The incidence of premenstrual tension varies a great deal between different series, as Pennington (1957) states that it occurs to some degree in 95% of women in the child-bearing years, while Bickers and Woods (1951) report an incidence of only 36% in a population of female factory workers. Differences in criteria for making the diagnosis undoubtedly play a part in these variations, but the type of patient being studied also contributes to the variation, as it has been pointed out (Fortin et al., 1958) that the incidence in a prison population was 33% while among student nurses 73%


Recommender systems have recently been integrated into many fields to introduce numerous appealing products and help with consumer decisions in item selections. Applying recommender systems to coupon discount applications could improve consumers accessibility to coupons of their interest, leading to increased product sales related to coupons. The research aims to create a recommender system model for coupon suggestions based on customer data interactions. The proposed recommender model is a hybrid model that combines matrix factorization and association rule mining. While matrix factorization utilises customer-item interactions with customer transactions history and information as the implicit feedback, the association rule uses the Apriori algorithm to find frequent itemsets from customer discount transactions to create the weight of each item. As a result, the proposed hybrid recommender model provides overall performance higher than the baseline models and other benchmark models. In addition, the proposed model has a precision rank increase of nearly 20% in the same dataset compared to that of the baseline models.


Around the world, the pace, complexity and social significance of technological changes have been increasing. Striking developments in such areas as computer and communications technology, bio- technology and nanotechnology are finding applications and producing far-reaching effects in all spheres of business, government, society and the environment. However, the far-reaching social consequences are often not understood until after new technologies become entrenched. Historically this has resulted in im- portant lost opportunities, significant social and environmental costs and channeling societal development down long-term unhealthy paths. Citations: Tamara Lobanova-Shunina, Yurij N. Shunin. Nanothinking as an educational concept of the 21st century - Innovative Infotechnologies for Science, Business and Education, ISSN 2029-1035 - 1(10)2011 - Pp. 3-9.


The baseline option for the photon detectors of the LHCb Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) subsystem is the pixel hybrid photon detector (HPD) [1]. Commercially available pixel HPDs do not fully meet the LHCb RICH requirements, namely wide area coverage over 2.6 m, single photon sensitivity in the wavelength range of 200600 nm, channel size of 2.5 x 2.5 mm and a speed compatible with the LHC bunchcrossing rate of 25 ns [2]. The current prototype is the latest to have been developed in collaboration with the company Delft Electronic Products (DEP) [3]. Previous prototypes were successfully tested during the 1998 and 1999 test beam periods at the CERN X7 facility [4, 5]. The performance of HPDs in magnetic fields was previously characterised using a phosphor screen anode tube [6].


Objective To investigate the effect of nursing intervention in patients with type 2 diabetes melli- tus and asymptomatic myocardial ischemia. Methods Eighty-six patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and asymp- tomatic myocardial ischemia selected in hospital from January 2011 to September 2012 were randomly divided into two groups: the observation group and the control group. Patients in the control group(n=43) were treated with rou- tine nursing, while those in the observation group(n=43) were treated with nursing intervention. The course of treat- ment was one month. The abnormal blood sugar, dynamic ECG, and blood pressure were compared between the two groups before and after nursing. Results After nursing, the fasting blood glucose, 2 h postprandial blood glucose, number of ST segment depression, ST segment depression duration, frequency of ventricular premature beat, abnor- mal rate of blood pressure in the observation group and the control group were all significantly reduced. The fasting blood glucose [(6.4±0.9) mmol/L], 2 h postprandial blood glucose [(8.7±1.4) mmol/L], number of ST segment depres- sion [(126.3 ± 14.6) times], ST segment depression duration [(132.8 ± 15.7) min], frequency of ventricular premature beat [(406.8±34.2) times/24 h], abnormal rate of blood pressure(4.7%) in the observation group were all significantly lower than those in the control group [(7.9±1.0) mmol/L,(9.9±1.5) mmol/L,(157.1±13.8) times,(160.3±18.4) min,(472.1±36) times/24 h, 18.6%]. The differences were statistically significant(P0.05). Conclusion Effective nursing intervention can significantly improve the blood glucose level and dynamic electrocardiogram of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, which can stabilize blood pressure and has significant nurs- ing effect. It is worthy of clinical application.


Musa× parahaekkinenii (Musaceae), a new manually crossed interspecific hybrid of two wild parent plants Musa coccinea Andrews (female) and Musa haekkinenii N.S. Lý & Haev. (male), is described and illustrated. A comparison of characters with its parents and a key to the new hybrid M. × parahaekkinenii are provided. Introduction The Musaceae (Commelinids: Zingiberales) is a tropical family comprising three genera, namely Ensete Horaninow, Musa L. and Musella (Franchet) Wu. Musa L. is the largest genus of the family (ca. 65 species) distributed in tropical Asia from southern India to eastern Himalayas to northern Australia, Sri Lanka and Africa. Globally, bananas (Musa spp.) form the fourth-most important food crop (Novak et al., 2014). Moreover, the bananas have got much attention for their medicinal, ornamental and socio-economic value (Cordeiro et al., 2004; Aziz et al., 2011; Joe and Sabu, 2016). The two new artificial hybrids of Musaceae, Musa × georgiana Rich. H. Wallace (Wallace and Hakkinen, 2009) and Musa × formobisiana H.-L.Chiu, C.-T. Shii & T.-Y.A. Yang. (Chiu et al., 2017) were developed earlier to explore the breeding relevance and ornamental potential value for the banana breeding programmes and landscaping applications. As part of our studies on reproductive biology of Musaceae with the purpose of breeding evaluation and finding potential ornamental value, intra and intersectional hybridization have been done. The paper focuses on the new artificial hybrid, developed from artificial breeding of the Scarlet Banana M. coccinea Andrews (female parent) and M. haekkinenii N.S. Lý & Haev. (male parent) which shared the vegetative and floral characters of both the parents and expressed some of its own. Materials and Methods The present study was conducted at Calicut University Botanical Garden (1125'45''N, 7545'50''E) during 2013–2016. The stigma receptivity of Musa coccinea (female parent) and pollen viability of M. haekkinenii (male parent) were assessed at different time intervals from anthesis to flower closing using MTT (Dafni et al., 2005) and TTC (Shivanna and Rangaswamy, 1992) tests, respectively. Manual cross pollination was done in a period of maximum stigma receptivity and pollen viability which coincides. The self-compatibility was assessed by a method suggested by Dafni et al. (2005). The seed set and seed germination were observed for 3–4 months. The phenological events of new interspecific hybrid were observed with 10 plants of F1 hybrid. Morphometric analysis of vegetative and floral characters was done with a scale and Corresponding author. Email: email@example.com


The author of this article states that he has deliberately slanted his subject to promote discussion of a topic that is undoubtedly vital to every music educator as well as every publisher and composer of school music. The Editorial Board expressed widely varying opinions and have invited comments from readers. Many will take exception to some of Mr. Filas' opinions, but their rebuttals should make provocative reading in a future "Letters to the Editor" column.


Drd. Ing. Cavai Mirela, Communication Technical College "Augustin Maior", Cluj Abstract: A problem of high importance and great complexity in the extractive industry is the cutting operation of rocks, especially the cutting of rock salt. The acquired experience acknowledges that in present and also in the near future the technology used in the excavation of rock salt is and it will be a mechanized one.


The aim of this study is  to determine the improvement of students' critical thinking skills in trigonometry courses whose learning uses trigonometric teaching materials with knisley mathematical models compared to those that do not use teaching materials. The method used in this study is quasi-experimental with a sample of fourth semester students. The instrument used in this study is a test of critical thinking skills as much as 5. Based on the results of the data analysis, it can be concluded that the improvement of students' critical thinking skills in learning using trigonometric teaching materials with knisley mathematical models is better than those who do not use teaching materials


Increased Type I IFNs or IFN-I have been associated with human systemic lupus erythematosus. Interestingly augmenting or negating IFN-I activity in murine lupus not only modulates systemic autoimmunity, but also impacts lupus nephritis, suggesting that IFN-I may be acting at the level of the end-organ. We find resident renal cells to be a dominant source of IFN-I in an experimental model of autoantibody-induced nephritis. In this model, augmenting IFN-I amplified antibody-triggered nephritis, whereas ablating IFN-I activity ameliorated disease. One mechanism through which increased IFN-I drives immune-mediated nephritis might be operative through increased recruitment of inflammatory monocytes and neutrophils, though this hypothesis needs further validation. Collectively, these studies indicate that an important contribution of IFN-I toward the disease pathology seen in systemic autoimmunity may be exercised at the level of the end-organ.


Objective To explore a simple and rapid method for determination of citreoviridin (CIT) in crops by thin-layer chromatography(TLC).Methods Contaminated with citreoviridin,the grain samples were extracted with acetonitrile-water (80:20),de-fatted with petroleun ether,evaporated to dry,and dissolved in toluene-ethyl acetate-formic acid (6:3:1).The solution was spotted on silica gel 60G TLC plate,developed in toluene-ethyl acetate-formic acid(6:3:1 ).The eitreoviridin was examined under long-wave UV light(366 nm) for yellow-green fluorescent spot and quantified by dual wavelength thin-layer chromatogram scanner.Results The detectable limit of eitreoviridin was 25 ng.Recovefies of eitreoviridin in grain samples were between 80.0% and 103.1%.Conclusions The method is extremely,effective rapid and inexpensive.


This is the fourth book which I have put forth with utmost hard work and in depth coverage. This book has been ideated to help the students understand the basic concepts of Molecular Biology and Bio- techniques. This book is written mostly from the viewpoint of the basic scientist who works at the cellular and molecular level. As molecular biology is one of the fore front subjects in research and development these days, it has become almost necessary for the students to have a hold on this subject. Coupled with the molecular biology are the bio-techniques employed in every walk of research. A student aspiring to be a researcher needs to have a fair knowledge of the basic lab techniques used in R&D. Written in lucid language so as to be easy for the beginners reading these two subjects for the first time, it comprises of two units, each of which have been written according to the needs of the student at the primary level.


Author(s): Schoenfield, Joshua Steven | Advisor(s): Jiang, HongWen | Abstract: The pursuit of a quantum computer has been driven both by the prospect of solving otherwise intractable problems as well as the desire to master the quantum control of mesoscopic systems. Lateral quantum dots in semiconductors, particularly in silicon, have garnered considerable attention as a potential host for a quantum bit formed from the states of confined electrons.The conduction states of electrons in silicon are characterized by an additional degree of freedom, known as the valley degree of freedom. Valley states have certain properties which represent both a complication and an opportunity for the use of electrons in silicon as a qubit. Valley states are 6-fold degenerate, reducing to being very nearly 2-fold degenerate when confined to a quantum well, meaning they have the potential to disrupt many qubit readout schemes for spin based on the Pauli exclusion principle. Also, they are rapidly oscillating relative to one another, making their interaction highly sensitive to atomic scale properties of the confining potential, which are difficult to control when fabricating devices. However, they share many spin-like properties leading to the possibility of familiar control protocols and long coherence times.We have developed techniques for the fabrication of lateral double quantum dots and experimental procedures for the coherent manipulation and readout of quantum states of confined electrons. Through the use of fast pulses, quantum oscillations between two valley states are induced, allowing the energy splitting between these valley states to be probed to a resolution not possible with conventional methods of valley spectroscopy. The fabrication techniques and experimental procedures have led to the detection of quantum oscillations in multiple devices, demonstrating the utility and generality of the techniques.In the course of refining these experimental techniques, we developed software allowing for the linear compensation of multiple experimental parameters. These improvements led to the ability to efficiently adjust the inter-dot tunneling rate, the dot-reservoir tunneling rate and the charge sensing channel sensitivity, control parameters whose fine tuning was vital to the success of the quantum manipulation and readout ultimately achieved.


Over the last decade, Spain became one of the global hotspots for social movement contestation. The emergence of the 15M movement, or Indignados, was of significance not only in Spain, where it gave rise to the longest wave of mobilisation since the transition to the democracy but also internationally as its practices, repertoires and discourses became the blueprint for Occupy movements around the world. In Spain, the Indignados movement unleashed protest potential that transformed mobilisations between 2011 and 2014. The potency of these protests led to a shift in the public debate and the emergence of new parties such as Podemos and Ciudadanos. The 15M was not only a consequence of austerity under the Great Recession. It also transformed democracy, bringing to the fore new frames and repertoires that impacted institutional politics.


The report contains the discussion on the essence and the semantic contents of the ethnonym "Turk" connected with the God Zeus and the "Turk" bull.


Aim: The aim of this study is to characterize the anatomical findings of the MLF in a Turkish population, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).
Methodology: The CBCT images of 350 untreated patients (164 male, 186 female ranging in age between 18 and 65) were included in this study. The distribution of MLFs were determined in axial, sagittal, and coronal planes by considering gender and side. For statistical evaluation, a chi-square test was used to analyze independent samples. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: At least 1 canal was observed in all subjects (n = 350). The most common result was a single canal. Among the 164 male patients (46.86%), 98 had 1 canal (59.75%); 59 had 2 canals (35.97%); and 7 had 3 canals (4.26%). Among the 186 female patients (53.14%), 134 (72.04%) had 1 conduit or canal; 49 (26.34%) had 2 canals; and only 3 case (1.61%) presented with 3 canals. Difference between genders was statistically significant.
Conclusions: Vascular canals and anastomoses presence in anterior mandible which are sufficient for severe hemorrhage complications. The distribution of MLFs must be taken into account during presurgical planning.


The interest in purple passion-fruit production is becoming higher in southeast of Brazil, aiming exportation. There are some wild, different native types with high variability due open pollination that promotes an increase in natural variability. The aim of the present work is to identify varieties with commercial values among the species and the production of seeds for breeders wishing the selection for yield improvement. In the present paper were studied horticultural, cytogenetic and morphological characters among genotypes from the IAC Germoplasm Bank of Passiflora ('Roxinho-miudo', 'Paulista' and 'Maracuja-Maca'). It was analyzed in each material three hundred and fifty flowers and one hundred and fifty fruits during two consecutive years. Higher differences were observed in fruit weight and size (21 to 193 g per fruit), TSS (15.2 to 21.4o Brix), plant production (11.5 to 30.8 kg) and number of seeds in the fruit (39 to 261 seeds). The pollen fertility rises from seventy-seven until ninety four percent and pollen germination was higher increasing the fruit productivity. The tested selections presented desirable commercial characteristics. The "Roxinho Miudo" has a round small fruit, with a 4 cm diameter, sweet, purple dark, excellent to an international consumer. The 'Paulista' has oval fruits and good to fresh fruit market and or to juicy industry. The 'Maracuja-Maca' has the biggest size; a round and a pinky colored peel good to be traded in a unique market that commercializes fruits by unit and privileges the quality.


The British Conservative government (1874-1880) launched a policy of establishing a "visible empire" to strengthen the Great Britain's international status. The development of this policy depends originally on Dilke's racial empire ideology, yet its realistic reason rests on the challenges faced by the British Empire accompanying the emergence of European nation-states. Judging pratically, the policy of re-establishing a "visible emipire"mainly demonstrated it's protection and expansion of the territories of the British Empire,it's major aim is to strengthen the British competitive power over the European Continental powers,and to save the the Great Britain's hegemony from decline.


Tropical climate gives rise to difficulties in metal deposit prospecting. They include the high rate of weathering process which severely conceals the existence of mineral deposit beneath (blind ore). In this case it is hypothesized that plants could be served as superior indicator of mineral deposit occurence compared to other sampling media e. g. soil. Therefore, in this paper the viability of biogeochemistry method to pinpoint the iron deposit occurence would be assessed after comparison with traditional geochemical soil sampling method. The study was carried out in Lumbok Seminong, West Lampung. In biogeochemical exploration to locate iron mineralization, the species Coffea arabica (coffee) would be tested as indicator due to its abundance and wide distribution. The results showed that the species could be used as indicator and served as alternative method to pinpoint the location of primary iron mineralization.


This paper describes the approach of the university of Alicante to the problem of finding a suitable handling of multimodal sources within the ImageCLEF ad-hoc competition. We have worked on to add modifications to the most common multimodal techniques used in the image retrieval area in order to improve their performance. Moreover, we have added a clustering module in order to increase the number of different clusters that can be found within the top 20 images returned. Finally, we have studied the effect of using visual concepts in the retrieval phase and in the clustering phase. We can see in the results that with these multimodal techniques we have improved up to a 27% our results in a MAP way, respect the ones obtained using our last year configuration a textual run using PRF -. Furthermore, we have seen that the use of LCA in a multimodal way outperforms clearly the MAP and P20 results obtained with other common methods used it has obtained 0.3436 MAP, 4th place in the published task results, and 0.4564 P20, 5th place in the published task results -. Finally our TFIDF re-ranking run method has showed the best behaviour for the top 20 documents returned from our submissions, obtaining a F-measure value of 0.4051 based on P20 and CR20 measures -. It makes us to conclude that the combination of these two mutimodal techniques will be the key for improving the performance in our system in future works.


A crude preparation of the proteolytic enzyme subtilisin has been used to catalyse the regioselective esterification of sucrose in anhydrous dimethylformamide. In this way 1′-O-sucrose esters bearing acyl groups of different sizes and types have been synthesized. These sucrose derivatives have been hydrolysed by yeast α-glucosidase to the corresponding 1-O-fructose esters, not easily attainable by chemical methods.


Acquiring data of first attack through statisticing on 9 matches of China in 2006 Women's Volleyball Tournament,analyzing the character and effect of first attack about Chinese comparing with Brazil,the result shows that the buildup of quicking and changing attack show higher,but the hitting is lower than the data in the Ninth Women's Volleyball World Cup,tactics system of first attack is destroyed,the buildup and hitting of first attack are both lower than Brazil,first attack power descend.


A number of configuration features and maintenance operations are influenced by the choice of whether a design is based on vertical or horizontal access for replacing reactor components. The features which are impacted most include the first wall/blanket segmentation, the poloidal field coil locations, the toroidal field coil number and size, access port size for in-vessel components, and facilities. Since either configuration can be made to work, the choice between the two is not clear cut because both have certain advantages. It is apparent that there are large cost benefits in the poloidal field coil system for ideal coil locations for high elongation plasmas and marginal savings for the INTOR case. If we assume that a new tokamak design will require a higher plasma elongation, the recommendation is to arrange the poloidal field coils in a cost-effective manner while providing reasonable midplane access for heating interfaces and test modules. If a new design study is not based on a high elongation plasma, it still appears prudent to consider this approach so that in-vessel maintenance can be accomplished without moving very massive structures such as the bulk shield. 10 refs., 29 figs., 3 tabs.


The publication in 1995 of Joan Kerr's Heritage: The National Women's Art Book renewed public interest in the work of three Aboriginal women from the Boulia area of North Western Queensland: Kalboori Youngi, Nora Nathan and Linda Craigie. These women produced small-scale sculptural groups carved from two types of soft, local stone: mullenduddy, a sort of compressed clay; and kopi, a white talc-like material.


The present invention provides a virtual machine security protection method and apparatus. The method comprises: pre-determining a key mirror file to be measured in a virtual machine mirror, and pre-configuring a security measurement module; and further comprises: S1, loading a current virtual mirror of a current virtual machine; S2, calling the security measurement module via a Libvirt interface, and measuring a current key mirror file in the current virtual machine mirror using the security measurement module; and S3, determining, according to a measurement result of the current mirror file, whether to enable the current virtual machine. The virtual machine security protection method and apparatus provided by the present invention can protect security of the virtual machine.


Material is the beginning and the end of architecture. It is the tangible that executes the intangible. It is the means of execution and means of expression. Materials are the palette from which architecture is made. The use of materials and the associated technologies of construction determine the form and articulation of buildings. The available material resources and the craft of their joinery defi ne the history of architecture.


During our in situ microscopy experiments we found that dissolution of glutamic acid, aspartic acid and leucine chloride single crystals leads to the spontaneous formation of numerous glutamic acid, aspartic acid and leucine crystals respectively. This phenomenon was not encountered during dissolution of monosodium glutamate single crystals. The observations are interpreted on the basis of calculated phase diagrams of the amino acid/HCl (/NaOH) systems. It was shown that upon dissolving the halide salts one enters the liquid–solid amino acid domain in the phase diagram, leading to the crystallization of the amino acids. The conclusions were confirmed by triple point composition measurements using several analytical methods.


This article reports a case study carried out at the Institute of Sciences and Technology (ICT) Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil. To investigate the gender differences among students of technology courses, a questionnaire was made available in order to analyze the main differences in the use of technologies, difficulties in the courses and vision of the labor market. The results pointed out that both genders use various computing devices, spent some time in front of computers and women make more use of social networks while men play more online games. Women have more difficulties in the disciplines, mainly physics and programming. The students like the area and are interested in working in different fields. Also, women are more aware of gender inequality (80%) in the labor market than men (59%). Finally, we present some discussion about the questions addressed in the questionnaire and present some gender equality programs that could be adapted to our university.


This paper introduces the development of an experiment board based on AT89S51 MCU.It can be used for the I/O and timer(counter) experiments to meet the teaching requirements of the MCU.


Background: Smoking is a well-established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The Michigan legislature is currently considering a proposal for a comprehensive smoking ban (CSB) in Michigan. The...


Summary form only given. The object of this work was to continue the study of sterilization of antibiotic resistant bacteria using the atmospheric pressure cold plasma apparatus used so successfully in St. Jude Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. The new feature in this work is reusing the surving bacteria in further tests to determine if they have acquired resistance to the plasma discharge. Acquired resistance has obviously occured during antibiotic treatment. In our plasma experiments, acquired resistance does not appear. The work was carried out in The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is the bacterium most frequently associated with canine pyoderma. The isolate used in this study, 06-3187, was obtained from a canine skin culture. It was characterized using standard biochemical methods and antibiotic susceptibility was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The isolate was determined to be resistant to oxacillin (methicillin resistant), erythromycin, penicillin, and tetracycline. It was propagated on trypticase soy agar containing 5% sheep blood (TSA) at 37 C. To determine their susceptibility to killing with atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharges, bacteria were diluted in saline tenfold from 1:10 through 1:100,000. Bacteria were added to TSA and treated in an atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharge for various periods of time. The number of surviving bacteria at each time point was: 0 min, 2.2×106; 1 min, 7×104; 2.5 min, 2.5×104; 5 min, 2.9×103; and 7.5 min, 3.8×102. In a separate experiment bacteria were treated for 7.5 min and surviving organisms were retested using the same conditions. Bacteria surviving the various treatments were: untreated/untreated, 3.5×107; treated/untreated, 2.9×107; untreated/treated, 1.2×102; and treated/treated, 2.0×102. The reduction in viable bacteria was essentially the same whether or not bacteria were previously exposed to the atmospheric pressure cold plasma discharge treatment.


Evacuating noise starting with a picture due to quality degradation happens clinched alongside propelled portraits toward the debasement of Different sorts about noise such as pepper noise, Gaussian noise, and speckle noise thus. It displays itself similarly as sparsely going on white Also dull pixels previously, a picture. Gaussian noise is those genuine noise Hosting An probability thickness worth of effort (PDF) equal to that of the average appropriation, which may be Overall known as the Gaussian coursing library. In the perspective At a picture is transformed over beginning with particular case outline that point onto those next, for example, examining, transmitting, digitizing. We need should improve the yield following expansion of different commotion done an picture. This overview displays that Execution assessment about four diverse de-noising channel routines salty noise, drive noise, Gaussian noise, What's more spot by utilizing execution Parameters. Those objective paper may be should represent able an alternate de-noising algorithm to decreasing noise proportion from the picture.


Fields observation and experiments were conducted to study soil formation and erosion characteristics of purple shale. Results showed, soil formation rates of purple shale are 15 800 ~25 500 t/km 2·a. Weathering sequence of purple shale is Suining Group(J 3s)Penglaizhen Group(J 3p)Saximiao Group(J 2s)Chengqiangyan Group(K 1c). Weathering erosion is distinguish feature of purple shale with erosion modulus as high as 14 380~23 952 t/km 2·a. Because the earth and stones are excavated in construction, consequently cause purple shale bared and result in serious weathering erosion. This lead to produce about 2×10 7 t of sediment yield in purple shale area of upper reaches of Yangtze River. Therefore it is urgent to take conservation measures to control soil erosion and sediment yield from construction so as to improve ecological environment of upper reaches of Yangtze River.


The approaches for reducing torque-based ripple in brushless DC motors are investigated in this research (BLDC). It is caused by a range of variables, including the motor's natural design process and its inverter drive commutation features. This torque ripple can cause low-quality speed-torque characteristics, noise, vibrations, and serious failures in sensorless motor drives. In the literature, various solutions for decreasing torque ripples have been published. This study provides a thorough examination of various methodologies as well as a summary of the findings from the literature. The primary goal of this study is to present a practical method for improving the performance of a BLDC motor and its drive for the rapidly developing electric car market.


In a recently updated guidance, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that immunoprophylaxis against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection be reserved for certain high-risk infants.


Learning ontology from unstructured text is a challenging task. Over the years, a lot of research has been done to predict ontological relation between a pair of concepts. However all these measures predict relation with a varying degree of accuracy. There has also been work on learning ontology by combining evidences from heterogeneous sources, but most of these algorithms are ad hoc in nature. In this paper we investigate wide range of evidences to predict relation between a pair of concepts and propose a standardized Expectation Maximization algorithm to construct domain specific ontology. The proposed approach is completely unsupervised and does not require any seed terms or human intervention. In addition, the proposed approach can also be easily adopted for any language. We have conducted our experiments for two languages Hindi and English and for two domains Health and Tourism. The average F-Score observed in all experiments is above 0.60.


E-government presents a tremendous opportunity to provide higher quality, and cost-effective government services as well as creating a better relationship between citizens and government. The use of Web GIS makes the sharing and applying traditional GIS being possible. Web GIS provides integrated geo-spatial information and services to users and decision support for the government's macro decision-making. However, the current condition of huge initial capital investment in ICT equipment and IT labor does not change. As Cloud Computing enables sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users while providing on-demand services with dynamic scalability. E-government with cloud computing raises the utilization rate of resource and reduces the budget. In addition, if e-government system is moved to cloud computing environment, cloud computing can construct the system into a service platform which takes service as its core, realizing the transition of government function and promoting the upgrading of local industry and developing low carbon economy. For this reason this research aims to develop a comprehensive framework of support e-government platform, with a specific focus on the e-government system based on Web GIS and private cloud computing based on OpenStack.


INTRODUCTION: Micronuclei (MN) are microscopically visible round or oval cytoplasmic chromatin masses in the extra nuclear vicinity, originating from aberrant mitosis, chromatic fragments or whole chromosomes. The local factors like smoking exerts an influence on oral mucosa cells which are reflected as cellular changes resulting in the formation of MN. AIM: To evaluate and compare the MN index in oral exfoliated buccal cells of smokers and non-smokers using May-Grunwald Giemsa (MGG) and Acridine Orange Stains. OBJECTIVES: 1. To evaluate the MN index using MGG stain in smokers & non smokers. 2. To evaluate the MN index using Acridine Orange stain in smokers & non smokers. 3. To compare and evaluate the efficiency of MGG and Acridine Orange stained slides of smokers and nonsmokers. MATERIALS & METHODS: 60 subjects were divided into two groups of 30 each based on the smoking habit. Before sampling, the subjects were made to rinse the mouth thoroughly and then the buccal mucosa was scraped and smears were prepared which are subsequently stained with MGG and Acridine Orange stain respectively. MN was evaluated using the Tolbert et al criteria and data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: Significant increase was observed in a number of micronuclei of smokers compared to nonsmokers. There is no significant difference in the staining efficiency of Acridine Orange and MGG stains. Conclusion: Acridine Orange and MGG stains can be effectively used to evaluate MN index as a biomarker in high risk patients. However, MGG stain is cost effective.


Retrieval practice is a learning strategy that was developed by cognitive scientists and is based on the act of recalling information after exposure. Although dozens of studies have demonstrated meaningful learning advantages with retrieval practice, most educators and students are not familiar with the strategy. The purpose of this presentation is to share five studies in which our lab found that retrieval practice resulted in superior learning when compared to more commonly‐used strategies such as reading/rereading. These advantages included superior recall and a greater ability to synthesize complex information that is typically found in anatomy & physiology, structural kinesiology and exercise physiology courses.


Ar sputtered and annealed TiO2(110) was examined with ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). Ag(111) provided the baseline to calibrate the LEED data, while polycrystalline Au was utilized to calibrate the UPS data. Experimental LEED I(V) curves of TiO2(110) were compared to published data, while the LEED pictures were used in dynamic determination of the symmetry and lattice constants of TiO2(110). UPS was used to determine the work function of TiO2(110). Lattice constants of a1 = 3.0506 Å and a2 = 7.1622 Å and a work function of 5.40 eV were determined for the rutile TiO2(110)-(1 x 1) surface.


Objective: To explore correlation of fasting plasma glucose and 1-hour postprandial plasma glucose levels in rural population and the diagnostic value of postprandial 1h plasma glucose.Methods: Physical examination was carried out in random selected 222 cases of rural adult inhabitants,except 5 cases,217 cases as healthy control,and 61 patients with type 2 diabetes served as observation group.Fasting plasma glucose and 1-hour postprandial plasma glucose levels in observation group and control group were investigated.Results: There were 5 cases among 222 rural adult inhabitants with fasting plasma glucose rise,among them,2 cases were type 2 diabetes and 3 cases were impaired fasting glucose.There were 61 cases of type 2 diabetes, whose 1-hour postprandial plasma glucose were 9.70±1.95 mmol/L.There was a positive correlation between 1-hour postprandial plasma glucose level and fasting plasma glucose level in type 2 diabetes.Conclusion: The 1-hour postprandial blood glucose levels can be used as a diagnostic index of diabetes.


Abstract: How do African urban residents, who are conventionally assumed to operate within parochial, highly localized confines, operate at larger scales? How do they reach a "larger world"? The article looks at some of the overall effects on African cities and their residents of a global process of scalar recomposition and the reconfiguration of social cohesion that ensues. By examining renovations in a traditional Islamic institution, zawiyyah, an example is provided of ways in which urban Africans attempt to act effectively within larger domains.


Background: During a pregnancy the body goes through changes that can affect pregnant women s physical activity level. Pregnant women are recommended to be physically active for 150 minutes per week on a medium intensity. Training during pregnancy can prevent and lighten different pregnancy related issues. Few studies have been made to investigate if pregnant women reach the physical activity recommendations and which factors that can affect how physically active pregnant women are. Aim: The aim of this study was to map physical activity in a group of first time pregnant women and to map differences in the sample between pregnant women in different trimesters regarding the amount of activity, lumbopelvic pain, incontinence, dizziness, nausea, insomnia and the activity recommendations that the group of women had taken part of. Study design: Quantitative cross sectional study. Method: The data was collected through an internet based questionnaire. The questionnaire was answered by first time pregnant women who were members of Facebook groups for pregnant women or the internet forum Familjeliv. A total of 350 people participated in the study. Ethics: The study participants were anonymous and they all approved their participation. No personal information was collected. Results: The results were presented through descriptive statistics with calculations of numbers and percentages (%). The most common activity in all trimesters was walking, 61,1% trained at a medium intensity and 48% trained at a high intensity at least one day in the last seven days. 74,3% of the participants thought that they were not active enough mainly due to lack of energy and/or motivation. More people in trimester two and three than trimester one reported that they trained fewer days, with lower intensity and/or with shorter length of the training compared to before their pregnancy. Conclusion: Women in the sample adjusted their training intensity, frequency and type of activity after they became pregnant, mainly among participants in trimester two and three. Many women did not think that they exercised as much as they wished to. (Less)


ily admits that there are no reliable sources from that era that can confirm his math. And, importantly, both numbers connote a catastrophic loss of human life and potential. The question becomes then, is the horror of the Congo Free State best understood through the lens of statistics? The numbers do not really change what we know already about how the Congo Free State functioned through violence. Similarly, the marked improvements in mortality and birth rates in the late Belgian colonial period do not change the fact the colonial violence continued to permeate the lives of Congolese people during that era in ways that are not necessarily signified in birth and death rates. Demographic studies, while potentially powerful, will always be limited in their scope unless tied in a meaningful way to the lived experiences of the people they represent. This book, while wellresearched and important, suffers from that narrowed scope. That reality, combined with the highly technical and at times repetitive nature of the prose, suggest that it will likely find limited readership outside of the field of demography.


The description of large state spaces through stochastic structured modeling formalisms like stochastic Petri nets, stochastic automata networks and performance evaluation process algebra usually r...


A fluorescent microsphere-based method for assessing regional blood flows in the mouse hindlimb. Cardinal TR, Sullivan CJ, Hoying JB. 2005. FASEB Journal 19:A1270. A microparticle enzyme immunoassay to measure sirolimus. Holt DW, Moreton M, Laamanen K, Johnston A. 2005. Transplantation Proceedings 37:182–184. A novel approach to tumor suppression using microencapsulated engineered J558/TNF-alpha cells. Hao SG, Su LP, Gu XL, Moyana T, Xiang J. 2005. Experimental Oncology 27:56–60. A novel emulsifier-free emulsion route to synthesize ZnS hollow microspheres. He YJ. 2005. Materials Research Bulletin 40:629–634. A porous microcapsule membrane with straight pores for the immobilization of microbial cells. Wang GJ, Chu LY, Chen WM, Zhou MY. 2005. Journal of Membrane Science 252:279–284. A study on the adsorption behavior of protein onto functional microspheres. Li SJ, Hu J, Liu BL. 2005. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology 80:531–536. Actinyl peroxide nanospheres. Burns PC, Kubatko KA, Sigmon G, Fryer BJ, Gagnon JE, Antonio MR, Soderholm L. 2005. Angewandte Chemie— International Edition 44:2135–2139. Adsorption of BSA onto sulfonated microspheres. Hu J, Li SJ, Liu BL. 2005. Biochemical Engineering Journal 23:259–263. An automated microparticle agglutination immunoassay for the therapeutic drug monitoring of nelfinavir. Lawrence CC, Thomas A, Shastri S, Yuan W, Jones T, Ghoshal M, Hui R, Sigler G, Hosein B, Passarelli J. 2005. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring 27:85. An investigation of microencapsulated phase change material slurry as a heat-transfer fluid in a closed-loop system. Thaicham P, Gadi MB, Riffat SB. 2004. Journal of the Energy Institute 77:108–115. Biodegradable dextran-based microspheres for delivery of anticancer drug mitomycin C. Cheung RY, Ying YM, Rauth AM, Marcon N, Wu XY. 2005. Biomaterials 5375–5385. Biodegradable polymers for microencapsulation of drugs. Park JH, Ye ML, Park K. 2005. Molecules 10:146–161. Carbohydrate-coated nanocapsules from amphiphilic rod-coil molecule: binding to bacterial type 1 pili. Kim BS, Yang WY, Ryu JH, Yoo YS, Lee M. 2005. Chemical Communications 2035–2037. Carbon dioxide emulsion assisted loading of polymer microspheres toward sustained release materials. Baker GA, Campbell ML, Yates MZ, McCleskey, TM. 2005. Langmuir 21:3730–3732.


Colloidal PbS quantum dots dispersed as close-packed film and in polystyrene (PS) matrix are prepared and photoluminescence (PL) spectra are measured in the temperature range of 5–300 K. The integrated PL intensity of the close-packed film increases as the temperature is raised from 5 to 120 K, and then decreases to 300 K, while that of the PS film decreases monotonously. This abnormal behavior of the close-packed film can be explained by a thermally activated electronic energy transfer model, which is supported by time resolved PL measurements.


ABSTRACT This paper employs network analysis to study world trade from 1995 to 2014. We focus on the main connective features of the world trade network (WTN) and their dynamics. Results suggest that countries' efforts to attain the benefits of trade have resulted in an intertwined network that is increasingly dense, reciprocal, and clustered. However, these features do not correspond to a linear aggregation of the characteristics of its constituents (trade sectors). Trade linkages are distributed homogeneously among countries, but their intensity (i.e. their value) is highly concentrated in a small set of countries. The main connective features of the WTN were not affected by the 2007–2008 international financial crisis. However, we find that the crisis marks a turning point in the evolution of the WTN from a two-group (led by the US and Germany) to a three-group (led by the US, Germany, and China) hierarchical structure.


In last two decades, the installation of photovoltaic module is increasing recklessly and cost reduction is main factor in competition for large amount of energy generation. For feeding the maximum power to load from PV panel, the DC-DC converter is associated between PV module and load. The proposed topology using three level (TL boost converter for maximum power generation has specific characteristics such as to maintain high efficiency at medium voltage and high-power PV fed converter. The superiority of three level boost converter as compare to conventional DC-DC converter are less size of input inductor and voltage stress across switches. In this paper, the perturb and observation (P&O) MPPT control technique are used for extracting maximum power from solar PV panel and to controlling the duty cycle of switches used in TL boost converter. The realization of proposed system is completely done through MATLAB Simulink platform. The detailed operational analysis of three level (TL) boost converter is also carried out.


Maintenance Management Systems (MMS) are the core of traditional maintenance recordkeeping practices and often facilitate the usage of textual descriptions of faults and actions performed on a vehicle. Recently developed Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) are capable of directly monitoring vehicle component parameters; however, attempts to link observed MMS events to HUMS sensor measurements have been fairly limited in their approach and scalability. A new theoretical process for integrating the two disparate data types is proposed. This procedure implements a relational database which tags events from both data sets with location, severity, and rarity parameters. Metadata is extracted from the MMS textual descriptions using a natural language processor (NLP), and HUMS records are processed using simpler statistical analyses. The results and benefits of a full MMS and HUMS integration are predicted and evaluated.


His criticism could be an example to look around cultural translation and bending for the modem liberalism of Western Europe and the ideology of individualism. He tried to record Korean literature within the universal form, so called culture, from start to finish and could prospect the development of Korean culture only through it. The culture meant the whole of human being's spirit in the classics accumulated from the period of ancient Greece and Rome here. and this definition was established based on the tradition of humanism in England that emphasized the completion of ideal human beings through cultural training. He introduced the theories of T.E.Hulme, I.Babbit, T.S.Eliot, H.Read, who were humanists in 20C, to Korean literary circle in the name of Intellectualism, and attempted to settle down the poverty and disorder in Korean literary circle through the principle of control and regulation based on humanism. But it could be only succeed through distinction. He considered the romantic literature in 19C as a symbol of literary disorder, handled KAPF literature as an emblem of anti-culturism, and tried to consolidate his own cultural ideology. Thus his early criticism showed a political inclination came from the culture that meant an cultural ideal or an ideology for sell completion.


Writing and speaking plays a role in the construction of scientific knovvledge when they are used in the context of inquiry. Writing and speaking have an impact in the areas of conceptual knowledge, metacognitive knowledge, and understanding the nature of science. Consequently, this paper presents the current research that explores the relationships among inquiry in science, and the use of language, and writing in the science classroom. In addition, effective classroom pedagogy is presented. The pedagogies include the Science Writing Heuristic, expository writing, expressive writing, debate, and vvhole class and small group discussion. Teachers who have used these techniques acknowledge their effectiveness but are concerned that they will have to make radical changes in the way they teach and the curriculum will have to undergo extensive modification. Keyvvords: science literacy, writing, speaking


EXOGENEITY TEST AND ITS APPLICATION IN ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIPS OF FORWARD AND SPOT EXCHANGE RATES Josef Arlt, Martin Mandel, Markéta Arltová The forward rate unbiasedness hypothesis says that the time series of the future spot exchange rate depends on the time series of today quoted forward exchange rate. Expectation hypothesis in the forward rates means that the time series of today quoted forward exchange rate depends on today expected future spot exchange rate. To test these hypotheses the innovative econometric procedure based on testing cointegration and weak exogeneity was proposed. The forward rate unbiasedness hypothesis respectively the expectation hypothesis can be formulated as the hypothesis of weak exogeneity of the forward exchange rate with respect to the parameters of conditional error correction model for the change of the future spot exchange rate, respectively as the hypothesis of weak exogeneity of the future spot exchange rate with respect to the parameters of conditional error correction model for the change of the forward exchange rate. The weak exogeneity means that the relationship of the analysed time series can be seen as one sided where one variable has a character of condition and the second one of consequence which follows from the condition. The whole procedure can be modelled as an ANP (Analytic Network Process) model. Clusters in the model represent hypotheses, criteria, tools and testing activities. There are dependencies and feedbacks between clusters and between elements in clusters. The ANP approach helps to structure the problem and to analyse the appropriate procedure. From the empirical analysis made on the basis of data from the Czech Republic it follows that the forward exchange rate does not act as an unbiased estimate of future spot exchange rates. Instead, the expectation hypothesis that the time series of forward exchange rate depends on expected future spot exchange rate can be considered as accepted. But the long-run relationship promotes very weakly. This paper was written with the support of the Czech Science Foundation project No. P402/12/G097 DYME Dynamic Models in Economics.


Light weight, heat and fire resistant low smoke generating polyimide foams are developed for aircraft seating applications. The material is upgraded and classified into groups for fabrication of cushions possessing acceptable comfort properties. Refinement and selection of foaming processes using a variety of previously developd foaming techniques and definition of property relationships to arrive at the selection and classfication of polyimide foams into five groups in accordance with predetermined ILD values are emphasized.


The objectives of this study were to examine O'Reilly and Chatman's (1986) compliance, identification, and internalization scales, and to compare the latter measures to the OCQ. Two studies were completed. Findings from Study 1 indicated that: (1) Although reliable, the identification measure was redundant with the OCQ; ( 2) the internalization measure was reliable and valid in that most items strongly loaded upon a different factor than did items of all other measures; and (3) the compliance measure obtained some validity only after the removal of two of its items, but possessed weak reliability throughout the analysis. Study 2 examined the applicability of the reconstituted (based upon findings from Study 1) OCQ, internaliza tion and compliance measures in a longitudinal model of the turnover process. Of the three measures, only the OCQ had a significant causal effect within the model. Implications of these findings are examined.


Thyrotoxicosis is a condition in which tissues are stimulated by increased secretion of thyroid hormone. The most common cause is diffuse toxic goiter and toxic multi-nodular goiter. For more reviews on this disease, the effects of hyperthyroidism on liver enzyme levels were studied. A total of 30 adult male Wistar rats weighing about 190 g were purchased from the Pasteur Institute of Iran. In this study, rats were divided into control group, the group receiving vitamin E, the group receiving levothyroxine, the group receiving levothyroxine treated with vitamin E; blood was taken from all groups over a period of 10 days after injection, and measurement of thyroid hormones and liver tests was made. The findings obtained in this study show that Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) hormone levels in rats treated with levothyroxine, Treatment with vitamin E may reduce serum levels of ISH , Hormone levels of T4 in the rats treated with levothyroxine were increased compared to normal rates. Treatment with vitamin E reduces serum levels of T4 compared to the first hyper group. T4 hormone levels in rats treated with levothyroxine were reduced compared to normal rates. Treatment with vitamin E may reduce serum levels of T4 compared with the first hyper group. Asparagine Transferase (AST) enzyme levels in rats treated with levothyroxine were increased compared, Treatment with vitamin E may reduce serum levels of AST , Alanine transferase (ALT) enzyme levels in rats treated with levothyroxine were increased , Treatment with vitamin E may increase serum levels of ALT , alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme levels in rats treated with levothyroxine has been increased compared with normal rates. Treatment with vitamin E resulted in serum levels of ALT not to be increased compared with the first group. According to the results of hyperthyroidism and levels of liver enzymes, it can be concluded that hyperthyroidism induced by levothyroxine can increase the levels of hormones T3, T4 and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), and then increase the levels of liver enzymes. Treatment of empirical samples with vitamin E is likely to reduce liver damages and prevent the increased levels of liver enzymes compared to empirical samples of hyperthyroidism which have been treated with vitamin E.


Osteopenia osteosclerosis periosteal reactions traumas and fractures localized bone lesions joint diseases joint and soft-tissue calcifications skull orbits nasal fossa and paranasal sinuses jaws and teeth spine and pelvis clavicles, ribs and sternum extremities hands and feet.


Writing begins with the act of reading. While this statement is true for most college papers, strong English papers tend to be the product of highly attentive reading (and rereading). When your instructors ask you to do a "close reading," they are asking you to read not only for content, but also for structures and patterns. When you perform a close reading, then, you observe how form and content interact. In some cases, form reinforces content: for example, in John Donne's Holy Sonnet 14, where the speaker invites God's "force" "to break, blow, burn and make [him] new." Here, the stressed monosyllables of the verbs "break," "blow" and "burn" evoke aurally the force that the speaker invites from God. In other cases, form raises questions about content: for example, a repeated denial of guilt will likely raise questions about the speaker's professed innocence.


. Properties of the thermal radiation emitted by neutron stars (NSs) are determined by thin plasma layers (atmospheres) at their sur faces. The NS atmospheres are very different from those of usual stars due to the immense gravity and huge magnetic fields. Current models of hydrogen NS atmospheres show that the spectra deviate substantially from blackbody spectra of the same temperatures. Comparison of the model spectra with recent observations of soft X-ray and UV-optical ra diation of NSs yields the surface temperatures considerably lower than those obtained from the blackbody fits. This conclusion have important implications for theories of NS cooling and for understanding fundamental properties of the superdense matter in the NS interiors.


Service creation is a complex process that involves service analysis design, implementation and testing. Traditionally, the service is validated at the late stage of testing. This increases development costs since any necessary amendments would require an iterative improving cycle on service design and implementation; until the desired result is eventually reached. This paper proposes a service creation methodology and tooling with a twofold contribution: (i) based on its design, a service is validated early on and prior to implementation, (ii) the service code is automatically generated out of the validated service designs. To achieve this, our approach integrates model-driven architecture (MDA) with Petri Nets (PN). MDA is used to define the (i) Information, (ii) Service Oriented Petri Net (SOPN) and (iii) User Interface modelling languages, which support the service design and implementation phases. Petri Nets facilitate the service validation phase through the use of the SOPN language. By merging the two techniques we obtain a systematic and cost-effective approach for the creation of pervasive services. Concluding the methodology is applied in practice for the creation of a Flight Itinerary booking service.


While incidence of stroke in patients 55 to 64 years of age is 2-3 per 1 000 people and per year, this rate is 10fold higher in patients 85 years of age or above. Concomitant cardiovascular diseases, e. g. arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterinaemia, increase the risk for stroke. Both prevalence and incidence increase with age. Early treatment and continuous optimisation of these risk factors can prevent stroke. Prevention of cerebro-vascular complications reduces the development and progression of vascular dementia. It is one of the most frequent subtypes of dementia along with Alzheimer's disease. After recent stroke, one out of ten patients is likely to suffer from another event within the first year. Besides treatment of risk factors, secondary prevention mainly consists of platelet aggregation inhibitors after atherosclerotic stroke, and oral anticoagulation after cardio-embolic stroke. For acute therapy of stroke the fibrinolytic drug rtPA (Actilyse®) can be applied. Age above 80 years has been an exclusion criterion so far. However, recent investigations clearly indicate that the protective effect of rtPA may outweigh the bleeding risk. The same can be stated for the secondary stroke prevention with oral anticoagulants. Hemorrhagic stroke will not be discussed in this article.


In order to guarantee the security and integrity of medical data in hospital information system, the database administrator needs to make complete backup restoration strategy. It discusses three methods for "No.1 Military" system database backup restoration, and if apply these three methods comprehensively, once the machine suddenly stops or data loses, it can maximally reduce the loss and guarantee the high availability of data.


One of the landmark financial overhauls since independence is demonetization and the visible goals it seeks to secure is manifold. Black money coupled with corruption has been one perennial factor that has been hampering the growth of Indian economy for long. Terrorist activities, largely funded through black money, recurrently destabilize the country. The rationale of government behind executing such a drastic policy of demonetization is stated to curb the malicious practice of corruption along with wiping out all the nefarious activities associated with black money. Notwithstanding, there are allegations that the government undertakes such a sudden and radical policy based on some political calculations. One widely deliberated motive about such a move is that the major leading political party in the government at the centre steers a calculative course to reap political gains in the elections to some state legislative assemblies that followed few months later. But an undeniable fact is that demonetization has brought various tangible and intangible impacts not just in the field of economy, but also in various fields. There are also endless debates regarding the modus operandi of demonetization. The present paper seeks to examine some of the major cognizable interfaces between the timing of demonetization and the political backdrops in the country. It also attempts to analyze the observable impacts of demonetization in some core aspects. For this paper, a qualitative based theoretical analysis is adopted.


The production of NO and NO2 and the removal of 3-pentanone, as an example for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in a pulsed microwave discharge in air, near atmospheric pressure has been studied. The influence of changing the pulse duration from 25 to 500 µs and of the pulse repetition rate from 10 to 500 Hz is reported. At a relatively high pressure of p = 800 mbar, plasma ignition is achieved by inserting BaTiO3 pellets inside the microwave excitator. The concentrations of NO and NO2 have been monitored by infrared tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy. It was found that their concentrations increase monotonically with the average power injected into the plasma. Further, the efficiency of the pulsed microwave discharge for VOC oxidation, in this case of 1400 ppm of 3-pentanone in dry air, has been studied. The VOC removal efficiency has been determined using gas chromatography. The oxidative efficiency of the discharge was found to increase linearly with the pulse repetition rate as well as with the pulse duration, the power duty cycle ratio being the key parameter.


Due to the high efficiency of ammonia nitrogen degradation, a novel Candida sp. strain N6 was applied for wastewater treatment by using immobilization technology. Immobilization conditions and corresponding ammonia removal capacity of immobilized N6 beads were investigated.The immobilized N6 beads were applied to degrade simulated ammonia nitrogen wastewater. Results showed that the optimum formula of immobilized materials was 9% polyvinyl alcohol, 1.5% sodium alginate, and 2% calcium chloride, under which the ammonia nitrogen removal rate of the immobilized N6 beads reached 97.97%. The following immobilization conditions were observed to be optimal: the immobilization time was 24 h, the inoculum of N6 was 3%, and the pH was 8.The immobilized N6 beads exhibited excellent ammonianitrogen degradation ability in SBRs. The ammonia nitrogen removal rate was stable at 95%-99% in the SBRs. The results indicated that immobilized N6 beads possess good application prospects in the treatment of ammonia nitrogen wastewater.


Abstract 1793 Thalidomide (THAL) and IMID® immunomodulary drugs lenalidomide (LEN) and (POM) have proven beneficial in the treatment of a variety of hematological malignancies. Pre-clinical studies demonstrate multiple direct and indirect anti-tumor activities including anti-angiogeneic, proapoptotic, anti-proliferative and immunomodulatory effects. Recent studies have identified cerebron (CRBN) as a potential direct physical target of THAL and IMiD compounds and CRBN expression is reportedly required for IMiD compound activity. However, the precise link between CRBN and IMiD compound mechanism of action (MOA) have not been clearly defined. We applied Drosophila as a drug discovery platform to assess the MOA of THAL and IMiD compounds in vivo . THAL or POM fed Drosophila demonstrate morphological phenotypes that replicate wingless ( wg ) mutants indicating that drugs are inhibitors of Wg/Wnt signaling. In this model system, THAL and IMiD compounds disrupt membrane localization of GSK-3 indicating that the bioactivity of IMiD compounds is achieved through spatial regulation and potentiation of Sgg/GSK-3 in Drosophila . Using epistasis analysis we show that Drosophila expressing genetic mutants lacking GSK-3 activity and myeloma cells in which GSK-3a and GSK-3b have been knocked down by siRNA fail to respond to POM. In both Drosophila and myeloma cells therefore it appears that GSK-3 activity is required for biological responses. To test the clinical validity of GSK-3 as a biomarker, we obtained patient tumor samples from a Phase II clinical trial of single agent LEN for previously untreated CLL (Chen CI et al., J Clin Oncol, 2011; 29:1175). Twenty five patients were enrolled onto this study and received LEN at a starting dose of 2.5 mg days 1–21 of a 28 day cycle with monthly escalation to a target dose of 10 mg. The primary clinical endpoint for the trial was objective response to lenalidomide (complete response (CR) and partial response (PR)) evaluated as defined in the revised 1996 NCI Working Group guidelines. Peripheral blood samples for correlative studies were collected on days 1 (pre-dosing) and 8 of cycles 1 and 2. CRBN expression was evaluated by gene expression profiling and Western blot and found to be uniformly expressed in all 19 evaluable day 1 patient samples regardless of LEN response. Thus CRBN expression does not appear to be a useful predictive biomarker of response in this population of previously untreated patients. However, GSK-3 localization was correlated with response. Paired analysis of CD19 selected CLL cells comparing day 1 vs day 8 revealed focal membrane localization of GSK-3 on day 1 and subcellular redistribution on day 8 in 11 out of 12 evaluable responders (PR or better). By contrast, in the CLL cells from all 6 evaluable non-responders, GSK-3 expression appeared diffusely distributed before and after treatment. In preliminary studies using confocal immunofluorescence microscopy we determined that CRBN and GSK-3 co-localize in day 1 CLL samples of responders but not in those of non-responders. In summary, our results indicate that THAL and the IMiD compounds target GSK-3 function by spatial regulation and identify GSK-3 localization as a potential clinical biomarker of IMiD response. Disclosures: Trudel: Celgene: Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding; Janssen: Honoraria. Mercurio: Celgene: Equity Ownership, Research Funding. Lopez-Girona: Celgene Corp: Employment, Equity Ownership. Gaidarova: Celgene Corp: Employment, Equity Ownership. Webb: Celgene: Employment, Equity Ownership. Chen: Johnson & Johnson: Consultancy, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Research Funding; GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding; Lundbeck: Consultancy. Stewart: Millenium: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Onyx: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy. Manoukian: Celgene: Research Funding.


Several large uncertain Knowledge Bases (KBs) are available on the Web where facts are associated with a certainty degree α. Usually, users have only a partial knowledge of the KBs contents, their queries may be failing i.e., they return no result for the desired certainty. To prevent this frustrating situation, instead of returning an empty set of answers, our approach explains the reasons of the failure (for a single degree α and for several degrees) with a set of αMinimal Failing Subqueries (αMFSs), and computes alternative relaxed queries, called αMaXimal Succeeding Subqueries (αXSSs), that are as close as possible to the initial failing query. The conducted experiments on the WatDiv benchmark show the relevance of our approaches compared to a baseline method. MOTS-CLÉS : BC incertaines, Requêtes SPARQL, Réponse vide.


Background: CMR is already used to assess cardiac sequelae of systemic arterial hypertension (LV hypertrophy, systolic & diastolic dysfunction). However, this data is limited without a measure of c...


This study aims to examine the mediating role of congruity and customer satisfaction in the effect of personality traits on loyalty in the coffee shop industry in Bali. The number of respondents in this study were 175 respondents, all respondents were coffee shop customers in Bali. This research uses a non-purposive sampling technique. To analyze the research model, the Partial Least Square (PLS) method was used with the SmartPLS 3.0 M3 program. Based on the results of the analysis in this study, the results obtained include: (1) personality traits do not directly influence brand loyalty; (2) personality traits have positive and significant effects on customer satisfaction; (3) personality trait has significant positive effect on congruity; (4) congruity has a significant positive effect on brand loyalty; (5) customer satisfaction has a significant positive effect on brand loyalty; (6) congruity has a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction; (7) congruity is able to mediate fully (full mediated) on the influence of personality traits on brand loyalty; and (8) customer satisfaction is able to mediate fully (full mediated) on the influence of personality traits on brand loyalty. Future research is needed to deepen the influence of the personality traits of customers on brand loyalty by using different mediating variables to see the different effect. This research is limited to the coffee shop industry. Therefore, further research can be developed by discussing other industries. Coffee shop industry activists and management are expected to be able to evaluate and take corrective actions on aspects that are deemed unable to create customer loyalty to the coffee shop.


Abstract Background A rapid and accurate meningitis/encephalitis diagnostic test can have a significant clinical impact and improve utilization of antimicrobial agents. The FilmArray Meningitis/Encephalitis Panel, a multiplex PCR meningitis/encephalitis panel (MEP) (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) requires only 200 μL of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and takes less than 1 hour to simultaneously detect 14 pathogens. The objective of the study was to evaluate the outcome of MEP at our medical center. Methods Retrospective review of 433 patients with an MEP performed from April 2017 to March 2018. Demographics characteristics, signs and symptoms, immune status, laboratory and radiology results and antibiotic use were collected. Results Twenty-nine unique patients with positive CSF samples (Table 1). The mean age was 41 years old with 55% female predominance. The most common presentations were headache (65%) and fever (38%). Patients with H. influenzae and Group B Strepmeningitis had positive blood culture (CX) but negative CSF CX. Both the CSF and the blood CX were negative for the patient with L. monocytogenes. MEP identified six Cryptococcus sp. with concurrent positive CSF CX and Cryptococcus antigen. However, three patients had CSF Cryptococcus CX positive but MEP was negative. Only one of six patients with HHV-6 received treatment. Table 1. Pathogen Identified With FilmArray ME Panel Pathogen Detected # Positive MEP Human herpes virus-6 (HHV6)* 6 Cryptococcus gattii/neoformans* 5 Enterovirus 5 Human simplex virus (HSV)-2 4 Cytomegalovirus 3 Varicella zoster 2 HSV-1 1 Streptococcus agalactiae 1 Haemophilus influenzae 1 Escherichia coli K1 1 Listeria Monocytogenes 1 Streptococcus pneumoniae 0 Human parechovirus 0 Neisseria meningitis 0 *One patient with Cryptococcus and HHV-6 co-infection Conclusion The FilmArray MEP can rapidly diagnose ME infections, help to target therapy and allow for discontinuation of unnecessary empiric agents. Paired cultures are needed for drug susceptibility tests and in patients suspected of Cryptococcusmeningitis due to false negative MEP results. Majority of patients with HHV-6 did not receive treatment and attributed the positive result due to possibly chromosomal integration of HHV6. Multiple Pathogen Detected # of Patients Epstein–Barr Virus + HHV 6 1 Cryptococcus + HHV 6 1 Disclosures R. Hasbun, Biofire: Speaker's Bureau, Speaker honorarium. Biomeriaux: Consultant, Consulting fee.


This paper consists essentially of two parts. In the first one, we make a short introduction to traditional and modern Catalan cooking. In the second one, we provide a short list of my favorite restaurants.


Even though Gaussian elimination with partial pivoting is very widely used, $n \times n$ matrices can be constructed where the error growth in the algorithm is proportional to $2^{n-1}$. Thus for moderate or large $n$, in theory, there is a potential for disastrous error growth. However, prior to 1993 no reports of such an example in a practical application had appeared in the literature. Examples are presented that arise naturally from integral and differential equations and that lead to disastrous error growth in Gaussian elimination with partial pivoting.


A significant protection provided by maternal antibodies against avian adenovirus serotypes 8 and 11, previously associated with the inclusion body hepatitis and hydropericardium syndrome, was observed in breeder progenies after challenge at 1 and 7 days of age. At two weeks of age, in the presence of low maternal antibodies against avian adenovirus (AAV), chicken anemia virus (CAV) and infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), birds from the same progenies were challenged with either the FAV serotype 8, a field CAV strain and/or the IBDV Edgar strain. The level of protection against clinical disease was evaluated in these progenies.


Tltle CORAIL 2 OCEANOGRAPHIC CRUISE IN l'HE CHESTERFIELD ARCHIPELAGO (R/V "CORIOLIS", 18 July,6 August 1988) !WO sc!entlflc cruiaes took place ln the Chesterfield Archipelago located ln the Coral sea between the G.B.R and New Caledonia. The first cruis6 vas concerned vith benthos (CORAIL 2) and the second with the lehthyof'auna (CORAIL t). Soft bottoms of the Chesterfield archipelago, Lanadowne bank and Fairway bank were sa.mpled wlth 149 dredges and 23 beam tl"'awls. Fo1101l1ng a presentation on the biogeographieal interest of this arehipelago taking into account the geologieal situation, the goals of the cruises are descrlbed. Preliminary results regarding substrate nature, sediments and the distribution of severai taxa are presented by maps.


Radio Astronomy
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond flashes of radio emission from distant galaxies. It has only recently become possible to locate single bursts precisely enough to determine the host galaxy. Prochaska et al. have observed and localized a FRB using a radio interferometer. The line of sight to the host galaxy coincidentally passes through the outskirts of a closer foreground galaxy. By analyzing the propagation of the FRB, the authors put constraints on the density and magnetization of gas in the outskirts of the foreground galaxy. The technique provides complementary information to existing methods using background quasars.

Science , this issue p. [231][1]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aay0073


Formation of nanosized mixed semiconductor PbxCd1 —xS in situ into PEO—polymer electrolyte matrix at room temperature is reported. The disperse phase was identified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Optical microscopy shows the increase in amorphicity with dispersal of semiconductor while scanning electron microscope/ transmission electron microscope affirmed the formation of nanoparticulates with various sizes. The size distribution was further supported by Ultraviolet/Visible absorption of the colloid. The detailed electrical characterizations show that the dispersed PbxCd1—xS introduced a small (≤13%) electronic conductivity into pure ion conducting PEO:NH4I polymer electrolyte matrix.


In the Russian legal system, the crime, unlike other wrongs, is characterized as the act that has specific, namely criminal, public danger. Criminal liability in contrast to administrative liability is established for cases of high public danger. Turning to the meaningful characteristic of the phenomenon of public danger, the Russian doctrine proposed a number of theoretical constructions that in modern conditions, taking into account the need for updating the methodological framework of criminal law, can and should be reinterpreted and, to some extent, rediscovered.Parameters of the "criminal" danger are not originally determined; they do not have clear evidence and criteria, and in modern conditions they cannot be calculated mathematically accurately. It is hardly possible to determine empirically the minimum threshold at which "crime begins", since this task is political rather than experimental and cognitive, and it is resolved in the course of implementing the criminal policy of the State. Being a characteristic of all offenses, public danger has special quantitative parameters allowing us to assert specific criminal public danger that can be presented as a generalized indicator of the risk of a wrongful act, its actual or projected consequences and the identity of the perpetrator. The danger of a wrongful act serves as a starting point in assessing the risk of the crime at the lawmaking and law enforcement levels, assessing the risk of the wrong and of the crime that represent mismatched assessment practices. The risk created by the wrong depends on the balance between two significant factors: (a) the content and hierarchy of constitutional values at which the wrongful act is directed to cause harm; (b) characteristics of the threat emanating from the wrongful act that must be real, valid and must be confirmed by the specific actions or omissions of the wrongdoer.


In this work, we investigate the temporal evolution of the jet-driven scour depth in a pothole lying on a cohesionless granular bed by using diverse approaches. First, we present new experiments which encompass cases with jet angles ranging from 45° to 90° from the horizontal, several initial water depths, and different particle sizes, supplementing experiments developed recently by the last two authors. In particular, we address relatively large angles, mostly absent in previous analyses. Our results initially confirm the existence of two very different stages in the scour process, essentially overlooked in datasets used to obtain the traditional formulas—developing and developed phases; they then provide unprecedented evidence of the very distinct behavior at 90°, characterized by a step-wise behavior. Second, after revisiting the rationale of a theory for the equilibrium condition developed elsewhere by the first author and a collaborator, we employ the existing and new datasets to determine the multiplicative constants embedded in the equilibrium scour formulas. Third, we present a novel theory for the temporal evolution of the scour depth during the developed phase (but with good prediction capabilities in the developing phase as well). By invoking the conservation of mass of sediment in the pothole, in addition to the energy conservation within the pothole and the phenomenological theory of turbulence, we obtain ordinary differential equations which we solve by numerical means. We validate the theory using our new and other datasets. Finally, we provide interesting interpretations of the scour process by using the results of the theory.In this work, we investigate the temporal evolution of the jet-driven scour depth in a pothole lying on a cohesionless granular bed by using diverse approaches. First, we present new experiments which encompass cases with jet angles ranging from 45° to 90° from the horizontal, several initial water depths, and different particle sizes, supplementing experiments developed recently by the last two authors. In particular, we address relatively large angles, mostly absent in previous analyses. Our results initially confirm the existence of two very different stages in the scour process, essentially overlooked in datasets used to obtain the traditional formulas—developing and developed phases; they then provide unprecedented evidence of the very distinct behavior at 90°, characterized by a step-wise behavior. Second, after revisiting the rationale of a theory for the equilibrium condition developed elsewhere by the first author and a collaborator, we employ the existing and new datasets to determine the multip...


Abstract Aims Recent randomised controlled trials have shown that non-operative management of acute appendicitis with antibiotics can prevent the need for surgery in 71-84% of patients within 90-days. Changes in the management of appendicitis, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, have allowed for this large-scale observational study, which aims to report the outcomes of operative and non-operative management of appendicitis, including non-operative management rates at 90-days. Methods This prospective, multicentre cohort study at 97 sites across Great Britain and Ireland included adult patients with a clinical or radiological diagnosis of appendicitis. Propensity-score matching was conducted using age, sex, BMI, frailty, co-morbidity, adult appendicitis score and CRP. Outcomes in the non-operative group were 90-day treatment failure, and in the matched groups 30-day complications and length of hospital stay (LOS). Results This analysis included 3420 patients, of whom 1402 (41%) had initial non-operative treatment and 2018 (59%) had operative management. The success rate of non-operative management was 80% (1116) at 90-days, with 18 patients (6%) that failed non-operative management having a histologically normal appendix. Following propensity score matching, 2444 patients were included in the outcomes analysis. In the propensity score matched groups, there was a reduction in complications in the non-operative management group compared to the operative group (OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.26 to 0.50) and a shorter median LOS (2.5 vs 3 days, p < 0.001). Conclusions Non-operative management of appendicitis is associated with fewer complications, a shorter LOS, and avoids surgery in the majority of patients.


This paper discusses the development and application ofa questionnaire designed to measure the degree ofparticipation experienced by a work group. It relies on the conceptual framework of socio-technical systems the ory and is based on studies of Australian organisations. It offers prac titioners a valid and reliable method of indexing changes in autonomy at the level of the work group. It can thus be of use in situations where struc tural, technological or other organisational change is taking place, as it allows measurement of 'before' and 'after'conditions ofautonomy and glo bal job satisfaction.


Summary One new genus Amandia, and 19 new species of Chalcidoidea (Insecta: Hymenoptera) are described. Fifteen of the new species, including the type-species of Amandia, are recorded from France, three others from Britain, and one from Czechoslovakia. Two are described from reared material: Cecidostiba saportai from Cynips coriaria L. (Hym.) and Trichomalopsis heterogynidis from Heterogynis penella (Hubn.) (Lep.). Attention is drawn to two species-groups, belonging to the genera Eurytoma Illiger and Pteromalus Swederus respectively, which are associated with different species of Euphorbia; they comprise five species of Eurytoma (four new) which are probably phytophagous in the seeds, and five of Pteromalus (three new) whose biology is not yet known. Diagnoses of the two species-groups are given, also redescriptions of earlier-described species belonging to them.


Objective To improved the working efficiency of the on-the-job continuous education training,in order to provide theoretical and technological guidance for nosocomail infection work.Methods Based on the nosocomail infection surveillance and management system,the continuous education training subsystem was designed to train knowledge about nosocomail infection on-line,to examine in network,and to carry out mark of study management.Results The system provide a way of training of nosocomail infection,and play supervise role in medical worker's continuous learning.Conclusion Application of computer network technique give a exchange platform for nosocomail infection information,afford medical staff convenient way for on-the-job leaning.It is benefit for strengthen the awareness of prevention and control on nosocomail infection among the medical staff.


Biomarkers have been used to diagnose, prognose, evaluate, and identify the severity and outcomes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. This study explored if it is possible to predict the outcome of TBI patients by estimating the biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid and serum. We searched data bases and literature about biomarkers, and found forty epidemiologic studies from 92 potentially relevant articles. However, limited data are available about postanoxic encephalopathy. It showed that presently, neurofilament, S100B, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and ubiquitin carboxyl terminal hydrolase-L1 seemed to have the best potential as diagnostic biomarkers for distinguishing focal and diffuse injury, whereas C-Tau, neuron-specific enolase, S100B, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and spectrin breakdown products appear to be candidates for reflective biomarkers of TBI. Point-of-care biomarkers are needed in TBI which is one of the most important additional risk factors in road traffic injuries. In a holistic approach, more researches about biomarkers of TBI are required. These biomarkers are very useful for treatment of patients with TBI.


This research paper, entitled "THE EFFICIENT APPLICATION OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS AND ITS INCIDENCE IN PERFORMANCE IN THE
TEACHERS OF THE JIPIJAPA EDUCATIONAL UNIT", is of the utmost importance
because education currently has a proactive approach taking into account that The educational
institutions have the need to have an adequate administration and to know the efficiency of the
internal processes and of all the activities that the teachers develop for the institutional
strengthening. For the scope of results in relation to the topics, it was considered as General
Objective to determine the efficient application of the administrative process and its impact on
the performance of the teachers of the Educational Unit "Jipijapa". Specific objectives.
Diagnose the current situation of the administrative operating process in teaching in the
Educational Unit "Jipijapa". Verify the institutional regulations that govern the performance of
staff functions in the teaching of the Educational Unit "Jipijapa". Perform the Administrative
Audit of the administrative process in the teaching of the Educational Unit "Jipijapa".
Contemplating the efficient application of the administrative process as a hypothesis positively
affects the performance of the teachers of the Educational Unit "Jipijapa". For its content
development the inductive and deductive method was used, for the field research an interview
and questionnaire was conducted to the target population, giving as conclusion the performance
of an Administrative audit to the administrative process in the teaching of the Educational Unit
"Jipijapa" applying the standardized procedures of the audit planning, execution and results,
and in this way the authorities of the institution can know the results and apply the
recommendations given for an efficient administrative process in the achievement of the
institutional objectives


OBJECTIVES
This study examined predictors of longevity in a cohort of inner-city African American women.

METHODS
Data were derived from a cohort study of inner-city African American mothers whose median age in 1966 was 31 years. Analyses involved single-decrement life tables and pooled logistic regression.

RESULTS
Giving birth for the first time before age 25 and having at least a high school education predicted longevity in this sample. Effects of later age at first delivery in terms of mortality risk were stronger after 55 years and, especially, after 70 years.

CONCLUSIONS
The findings offer support for Geronimus's weathering hypothesis. Predictors of longevity among African Americans may be distinct from predictors for the population as a whole.


AbstractThe purposes of this study were to determine the (a) effects of hemisphericity (hemispheric preference: successive/simultaneous) and instructional strategies (analytic/global) on minority developmental college students' mathematics achievement and attitudes and (b) relationships between those students' diagnosed hemisphericity and their learning-style preferences. The investigation employed a broadly conceived model based on the identification of each student's hemisphericity and matching learning-style characteristics with congruent and incongruent instructional strategies. To analyze the data, we used an analysis of covariance employing a two-factor mixed design (Hemisphericity x Instructional strategy) with repeated measures on the last factor. We used t tests to analyze the degree of the relationship between hemispheric processing and correlated elements of learning style. The ANCOVA revealed significant differences when global and simultaneous students were matched or mismatched with instruct...


In audio-visual automatic speech recognition (AVASR), no research to date has been conducted into the problem of recognising visual speech whilst the speaker is moving their head. In this paper, we extend our current system to deal with this task, which we entitle continuous pose-invariant lipreading. By developing an AVASR system which can deal with such a scenario, we believe we are making the system effectively "real-world" as it requires little cooperation from the user and as such can be used in a host of realistic applications (e.g. mobile phones, in-vehicles etc.). In this proof of concept paper, we show via our experiments on the CUAVE database, that recognising visual speech whilst a speaker is moving their head during the utterance is feasible.


An upwind-biased implicit approximate factorization algorithm is applied to several steady and unsteady turbulent flows. The thin layer form of the compressible Navier-Stokes equation is used. Both the flux vector splitting and flux difference splitting methods are used to determine fluxes, and the results are compared. Flux difference splitting predicts results more accurately than flux vector splitting on a given mesh size, but, in its present implementation, is more severely limited by the maximum CFL number for unsteady time accurate flows. Physical aspects of the computations are also examined. An equilibrium turbulent boundary layer model computes generally better steady and unsteady results than a nonequilibrium model when there is little to no boundary layer separation. Conversely, when a significant region of separation exists, the nonequilibrium model performs in better agreement with experiment.


Major powers have immense resources at their disposal, while minor powers are assumed to avoid wars and power politics due to structural and material constraints. This provokes the question why do some minor powers nonetheless decide to militarily engage their vastly stronger opponents, particularly major powers?
Inspired by several theoretical insights, this book proposes a more complex framework of minor powers in interstate asymmetric conflict. It analyses five conditions highlighted by previous studies: domestic crisis, foreign support, window of opportunity, anomalous beliefs, and regime stability. The theoretical framework works well with a mixed-methods approach, a medium-N research design (Qualitative Comparative Analysis), and three case studies: Iraq (1990), Moldova (1992), and Serbia (1999).
The book finds that by looking through the lenses of multiple theories, one can observe a more nuanced relationship how different conditions interact in impacting minor powers' decisions. Ultimately, minor powers militarily engage major powers when facing a more important domestic crisis and when they also believe that they have a window of opportunity or support from another major power in order to constrain major powers' capability and resolve. Looking at the current conflict in Syria, there are important policy implications given the observation that minor powers do and will continue to challenge major powers in the future.


In Czech Republic we noticed the term "cross-border payments" for the first time more than 20 years ago. Then Czech Republic was not amember of the European Union yet (it became an EU member in 2005) nevertheless as early as in 1990 the EU had shown its interest in startingregulating a banking area not regulated until then, i.e. the payments. SEPA project emerged more than ten years later. It looked into issues which had been adopted by EU during gradual implementation ofcross-border credit transfers. Why was it actually created? And has it contributed to satisfaction of the needs of mainly small clients, representedparticularly by consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises, related to transfers of funds of EU countries? The presented text deals with issues of cross-border credit transfers implementation in relation to SEPA project results, it answers the questionwhether at the moment SEPAproject coincides with cross-border credit transfers or not and in the conclusion it evaluates thepossible effect ofcross-border credit transfers implementation on small and medium-sized enterprises.


Telegram from C. R. Smith, President American Airlines, to Amon Carter regarding important information on Douglas Airplanes for American Airlines.


Objective:To study the sources of indoor noise, its effects on human health, noise assessment and regulation through the use of standards, and techniques used to reduce noise. Background: Noise significantly affects the living environment, and there are an increasing number of reports of its impacts on human health. Method: We reviewed domestic and foreign data regarding environmental noise, and examined its effects and the standards used to regulate noise levels. Results: We describe the major sources of indoor noise and suggest possible legal standards, as well as recommended criteria for the control of noise. Conclusion: South Korea has higher legal standards of environmental noise than international standards in terms of threshold values. People in Korea are exposed to various sources of noise, and therefore the reduction of noise is urgently required. Application: Depending on the features of indoor spaces, an appropriate degree of indoor noise can be determined and techniques to reduce excess noise are required.


Creativity is an important element in the development of an individual's potential. However, in the current conditions, the development of creativity still cannot be carried out optimally. Minimal creativity development can result in an ineffective teaching and learning process. A way that is seen as being able to develop creativity is to provide facilities to students through guidance services that have direction and purpose. Guidance and counseling media always consist of two important elements, namely the elements of equipment or hardware (hardware) and the elements of the message they carry (message/software). Software is the information or guidance and counseling material itself that will be conveyed to the counselee, while the hardware is the means or equipment used to present the guidance and counseling message/material. Creativity requires both novelty and benefit which implies that an idea or concept may be new but if there is any use it cannot be termed as creative and vice versa. Creativity is the ability to create new forms, new cognitive structures, and new products, which may be physical, such as technology, or symbolic. This type of research in this paper uses qualitative research methods with a case study approach with a case study type. Collecting data through observation, and documentation of interviews conducted by Elementary Schools. The data obtained from various sources were then analyzed using descriptive analysis methods. Research results found that in communication, there are often barriers that prevent messages or information from being conveyed precisely and accurately. Therefore, the counseling teacher needs an intermediary in the form of guidance and counseling media. The ability to communicate, express what we think, and also catch the message conveyed by our interlocutor. Language can be a method of developing children's creativity because language is considered a way for children to be able to express what they experience and feel.


With the rapid development and popularization of CFD technology, requirements on data amount and computing speed have also increased a lot. The computing ability of single CPU is unable to meet the requirement. Therefore, iteration and parallel computation are the most important methods for CFD problems with large grid scales. This paper introduces the most popular iteration methods, classical iteration methods and their parallel computation strategies. On the basis of it, the parallel computing simulation environment is also constructed. It comprehensively applies symmetric multi-processing and distributed technologies and Windows XP 64 bit system. Research on CFD has focus on the parallel computation, which can meet the practical demand for computer capacity and computing time.