The educational infrastructure was one of the priorities financed by European Regional Development Fund in Romania through Regional Operational Programme in 2007-2013 programming period. The regions for development in Romania needed financial support to improve the quality of local educational infrastructure but the administrative capacity to get EU funds wasn't prepared to take advantage of the available opportunities. This paper shows that the level of local development in terms of institutional capacity and financial resources had influenced the amount of funds obtained by the local authorities. Even if the less developed regions had an important need for resources, the more developed regions succeeded to implement more projects for educational infrastructure.


A 43-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of a progressively worsening widespread itchy rash affecting his trunk and limbs. The rash had started spontaneously without any preceding triggers, particu-larly infective illness, new medications, vaccinations or dental procedure/materials used. He had no relevant past medical or family history, no regular medications and had no known allergies. Physical examination revealed irregularly shaped violaceous papules and plaques and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation on the skin, and ulcerated lesions on oral buccal mucosa. The scalp, nails and genitalia were unaffected.


Objective To compare the direct with indirect perfusion for extracorporeal liver perfusion. Methods Porcine liver was harvested from health pigs weighing 20-30 kg by the standard procedure for human retrieval. The pigs were randomized into 2 groups. The direct perfusion was performed in group A (n=5) and the recipients were pigs with acute liver failure (ALF). The indirect perfusion was conducted in group B (n=4) and the recipients were dogs with ALF. The time for ECLP was 4h and that for ALF 8 h. The data of bile and oxygen consuming ratio (OCR) of the perfused liver and some data of the recipients were collected and analyzed. Results There were no significant differences in the data between the 2 groups (P0.05). Conclusions Though there is no significant difference between the 2 groups, indirect perfusion is better than direct one.


The article examines how the application of advanced technologies has made it possible to develop new marketplaces where participants are connected in real time online.


Transceiver node and method therein for enabling dynamic bandwidth assignment in bi-directional Time Division Duplexing, TDD, multicarrier communication over wire lines. The transceiver node is operable to be coupled to a plurality of loops, where each loop is terminated by a respective network terminal, NT. The method comprises collecting traffic reports from local and remote queues associated with uplink and downlink traffic on the plurality of loops, and determining an actual demand for upstream and downstream bandwidth, respectively, for each of the plurality of loops, based on the collected traffic reports. The method further comprises deriving an Upstream/Downstream, US/DS, frame partitioning based on the determined actual demand for upstream and downstream bandwidth, and providing an indication of the derived US/DS frame partitioning to the NTs. NTs are then scheduled in accordance with the derived partitioning.


The research presented here examines defining characteristics of the solo jazz guitar style of Joe Pass, who left the four Virtuoso albums as an innovative legacy. Methods used to facilitate this research include a study of the book, Joe Pass Guitar Style, and to analyze transcriptions of his works on the Virtuoso #1 and Virtuoso #3. First, a study of Pass's chord-voicings, the connecting notes between two chords, and parallel harmony is carried out. Second, the characteristics of his reharmonizations and modulations through analysis of "Stella by Starlight" and "Summertime" is examined. Third, his use of a variety of bass-lines is considered: walking lines as accompaniment, supplementing the low range, and providing counterpoint. Finally, those characteristics of his improvisation, such as the call-and-response cadenzas between iterations of the theme, are examined. Additionally, the research presented here also exposes Pass's musical back-ground, as well as his place in history beside other pre-Virtuoso solo jazz guitar players. Pass showed that a myriad of techniques—counterpoint, chords, and solo lines— can be used to create a full sound with just a single guitar; unaccompanied guitar is a special disciplinary field and there are few jazz guitarists who have achieved what Pass has. Therefore, encouraging the study of his style is needed to advance this field.


In the present work, we have used an adjusted temper rolling process for development of particular textures {100} <; (0vw) in nonoriented (NO) FeSi steels. The main idea behind the improvement of soft magnetic properties relies on deformation induced grain growth and heat transport phenomena promoting the preferable formation of columnar grains with desired orientation. The vacuum degassed NO steels with silicon content 1% wt. taken from industrial line after final annealing were chosen as an experimental material. A columnar grained microstructure with pronounced intensity of rotating cube and Goss texture components was achieved during a dynamic final annealing. The obtained microstructural and textural state of sample leads to a significant reduction of coercivity. The coercivity values measured in DC and AC (50 Hz) magnetic field decreased from 70 A/m to 16 A/m and from 179 A/m to 65.4 A/m, respectively.


The main problem for agents in real environments is how to abstract useful information from a large amount of environmental data. This is called the frame problem. Learning how to perform abstraction is a key function in a practical solution to the frame problem. As such a learning system, we developed Situation Transition Network System (STNS). The system extracts situations and maintains them dynamically in a continuous state space on the basis of rewards from the environment. These situations can be regarded as empirically obtained symbols. In this way, the system learns how to perform abstraction in a dynamic environment. The results of computer simulations are given. key words: cognitive learning, articulation, the frame problem, reinforcement learning


The article presents the results of the primary introduction experience of rare species of the genus Potentilla L. (Rosaceae Juss.) of the flora of the Republic of Bashkortostan. There are 5 rare species in the collection: the Pleistocene relic species Potentilla agrimonioides Bieb., P. arenosa (Turcz.) Juz., P. nivea L., the South Ural endemic P. eversmanniana Fisch. ex Ledeb., the Ural endemic P. kuznetzowii (Govor.) Juz. These species are included in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Bashkortostan (2021). In the collection, each species is represented by one sample. The mobilization was carried out by seeds from natural populations. Species of the genus Potentilla were grown in monoculture in the introduction nursery of the Ufa Institute of Biology. Plants go through a full cycle of annual development of shoots and give viable seeds (except P. arenosa). According to the scale of introduction resistance proposed by N.V. Trulevich (1991), under cultivation in the forest-steppe zone of the republic, P. agrimonioides and P. kuznetzowii are resistant species, P. eversmanniana and P. nivea are weakly resistant, P. arenosa is unstable species.


The article mainly discusses the software test and methods of reliability evaluation from five aspects: life cycle,test methods and flow,definition,defect and failure and the whole test course and then emphatically describes the completed test course of software responsibility in checking before testing,examples of designed measurement,testing,data collection and test report sides.


A W-band voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is implemented using 65nm CMOS process. The proposed VCO uses center-tapped inductor modified from basic structure and has high Q-factor. Inductor based LC type topology has many advantages compared with transmission line or waveguide. Also low cost CMOS process has many advantages than other processes. The designed VCO operates at 77.52~79.33GHz. The phase noise at 1MHz and 10MHz offset of 78GHz carrier are -81.6dBc/Hz and -102dBc/Hz respectively. Supply voltage is 0.9V and power consumption is 2.97mW. The chip area is 0.12×0.20mm2 and output power is -20.04dBm. Calculated FOM is -175.27dB.


In the paperthe characteristic of the minefield infrared imaging is analysed, the proper method of the image processing is researched, then generic regulation,method and process is summarized,the principle of the processing effectiveness evaluation is discussed, at last the possible development trend is forecasted.


The dynamical behaviour of two infinitely long adjacent parallel polymer threads (dispersed phase) immersed in a different polymeric fluid (continuous phase) is considered. This report presents the solution obtained using the so-called first order solution, and is a natural extension of the previous work of Gunawan et. al [1]. Following the same lines as in [1], the (in)stability of the configuration in terms of the so-called growth rate of the disturbance amplitudes is discussed. The growth rate of these amplitudes determines the behaviour of the break-up process of the threads. Comparison to the previous work shows that the extension to a higher order expansion only leads to relatively small quantitative corrections.


Computers today are getting smaller and cheaper and are almost everywhere in our daily lives: at our homes, in the cars, airplanes and industry – almost all devices we use contains one or more embedded computers. With growing usage of embedded devices the requirements are getting tighter. In this thesis we address safety-critical embedded systems, where not only the correct result, but also satisfying timing requirements of the system is vital even in the presence of faults. The increase in computational speed and circuit density has raised the probability of having transient faults. Embedded systems that are used in safety-critical applications must be able to tolerate the increasing number of transient faults. If not, they might lead to failures that would have disastrous consequences and potentially endanger human lives and the environment. This thesis addresses design optimisation for fault-tolerant event-triggered embedded systems. The hardware of these systems consists of distributed processing elements connected with communication busses. The applications to be run on the hardware are represented by directed acyclic graphs. Processes are scheduled using a fixed-priority preemptive scheduling policy, while messages are transmitted using the Controller Area Network bus protocol. Faults are tolerated for each process through either reexecution or active replication. In this thesis we describe a model for representing fault-tolerant applications, called fault-tolerant process graphs (FTPG). We first propose schedulability analysis techniques which can determine whether a fault-tolerant application represented using an FTPG is schedulable. Three different approaches to the schedulability analysis have been proposed: ignoring conditions (IC), condition separation (CS) and brute force analysis (BF). They differ in the quality of the results and their runtime. Considering the response-time analysis, we also present an optimisation heuristic that decides for each process which faulttolerance policy to use, and on which processing element to execute it, such that the application is schedulable. We have evaluated the proposed schedulability analysis and optimisation methods using randomly-generated synthetic applications and a cruise controller application from the automotive industry.


The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of influenza A virus is important for catalyzing the replication and transcription of viral RNA. The polymerase of Influenza A Virus plays a significant role in the infectious virus life cycle. The objective of the present study was to identify the residue conservation in polymerase complex (PA, PB1 and PB2 proteins) of Influenza A Virus. The study was based on 11,966 amino acid sequences for the PA protein; 10,605 amino acid sequences for the PB1 protein and 11,331 sequences for the PB2 protein. The PA, PB1 and PB2 proteins exhibited similar level of sequence conservation. On the whole, this study exposed residues which are universally conserved among different influenza A virus subtypes. These universally conserved residues might be involved in either structure stabilizing or protein-protein interactions. Clusters of highly variable residues detected on the surface of the PA, PB1 and PB2 proteins might be linked to adaptation to various hosts or evolutionary pressure to evade the host immune system. The conserved residues identified in the present study could form a platform for designing universal anti-influenza drugs which are resistant to mutations arising in the future.


The chemical structures of three mono-, two di-, and two trisaccharides (1∼7) isolated from the pyrolysis products formed by CO2 laser irradiation on cellulose were investigated.


Synovial chondromatosis is a disease with cartilaginous metaplasia of the connective tissue in the synovial membrane, but reports of synovial chondromatosis in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) are rare. Many reports of synovial chondromatosis in the region include images of calcification in the radiological imaging examination. However, it is difficult to diagnose the disease state in the case of an image without calcification. In this paper, we report that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) were useful for diagnosing synovial chondromatosis without calcification in radiological images. A 35-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a slight preauricular swelling in the left TMJ region. The calcification image was not found in the region by orthopantography and computed tomography. The MRI revealed a low T1 signal and high T2 signal. The FNAC revealed that it was not chondrosarcoma or synovial sarcoma, but was highly suspicious of chondromatosis. When the left upper articular cavity was opened, there were many cartilaginous loose bodies, and so resection of all these bodies and synovectomy were performed under a diagnosis of synovial chondromatosis. Histological examination of the loose bodies demonstrated synovial chondromatosis. There has been no recurrence for 19 months after surgery.


N-(3-Acridinyl) maleimide (3-AM) and N-(9-acridinyl) maleimide (9-AM) were prepared and their reactions with thiol compounds including egg albumin were examined. Both 3-AM (7) and 9-AM (9) react readily with thiol compounds to form strongly fluorescent addition products. Their absorption and fluorescence spectra were measured, and it was found that they are useful fluorescence thiol reagents. Comparative use of the both reagents will afford information on the states of thiols and they serve as a special kind of hydrophobic probe for microenvironment of thiols in macromolecules.


The two−photon ionization process in Cs at λ = 4545 A is used as a tool for accurate measurement of an Ar−ion laser beam waist. The method is based on the variation of the relative multiphoton ionization yield with the position of a lens between laser and ionization region; it does not require knowledge of any parameter other than the type of intensity profile of the laser beam and the wavelength of the light.


This paper investigates possibilities and advantages of the integral cylindrical TLM method when the subject of modelling is a coax-fed circular patch antenna with a shorting pin and an annular ring. To point out advantages of the cylindrical TLM mesh, obtained results representing S11 parameter and input impedance of the modelled antenna are compared with corresponding results reached by the rectangular grid based TLM method for different mesh resolutions as well as with referenced measured results.


(57) Abstract: soluble fused MHC heterodimer and soluble fused MHC heterodimer: like peptide complexes, immune modulators are disclosed. Related methods and peptides are also disclosed. In a preferred aspect, these modulators and methods related to autoimmunity.


Trade is the engine of development. The biggest thing the developed world can do to alleviate poverty is remove trade barriers. The benefits of that are infinitely better than direct aid. It is trade, not aid, that holds the key to creating jobs and raising incomes. ...we are very clear that it is through trade, much more than through aid, that we can enable the poorest people in the poorest countries of our world to start that journey of modernization, of economic reform - a pathway out of poverty and into prosperity.


Due to the advantages of high carbon conversion and high capacity,pressurized entrained flow gasification is of interest and becoming increasingly important in the production of synthesis gas.To improve the thermal efficiency,the entrained flow gasifiers often use two-stage feeding mode.Recently,a novel pilot scale two-stage entrained flow gasifier has been developed in China.In order to meet the requirements of the process development,a 3-D full scale(ID700 mm×H11 200 mm) mathematics model based on the Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD) has been developed for investigating the gassolid flow characteristics in the gasifier.In the model,the gas phase was treated as continuous phase with an Euler frame of reference,while the particle phase was modeled as dispersed phase with a Lagrange frame of reference.Base on this CFD model,a simulation was performed firstly under the base designing and operating condition,which gave the kinetics regulation of the gas-solid two-phase and the distribution of particle in the gasifier.And then a series of numerical simulations were performed under several different designing and operating conditions(the throat diameters and gas-solid flow rate in the two stages) to investigate the effect of design and operation parameters on the gas-solid flow throughout the gasifier.The results showed that throat diameter was critical in the two-stage entrained flow gasifier,which might control the flow field,particle trajectory and particle distribution.The smaller throat diameter leads to not only stronger gas recirculation near the throat,swirling particle trajectories but also obviously changing of the particle distribution.The changes of feeding rate between the two-stage obviously influence the gas flow flied and particle behavior.The feeding rate increase in the first stage and the decrease in the second stage will enhance the gas recirculation in the first stage,weaken the recirculation in the second stage and leads to stronger particle swirling up movement,higher particle concentration near the wall and less particle deposition at the bottom.


The determination of organic matter reserves by forest phytocenoses is important in assessing biological produc-tivity of deciduous plantations formed at felling. As a rule, phytomass of the stand and soil cover is given when assess-ing forest productivity. This indicator is rarely determined for the undergrowth. The deciduous phytocenoses of the middle taiga, formed at the cutting of spruce of myrtillus type, have been studied. The undergrowth of the studied phy-tocenoses is represented by six species of woody plants: Salix caprea L., Sorbus aucuparia L., Rosa acicularis Lindl. and Lonicera pallasii Ledeb. Besides the mentioned species, Salix pentandra L. and S. philicifolia L are found in birch and spruce young growths. The method of "model trees" using allometric equations and the method of the "middle tree" for estimating the mass of individual species were used to determine the undergrowth phytomass. The specifics of the undergrowth phytomass dynamics in the studied after-cutting phytocenoses is associated with the overgrowing of felling by forest-forming and undergrowth species at the same time. It subsequently leads to competition between them. According to the studies in birch and spruce young forests, the undergrowth phytomass of decreased from 8.8 to 4.7 t/ha over 10 years; in aspen-birch stands - from 4.0 to 3.8. Throughout the entire studied period, fractions, accumulating organic matter (trunks and branches) for a long time, prevail in the undergrowth phytomass. The mass of leaves is 6-8% of the total undergrowth phytomass. The dynamics of the accumulation of organic matter by undergrowth is determined by biological characteristics of the species that form it, their abundance, natural thinning, and succession stage of the secondary stands.


The texture evolution of the pure iron sample after the surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) was investigated by means of electron backscattering and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Experimental observations indicated that four sections along depth were formed in the pure iron sample during the SMAT, i.e., nanostructured regime in the surface layer, submicro-sized, micro-sized and plastic deformed regime. Compared to the microstructure of sample, texture analysis was performed. It can be found that the <110>//ND fiber texture is the prominent texture. A strong orientation of (110)[11] along the <110>//ND fiber was formed in the plastic deformed regime, and as the depth from the top surface decreases, <110> //ND fiber texture intensity increases. The maximum intensity was reached in the micro-sized regime, and then it start to reduce. In the nanostructured regime, <110> //ND fiber texture nearly disappear.


The article deals with the following issue: how do managers understand their responsibility to train their subordinates? The authors focus on the most common errors that can turn the function of training into useless edifications, which trigger negative consequences and reactions of personnel. One of such errors is forced training when the employee is not ready for it. Another error is when manager fails to take into account the motives of the employee's actions. Other mistakes include inappropriate learning methods or improper use of an initially appropriate method; public humiliation during training; negativity, criticism, and anger; inappropriate mode of communication; intrusion of manager's opinion upon subordinates; inadequate conditions; no clear goal; no monitoring of behavioral changes, no feedback, etc. The paper contains useful recommendations to managers on how to avoid such situations: take into account the background of your communication partner; state your message clearly; avoid unnecessary personifications; explain the meaning of your advice; use your intonation wisely; avoid negativity and threats; address your employee by name; do not hesitate to use compliments; do not avoid questions; make joint decisions, etc. The optimal conditions of effective training include the following recommendations: demonstrate you care and support initiative; familiarize the employee with your vision of the situation; trust the trainee; be careful with humor; obtain feedback; use actual environment as a source of training cases; avoid criticism and public humiliation; do not postpone criticisms to the end of the day; use the advice of subordinates in their domain of competence, etc. The proposed recommendations can be used by heads of organizations to improve the training of subordinates, as well as to form and maintain long-term business relationships in the team.


Slavic influence on the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of Yiddish is well-documented (Weinreich 1980, inter alia). In contrast, syntactic innovations triggered by contact with Slavic languages are rarely investigated. This paper examines the extension of verb-second (V2) from root clauses to embedded clauses, which was suggested to be Slavic-influenced by Weinreich (1958) and Santorini (1989, 1992). However, no satisfactory explanation has been offered in the previous literature for how Slavic languages — which lack V2 in either root or embedded clauses — could have engendered such a change in Yiddish. The key to the proposed analysis is treating (embedded) V2 not as a unitary phenomenon, but as a "constellation" of parameter values, some of which were already in place in Yiddish before Slavic languages came into the picture and the rest of which changed under the influence of Slavic.


Accurate visual perception of 3D is essential for the success of VR systems. Humans use multiple visual cues when detecting dimensionality, including ocular disparity, ocular ccommodation, shape from shading (SFS), motion parallax, occlusion, and optic flow[7][3][8]. Traditional VR systems only appeal to a few of these cues and neglect the rest. Most current systems are limited to monocular cues, favoring optic flow. Recent reports from transsexuals undergoing hormone treatment have indicated that various aspects of vision change as a function of specific hormone levels[2]. The interaction between vision and sexual hormones is supported by the discovery of hormones in the rat retina[10]. A variety of visual and ocular changes across the menstrual cycle have been documented[9]. Based on this research, we hypothesize that there may be a prioritization of visual cues for 3D understanding that is dependent on sex differences.


Objective To observe efficacy of combined ventolin and pulmicort in treatment of acute onset of children asthma.Methods Children with asthma were randomly divided into two groups;twenty-six cases of control group were treated with common therapy,twenty-six cases of study group were treated with combined ventolin and pulmicort inhalation in addition of FEV 1,FVC,VC,PEFR were investigated after treatment.Results The children in study group were much more improved,comparing with those in control group.FEV_1 were (0.77±0.41)L(P0.05),FVC were (1.23±0.27)L and (1.25±0.37)L(P0.05),VC were (1.51±0.22)L and (2.38±0.36)L (P0.05),PEFR were (2.23±0.73)L/s and (2.76±0.75)L/s (P0.05) respectively.The lung function of control group were not improved before and after treatment (P0.05).Two groups efficiency were 92.3% and 76% respectively.The study group is significantly better than those in control group.Conclusion Combined ventolin and pulmicort inhalation in treatment of acute onset of children asthma are effective.


We consider the reliability function of a k-out-of-n system under conditions that failures of its components lead to an increase in the load on the remaining ones and, consequently, to a change in their residual lifetimes. Development of models able to take into account that failures of a system's components lead to a decrease in the residual lifetime of the surviving ones is of crucial significance in the system reliability enhancement tasks. This paper proposes a novel approach based on the application of order statistics of the system's components lifetime to model this situation. An algorithm for calculation of the system reliability function and two moments of its uptime has been developed. Numerical study includes sensitivity analysis for special cases of the considered model based on two real-world systems. The results obtained show the sensitivity of system's reliability characteristics to the shape of lifetime distribution, as well as to the value of its coefficient of variation at a fixed mean.


The paper analyses the results of the survey, conducted by the scientists among the students of foreign and Ukrainian higher education institutions, and our own scientific researches on the personality value qualities of an ideal higher education teacher. It has been defined that students of foreign higher education institutions focus on the following personality value qualities of an ideal higher education teacher: the first position is taken by expertise in the relevant field, communication skills; the second is taken by teaching tact, intelligence, empathy, emotional stability, openness; the third is occupied by self-awareness, tolerance, knowledge of behavioural strategies, creativity, and ability to build relationships with students. At the same time, the negative characteristics that a higher education teacher should not have are revealed, namely: in the first position students point out bias and injustice and the following positions are taken by arrogance; illiteracy; unprofessionalism; pride; condescension, vanity, etc.
The  analysis of the researches of the Ukrainian scientists demonstrates the following personality value qualities of an ideal higher education teacher, which are identified in the descending sequence: high intelligence; in-depth knowledge of the discipline, mastery of teaching methodology, teaching tact, communication skills; fairness, creativity, attentiveness, sense of humour and benevolence; moral rectitude, organizational skills, emotional and volitional stability; adherence to principles, exactingness, politeness and responsibility.
In this paper we present our own survey among the students of the Ukrainian higher education institutions and introduce the following personality value qualities of an ideal higher education teacher in the descending order: moral; communication; mastery of teaching methodology of the discipline; intelligence, expertise in the relevant field and in-depth professional knowledge; organizational and volitional qualities.


The aim of this investigation is to study the influence of temperature on the cyclic plastic deformation behavior of SA333 Gr-6 steel at two loading conditions. Strain-controlled cyclic loading experiments were carried out at ± 0.5% total strain amplitude, 1×10-3 s-1 strain rate, and temperature varied from RT to 400°C, whereas stress controlled ratcheting experiments were conducted at fixed mean stress (σm) of 50 MPa and stress amplitude (σa) of 400 MPa, 115 MPa s-1 stress rate, and in the temperature range of RT to 350°C. The investigated steel shows cyclic hardening characteristic at DSA temperature regime in both the loading condition. The steel shows lower fatigue lives at 250°C and 300°C temperatures even though plastic strain amplitude is smaller. The ratcheting life of the steel increases and strain accumulation decreases with the increase in temperature up to 300°C and on further increment in temperature ratcheting life get decreased. The steel shows greater cyclic hardening at both the loading conditions at 300°C.


A soil yeast, Lachancea kluyveri SP132, was isolated from rice paddy field soil in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, and was evaluated for its antifungal activity and plant growth promoting activity at Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Thailand, from 2016-2017. SP132 displayed potent in vitro inhibitory activity on mycelial growth against Rhizoctonia solani, a rice sheath blight fungal pathogen, using the dual culture method. The potent yeast also exhibited antifungal activity against Curvularia lunata, a rice dirty panicle fungal pathogen. Cell-free culture of SP132 displayed an effect on hyphal morphology and mycelial growth of pathogenic fungi. Based on the inhibition activity values, cell-free culture of SP132 showed the best effect on R. solani growth. The highest inhibition activity against R. solani (87.67%, compared with the control) was achieved using 30% cell-free culture. The ability of SP132 to produce extracellular antifungal enzymes (chitinase, cellulase and amylase) suggested that these enzymes may be partly correlated with the antagonistic activity against rice pathogenic fungi. Study on plant growth promoting activities revealed that this effective yeast antagonist produces indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and ammonia and can generate phosphate solubilization. The treated rice seed with SP132 had improved seed germination and seedling growth. These results suggested that the L. kluyveri SP132 isolated in this work may be further used as a biocontrol agent and plant growth promoting agent.


The ratio of machine's operating load is one of the applications of dynamic programming whose model disregards fund and time value utility of output value.In this paper, we give a new model of dynamic programming which considers time utility, and enlarges the use of previous results.


The effects of isothermal aging and the thermal cycling loading on the shear toughness of different solder materials and ball sizes have been explored. The difference between shear toughness values of traditional Sn/37Pb eutectic solder ball joints and the lead free Sn/3.0Ag/0.5Cu solders are chosen for discussion. The experiment measurements under the ball shear test (BST) have been compared and studied for both solder joints. The fracture behaviors of the solder joints under the high temperature aging and thermal cycling testing are examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The variation of shear toughness of different ball joints reveals that the high temperature aging and thermal cyclic loading reduce the shear toughness significantly. The measured shear toughness values indicate that the Sn/3.0Ag/0.5Cu solder joints have better ductility for the joints undergoing the high temperature aging and the thermal cycle loadings. Based on the measured results, the better reliability for the Sn/3.0Ag/0.5Cu ball joints is expected, due to the aging and cycling load testing.


The paper presents the study of the heat losses which occur at the continuous casting of slabs, along the path casting ladle - distributor - crystallizer - secondary cooling, as a function of technological factors such as: slab temperature, chemical composition, liquid steel weight, environmental temperature, etc. On the basis of these correlations it has been established the optimal level of the heat losses on each important zone of the path so that the continuous casting should be efficient (defect-free slabs, high productivity).


By using mathematical formulae developed in previous studies, certain pollution parameters of dye effluent obtained from reactive dyeing with a single dye can be predicted with good accuracy. In this study, the degree of pollution of reactive dyeing effluent using dye mixtures was also predicted by other approaches, such as linear and non-linear regression. The prediction accuracy was found to be satisfactory.


This study aimed at identifying the level of national awareness among kindergarten children in the city of Amman, Jordan. The study sample consisted of 196 male and female children from public and private kindergartens. The study used a national awareness scale prepared by the present researchers. The results of the study showed that kindergarten children in public and private schools have an acceptable level of national awareness. However, private kindergarten children have a higher level of national awareness than public kindergarten children. No significant differences were found between male and female children in the level of national awareness.


1. The third-generation digital-process computers using solid-state integrated circuits have demonstrated better than 99 percent system availability and have proven reliable during operation. 2. On-line plant computers in nuclear-power plants are technically and economically justifiable by the ever-increasing requirements of surveillance and assimilation of such a quantity of plant parameters that conventional instrumentation is inadequate and cumbersome. 3. In-core instrument signals are best processed by an on-line real-time computer to yield detailed core information which can be used to maximize core power. 4. The computer is ideally suited for rapid and early detection of abnormal plant conditions, faulty sensors, and malfunctioning equipment. By proper programming, the computer can either alert the operator or initiate corrective action in sufficient time to prevent or minimize equipment failure and plant outages. 5. By performing essentially continuous calibration and checks of instrumentation, the operating limit uncertainties can be reduced with a consequential increase in the plant capacity. This is a particularly important advantage for nuclear plants which must adhere to technical specifications that impose power and other limits which are verified by instrumentation. 6. The trend toward very large and high power nuclear reactors results in core dynamics not previously considered a problem. Axial, azimuthal, and possibly radial xenon oscillations as well as xenon redistribution after power changes must be taken into consideration. With reactors operating close to thermal hydraulic limits, these transient conditions must be coped with relatively quickly.


Background: The present study aims at two tier analysis for diagnosis and confirmation of organic acidemia using simultaneous analysis of dried blood spot (DBS) carnitine profile by tandem mass spectrometry (TMS) and urine metabolic analysis on gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Material and Methods: This cross sectional study included 348 DBS samples and their dried filter paper urine sample came for routine and emergency screening of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM). All DBS samples were anlysed for amino acid and acylcarnitine profile derivatized on TMS. All these cases were simultaneously tested for urine organic acid pattern on GC/MS which involved urease pretreatment, deproteinisation followed by derivatisation. Confirmation of IEM was based on the two tier approach containing the blood and urine metabolic pattern as recommended by panel of American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG). Results: 17 cases were screened positive for IEM analysed separately for amino acid /acylcarnitine profile and urine organic acid profile. However the two tier testing screened and confirmed 8 cases of organic acidemia within 36 hours of receipt of sample which included 2 cases each of maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), glutaric acidemia Type I (GA I), and ?-ketothiolase deficiency (BKT) and one each case of multiple carboxylase deficiency (MCD) and propionic acidemia (PA). Conclusion: The simultaneous two tier metabolome testing for screening of IEM is more comprehensive, cost effective, delivering confirmatory results with significantly reduced turnaround time, thus reducing recall rate by eliminating false-positive results and helps prevent unnecessary anxiety of parents.


This paper presents a new method for power quality improvement in four-wire islanded microgrids (MG). The main studied aspects related to power quality are voltage - frequency control, and unbalances compensation. While the voltage and frequency control were studied before by the authors of this paper, the unbalances compensation is the main topic. Two unbalance compensation controllers are used, for active and reactive powers. The compensation is based on a dump load (DL) and static compensators (STATCOM), which ensure the balance of the active and reactive powers between the MG phases. The DL ensures mainly the frequency control and it is used for active power balancing between phases, too. The STATCOM accomplishes only the redistribution of the reactive power unbalance between phases, not the power factor correction. Therefore, its rated power is small, according to the maximum reactive power unbalance that can be expected in the MG.


Two species of Diplomitoporus were studied from Central America and notes about their distribution are presented. Noteworthy records include Diplomitoporus dilutabilis Log.-Leite et J.E. Wright, which is reported for the fi rst time to Guatemala and Diplomitoporus hondurensis (Murrill) Ryvarden, which is found in a new locality from Belize. A list of Diplomitoporus species cited from America is presented.


Closed-ended contingent valuation surveys are used to assess demands in hypothetical markets and recently have been applied widely to the valuation of (non-market) environmental resources. This interviewing strategy holds considerable promise for more general market research applications. The authors describe a new maximum likelihood estimation technique for use with these special data. Unlike previously used methods, the estimated models are as easy to interpret as ordinary least squares regression results and the results can be approximated accurately by packaged probit estimation routines.


All industries employ machine learning extensively, and one of the most promising fields is computer vision. Computer vision is a simulation of the human visual system that uses cameras and computers to take the role of the human eye to find the target, follow it, and gather data from it so that a decision may be made on whether to take further action or provide recommendations. The various uses of computer vision in sports are covered in this paper. Currently, computer vision is mostly utilized for broadcast enhancement, tracking and detection of players and balls. Although the games graphics has been substantially improved by this technology, there are still several flaws. For instance, some areas are not suited to employ this technology. Another is the issue of players being blocked in multiplayer sports. For broadcasters, computer vision has significant commercial value. For athletes, this technique can improve their performance.


In this paper, a fuzzy neural network-based adaptive force control scheme for an it-link robot manipulator under an unknown environment is proposed. The dynamics model of the robot manipulator and the environment stiffness coefficient are assumed to be not exactly known in applications. Therefore, the traditional adaptive impedance force controller is not valid. In this study, the fuzzy neural systems (FNSs) are adopted to estimate the model of robot manipulator to propose an adaptive scheme to accomplish the tracking control problem. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the stability of the robot manipulator is guaranteed and the corresponding update laws of FNSs' parameters and stiffness coefficient of the environment can be obtained. Finally, simulation results of two-link robot manipulator contact with environment are introduced to illustrate the performance and effectiveness of our approach.


This passage illustrates seven kinds of different in ferential methods of general term equation of first order linear recursive progression from four kinds of mathematic methods:method of iteration,method of dif- ference,method of substitution(method of subtraction,method of quotient,method of undetermined coefficient) and method of induction.


The article is describing the issue of establishing the fundamental criteria for selecting pilots for aerobatic teams. It analyses the elements of piloting techniques and the critical phase of flights in view of the load to be borne by the pilots of the aerobatic team pilots in term of tem flight proficiency. Analyzing the fundamental criteria for the flight display of aerobatic teams It describes the elements of formation flying proficiency arranged into a display under normal meteorological conditions.


The invention discloses a kind of halogen material of sauce spiced mutton goods, be made up of raw material kaempferia galamga, cassia bark, Radix Glycyrrhizae, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, white sugar, monosodium glutamate, salt.The preparation method that the invention also discloses sauce spiced mutton comprise first mutton is taken off have a strong smell, again by de-mutton of having a strong smell at above-mentioned halogen material and miscella and carry out boiling alternatively and get final product in flavouring liquid.De-technique of having a strong smell in sauce spiced mutton preparation method of the present invention is simple and convenient, and strong operability, cost is low, successful.The present invention is directed to mutton, by distinctive halogen material formula, by the just right rational proportion of each amounts of components and control, unique flavor, use the mutton that the dry fruit beetle preparation method of this halogen material makes, taste is dense, by the use of the miscella of specific proportioning, make the taste of sauce spiced mutton more outstanding, by the application of the pure natural flavouring liquid of specific proportioning, make the special taste delicate fragrance of sauce spiced mutton, local flavor is long, shelf-life reaches 12 months, is convenient to promote, remarkable in economical benefits.


As an extension of the known Light Trail and Light Tree techniques, we explore the most possible general setting of time division multiplexing in circuit switched all optical networks. It will be shown that this technique improves the scalability and adaptability of all-optical networks without the need of expensive techniques like wavelength converters and burst switching or packet switching capable network nodes.


Abstract Growing Leptobryum pyriforme (Hedw.) Wilson under ten times ambient atmospheric CO2 concentrations showed that, while stomatal density and index decreased under elevated atmospheric CO2, the overall number of stomata per spore capsule remained unaltered. Capsule length increased, while the size of stomata and epidermal cells decreased. This study suggests that stomatal frequency measures used to investigate the influence of varying levels of atmospheric CO2 on angiosperms and gymnosperms may result in misleading conclusions when applied to bryophytes if considered in isolation from growth responses.


Firms that are less rational in their socially responsible actions might just be giving away rather than actually given back because they are unable to prioritise their socially responsible efforts. The extent to which firms in Nigeria apply rational decision techniques for prioritising their socially responsible actions is unknown. Therefore, this study analysed three primary stakeholder groups to which firms concentrate their social responsibility efforts using analytic hierarchical process (AHP). Cross-sectional design, quota, simple random, and convenient sampling techniques were employed to obtain responses from 225 corporate affairs officers in various quoted companies. Responses were placed on a 3 × 3 matrix estimates of perception of primary stakeholder groups that received attention. Socio-cultural and economic stakeholders rated much lower than the priority accorded political constituency. Alternative priorities for the dimensions of stakeholder salience were also higher for legitimacy and power more than urgency. The implications of these findings were discussed.


The popularity of mobile devices will lead to the great changes that are how and where to learn and educate.Library can provide readers the resources and services by personal or other mobile devices at anytime and anywhere.Reference librarians can use and apply mobile devices to provide services for the reader in mobile learning environment.The challenges that the libraries are facing includes a rapidly changing technology,the cost of adopting new technologies,the diversity among library users' needs and preferences and providing a stable and consistent service.The combination of mobile librarians,mobile readers and mobile content provides a combination of an ideal and ubiquitous library.


Day to day the importance and usage of electric power is increasing, in order to reach this power demand, generation of power is being increased. But the transmission grid fails to meet the developments in generation, as construction of new transmission lines involve more time than building new generation facilities. So, updating or upgrading the existing facilities will be more beneficial than building new ones. This is achieved by providing proper reactive compensation. This main objective of the paper is placement of shunt capacitor for voltage profile improvement and reactive power compensation. The voltage stability index, called voltage collapse prediction index (VCPI), decides the shunt capacitor placement. This paper deals with placement of shunt capacitor banks to improve voltage at weakest buses. The shunt capacitor banks connected to the system to prevent the low voltages during the high loading conditions. The reactive compensation and reduction of losses and power transfer capability can be increased by placing of shunt capacitor. The proposed technique is validated with load flow analysis on IEEE 14 bus system carry out by Mi-power software. From the results obtained it is verified that the load flow analysis can be easily done with Mi-power which is a fast and robust tool with a powerful GUI to solve. Finally, the voltage profile improvement is verified with the placement of shunt capacitor.


We report a case of renal cell carcinoma occurring with bladder and contralateral adrenal metastasis discovered preoperatively with computerized tomography. Surgical treatment consisted of radical nephrectomy, with preservation of the ipsilateral adrenal gland, contralateral adrenalectomy, and transvesical resection of the bladder neoplasm. The hypothesis for the mechanism(s) of spread and treatment modalities are discussed.


Through ultrasoft plane-wave pseudopotential method of first-principle of density functional theory,crystal structure of BN is geometrically optimized and the obtained crystal lattice parameter is 0.3593nm.On the basis of optimized structure and by calculation,its energy gap is 4.654 eV and it belongs to indirect wideband energy gap semiconductor.Under zero temperature and zero pressure,its elastic constant is C11=804.6 GPa,C12=161.2 GPa,C44=463.9 GPa and its elastic modulus B0=375.7 GPa.According to approximation of Debye Model and by calculation of elastic constants,its Debye temperature is 1924.8K,its heat capacity is changing with temperature,and its heat capacity is close to Dulong-Peti limit under high temperature.


Articulatory speech recognizers infer the configuration and movement of a speaker's vocal apparatus as an intermediate representation between acoustics and phonetics. Articulatory modeling makes coarticulation processes explicit, as opposed to the conventional triphone technique of elaborating all coarticulation combinations. In the present study, hierarchical, interpolating hidden Markov models (HMMs) transform acoustics into articulation and articulation into phonetics. Articulatory and acoustic data with transcriptions are used for both training and testing. The articulatory data, collected by the University of Wisconsin, consist of synchronized recordings during speech of x‐ray microbeam positions, throat vibration, and acoustics. State variables of the Markov model represent articulator configurations. These variables change continuously between targets to represent coarticulation. In this model, their state changes are driven by a top‐level state variable which changes from phone to phone. The model emits both articulator positions and acoustic analysis coefficients, when viewed as a generator (in recognition, these emissions are the inputs). Variational techniques make the training problem tractable. The latest phonetic‐recognition results of the model will be contrasted with baseline HMM systems trained on acoustic and articulatory data. [Work supported in part by NIMH, the NSF/DARPA STC for Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization, and Hewlett–Packard.]


The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of industry concentration between corporate governance (Board of Commissioners Independent, Managerial Ownership, and Institusional Ownership) and firm value. Industry concentration classification is calculated by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). In terms of chow test can be concluded that the regression equation between sub-groups of concentrated industries and less concentrated industries differ significantly and it shows that the industry concentration is moderating variable. Keywords : Industrial Concentration, Board Of Commissioners Independent, Managerial Ownership, Institusional Ownership, Firm Value.


Electric fields are increasingly used for coherently manipulating spin states in semiconductor and molecular systems. Here we discuss the spin manipulation allowed by the modulation of the main parameters entering the Hamiltonians of molecular spin clusters. In particular, we focus on transitions between states that differ in terms of scalar quantities, such as the total- or the partial-spin sums, but have vanishing expectation values of both the total- and the single-spin projections. These conditions supposedly define subspaces that are immune to the main decoherence mechanisms and that cannot be identified in individual spins, where the total- and the partial-spin sums are fixed or cannot be defined. We show that the desired transitions can in principle be realized in systems as simple as a spin dimer, by modulating the g-factor, the axial anisotropy, or, under suitable conditions, the exchange interaction.


The use of information and communication technologies, mobile devices and wearable devices have had great growth in recent years. Chronic stress is a disease that affects millions of individuals and has a great growth with enormous economic and social impact. Prevention in this area of health is, increasingly, a fundamental aspect for the improvement of the quality of life of each one and the public health in general. The objective of the present study is to understand how stress can be continuously monitored, especially in individuals who perform occupations that present a high risk of stress, in order to predict and alert the occurrence of chronic or pathological stress and burnout situations. For this purpose a non-invasive measurement instrument will be developed for the individual using biometric signals, measured through a wearable device, collected in a mobile device and later sent to an information system that will handle this information. In the experiment carried out, a prototype of a mobile application was developed that synchronizes the data coming from smartbands directly linked to the individuals with smartphones, to continuously monitor the physical and quality of life related to the health of the person. Of course, data collection is only of importance if the data are analyzed with consequent production of results for the individual and health professionals. Some technologies normally used to elaborate a system of this magnitude will also be analyzed and, with the support of the health professionals and individuals for whom the evaluation is intended, various forms of feedback on stress levels will be evaluated in order to develop a set of Dashboards with information of stress, distinguishing the information destined to the professional of health of that made available to the own individual.


A (word) transducer is an automaton with output, which defines a binary relation on words, including the important special case of a function from words to words. For the uninitiated, the transducer landscape can be a bit confusing, since there are several non-equivalent models (unlike for languages, where all reasonable models of finite automata are equivalent). In this column, Emmanuel Filiot and Pierre-Alain Reynier explain this landscape, with an emphasis on the connections with logic and algebra.


Aim: To study the role of protein kinase A (PKA) in the hyperexcitability of injured neurons in the compression of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) model, spontaneous activities and PKA activities in injured neurons were recorded and tested by the method of single fiber recording and biochemical assay respectively. Results: The percentage of PKA phosphorated PepTag peptide in compressed DRGs was 25.51±2.62%, which was significantly enhanced compared with those in uncompressed and normal DRGs. An inhibitor of PKA catalytic subunit H 89 (10μM) suppressed the spontaneous activity of injured DRG neurons obviously. The suppressive percentage was 76.91±13.79%. Conclusion: PKA activity in injured DRGs was enhanced, and highly activated PKA contributed to the mediation of the spontaneous activity from injured DRG neurons.


The complex dynamics that characterize hydraulic systems make it difficult for the control design to achieve prescribed goals in an efficient manner. In this paper, we present the design and analysis of a robust nonlinear controller for a Nonlinear Hydraulic-Mechanical (NHM) System. The system consists of an electrohydraulic servo valve and two hydraulic cylinders. Specifically, by considering a part of the dynamics of the NHM system as a norm-bounded uncertainty, two adaptive controllers are developed based on the backstepping technique that ensure the tracking error signals asymptotically converge to zero despite the uncertainties in the system according to the Barbalat lemma. The resulting controllers are able to take into account the interval uncertainties in Coulomb friction parameters and in the internal leakage parameters in the cylinders. Two adaptation laws are obtained by using the Lyapunov functional method and inequality techniques. Simulation results demonstrate the performance and feasibility of the proposed method.


The ultraviolet absorption of vanadium(V) in R2O-B2O3 glasses (R represents Li, Na, or K) and in aqueous buffer solutions was investigated. In glasses of variable R2O:B2O3 ratio, a change in the absorption spectra similar to the [VO4]3- → [VO3(OH)]2- change in aqueous solution was observed. It is suggested that vanadium(V) in these glasses may be present as either [VO4]3- or [VO3O1/2]2- (O1/2 indicates a bridging oxygen ion), depending on the basicity of the melt. The critical R2O concentration, above which this change in vanadium(V) environment occurs with increasing alkalinity, is 24, 26, and ≅30 mol%, for K2O, Na2O, and Li2O, respectively.


Abstract This article unfolds Schelling's idea that artwork allows for infinite interpretations and condenses into an infinite meaning. This claim has been investigated by the double act of potentiation that occurs, in parallel ways, both in the artwork and in Nature writ large, as well as in the artist's body. The questions of form, formation, and individuation in Nature are addressed along with the role of the expansive productive intuition in the body of the artist. Nature in Schelling's thought consists in a self-generative artistic creativity and the primordial spring for the dynamics of the cosmic and the human poiesis. In this context, the act of Potenzierung provides a powerful insight into the "leap of art-making."


The open access (OA) movement was taking libraries by storm, and scholarly communication librarianship was trending in 2009 when I was the coordinator of the Humanities Collection Group (Huma) at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB). All of the buzz centered on STEM journals and commercial publishers. The Huma librarians—subject librarians for the humanities—were curious about how the OA movement and scholarly communication issues impacted the humanities.


INTRODUCTION: Birthing people with limited English proficiency (LEP) often face systemic limitations to care and are at increased risk for disparate birth outcomes due to barriers in patient–provider communication. Patients with LEP are particularly vulnerable to biases and microaggressions that can limit timely health care delivery and the quality of services received. We developed a multidisciplinary curriculum to educate providers about 1) unconscious bias (UCB), 2) barriers to equitable health care delivery for patients with LEP, and 3) use of trained interpreter services to promote patient–provider communication. METHODS: We developed a 60-minute workshop for physicians/midwives/nurses (n=75). Surveys were used to assess change in knowledge. Results were evaluated by descriptive statistics, t tests for significance, and thematic analysis. Institutional review board approval was obtained. RESULTS: Approximately 75 participants attended the workshop. Thirty-three percent of pre-workshop survey respondents (13/39) had not received cultural competency training within the last 3 years. Approximately 1 in 5 (22%) pre-workshop respondents were unaware of their hospital's interpreter services policy. After a brief didactic presentation, participants identified common microaggressions and barriers to care for patients with LEP. They also developed 15 unique strategies to promote communication via use of trained interpreters when the patient/family initially opt for ad hoc interpretation instead. At workshop completion, 97.1% of participants reported that they will adopt or modify an existing strategy when communicating with LEP patients and families. CONCLUSION: Post-workshop survey results suggest that continuing education can be used to address UCB for patients with LEP and promote use of interpreter services to improve patient–provider communication.


With the aim of finding new bioactive compounds, a series of phenoxyacetophenone derivatives 2 were designed and synthesized as oxygen analogs of dihydrochalcones. Also, phenoxyacetophenones were converted to (Z)‐oxime derivatives 3 and their geometry were characterized by 1H‐NMR spectroscopy. The in vitro antifungal activity of compounds 2 and 3 was evaluated against Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Aspergillus niger using micro‐dilution method. In general, oxime derivative 3d containing 4‐fluorophenoxy moiety showed comparable or more potent antifungal activity (MICs = 15.63–31.25 μg/mL) with respect to the reference drug fluconazole against all tested yeasts. In addition, the antileishmanial activity of title compounds was determined against pormastigote form of Leishmania major. All compounds showed mild growth inhibitory activity against promastigotes. The most active compound was unsubstituted phenoxyacetophenone 2a (IC50 = 80 μg/mL). To anticipate the potential use as drugs, the target compounds were evaluated in their drug‐like properties. The in silico values of molecular descriptors for bioactive compounds 2a and 3d revealed that these compounds are within the range set by Lipinski's 'Rule of 5' and show no violation of these rules. Moreover, bioactive compounds 2a and 3d are supposed to be non‐mutagenic and non‐tumorigenic, with no irritating or reproductive effects.


Objective Constructing the recombinant retrovirus vector PLEGFP-BDNF to prepare further expression and transrection in cells for transplantation Methods The preparation of specific for full-length BDNF coding sequence was designed and synthesized. The BDNF coding sequence was directly amplified from human genomic DNA and which was transformed into the host cells E-coli DH 5а to obtain the positive clone PMD 18T-BDNF. The restriction enzyme analysis and DNA sequence detection confirmed that the inserted fragment of clone is the full-length BDNF coding sequence. The hBDNF DNA fragment was recovered from the clone and ligated with eukaryonic expression vector PLEGFP to construct the recombinant expression plasmid PLEGFP-BDNF. The E-coli JM 109 transformed with PLEGFP-BDNF was induced. The positive clone was screened on LB plates containing ampicillin and identified by restrictive enzymes digestion PCR amplification and DNA sequence detection. Results PLEGFP-BDNF was constructed successfully. Conclusios The successful expression of hBDNF in Escherichia coli has the potential application value in the transgenic therapy of CNS disease.


For the past two decades, uneven development in general, and the changing structure of the labour market in particular, have figured prominently in geographic literature explaining the possible trajectories of restructuring events in industrial countries. This paper explores the regional nature of various socio-economic processes shaping gendered employment patterns in Cornwall, eastern Ontario. Focussing on the dimensions of workforce 'feminisation' we argue for a critical reexamination of gender-neutral regional geographies in understanding how gendered divisions of labour and local identity formation and concepts of 'class' are in flux.


The main meteorological environmental factors in the southeast coast of our country and their effects on the wind turbine,including temperature,humidity,wind resources,typhoons,thunderstorms,and so on,were analyzed comparatively with that of the costal area of Europe.It was concluded that there are significant different meteorological conditions between the southeast coast of our country and the European coastal area,which have different influence on wind turbine,therefore,development of offshore wind power in the southeast coast of China can not entirely draw on experiences of European offshore wind farm.The purpose was to provide references for design,manufacture,operation and maintenance of wind generating set in China.


Background: Patient satisfaction is a valuable measure of the healthcare quality, which in turn is the most necessary condition for effective healthcare services.
Aim: To evaluate the inpatient children's parental satisfaction, in order to assess the quality and outcomes of the public healthcare services.
Method and Material: A cross-sectional study was conducted, on a random sample of 120 parents of children who were hospitalized in the two major public pediatric hospitals of Athens, using the Greek version of the Swedish Pyramid Quality of Care Questionnaire - Parents version.
Results: Parental satisfaction was at high levels (overall index 80.2%), mainly due the medical and nursing staff attitudes (93.11%), medical & nursing care (92.32%) and information about the child's illness / condition provided (84.75%). Low satisfaction observed due the accessibility of health services (66.16%) and the working environment of the staff (68.14%), and also in respect of waiting times for clinical and laboratory tests, in low-moderate severity cases.
Conclusions: The high levels of parents' satisfaction with hospital pediatric care is a result of the attitudes, knowledge and skills of the medical and nursing staff.


Dry land farming in India accounts for 63% of the cultivated land of 144 million hectares. The crop production on these lands is dependent entirely on the natural precipitation, which is highly erratic in terms of spatial and temporal distribution during the crop-growing season. To address these problems, Government of India has accorded high priority to watershed approach for development of rainfed areas through National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA). The project aims at in -situ moisture conservation primarily through vegetative measures to conserve rainwater control soil erosion and regenerate the green cover both on arable and non-arable lands. The present study is towards monitoring and assessment of changes in the watersheds spread over 3 districts of Orissa state using remote sensing technology. The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS), Linear Image Self Scanning Sensor (LISS II) data of 1988 and 1996, pertaining to the pre and post treatment periods of each watershed have been analyzed. Classified and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) outputs of two time periods were compared to derive information, on changes that occurred over a period of time in the watershed. The study revealed an increase in the area under cultivation, water bodies, plantation and tree cover as a result of watershed management. Improvement and progressive changes ranging from 4 to 27.4% have been observed within a span of 5 to 8 years. Further, saturation index was derived for some of the watersheds under study for the assessment of implementation of NWDPRA developmental activities. Dry land farming in India accounts for 63% of the cultivated land of 144 million hectares. These drylands are impoverished, deficient in plant nutrients, suffer from various forms of land degradation. The crop production on these lands is dependent entirely on the natural precipitation, which is highly erratic in terms of spatial and temporal distribution during the crop-growing season. Dryland farming is also affected by the socio-economic conditions of small holdings, expensive credit, low fertilizer use, and poor infrastructure. To address the problems of dryland farming, Government of India has accorded high priority to watershed approach for development of rainfed areas through National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) and other externally aided watershed development projects. The emphasis is on increasing food production, reduce regional disparity between irrigated and rainfed areas and to ensure sustainable development of agriculture. Afforestation, cropping systems, soil and moisture conservation measures, agro-forestry and agro-horticulture are some of the developmental activities that are carried out in the watersheds under NWDPRA(NNRMS-TR-98,1998). As the watershed development approach is an integrated one with the involvement and efforts of various departments and considerable budget, there is a need for a suitable indicator to assess the progress of implementation. It is necessary to holistically assess and evaluate the long-term effects and the impact of the activities through reliable methods. Conventional ground based sampling has proved costly and time consuming. The repetitive coverage of the satellite provides us an excellent opportunity to monitor the land resources and evaluate the land cover changes through a comparison of images acquired for the same area at different times. Changes like increased area under cultivation, conversion of annual cropland to horticulture, change in surface water bodies, afforestation, soil reclamation, etc., could be monitored through satellite remote sensing. Over the years, its utility to detect and determine the extent and nature of changes over a period of time has been successfully demonstrated. It is in this context of reducing the cost and time that we address the use of satellite remote sensing as a monitoring and evaluation tool with the following objectives. (1) Evaluation of the impact of watershed programs implemented in the watersheds under study (2) Assessment of implementatio n of NWDPRA developmental activities and their impact on arab le and non- arable land.


intention of MapReduce Sets for Summarization expressions analysis has to suggest criteria how summarization expressions in summarization data can be defined in a meaningful way and how they should be compared. Similitude based MapReduce Sets for summarization Expression Analysis and MapReduce Sets for Assignment is expected to adhere to fundamental principles of the scientific summarization process that are expressiveness of summarization models and reproducibility of their summarization inference. Summarization expressions are assumed to be elements of a summarization expression space or Conjecture class and summarization data provide "information" which of these summarization expressions should be used to interpret the summarization data. An inference summarization algorithm constructs the mapping between summarization data and summarization expressions, in particular by a summarization cost minimization process. Fluctuations in the summarization data often limit the summarization precision, which we can achieve to uniquely identify a single summarization expression as interpretation of the summarization data. We advocate an information theoretic perspective on summarization expression analysis to resolve this dilemma where the tradeoff between summarization informativeness of statistical inference summarization and their summarization stability is mirrored in the information- theoretic summarization optimum of high summarization information rate and zero communication expression error. The inference summarization algorithm is considered as an outlier object summarization path, which naturally limits the resolution of the summarization expression space given the uncertainty of the summarization data. Keywordssummarization expressions, kernel function.


Mixed valence LiVPO 4 F 1-y O y materials were obtained for the first time over a large composition range (here, 0.35 ≤ y ≤ 0.75), through a single step solid state synthesis. Interestingly, the competition between the ionic character of the V 3+ -F bond and the strong covalency of the V 4+ =O vanadyl bond originates a complex crystal chemistry at the local scale, which allows to stabilize a solid solution between LiVPO 4 F and LiVPO 4 O despite a significant deviation from the Vegard's law for the cell parameters. A combined study using IR, Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopies highlights the role of vanadyl environments on the electronic structure of vanadium's orbitals and a fortiori the electrochemical behavior. Our results underline that the electrochemical performance of LiVPO 4 F 1-y O y -type materials can be controlled by tuning the concentration of vanadyl-type defects, i.e. by playing on the competition between the ionic V 3+ F and the covalent V 4+ =O bond.


WSN have limitations that make them difficult to apply in critical and large-scale scenarios. The main identified barriers are the difficulty of building the management system, and their lack of flexibility to adapt to policy changes. Software defined networking (SDN) is a viable alternative to solve these limitations. Besides, SDN can bring several other benefits to WSN, allowing, for example, complex network applications to run on the controller. A new approach called software-defined wireless sensor network (SDWSN) is increasing in interest by the research community, and in this paper, we propose a new SDWSN control plane based on the constrained application protocol (CoAP). We provide a comprehensive specification for the control plane, including the communication infrastructure, the control plane protocol, and the basic networking functions in controllers (topology discovery and flow control). We show how the proposed control plan can be implemented in the Contiki operating system and present a preliminary performance evaluation of the overhead introduced by the control plane protocol.


This paper develops a new expression for a network node capability value used to quantify the node's ability to maintain an optimal information flow in a mobile communication network. The capability value is adaptable and is a function of the bandwidth efficiency, the data rate, the energy-per-bit to noise spectral density power ratio and reflects how effectively the node can receive, process and transmit data. To evaluate the capability expression a generalized connectivity metric is used which integrates the node capability values along with their connections scaled by the length of the routes (including their directionality) in order to measure the maximum information exchange rate (characteristic tempo) of the network. Simulation results are shown for a prototype four-node dynamic scenario to numerically evaluate the node capability values and the resulting network characteristic tempo.


This study evaluated the diagnostic value of measuring the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and C‐reactive protein (CRP) to differentiate children co‐infected with H1N1 influenza and bacteria from children infected with H1N1 influenza alone.


An integrated testbed consisting of five nodes has been proposed for proof of concept of a space-based network using laser communications. The acquisition of signals by image-preserving atomic line filter is discussed along with multichannel modulation and overall design considerations for space-based laser-communications networking. A demonstration of the testbed is reported.


The current study is aimed to explore the regulation of lncRNA MALAT1 in human HemECs functions. In our study, relative expressions of MALAT1, miR-494-3p and PTEN in HemECs (HemEC) were determined using qRT-PCR methods. MTT assays were used to measure cell viability. The rate of cell apoptosis was assessed using caspase-3 assay. Transfections were performed to mediate lncRNA MALAT1 and miR-494-3p expression in HemEc cells. Also, Bioinformatic analysis and Luciferase reporter were used to predict and validate the bindings between MALAT1 and PTEN, and PTEN and miR-494-3-p. MALAT1 was highly expressed in HemECs. Cell proliferation increased significantly due to MALAT1 overexpression in HemECs while MALAT1 overexpression significantly reduced cell apoptosis in HemECs. On the other hand, contradictory results were observed due to the reduction of MALAT1 in HemEC. We also found that MALAT1 interacts with miR-494-3p/PTEN to mediate cellular functions. Collectively, the results showed that the MALAT1 expression was negatively associated with miR-494-3p and positively matched the PTEN expression. In addition, MALAT1 acted as a ceRNA by binding with miR-494-3p to up-regulate PTEN in HemECs. Our study showed that MALAT1 accelerates the proliferation of HemEC cells by controlling the miR-494-3p/PTEN axis promoting new insight into IH treatment.


Internal auditing has transformed over the past two decades from its beginnings as a financial enforcer to a respected member of the management decision‐making process. Internal auditors now are providing management with information of a broader range of company activities than they are used to. This transformation is far from over because of the nature of the auditor′s work and the perceptions of management and the public concerning audits. The function of internal auditors is not only to measure and evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of organisational activities and controls but also to participate with management in high‐level decision making. The partnership concept of internal auditing is needed to enhance the image and change the attitudes of management with regards to internal auditing in light of the increased demands and responsibilities of the new auditor. Students, internal auditors and management must be educated properly and trained for this partnership concept. By using the i...


for relapse to factors such as anxiety and depression (HADS), sleep quality (PSQI) and physical exercise (GPAQ). Results 759/1919 IBD patients in clinical remission (39.6%) reported fatigue in the past 2 weeks, while 1034 patients (53.9%) did not report fatigue. Patients who reported fatigue were more frequently female, had more frequently CD, and were more frequently smokers (Table 1). Univariable compari-sons showed higher inflammatory markers in the fatigued group, with fewer patients in clinical remission. Multivariable analyses identified female sex (OR 2.4), CRP>5 (OR 2.1), bad sleep quality (OR 2.5), anxiety (OR 1.8) and depression (OR 6.2) as independent factors associated with fatigue. Conclusion We show the significant burden of fatigue in IBD patients and describe putative causes which demonstrate both the impact of residual gut inflammation and the relationship between fatigue and mental health.


Abstract We have detected, isolated and purified an endonuclease from 5-fluoro-2′-deoxyuridine-treated FM3A cells. The molecular mass of the endonuclease was approximately 40 kDa as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide DNA-containing gel electrophoresis. The endonuclease causes double strand breaks in DNA, with an optimum pH at 6.


A search has been made for bidirectional energetic ion flows (BIFs) in the solar wind at 1 AU during 1973-1991 using ∼1 MeV amu −1 ion data from the Goddard Space Flight Center instruments on ISEE 3/ICE and IMP 8. Some 4000 intervals have been identified. These range in duration from ∼15 minutes to over 60 hr (mean=3 hr), corresponding to scale sizes from ∼0.003 to >0.7 AU. The occurrence rate falls of exponentially with an e-folding duration of ∼4 hr (∼0.05 AU). BIFs are observed more frequently around solar maximum, when they are observed ∼12 of the time compared with ∼5% at solar minimum. Intervals with durations greater than 4 hr are observed on average approximately every 3-4 days at solar maximum and every 2 weeks at solar minimum, with ∼33% of these intervals following within 2 days of an interplanetary shock


A family of ruthenium(II) complexes containing one 2,2′-biimidazole (bim) ligand and two polypyridyl (NN) ligands has been prepared and their photophysical and photochemical features have been tested in the presence of tenuazonic acid (TeA), a widespread food and feed mycotoxin of current concern. While not tested in in vivo studies, TeA and other secondary metabolites of Alternaria fungi are suspected to exert adverse effects on the human health, so sensors and rapid analytical procedures are required. It is well-known that 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds such as TeA are relatively easy to deprotonate (the pKa of TeA is 3.5), yielding an enolate anion stabilized by resonance. The chelating and hydrogen-donor features of bim allow simultaneous binding to the metal core and to the target β-diketonate delocalized anion. Such a binding induces changes in the blue absorption (40 nm bathochromic shift), red luminescence intensity (>75% quenching), and triplet lifetime (0.2 μs decrease) of the Ru(NN)2(bim)2+ luminophore. Moreover, we have computationally rationalized, by time-dependent density functional theory, the structure of the different adducts of Ru–bim complexes with TeA and the electronic nature of the spectral absorption bands and their change upon the addition of TeA.


The official seals in Manchu written language in Qing Dynasty generally can be divided into three kinds: Yubao(emperor's seal), higher officer's seal and Qianji(lower officer's seal). Presently, in the official seals found in the northeastern three provinces there are a large amount of higher officer's seals and parts of Qianji but no Yubao. Based on the published archaeological materials, the paper makes a research work in systemically arrangement and classification of these official seals which were published occasionally.


CaTiO3:Pr3+ luminous materials with high brightness and long persistence were synthesized by solid sintering technology.The factors that influence the luminous performance and preparation technology were discussed.The luminous material exhibits broadband peaks in both the excitation and emission spectra.The excitation peak was 323 nm,and the main emission peak was around 610 nm.The results indicated that the luminescence of these materials was due to 1D2-3H4 transition of Pr3+.Additionally,the long persistence of the CaTiO3:Pr3+ luminous materials can last for over 5 min in the light perception of the human eye.Effects of such factors as the temperature in the sintering process,different proportions of Pr on the relative luminescent intensity were studied.


Large instrument is an important material foundation for inspection agencies to inspect and research. The management mode of instruments depends on the ownership of instruments in colleges and universities. In the past, the main problems were low utilization ratio and poor benefits. With the increased investments from government and the great demands of research, as well as establishing the sharing mechanism for management, the utilization rate of large equipments was improved but the relative difficulty and conflicts also appear including the development of functions, the role positioning, future professional plan and the remuneration of managers.


From a theorical point of view, underactuated mechanical systems can be controlled by means of the so called IDA-PBC method. In this method, in order to achieve the control objective, the stabilization mechanism follows two basic stages: (1) energy holding stage, which consists on shaping the total energy function of the system in order to assign the desired equilibrium state, and (2) damping introduction stage, necessary to achieve asymptotic stability. In order to mantain an energy approach of the stabilization process, it is necessary to obtain a port controlled Hamiltonian form for the closed loop system. However, the theoretical development faces practical dificulties when applied to real systems, due to the difficult solution to the partial differential equations envolved. The Acrobot system is a prototype of a underactuated mechanical system widely studied by the non linear control community. In this paper, a controller is designed taking into account the port controlled Hamiltonian approach based on the total energy of the system, considered as the sum of kinetic and potencial energies. The controller stabilizes globally and asymptotically the equilibrium point, showing an excellent preformance. The numerical simulations confirm this appreciation.


This paper presents the research works carried out in the BISANTE project funded within the European ESPRIT programme. The objective of this project is to develop simulation methodology and framework with a prototype workbench, which can be used to evaluate broadband and Internet traffic over satellites at network level. The framework includes traffic models, satellite constellations and network models and protocol architecture models. The capability of the simulation workbench is demonstrated by using it to study the performance of Internet traffic such as FTP and HTTP with simulation scenarios taking GEO satellites and LEOs such as Iridium and Teledesic satellite constellations as examples. The simulation results can give good indications on performance and QoS provisioning to applications for the given simulation scenarios and can be useful to network dimensioning and traffic management.


Combining multiple retrieval systems is a commonly used method to improve the retrieval performance. However, it is still a challenging problem to figure out when and how the combined system can perform better than its individual systems. In this paper, we study these issues by using an information fusion paradigm: Combinatorial Fusion Analysis (CFA). TREC datasets are used as our experiment data. We measure the cognitive diversity between different individual systems by using a rank-score characteristic (RSC) function. Our results demonstrate that: 1) The performance of combination of p systems does not always increase with p, 2) Rank combination is better than score combination in particular when RSC diversity between two individual systems is large enough, and 3) combination of two systems can improve performance only if the two individual systems have relative good performance and are diverse.


The Government of India has implemented Solar PV based microgrid Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) projects in different parts of the country. The monitoring of the performance of DDG projects is a manual process with reliance on the data provided by the system integrators who oversee the DDG projects. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IOT), the monitoring & evaluation can be improved dramatically by making it objective, and also to monitor the performance of the policy progress on a near real-time basis. The characteristics of an LPWAN technology viz., LoRa that makes it an appropriate communication technology for remote monitoring of DDG projects are: Long-range, Low power, Small data requirements, and flexibility to operate in unlicensed spectrum. An open-source Internet of Things (IOT) solution is proposed here to monitor and evaluate the rural electrification projects. The methodology involves the development of a low-cost prototype and an open-source based solution to monitor the performance of a DC-based stand-alone solar photovoltaic system, which was set up in the IIT Madras campus. The integration across the LoRaWAn architecture was demonstrated, and a visualization dashboard was created in the Ubidots IOT platform to monitor basic parameters such as voltage and current. The goal is to monitor the solar DC system in terms of the objectives set in DDG policy.


The dynamic response of embedded strip and rectangular shallow foundations subjected to time-harmonic vertical excitations is studied. A dynamic poroelastic plane strain BEM formulation is utilized to solve the strip foundation problems while a full three dimensional BEM is used for square and rectangular foundations. The paper aims to extend the previous work on the dynamic response of strip footings on the surface of poroelastic soil media to account for foundation embedment. The effect of different embedment ratios and permeability values of the soil on the vertical and horizontal compliance of such foundations is investigated.


WHITE WOMEN IN THE MEDINA: RACE, GENDER, AND ORIENTALISM IN WOMEN'S TRAVEL WRITING ON MOROCCO Faron Wade-Lang University of Guelph, 2019 Advisor: Dr. Julie Cairnie This thesis examines how Orientalism appears in the writing of three works of women's travel writing on Morocco and how that mode of representation influences their writing about Moroccan women and women's spaces. The first text is Edith Wharton's In Morocco (1920), a text that consciously utilizes Orientalist discourse to justify French colonialism, even when the author appears to be expressing sympathy towards Moroccan women. The second is Elizabeth Fernea's A Street in Marrakech (1976), a more ethnographic account of her befriending Moroccan women that captures the ambivalent belonging she experiences due to her position as a white woman. The third is Suzanna Clarke's A House in Fez (2007), a text that demonstrates how obsession with authenticity and white feminine benevolence can be underwritten by colonialist assumptions. By examining these texts together, this thesis argues that Orientalism continues to be articulated in new ways, altering depending on the author's subject position.


The strawberry cultivars show variation in agronomic performance when grown in different regions of the world, due to the genotype × environment interaction. The aim of the study was to evaluate the yield performance and quality of Italian and American strawberry cultivars. We evaluated the phyllochron, which measures the time required for the emission of successive leaves in a plant, the number and commercial and non-commercial fruit yield, titratable acidity and total soluble solids (obtained from evaluations of the Brix degree of the fruit). The experimental design was a randomized complete block with 11 treatments, which were composed of the Italian strawberry cultivars (CREA-FRF PIR 29, CREA-FRF PA3, CREA-FRF CE 51, CREA-FRF CE 56, CREA-FRF Jonica and CREA-FRF Pircinque) and American (Albion, Camarosa, San Andreas, Camino Real and Aromas), with four replications per treatment, eight plants per plot, giving a total 32 plants per cultivar. Analysis of variance showed differences for phyllochron, marketable fruits yield and total soluble solids content. The American cultivar Albion showed higher phyllochron, the cultivar CREA-FRF Pircinque the lowest phyllochron. The highest yields of marketable fruits were found in American cultivars Camino Real and CREA-FRF Pircinque. The higher solids soluble was observed in Italian cultivars. Thus, we highlight the Italian strawberry cultivars, because they reflect good yield when compared to the American cultivars.


The article examines the conceptual support of the management mechanism of the integrated infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex. It is proved that the conceptual guidelines of the mechanism of management of the integrated infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex should take into account the principles of the strategy of its sustainable development. It is substantiated that the basic mechanism in the management system of the agro-industrial complex is an interconnected set of tools used by business entities in the process of solving certain tasks under the management's influence on the object, with the planned result. The structural and functional aspect of the management mechanism of the integrated infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex is studied. A typical scheme of the management system in the agro-industrial complex has been developed. The peculiarities and specifics of the mechanism of management of the integrated infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex are clarified.
The secondary role of infrastructure in the system of social reproduction, on the one hand, and the need for its modern accelerated development, on the other, determine the main contradictions of the management mechanism of integrated infrastructure of the agro-industrial complex. -industrial policy in the context of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the imbalance of the reproductive structure of the complex, the underdevelopment of major industries and segments of the agro-industrial complex of the country. It is substantiated that development management in the agro-industrial complex covers normative, legal, organizational, structural, functional, production, investment, innovation, economic, social and environmental aspects. The priority of the agro-industrial development management system in the context of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the aggressive policy of the external environment is to ensure sustainable socio-economic growth, increase socio-economic standards and ensure food security.


An edge-form of the C-shaped rotary blade (Japanese typed rotary blade) is a double-edged blade in general, while the European L-shaped rotary blade is of almost single-edged blade. According to theoretical analysis of the soil cutting mechanism of the lengthwise blade and tip blade portions, it was obtained that the single-edged blade was more reasonable than the double-edged one for the decreasing their tillage resistance3~. The lengthwise blades of single and double edge and also the perfect blades in the market were used for the test, in order to compare the cultivating characteristics of their single and double-edged ones at the laboratory tests. The results were obtained that the tillage resistance of single-edged blade was from 10% to 30% smaller than that of double-edged one.


In this work, three-dimensional, time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of a direct-current (dc) plasma spray with an externally applied magnetic field are performed, and also the trajectories and heating histories of in-flight particles in a plasma spray jet are analyzed by Lagrangian method with one-way coupling between particle and plasma jet. The working gas is pure argon (Ar) and the material of in-flight particles is zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ). The representative values of operating current and magnetic flux density of externally applied magnetic field in this work are 350 A and 0.8 T, respectively. Numerical results obtained in the MHD simulation demonstrate that the use of externally applied magnetic field yields the rotation of the arc root on the anode. This rotation generates a plasma jet with a swirling component. Furthermore, it is shown from the numerical results that applying the magnetic field increases the operating voltage and thus boosts an amount of input power compared to the one without applying it. The analytical results of in-flight particles suggest that the impact positions of in-flight particles on the substrate in the case with the externally applied magnetic field change temporally due to the swirling component of the plasma jet, even when the injected position of particles is fixed. However, the utilization of externally applied magnetic field enhances heat transfer to particles, which leads to impacting of particles on substrate with well-molten state because of higher enthalpy plasma jet.


The principle and method of vertical layout design were systematically discussed,including the ground vertical design,the road vertical design and the vertical design in architectural structures etc..A brief overview was listed for some common misunderstandings and differences in the design of the vertical layout.And the importance of the vertical design in layout design was analyzed.


There is a lack of data on how ulnar nerve strain varies according to the location around the elbow joint. Therefore, we measured the longitudinal movement of the ulnar nerve around the elbow joint. Four fresh-frozen cadaveric upper extremities were used. A linear displacement sensor was attached to the ulnar nerve at eight measurement points at 20-mm intervals. At each point, the longitudinal movement of the ulnar nerve was measured during elbow flexion. We calculated the strain on the ulnar nerve based on the change in movement between neighboring points. Ulnar nerve movement with elbow flexion had a maximum value (mean, 10.5 mm; p < 0.001) at 2 cm proximal to the medial epicondyle. In the site distal to the medial epicondyle, the movement was small and demonstrated no significant difference between points (p = 0.1). The change in strain between mild flexion (0–60°) and deep flexion (60–120°) significantly differed at 2–4 cm and 6–8 cm proximal to the medial epicondyle (15% versus 3%, p < 0.01; 5% versus 9%, p < 0.05, respectively). The longitudinal movement of the ulnar nerve during elbow flexion occurred mainly at the site proximal to the medial epicondyle and became smaller away from the medial epicondyle.


With The Aivate SelfArnold Modell continues the task, begun with Olject Love and Reality, of trying to fathom the paradoxical needs of man for dependency and autonomy, while defining "the clinical and conceptual limitations of object relations" (Gedo, 1991, p. 2). At the core of this serious contribution is a reevaluation of self psychology, viewed by Modell as essentially an object relations theory. Modell finds much to value in the work of Kohut and Winnicott; he builds upon their ideas, making a number of revisions along the way that the reader will find quite interesting. As Modell himself.has said, quoting Winnicott, "It is not possible to be original except on the basis of tradition'' (Modell, 1985, p. 129). What bothers Modell is that self psychology comes down almost exclusively on the side of the social self. Modell most objects to KOhut's dictum that we cannot live without af€irming selfobjects, any more than we can survive without oxygen. Modell counters that while humans do at times need such firmation (e.g., at certain develop mental stages), there a r e a s he notes Winnicott also o h served-times and elements the self never communicates; the private self, Modell argues, fuek us from Wilhin and becomes a major source of authenticity, vital personal interests, and genuine autonomy. For Modell this private self is coterminous with Winnicott's conception of the true self and stands in contrast to (and as a necessary supplement of) Kohut's social self. Relying on Sander's work on private time and space, Modell emphasizes that disengagement is as important as engagement; he notes that the two alternate throughout life. In a nutshell, although we all need to be with admiring others, we also need to be alone in the presence of others and, ultimately, to experience simply being alone. As Gedo puts it, "much of human experience, though communicable to others, occurs in solitude" (1991, p. 6). It is in such a spirit that Modell criticizes Ernest Wolf, one of Kohut's collaborators, as follows: "In his view, the cohesion of the self is provided for by the environment. Even the autonomy of the self is seen as a secondary effect of the selfobject. There is no indication that the cohesion of the self may be selfgenerated.. . . The self