Pollutants, especially dust, are rarely uniformly distributed within ventilated air spaces due to non-uniform flow fields, particle inertia, gravitational settling, and diffusion. Thus, selecting suitable sampling locations for representative sampling is a challenge. The objective of this study was to determine the spatial and temporal distributions of dust and ammonia concentrations(NH3) in a swine building. Results of this study are useful in the design of sampling strategies that require limited sampling locations and in studying pollutant transport. This study was conducted in a commercial swine building in Illinois. The total suspended particulate (TSP) matter and ammonia concentrations were measured at 50 and 30 indoor sampling locations in December and June, respectively. Results showed that the average TSP concentrations ranged from 0.86 to 3.81 mg m-3 in December and from 0.24 to 1.68 mg m-3 in June. In December, the dust gradient across the length of the building was more pronounced than along its length. In June, the gradient along the length of the building was more pronounced, resulting in essentially uniform concentration in a cross-section. The spatial distributions of the TSP concentrations in both December and June were essentially symmetrical about the longitudinal section of the building. The spatial gradient of NH3 concentrations was more pronounced along the length of the building in December, while the spatial distribution was almost uniform in June. These results suggest that the choice of representative sampling locations indoors will vary depending on the air movement in the building, which is dictated by the ventilation scheme.


The aim of the article is to determine the specifics of political processes related to decommunization in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan), to study the variability of the main vectors of post-Soviet transformations of the respective societies. Reforms in Kazakhstan could theoretically pave the way for civil society, but so far they are more of an imitation. Uzbekistan is distinguished by the state's struggle against Islamic fundamentalism, which gave rise to Islam Karimov to pursue a tough internal policy. Democratization shifts after his death, but the prospects and irreversibility of these reforms are now highly questionable. Kyrgyzstan is the only society in which civil protest has real force, but the presence of clan-patriarchal system, ethnic conflicts, the tendency to use force and the weakness of the central government do not allow building a civil society in this country. Turkmenistan is characterized by boundless authoritarianism, and Tajikistan is the only country that has survived a fierce civil war in which the Islamic religion is most powerful. Each of the five Central Asian states has its own unique characteristics, but none of them has built a civil and democratic society, and the transformation cause of political regimes into democracies remains at the level of rhetoric. In these countries, political alterations have affected mainly the area of institutions, without changing the semi-feudal procedures and practices, and the process of democratization itself has been limited to pseudo-reforms. Civilizational and local-cultural features make the values of civil society unattractive not only for political elites, but also for the majority of the population, thus in the near future we can hardly expect significant progress in this direction. Moreover, Central Asian countries are under the influence of three powerful regional leaders –Russia, China and Iran – whose cultural and historical values are far from Western liberal-democratic ones. The situation is further complicated by the factor of Islamic fundamentalism, which will almost certainly intensify after the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan.


The microbial etiology of periradicular periodontitis requires that efforts must be made to eliminate infection from the root canal system and the periradicular tissues. Periradicular surgery is an option of endodontic re-treatment when non-surgical root canal treatment and re-treatment fails. Unfortunately, surgery is not always successful for a number of reasons including, extraradicular infection, associated marginal periodontal disease, inability to seal the root canal system from the periradicular tissues, anatomical anomalies and poor surgical technique. This paper reviews the use of re-surgery in the treatment of failed surgical cases, discussing some of the problems that may be encountered and how they may be managed.


Sy,thesis and properties of organic/inorganic hybrid polymers (polysilanes, polygermanes, polystannanes, polyphosphazenes, polysilazanes, polymetallocenylenes, polymetallaines, coordination polymers and poly(phtalocyaninato)siloxanes) are reviewed


Maximal exercise capacity (Wmax) and anaerobic threshold (AT) are important tools used non-invasively to evaluate aerobic fitness levels and clinically possible risk. It has been shown that O2 uptake to heartbeat ratio (O2 pulse) at the maximal exercise test is an important parameter used to evaluate fitness levels of the subjects. However, O2 pulse at the anaerobic threshold and fitness status of the subjects has not been described yet. In this study, we comparatively evaluated the fitness levels and O2 pulse at AT and at Wmax in healthy young male subjects during an incremental exercise test. A total of 20 healthy male performed an incremental exercise test (15 W/min) to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer. Ventilatory and pulmonary gas exchange parameters were measured breath-by-breath using the metabolic gas analyser and turbine volume-meter. AT has been estimated using the V-slope method. The work rate at AT and Wmax was found to be 135 ± 4 W and 225 ± 4 W, respectively. O2 pulse was found to be 13.49 ± 0.3 ml/beat at AT and 16.53 ± 0.31 ml/beat at Wmax. There was a significant positive correlation between Wmax and O2 pulse R = 0.75184 (P < 0.05). In addition, there was a significant correlation between work production capacity for each kg of body weight and O2 pulse R = 0.68811 (p < 0.0001). We have shown that O2 pulse at AT can also be used to evaluate the fitness status. Thus, considering effective fitness measurement at the AT, investigators should be avoiding difficulty in maximal exercise performance.


The mesoporous carbon(MC)/AQ parasitic composite was synthesized by filling 9,10-anthraquinone into pores of MC with sublimation.The composite was charactered by the methods of TDA/DSC,SEM and N2 adsorption.The electrochemical performance of the composite was investigated by the methods of galvanostatic discharge/charge and cyclic voltammetry.The results indicated that the specific capacity and cycle life of the composite was increased.The initial discharge specific capacity of the composite(75% AQ contained) arrived at 216mAh/g,after 50 cycles,the specific capacity maintained 76mAh/g,which was twice as great as AQ electrode's.


The invention provides a set contact calling based method for unlocking a mobile phone. The method at least comprises the steps as follows: a function of resetting of unlocking patterns or passwords after screen locking is enabled in system settings of the mobile phone, set contacts are set, and mobile phone numbers of the set contacts are saved; a call is made to each set contact; and after the calls are finished, a user can enter an unlocking pattern or password resetting interface again after the user waits for a certain time, and the user can finish unlocking pattern or password resetting and screen unlocking. According to the three set contact calling based method for resetting the passwords, the mobile phone can be unlocked on the premise that phone resetting is not required, so that personal data of the user can not be damaged, the confidentiality is high, and other persons are prevented from resetting the unlocking patterns or the passwords maliciously.


Objective: The increasing prevalence of COVID-19 in Iran has increased the risk for anxiety and stress in families. Due to the significance of the impact of family health on the society's mental health and the fundamental role of marital relationships, which is an indicator of marital satisfaction, this study was conducted to investigate associated factors of marital satisfaction in Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This online cross-sectional study was carried out to assess associated factors of marital satisfaction in Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic from April 1 to April 20, 2020. The study sample consisted of 317 married women of childbearing age eligible to enter the study. Data were collected using a socio-demographic and obstetric questionnaire, the Female Sexual Function Index, the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 22. Results: A total of 317 married women participated in the study. The average age of the participants was 31.85 ± 6.94 years. Based on the multiple linear regression model, only five variables, including sexual satisfaction (B = 2.414, P < 0.001), physical symptoms (B = 0.245, P = 0.045), anxiety and insomnia (B = -0.319, P = 0.002), social dysfunction (B = 0.265, P = 0.003), and depression (B = -0.441, P < 0.001), could significantly predict marital satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Sexual satisfaction, physical symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and depression can significantly affect marital satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, planning to identify these factors and provide the appropriate strategy can increase marital satisfaction in times of crisis.


A CM noise reduction method by adding a terminal ground filter between the cable ground and chassis is proposed. The noise reduction performance of the terminal ground filter is estimated with a simplified circuit model. The proposed filter is implemented in a small PCB, and applied to a 3.3kW power system of an air conditioner. The reduction of the CM CE noises by applying the terminal ground filter is experimentally validated.


Introduction: The common mechanism to the syncope is a transient alteration in cerebral blood flux, this fact generate a temporary decrease in the brain metabolism with involvement of the ascending reticular system and cerebral cortex. The syncope due to mitral stenosis does not appear in the reviewed literature.
Objectives: To show a clinical case from a patient with mitral stenosis that debuts with recurrent syncope.
Clinical case: A 45-year-old patient, mestizo without history of disease, a farmer, is admitted to the internal medicine ward for recurrent syncope. He was evaluated by a neurologist and a cardiologist; he was diagnosed with critical mitral stenosis with severe pulmonary hypertension and a right ventricular Systo-diastolic dysfunction. After the mitral valve replacement by cardiovascular surgery, he did not suffer syncopal episodes again and leads a normal biopsychosocial and work life.
Comments: The critical mitral stenosis causes decreased in the ventricular filling and decreased the cardiac output with decreased cerebral blood flux, accentuated by the severe pulmonary hypertension and the right heart failure. This fact caused repetitive syncope.


Sustainable development has long been recognized as one of the most critical issues in today's energy and environment‐conscious society. It has never been more urgent to recycle and reuse the end‐of‐life cathode materials. Here, this work systematically investigates the structure‐critical degradation mechanism of polycrystalline LiNixCoyMn1−x−yO2 (NCM), combining experimental characterization and DFT simulations. Targeting the key degradation factors, a synergistic repair strategy based on deep mechanochemical activation and heat treatment was successfully proposed to direct regenerate the degraded NCM material. Studies indicate the induction and promotion of synergistic repair technique on the reconstruction of particle morphology, the recovery of the chemical composition and crystal structure, and the favorable transformation of the impurities phase in the failed materials. In particular, the synergistic repair process induces a gradient distribution of LiF and further enables partial fluorine doping into the NCM surface, forming abundant oxygen vacancies and increasing the content of highly reactive Ni2+. Benefiting from the comprehensive treatment for the multi‐scale and multi‐form degradation behaviors, the repaired material exhibits a capacity of 176.8 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, which is comparable to the corresponding commercial material (172.8 mA h g−1). The satisfactory capacity of the recovered cathode proves that it is an effective direct renovating strategy.


In this paper,a method for simultaneous determination of six kinds of organic acids in grapes was proposed.The organic acids including monoprop,butyric acid,lactic acid,acetic acid,citric acid,tartaric acid,lactic acid were analyzed by means of ion chromatography using a gradient elution.The results showed the reliability of the IC method.Under favorable chromatographic conditions,good linear relationship,sensitivity and reproducibility were obtained.


The presence of some minerals can strongly influence the composition of laboratory pyrolysates. The question is whether similar effects may also occur in nature, thereby influencing the gas–oil ratio and other bulk compositional characteristics. A series of experiments have been conducted at varying heating rates to examine this issue. Three source rocks that vary significantly in mineralogy (a quartz-rich, a calcite-rich, and a clay-rich sample), namely, the Alum shale, Bowland shale, and Toolebuc oil shale, respectively, were tested by Rock-Eval pyrolysis, open-system pyrolysis gas chromatography (PyGC). and bulk kinetic parameters to check for the existence or otherwise of mineral matrix effects (MMEs). Kerogen and whole-rock samples were then pyrolyzed at three heating rates using closed-system [microscale sealed vessel (MSSV)] pyrolysis to examine the heating rate dependency upon hydrocarbon aromaticity, gas–oil ratio, and total yield. The solvent extract of one Bowland shale sample was used as a ref...


. Further evaluation of the assembly is presented with regard to the hazards involved in the continuation of Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment No. 3. This additional evaluation was made taking into consideration the condttions leading to the power excursion of November 18, 1958. Operation of the rebuilt core is scheduled to start in July of 1959. The reactor is essentially the same as was tested up to November 1958. The fuel is completely replaced with fuel cartridges of the same design. Most of the moderator assemblies were salvaged. However, all moderator assemblies were modified slightly to correct an interference condition. The control rod guide tubes also required partial replacement. Limitations in operating procedure are more explicitly defined. These, and the modifications in design, are described in detail. Further information concerning the probability and seriousness of reactor accidents is also included. (auth)


This paper describes an improved experimental system for a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer to produce hydrogen under precise controlled conditions. This system design allows increased control and monitoring of various electrolyzer parameters, such as temperature and pressure, over a commercial offthe-self system. Temperature control enables finding the optimum operating temperature for a corresponding current density. This will facilitate peak efficiency to be obtained regardless of operating current, which is beneficial in variable power sources such as renewable energy. This system also allows the study of pressure behaviour and hydrogen production of an electrolyzer stack at different operating temperatures. Additionally, this system can be equipped for compressed hydrogen storage by using an electrochemical compressor with an experimental thermoelectric humidity control set up.


This chapter analyses the fraud offence from the perspective of 'wage theft'. The social concept of a 'wage theft' encompasses a wide range of dishonest or 'sharp' practices: false labelling of individuals as 'self-employed' and hence outside the scope of the National Minimum Wage framework, failure to pay holiday pay, unlawful deductions, and an absence of transparency in relation to wage entitlements. It is linked to wider public concerns about the effective enforcement of the statutory minimum wage regime. The chapter then examines whether the social concept of 'wage theft' maps onto the legal definition of 'theft' in section 1 of the Theft Act 1968. It argues the legal label of theft is ill-suited to the constellation of practices associated with the social label of 'wage theft'. This is because of the disjunction between the proprietary status of 'wages' and the offence elements of theft in English law. In short, unpaid wages will often not count as 'property belonging to another' at the time of the dishonest appropriation by the employer, hence there is a difficulty with identifying a complete and coincident mens rea and actus reus.


The two-dimensional bin-packing problem is the problem of orthogonally packing a given set of rectangles into a minimum number of two-dimensional rectangular bins. The problem is NP-hard and very difficult to solve in practice as no good mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation has been found for the packing problem. We propose an algorithm based on the well-known Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition where the master problem deals with the production constraints on the rectangles while the subproblem deals with the packing of rectangles into a single bin. The latter problem is solved as a constraint-satisfaction problem (CSP), which makes it possible to formulate a number of additional constraints that may be difficult to formulate as MIP models. This includes guillotine-cutting requirements, relative positions, fixed positions and irregular bins. The CSP approach uses forward propagation to prune inferior arrangements of rectangles. Unsuccessful attempts to pack rectangles into a bin are brought back to the master model as valid inequalities. Hence, CSP is used not only to solve the pricing problem but also to generate valid inequalities in a branch-and-cut system. Using delayed column-generation, we obtain lower bounds of very good quality in reasonable time. In all instances considered, we obtain similar or better bounds than previously published. Several instances with up to n = 100 rectangles are solved to optimality through the developed branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm.


This article reports production of valuables organic acids from the hydrothermal treatment of representative organic wastes and compounds (i. e. domestic sludge, proteinaceous, cellulosic and plastic wastes) with or without oxidant (H2O2). Organic acids such as acetic, formic, propionic, succinic and lactic acids were obtained in significant amounts. At 623 K (16.5 MPa), acetic acid of about 26 mg/g-dry waste fish entrails was obtained. This increased to 42 mg/g dry waste fish entrails in the presence of H2O2. Experiments on glucose to represent cellulosic wastes were also carried out, getting acetic acid of about 29 mg/g-glucose. The study was extended to terephthalic acid and glyceraldehyde, reaction intermediates of hydrothermal treatment of PET plastic wastes and glucose, respectively. Studies on temperature dependence of formation of organic acids showed thermal stability of acetic acid, whereas, formic acid decomposed readily under hydrothermal conditions. In general, results demonstrated that the presence of oxidants favored formation of organic acids with acetic acid being the major product. Keywords: hydrothermal treatment, organic acids, organic wastes, oxidant, supercritical water oxidation


Background: It is already known that infants and children are more vulnerable to oral and dental problems. Published literature has shown a high prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) worldwide, including Saudi Arabia. Aim: This study aims to assess pediatrician's knowledge and practice about ECC and infant oral health in Abha-Khamis. Methodology: This cross-sectional study used a structured and pretested questionnaire. The study population included all the pediatricians practicing in the city of Abha-Khamis. Results: A total of 61 pediatricians completed the questionnaire. Most pediatricians (80%) were in agreement that white spots/lines on tooth surface were the first signs of tooth decay. Only 21% of the pediatricians agreed that only bottled-fed babies are affected by ECC while 72% disagrees, and 6.6% were not sure. Nearly half of the respondents (55%) were aware of the recommended age for prescribing fluoridated toothpaste. Most pediatricians (75%) had correct knowledge regarding the recommended child's first dental visit. The results suggest that most pediatricians (95%) performed routine visual examination of the oral cavity, 75% reported to have routinely conducted parental counseling regarding diet and oral hygiene practices, and majority of the practitioners (93%) often make referrals to dental clinics. Conclusions: Pediatricians in Abha-Khamis have good knowledge regarding ECC and infant oral health. Majority of the pediatricians had no formal training regarding oral health in the medical curriculum yet they conducted a routine oral examination and made dental referrals in their practice. Coordinated efforts between the dentists and pediatricians can effectively address oral health issues among the children.


In framework of combing the participant-spectator model and the Landau hydrodynamic model, the pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles produced in heavy-ion (or nucleus-nucleus) collisions at RHIC and LHC energies are described by a modified Landau hydrodynamic model, where the Landau hydrodynamic model is applied to the target/projectile spectators and the target/projectile participants, respectively. The modeling results are in agreement with the PHOBOS and ALICE experimental data. Then, the values of square speed of sound () for the participants and spectators can be obtained from the widths of charged particle pseudorapidity distributions. Some features of for different centralities and center-of-mass energies are obtained too.


Background : Control of post spinal shivering is essential for optimal perioperative care, which can be achieved either by oral or parental medications. The present study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous low-dose clonidine and tramadol in the treatment of post spinal shivering. Materials and Methods : In this prospective, a double blind, randomized study, 90 ASA grade I or II, parturients aged 18 - 35 years, undergoing caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia, who subsequently developed shivering grade 3 or 4, were randomized into two groups, to receive either clonidine or tramadol. The efficacy and response rate of the study drugs were evaluated and recorded. Side effects like, nausea, vomiting, hypotension, bradycardia, dry mouth, sedation, skin rash and headache, if present, were recorded. All data were analyzed by using the Chi square test and the Z-test. Results : There were significant differences in the response rate between the drugs (P Conclusion : In our study we concluded that both clonidine and tramadol control shivering. However, the response rate was higher and time taken to control shivering was lesser with tramadol, but the response rate and the side effects were lesser with clonidine.


: Foreign body cases are commonly encountered in ENT emergencies. They are often associated with high morbidity or mortality when not managed timely. Accidental ingestion or aspiration of foreign bodies is commonly seen in both children and elderly. They either get lodged in cricopharynx, or get impacted in the oesophagus because it has weak peristalsis and multiple anatomical narrowings. Foreign bodies can cause mucosal damage, perforation, sepsis, or even death. We are reporting three unusual foreign body cases seen in our department which were successfully managed by us.


This study reports the preliminary results from a field test of the College-readiness Performance Assessment System (C-PAS), a large-scale, 6th-12th grade criterion-referenced assessment system that utilizes classroom-embedded performance tasks to measure student progress toward the development of key cognitive skills associated with success in college. A sample of 1,795 students completed C-PAS performance tasks in English and mathematics at 13 New York City high schools in grades 9-12 during Fall 2007. The performance tasks were derived from construct maps and "task shells" designed to elicit the key cognitive strategies. Teachers administered the tasks to students and scored the tasks using standardized scoring guides. Preliminary analyses using Item Response Theory (IRT) yielded evidence that C-PAS measures the acquisition of college readiness cognitive thinking skills in both math and English. The study is significant because it suggests that cognitive strategies important to college readiness can be measured discretely and within separate subject areas. Additionally, the study suggests that complex performance assessments can be utilized to systematically contribute useful information on student performance to help improve student learning. This is important given the current search for ways to address some of the limitations of current large-scale testing methods and systems. Formative Assessment for College Readiness   3 Formative Assessment for College Readiness: Measuring Skill and Growth in Five Key Cognitive Strategies Associated with Postsecondary Success Introduction The proportion of high school graduates pursuing postsecondary education has increased consistently over time, yet evidence suggests that many admitted students are unprepared to succeed in college-level instruction (Greene & Foster, 2003). The 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools termed this problem the "preparation gap" (American Diploma Project, 2006). While 67% of high school completers pursue some form of postsecondary education immediately after high school (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005), 30% to 60% of these students require remediation in math or English, or both (California State University System, 2007; Conley, 2005). These shortcomings cut across all racial and ethnic lines (Venezia, Kirst, & Antonio, 2004), but are most pronounced among first-generation college attendees, a group that overly represents low income and minority students. This design of C-PAS seeks to address the "preparation gap" by providing feedback on the degree to which students are developing key cognitive strategies essential for success in entry-level college courses. Descriptions of high school instruction paint a consistent picture of classrooms in which students complete prescribed tasks that require little cognitive engagement, often in order to prepare for state tests that may not align well with college readiness (Angus & Mirel, 1999; Brown & Conley, 2007). In an accountability-driven era, few high school teachers appear to have the time or inclination to develop student-thinking skills. As a result entering college students often show difficulty retaining, understanding, transferring, and applying much of the knowledge they have been taught, a phenomenon termed "fragile knowledge syndrome" (Perkins, 1992; Perkins, Jay, & Tishman, 1993; Perkins & Salomon, 1989). Formative Assessment for College Readiness   4 College faculty nationwide, regardless of the selectivity of the institution, expressed near universal agreement that most students arrive unprepared for the intellectual demands and expectations of post-secondary environments (Conley, 2003). College instructors appear to accept the fact that many incoming students may not have retained content knowledge taught to them previously, and those who teach entry-level courses appear to be willing to reteach as new material much of what has been taught previously in high school (Conley, et al., 2008; Conley, McGaughy, Cadigan, Forbes, & Young, 2009). However, they also expect students to make inferences, interpret results, analyze conflicting source documents, support arguments with evidence, solve complex problems that have no obvious answer, reach conclusions, offer explanations, conduct research, engage in the give-and-take of ideas, and generally think deeply about what they are being taught (National Research Council, 2002). Students who have little prior experience developing these cognitive strategies struggle when confronted with content knowledge they have not retained well that they are now expected to process and manipulate in much more complex ways. Researchers have analyzed high school transcripts and found that rigorous academic preparation as represented by the titles of high school courses taken is the most significant explanatory variable for persistence to college graduation (Adelman, 1999; Bedsworth, Colby, & Doctor, 2006). A different approach is to analyze the content of college courses and then determine what should be occurring in high school courses to align with what will be encountered in college courses. Research in this area has identified key attributes of college readiness, most notably a series of metacognitive strategies and essential content knowledge (Conley, 2005). The C-PAS assessment model is based on elements of this research, most importantly, the notion that effective college preparation must include development of key Formative Assessment for College Readiness   5 cognitive strategies and that those strategies must be developed while studying essential content knowledge. Objectives The purpose of this study was to field-test the College-readiness Performance Assessment System (C-PAS) in order to determine the validity of its conceptual design and constructs and to evaluate its ability to measure five Key Cognitive Strategies (KCS): problem solving, research, interpretation, reasoning, and precision with accuracy. The College-readiness Performance Assessment System (C-PAS) was designed to enable teachers to monitor the acquisition of the KCS through rich content-specific performance tasks embedded into the curriculum. Postsecondary preparedness is the reference point for this criterion-based measurement system. The five Key Cognitive Strategies (KCS) are always learned and practiced in the context of challenging content knowledge. The variance in tasks is limited by a focus on the five KCS, which are measured through common scoring guides. The study employs itemresponse models to report the preliminary results from the psychometric analysis of the field test data. Performance assessment, also known as authentic assessment, seeks to measure student knowledge or skills through products that result from their engagement in and completion of a task rather than their responses to a series of test items. Performance-based assessments have undergone study in a variety of settings over the past 20+ years with varying results. They were used extensively in the early 1990s during the first wave of educational standards and were found to be difficult to use for high-stakes accountability purposes (Koretz, Stecher, & Deibert, 1993), interest in performance assessment is reviving as the limitations of current large-scale assessment methods are being recognized, particularly the lack of connection between tests and Formative Assessment for College Readiness   6 classroom instruction and the emphasis such tests place on recall and simple application items that tend to gauge lower-level cognitive functioning. The concern is that this type of testing is driving classroom teaching in the wrong direction, away from complex thinking and toward simple recall without understanding. Performance assessment does theoretically have the potential to provide more meaningful feedback to students and teachers (Cohen & Pecheone, 2008) in ways that inform teaching behaviors because the assessments themselves are deeply embedded within the instructional process. Further, performance tasks allow students to demonstrate much more complex and diverse thinking than do multiple-choice item tests, and they provide opportunities for students to actively apply skills and knowledge to real life situations rather than simply selecting the "right" answer from among several choices or in the context of an artificial problem or situation (Cohen & Pecheone, 2008; Wilson, 2005). Theoretical Framework The C-PAS model is grounded in three theoretical frames: a dispositional-based theory of intelligence, cognitive learning theory, and competency theory. A dispositional or characterological view of intelligence builds on incremental theories of intelligence that believe intelligence is malleable and recognizes that ability is a continuously expandable repertoire of skills, that through increasing efforts, intelligence can grow incrementally (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Costa & Kallick, 2000). The second conceptual frame derives from emerging cognitive learning theory, referred to as the "New Science of Learning." This contemporary view of learning asserts that people construct new knowledge and understandings based on what they already know and believe. Perkins (1992) condenses this fundamental understanding into a single sentence: "Learning is a consequence of thinking. Retention, understanding, and the active Formative Assessment for College Readiness   7 use of knowledge can be brought about only by learning experiences in which learners think about and think with what they are learning" (p. 8). Competency theory provides the final element of the conceptual frame and serves to bridge between developmentally appropriate student cognition and assessment (Baxter & Glaser, 1997). Competency theory is guided by the expert-novice literature and suggests that novices (students) benefit from models of how experts approach problem solving, especially if they receive coaching in us


This paper presents an error-correction scheme to enhance the performance of typical CAN bus. The proposed scheme uses Reed-Solomon (R-S) codec to calculate the parity for the transmission of typical CAN bus. Compared with prior work in terms of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) scheme for CAN bus transmission, the proposed scheme does not modify the standard CAN protocol but insert an R-S codec unit as an error-correction between Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and CAN bus. In other words, the focus of our proposed scheme is not on modifying the fixed CRC codec of the standard structure, but on increasing the performance based on an additional enhancement module. Experimental results show that the execution time of standard CAN bus can be reduced by the proposed scheme for almost half of transmission time on typical design, while accompanying very minor cost when errors are not correctable or without errors.


The most renowned Mexican photographer - and perhaps of all Latin America-, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, nonetheless followed a curiously irregular path to his consagration in the MOMA's exhibit and this sumptuous catalogue of his work.


Optimizing for routability during FPGA placement is becoming increasingly important, as failure to spread and resolve congestion hotspots throughout the chip, especially in the case of large designs, may result in placements that either cannot be routed or that require the router to work excessively hard to obtain success. In this article, we introduce a new, analytic routability-aware placement algorithm for Xilinx UltraScale FPGA architectures. The proposed algorithm, called GPlace3.0, seeks to optimize both wirelength and routability. Our work contains several unique features including a novel window-based procedure for satisfying legality constraints in lieu of packing, an accurate congestion estimation method based on modifications to the pathfinder global router, and a novel detailed placement algorithm that optimizes both wirelength and external pin count. Experimental results show that compared to the top three winners at the recent ISPD'16 FPGA placement contest, GPlace3.0 is able to achieve (on average) a 7.53%, 15.15%, and 33.50% reduction in routed wirelength, respectively, while requiring less overall runtime. As well, an additional 360 benchmarks were provided directly from Xilinx Inc. These benchmarks were used to compare GPlace3.0 to the most recently improved versions of the first- and second-place contest winners. Subsequent experimental results show that GPlace3.0 is able to outperform the improved placers in a variety of areas including number of best solutions found, fewest number of benchmarks that cannot be routed, runtime required to perform placement, and runtime required to perform routing.


The article presents studying the features of skin microcirculation at patients with migraine taking into account the type of character accentuation. Apparatus LAKK-02 and Shmishek-Leongard's questionnaire were used.


Many econometric models exist that may be used to analyse choice data. These however are all based on specific assumptions made by the analyst in relation to how individual respondents make their choices. The main assumption is that respondents behave as if they are using a linear additive fully compensatory utility process. In practice however, it may be difficult to satisfy these assumptions. Accepting that some respondents may exhibit alternative behaviour, the question becomes what impact such 'non-conformist' behaviour may have on estimated models. The present paper presents an in-depth analysis using simulated data to study the impact of such behaviour on model estimates.


Notes on Contributors. Introduction: Donna B. Hamilton (University of Maryland). 1 Economics: S. P. Cerasano (Colgate University). 2 Religion: Donna B. Hamilton (University of Maryland). 3 Royal Marriage and the Royal Succession: Paul E. J. Hammer (University of St Andrews). 4 Patronage, Licensing, and Censorship: Richard Dutton (Ohio State University). 5 Humanism, Rhetoric, Education: Peter Mack (University of Warwick). 6 Manuscripts in Early Modern England: Heather Wolfe (Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC). 7 Travel, Exploration, and Empire: Ralph Bauer (University of Maryland). 8 Private Life and Domesticity: Lena Cowen Orlin (University of Maryland). 9 Treason and Rebellion: Andrew Hadfield (University of Sussex). 10 Shakespeare and the Marginalized "Others": Carole Levin (University of Nebraska). 11 Cosmology and the Body: Cynthia Marshall (Rhodes College). 12 Life-Writing: Alan Stewart (Columbia University). Index


fluorogenic substrate having general formula (II) ** ** Formula wherein: - R1 represents H, or OH, or an alkyl of C1 to C6 substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched, or -COR 4, -COOR 4 or or -CONHR4, - R2 represents H or a halogen, in particular fluorine, or an alkyl of C1 to C6 substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched, or -COR 4, -COOR 4 or or -CONHR4, - R1 and R2 may together form a ring such as an aryl or furan, substituted or not, - R3 represents H or a halogen, in particular fluorine, or an alkyl of C1 to C6 substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched, or -COR 4, -COOR 4 or or -CONHR4, - R4 being H, or an alkyl of C1 to C6 substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched, or an aryl substituted or not, - M represents Na or K, - Z represents a cellobiose, xylobiose, maltose, sucrose, glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, xylan, glucan, xylotriose, maltotriose, cellotriose, xylotetraose, or a mixture of some d: selected from the following sugars sugar e them, - and which can not be galactose Z when R1 is H, R2 and R3 are F and M is Na.


From the standpoint of cultural-historical approach in psychology, which had been proposed by L. S. Vygotsky and which was developed in Soviet and Russian psychology, ontogenesis of children needs to be studied in the sociohistorical context. Analyzing the ontogenesis it is necessary to take into account both the internal processes of child development and external social conditions. For designation of this indivisible and complex combination L.S. Vygotsky introduced the term "social situation of development". In connection with the rapid social change in modern Russia it is necessary to analyze anew the specifics of the social situation of development, typical for different age periods. From our point of view, nowadays many external and internal components of the social situation of development are changing. The most important interrelated changes include:


AbstractNitrification kinetics of a full-scale anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic wastewater treatment plant were investigated by considering the anaerobic (ηA) and anoxic reduction factors (ηN) on decay rate of nitrifying biomass (bAUT) for estimating minimum sludge age (θmc). Ammonium nitrogen in the effluent was fluctuating seasonally with low nitrification efficiency from December to June. The measured bAUT values were 0.175, 0.092, and 0.077 d−1 under aerobic, anoxic, and anaerobic conditions, respectively. A low maximum specific growth rate at 20°C (0.48 d−1) and high temperature correction factor (1.208) were yielded in the range of 10–25°C, indicating that the activity of nitrifying biomass was low and depended more sensitively on lower temperatures. At temperature below 12.1°C, the decay rate of nitrifying biomass exceeded growth rate, and a negative θmc was obtained. The extremely high (12.1–15.0°C) or negative (<12.1°C) θmc indicated that prolonging sludge age was probably malfunctioned at cold temperature.


The article approaches the subject of the changes provoked by the technological innovations in the routines of the services offered by the Central Library (BC) of Santa Maria's Federal University (UFSM) and the level of workers knowledge in relation to them. Therefore, it was investigated the technologies appearance of the information and communication (TICs), the Brazilian and local scenery, the Federal Institutions in Brazil and the academical libraries, after comes a UFSM and BC historical report with the services that it offers. Aiming at to verify the workers knowledge on the used technology, their satisfaction in the service accomplishment and the training need, a questionnaire was applied to all of the workers of BC. The need was verified of investing in the learning through a continuous education to reach larger satisfaction level among the workers.


Virtual Reality (VR)-based Visual Field Assessment (VFA) methods completely isolate the users from the real world, which results in nausea, eye strain, and lack of concentration and patience for the time-consuming test. In this paper, a robust binocular visual field assessment method based on novel Augmented Reality (AR) glasses is presented, namely, BinoVFAR that can simultaneously find the VF of both eyes. In this method, 60 stimuli in an arrangement of 6 rows and 10 columns randomly appear on a white background on the display of the AR glasses. These stimuli are displayed for 2 seconds that continuously change the intensities from light gray to black. Wearing the AR glasses and focusing on the central fixation point, the users are asked to click the clicker by seen a stimulus. The visible stimuli's intensities and positions are recorded in a 6 × 10 matrix based on the users' responses. A bi-cubic interpolation is applied to compute the binocular visual field map (as a 600 × 1000 matrix). A set of experiments (with an average accuracy of 99.93%), including repeatability and reproducibility tests (with an average Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of 99.72%), are conducted to evaluate the BinoVFAR method.


Kang-Yi, C.D., Wolk, C.B., Locke, J., Beidas, R.S., Lareef, I., Pisciella, A.E., Lim, S., Evans, A., & Mandell, D.S. : (2017). Impact of School-Based and Out-of-School Mental Health Services on Reducing School Absence and School Suspension among Children with Psychiatric Disorders Evaluation and Program Planning 67: 105-112, Apr 2018 Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.12.006. Epub 2017 Dec 24.


The music industry: an overview of the last twenty1 years. Theoretical framework: the business model. The iTunes music store case study. Artist driven business model innovation. The future of music.


Sorghum, as one of forage crops, has won great attention in many countries and regions all over the world. Due to its characteristics of strong drought resistance and high water use efficiency, sorghum has become the most predominant forage crops in arid areas. The lignin content of bmr sorghum is 5%~50% lower than that of normal sorghum. Low lignin content can improve palatability and increase digestibility of forage. Therefore, it has aroused extensive attention by sorghum breeders all over the world. Great progress has been made in improving forage production, its quality, feeding efficiency and about the gene of bmr sorghum. The bmr gene has been successfully transferred into normal sorghum and sudangrass. BMR hybrid forage variety with high yield, superior quality has been released and produced commercially. It has a bright prospect for utilization.


ABSTRACT Two probes based on novel Copper(II) complexes were developed in order to obtain H2S molecular probes with higher selectivity. The molecular structures of the complexes were characterized by 1H NMR, HRMS, IR and elemental analysis. The interaction of the compounds with biologically important anions and amino acids was determined by UV-vis and Fluorescence titration experiments. Results indicated that the compounds showed the highest binding ability for HS− among studied anions (AcO−, H2PO4−, F−, Cl−, Br− and I−) and amino acids (GSH, HCys and Cys) accompanied by blue shift phenomenon in pure DMSO and aqueous solution. The possible mechanism of host–guest interaction may be that the Copper(II) ion of complex was captured by HS− and free ligand released which showed a remarkable changes in UV-vis absorption. In addition, cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds was studied on MCF-7 cells. Results indicated that the synthesized compounds had low cytotoxicity over a concentration range of 0–150 µg⋅mL−1, which exhibited that the synthesized probes could be used to detect H2S in vivo. The probes based on novel copper(II) complexes were synthesized and obtained by the reaction of substituent salicylaldehyde with amine derivatives, and then reacted with Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O, respectively. Investigation on the interference from other species suggested that copper(II) complexes have high selectivity for HS− over other anions (AcO−, , F−, Cl−, Br− and I−), followed by the release of the copper ion to give a remarkable increase in UV–VIS absorption in pure DMSO solution and aqueous solution. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


A popular but damaging dichotomy is hindering citizens' ability to talk intelligently and constructively about the constitutional work of the courts. The "legitimacy dichotomy" holds that, when adjudicating constitutional disputes, judges either obey the sovereign people's determinate constitutional instructions or illegitimately trump the sovereign people's value judgments with their own. The legitimacy dichotomy leaves little or no room for the possibility that an array of conflicting interpretations of the Constitution might be reasonably available to a judge; it leaves little or no room, in other words, for judicial discretion. This article begins by examining the legitimacy dichotomy from three different vantage points: evidence which suggests that rhetorical invocations of the legitimacy dichotomy mask more complex beliefs about the role of judicial discretion in constitutional adjudication; Justice Kagan's critique of the now-famous umpire analogy during her confirmation hearing in June 2010; and the debate between Justice Stevens and Justice Scalia in McDonald v. City of Chicago about the extent to which judges may properly exercise their discretion when adjudicating questions of substantive due process. The article then suggests that law schools are inadvertently encouraging at least some of their students to believe that judges' discretion is almost entirely unconstrained and that judges often behave as democratically illegitimate actors. Finally, in an effort to provide law students and others with an understanding of constitutional adjudication and of constitutional change that is both descriptively accurate and democratically legitimate, the article draws connections between democratic constitutionalism and judicial discretion, and then offers metaphors for explaining that relationship.


Significance: Efficacious photodynamic therapy (PDT) of abscess cavities requires personalized treatment planning. This relies on knowledge of abscess wall optical properties, which we report for the first time in human subjects. Aim: The objective was to extract optical properties and photosensitizer concentration from spatially-resolved diffuse reflectance measurements of abscess cavities prior to methylene blue (MB) PDT, as part of a Phase 1 clinical trial. Approach: Diffuse reflectance spectra were collected at the abscess wall of 13 human subjects using a custom fiber-optic probe and optical spectroscopy system, before and after MB administration. A Monte Carlo lookup table was used to extract optical properties. Results: Pre-MB abscess wall absorption coefficients at 665 nm were 0.15+/-0.1 cm-1 (0.03-0.36 cm-1) and 10.74+/-15.81 cm-1 (0.08-49.3 cm-1) post-MB. Reduced scattering coefficients at 665 nm were 8.45+/-2.37 cm-1 (4.8-13.2 cm-1) and 5.6+/-2.26 cm-1 (1.6-9.9 cm-1) for pre-MB and post-MB, respectively. Oxygen saturations were found to be 58.83+/-35.78% (5.6-100%) pre-MB and 36.29+/-25.1% (0.0001-76.4%) post-MB. Determined MB concentrations were 71.83+/-108.22 uM (0-311 uM). Conclusions: We observed substantial inter-subject variation in both native wall optical properties and methylene blue uptake. This underscores the importance of making these measurements for patient-specific treatment planning.


Family is the first class in life.The school education and social education have legal standard,scientific guidance and modern technology support.Yet family education is still in the original and natural state,lacking of scientific guidance.However,family education directly influences the development of children's behavior,and their concept forming system,hence we should pay more attention to family education,and actively use various theories to guide family education.


Summary (1)The differences between small and large specimens of Spinther arcticus Sars show how the great width and the approximation to radial symmetry, in the adult is secondarily developed from young worms of more normal polychaete proportions. (2)The anatomy of Spinther arcticus Sars is described and related to function and habits. (3)The biramous parapodium of Spinther is not a lobopodium, and provides no evidence for supposing that annelids arose from lobopodial worms, or that the lobopod ancestors of arthropods arose from organisms of the Spinther type. (4)The proboscis of Spinther is unique among polychaetes, but is protruded by the normal polychaete method. Spinther provides no evidence in favour of the reality of the Proboscifera. (5)The structure and mode of action of the onychophoran lobopodium is described and shown to be entirely unlike the parapodium in these respects and to be easily referable to a jointed leg. (6)Spinther provides no evidence in favour of Sharov's views on the origin and ...


Nagari Batuhampar is a village located in Akabiluru District, Limapuluh Kota Regency. Nagari Batuhampar has physical and social potential that can be used as a tourist destination. This has been planned in the Nagari Strategic Plan which will develop tourism in the form of religious tourism. However, the problem in the field is that there is no map as a reference for regional development. The Nagari government views the importance of making this map as an aspect of regional development decision making. This research is classified as a descriptive quantitative survey research, which explains the phenomena in the field in accordance with the original situation. The purpose of this study is to map the location of the objects of religious tourism destinations in Nagari Batuhampar. This is intended so that the development of tourism-based areas is more monitored, mapped, planned, and evaluated. The result of the research states that the tourism object location points are along the road. This can be developed later to diversify attractions between tourism locations.


The paper is concerned with the derivation of the Alfvén mode equation in finite‐pressure space plasma in gyrokinetic approach. The long plasma approximation is used, where the bounce frequency is much lower than both wave and drift frequencies. The only ultralow frequency mode in the long plasma approximation is the Alfvén‐ballooning compressional mode, which is described by the Alfvénic dispersion relation with some additional (ballooning) terms caused by the field line curvature and plasma pressure effects. Due to these effects the Alfvén mode acquires also considerable parallel magnetic field component. The long plasma approximation allowed us to consider the correspondence between the gyrokinetic and MHD approaches for the Alfvén mode equation. It is shown that in 0 < β ≪ 1 case, MHD approach gives correct Alfvén wave description, where β is plasma to magnetic pressure ratio.


The goal was to assess the connections between
vigorous physical activity (VPA), approach-avoidance temperament and depressive
symptoms. Two studies were conducted. Study 1, correlational, to assess the mediating role of both dimensions of
temperament, approach-avoidance contrast, between physical activity and
depressive symptoms. Participants, 335
college students, completed the International Physical Activity
Questionnaire, the Depressive Symptoms Scale (DSS) and the Approach-Avoidance
Temperament Questionnaire (Ap-AvTQ). Results showed that approach-avoidance contrast could be considered a
potential mediator between VPA and depressive symptoms. The global model was significant, F(2, 351)=3.22, p<.001, R2=14.91%,
R2 adjusted=14.42%, and the bootstrapped upper and lower limits did
not contain zero with the lower limit at -.05 and the upper at -14, suggesting a connection between VPA and depressive
symptoms mediated by the approach-avoidance contrast temperament. Study 2,
longitudinal, to test if a physical activity program could produce changes in
approach-avoidance contrast temperament, manipulating the depressive symptoms.
A VPA program was conducted with 149 college students. Participants completed
the DSS and the Ap-AvTQ. The true intraindividual change modeling technique, a
more direct approach to modeling interindividual differences in intraindividual
change without using a control group, showed that participants' depressive
symptoms were predicted through the mediation of the approach-avoidance contrast temperament (γ=-.36, p<.001). VPA was positively linked to the
approach-avoidance contrast temperament that was negatively connected to
depressive symptoms, and negatively linked to the approach-avoidance contrast temperament
that was positively connected to depressive symptoms. It seems possible to
influence depressive symptoms through approach-avoidance contrast temperament
using VPA.


As social beings, we exist within families and within communities, and the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of those around us can affect how we think and what we do, consciously and subconsciously. And this very much applies to how we feed our babies: the experience, knowledge and expectations of family and friends can make a big difference to a new mother's ability to breastfeed her baby. Where women have a 'village' around them of individuals who are supportive and knowledgeable, her breastfeeding experience is more likely to go well. Unfortunately, due to a history of very low breastfeeding rates in the UK, much inter-generational knowledge about breastfeeding has been lost. This article explores how the attitudes, beliefs and experience of grandmothers and partners affect breastfeeding decisions. It also considers how peer support from other mothers can provide source information and emotional support for breastfeeding mothers, when immediate family don't have the experience to help.


The purpose of this article is the systematization and critical analysis of existing approaches to assessing the economic security of the region. The author reveals the advantages and disadvantages of theoretical and methodological concepts of the regional economic security assessment presented in the works of domestic and foreign scientists, as well as the system of indicators of economic security of the relevant strategy of the Russian Federation. Based on the results of the study, it is proposed to build a methodology for the analysis of regional economic security of Russian regions on the basis of the synthesis of economic and statistical methods, in particular, multi-purpose optimization, and subjective methods (discourse analysis). The main directions of improvement of the method of assessment of economic security of the Russian Federation established in the corresponding Strategy are defined. The article is of interest to representatives of federal and regional authorities, economists specializing in theoretical and regional issues.


ABSTRACT Paleocurrent, petrographic, and sedimentologic data from the Boggy and Thurman formations (early to middle Desmoinesian) in the Arkoma basin, Oklahoma, documents the recurrent uplift of the Ouachita fold belt. The Boggy is composed of sandstone-shale sequences which record progradation of coal-bearing, fluvially-dominated deltaic complexes from north to south. Folding and faulting in the Boggy suggests this unit was involved in thrusting during the uplift of the Ouachita fold belt and the closing of the Arkoma basin, prior to deposition of the Thurman. Paleocurrent indicators in the dominantly shallow marine facies of the overlying Thurman indicate some variability, but with a source to the southeast. The change in paleoslope and the presence of pebbles eroded from Ordovician to Devonian chert units in the Thurman documents the uplift of the Ouachita core area. Accompanying the uplift was a distinct change in the nature of the cyclothems, from longer, typically coal-bearing nonmarine cycles in the Boggy to shorter, marine clastic cycles in the Thurman. The cycles in the Boggy were probably controlled by glacial-eustatic changes in sea level or by avulsion within the delta system. Cycles in the Thurman were probably strongly influenced by episodic thrust loading in the Ouachitas during plate collision.


In a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), the effective water management is a one of the important strategies for improving fuel cell performance and efficiency gains. In this study, the improved design in the unit simulated flow field configuration was adopted to study the characteristic of water flow in the flow field channel through the gas diffusion layer (GDL). The previous design has some problems in sealing because it was assembled by four bolts and nuts. It was so difficult to distribute each pressure equally in a water inlet because of the location of water inlet. In the new design of this study, to improve the strength, the location of water inlet was moved to the center of flow field channel. Six bolts and six nuts remain at equal distance in a circular manner were used for more even pressure distribution and better sealing. Water is supplied equally by using a syringe pump with a flow rate of 10μl/min and the visualization of water droplet on GDL surface was recorded by a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera system. Through the experiment using the newly designed configuration, the appearance and growth of water droplet towards the flow channel through the GDL can be effectively investigated. This study can be used to provide the basic data for an effectual method of removing water from the flow channels of PEMFC.


The object of research is a mathematical model of the photoelastic interaction in an acousto-optic delay line (AODL). Two possible cases are discussed as applied to the ratio of the input pulse duration to the time of crossing the optical beam by an elastic wave packet. It is shown that in both cases the voltage at the output of the device is found as the sum of three components, which are formed by different mechanisms. If the duration of the input pulse is longer than the time of crossing the optical beam by an elastic wave packet, then the first component is determined by the process of entry of the leading edge of the elastic wave packet into the optical beam, the second – by the process of complete interaction of the optical beam with the elastic wave packet, and the third – by the process of exit of the trailing edge of the elastic wave packet from the optical beam. In the second case, i. e. when the duration of the input pulse is less than the time of crossing the optical beam by an elastic wave packet, the first term is determined by the process of entry of the elastic wave packet into the optical beam, the second – by the process of advancing the elastic wave packet in the aperture of the optical beam, and the third – by the process of exit of the elastic wave packet from the aperture of the optical beam. The corresponding equations for calculating the parameters of the output pulse were obtained by applying a rectangular pulse to the AODL input. It is proved that if the pulse duration at the AODL input is longer than the time of intersection of the optical beam by an elastic wave packet, then the pulse duration at its output will be equal to the duration of the input pulse. In the case when the duration of the input pulse is less than the time of crossing the optical beam by an elastic wave packet, the duration of the output pulse will be determined by the time of propagation of the elastic wave packet in the aperture of the optical beam. The obtained equations are confirmed by numerical calculations. The results of the numerical analysis were tested experimentally, which confirms the unequivocal adequacy of the proposed model of photoelastic interaction in an AODL.


A method is presented for solving a canonical jigsaw puzzle using a shape-based algorithm. Firstly, a set of low quality images are taken and processed to correct for scale distortions. Corners and edges are then found. Next, pieces are assembled using a dual objective optimization algorithm designed to maximize contact with neighboring pieces while minimizing overlap. The puzzle is assembled, first by corners and edges, and then row by row internally. Finally, a search algorithm is used to match pieces to specific locations on the finished puzzle using a mobile-focused web application. Keywords—jigsaw puzzle; image reconstruction; image processing; edge-matching


A method for determination of the amounts of amino acids in tobacco by UPLC was established.A Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column(2.1mm×100mm,1.7μm)was applied,using AccQ.Tag Ultraa Eluent A and AccQ.Tag Ultraa Eluent B as mobile phase,with a flow rate of 0.7mL·min-1,and the wavelength was 248nm,the column temperature was 55℃.The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.0030—0.204mg/mL of amino acids(r0.9994).The average recovery of amino acids was 98.7%.This method has the advantages of rapidity and accurate,repeatability in determination of amino acids in tobacco in ten minutes.


The issue of the speed of information dissemination in the environment of social networks is considered. A conceptual model is proposed based on Monod equation, where biomass growth rate depends on the concentration of the substrate. A parallel between the main data of microbiological processes and processes in social networks is drawn. The major factors influencing information dissemination speed are described. The favorable factors are demonstrated, which, like substrate, enhance the speed of growth, and after saturation slow it down or stop completely. Following a similar model of phytoplankton reproduction (Jorgensen equation) there have been identified three elements that can limit its speed, similarly, in social networks they are — the concentration of the audience with a high level of information starvation, audience capacity, and volume of the attention resource. This study is useful for viral marketing theory, will enable to generate forecasts and manage decisions.


After the formalization of the base of the Miocene in the Lemme‐Carrosio section (Italy) at the base of Subchron C6Cn.2n, the calcareous plankton biostratigraphy was refined in several open ocean Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program sites. However, high‐resolution quantitative biostratigraphic studies, integrating planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils, are still lacking for the time interval spanning the Oligocene–Miocene transition. Here, we present a reinvestigation of Deep Sea Drilling Project Hole 516F (Rio Grande Rise) and 4 oil wells drilled by Petróbras Brasileiro SA in the Campos Basin (SW Atlantic Ocean). We identified 12 planktonic foraminiferal and 18 calcareous nannofossil bioevents that have been integrated with an updated magnetostratigraphy of Hole 516F allowing the correlation with the GPTS and the identification of the Oligocene/Miocene boundary (base of Subchron C6Cn.2n) between the Top of Sphenolithus delphix and the Base of common Paragloborotalia kugleri. Furthermore, our results give new insights on the reliability of major calcareous plankton events across the Oligocene–Miocene transition: (a) the Sphenolithus ciperoensis Top, the S. delphix Base and Top, and the Sphenolithus cometa Base are reliable events at a global scale; (b) the Bases of Globoquadrina dehiscens and Sphenolithus disbelemnos > 4 μm are correlatable events only within the study sector of the SW Atlantic Ocean; and (c) the Globoturborotalita ciperoensis Top, Globoturborotalita angulisuturalis Top, and Sphenolithus procerus Base are diachronous. Finally, previously unreported biostratigraphic data, such as the distribution range of S. disbelemnos < 4 μm and Sphenolithus cf. S. pseudoheteromorphus, the Tenuitellinata praestainforthi acme interval, and the Top of common Globigerinoides primordius were identified in the Campos Basin.


We describe a risk programming model that can be used to determine farmers' willingness-to-pay for weather derivatives. Applying it to a Brandenburg farm reveals that even a highly standardized contract based on accumulated rainfall generates a relevant willingness-to-pay. We find that an underwriter could even add a loading (on the actuarially fair price) which exceeds the level of traditional insurances. Since transaction costs are low compared to insurances, this indicates a relevant trading potential.


The study refers to a specific type of products offered in tourism, popular in cultural tourism, among others. After suggesting a precise and complying with Polish law definition of a tour package, the author isolates and describes a specific sub-type of this product: an individual tour package. Next, the most-frequently offered types of individual packages and their organizational structure are presented. On the basis of the case study of several existing offers, their essential and complementary modules are extracted, which enables the author to draw conclusions regarding the process of adapting individual packages to the needs of cultural tourists.


Consistent with the ASEAN Member States' commitment towards introducing a competition policy by 2015, Malaysia's generic competition legislation, the Competition Act 2010 ('Act') came into force on…


This report discusses two research questions concerning ocular dominance columns, a cortical structure present in the primary visual cortex which predominately respond to either left or right eye stimuli. The first research question addresses the problem of retinotopy and ocular dominance columns. Retinotopy is the mapping of visual stimuli in the retina to a location in the visual cortex. Currently, most retinotopic models are continuous and monocular, and can therefore not take into account binocular structures such as ocular dominance columns. In this report, this is rectified by combining an artificial neural network called a self organising map with a retinotopic mapping function. This model creates a fully binocular model which not only produces strikingly similar patterns to that of ocular dominance columns, but simulations show that the retinotopic behaviour is similar to previous physiological experiments. The second research question investigates the possibility of detecting ocular dominance columns using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Experimental evidence suggests that fMRI is able to detect ocular dominance columns despite it's structure being at the very limit of fMRI spatial resolution. In this work, a spatiotemporal model derived from physiology is used to simulate the effects of ocular dominance column hemodynamics as measured by an fMRI. Using a mass univariate approach to analyse the simulated signal, results showed that although possible to observe ocular dominance columns at certain location, much of the fine scale detail is lost. (Less)


The present invention provides a keyword automatic bidding method and a search engine marketing system. The keyword automatic bidding method comprises the following steps of, by the search engine marketing system, providing the account content for setting and managing various keyword marketing platforms, wherein the account content comprises a plurality of advertisement activities, each advertisement activity comprises at least one advertisement group, and the advertisement group possesses multiple sets of keywords and the advertisement content corresponding to the keywords; recording the historical statistic data correlated with the advertisement activities; utilizing the historical statistic data to establish a certain probability model, and further calculating the quality indexes corresponding to the keywords respectively; according to the quality indexes corresponding to the keywords respectively, calculating the bid adjustment parameters; and according to the bid adjustment parameter corresponding to each keyword and the previous bid, calculating a recommended adjustment bid.


A study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of dexamethasone following thiopentone induced circulatory insufficiency in buffalo calves. Dilated pupils became constricted within 15 min and by 30 to 45 min resumption of corneal and palpebral reflex activity started after administration of dexamethasone. Electrical activity in the EEG began to appear between 40 seconds and 5 min. The MAP started increasing at 1.75±0.76 min of dexamethasone administration and values were further stable at 3.17±0.77 min and near base values at 45 min. No significant change in the HR was seen. Central venous pressure, though lowered after dexamethasone administration, remained higher than base values until 45 min. Arterial oxygen tension remained elevated throughout the period of study, while venous O2 and arterial CO2 tension were within normal limits. There was a slight drop in rectal temperature. There was a significant hyperglycaemia after dexamethasone administration whereas, the other blood biochemical parameters were not affected. The super physiologic doses of dexamethasone can be a valuable adjunct to the therapy in combating circulatory insufficiency due to excessive doses of thiopentone.


Rainfall distribution in India is characterised by several wet and dry spells. Hence irrigation has to be planned to meet the crop water needs during the dry spells that become critical to crop growth. A criterion was developed to identify the critical dry spells in a given climate-crop-soil situation taking into account the soil moisture depletion from crop root zone, stage of crop growth, a root growth model and pan evaporation. Analysis of daily rainFall data From the command area of the 0–53 major distributary of Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP). Andhra Pradesh, indicated that crop specific critical dry spells occur in kharif season (June-October) and that all the dry spells in rabi season (November-March) become critical to all crops. Starting dates of critical dry spells and the standard week numbers recommended For irrigation to different crops were identified.


The present paper has two purposes. - First, to give a general review of the theory of spin behavior in strongly modulated machines and to offer practical formulas for quick estimate of the depolarizing effect. Parts of this theory has already been published. (5) - Then, by applying these formulas to Saturne 2, to show that this kind of structure is as well adapted to polarized beam acceleration as weak focusing machines.


The power of digital images on modern society is unbelievable. As the People become ever more depend on these images for visual communication. But storing images in a secure way has become very convoluted. There are a number of techniques that can be used to verify the authenticity of images. Despite the fact that many image forgery detection techniques are presented, the number of image tampering is increasing. As a result it is vital to find the limitations of offered detection methods to avoid further forgeries. In this paper, a new technique is considered to remove the forensically detectable traces from digital images. It also explains how it can be used to create unnoticeable forgeries. The proposed method works through the stimation, examination and alteration of the image's transform coefficients. The existing tampering detection techniques make use of image compression history to find the forgeries. Here the proposed technique uses a specially designed noise to eliminate the indicators of compression. A proper addition of this specially designed noise helps the modified image to appear as an uncompressed one. This technique can be used in the similar way as existing methods to cover the history of operations performed on an image in the past in addition with that it can also be used to alter the digital signatures added to the images and there by rendering several forms of image tampering.


Elevated neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been demonstrated to be a poor prognostic factor in multiple types of malignancies, whereas the effect of NLR on the prognosis of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)‐mutated advanced non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with first‐line EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is not fully addressed.


Creep behavior of polycrystalline A12O3 doped with MgO + NiO, both as-hot-pressed in graphite dies and additionally annealed, was determined for 1300° to 1470°C and for 1000 to 15,000 psi in compression. The deformed specimens contained intergranular separations. Creep rates were proportional to stress to the 1.1 and 1.3 powers and were independent of grain size changes occurring during creep. The suggested creep mechanism is localized plastic deformation at stress concentration points accommodated by grain-boundary separations initiated by grain-boundary sliding.


In order to improve the surface bioactivity of β-Ti-24Nb-4Zr-7.9Sn alloy with low elastic modulus and high strength,an oxidation layer was formed on the alloy by thermal oxidation,which is able to induce a bone-like apatite layer in simulated body fluid(SBF).The morphology and various phases of samples before and after immerging in the SBF were characterized and water wettability contact angle and valence change of the surfaces of samples oxidized at different temperatures were analyzed.The effects of oxidizing temperature on bone-like apatite forming on the alloy consequently were discussed.The results show that the surfaces of the alloy layers oxidized at 550 ℃ and 650 ℃ for 3h are fully and uniformly covered with oxide layer consisting of titanium oxide,niobium oxide and stannous oxide.The higher the temperature is,the thicker of the oxide layer and the more TiO2 content are.The sample oxidized at 650 ℃ is more immersible and has higher bioactivity.After immerged in the SBF for 5 days,the uniform and complete apatite layers can be deposited.


The invention provides a submicron emulsion with medicine to cure cardio-cerebrovascular disease and the related preparation method. The submicron emulsion has the advantages of simple process and good stability.


Comment on Zhou et al, page [3251][1]

In this issue of Blood, Zhou and colleagues demonstrate that the coordinate activation of both innate and adaptive immunity and the limitation of regulatory T cells in mice immunized with a DNA vaccine enhance the ability of the host immune system to control


3D printing has conquered markets on an exponential scale. Allied to this, the global demand for environmentally sustainable materials drives research in the search for a substitute for petroleum-based thermoplastics. PLA is among the main raw materials for use in 3D printing filaments and has the advantage of being a bio-based and biodegradable biopolymer. This study aimed to develop a biofilament from a mixture of periphytic biomass and PLA and to evaluate its biodegradability potential when compared to commercial filaments. The biofilament was produced with 95% PLA and 5% periphytic biomass. Scanning Electron Microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy were applied to analyze the morphological structure of the biofilament. The biofilament presented mechanical performance similar to pure PLA, becoming slightly more rigid and brittle. In the biodegradability test, the sample produced with the biofilament showed a greater mass loss, with 63.75%, when compared to the PLA samples, indicating that the presence of microalgae contributed to the degradation of the material.


This paper shows the complexity of the structure of the readiness of the future teachers to pedagogical activity in the transition to new educational technologies, focused on variability, subjectivity, creative individuality, and personal potential of experts. The main levels and components of professional competence in the field of social and personal development of children of preschool age are identified.


We develop a method for generating degree-of-freedom maps for arbitrary order Ciarlet-type finite element spaces for any cell shape. The approach is based on the composition of permutations and transformations by cell sub-entity. Current approaches to generating degree-of-freedom maps for arbitrary order problems typically rely on a consistent orientation of cell entities that permits the definition of a common local coordinate system on shared edges and faces. However, while orientation of a mesh is straightforward for simplex cells and is a local operation, it is not a strictly local operation for quadrilateral cells and, in the case of hexahedral cells, not all meshes are orientable. The permutation and transformation approach is developed for a range of element types, including arbitrary degree Lagrange, serendipity, and divergence- and curl-conforming elements, and for a range of cell shapes. The approach is local and can be applied to cells of any shape, including general polytopes and meshes with mixed cell types. A number of examples are presented and the developed approach has been implemented in open-source libraries.


Burnd patients are lethally threatened patients. Local disorders caused by skin damage and loss of cell integrity lead to a series of systemic reactions and consequences. Burns account for 3, 2% of all injuries in patients admitted to the University Hospital of Traumatology Zagreb, during 2002. and 2003. year. The results of treatment of patients admitted to the burns Department of this medical facility, in the period from 1 January 2002. to 31. December 2003. were analyzed with regard to admittance criteria and the importance of prompt therapeutic procedures used in the treatment of burn patients.The aim of this analysis was to verify results of the therapeutic procedures into the everyday routine as well as the modifications based on the valid guidelines, used by leading international burn centers. The positive results for the year 2003 wich are manifested by a reduced number of hospital days, improved treatment outcomes and increased survival rates may not carry full weight due to a limited period, but they cannot be disregarded by any means. On the contary, these encouraging and challenging results are the incentives for further efforts in our pursuit of a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of burn patients who are the most severe trauma patients of all.


The influence parameter of velocity characteristic was classified.They include structure parameter,adjustable parameter and controlled parameter.The trend of different parameter influence on the velicity characteristic of hybrid-driven and controlled mechanism was obtained and the sensitive parameter found .When we make use of these conclusions to synthesize the hybrid-driven and controlled mechanism,the blindness of optimal design can be reduced and the efficiency of optimization can be raised.


The objective of this investigation is to study the physiological responses of Thai neem (Azadirachta siamensis Val.) to salt stress for salt tolerance screening and for establishing a salt tolerance index (STI). The physiological responses of photoautotrophic seedlings under salt stress condition, especially, net photosynthetic rate (NPR) were evaluated as STI. Fifty-six-day-old photoautotrophic seedlings were treated in-vitro with 0 (control), 0.34, 0.68 and 1.02 M NaCl solution contained in the culture media. Physiological characteristics, namely water use efficiency (water potential (Ψ w ), solution potential (Ψ s ) and pressure potential (Ψ p )), photosynthetic ability (chlorophyll a (Chl a ), chlorophyll b (Chl b ) and NPR) and growth efficiency (fresh weight, dry weight, leaf area and leaf area ratio (LAR)), were measured after treatment for 28 days. The increase of NaCl concentrations in the culture media decreased Ψ w and Ψ s , but, increased Ψ p in the leaf tissues. Chlorophyll a and b concentrations of seedlings cultured under salt stress condition (0.34-1.02 M NaCl) were significantly lower than those of seedlings cultured under control conditions (0 M NaCl). The chlorophyll degradation is positively related to NPR reduction (r = 0.98), resulting in the low survival percentage (r = 0.95). Thus, the lower water use efficiency and lower photosynthetic ability of seedlings cultured under salt stress condition led to growth reduction as shown by fresh weight, dry weight, leaf area and LAR. The photoautotrophic seedlings of Thai neem were approximately 50% inhibited at 0.34 M NaCl concentration. So this concentration, which was the 50% lethal dose (LD 50 ), was applied for the salt-tolerant screening program. Six hundred and sixty clones of Thai neem were collected, disinfected and were then germinated in-vitro on Phytagel ® -solidified MS sugar-free media (photoautotrophic condition). The culture media of those clones were adjusted the NaCl concentration to LD 50 . Nine clones of Thai neem still survived under salt stress condition (0.34 M NaCl) for 28 days and were classified as the salt tolerant clones. Salt tolerant ability was evaluated by the NPR reduction under salt stress condition. Salt tolerant index (STI = NPR at 1.02 M NaCl / NPR at 0 M NaCl) was investigated by the ratio of NPR under salt stress (1.02 M NaCl) to control (0 M NaCl) conditions. Nine salt tolerant clones and one salt sensitive clone were assayed for salt tolerant ability using STI. The STI of the salt tolerant clones were higher than those of the salt sensitive clone by a factor of 1.3-1.5 times. The STI is a rapid technique to assay the salt tolerant ability of many clones of Thai neem.


One of the difficulties that goal-oriented requirements analyses encounters is that the efficiency of the goal refinement is based on the analysts' subjective knowledge and experience. To improve the efficiency of the requirements elicitation process, engineers need approaches with more systemized analysis techniques. This paper integrates the goal-oriented requirements language i* with concepts from a structured problem analysis notation, problem frames (PF). The PF approach analyzes software design as a contextualized problem which has to respond to constraints imposed by the environment. The proposed approach is illustrated using the meeting scheduler exemplar. Results show that integration of the goal and the problem analysis enables simultaneous consideration of the designer's subjective intentions and the physical environmental constraints.


The nut of Brazil, amazon nut, mount chestnut or Brazilian coconut (Bertholletia excelsa HBK), it is a native tree of Suramerica, specifically of the big forests of the basins of the rivers Amazons, Black and Orinoco of Bolivia, southeast of Colombia, Guyana, Peru and south of Venezuela. * Ing. For.M.Sc. Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana (IIAP), Perú. e-mail: e:mail firstname.lastname@example.com * Ing. For. M.Sc. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Ambientales, Universidad de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com Revista Forestal Latinoamericana, 25(1):93-113. 2010 e. s. arias ninán y j. a. rondón rangel 94 Revista Forestal Latinoamericana, 25(1):93-113. 2010 The forest management of this non-wood forest product has an smaller biotic impact than other uses of the forest and it constitutes a source of revenues, feeding, refuge and recreation for the inhabitants of these South American regions. In this work the experiences are presented in the forest management of this arboreal species, carried out in several countries of the amazon basin. The nuts of Brazil take place exclusively of wild trees. Their use is considered a model to generate revenues of the tropical forest without destroying it. The investigations have demonstrated that a moderate crop allows the proliferation of new trees. However it is still to establish the real impact on the wild fauna of the thousand of recollectors during the crop season.


In this paper, we investigate some two-dimensional (with respect to spatial independent variables) reaction–diffusion–convection equations with various nonlinear (reaction) terms. Using Hirota bili...


Low-temperature phases of methylthiolate (CH3S) monolayers on Au(111) have been investigated by using cryogenic scanning tunneling microscopy. The methylthiolate monolayers have a structure with a ( × )R30° lattice at room temperature, while at 110 K it is transformed into a one-dimensional "chain structure" near step edges and a two-dimensionally ordered structure with an anisotropic lattice on terraces. The latter structure has an oblique commensurate (3 × 4) unit cell (8.6 × 11.5 A) in which four methylthiolates are located as a "tetramer". This temperature-dependent phase transition is reversible. The formation of tetramers is interpreted as evidence of an important role of a clustering of sulfur species in forming the ordered structure of the thiolate monolayers.


This study presents an experimental investigation of the replacement of the modified cementitious material as a Ultra Fine Fly Ash (UFFA ~200 nm) on strength development of cement mortars. The Fly ash is classified into high calcium class C fly ash, which is used as partial replacement of cement. The cement was replaced with four different weight percentage of Raw Fly Ash (RFA) and UFFA by 15, 30,45 and 60 mass %. The strength results of mortar cubes prepared with cement, cement with various percentage replacement of RFA and UFFA were compared. The water to binder ratio (w/b) of 0.485 was used for all the blended cement mortar mixes. Ball milling was carried out for a total duration of 5 hours to obtain UFFA and sample characterization was done to study various properties of the RFA and UFFA. Crystallite phase and grain size of RFA and UFFA were determined by using X-ray diffraction test. The shape and texture was studied using SEM analysis for RFA and UFFA. The specimens used to determine the compressive strength of mortar are prepared in accordance with ASTM C 109 / IS :1727 (1999) and tested at the age of 3, 7, 14 and 28days. The test results shows that strength increases with increase of RFA up to an optimum value, beyond which, strength is start to decreasing with further replacement of RFA. It may be due to the crystalline silica present in it which has low reactivity. It was observed that the smooth and inert surface of RFA was transformed to more reactive one by ball milling process, which is one of the top down approach to down scale of RFA. The UFFA shows much improved material characteristics compared to the RFA in terms of morphology, mineralogy, workability and compressive strength of fly ash cement mortars.


With the downscaling of CMOS technology, the reliability issue has become inevitable. Even in fault-tolerant applications, the effects of timing violation caused by the transistor aging are unacceptable. In the past, the traditional method to solve timing violation is to add a wide frequency guardband, which will lead to the decrease of speed. In this paper, the reliability of the approximate computing is evaluated in an image processing applications. And a method to improve circuit reliability is proposed. The results show that this method can turn critical path timing errors, which are difficult to predict and seriously hurt circuit reliability, into deterministic logic simplification errors, and thus the actual function of the circuit is not affected.


A converter wave energy (WEC) comprising: a float asymmetrically (10) having a length (L) and a width (W), wherein the length L is greater than the width, W, and a mast (20), where the mast and the float move relative to each other as a function of the waves; A pickup device (PTO) (30) coupled between the float and the mast asymmetric for converting their relative movement into useful energy; and an apparatus (400) coupled to the float to control and change the orientation of the float as a function of at least one of the direction and amplitude of the waves, characterized in that the apparatus includes means for guiding the longest side of the float face the oncoming waves when the amplitude of the waves below a predetermined amplitude and for reorienting the float so that its narrow side facing the incoming waves when the amplitude of the waves is above a predetermined level.


The snow fluttering in the air seriously affects the quality of the image and destroys the completeness of the information in the picture. In this paper, we solve this problem by generative adversarial network training model and combining a method of model pruning. The neural network is used to remove snowflake. As the depth of the neural network increases, it is easy to appear over-fit, so we use model pruning optimization to reduce the computational volume of the deep learning model. In response to the above problems, we mainly deal with three steps: pruning the network; identify the snowflake area and use the area around the snowflake to recover the snowflake area; identify the restored picture to make sure that the restored image does not have much modification marks.


Extended-range electric vehicle is a kind of new energy vehicles, and it has the superiorities of high electric drive efficiency, no mileage and charging anxiety. The extended-range electric vehicle has two energy power sources, the range extender and battery, and the energy management between different energy sources directly affects the energy -saving effect of the vehicle. In this paper, a powertrain system model of an extended-range electric vehicle is established. Taking fuel economy as the optimization goal, the convex programming algorithm is used to optimize the power split of powertrain system. The simulation results show that the proposed method is capable of maintaining SOC in a better operating range, and the controller improves the fuel economy by 5.53% and 8.88% compared with the rule-based strategy under the NEDC and UDDS condition.


The purpose of this research is to study depression in institutionalized older people in the district of Braganca. The aims are t...


Abstract Quaternary ammonium tetraphenylborates (TPBs) and quaternary ammonium tetrafluoroborates were synthesized for the manufacture of leaching-resistant boron wood preservatives. The leachabili...


Fused in sarcoma: DNA damage‐inducible transcript 3 protein (FUS:DDIT3) is a chimeric fusion oncoprotein present in 90% of human myxoid liposarcomas (MLS). The study by Trautmann et al in this issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine utilizes a drop‐out RNAi screen to establish hyperactive Yes‐associated protein 1 (YAP1), a major downstream nuclear effector of the Hippo signaling pathway, as a selectively essential transcript promoting viability and growth of MLS. These observations add to a growing body of evidence underscoring the importance of dysregulation of Hippo signaling in soft‐tissue sarcomas expressing fusion oncoproteins and identify a novel target for therapeutic intervention in MLS. Comprehensive molecular characterization pipelines are needed to screen patients with advanced soft‐tissue sarcomas for the presence of druggable alterations, including but not limited to nuclear YAP1 expression in MLS, to facilitate treatment decisions and advance therapy.


in a Banach space X, where u, k are functions with values in X, h is a scalar function and A(t) is a linear closed operator which generates an analytic semigroup. In [2] Friedman and Shinbrot proved the existence and uniqueness of the solution of (1. 1) assuming that the domain of A(t) is independent of t, A(t)A(0)^{-1} is H\"older continuous and h, k satisfy some smoothness conditions. In order that the integral in (1. 1) exists as a Bochner integral it was assumed that k(0)\in D(A^{\mu}(0)) for some 0<\mu\leqq 1 . They also constructed the fundamental solution W(t, s) which is an operator valued function satisfying


Two faculty members of a liberal arts, Catholic university use constructivist learning theory and Reuven Feuerstein's concept of the mediated learning experience to create an environment of enculturation in an interdisciplinary philosophy course for doctoral students from multiple cultures. This article demonstrates how two female faculty members of Anglo descent translated the experience into the definition and development of thinking skills and meaning making for students in a Hispanic-serving institution from multiple cultures with diverse areas of professional expertise and very different personal philosophies.


The sociocultural dynamics presented by the indigenous communities are every day more determinant for the future of the Colombian Amazonia. The present article, synthetically describes the research process and the most relevant findings on landscape use by the Chorrobocon community, the most populated Puinave indigenous community along the Inirida River (in the Puinawai National Natural Reserve buffer zone). How does the Puinave community manage and organize their territory? What changes have an effect on the use of the resources in their area? These are some of the questions inside this investigation -developed from September 2004 to July 2005. Information was compiled on the physical characteristics of the territory and the different human activities, as well as the changes in the territorial use over time. For this, it was necessary to use field formats, interviews and participatory workshops. The results were the ecological interpretation of 10 landscape units within the territory related to the use given by the community, and the identification of 14 use spaces each of them related to activities and plant species. For each of these species, the categories of use and distribution within the territory and their importance given to them by the community, was established.


This study is a research on water hyacinth-based briquettes which shows the calorific value of each form of briquettes. The purpose of this study was to analyze the quality of water hyacinth briquettes with variations in pressure and pellet geometry. The quality analyzed includes moisture content and calorific value. The method of making briquettes starts from charcoal, pounding, then mixing with tapioca starch adhesive. The composition of the mixture used is 90% water hyacinth charcoal with 10% tapioca starch adhesive. 4 geometric variations are used, namely, solid box, hollow box, solid tube and hollow tube with 3 pressure variations, namely, 10 PSI, 20 PSI and 30 PSI. Test results and analysis,briquettes at a pressure of 20 PSI produces a calorific value range of 91.15 - 150.14 cal / gram. The resulting calorific value is higher than the briquettes at a pressure of 10 PSI and 30 PSI with a heating value range of 93.84 - 148.79 cal / gram and 89.81 - 135.39 cal / gram. Hollow briquettes produce a calorific value range of 107.24 - 150.14 cal / gram higher than solid geometric briquettes which produce a heating value range of 89.81 - 148.79 cal / gram. So that the contribution of the results of this research is that the community makes briquettes with shape and pressure with good results shown in this study.