, encompasses several upstream AUGs, and is predicted to fold in a strong secondary structure, suggesting that its translation might be regulated by an internal ribosomal entry site. Here we show that initial experiments using monocistronic and dicistronic reporter constructs supported this assumption. However, the application of in vitro transcription/translation assays, Northern blot analysis, and promoterless dicistronic constructs revealed promoter activity of the myeov 5′-UTR. DNA transfection of dicistronic DNA constructs, normal and mutated forms of myeov cDNA fragments cloned in a eukaryotic expression vector, and direct RNA transfection analysis revealed that upstream AUG triplets in the 5′-UTR of the myeov transcript abrogate translation. Alternative splicing mechanisms in specific cell types and/or developmental stage may evade this translation control. Control experiments suggest that the 5′-UTR from encephalomyocarditis virus, when inserted at the midpoint of a dicistronic vector, is also able to function as a cryptic promoter.


The deposition of fat in the hepatic tissue has been recognized long ago, in the early 1900s. In 1907, Hartley made the first accurate description of the fatty liver [1]. First regarded as a consequence of alcohol intake, Ludwig has observed its occurrence among non alcohol consumers in 1980, along with some of its potential harmful effects, especially the nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Since then, the knowledge about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increased substantially, but up until now, the exact pathways which lead to its variable histological aspects remain largely unknown. There are many underlying features directly linked to its onset, such as insulin resistance, abnormal liver uptake of fatty acids, chronic inflammation, and lipotoxicity. All of these abnormalities are also strongly associated with overweight, obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and metabolic syndrome [2].


Widespread and economically important European tree species such as Norway spruce, Scots pine, and European beech are projected to be negatively affected by the increasing intensity and frequency of dry and hot conditions in a future climate. Hence, there is an increasing need to investigate the suitability of presumably more drought tolerant species to ensure future ecological stability, biodiversity, and productivity of forests. Based on their distribution patterns and climatic envelopes, the rare, minor broadleaved tree species Sorbus torminalis ((L.) CRANTZ), S. domestica (L.), Acer campestre (L.), and A. platanoides (L.) are assumed to be drought tolerant, however, there is only limited experimental basis to support that notion. This study aimed at quantifying growth and gas exchange of seedlings of these species during drought conditions, and their capacity to recover following drought. For that purpose, they were compared to the common companion species Quercus petraea ((MATTUSCHKA) LIEBL.) and Fagus sylvatica (L.). Here, potted seedlings of these species were exposed to water limitation followed by rewetting cycles in a greenhouse experiment. Photosynthesis and transpiration rates, stomatal conductance as well as root and shoot growth rates indicated a high drought resistance of A. campestre and A. platanoides. Sorbus domestica showed a marked ability to recover after drought stress. Therefore, we conclude that these minor tree species have the potential to enrich forests on drought-prone sites. Results from this pot experiment need to be complemented by field studies, in which the drought response of the species is not influenced by restrictions to root development.


Abstract We consider the Dirichlet boundary value problem for higher order O.D.E. with nonlinearity being the sum of a derivative of a convex and of a concave function in case when no growth condition is imposed on the concave part.


How do we talk about education? And how does such talk produce the subject of "students"? This visual presentation introduces the results of a comparative educational discourse analysis . Words matter, and I analyse and compare how they are used by news media and student organizations to talk about education in Quebec, in particular during that province's historic 2012 student strike. Operationalizing Laclau and Mouffe's post-Marxist discourse theory, analysis focuses on how education-related signifiers (organized around the nodal point of identity "students") both define and are defined by each other through relationships that vary in contingency. These relationships or articulations are illustrated here through a form of discourse mapping . The ensuing discussion concerns whether the sources under study genuinely represent separate discourses, what their relationship is to broader public discourses, and the possibility of promoting social justice in education and more generally by fostering/reinforcing/contesting particular articulations.


Teaching English for non-English department students is challenging. English is taught for the sake of
using it in order to be able to communicate within particular professional settings since it is treated as English for
Specific Purposes (ESP). Basically, ESP focuses more on teaching English in particular contexts rather than
merely teaching its grammar and vocabulary. Reading is one of the most required skills by students of
Management of Informatics at State Polytechnic of Malang, along with speaking. It is needed at work especially
to interpret user manuals and tutorials about latest and updated software and hardware, as well as at present,
specifically to get information and ideas from articles and books for their final projects. However, in facts, the
students are reluctant to read an English text even though it is relevant with their subject and feel that they have
lack of vocabularies. Accordingly, a strategy named KWL may be implemented. KWL (Know-Want-Learn) is a
strategy usually applied in reading where students are geared to construct their knowledge, first, by activating
their prior knowledge or what they Know, questioning what they Want to know, and concluding what they Learn
about a certain topic. The present paper aims at describing how KWL strategy can be used to teach reading for
the students of Management Informatics at State Polytechnic of Malang. The strategy may also be used to
motivate them to read extensively and have positive perception toward reading activities respectively. Besides, it
may lead to the improvement on their speaking and writing skills.
Keywords: KWL strategy, reading comprehension, non-English Department students, ESP


Investigating accidents is an important method to enhance safety in aviation. Nevertheless, it is equally important to examine trends and factors across different accidents to adapt accordingly. Therefore, in the first study, 48 accidents and incidents occurring to manned military aircraft of the German Armed Forces between the years 2004 and 2014 were analyzed using the HFACS framework. Results show that preconditions for unsafe acts (37.7%) was observed most often, followed by unsafe acts (36.2%) and organizational influences (17.9%). Unsafe supervision was observed least often (8.2%). Thus, operators on the front line contribute the major part to manned aircraft incurrences in the German Armed Forces while higher levels of HFACS seem to play a smaller part. In the second study, 33 accidents and incidents occurring to unmanned military aircraft of the German Armed Forces between 2004 and 2014 were analyzed, also using the HFACS framework. Results show that technical issues were mentioned most often and human factors were identified considerably less than in manned aircraft.


The authors have developed a nanoscale, rib-loaded waveguide that propagates a low optical overlap mode (LOOM) in which less than 1% of the modal field energy resides in the semiconductor material. Because of the small modal fill factor, the potential for extremely low waveguide propagation loss, on the order of 0.001dB or less, is predicted. Elevated membrane waveguides, 50nm thick with a 50nm thick rib, have been fabricated in InP using a multistep microelectromechanical release process. Both transverse electric and transverse magnetic LOOM propagations have been observed and measurements are compared to theoretical predictions.


17 beta-Oestradiol, Progesterone and Testosterone levels were assayed using different methods involving both I125 or H3 ad tracer in 15 female sera. Wide variations were observed only using the direct assay of 17 beta-Oestradiol, while the results of the three others assays were overlapped. None of the three methods used for the assay of Progesterone gave remarkably variations in results. One of the two direct methods used for Testosterone produced higher results than those obtained using previously extracted samples.


Literary History - The Journal for the Science of Literature was launched in 1968, and since 1991 its publisher is the Institute for Literature and Art. The magazine has an international editorship and is published three times a year. It is on the list of international journals ERIH PLUS and is indexed in the Digital Repository of the National Library of Serbia, MLA and CEEOL database, and the papers are archived in the repository of scientific journals in open access DOAJ.2. It is included in the A category (ANVUR) and the I category of the Reference List of Slavic magazines. Literary history is oriented towards literary-theoretical and literary-historical research, interdisciplinary works of comparative, intercultural and multimedia approach. The rubric " TERMINOLOGICAL GUIDE" (since 2005) inherits a long tradition of literary theoretical research at the Institute for Literature and Art and is a continuation of the Dictionary of Literary Terms (ed. D. Živković, 1985). The works published in this section are primarily oriented towards literary terminology and, in a broader sense, towards literary theoretical and metascientific issues. To date, 45 concepts and terms have been processed. Contributions can be grouped within the following subcategories: 1) methodological issues; 2) terminological issues; 3) metacriticism; 4) periodization of literature; 5) geneological area. The greatest value of the works published in the " TERMINOLOGICAL GUIDE" column is in the illumination of those literary-theoretical phenomena that have not yet had adequate elaboration or are open to new critical insights. Although the titles of the articles within the rubric are usually not of the nominalist-lexicographic type, the research topics offer further guidelines for potential lexicographic processing, and in this sense, most studies could be adapted to the standards of future dictionary publications.


Located in the suture zone of the Cathaysia and Yangtze tectonic belt and lies on the southern side of Jiangshao fault, theXiangshan uranium orefield is the largest volcanic uranium orefield and is also the earliest discovered volcanic uranium orefield in China. Its basement is a set of ancient metamorphic rock series. Micro palaeophyte fossils and previous studies indicate that the basement metamorphic rocks formed in the Qingbaikou period of Neoproterozoic. This paper mainly discusses the composition of metamorphic rock and analyzes its formation environment. Most metamorphic samples are characterized by intermediate Si O2 content, high K2O/Na2 O and Fe2O3T+Mg O, and obviously low Ca O content. Analytical results of all samples show larger total ΣREE values and abundant LREE, as well as depletion of Eu, implying that the rock samples originated from the continental crust. The overall compositions of various sample patterns are very close to each other in the REE distribution diagram, and REE patterns of all samples are of right-oblique type, similar to patterns of the post-Archean shale and the upper crust. From the Simonen and Nielv diagram, the authors infer that the original rocks of Shenshan Formation were mainly composed of complex mineral sandstones and feldspathic sandstone, the original rocks of Kuli Formation consisted mainly of quartzite sandstone and feldspathic sandstone, and the original rocks of Shangshi Formation comprised mainly feldspathic sandstone, with a little siliceous marl and shale sandstone.Combined with residual structural features analysis, it is inferred that these metamorphic clastic sedimentary rocks formed in a shallow shore- shelf sedimentary environment. Th/Sc ratios of all samples vary in a small range(0.5-1.1), while Zr/Sc ratios vary quite considerably(8- 24), revealing the complex composition of the source region of the metamorphic rocks and the probable existence of several sedimentary cycles. In Th-Sc-Zr/10 and La-Th-Sc diagram, most of the data fall into the continental island arc area, indicating that this set of rocks might have been deposited in the basins near the continental island arc. Hf-La/Th diagrams indicate that the provenance of the original rock mostly came from ancient strata of uplift and erosion, and acidic arc source region only possessed a small proportion. It is thus obvious that the magmatic activity during its deposition was not obvious, but the source region was accompanied by tectonic uplift. Combined with geochemical characteristics, it is held that the protoliths of basement metamorphic rocks in the Xiangshan uranium orefield were formed in the residual basin of an extension environment, resulting from the post-collision between Cathaysia and Yangzi Blocks.


The present specification provides a method for transmitting data of a machine type communication (MTC) device. The method for transmitting data of an MTC device comprises the steps of: receiving a mobility management (MM) latency timer from a mobility management entity within a network; operating the MM latency timer; determining whether data to be transmitted is generated before the expiration of the MM latency timer; and transmitting the data to be transmitted through an uplink NAS message even though the MM latency timer has not expired when the data to be transmitted is generated.


This work studies energy-aware real-time scheduling of a set of sporadic Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) tasks with implicit deadlines. While meeting all real-time constraints, we try to identify the best task allocation and execution pattern such that the average power consumption of the whole platform is minimized. To our knowledge, this is the first work that addresses the power consumption issue in scheduling multiple DAG tasks on multi-cores and allows intra-task processor sharing. First, we adapt the decomposition-based framework for federated scheduling and propose an energy-sub-optimal scheduler. Then, we derive an approximation algorithm to identify processors to be merged together for further improvements in energy-efficiency. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated both theoretically via approximation ratio bounds and also experimentally through simulation study. Experimental results on randomly generated workloads show that our algorithms achieve an energy saving of 60% to 68% compared to existing DAG task schedulers.


We present a measurement of the W-to-Be per-nucleon cross-section ratio, ${\mathit{R}}_{\mathrm{W}/\mathrm{B}\mathrm{e}}$, for single hadrons and for opposite-sign hadron pairs produced in p-A collisions at \ensuremath{\surd}s=38.8 GeV. The data fill in regions of intermediate transverse momentum and dihadron mass that previously have revealed cross-section enhancements for scattering from nuclear targets. When combined with previous measurements, the new results help delineate the dependence of nuclear effects on the kinematic variables ${\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{t}}$, m, and \ensuremath{\surd}s. Both the single-hadron and hadron-pair enhancements in ${\mathit{R}}_{\mathrm{W}/\mathrm{B}\mathrm{e}}$ seen at intermediate values of ${\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{t}}$ and mass decrease with increasing \ensuremath{\surd}s, consistent with a multiple-scattering model of parton scattering. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.


This study examined the teaching practices of 227 college instructors of introductory statistics (from the health and behavioral sciences). Using primarily multidimensional scaling (MDS) techniques, a two-dimensional, 10-item teaching practice scale, TISS (Teaching of Introductory Statistics Scale), was developed and validated. The two dimensions (subscales) were characterized as constructivist, and behaviorist, and are orthogonal to each other. Criterion validity of this scale was established in relation to instructors' attitude toward teaching, and acceptable levels of reliability were obtained. A significantly higher level of behaviorist practice (less reform-oriented) was reported by instructors from the USA, and instructors with academic degrees in mathematics and engineering. This new scale (TISS) will allow us to empirically assess and describe the pedagogical approach (teaching practice) of instructors of introductory statistics. Further research is required in order to be conclusive about the structural and psychometric properties of this scale. INTRODUCTION The ability to critically evaluate research findings (often expressed in statistical jargon) is an essential skill for practitioners and students in the traditional evidence-based disciplines such as the health and behavioral sciences (Belar, 2003). Toward achieving this competency, undergraduate students in these disciplines are generally required to take introductory statistics as a core course, and there is a consensus among educators that the goal of this course should be to facilitate statistical literacy and thinking through active learning strategies, by emphasizing concepts and applications rather than mathematical procedures (Franklin & Garfield, 2006). Also underpinning this pedagogical approach is the realization that for the majority of these students, the introductory course will be their only formal exposure to statistics (Moore, 1998). For over a decade there has been emphasis on reform-oriented teaching at the college level, fueled by a consensus among educators that traditional curricular material and pedagogical strategies have not been effective in promoting statistical literacy and thinking (Cobb, 1992; Delmas et al., 2006; Garfield et al., 2002). In spite of these reform efforts focused on course content, pedagogy, assessment, and integration of technology, research continues to show that students are emerging with a lack of understanding of core concepts (Delmas et al., 2006). Such evidence has raised concerns about instructors' level of awareness, understanding, and appropriate use of active learning strategies (Hassad, 2007). Also, empirical information on what core strategies underlie reform-oriented teaching of introductory statistics is lacking (Garfield et al., 2002), and this is a major impediment to characterizing teaching practice, and assessing the …


PurposeA convenient payment system is increasingly recognized as an asset of tourism destinations. By using data on payments with cards issued in foreign countries, together with other monthly tourism flow variables, the authors assess the importance of card payments to identify seasonality in inbound tourism in Portugal.Design/methodology/approachThe authors compute seasonality measures using Portuguese data on card payments from 2003 to 2019, together with data on nights spent and the Balance of Payments travel credit. The authors also assess seasonal behaviour in the timespan of the different tourism strategic plans in place during this period.FindingsCard payments grew at a faster pace than the other inbound tourism variables and show a seasonal pattern similar to the other variables. Seasonality decreases when variables measured in quantities are considered (nights spent and number of card transactions). However, when the authors use value variables (Balance of Payments travel credit and value of card transactions), seasonality in 2019 is higher than in 2003.Research limitations/implicationsThe widespread use of digital payments makes card payment information an even better proxy of tourism activity and since it is available in a short time-span it has informational potential for tourism stakeholders and for researchers in this field.Originality/valueThe authors study the seasonal behaviour of foreign card payments along with other international tourism flow variables. The authors' results highlight the informational potential of card payment data and the importance of electronic payment infrastructure for tourist activity.