Electron beam excited mixtures of argon and helium with different chlorine donors have been investigated in order to study the optical emission characteristics as well as the formation and quenching processes of ArCl* and Ar2Cl*. Emission from the ArCl* (B–X) and ArCl* (D–X) transitions is observed. Due to the competition between formation of ArCl* and Cl2*, Cl* is identified to be their common precursor. Three body quenching of ArCl* yields Ar2Cl* which radiates around (245±5) nm with a bandwidth (FWHM) of 35 nm. Quenching rate constants for Ar2Cl* and a radiative lifetime of (240±40) ns have been determined.


However, isonicotinic acid hydrazide consumes 4 equivalents of iodine when oxidised as described below. Thus the mechanism of the reaction seems to be analogous to that of hydrazines. Isonicotinic acid hydrazide may be titrated in the following manner :Dissolve 50 mg. of the substance in 50 ml. of water, add 1 g. of sodium bicarbonate and 25 ml. of 0.1N iodine. Allow to stand for 15 minutes. Cautiously add 10 ml. of 5N hydrochloric acid and titrate the excess of iodine with 0: 1N sodium thiosulphate using starch solution as indicator. 1 ml. of 0-1N iodine corresponds to 0.003429 g. of C,H,ON,. Two samples of the hydrazide from different manufacturers, m.pt. 168" to 169" C. and 170" to 171" C. (Kofler), assayed 97.8,97.8,98.0 and 98.4, 98.6, 98.7, 98.2 per cent. Commercial tablets containing 50 mg. of the hydrazide were analysed in a similar way, the only difference being that the suspension of the tablet powder was centrifuged before the addition of the sodium bicarbonate. The following results were obtained :--47.7, 48.1, 48.3 and 48.2 mg. per tablet.


Users are still waiting for accurate optical character recognition solutions for Arabic handwritten scripts. This research explores best sets of feature extraction techniques and studies the accuracy of well-known classifiers for Arabic letters. Depending on their position in the word, Arabic letters are drawn in four forms: Isolated, Initial, Medial, and Final. The principal component analysis technique is used to select best subset of features out of a large number of extracted features. We used parametric and non-parametric classifiers and found out that a subset of 25 features is needed to get 84% recognition accuracy using a linear discriminant classifier, and using more features does not substantially improve this accuracy. However, for features fewer than 25 features, a quadratic discriminant classifier is more accurate than the linear classifier. Classifiers that are parameterized for the individual four forms score better accuracy than classifiers that do not make use of this input information.


There thought to be a great weakness in the construction of Angel in Tess for Angel's illogically changeable character.The author holds,however,that Angel's character is reasonable as he is a man in the Victorian Age.This article tries to interpret the male subject deconstruction with post-modern theory to demonstrate the concern to the female in Hardy's work.


Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the interactions of tillage systems with imazaquin and imazethapyr on weed control and soybean injury and yield. Control of jimsonweed, common cocklebur, ivyleaf morningglory, velvetleaf, and giant foxtail from imazaquin and imazethapyr in conventional tillage was generally equal to or greater than control in no-tillage. However, under limited rainfall, weed control in no-tillage was generally equal to or greater than control in conventional tillage. Reductions in soybean heights due to herbicide treatment were evident in both tillage systems in 1985 and 1986 but not in. Soybean yields were reduced in 1985 from imazaquin at 140, 210, and 250 g/ha and imazethapyr at 105 and 140 g/ha. Yields were not reduced in 1986 and. Imazaquin and imazethapyr appear to provide adequate control of jimsonweed, common cocklebur, ivyleaf morningglory, velvetleaf, and giant foxtail in conventional and no-till systems.


The aim of study was to investigate the potential candidate gene SEMA3E, TLX and GH and their association with the economic traits, which is becoming increasingly important in poultry breeding program. A total of 72 genomic DNA samples from three female local lines of quail including (desert, brown and white) were collected to determine the association of genes with reproduction trait using PCR-RFLP Technique. According to growth performance the Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) value in selected females for high (H) and low (L) production traits was ranged from -9.2173 to 0.3827. This value is used to estimate body weight at first egg (BWFE), age at first egg (AFE), weight at first egg (WFE), Egg number per Bird (ENPH), Average egg weight (EWTA), and hen day (HD) in three lines. The results indicate that there was a wide intra specific SEMA3E, TLX and GH variability among these local quails which identifying twelve differences genotypes. The identified genotypes for all genes had a significantly (P<0.05) affected on the reproduction trait during first 150 days. The quail's genotype AAABAA always exhibited the largest body weight at first egg in desert H line, while L line of white was greater in Egg number per bird and hen day of the genotype ACCCAC. No significant associations were observed between all loci and age at first egg trait among local quails. The results indicate that there are agreements between BLUP values with PCR-RFLP results to achieve a favorable selection response in reproductive performance of local quail in Kurdistan region, Iraqi.


Abstract Agent-based approaches to software and algorithm development have received a great deal of research attention in recent years and are becoming widely utilised in the construction of complex systems. This paper presents MACSim a novel simulation environment which allows a multi-agent system to be embedded into the industry standard system, Simulink. The architecture of MACSim is discussed and a case study is presented where a number of MACSim agents are used to control the behaviour of a Boeing 747 in simulation.


Zeil has developed a vector space measure which indicates those paths which best detect errors in a selected program predicate. This measure has to be applied to a set of paths post hoc, and so the problem is to heuristically characterize those paths which will provide maximal test information about the selected predicate; the problem of selecting the optimal set of paths is NP-hard. Experiments have been conducted which utilize the vector space criterion to indicate those characteristics of paths which can best be used to test a given predicate. These characteristics will then provide a selection mechanism for an appropriate set of paths. Other questions involve the selection of those paths which sufficiently test all the program predicates, and to experimentally identify those program properties which lead to an irreducible error space for a predicate.


Down-hole differential micro-gravity signals on the order of a few micro-Gal are available for measuring, induced by incremental changes in typical waterflood operations. The measurement concept provides for monitoring beyond the wellbore and should find a place among complimentary techniques like crosswell electromagnetic tomography and repeat VSP for reservoir management.


With the rapid advancement of the telecommunications industry, and competition between telecommunications companies is increasing, companies need to predict their customers to determine the level of customer loyalty. One of them is by analyzing customer data by doing a Customer Churn Prediction. Predicting Customer Churn is an important business strategy for the company. To acquire new customers is much higher cost than retaining existing customers. The ease of operator switching is one of the serious challenges that the telecommunications industry must face. By predicting customer churn, companies can take immediate action to retain customers. To retain existing customers, the company must improve customer service, improve product quality, and must know in advance which customers have the possibility to leave the company. Prediction can be done by analyzing customer data using data mining techniques. In line with this, gathering information from the telecommunications business can help predict whether customer relationships will leave the company. The data used in this study are secondary data and amount to 7.403 data customers. The data has 21 variables. This study proposes to use the ensemble method namely adaboost, xgboost and random forest and compare them. Algorithm is validated through training data and testing data with a ratio of 80:20. From the results we got using python tools, it was found that the adaboost algorithm has an accuracy of 80%.Keywords—accuracy, adaboost, churn prediction, compare model, data mining.


The concept of analyticity plays an important role in establishing truths. Both in the traditional logic of terms and modern logic of predicates, similar approaches are used to reconstruct the idea of reliable substantiation. Kant used the categories of synthetic a priori, Frege relied on the features of terms (individual constants and functions) to formulate the conditions for the application of definitions. As a result, primary statements as the beginning for substantiation presuppose the existence and uniqueness of a defined subject (definite descriptions), similar to the localization of objects in space and time by Kant's synthetic apriori judgments.


New SMEs are critical to the reduction of the high rates of poverty and unemployment in South Africa. The failure rate of new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is very high. Access to finance is one of the major constraints to the survival of new SMEs in South Africa. The purpose of the study was to examine the traditional and innovative financing options available to new SMEs in South Africa. The study analysed the traditional sources of equity and debt such as business angels, venture capitalists, commercial banks, trade credit and government agencies. The study suggested that one of the innovative ways to improve access to finance by new SMEs is crowdfunding. There is the need to provide a regulatory environment that will support the growth of crowdfunding in South Africa. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p748


Platelet-rich plasma and platelet concentrates are involved in growing factors. Both have great therapeutic potential. When the alpha-granules are released by the active platelet, they act in the lesion site stimulating the chemotaxis, the fiberplasia and the angiogenesis. They improve the regeneration of the tissue. Although these rich platelet components are easy to obtain and efficiently to prove by medicine and dentistry, their use on vet medicine is recent. So, much more control studies need to be done. This article reviews morphological aspects of platelets, action of growing factors and use of components rich in platelet in wound healing tendons, ligaments and osteo-articular structures.


One of the most important problems in non-linear programming is to find out the global minimum of a given objective function. In this paper, a new hybrid algorithm which combines the random optimization method of Matyas (1965) and one of the well-known ordinary descent algorithms having an effective convergence property (for example, the Fletcher-Reeves conjugate gradient method, the Davidon-Fletcher-Powell quasi Newton method, etc.) is proposed in order to find out a global minimum in as small a number of steps as possible. Several computational experiments on multimodal objective functions are carried out in order to test the efficiency of the proposed hybrid algorithm. The results obtained imply that the proposed hybrid algorithm is useful for finding out a global minimum in a small number of steps. A theorem that predicts convergence to a global minimum is also given.


The article describes the illustration of the «Acts» painted in 1702 on the walls of Our Lady of the Sign Church in Novgorod. It is argued that the artists used the Piscator and Burght Bibles as iconographic sources, and other fresco ensembles are described which have the similar iconography and the similar composition. The characteristics of the choice of plots for illustration lead to the conclusion that this cycle expressed the intention of the Novgorod clergy to propagate on the territories liberated from the Swedes during the Northern War (1700-1721).


In addition to rheo-mechanical shear and oscillation measurements, recent years have also seen the parallel determination of rheo-optical material functions, such as flow birefringence and flow dichroism, used in order to investigate macroscopic viscoelastic flow behaviour at a molecular level. Apart from determining these moduli, which are proportional to rheo-mechanical parameters, it was also possible to determine the orientation of polymer segments and aggregated structures. In particular, it became possible to explain aggregation behaviour during the sol-gel transition and during temperature-induced phase separation on a molecular level. Investigations centred mainly on polysaccharides relevant to applications in the food industry. In addition to native polysaccharides (maize starch, waxy maize starch, waxy rice starch, potato starch, locust bean gum, guar, carrageenan, β-glucan) and mixtures of these, investigations also included chemically modified celluloses (CMC, HPMC, HPC) and fermentation polymers (xanthan, schizophyllan). Particular consideration was given here to the dependence of the viscoelastic properties on concentration, molar mass, molar mass distribution, degree of substitution, solvent quality and temperature. The overriding aim was to establish structure-property relationships by correlating the rheo-mechanical and rheo-optical material functions with data from polymer analysis.


In this study, special attention is paid to the external factors influence for the mutual coordination of the enterprises' capabilities and goals, the development of marketing and logistics support for the movement of goods. That is why enterprises of all business spheres should first of all take into account the formation of effective marketing and logistics support for goods movement. A classification overview of the external environment factors was conducted. Groups of factors that characterize the general state of the enterprise's external environment are presented. The author justified the need to study and analyze the external environment components in various ways: for example, building scenarios, economic-mathematical models to identify the mutual influence of the specified factors, etc. The interrelation of the company's strategies by areas of activity with the aim of developing marketing-logistics support for goods movement is proposed.


The degradation mechanism of landfill leachate by photocatalysis oxidation process is studied. Acorrding to the difference of the waste water quality, the affections of the reaction time, concentration of the influent, pH, ultravioletlight wavelength on the removal of organic contaminants and chromaticity of landfill leachate are studied. The test of original leachate is made, and the removal rate of CODCr and decolorization rate are respectively 31. 88% and 91.06%. Also, the effluent of UASB is tested again by photocatalysis oxidation, the removal rate of CODCr and decolorization rate are respectively 63. 56% and 93. 80%.


Along with the improvement of ore dressing technology,expanded domestic consumption and unceasing markup of iron resource,the occasion of developing and utilizing the low-grade iron resource becomes possible.Through an introduction of economic grade concept,the authors defined the specific category of low-grade iron resource;and based on profit and loss equilibrium,the authors educed an economic analysis model of calculating the critical grade of the development of low-grade iron resource.It is concluded that a critical grade of 17% is logical for the development of low-grade iron resource in China,meanwhile,the invigorative policies are essential for the development of iron resource of 17% and below;and policy instructions are necessary for iron resource development with a grade between 17% and 23%.


Object-based visual attention has received an increasing interest in recent years. Perceptual object is the basic attention unit of object-based visual attention. The definition and extraction of perceptual objects is one of the key technologies in object-based visual attention computation model. A novel perceptual object definition and extraction method is proposed in this paper. Based on Gestalt theory and visual feature integration theory, perceptual object is defined using homogeneity region, salient region and edges. An improved saliency map generating algorithm is employed first. Based on the saliency map, salient edges are extracted. Then graph-based clustering algorithm is introduced to get homogeneity regions in the image. Finally an integration strategy is adopted to combine salient edges and homogeneity regions to extract perceptual objects. The proposed perceptual object extraction method has been tested on lots of natural images. Experiment results and analysis are presented in this paper also. Experiment results show that the proposed method is reasonable and valid.


Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a spectrum of trophoblastic diseases that encompass the hydatidiform mole (both complete and partial), as well as the potentially-malignant and malignant forms: invasive mole, choriocarcinoma and placental site trophoblastic tumor. Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) refers to persistent elevation of serum levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The subsequentmanagement of GTD after evacuation of the uterus relies on serial surveillance of serum hCG levels. When serum hCG levels plateau or rise, chemotherapy should promptly be initiated.

 This study for accuracy of a diagnostic test. The current study was conducted at Gynecologic Oncology Unit and Early Cancer Detection Unit at Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital during the period between January 2016 and June 2018.

 In the present study, the case who had a vascular mass, the patient was 44 years old and she was para 4, so board decision was for TAH. Postoperative serum hCG surveillance for this case showed adequately declining levels. She, accordingly, did not receive chemotherapy. For the 19/44 (43.2%) cases who had a hysteroscopic finding of 'an empty cavity' were diagnosed as persistent GTN and received chemotherapy according to the protocol. The remaining 25/44 (56.8%) cases, who had a hysteroscopic finding of 'remnants', underwent re-evacuation. Postoperative serum hCG surveillance showed persistently elevated levels in 9/44 (20.5%) cases, who, therefore, received chemotherapy according to the protocol; and adequately declining levels in 16/44 (36.4%) cases, who, accordingly, did not receive chemotherapy.

 The hysteroscopy significantly reduced the risk of chemotherapy in women with hydatidiform mole and have persistent post-evacuation elevated serum hCG level and sonographic criteria of invasive disease.


The oxygen incorporation mechanism at the growth interface during Czochralski (CZ) silicon single crystal growth has been studied using melt quenching technique developed by the double-layered Czochralski (DLCZ) process. A slow crystal rotation rate of 0.5 rpm was chosen to investigate the influence of melt convection in relation to the source of oxygen on the oxygen inhomogeneity in the grown crystal. Micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (micro-FTIR) measurement and preferential etching revealed that the oxygen variation in the crystal was determined by the balance of the bulk melt with a high oxygen content and the oxygen-depleted melt from the free surface. The major cause of the periodic intake of the oxygen-depleted melt flow during one crystal rotation was probably the inhomogeneous radial temperature gradient. This suggests that thermal asymmetry in the melt is a fatal factor in oxygen inhomogeneity in the crystal. We have postulated that the equilibrium oxygen segregation coefficient is not much smaller than unity, but is rather close to it.


Most studies of software outsourcing focus on how to manage outsourcing from the perspective of the outsourcer. There are few studies of outsourcing presented from the viewpoint of the supplier. Given that more and more Chinese software companies are getting software outsourcing subcontracts from all over the world, it is important to understand how software outsourcing projects are actually performed in China, and to identify ways in which performance might be improved. Our study first collected data through a questionnaire-based survey from 53 finished projects in 41 Chinese software suppliers. A follow-up study was performed by telephone interviews with 11 participants, to find explanations for phenomena revealed by the preceding survey. The results show that: (a) differences in natural languages are not a real obstacle for Chinese software suppliers; (b) e-mail is most used to discuss issues related to development, while face-to-face meetings are mainly used to discuss issues related to management and requirements; and (c) the two main reasons for overtime work at the Chinese suppliers are changes to the design or requirements that are proposed by the outsourcers and the suppliers' initial underestimation of the effort required. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This work investigated the effects of different teaching methods on learning of indoor soccer. A hundred and thirteen students from public school with mean age of 12.6 years ( 1,8) participated of the study. The design comprised four groups of boys and four groups of girls (part-PT, situations-ST, tactical-TT and whole-GJ) from 12 sessions and three phases (pre-test, learning and post-test). The performances of each group were evaluated by the Game Performance Assessment Instrument, and the results were analyzed considering the involvement with the game, decision make, skill execution, support, and global performance. To compare the groups performances in each test Kruskal-Wallis ANOVAS were conducted and for intragroups comparisons the Wilcoxon test was used. The results did not show differences among groups of girls and among groups of boys in the pre and post-test. However, they showed that the girls group which practiced the whole method was the only one that evolved from pre to post-test in all variables.


Enterprise architectures are exposed to fast emerging business and information technology capabilities. A prominent example is the paradigm of service-orientation, which leads to its own architectural requirements and impacts the design and ongoing evolution of Enterprise Architectures. This thesis develops the first theoretical model describing enterprise architecture evolution and outcomes in light of a changing IT landscape such as service-oriented architectures. The developed theoretical model explains enterprise architecture evolution, its main stages and related capabilities. This model can be used to derive theoretical, sound guidelines to manage enterprise architectures in a changing environment.


The invention relates to the field of an electronic circuit, and discloses a control method of a breathing lamp. The control method comprises the following steps of outputting a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal by a processing unit when a preset condition of a corresponding breathing lamp is not triggered or trigger is closed; applying the PWM signal to a corresponding breathing lamp connected with a first control circuit by the first control circuit; controlling the corresponding breathing lamp to be driven according to a control parameter of the PWM signal; and controlling a second control circuit corresponding to the breathing lamp to drive the breathing lamp by the processing unit when the preset condition of the corresponding breathing lamp is triggered. By the scheme, the number of the breathing lamps of a product is free from resource limitation of a PWM port.


ABSTRACT Considering the increasing conceptualization of value co-creation, this study seeks to empirically understand the value co-creation process through a phenomenological approach to further understand the doctor-patient encounter process leading to value outcomes in a public healthcare context. Three key thematic areas of the co-creation process were identified: the encounter process, consumption experience, and value outcomes. The findings reveal the importance of trust, role clarity, and actor experiences in clinical encounters. Both actors placed emphasis on the emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral responses in encounters that consequently affect their value outcomes that include receiving treatment, getting well, improved well-being, improved compliance, reduced visits to health facilities, and enhanced service engagement between the actors. This study contributes to these dyadic interactions to gain comprehensive knowledge of how these encounter processes and experiences are perceived by the actors to influence the effectiveness of public and professional services.


Human Resource (HR) practices have been identified by HR mangers worldwide as practices that play a significant role in employee productivity and job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to identify a set of HR practices that significantly relate to job satisfaction. The design of the study was a cross-sectional social survey which utilized the systematic sampling technique to sample 200 employees from the Obuasi Municipal District Assembly. The sample consisted of top-level, middle-level and low-level management staff. Bivariate analysis using the Pearson Product moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the chosen HR practices (independent variables) and Job satisfaction (dependent variable). Results of the study revealed a strong, negative and statistically significant relationship between career development and job satisfaction ( r = - 0.683, p = 0.000). Employee promotion was also negatively and significantly related to employee job satisfaction (r = -0.184, p= 0.025). The association between the two variables was however weak. Employee recognition for good performance and job design as HR practices positively and significantly related to job satisfaction ( r = 0.184; 0.213 with p = 0.009; 0.004 respectively).We recommend future research to determine how well these identified HR practices predict job satisfaction and to also include other HR practices such as employee remuneration.


Peter M. Wilson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Florida A and M University, Tallahassee, Florida, formerly taught high school and junior college mathematics in the A tlanta area and also taught in Nigeria under the sponsorship of USAID. Among his publications are an audio-tutorial text and several audio-tutorial units. He has held several research grants, the most recent of which with the Atomic Energy Commission.


Relates real time 3D image processing system and method with a non-parallel optical axes cameras, a system for calculating the position and form of the 3-dimensional space, for observing an object at the optimum condition, a pair of non-parallel light the angle between the angle at which a pair of cameras between the axes far, that is controlled by a short distance to extend the field of view range I hereinafter, to set the system parameters to be different depending on the angle between the optical axis, the image It was configured to maximize consistency.


Muscle ultrasound is an emerging tool for diagnosing sarcopenia. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge on the diagnostic test accuracy of ultrasound for the diagnosis of sarcopenia. We collected data from Ovid Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Diagnostic test accuracy studies using muscle ultrasound to detect sarcopenia were included. Bivariate random‐effects models based on sensitivity and specificity pairs were used to calculate the pooled estimates of sensitivity, specificity and the area under the curves (AUCs) of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC), if possible. We screened 7332 publications and included 17 studies with 2143 participants (mean age range: 52.6–82.8 years). All included studies had a high risk of bias. The study populations, reference standards and ultrasound measurement methods varied across the studies. Lower extremity muscles were commonly studied, whereas muscle thickness (MT) was the most widely measured parameter, followed by the cross‐sectional area (CSA). The MTs of the gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, soleus, rectus abdominis and geniohyoid muscles showed a moderate diagnostic accuracy for sarcopenia (SROC‐AUC 0.83, 8 studies; SROC‐AUC 0.78, 5 studies; AUC 0.82, 1 study; AUC 0.76–0.78, 2 studies; AUC 0.76, 1 study; and AUC 0.79, 1 study, respectively), whereas the MTs of vastus intermedius, quadriceps femoris and transversus abdominis muscles showed a low diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.67–0.71, 3 studies; SROC‐AUC 0.64, 4 studies; and AUC 0.68, 1 study, respectively). The CSA of rectus femoris, biceps brachii muscles and gastrocnemius fascicle length also showed a moderate diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.70–0.90, 3 studies; 0.81, 1 study; and 0.78–0.80, 1 study, respectively), whereas the echo intensity (EI) of rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, quadriceps femoris and biceps brachii muscles showed a low diagnostic accuracy (AUC 0.52–0.67, 2 studies; 0.48–0.50, 1 study; 0.43–0.49, 1 study; and 0.69, 1 study, respectively). The combination of CSA and EI of biceps brachii or rectus femoris muscles was better than either CSA or EI alone for diagnosing sarcopenia. Muscle ultrasound shows a low‐to‐moderate diagnostic test accuracy for sarcopenia diagnosis depending on different ultrasound parameters, measured muscles, reference standards and study populations. The combination of muscle quality indicators (e.g., EI) and muscle quantity indicators (e.g., MT) might provide better diagnostic test accuracy.


Rehabilitation of severely resorbed maxilla poses a clinical challenge for fabrication of a successful maxillary complete denture. The increased interridge distance often results in a heavy maxillary complete denture that further reduces the retention and stability of the denture. This case report describes the rehabilitation of an edentulous patient with resorbed maxillary and mandibular ridges and an increased interridge distance by hollow maxillary complete denture so as to reduce the weight of the denture which enhances the retention and stability of the denture. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hren.v11i3.9655 Health Renaissance 2013;11(3):281-283


BACKGROUND Prediction of whether postoperative wound healing will result in a hypertrophic scar or keloid is difficult. Diverse treatment options have been developed in an effort to prevent excessive scar formation. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 532‐nm potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser in the prevention of scar formation after total thyroidectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty‐eight individuals with Fitzpatrick skin types IV and V and linear surgical suture lines after total thyroidectomy by the same surgeon were enrolled. Twenty participants were treated using a 532‐nm KTP laser two times at 2‐week intervals. Eight participants were assigned to the control group. The Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS), global assessment score (GAS), and participants' subjective satisfaction were used to determine the effect of scar prevention. These results were compared with those of the control group. RESULTS The average VSS score was remarkably lower in the KTP laser treatment group. Average GASs indicated better cosmetic outcomes in the treatment group. Participant satisfaction was also higher in the treatment group. No significant side effects were observed during follow‐up. CONCLUSION A 532‐nm KTP laser can be used safely and efficiently on Asian skin to reduce scar formation after thyroidectomy. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.


We prove that Stein's Extension Operator preserves Sobolev-Mor-rey spaces, that is spaces of functions with weak derivatives in Morrey spaces. The analysis concerns classical and generalized Morrey spaces on bounded and unbounded domains with Lipschitz boundaries in the n -dimensional Euclidean space.


In this paper, a fundamental solution for the coupled convection–diffusion type equations is derived. The boundary element method (BEM) application then, is established with this fundamental solution, for solving the coupled equations of steady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) duct flow in the presence of an external oblique magnetic field. Thus, it is possible to solve MHD duct flow problems with the most general form of wall conductivities and for large values of Hartmann number. The results for velocity and induced magnetic field is visualized in terms of graphics for values of Hartmann number M 300. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


We introduce a new framework to analyze shape descriptors that capture the geometric features of an ensemble of point clouds. At the core of our approach is the point of view that the data arises as sampled recordings from a metric space-valued stochastic process, possibly of nonstationary nature, thereby integrating geometric data analysis into the realm of functional time series analysis. We focus on the descriptors coming from topological data analysis. Our framework allows for natural incorporation of spatial-temporal dynamics, heterogeneous sampling, and the study of convergence rates. Further, we derive complete invariants for classes of metric space-valued stochastic processes in the spirit of Gromov, and relate these invariants to so-called ball volume processes. Under mild dependence conditions, a weak invariance principle in $D([0,1]\times [0,\mathscr{R}])$ is established for sequential empirical versions of the latter, assuming the probabilistic structure possibly changes over time. Finally, we use this result to introduce novel test statistics for topological change, which are distribution free in the limit under the hypothesis of stationarity.


The Virginia Council of Highway Investigation and Research has directed a major effort toward ascertaining some of the more important factors affecting the performance of flexible pavements. Identified have been two most noticeable factors associated with the weakness of the pavements observed: 1) inadequate subgrade support and 2) inadequate compaction within the structure. Some of the deflection data on which the above were based are summarized graphically in the paper. Advantages of subgrade stabilization are listed along with certain practical considerations to be made before choosing this method of design. Recommendations are also made for the application of the research findings to the design of future pavements that are shown in the paper.


Turbulent premixed oxygen‐acetylene flames have been used to synthesize polycrystalline diamond films on molybdenum substrates at temperatures ranging from 500 to 1300 °C and facetted single crystals on mm‐sized natural diamond substrates at temperatures of 1200–1300 °C. Turbulence was achieved by increasing the torch's orifice diameter and/or the flow velocity; the presence of turbulence was confirmed by observations of changes in the flame shape, measurements of the flame's noise spectrum, and calculations of the Reynolds number. The optical emission spectra of several diamond‐growing turbulent flames were also compared to the spectra of laminar flames. The variation in diamond quality with temperature and oxygen acetylene flow ratio was studied with one or more of the following techniques: Raman spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Crystals grown on molybdenum at temperatures of 600–1100 °C were observed to be transparen...


Voters in the Old Dominion State will go to the polls on November 7th to choose their next Governor. Lauren C. Bell writes that in the age of Trump, the race between Democrat Ralph Northam and Ed Gillespie is not a typical off-year election. With Gillespie tacking to the right, both national parties are watching Virginia's election to see if ...


Stand structures and spatial patterns were studied in three plots in the beechand silver fir forest on the Karst Plateau in Slovenia. We mapped all stems >10 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh) on 2 ha plots. The structure of the forest stands on three research plots varied in stand density and in the spatial distribution of stems, analysed using different methods for the characterisation of spatial distribution of trees. The mean relative differences for measuring tree density were substantially greater for trees 50 cm dbh class were less than 30 %. Based on theoretical models of spatial distribution, a tendency of clustering or clumping of trees was evident in the stand dominated by silver fir. In two beech and silver fir stands, stems were aggregated in large patches of up to 0.5 ha in size. The spatial distribution of silver fir, spruce and beech varied significantly (P<0,01) from a random distribution. Stems of these species aggregated in small and medium patches up to 0.25 ha. Dominant trees were regularly and randomly distributed in the three stands, indicating that after the period of silver fir decline the structure of stands did not deteriorate.


Background: Intrathecal opioid infusion therapy has been increasingly utilized in patients with severe malignant and nonmalignant pain syndromes in the past few decades. By infusing small amount of analgesics directly into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in close proximity to the receptor site in the spinal cord, spinally mediated analgesia may be achieved while sparing some of the side effects due to systemic opioids. Traditionally, the most commonly infused analgesic for intrathecal infusion is an opioid. Morphine represents the only FDA-approved opioid for intrathecal administration, although other opioids may also be used off-label. However, in patients who have demonstrated intolerance to oral opioid(s), alternative analgesics may be tried to achieve satisfactory analgesia.
Objective: To present a case report of a 73-year old male with intractable low back and pelvic pain due to invasive prostate cancer, unable to tolerate any opioid, being successfully treated by intrathecal infusion of clonidine and baclofen. Case Report: A 73-year-old male with intractable low back pain and pelvic pain due to invasive prostate cancer was referred to our clinic for pain management. The patient had undergone hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, radical prostectomy, and rectal resection. Trial of non-opioid analgesics was unsuccessful in controlling his pain. Multiple opioids trials were complicated by persistent nausea and vomiting. Other interventional techniques were attempted, but only offered short-term efficacy. Intraspinal drug delivery (IDD) therapy was considered and attempted. Considering his intolerance to various oral opioids despite meticulous opioid dose titration, an outpatient continuous epidural infusion of clonidine was conducted, which provided satisfactory analgesia. The patient subsequently underwent permanent IDD pump placement.
Results: The intrathecal infusion of clonidine was initiated at 50 mcg/day. Over the following 4 months, the dosage was gradually titrated up to 350 mcg/day, with satisfactory pain relief. However, he did report frequent drowsiness during daytime, which was felt to be due to intrathecal clonidine. The decision to add low dose baclofen to the intrathecal infusion and simultaneously lower the clonidine dose was made. The intrathecal regimen was changed to clonidine 150 mcg/day and baclofen 50 mcg/day. His daytime sleepiness improved significantly and his pain control remained satisfactory. Over the following 3 months, his intrathecal regimen was further titrated to clonidine 200 mcg/day and baclofen 100mcg/day. He remained on this regimen for over 12 months with satisfactory pain relief and without experiencing excessive sedation. Addition of baclofen to intrathecal clonidine infusion led to improved analgesia without affecting his alertness, probably via a synergistic mechanism.
Conclusion: Under certain circumstance when intrathecal opioid infusion cannot be tolerated, intrathecal clonidine and baclofen may be used as alternatives to provide spinally mediated antinociception.


Amidst the laws enforced on consumer protection, the release of inferior quality food to the consumer market takes place, particularly more often in developing countries. At present, in Asian countries where rice is a principal meal, quality checks are carried out through visual inspection methods. Therefore, an effective quality testing mechanism is necessary to ensure the quality of food meet required standards. Although some research has been reported on the classification of paddy seeds, no published work is found on the classification of milled rice. This research, with the aim of implementing a hand-held device for quality testing of rice, focuses on producing a classification system based on neural network and image processing concepts. Thirty one texture and colour features are extracted from rice images for discriminate analysis. Tests on the system for the training and test sets show the accuracy in between 94% to 68% for the four grades.


Monitoring for water salinity is very important in many industries, especially fishery and farming. Therefore, it is necessary to build a wireless water salinity sensor system capable of tackling obstacles in the field. This research proposes a low-cost wireless water salinity sensor system using parallel capacitive plate model. Capacitance effect that is proportional to salinity value is transformed into digital pulses using a circuit of an a-stable multivibrator. Frequency of these pulses is counted using a WIFI-microcontroller and inverse transform is carried out according to the relationship characteristics of salinity and frequency. Water Salinity data acquired by the WIFI-microcontroller are then transmitted to the Control Station Unit (CSU) via gateway WIFI. Testing results show maximum coverage range of 30 meters to the gateway. Nonetheless, the use gateway WIFI can increase the coverage range of this wireless water salinity sensor. Calibration tests also indicate an error of 2.3% in water salinity measurement by the instrument developed here.


A new energy flux model is proposed for use in the Information Preservation (IP) method. The primary objective of the present study is to relax the local thermal equilibrium assumption in the previous Information Preservation method. The new IP model is constructed by assuming that the real molecules represented by a simulation particle follow a Maxwellian distribution defined by the preserved velocity and temperature. The local velocity distribution function in a cell is then assumed to be the arithmetic average of all the Maxwellian distributions within the cell. Energy flux across a cell interface can therefore be evaluated analytically. Simulations of normal shock waves over a wide range of Mach number and in dierent gases are performed as examples. The results show that the density predicted by the new model is in very good agreement with other numerical methods and experimental measurements, whereas temperature and velocity are only in fair agreement.


Persistent disparities in school exclusionary policies by race and ethnicity have long been recognized as a major issue in student disciplinary practices and in unequal opportunities for education. Only limited research has been conducted to provide insight into the varying effects of race and ethnicity on the recently increasing implementation of student discipline. This study examines racial imbalances in in-school suspension rates within school neighborhoods, which are defined as school districts and five-digit zip-code areas. This research provides partial but significant support for the racial threat hypothesis by presenting that racially uneven school districts and communities present smaller differences in in-school suspension rates between African American and White students and between Hispanic or Latinx students and White students.


The performance of the m-level hierarchical multiprocessor system is analyzed in terms of the system bandwidth for both hierarchically nonuniform reference and uniform reference models. The results show that for a higher rate of local requests (requests to memory modules within the same cluster) the m-level system performs fairly close to the crossbar system and outperforms a typical multiple-bus system (with the number of buses equal to half the number of processors). The bandwidth of the m-level system is evaluated for different numbers of levels, and the results are compared with those of a crossbar system (m=1). >


Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing skin disorder which is strictly determined by the epidermal barrier function. In previous studies, there is conclusive evidence that normal‐looking, nonlesional skin presents meaningful barrier function defect and a sub‐clinical eczematous skin reaction.


Amtrak has revived service between Philadelphia and Atlantic City using push-pull trains and rebuilt track. It faces an uphill battle to comply with the law which requires that it attain a ridership of 3,800 daily riders in two years in order to cover the costs of offering this service due to incentives offered to bus and auto travelers, such as free rolls of quarters, meal and gas vouchers, and free parking, by the casinos which have as yet to be extended to train travelers. Amtrak is looking into incentives of its own to promote the service.


It is the necessary trend to develop in vocational college,and it is also the demand for the development of vocational colleges and individual development for students,therefore,venture education is important for the sustainable development of vocational colleges.This paper makes an analysis on the methods and ways for the vocational colleges to develop venture education.


A continuum is a compact connected metric space. The n-fold hyperspace of a continuum X is the space of all nonempty closed subsets of X with at most n components. We show that if n>1, then for any continuum X, the n-fold hyperspace of X is mutually aposyndetic.


We report here a tangible example of the fractional exclusion statistics in three spatial dimensions. We identify the chemical constraint of O - H bonds in ice, the so-called ice rule, as the origin of this novel statistics. Then the residual entropy of the crystalline ice is recognized as arising from the fractional exclusion with the statistical interaction parameter . Assuming the residual entropy of ice reflects true accessibility to a macroscopic number of states through quantum tunnelling, we propose the possibility that Berry's phase suppresses the tunnelling splitting of ground states and maintains the finite residual entropy.


The invention relates to a method for operating a drive unit of a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine (1), an electric machine (3) and a transmission (5), between the combustion engine (1) and the electrical machine (3) a first clutch (2) and the output side of the electrical machine, a second clutch (4, 6) is provided, wherein when starting the internal combustion engine (1) the electrical machine (3) on slipping first (2) and on slipping second clutch (4, 6) is operated at a speed that after the closing of the first clutch (2) and under load slipping second clutch (4, 6) is lowered to a rotational speed whose absolute value is higher than a rotational speed of the electrical machine (3) extending in the additional closing of the second clutch (4, 6) is established. The inventive method is particularly suitable for use in hybrid vehicles.


Corrugated steel plate PC combined box girder is a new kind of steel-concrete combined structure to remedy these flaws of large selfweight and low crossing quality of traditional concrete box girder to some extent. The developing history and current situation of this box girder are introduced in this paper, some design key points of this corrugated steel plate are put forward. And finally, Nanchang Chaoyang Bridge is introduced as a practical engineering case for this new kind of corrugated steel plate PC combined box girder short-tower cable-stayed bridge.


We thank Yoshioka, Yoshida, and Yoshikawa for their comments on our article (1) in this issue of Diabetes Care (2). We reported that serum adiponectin concentration increased after 3 months' glimepiride treatment in type 2 diabetic patients (1). They indicated that baseline values of serum adiponectin (22.1 ± 2.7 μg/ml, mean ± SE) seem to be higher than those expected from subjects with greater BMI (26.5 ± 0.9 kg/m2) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (5.0 ± 0.8) levels. First, we must apologize …


The LIFE+ Project PM3: Particulate Monitoring, Modeling, Management is coordinated by the Department of Labour Inspection in Cyprus and funded in part by LIFE+ Environment Policy & Governance. The project aims at the analysis of dust emissions, transport, and control options for Cyprus, as well as at the identification of "natural" contributions (Directive 2008/50/EC). The ultimate objective is to provide inputs for the design of a dust management plan to improve compliance to EC Directives and minimise impacts to human health and environment. This paper presents a short analysis of historical monitoring data and their patterns as well as a description of a dynamic dust entrainment model. The pyrogenic PM10 emissions combined with the wind driven emissions, are subject to a two phase non-linear multi-criteria emission control optimization procedure. The resulting emission scenarios with an hourly resolution provide input to the Comprehensive Air quality Model with extensions (CAMx) 3D fate and transport model, implemented for the 4,800 km master domain and embedded subdomains (270 km around the island of Cyprus and embedded smaller city domains of up to 30 km down to street canyon modeling). The models test the feasibility of candidate emission control solutions over a range of weather conditions. Model generated patterns of local emissions and long-range transport are discussed compared with the monitoring data, remote sensing (MODIS derived AOT), and the chemical analysis of dust samples.


In this paper, we present a quantitative performance evaluation of non-contiguous multi-carrier code vision multiple access (NC-MC-CDMA) for cognitive radio in a dynamic spectrum access (DSA) network. In a DSA network, multi-carrier based cognitive radio transceivers need to deactivate some of its subcarriers to avoid interference to primary users. However, by deactivating subcarriers, orthogonality among different spreading codes are lost, leading to poor BER performance. The performance of the NC-MC-CDMA can be improved by adaptive spreading code adjustment to compensate for the loss of orthogonality. However, since Hadamard-Walsh codes only exist for certain code length, loss of orthogonality can only be minimized instead of eliminated for many cases. On the other hand, orthogonal Carrier Interferometry codes exist for code length of any integer. Hence, by applying non-contiguous CI/MC-CDMA into DSA, the loss of orthogonality among spreading codes caused by deactivating subcarriers can be eliminated. As a direct result, adaptive NC-CI/MC-CDMA significantly outperforms adaptive NC-MC-CDMA using Hadamard-Walsh codes.


Geographers and the Workplace: an Embedded Module Volume/Issue Vol 1, Special Issue 1 Date Friday, 1 June, 2001 Journal Name Planet Author(s) Sue Hawksworth Pauline Kneale Abstract This article describes a subject-integrated module that has been in place for five years. It encourages undergraduates to consider career planning sooner rather than later during their programme of study, and to realise that their degree experience has long-term value. This article focuses on the learning experience which students receive through taking part in an exhibition stand competition concerned to highlight 'what can geographers offer organisations?'. The project is now also run by both earth and environmental sciences students in their career modules at Leeds. Taxonomy: work area Journals [1] Taxonomy: discipline STEM [2] Geography Earth and Environmental Sciences GEES [3] Taxonomy: HEAV Curriculum [4]


The vapor pressure in Bi: X (S, Se, Te): Br = 1: 1: 1 systems was measured by the static method using a membrane null manometer in the temperature range 300–1220 K and pressures 1–900 mm Hg. In the Bi-S-Br and Bi-Se-Br systems, the chemical interaction between the components begins at room temperature, and in the Bi-Te-Br system at 170 C. However, the formation of BiXBr ternary compounds going on only in the range of 350–400 C as a result of the interaction bismuth with chalcogen bromides according to the scheme X2Br2 (l) + 2Bi(s) → 2BiXBr (s). When heated above 400 C in the Bi-Te-Br system, above 420 and 460 C in the Bi-S-Br and Bi-Se-Br systems, the dissociation of ternary compounds going on according to the scheme 3BiXBr (l) → BiBr3 (vapor) + Bi2X3 (s). Based on the temperature dependences of the equilibrium constant of the reaction, the enthalpies and entropies of dissociation reactions are determined. The composition of the vapor after dissociation processes was defined.


Physical layer encryption based on digital chaos emerged as a promising methodology for securing data transmission. Discrete multi-tone (DMT) is a widely investigated advanced modulation format in intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) systems, because of its high spectral efficiency, low cost and high dispersion tolerance. In this letter, we successfully performed a physical layer chaotic encryption method on an IM/DD system and experimentally demonstrated the transmission of 100 Gb/s encrypted 32QAM-DMT and 125 Gb/s pre-equalized encrypted 32QAM-DMT signals over 2-km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) with bit error rate (BER) under the hard decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) threshold of $3.8\times 10^{-3}$ . The proposed encryption algorithm utilizes three independent pseudo-random sequences generated by the multi-scroll chaotic system for secure data transmission, and has no substantial impact on the transmission performance.


Diffusers are ducts that convert flow kinetic energy to pressure by decelerating the flow. In wide angle diffuser, the increasement of cross-sectional area so rapidly cause possibly separate from the diffuser wall and forming areas of backflow. The flow characteristics of wide angle diffuser with guide damper was investigated for three kind of inclined angle(α=7°, 10.5° and 14°)of guide damper. Judging from the results, guide damper can be used as an effective means of improvement for diffuser performance and inclined angle of α=10.5° was through to be the best among three cases.


Spectroscopic observations of the long period eclipsing binary AZ Cas were made using 122cm telescope/Image Tube. From the relatively sharp and strong spectral FeI lines we can calculate the mean radial velocity as -39.7km/sec. The estimated equivalent widths of some atomic lines are well fitted to the phase of the AZ Cas.


A cyclotron was designed using the 2.5 dimensional particle simulation code KARAT in the paper.Transverse momentum of the electrons was imparted by a kicker.By using intense coupling and optimized length of the interaction space,the device could generate microwave pulse with a peak power of 7 MW,an operating frequency of 38.5 GHz with the diving electron beam of 250 kV,200 A and 1 ns.The peak power conversion reached 14%.The peak power had a square relationship with the beam pulse width during certain range,which was in accordance with the character of superradiance.


Previous literatures suggest that β‐amyloid (Aβ) plaques, initial tau levels, age and Klotho‐VS heterozygosity (KL‐VShet) may be related to longitudinal tau accumulation in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but it is still not fully understood how they predict tau replication in medial temporal cortex and propagations from the medial temporal lobe to inferior/middle temporal cortices at different stages of AD.


Typically, geothermal wellbore model is used to predict the production performance of wells using a wellbore simulator based on flow tests. An iterative procedure is used to calibrate NCG content. In this study, a predictive modelling approach harnessing the power of machine learning is proposed. Several deep well data in Kizildere Geothermal Field have been used to calibrate the model. The results are compared to flowmeter data attached to a mini separator. It has been observed that flowmeter NCG results are consistent with predictive modelling results in most of the wells. Since NCG measurements with mini separator are challenging, it is possible to predict NCG values for the wells without actual measurements at the wellsite.


Human-like robots and other systems with arti fi cial intelligence are increasingly capable of recognizing and interpreting the mental processes of their human users. The present research examines how people evaluate these seemingly mind-reading machines based on the well-established distinction of human mind into agency (i.e., thoughts and plans) and experience (i.e., emotions and desires). Theory and research that applied this distinction to human – robot interaction showed that machines with experience were accepted less and were perceived to be eerier than those with agency. Considering that humans are not yet used to having their thoughts read byotherentitiesandmightfeel uneasyaboutthisnotion,we proposedthat thought-detectingrobots areperceivedtobeeerier andare generally evaluated more negatively than emotion-detecting robots. Across two pre-registered experiments ( N 1 = 335, N 2 = 536) based on text vignettes about different kinds of mind-detecting robots, we fi nd support for our hypothesis. Furthermore, the effect remained independent of the six HEXACO personality dimensions, except for an unexpected interaction with conscientiousness. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. movement of all other parts of the body. By these means, the system is equipped with the most recent technology to be useful as a daily-life tool.


Objective was to optimize the extraction process of yellow pigment from the Lonicera japonica Thunb.The optimum extraction was investigated by the orthogonal design,the ratio of raw material to extraction agent(A),extraction time(B),microwave power(C),extraction times(D) were the four factors in the experiment,and three levels of which were chosen to be inspected to optimize the process.The extraction times and microwave power had significance effect on the extraction.The optimal conditions were determined as follows: the extraction agent was ethanol absolute,the ratio of raw material to extraction agent was 1∶50(g/ml),extraction time was 50s,microwave power was 700W,extraction times was 3.


Comment on presentation of statistics As one who has aspired to write technical articles in a different discipline, I am well aware that to do so requires competence not only in the topic under investigation but also in handling the English language and in numerical analysis. Ignorant as I am in matters surgical, it is exhilarating from time to time to understand whole sentences in articles of exceptional clarity in the Annals; normally I am restricted to recognising occasional words. However, the universal language of numbers transcends professional boundaries and I am not comfortable with what I see. Each of the first three articles in the July 1990 edition of the Annals demonstrates my general concern, which can be illustrated by two examples from the first article. A. The mean age in an age range of 47-84 years for a group of 76 cases is quoted as 67.7 ± 6.97 years. 1. There is usually little merit in quoting confidence levels to more than one significant figure, but there is never any justification for more decimal places than in the mean. 2. Only if the confidence levels permit is there justification for quoting a mean to a greater accuracy than the measurement of its individual components. In this case the ages were probably measured to the nearest year but, even if they were not, the confidence levels of ± 7 years do not justify quoting a decimal place in the mean. 3. The result should be reported as 68±7 years. Any greater accuracy is spurious. B. Throughout the article results expressed as percentages are quoted with unjustifiable precision. This is well illustrated in Table I which, rather confusingly, can be deduced as applying to 62 (risk factors ?) cases rather than the 76 cases understood to be the basis of the study. 1. The distribution of surgeons under the heading 'Planned' is shown as 72.7, 11.4 and 15.9%. A little detective work shows that these percentages have been derived from a total number of 44 distributed as 32, 5 and 7. The accuracy of these source numbers should not be increased by expressing them as percentages and they can only justifiably be recorded to the nearest 2%. The distribution should be 72, 12 and 16%. 2. Equally, the percentages under 'Ruptured' should be quoted to the nearest 5% as 70, 30 and 0%. The results for Consultant level for 'Planned' (71-73%) and 'Ruptured' (68-72%) overlap. 3. It may be considered rather pedantic to be quite so punctilious and it is frequently acceptable to quote percentages to the nearest per cent. However, when making comparisons with other results, spurious accuracy is misleading and defeats the object of the investigation. In Table II a mortality rate of 2 out of 53 planned cases is quoted as 3.7%, implying 3.7±0.1%. It would be more useful to quote it as 4 ± 1% and to demonstrate the overlap with, rather than difference from, other investigators. From bitter experience I know what a hard discipline it is to record results at such a level of intellectual honesty-but it is worth the effort. R H E DUFFErr MA


HE REPORT BY WAGNER AND COLLEAGUES 1 IN THIS ISsue of THE JOURNAL, a pooled analysis of 2 multicenter, double-blind, randomized placebocontrolled trials evaluating the effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sertraline on children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years with major depressive disorder (MDD), constitutes the largest positive psychopharmacological study of MDD in this age group reported to date. The primary outcome was change from baseline in the Children's Depression Rating Scale–Revised (CDRS-R), with a prospectively determined primary efficacy measure of the CDRS-R Best Description of Child total score; secondary efficacy measures included the proportion of CDRS-R responders, defined as patients who had at least a 40% decrease in the adjusted CDRS-R total score. The results indicate a statistically significant improvement for patients receiving active drug vs those receiving placebo.


Abstract The classification of freshwater snails belonging to the genus Gyraulus (Basommatophora: Planorbidae) from Tasmania is revised according to morphological observations on type materials, other shells collected in the 19thC, and about 920 alcohol-preserved specimens from 17 localities and mostly collected during the last 30 years. Four species-group taxa (atkinsoni, meridionalis, scottianus, tasmanicus) have previously been named from shells collected in Tasmania; two of these are type species for genera named by Iredale (1943) (meridionalis for Plananisus, scottianus for Pygmanisus). The present observations on the shell and body (pigmentation, kidney, intestinal loop and genital organs) suggest that there are two widely distributed species, G. meridionalis (including tasmanicus as a synonym) and G. scottianus. Lectotype material for G. meridionalis is designated here, from Circular Head, Tasmania. Although G. atkinsoni may be a conspecific form of meridionalis, it is maintained here as a distinct...


This paper's objective is to reconsider the oft-discussed parameters determining verband auxiliary-movement in English in the context of the "parametric hierarchies" proposal of Roberts (2012) and its elaboration in Biberauer & Roberts (2012). In terms of the latter, parameters may be viewed as macro, meso, micro or nano, depending on the size of the class of elements whose behaviour they regulate (all elements of a given type, a featurally specifiable subset of the elements of a given type, the smallest definable sub-class of elements of a given type, and one or more individual lexical items, respectively). In relation to the history of English verb-movement, we show that English has "moved down" the parametric hierarchy, the loss of V-to-T movement having resulted in the rise of a number of microand nanoparametric properties. Strikingly, these smaller-scale parametric properties seem to be very unstable, constituting a domain in which syntactic change occurs very readily.


The present invention relates to a connecting device of metal pipes for protecting high frequency cables, which comprises a metallic first connection pipe (110) having a semi-cylindrical form; a metallic second connection pipe (120) having a semi-cylindrical form to be bisymmetrical to the first connecting pipe; a hinge unit (130) prepared on each corner of the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120) and connecting the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120) to be mutually rotatable; at least two locking members prepared on each corner where the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120) face and correspond to each other, and fixing the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120); rubber packings (112, 122) prepared on each inner circumference of the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120) and capable of closely adhering to the metal pipes (10, 20) to connect; and fixing bands (113a, 113b, 123a, 123b) prepared on each inner circumference of the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120), and each opening part of the first connection pipe (110) and the second connection pipe (120) putting the rubber packings in the center, and having a smaller width than the width of the rubber packings (112, 122). The connecting device according to the present invention is able to conveniently extend and connect metal pipes for protecting high frequency cables and to effectively prevent water from penetrating into the connection part of the metal pipes.


The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of delirium-related knowledge, recognition, and practice, and to identify their correlation in nurses working at general hospitals. This study is a descriptive correlation study attempting to provide raw data for the development of a tool to assess groups at high risk for delirium, as well as preventive intervention programs. The sample size of this study is 206 nurses working at medical surgical units, the intensive care unit (ICU) and the emergency room (ER) with primary assessment of delirium-related knowledge, followed by the secondary assessment of delirium-related recognition and practice one day after. Before commencement, the study was able to obtain the approval of the Institutional Review Board. The data analysis is conducted using the PASW statistic 18 program, by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation, t-test and ANOVA. The delirium-related knowledge was 69.8 out of 100 points. The cause-related knowledge was shown as the highest point, followed by patient care-related knowledge and symptom-related knowledge in that order. The mean value of delirium-related recognition was 82.26±8.74 out of 100 points, whereas the practice had shown the mean 74.43±12.17 out. There was no statistically significant correlation between delirium-related knowledge and practice, but it was reported that there was a statistically significant correlation between recognition and practice. Since making nurses become more aware of the group at the highest risk for delirium is the most important factor in connection to preventive intervention, it is necessary to develop a tool to assess the group at high risk of delirium for nurses to be more easily aware.


The publication is devoted to topical issues of Museum development in the Altai. The article describes the experience of implementing the project by the Altai State Local History Museum dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the great Patriotic war. The importance of using oral history research in the activities of museums is noted.


The invention relates to the technical field of mobile communication, in particular to a method for selecting a wireless network cell, comprising the following steps: a system message issued by a wireless network base station is received, and the system message comprises the information of two or more public land mobile networks (PLMNs); the system message is analyzed, and the information of the PLMNs is obtained; a target PLMN is selected; and the wireless network cell is selected according to the target PLMN. By applying the method, the system message received during the cell selection/reselection process by user equipment comprises a plurality of PLMN ID, therefore, the user equipment can select the target PLMN according to PLMN ID, and further selects the target cell, thus avoiding that the UE can not select the target cell, which is caused by not broadcasting a plurality of the PLMN ID in the cell. Accordingly, the invention also discloses a device and a system for selecting the wireless network cell.


Axe is the body care products for men from Unilever. AXE ads are always
showing beatiful women and men are also ideal for the iconic products. Ads in
this AXE product to try to construct the meaning of women in an advertisement
media to influence the reality of the imagery of women society. The use of female
models in the ads contains a lot of ideology that was deliberately shown implicitly
by the party advertisers. The phenomenon is what finally pushed the author to
conduct research on how the meanings women in ads aired version of th AXE
Effect �harga minim� in Indonesia�s private television aired the end of 2009-2010.
The methods used in this study is the semiotics of Roland Barthes�s
methods by giving an over view of the state or the status of women�s imaging
phenomena in society through AXE parfume ad version of �harga minim�, and
in women who dissect the construction of meaning constructed by television
advertising media. By using the social construction of reality approach Peter L.
Berger and Thomas Luckmann who brings the analysis to the construction of
meaning that also reflect on the phenomenology of Alfred Schutz on the
establishment of meaning constructed by social reality. With this semiotic
analysis can help authors in finding the meanings hidden text the description of
the ad includes visual and verbal aspects of the advertisements.
The results showed that the messages conveyed in broadcast advertising
AXE are showing that women construct meaning in the formation of the female
characters are based on men�s favorite with all who look sexy, sensual and simple,
even with things that look �minimalis� will attract more attention. Women are
always potrayed as objects in a display ad in which there is an element that
accentuates the femaleside from the body untill her beautiful face as a messager
product. Thus, forming a visible ideology is a life style , images of women in
social class identity and affirmation pathriarchal values. This is the result of the
construction of television advertising media on the meaning of women in the male
product ads.


Monoethylene glycol (MEG) is used to prevent hydrate formation in subsea pipelines of natural gas production. MEG is recovered at an offshore regeneration unit. Sodium chloride is the predominant s...


Angular distributions of products formed in the reactions 65Cu(p,pn)64Cu, 197Au(p,pn)I96Au, and 197Au(p,p3n)194Au in the range of proton energy 30–85 MeV were studied. The angular distribution results of 64Cu and 196Au show forward peaking at low energy and sidewise peaking at higher energies. Approximate symmetry about 90° was observed for the angular distribution of 194Au in the center-of-mass system. The experimental results have been compared with (a) Monte Carlo evaporation calculations, (b) cascade–evaporation calculations at 85 MeV for 64Cu, and (c) inelastic scattering plus evaporation calculations.Good agreement was obtained with statistical theory calculations at low energy and inelastic scattering model calculations at higher energies. The comparisons indicate that the reactions proceed by the compound nucleus mechanism at lower energies and the direct interaction mechanism predominates at higher energies.


Objective: To investigate the effect of surface modification on the uptake of cyclosporine A loaded nanoparticles by cells in vitro and on the body distribution in vivo . Methods: The polylactic acid nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 59 nm were prepared with 3H labelled cyclosporine A and then three surfactants: Brij 78, Myrj 53 and Myrj 59 were used to modify the surface of the nanoparticles by physical adsorption. The mouse peritoneal macrophages and 35 mice were used to investigate the uptake of nanoparticles by cells in vitro and body distribution in vivo respectively. Results: In in vitro experiment, a 20 fold increase of cpm value in mouse peritoneal macrophages was observed in cyclosporine A nanoparticles compared with that in the cyclosporine A solution. Surface modification was found to reduce the uptake of nanoparticles. In in vivo body distribution, a noticeable increase of cpm value in reticuloendothelial system (RES) was observed. Conclusion: Surface modification effectively altered the uptake of cyclosporine A loaded polylactic acid nanoparticles by cells in vitro and the body distribution in vivo .


We introduce homotopy transformations of vector fields as an efficient way to design families of chaotic attractors or transients with specific geometrical and dynamical properties. Those properties are inherited from different progenitor attractors, which allows a morphing between the progenitors. The method can provide a simple tool for a systematic design of attractors of desired dynamical characteristics. It is based on the robustness of invariant manifolds of the homotopic vector fields with respect to parametric perturbations. We analytically construct a convex subfamily of Chua attractors which illustrates this approach. Connections to control and synchronisation schemes of chaotic systems are shown. We also discuss applications in the area of sound synthesis.


FIELD: electrical engineering. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a microwave plasma reactor for gas-phase deposition of diamond films in gas flow (versions). Design of reactor based on two coupled resonators - cylindrical resonator and attached to its end wall annular coaxial resonator, along axis of which (coaxially to resonators) there is a reaction chamber in form of a dielectric pipe, enables to generate and maintain axially symmetric plasma in reaction chamber only in one area of resonator near substrate. Selection of diameter d of reaction chamber which satisfies condition: d 2 < V/p·(C), where V is speed of external gas flow in cm/s, p is pressure of gas mixture in reaction chamber in Torr, C is a constant, having dimensions [1/cm·s·Torr] and equal to 10 -3 , enables, with power absorbed in plasma higher than 500 W, to provide laminar vortex-free flow of gas mixture over substrate, which in turn enables fast replacement of deposited gas mixture, and thus, enables to deposit onto substrate multilayer poly- or monocrystalline diamond films, having different electrophysical characteristics of layers. EFFECT: deposition of diamond films in gas flow. 10 cl, 3 dwg


The Duty of Candour was introduced into law in 2014 and is a significant ethical responsibility for clinical psychologists. In this article we review the regulations and some of the complexities that underlie its implementation. We map onto the relevant research and Codes of Practice where details of how we should, as a profession, undertake this duty.


A simple, convenient method was described here for preparation of pentasubstituted pyrroles derivative using Mn(OAc)(3)center dot 2H(2)O or Mn(OAc)(2)center dot 4H(2)O at atmosphere.


The angular measurement uncertainty of an infrared (IR) sensor has been determined for expected signal waveforms and associated data processing algorithms. The problem was formulated by using the visibility factor and calculating its interaction with the characteristics of the leading edge (LE) and peak detection (PD) processing algorithms. Functional forms of the measurement uncertainty for both the scan and cross-scan directions are presented using rectangular and Gaussian signal waveforms. The relative merits of the LE and PD algorithms are discussed, and the measurement variations between rectangular and Gaussian input signal waveforms are compared.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing a structured substrate. The apparatus comprises a means (1) a layer system applied to the rotation of the substrate, the apparatus (1) comprising a liquid coating material, especially an optical device of the polymer solution (2), the housing (6) rotation of the substrate to be coated for the holder (3), for feeding the line (13) and a collection device (4) the liquid material to be coated, the collection device (4) comprises a plurality of removing apparatus is not held on the substrate of the liquid material (5). Shell (6) is filled with a particular dry inert gas of molecular nitrogen, noble gases, or mixtures of these gases apparatus for applying liquid material (2). Secondary container and passage means for producing a structured substrate is gas-tight and is designed so that an inert atmosphere of molecular nitrogen or a noble gas in the liquid contents of the container and the passage is generated above. Collection device (4) having a plurality of collection regions, different liquid materials can be selectively collected in the collection area and removed (5) by selectively removing the associated equipment. Since the amount of liquid photopolymer, and other materials necessary for the production process can be significantly reduced, the cost of the apparatus for producing a structured substrate allows to improve the design quality of the production process and significantly reduces flow.


Abstract : The author outlines the field of tribology which is rapidly developing into a specific discipline covering essentially problems of friction, wear and lubrication. The article deals with the history of tribology, its development, principal targets of research works, bibliography, and results of recently held conferences.


Objective To compare the clinical value of CCP antibody,AKA and serum RF detection in the early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods 61 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 70 healthy physical examination persons were detected CCP antibody by ELISA,RF by turbidimetric immunoassay and AKA by indirect immunofluorescence.Results The sensitivity of CCP antibody to RA was 72.13% and better than that of AKA and RF(P0.01).The sensitivity of the combination detection of CCP,RA and AKA was increased to 95.08% and the sum of sensitivity and specificity was biggest.Conclusion The combined determination of CCP antibody,RF and AKA level has important significance to screening and assisted diagnosis of early RA.


The Time has come once again to chronicle recent advances in the vibrant and dynamic field of vacuum electronics. This Special Issue, published by the IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, follows successful past issues published every four or five years since 2001. Dr. David Abe and Dr. David Whaley headed the group of Guest Editors for this issue, relying heavily on the expertise and dedication of their fellow Guest Editors, Dr. Jinjun Feng, Dr. John Jelonnek, and Dr. Lalit Kumar. Together, manuscripts covering the wide range of topics found within the following pages were ushered through a rigorous peer-reviewed process to provide a snapshot of the state-of-the-art in vacuum electronics technology for 2018. In a testament to the vitality and widespread activity in the field, contributions to this issue were submitted nearly equally from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The subject matter of these contributions spans such a wide swath of applications that it is difficult to imagine that our lives are not impacted in some way every day by the benefits that this technology area provides. Communications, radar, accelerator and fusion research, satellite data links, and electronic defense are but a few examples.


e14505 Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by resection of disease sites is the treatment of choice for patients diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, in patients w...


Following the previous velocity-field study (Ishigaki 1970), this paper studies how the temperature field in the laminar boundary layer near a two-dimensional stagnation point responds to the main-stream oscillation. The time-mean temperature field is of particular interest and is studied in detail. The velocity field is treated as known and is taken from the previous paper. In § 3 the solutions over the whole frequency range are obtained under the assumption of small amplitude oscillation and the results are compared with the existing approximate solutions for low and high frequency in terms of heat transfer. Time-mean heat transfer decreases at low frequency, but slightly increases at high frequency. Two factors that cause time-mean modification of the temperature field are examined quantitatively. In § 4 the finite amplitude case is treated under the assumption of high-frequency oscillation and a few examples of the time-mean temperature profile are shown.


The article examines political processes in the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945-1948 through their perception by U.S. diplomats and experts. The focus is on the American observers' attitude to the Czechoslovak political parties and their struggle for power. On the basis of documentary sources the author highlights the main features of perceptions, the dominant opinions and assessments, forecasts and conceptions about political processes, typical for U.S. diplomats and experts. The main principles of division and opposition of Czechoslovak political parties, their characteristics, the assessing effectiveness of their strategy and tactics are considered. Differences in the attitude of U.S. diplomats towards moderate democratic and left-radical (communist) forces are singled out. It is concluded that American diplomats and experts possessed sufficient information about the political processes in Czechoslovakia. But their perception was much affected by objective and subjective factors, which made it impossible to have a complete picture of political processes, distorting their views and forecasts. The study is based on the analysis of unpublished papers from the U.S. State Department archive (the U.S. National Archives) and the Ambassador L. Steinhardt collection (the U.S. Library of Congress)


Salisbury's article on patients with prolonged symptoms of covid-19 should be distributed to all healthcare practitioners.1 Chronic fatigue is an important and distressing symptom in rheumatic2 and other diseases3 as well as in the complex multisystem disease myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).4 It is poorly covered in many medical school curriculums. At last there is …


Introduction Arabic Texts 1. Kitab al-Qadar (Book of Predetermination) 2. Kitab fi l-radd 'ala Ibn 'Umayr (Book on Refutation of Ibn 'Umayr) 3. Kitab al-radd 'ala al-Mujassima (Book of Refutation of the Corporalists) 4. Kitab al-Futya (Book of Legal Opinion) 5. Kitab al-Tawhid fi ma'rifat Allah (Book of Monotheism in the Recognition of God) 6. Kitab fi man raja'a 'an 'ilmih wa-faraqa al-nabi wa-huwa 'ala dinih (Book about Whoever Reneges on his Knowledge and Departs from the Prophet while remaining in his Religion) Indices (al-Faharis)


Through probing into some key topics inA Tale of Two Cities written by Dickens, such as his understanding of revolutionary violence and interpretation of humans and humanity, etc, this article redefines Dickens's view on revolution, violence revolution and humanitarianism, and also explores Dickens's ("condemnation") and "illusion" of humanitarianism.


This study examined the dose–response effects of the new proton‐pump inhibitor rabeprazole on oesophageal and gastric pH in patients with gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease.


efforts are being made to balance her requirements. The patient has never had any symptoms suggestive of vitamin D deficiency and has not appreciated any difference since correcting her vitamin D status. The main source of vitamin D is de novo synthesis in the skin in response to exposure to UVB sunlight. Although vitamin D is consumed in food, dietary intake alone is often insufficient, supplying only 20% of the body's requirements. A recent study has demonstrated vitamin D deficiency even in the light of large dietary doses of vitamin D (13.53 mg per day) taken by ethnic Danish Moslems who sought to avoid sun exposure [4]. Some literature suggests that chronic steroid use may result in altered metabolism of vitamin D, although there is contradictory evidence [1, 2]. In rat models, steroids have been demonstrated to alter vitamin D metabolism, leading to the formation of more polar, biologically inactive metabolites that result in decreased intestinal calcium transport [5]. Dihydroxy-vitamin D3 has been demonstrated to be reduced in corticosteroid-treated patients with a variety of collagen vascular diseases and rheumatoid arthritis [1]. Patients with lupus may have renal involvement. 1-Hydroxylation is essential to make 25-OH vitamin D active. This can be disrupted in significant renal disease. In addition, patients with SLE often take hydroxychloroquine, which is known to lower the conversion of vitamin D2 to the more biologically active vitamin D3. It is because of this action that it is used to treat hypercalcaemia in sarcoidosis.[6] Despite these apparent reasons for patients with SLE to be vitamin D-deficient, the literature is sparse. One study showed that in 21 patients with SLE vitamin D levels were lower than in healthy controls [7]. In another study of 12 prednisolone-treated adolescents with SLE, seven were found to be vitamin D-deficient [8]. Another study of bone parameters in patients with SLE showed that vitamin D levels were not significantly different from those of healthy controls [9]. A recent study of vitamin D levels in patients with SLE and fibromyalgia showed that vitamin D deficiency was common in both groups of patients. There was, however, no difference between vitamin D levels in patients with fibromyalgia and those with SLE [6]. Recent studies into the non-calcaemic effects of vitamin D suggest that vitamin D may have important immunomodulatory effects. In animal models, vitamin D has been shown to be an effective treatment for SLE, though its use is limited by hypercalcaemia. In similar animal models, vitamin D deficiency has been shown to worsen other autoimmune conditions [10]. In summary, patients with SLE have multiple risk factors for vitamin deficiency. The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are non-specific, and include musculoskeletal pains, paraesthesias and cramps. These are also commonly experienced by patients with SLE and therefore may be overlooked. Treatment of vitamin D deficiency is particularly important in patients with SLE due to other concomitant insults on their bones and in view of the possible immunomodulatory effects of vitamin D. Therefore it is important to consider the possibility of vitamin D deficiency. The patient has given written consent for publication of this paper and to the publication of her photograph.


We consider a stochastic perturbation of a moving boundary problem proposed by Ludford and Stewart and studied by Caffarelli and Vazquez. We prove existence and uniqueness.


THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN A PUBLIC AND A PRIVATE SPHERE IS ESSENTIAL TO politics. The public sphere is commonly associated with the state and politics whereas the private sphere encompasses markets and civil society. Political power and state sovereignty rest on "a set of institutionalized authority claims." (1) The sovereign state's authority claim over its population imparts it with metapolitical authority. That is, the governing bodies of states claim to have, and are recognized as having, the authority to define what is public (and thus political) and what is private (and thus beyond political authority). (2) The range of activities over which political bodies can legitimately exercise authority may vary over time and between states. For instance, the authority claims of modern welfare states are far more extensive than those of medieval or nineteenth-century states, as formerly private aspects of people's lives have become included in the public realm. The public-private distinction can be seen as one of the "grand dichotomies" of Western thought, subsuming a wide range of other distinctions that shape our understanding and organization of social life. (3) Rather than essential and categorically separable, the terms of this formative distinction are relational and their interpretation has varied over time. The establishment of a distinction between a public and a private sphere is the result of a prolonged and often conflictual historical process. (4) For example, warfare and diplomacy--which we today unquestionably include in the public sphere--were marketized and internationalized well into the nineteenth century. For several centuries, mercenaries were the foundation of European military power. (5) And until the early nineteenth century, diplomacy was an aristocratic pursuit; diplomats who had a sense of belonging to a single "cosmopolitan fraternity" or "aristocratic international" could easily change from one monarchic employer to another. (6) Conversely, there are activities that today are considered primarily commercial, but not long ago were seen to belong to the public sphere. For example, from its inception in the late 1920s through the immediate post--World War II period, international civil air transport was essentially a government enterprise. The value of aviation was first demonstrated in World War I. Born in an era of war and rampant nationalism, air transportation received much more attention by its parents (state governments) than its older siblings such as shipping and railways. The relative lack of multinational enterprises that remains today in civil air transport is a vestige of its birth in the public sphere. (7) Simplified understandings of the distinction between public and private neglect the range of variable interpretations and alternative implications of these concepts. And in today's globalized world, the borderline between the public and the private sphere is becoming increasingly diffuse. Domestically as well as internationally, private actors become politicized and public actors become marketized--"the public goes private and the private goes public." (8) What are the consequences for international organizations in general, and the UN system in particular, of this diffuse and moving public-private borderline? While the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations (IG0s) are traditionally firmly grounded in the public sphere, the global private sphere comprises business (for-profit) actors as well as civil society (nonprofit) actors. The interface and interplay between these types of actors have changed in recent decades. UN attitudes toward the business community have shifted dramatically. The private sector has traditionally been held at arm's length by virtually all parts of the UN system. (9) The UN Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) was inaugurated in 1974, at a time when giant transnational corporations (TNCs) were seen as a threat to state authority. …


In this Study, a Wallace tree adder and a group of comparators were employed to design the stochastic flash analogue to digital converter (ADC). In order to demonstrate how power, and area may be decreased utilizing offset voltage in design, a comparison between stochastic flash ADC and Resistor ladder flash ADC is presented in the study. A resistor string is used to set each comparator's trip point in a standard resistor ladder flash ADC. Random comparator offsets are compressed into digital cells by a stochastic flash ADC. A wide range of comparator offsets are compressed into digital cells by a stochastic flash ADC. A wide range of comparator offset is produced when using comparators that are implemented as digital cells. This is typically seen as a drawback, however in our situation the wide standard deviation of offset is employed to define the input signal range. The reference voltage is lower and the analog signal is always '' 1'' if the input offset voltage of a comparator is greater than the input range of its comparator group. To produce digital output, one uses the Wallace tree adder. In a 90nm CMOS process, a stochastic flash ADC has been implemented.


This report discusses the remarks delivered by Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank. Press Conference at the World Economic Forum of the taking action on climate change. He was grateful to the organizer who conducted this conference to given this opportunity to meet collective leadership. He discusses on the future economies to invest in clean and healthy that will bring growth, jobs, and competitiveness. The 1.9 trillion dollars in subsidies can be redirected to support investment in clean growth. This challenges the notion that responding to climate change is not affordable. He concludes by saying that we lead to the new technologies and we can bring in the virtuous circle that we have all been waiting for.


Invariant feature descriptors such as SIFT and GLOH have been demonstrated to be very robust for image matching and object recognition. However, such descriptors are typically of high dimensionality, e.g. 128-dimension in the case of SIFT. This limits the performance of feature matching techniques in terms of speed and scalability. A new compact feature descriptor, called Kernel Projection Based SIFT (KPB-SIFT), is presented in this paper. Like SIFT, our descriptor encodes the salient aspects of image information in the feature point's neighborhood. However, instead of using SIFT's smoothed weighted histograms, we apply kernel projection techniques to orientation gradient patches. The produced KPB-SIFT descriptor is more compact as compared to the state-of-the-art, does not require pre-training step needed by PCA based descriptors, and shows superior advantages in terms of distinctiveness, invariance to scale, and tolerance of geometric distortions. We extensively evaluated the effectiveness of KPB-SIFT with datasets acquired under varying circumstances.


Obesity is considered one of the most prevalent health problems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO). A bibliographic, descriptive and qualitative study was carried out, having as a source of research, thesis, dissertations and scientific articles searched on the internet, indexed in the following databases: LILACS, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Portal de Periódicos CAPES and SCIELO. From this literature review, it was possible to verify that immunonutrition has been extensively used as a resource for nutritional therapy of patients undergoing bariatric surgery, it was noted that preoperative nutritional intervention that includes nutritional supplementation enriched with immunonutrients in an isolated or combined way can be an alternative to reduce inflammation, improve immunity and reduce infectious complications and pain, as well as favoring wound healing in the postoperative period.


Although architects design and equip same floor plan of the internal medicine ward and surgical ward of a hospital, through the ethnographic field study. I discovered that patients and nurses use two spaces quits differently by the curing method. At surgical ward, operating room has a role of main curing place, and word has merely a role of recovering room. On the other hand, at the medical ward, ward itself becomes main curing place. Nurse station of the medical ward becomes more crowed than that of surgical ward. Patients at medical ward are more sensitive psychologically due to long disease history then have trend to keep territory. Surgical ward becomes crowded by equipment like wheelchairs and stretchers. And front corridor of surgical ward becomes exercise field for rehabilitation. For design for user, suggestions of different design guideline through the field study, for distinctively different characteristic of two wards.