Objective: To study the relationship between gastric dysmotility and severity of dyspeptic symptoms in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD). Methods: 55 FD patients and 25 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Gastric emptying and intragastric food distribution were measured by using a standardized scintigraphic examination. The parameters including half-emptying time (T1/2) and antral maximal fraction (AMF) were determined to represent gastric emptying and intragastric food distribution, respectively. The upper abdominal symptoms were evaluated by Rome criteria and the associated symptoms severity score was obtained by using a standardized questionnaire prior to the scintigraphic examination. Statistical analysis was conducted by Students' t-and t'-test. The correlation between symptoms severity score and abnormal gastric motility parameters was analyzed by Pearson's correlation. Difference was considered to be significant when P < 0.05. Results: A delayed gastric emptying (33%) and abnormal intragastric food distribution (29%) were highly prevalent in FD patients. However, only a small overlap existed between the two pathophysiologic disorders (7%). Upper abdominal symptoms scores were not significantly different between the patients with normal and delayed gastric emptying (P > 0.05), but the scores of early satiation were significantly different between the patients with normal and abnormal intragastric food distribution (P < 0.05), a positive correlation between early satiation severity score and AMF (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Delayed gastric emptying and/or abnormal intragastric distribution existed in some patients with FD. The severity of dyspeptic symptoms was not associated with the delayed gastric emptying time, but the severity of early satiation was associated with impaired intragastric food distribution.


The natural dynamics are not ideal or linear. To understand their complex behavior, we needs to study the nonlinear dynamics in more simple models. This thesis is consist of two main setups. Both setups are simplified models for the behavior occurs in the complex systems. We studied in both systems the same nonlinear dynamics such as higher-harmonics, sub-harmonics, solitary waves,...etc. In Chapter (2), the propagation of nonlinear waves in a lattice of repelling particles is studied theoretically and experimentally. A simple experimental setup is proposed, consisting in an array of coupled magnetic dipoles. By driving harmonically the lattice at one boundary, we excite propagating waves and demonstrate different regimes of mode conversion into higher harmonics, strongly in influenced by dispersion. The phenomenon of acoustic dilatation of the chain is also predicted and discussed. The results are compared with the theoretical predictions of FPU equation, describing a chain of masses connected by nonlinear quadratic springs. The results can be extrapolated to other systems described by this equation. We studied theoretically and experimentally the generation and propagation of kinks in the system. We excite pulses at one boundary of the system and demonstrate the existence of kinks, whose properties are in very good agreement with the theoretical predictions, that is the equation that approaches, under the conditions of our experiments, the one corresponding to full model describing a chain of masses connected by magnetic forces. The results can be extrapolated to other systems described by this equation. Also, In the case of a lattice of finite length, where standing waves are formed, we report the observation of subharmonics of the driving wave. In chapter (3), we studied the propagation of intense acoustic waves in a multilayer crystal. The medium consists in a structured fluid, formed by a periodic array of fluid layerswith alternating linear acoustic properties and quadratic nonlinearity coefficient. We presents the results for different mathematicalmodels (NonlinearWave Equation,Westervelt Equation and Constitutive equations). We show that the interplay between strong dispersion and nonlinearity leads to new scenarios of wave propagation. The classical waveform distortion process typical of intense acoustic waves in homogeneous media can be strongly altered when nonlinearly generated harmonics lie inside or close to band gaps. This allows the possibility of engineer a medium in order to get a particular waveform. Examples of this include the design of media with effective (e.g. cubic) nonlinearities, or extremely linear media. In chapter (4), the oscillatory behavior of a microbubble is investigated through an acousto-mechanical analogy based on a ring-shaped chain of coupled pendula. Observation of parametric vibration modes of the pendula ring excited at frequencies between 1 and 5 Hz is considered. Simulations have been carried out and show spatial mode, mixing and localization phenomena. The relevance of the analogy between a microbubble and the macroscopic acousto-mechanical setup is discussed and suggested as an alternative way to investigate the complexity of microbubble dynamics.


The term "Green City" has many different meanings to different people. There is no universal solution that can be applied to every city. Adaptable, responsive, and innovative solutions that differ from one place to another enable Green Cities to emerge in various forms and enable us to recognize the variation and dynamism of cities. This tool kit is a reference for Asian Development Bank staff, consultants, and city leaders that introduces key concepts of Green City development and identifies crosscutting issues that help in designing urban programs to support city development in a green and sustainable manner.


This work studies security-oriented cooperation schemes, addressing three possible cooperation scenarios, namely the jammer only, relay only and the relay-jammer pair. The cooperation scheme is adaptively selected according to the security requirement and network's operational conditions. The selection of a relay or/and a jammer as well as their transmit power are jointly optimized with the objective of attaining a good trade-off between security performance and energy consumption.


The frequency selectivity and time variation of wireless channels will strongly influence signal waveform and receiver design for broadband wireless systems such as wireless local area networks. This paper describes the development and deployment of instrumentation to determine the frequency response of 2.4 GHz indoor wireless channels. The instrumentation is developed around a HP 87146 vector network analyzer and includes the required amplification for measurement of responses at a transmit-receive separation of up to 33 meters. While designed primarily to gather data for development of accurate small-scale multipath models, the setup is calibrated to also provide the absolute signal levels necessary for shadowing and path loss characterization. The system design and link power budget are presented along with the criteria for selecting the individual components. In addition, the methodology for correction of magnitude and phase responses of the components is detailed. Finally, the measurement campaign is described, and sample results are presented that exhibit the frequency- and time-selectivity of these channels.


Molecular based and traditional microbiological techniques were utilized to determine the structure and degree of cold adaptation of a variety of Antarctic bacterial communities. These studies were performed to obtain a better understanding of Antarctic ecosystems and prokaryotic adaptations to low temperature. A high degree of novel diversity was found associated with sea ice communities, marine-derived lake sediments, and quartz stone subliths. 16S rDNA-based clone library analysis of samples from these sites contained many clones exhibiting novelty at the genus and family-level, and o ccasionally at the divisionlevel. Most (non-thermophilic) bacterial phylogenetic divisions were represented. Sediment from hyposaline Clear Lake (Vestfold Hills) contained highly unusual arch aeal clones possibly representing a novel kingdom. Evidence based on cultivation work indicated quartz stone subliths like sea ice are havens for psychrophilic bacteria. The culturability of bacteria from sea ice communities was also demonstrated to be surprisingly high with molecular data matching cultivation data.


Based on the analysis of the Research literature,the shortage is analysed of using "prisoner's dilemma" game model to discuss hostility action between transient population and urban residents. The authors commentate the game process with reason between transient population and urban residents by Hybrid Strategy Static game model,and analyse the causation why game result is not best,and propose countermeasures from policy,information,consensus work to promote cooperation of transient population and urban residents.


The electrical conductivity of molten CaF2-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO slag originated from ANF-6 was investigated,and how the different compositions of CaF2-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO slag system and temperature affect the electrical conductivity was revealed.Furthermore,the regression equation was suggested.The results show that electrical conductivity of CaF2-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-MgO slag system lowers gradually with the increasing mass fractions of Al2O3 and SiO2,and rises with increasing mass fractions of CaF2,CaO and MgO.The effects of CaF2,CaO,Al2O3,SiO2,MgO on electrical conductivity are as follows: CaF2SiO2Al2O3MgOCaO.


A single cylinder version of a prototype heavy-duty flexible fueled engine has been designed, built and demonstrated. The engine design can operate on any combination of methanol or diesel fuel using a common fuel injection/combustion system. The engine has successfully run on 100% methanol and 100% diesel at a thermal efficiency and power density equal to a conventional heavy duty diesel engine. In parallel with the engine development, a prototype fuel sensor system (which uses a capacitive type fuel sensor) has been developed. The sensor has demonstrated accuracy within {+-} 5% on a test bench. This paper summarizes the status of the prototype design and demonstration. The development to date continues to meet key milestones in demonstrating the technical viability of the heavy-duty flexible fuel engine concept.


Received: 2 October 2019 Accepted: 11 November 2019 The flow has been made by considering variable temperature and radiation effects for the magnetohydrodynamic viscoelastic fluid past a moving vertical plate in a porous medium. Chemical reaction and concentration have been taken into account. The governed mathematical statement is handled analytically by perturbation technique. The main view of this research is to investigate the effects of parameters and numbers in the problem on fluid flow, thermal boundary and concentration profiles. The velocity profile has been reduced by increasing the magnetic parameter due to the Lorentz force in the opposite direction of flow. Temperature profile is increased by rising thermal radiation and concentration distribution is decreased by enhancing the chemical reaction and Schmidt number. The Schmidt number represents the relative ease of the molecular momentum and mass transfer and it is very important in multiphase flows. The effect of increasing values of the Schmidt number is to reduce the momentum boundary layer and this leads to the thinning of the diffusion layer. Furthermore, at the end of this paper the effects of different parameters on skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt number are investigated.


In the current research, ABS-co-PEG nanofiltration membrane was prepared by solution casting technique using N, N dimethyl acetamide as solvent. The effect of PEG concentration as additive in the casting solution on membrane flux, salt rejection, phase inversion time, water content, membrane porosity, membrane tensile strength and fouling was studied. Also the effect of operating conditions such as feed concentration, pressure and temperature on membrane performance were also studied. It was found that increase of PEG content up to 6 %wt in the casting solution initially led to increase in flux and decrease of salt rejection in prepared membranes. The flux was decreased and salt rejection increased by more increase in PEG content from 6 to 10 %wt. In addition, presence of PEG in membrane structure caused to formation of more stable flux during filtration time against fouling. Increase of feed salt concentration caused to flux decreasing. The ABS/PEG membrane showed more stable flux against increase of feed concentration. Moreover, flux was increased by increase of operating pressure and feed temperature. The results also showed a clear trend towards higher values of tensile strength by increase of PEG content ratio.


For the response of irregular multi-storey structures under earthquake action,this paper analyze it from two respects.One is to analyze the variations of the base shear of the structure and the period of vibration due to the change of the vertical mass of the structure.The other is to analyze the effect of couple lateral-torsional vibration of eccentric structure(aclinic irregularity of the structure)due to separation of the center of mass and the center of stiffness.


The temperature dependence of the threshold voltage shift has been studied for long term device degradations. The threshold voltage shift strongly depends on temperature and this is mainly caused by the temperature dependence of the effective trap density. The model assuming that the traps with an emission probability higher than 10-5∼10-6 are useless as electron traps agrees well with the experimental results.


Objective To analysis the clinical feature of the drug resistance and distribution of the pathogenic bacteria isolated from the blood specimens collected from the 2002 to 2005.Methods Blood specimens were incubated in Bact/Alert 120 and the positive samples were inoculated in blood plate then the bacteria were identified with VITEK-60,and K-B method was used as antibiotic susceptibility tests.Results 934 strains of bacteria were isolated and Escherichia coli,Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia were the predominant bacteria which caused the blood stream infection.Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that the Gram-negative rod was most sensitive to Imipenem,Piperacillin/Tazobactam and Cefoperazone/Sulbactam,and the Gram-positive coccus was most sensitive to Vancomycin and Teicoplanin.Conclusion The mortality of the blood stream infection patients was high,we should pay more attention to the pathogenic study of the pathogenic bacteria which caused blood infection to facilitate the clinic therapy.


If a quasigroup (L, .) has finite order n, then there are n2 principal loop-isotopes. Some of these n2 loops may be isomorphic, and the main purpose of this paper is to obtain theorems that describe the isomorphism classes. Using these results and a computer, we have determined all the loops of order 6. These are listed (using the Fisher and Yates (2) designations) at the end of the paper.


A case of performing the login by using the IC card, the user performs an operation that holds the IC card to the IC card reader went to the front of the device you want to log in, had to wait time of up to be authenticated. The user was also the case forget to possession of the IC card. Receiving the advertising packet of A BLE printer (Bluetooth Low Energy), a mobile terminal having a communication means for GATT (Generic Attribute) communication based on the received signal strength of the advertising packet received, GATT communication and login function to the printer using the are installed one application is provided with two functions of the transmission function of transmitting a job to the printer, the application is user holding the mobile terminal by approaching the printer, it is possible to transmit the information necessary to log in to the printer by using the GATT communication to the printer. .FIELD 7


In my thesis work I focus on dynamic phenomenon in the highly porous grinding wheels. The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part engages in grinding and basic va-lues in general. The second part contains an analysis of dynamic phenomenon in highly porous discs.


Step of the present invention, a) by using two or more ink-jet head, the ink-jet printing at the same time the bezel black ink and the infrared ray transmitting ink to the glass; And b) forming and curing the substrate, the bezel layer and an infrared-transmitting layer; Printing method for a cover glass for a touch panel that includes a touch panel and to a cover glass for the manufacture and use it.


Satellite-transition magic angle spinning (STMAS) is a recently introduced technique for recording high-resolution NMR spectra of quadrupolar nuclei in solids. We present numerical calculations of STMAS signal intensity as a function of radio frequency field strength (v(1)) and spinning rate (v(R)) and show that the sensitivity advantage of STMAS over the older multiple-quantum technique (MQMAS) is greatest for low v(1) field strengths and high v(R) rates, making STMAS particularly suitable for the study of low-gamma nuclei. The practical implementation of STMAS in NMR of low-y nuclei is discussed and several experimental examples of high-resolution K-39 (I = 3/2) and Mg-25 (I = 5/2) NMR spectra are presented, including Mg-25 spectra of brucite (Mg(OH)(2)), diopside (CaMgSi2O6), and talc (Mg3Si4O10(OH)(2)) recorded at the natural Mg-25 abundance of 10%.


Ultrathin-film interferometry was used to investigate the developing process of boundary films in a steel-on-silica contact lubricated by a solution of n-hexadecanoic acid dissolved in n-hexadecane. Immersion of the surfaces in the solution is not sufficient to initiate boundary film formation. However, upon a nominally pure rolling contact, boundary film formation is initiated, and, once initiated, the boundary film develops spontaneously. It is believed that the initial monolayer film adsorbed strongly on the solid surface induces subsequent molecular stacking from the solution. The developed boundary film can be partially destroyed by the rolling contact, although the nominally identical rolling contact acts as the trigger of boundary film formation. These findings reveal that the immobile boundary films to reduce friction of solids under high pressure result from the equilibrium of two competing processes: spontaneous development by molecular stacking and mechanical destruction by relative motion of the contact surfaces.


Definitions of the terms 'clench' and 'rivet' proposed by A. E. Christensen are evaluated using the etymology of those terms and recent usage. An alternative definition of 'clench', is proposed, and definitions of 'hooked nail' and 'turned nail' are introduced. It is suggested that the term 'rivet' should be restricted to ferrous fastenings used with metal plates. © 2004 The Nautical Archaeology Society


Wheat scab caused by Fusarium graminearum species complex is the most destructive and economically important diseases of wheat in lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow-Huai River Basin.Wheat scab can cause yield loss,and the pathogen of which produces deoxynivalenol(DON) that seriously threatens human and animal health.The pathogenicity of Fusarium graminearum gathered from four main winter wheat production areas were measured,and DON productions in infected wheat grains were determined by HPLC.The DON productions of DON-chemotype isolates were significantly higher than those of NIV-chemotype isolates(P0.05).The DON productions of 3-AcDON-chemotype isolates were significantly higher than those of 15-AcDON-chemotype isolates(P﹤0.05).There was a significant correlation between the pathogenicity and DON productions of Fusarium graminearum.


The paper presents a voltage-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) scheme in which a reference cell is used to provide information on the open circuit voltage. In this scheme, there is no need to open circuit the main panel thereby increasing the power output from the panel. This implementation is cost effective and exact when the main panel and the reference cell can be fabricated together in a single process. A buck-boost type switching converter is used to interface the PV panel and the load. In the method proposed a PSPICE-based modeling technique is used to identify a second panel that will serve as a reference. PSPICE parameters needed for simulation are obtained from manufacturer's specifications. A Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC) is used for implementing the control algorithm. The details of modeling and experimental results are presented and compared.


Preoperative anemia in patients undergoing elective hip and knee arthroplasty is associated with increased postoperative morbidity and mortality, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, and length of stay (LOS). The aim of this study was to assess the effect of optimizing hemoglobin (Hb) levels before elective primary hip and knee arthroplasty.


Several, nearly-1-µm-thick, pure, unhydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si) thin layers were grown at high rates by non-equilibrium rf-magnetron Ar-plasma sputtering (RFMS) onto room-temperature low-cost glass substrates. A new approach is employed for the optical characterization of the thin-layer samples, which is based on some new formulae for the normal-incidence transmission of such a samples and on the adoption of the inverse-synthesis method, by using a devised Matlab GUI environment. The so-far existing limiting value of the thickness-non-uniformity parameter, Δd, when optically characterizing wedge-shaped layers, has been suppressed with the introduction of the appropriate corrections in the expression of transmittance. The optical responses of the H-free RFMS-a-Si thin films investigated, were successfully parameterized using a single, Kramers–Krönig (KK)-consistent, Tauc–Lorentz oscillator model, with the inclusion in the model of the Urbach tail (TLUC), in the present case of non-hydrogenated a-Si films. We have also employed the Wemple–DiDomenico (WDD) single-oscillator model to calculate the two WDD dispersion parameters, dispersion energy, Ed, and oscillator energy, Eso. The amorphous-to-crystalline mass-density ratio in the expression for Ed suggested by Wemple and DiDomenico is the key factor in understanding the refractive index behavior of the a-Si layers under study. The value of the porosity for the specific rf-magnetron sputtering deposition conditions employed in this work, with an Ar-pressure of ~4.4 Pa, is found to be approximately 21%. Additionally, it must be concluded that the adopted TLUC parameterization is highly accurate for the evaluation of the UV/visible/NIR transmittance measurements, on the H-free a-Si investigated. Finally, the performed experiments are needed to have more confidence of quick and accurate optical-characterizations techniques, in order to find new applications of a-Si layers in optics and optoelectronics.


Objectives]To get the early diagnosis and understand the clinical features of traumatic intracranial aneurysms (TIA). Owing to their rare incidence,accurate diagnosis is usually made after rupture and bleeding of aneurysm leading to severe outcome.Three cases of TIA admitted and treated in our hospital over the last 10 years were reviewed retrospectively. Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH),intracerebral and intracerebro-ventricular hemorrhages occurred in two cases 17 and 24 days after mild injury to their heads, respectively. They were treated with microsurgery.One patient presented symptoms of carotid-cavernous fistula 5 weeks after mild head injury.He was treated by endo-vascular detachable balloon techruique.Better therapeutic efficacy was obtained in all 3 cases.[Conclusions]Based on the review of relevant literatures, it is suggested that TIA should be considered particularly when aggravation of neurological symptoms suddenly occurs following external trauma on head. Early diagnosis and surgical intervention may possess important significance in the prevention of adverse outcome caused by aneurismal rupture and bleeding.


In the paper two covering functions JV, M defined on a given compact metric space K are studied; their binary logarithms are usually called e-entropy and e-capacity of this space, respectively. For a function u with suitable properties a compact countable metric space, for which the function u is the covering function, is constructed. By means of covering functions the both lower dim and upper dim metric dimensions of K are defined. It is shown that for a given compact metric space K and every a € [0, dim K] and fi 6 [O.dim K] there is a compact countable subspace X of K with the unique cluster point such that dim X = a and dim X < /?. Finally, it is shown that there exist compact spaces with arbitrary small dim which are not isometrically embeddable into R m for each m € N .


Portugal held elections on 4 October, with the governing centre-right coalition winning the election, but losing its absolute majority in parliament. Luis Aguiar-Conraria assesses what the result of the election could mean for the country's economy, which was one of the worst hit during the Eurozone crisis. He argues that while the potential for another election to be held in the short-term could pose a problem, there is nevertheless reason for cautious optimism about Portugal's economic future in the short to medium term.


The current practice of assessing the efectiveness of a concrete curing compound is based on evaporation measurements from cement mortar slabs. The lack of precision of individual moisture loss measurements has prompted further investigation to measure other parameters to assess curing eficiency. This Paper reports preliminary results of a method based on oxygen permeability to assess curing eficiency. A comparison is made with results obtained using the method recommended in a British Standard draft.3 The oxygen permeability method can also be applied to traditional methods of curing such as those utilizing wet hessian or burlap.


The invention discloses a preparation method of an edible casing film. The method comprises the following operations: (1) raw material treatment: boiling subcutaneous-fat-cut pigskin in water, and cutting up; (2) grinding treatment: placing the shredded pigskin, ultrafine microcrystalline cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose and water in a colloid mill, grinding to obtain a colloidal liquid, wherein, by weight of the pigskin, the percent of the ultrafine microcrystalline cellulose is 1-10%, the percent of the carboxymethyl cellulose is 0-3%, and the percent of water is 600-700%; (3) film coating and drying: coating with the colloidal liquid, and drying the obtained film; (4) solidifying and plastifying: treating the dried film with a curing agent and a plasticizer; and (5) slaking treatment: placing the solidified and plastified film in a slaking room, and slaking. The invention also discloses the obtained edible casing film by using the method. The edible casing film prepared by the method has a better moisture-proof performance and a better mechanical strength.


The contamination of the water sources by synthetic dyes arises as a result of many industrial activities such as dye manufacturing, craft mills, tannery, textile, pulp, paper mill and other industries (e.g. food and cosmetic). Discharge of colored effluents into aquatic environment without adequate treatment is a major problem due to their environmental and human health damages [1,2]. The widespread applications of conventional water treatment methods are sometimes restricted because of the technical or economical drawbacks [3]. Biosorption technology that utilizes various biomasses has attained a great importance from an environmental point of view as they can be used to remove pollutants from aqueous media [4]. In the present study a macro-fungus Agaricus bisporus was immobilized on Thuja orientalis cone biomatrix and successfully used to remove Reactive red 45 (RR45) textile dye from aqueous solutions. Batch mode experiments were carried out as a contact time and temperature to evaluate the biosorption capacity of immobilized biomass (ABITOC). The interactions between biosorbent and dye molecules were tested with respect to pseudo-firstorder, pseudo-second-order and intrapartical diffusion kinetic models. Besides, Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radsuhkevich isotherms were used to evaluate the data obtained from equilibrium studies. The highest regression coefficient (R≈1) for Langmuir model indicates the monolayer coverage of RR 45 dye molecules onto biomass. The biosorption ability of ABITOC in continuous mode was investigated as well. The influence of effluent initial dye concentration, biomass dosage and flow rate on the column removal capacity was analyzed. The dye biosorption potential of the developed biosorbent was also investigated in terms of added competing ions. It was observed that better dye biosorption yield (95.68%) was obtained in the presence of competing ions. Our results revealed that ABITOC could be employed as effective and low-cost biosorbent for the removal of reactive textile dyes from contaminated effluents.


Elizabeth Anscombe's paper "The First Person" has often been read as arguing that thinking is not a personal process. The thesis that "I" doesn't refer to somebody would mean, on this view, that it is a kind of empty proper name : we should say "it thinks" rather than "I think." Such a reading cannot be right since Anscombe does not question the fact that we are thinking the thoughts we express in the first person. What is at stake in her paper is not whether saying "I have a thought" is legitimate. Rather, it is whether self-consciousness is to be defined as the consciousness of an object, namely a self, i.e. an entity for which no criterion of identity can be provided other than a private one.


The composition and stratification of the passive oxide films formed on three Cr-Fe-Co-Ni(-Mo) multi-principal element alloys by electrochemical anodic passivation in sulfuric acid electrolyte containing 0.2 and 4.7 M NaCl were investigated, combining X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry surface analysis. The passive films show a bilayer structure similar to that formed in Cl--free electrolyte with an inner layer mostly consisting of Cr oxide and an outer layer containing of Cr hydroxide, Ni hydroxide, Mo oxides, and Fe (hydr)oxide. The Mo-free alloy exhibits a thickening of the inner Cr oxide layer and the thinning of the outer layer at 0.2 M Cl-, whereas the two Mo-containing alloys do not show significant alteration even at 4.7 M Cl- evidencing their higher stability in Cl--containing solutions. The chloride penetration is limited to the external part of the outer oxide layer, except in the most severe tested conditions where traces reach the inner barrier layer, and the chloride entry into the layer is strongly reduced after pre-passivation in Cl--free solution. The results allow us to discuss the beneficial effects of pre-passivation in Cl--free conditions and Mo addition providing these alloys enhanced resistance to passivity breakdown.


The invention relates to a nano sensitive material which is used for detecting acetone in air. The nano sensitive material is ZnO, Cr2O3 and TiO2 nano-powder which is prepared from a zinc salt, a chromic salt and a titanium salt through a sol-gel technique; in percentage by mass, ZnO accounts for 15-28%, Cr2O3 accounts for 32-47% and TiO2 accounts for 35-45%, and the particle size range is 25-45 nm. An acetone sensor made from the sensitive material provided by the invention has the advantages of wide linear range, good selectivity and high sensitivity, thereby being capable of online monitoring the content of acetone in air without being affected by coexisting substances.


A "one-dimensional", steady-state model of an SOFC stack was needed to support the design of balance-of-plant components for a 5 kW mobile SOFC system. This "stack module" was required to predict appropriate stack voltage responses to changes in fuel composition, fuel flow rate, stack temperature and current demand, with response characteristics that were adjustable to changes in stack component materials and dimensions as well as to electrode porosity. The spreadsheet-based stack module was derived from the work by Kim, Virkar et al (see J. Electrochem. Soc. 146(1) 69-78 (1999)), with modifications suggested by Riess and Schoonman, p291 in CRC Handbook of Electrochemistry (1997) CRC Press. The usual overpotential terms account for ohmic resistance of the cell components, losses due to charge transfer at the electrodes, and losses due to diffusion of reactants into and products out of the porous electrodes. Response of the module is compared to published cell and stack data. After fitting adjustable parameters to match particular cell performance characteristics, the module responds reasonably well to changes in temperature and fuel concentration. The module is used to analyze the performance of anode-supported cells that were fabricated at PNNL (see abstract submitted by Stevenson, Meinhardt, Simner, Habeger and Canfield,more » "Fabrication and Testing of Anode-Supported SOFC").« less


An HPLC method has been developed for the separation of anthraquinones with particular attention to the determination of lucidin in commercially available sources of Rubia tinctorum aglycones. Variations of chromatographic conditions have been studied in order to provide suitable resolution of anthraquinones under isocratic conditions on an end-capped RP C18-column.


Achieving high-through put and efficient regeneration are the top priorities of any Agrobacterium mediated plant transformation experiments to develop large numbers of in vitro transformants. The type of explant plays a critical role in shoot regeneration efficiency. In the present investigation, an attempt was made to study the effect of various segments of hypocotyl and abaxial/adaxial orientation of cotyledon explants on regeneration efficiency in tomato. A plant transformation vector, pGRNAi-harboringds RNA expressing construct stargeted to two genes of Helicover paarmigera, serine protease and chymotrypsin independently were used to transform tomato. Of the three segments of hypocotylsobtained from 12 day old seedlings, the proximal (closest to shoot apex) segment had yielded highest regeneration (28.65%)compared to the middle (11.86%)and the distal segments (11.20%). In cotyledon explants, those incubated with their abaxial surface in contact with media exhibited highest regeneration (20.83%) compared to adaxially placed cotyledon explants. However, of the two-explant types, hypocotyls had higher regeneration compared to cotyledons. The molecular characterization of putative transformants through PCR and Southern blot analysis revealed the presence of the transgene. Thus, these results will aid in obtaining high-throughput regeneration in transformation of tomato in particular and other crops in general.


. In this paper, we consider the space of entire functions for a given proximate order and a semi-norm, and show that a continuous endomorphism of this space is represented naturally as a partial differential operator of infinite order with entire function coefficients. Then, in the case of higher order, we study the relationship between the continuous endomorphisms and the linear partial differential operators of infinite order by means of the growth of the symbol of the operators.


Religious heritage is one of the most commonly cited explanations for cross-country differences in corruption and institutional quality. Protestantism and the cultural values that follow from this religious doctrine have been identified as beneficial for the quality of public institutions. Nevertheless, micro-level experimental studies provide little evidence for religion as such producing the type of norms and values conducive to high quality institutions, like accountability, social trust, and cooperation. We propose an alternate explanation for the observed macro-level positive effect of Protestant legacy and institutional quality, namely the systems for the local financing of religion. By "following the money", we contrast the medieval parish system in Northwestern Europe, where parish members collectively paid for and administrated religious services as public goods, with the Ottoman Empire, where such goods were normally provided through private endowments from above, and where also tax collection was privatized. Thus, we argue that an early legacy of collective financing and norms of accountability created a path dependent virtuous circle of state capacity and low corruption, which reverberates to this day. The historical record does not however need to determine a country's quality of government. Our findings indicate the importance of designing institutions for self-government of public goods at the local level for improving the quality of government and reducing corruption.


The authors recently have shown that triplication of the α-synuclein gene (SNCA) can cause Parkinson disease (PD) and diffuse Lewy body disease within the same kindred. The authors assessed 101 familial PD probands, 325 sporadic PD cases, 65 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies, and 366 neurologically normal control subjects for SNCA multiplication. The authors did not identify any subjects with multiplication of SNCA and conclude this mutation is a rare cause of disease.


Applying Internet and embedded equipment to inverters remote monitor and control system can improve the efficiency of the system and promote the development of technology of inverters.Meanwhile it brings new threats,first of which is network security.Under the security requirement of inverters remote monitor and control system,the paper analyses the key network security threats in the embedded monitor and control system,then brings forward the feasibility method of GSM security mechanism and DES encryption algorithm referring the limited system resource.It obtains the preferable balance between security and using resource.


Social relationships between people, e.g., whether they are friends with each other, can be inferred by observing their behaviors in the real world. Thanks to the popularity of GPS-enabled mobile devices or online services, a large amount of high-resolution location data becomes available for such inference studies. However, due to the sensitivity of location data and user privacy concerns, those studies cannot be largely carried out on individually contributed data without privacy guarantees. Furthermore, we observe that the actual location may not be needed for social relationship studies, but rather the fact that two people met and some statistical properties about their meeting locations, which can be computed in a private manner. In this paper, we envision an extensible framework, dubbed Privacy-preserving Location Analytics and Computation Environment (PLACE), which enables social relationship studies by analyzing individually generated location data. PLACE utilizes an untrusted server and computes several building blocks to support various social relationship studies, without disclosing location information to the server and other untrusted parties. We present PLACE with three example social relationship studies which utilize four privacy-preserving blocks with encryption and differential privacy primitives. The successful realization of PLACE will facilitate private location data acquisition from individual devices, thanks to the strong privacy guarantees, and will enable a wide range of applications.


Database performance is central to users' experiences, so having excellent observability is critically important. Many of the observability tools that we build or buy are focused on ensuring optimal customer experience, or determining the extent of customer impact during outages and service degradations. These are challenges that many in the industry experience, and I hope that the work I have done at Zendesk will help you build your own observability dashboards. This approach leads to improved back-end performance and happier customers.


Objective To investigate the bacterium distribution in the lower respiratory tract secretion and drug resistance in severe cerebral trauma patients,providing the reference for the control of hospital infection and using antibiotics reasonably.Methods Culture of the lower respiratory tract secretion was carried out in 203 cases of severe cerebral trauma patients from January to December in 2006,and 825 strains were classified,the drug sensitive experiment was performed using the paper diffusion process.Results The gram negative bacterium was the main pathogenic bacterium,accounting for 81.45%,the gram positive bacterium accounted for 18.55%.Drug resistance caused increased resistance to many kinds of antibiotics.Conclusion Strengthening monitoring and nursing for severe cerebral trauma patients,preventing the cross infection,avoiding production of drug resistant strain,reasonably using the antibiotics are important to enhance survival rate of severe cerebral trauma patients.


Objectives: It has been proposed that major depression is associated with a dysfunction of the &ggr;-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system. This study was planned to investigate whether there are any alterations in GABAergic activities in major depressive patients and, if there are, whether electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has any effect on these changes. Methods: Twenty-five depressed inpatients who responded to a course of ECT and 23 healthy subjects were included in the study. Serum GABA levels were measured 2 days before and 10 minutes after the first ECT and 3 days after the last ECT, and a baclofen challenge test was performed 2 days before the first ECT and 3 days after the last ECT in the patients. The same tests were carried out only once in the control group. Results: Depressive patients had lower serum GABA levels compared with healthy individuals, and ECT caused a significant increase in these levels. The acute effect of the one-ECT procedure was a huge increase in the baseline GABA levels. Although there was no difference in the maximum alteration in growth hormone with baclofen between the patients and controls before the therapeutic ECT course, it became significantly higher in the depressive patients than in the controls after the treatment. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the GABA deficit hypothesis of major depression because major depressive patients have lower levels of serum GABA that are increased by a completed ECT course. ECT seems to increase brain GABA levels as well as GABAB activity, and these effects may contribute to its mechanism of therapeutic effect.


We study a light-weight but intensive observation method to understand researchers' needs for funding opportunities. Our method assumes that access logs of grant search engines reflect researchers' needs. Through an analysis of university grant search engine access logs, we present (1) the features of popular grants for researchers, (2) the reasons for grant needs, and (3) the timing of grant seeking. The results suggest that researchers' needs for funding opportunities can be comprehensively and cost-effectively investigated using access logs to improve research administration services without direct communication with the researchers.


from India, and compelled to fight the Numidian lions imported from Africa. In his native haunts in India, the Bengal tiger never meets the African lion. The poor Babylonian lion of Asia is a very small animal compared with the African lion; and I would back two Newfoundland dogs to fight him. The tiger sometimes meets this lion in the north of India, and it is well known that he destroys him. The Emperor Titus determined to try whether the Bengal tiger could or could not fight the large and noble African lion. The poet Martial, in his i8th epigram, DeSpectaculis, has recorded the fact that tigers and lions fought in the amphitheatre during the reign of Titus, and that the tiger always killed the lion. There are some points of interest in the quotation, which I can verify. Martial describes the tiger as naturally a gentle animal, accustomed, he says, to lick the right hand of the keeper that trusted him; but when he came to Rome, and, as Martial observes, learned bad manners amongst the civilised Romans, he lost his native gentleness, and acquired a degree of ferocity that he never possessed in his native woods. The words he uses are:


Aim:  To determine the influence of rapid diagnosis of influenza on antibiotic prescribing to children presenting with influenza‐like illness in the emergency department in a inner city hospital in İstanbul, Turkey.


Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) processes can play an important role in reducing the effects of global warming in the coming years. When coupled with a thermal power plant, it has the ability to prevent a large amount of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. However, this technology is associated with a reduction in the efficiency of the power plant it is paired with. As a general rule, the higher the capture rate of CO2, the less effective the plant is. As it is a recent application, it is still possible to reduce the penalty associated with its use. Therefore, it becomes very important to model the thermal power plant associated with this process as accurately and quickly as possible. This work focuses on the boiler of such a plant. Based on experimental data, it aims to assess the feasibility of modeling the boiler of a CCS-coupled coal-fired power plant using a traditional statistical time-series method (ARIMA), a state-of-the-art artificial neural network (ANN) structure, and a hybrid model that combines the previous algorithms. The ANN hyperparameters are optimized using a Tree-structured Parzen Estimators approach. Using different optimization intervals, different sets of hyperparameters are chosen to produce different models. The results showed that the ANN outperformed the ARIMA method by 18%, however, the optimization time outweighed the positive improvement. The ARIMA-based forecasts had an error of only about 1% sMAPE, which is a satisfying value. The combination of the ANN and ARIMA methods using a simple average produced a model that was 18 % better than the best "single" algorithm used.


A Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Masters of
Education in Education Administration in the Department of
Education Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies of
Kenyatta University. March, 2017


1 The influence of epithelium removal and/or thiorphan on the effects of neurokinins (substance P (SP), neurokinin A (NKA), neurokinin B (NKB)) and related peptides on airway contractility was investigated on the guinea‐pig isolated trachea. 2 Removing the tracheal epithelium significantly enhanced the sensitivity but not the maximum contractile responses to the peptides. 3 After removal of the epithelial layer, the shifts to the left of the log concentration response curves were greater for SP and SP‐OMe (1.62 and 1.94 log units, respectively) than for two SP analogues substituted in position 9 namely [Pro9]SP sulfone and [β‐Ala,4 Sar9]SP(4–11)sulfone (0.66 and 0.68 log units, respectively). The leftward shifts for compounds related to NKA or NKB lay between 0.58 and 0.73 log units. 4 The leftward shifts of the log concentration‐response curves for SP, SP‐OMe, [Pro9]SP sulfone, [β‐Ala4, Sar9]SP(4–11) sulfone and NKA were of similar magnitude after removal of the epithelium or after pretreatment with thiorphan (10−5 m), an enkephalinase inhibitor, in the presence of epithelium. No significant additional shift of the curves to the left was observed with thiorphan plus epithelium removal. 5 The results obtained with the selective agonists for each of the three classes of neurokinin receptor (i.e NK1, NK2, NK3) suggest that the guinea‐pig trachea contains receptors for SP and NKA but few if any for NKB. 6 It was concluded that neurokinins and related peptides (especially SP and analogues not substituted in position 9) are degraded by enkephalinase mainly located in the tracheal epithelium and that the addition of thiorphan or epithelium removal results in an inhibition or loss of enkephalinase activity, thereby increasing similarly the potencies of these peptides. It was, therefore, suggested that the supersensitivity to neurokinins produced by epithelium removal was due neither to the elimination of a permeability barrier nor to reduced production of a relaxant factor, but mainly to reduced peptide degradation.


Role of blood iron level in monitoring of elite female athleters' functional state during preparation to main starts has been investigated. 15 elite female players, international class masters, age 19-32 years, are participated in study. Investigation methods used: interview, physical examination, muscle and fat mass determination, cardiopulmonary and nervous systems examination, orthostatic test with ECG, psychophysiological parameters, blood analyses. Distinct deviations in blood parameters toward adaptation stress state and recovery impairment has been detected in experiment dynamics at 4 th stage. Most athletes shown cardiorespiratory disadaptation symptoms. It is shown that these abnormalities are strictly correlate with iron level decrease. Recommendation for correction of iron deficit are given.


The cathode performance of various LSCM‐based composites for high temperature H2O electrolysis has been studied by examining their electrochemical behavior under current loading using three‐electrode electrolysis cells with Pt as counter and reference electrodes. Experimental results among pure LSCM, LSCM–GDC, LSCM–YSZ and LSCM–(GDC–YSZ) have shown that LSCM‐GDC exhibits the highest H2O electrolysis performance. The ratio between LSCM and GDC is further optimized and it is shown that the LSCM‐GDC with 50–50 wt.% for each component exhibits the highest performance. Benchmarking with a 60–40 wt.% Ni‐YSZ cathode have shown that the optimized LSCM–GDC cathode exhibits better performance for H2O electrolysis with a lower area specific resistance. Under a cathodic current of –0.1 A cm−2, the optimized LSCM–GDC cathode shows much slower degradation, about 10 times slower as compared to the Ni‐YSZ cathode when exposed to 10 ppm of SO2 for up to 72 h. All the above electrochemical tests have been conducted at 800 °C and 70/30 pH2O/pH2. Without the use of reducing agent, the optimized LSCM–GDC cathode also shows promising performance for co‐electrolysis of H2O and CO2 at high current densities and stable performance with 5 ppm of SO2 in the feedstock gas.


Defining a p-Δ curve in terms of the Δ of the turning point of a ray rather than the point of emergence at the surface allows a p-Δ curve to be produced for a low-velocity zone. This curve can be explicitly inverted by performing three Weichert-Herglotz integrals, two of which are for the low-velocity zone contribution.


Electronic device (1, 100) has a body (2, 102) having a resistor comprising a phase change material that can change between the first and second phases (7,107). Resistor (7, 107) has a first electrical resistance when the phase change material is in the first phase, when the phase change material is in the second phase, the different second resistance and the first resistance a. Body (2, 102), the heating element can conduct electricity to enable a transition from the first phase to the second phase (6,106) further comprises. Heating element (6, 106) are arranged in parallel with the resistor (7, 107).


In this paper, we report on the synthesis of vertically aligned Diamond Rods (DR) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), using a new approach involving the utilisation of two plasmas confined in a hot-filament Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) reactor. The double plasma CVD process employed a tantalum filament and three independent power sources to generate the two plasmas required to produce the vertically aligned DR and CNTs. The deposition of vertically aligned Diamond Nanorods (DNR) by this technique is a different route from the methods used so far by other workers, since this process avoids the need for employing templates, molybdenum masks on polycrystalline diamond surfaces, post-deposition treatments, etc. SEM, micro-Raman spectroscopy and TEM techniques were used to characterise the deposited rods/tubes.


According to the characteristics of the light-induced deformation polymer,based on the plain bending model of light-induced curved beam,light-induced strain,light-induced force and light-induced torque are introduced.On condition of one end of the curved beam fixed,the other end constrained in axial direction,radial direction and both directions separately,the expressions of deflection and force induced by the light are derived.A numerical example solves the deflection and the force of the semi-circular beam induced before and after Ultravionlet(UV),with one end fixed while the other end in axial and radial direction constrained.Result shows that the polymer is hopeful to be used as executive component in micro-mechanical system.Basic theory for light-induced deformation can be supported by the model.


Based on the analyis on the latest research about knowledge stock measure at home and abroad,the paper constructs the measurement model of RIS's knowledge from own knowledge stock and knowledge spillover.It selects the provinces of regional innovation system for the study.Combined 1998-2009 China Statistical Yearbook data,the paper do empirical study on knowledge of the stock of regional innovation system.Based on this,it uses Shares of Aggregate Income Approachs,General Measurements of Income Dispersion,Indices of Income Concentration to calculate the fairness of the stock of knowledge during the period 2000-2008.The results show that there exists unfairness of knowledge among China's regional innovation systems.And this has resulted in the emergence of Knowledge-rich region II.To deal with the unfairness of knowledge is the key to solve the unbalanced development of regional economic.


The early detection of anomalies through the analysis of the neutron noise recorded by incore and ex-core instrumentation gives the possibility to take proper actions before such problems lead to safety concerns or impact plant availability. The study of the neutron fluctuations permits to detect and differentiate anomalies depending on their type and possibly to characterize and localize such anomalies. This method is non-intrusive and does not require any external perturbation of the system. To effectively use the neutron noise for reactor diagnostics it is essential to accurately model the effects of the anomalies on the neutron field. This paper deals with the development and validation of a neutron noise simulator for reactors with different geometries. The neutron noise is obtained by solving the frequency-domain two-group neutron diffusion equation in the first order approximation. In order to solve this partial differential equation a code based on a high order finite element method is developed. The novelty of this simulator resides on the possibility of dealing with rectangular meshes in any kind of geometry, thus allowing for complex domains and any location of the perturbation. The finite element method also permits automatic refinements in the cell size (h-adaptability) and in its polynomial degree (p-adaptability) that lead to a fast convergence. In order to show the possibilities of the neutron noise simulator developed a perturbation in a hexagonal two-dimensional reactor is investigated in this paper.


Agriculture as a central focus of study featured prominently at several different times in the historical development of human geography, but it has also been an important contributor to the disciplinary transformation that has occurred since 1970. This essay outlines this more recent history, arguing that agricultural geography developed its own concepts and concerns, paralleling some of those within the wider discipline. It illustrates how in the past two decades attempts to examine changes occurring across the breadth of the agri-food system (from supply, to production, to consumption) have brought about a more issues-focused agricultural geography. There is discussion of the use of broad overarching concepts, which have conceived of changes to agriculture and the agri-food system in terms of episodic developments. This has seen recognition of different food regimes, acknowledging possible transitions from productivism to post-productivism to multifunctionality and perhaps neo-productivism. Having discussed these concepts, drawing extensively upon literature written in English, the essay then focuses on selected major problems or key issues to which agriciultural geographers are currently contributing new insights, namely the closely related topics of food security, land grabs and adaptations to climate change.


OBJECTIVE
To explore whether psychosocial challenges impact effects of vocational rehabilitation in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

METHODS
A post hoc exploratory analysis of possible moderators of treatment was conducted on outcomes from a randomized, controlled trial of Individual Placement and Support in Veterans with PTSD.

RESULTS
When examining groups within each moderator, there was a greater IPS supportive employment benefit in gaining competitive employment for those with inadequate transportation (number needed to treat [NNT] = 1.5) and inadequate housing (NNT = 1.5) compared with the main finding of the pilot study (NNT = 2.07). Compared with the main finding of the pilot study, there was no greater advantage of IPS for those with adequate transportation (NNT = 2.4) or adequate housing (NNT = 2.4). Compared with the main finding in the pilot study, those without a family care burden had a greater benefit from IPS (NNT = 1.4) and those with family care burden had a reduced treatment effect (NNT = 3.3).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
These results are exploratory and are not intended to guide clinical decision-making, but rather offer a potentially useful strategy in the design of larger trials of IPS.


ABSTRACT To the Editor:— In his article "Rehabilitation: An Evolving Concept" (195:1129, 1966), Dr. Eustace lucidly outlined the progress of rehabilitation medicine especially as it applied to vocational rehabilitation. He defined the limitations of rehabilitation as presented by the patient, the environment, and the physician. He opposed the abdication of responsibility of the physician to the nonphysician in the management of rehabilitation patients. He indicated the dangers inherent in such a course both ethically and practically.As a corollary to this excellent presentation, it is important to inquire further into the passing of the responsibility from physician to nonphysician. Actual prescriptions and consultation requests found in many hospitals with excellent medical and surgical staffs read "give the patient crutches," "give the patient electrotherapy," "spondylitis, treat the neck," "long leg brace," "would like some occupational therapy," "give heat and massage," "fit with a leg," "exercise the legs," "vocational training." Most frequently,


We have developed a testbed system for wideband code division multiple access (CDMA). This testbed system is equipped with a 2D-RAKE receiver and transmission power control system based on a signal power to noise power ratio (SIR). We report the receiver performance of the testbed system estimated from results of laboratory experiments. This paper describes the influence of the number of fingers under multipath fading environments. As compared with a single-path receiver, a 4-finger RAKE receiver saves an average transmitted power of around 7 to 8 dB, although deterioration of the preciseness of detection due to the increase of the number of paths debases the performance of the receiver. We also discuss the influence of the parameter of transmission power control on receiver performance. When the TPC step=0.5 dB and the TPC period=0.625 ms, the transmission power of around 0.7 to 1.0 dB can be reduced as compared with the result for the TPC step=1.0 dB and TPC period=1.25 ms.


Objective To system atically evaluate domestic and imported nifedipine controlled release tablets in hypertension treatment effect and economic effect.Methods We searched Chinese journal full-text database,Wanfang medical database and Chinese science and technology periodical full-text database,incorporation of domestic and imported nifedipine controlled release tablets on hypertension therapy in a randomized controlled trial(RCT)literature,and other related literature.And research quality evaluation was done using RevMan5.1 software for meta analysis.Minimum cost analysis method was used for economic evaluation.Results A total of 7 randomized controlled trials of study met the inclusion criteria.Meta analysis results showed there were no statistically significant differences in the total efficiency,SBP and DBP decreased,the incidence of adverse reactions(P0.05)(RR=0.97,95%,CI 0.92~1.02;MD=-1.63,95%,CI-6.49~3.24;MD =-0.59,95%CI-2.97~1.79;RR=1.31,95%CI0.88~1.95).There was statistic significance in costs between 2 groups(P0.05).Conclusion The current evidence showed domestic and imported nifedipine controlled release tablets had similar efficacy in the treatment of hypertension.Domestic nifedipine has economic advantage,but stable hypotensive effect of the two still need further research.


Abstract Modern agricultural management is heavily dependent on the fertilizers for promotion of crop production, but the massive use of inorganic and chemical-based fertilizers currently available...


Objective To explore the influence of Seretide auxiliary treatment on lung function of chronic obstructive lung disease.Methods From Dec.2009 to Jun.2010,60 patients with COPD were randomly divided into trial group and control group,30 cases in each group.Both groups all received foundation treatment,the control group plus Montelukast,and the observation group plus based on the control group.Clinical curative effect,pulmonary function and blood gas index were compared between two groups before and after treatment.Results The total effective rate of the observation group(90.0%) significant higher than those in the control group(76.7%),with significant difference(P0.05).1 s forced expiratory volume(FEV1),forced expiratory flows(PEFR) and vital capacity biggest expiratory flow(FRF),artery carbon dioxide points pressure(PaCO2),blood oxygen partial pressure(PaO2) in the observation group after treatment improved more significantly than those in control group,with significant differences(P0.05).Conclusion Seretide auxiliary treatment on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had better curative effect,and can significantly improve pulmonary function and blood gas index in patients.


Determination of safe limit of monetary expansion in a period given the expected growth of real income and the tolerable rate of inflation is one of the main problems faced by the developing countries. To determine the safe limit of monetary expansion it is necessary to estimate a demand function for money which should be stable and possess excellent predictive power. In Bangladesh several studies on money demand function have been made, but none of those studies have dealt with the estimate of safe limit of monetary expansion. An attempt is made in this paper to use naive quantity theory and money demand function of Keynesian type to estimate the safe limit of monetary expansion and evaluate the relative performance of these models in Bangladesh. It is shown that one cannot make any claim about the superiority of one model over the other.


Satellite remote sensing has emerged as an essential and necessary observing system to acquire global information about the state of the ocean. Complemented with in situ observing networks, the ultimate goals are to be able to make accurate estimates of selected key sets of geophysical variables, with the intention of either making operational predictions across time and spatial boundaries, or advancing fundamental knowledge through development of empirical relationships and theoretical models. For satellite oceanography, improvements are then constantly being sought in our understandings of the geophysical processes, the sensor physics, the electromagnetic and microwave properties and interactions at the complex air-sea interface. Challenges appear as unlimited as the variety of sea surface dynamics and boundary layer meteorological conditions with their broad range of spatial and temporal scales across the globe. To face these challenges, numerous efforts took places over the passed decade to build an ever-increasing quality, quantity, duration and integration of ocean observations. In parallel, simulation capabilities largely improved. All these efforts are then all critically calling for improved methodologies to better structure the wealth of information that is made readily accessible. This latter aspect is a very demanding new component for future multidisciplinary scientific research. Major innovations to consolidate sensor data repositories, to automate tailored queries, to extract, reveal and quantify relationships will then closely associate computer science developments and applied statistics with comprehensive theoretical and experimental thematic studies.


This paper considers a singular problem in optimal control of continuous-time bimodal switched linear systems. A relaxed switched system with a continuous-valued switching signal is considered and the representations of singular control and singular arcs are derived. The similarity in the structure between the singular control and a stabilizing switching law is revealed and an approximation of the singular control by a well-defined switching signal is addressed. The results are demonstrated by numerical simulations.


Providing satisfactory indoor environmental conditions, air quality and thermal comfort through adequate ventilation is crucial in maintaining safe, healthy and comfortable buildings. Since, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are significant contributors to energy consumed in buildings, natural ventilation solutions are being increasingly utilised. This study investigated the use of natural ventilation as a solution to maintaining healthy and comfortable environmental conditions in a large mixed-use demonstrator building, the Engineering Building (EB) at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway in Ireland. The results presented in this paper provide valuable information about the operation of the building and will allow for future validation of computational models to test different building operation strategies.


In surveys in the Hawaiian Islands, mycorrhizae occurred frequently in epiphytic, nonorchidaceous angiosperms and pteridophytes. Both vesicular-arbuscular (VA) and ericoid mycorrhizae were present in epiphytes growing 1-3 m above the forest floor on dead and living tree trunks and on living tree ferns in montane wet forest sites. All eight angiosperm species were mycorrhizal, and 13 of 22 pteridophytes possessed VA mycorrhizae. The high frequency of mycorrhizae in epiphytic species suggests that propagules of mycorrhizal fungi routinely are dispersed to these microsites. Possible means of dispersal are discussed. 1 Manuscript accepted 28 March 1994. 2 Department of Botany, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881. Root samples (10-40 cm long) were collected from plants growing on living and dead trunks of trees (mostly of Metrosideros polymorpha Gaud.) and tree ferns (Cibotium glaucum [J. E. Sm.]" Hook. & Amott) in montane wet forests between July 1987 and IN THE MONTANE WET forests ofthe Hawaiian Islands a dense epiphytic flora of angiosperms and pteridophytes flourishes. Intensive studies of Hawaiian angiosperms and pteridophytes growing in a variety of habitats (Gemma et al. 1992, Koske et al. 1992) revealed that a high percentage of these species form vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM). In those surveys mycorrhizae were found to be common among the epiphytes. Because VA and ericoid mycorrhizae seldom are reported to occur in epiphytic, nonorchidaceous angiosperms and pteridophytes (Boullard 1957, Cooper 1976, Nadkami 1981, Berch and Kendrick 1982, Trappe 1987, Lesica and Antibus 1990, Maffia et al. 1990), we were prompted to sample a greater diversity of species to better assess the prevalence of mycotrophy among Hawaiian epiphytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS June 1990. Roots of the epiphytes typically were growing in thick mats of moss that covered the trunks. Sampled plants were attached to their substrate at elevations of 1-3 m above ground level. Care was taken during collecting to sample individual plants for which roots could be positively identified as belonging to the particular plant. Most collections were made in the Koke'e and Alaka'i Swamp areas (Koke'e State Park) at elevations of ca. 1100 m above sea level on the island of Kaua'i. A few samples were collected from similar sites on the islands of Maui and Moloka'i. Roots were preserved in 50% isopropyl alcohol and later were cleared in hot 2.5% KOH and stained with 0.05% trypan blue in an acidified glycerol solution (Koske and Gemma 1989). Stained roots were mounted on slides in a polyvinyl alcohol-based solution (PVLG) (Koske and Tessier 1983). Entire root systems were examined at 40-60 x with a dissecting microscope, and portions of each root system were examined at 400 x with a compound microscope. The presence of vesicles, arbuscules, hyphal coils, and internal hyphae was noted for each specimen. Only those species in which arbuscules were found were considered to have functional VAM. Extenlqf YAM jI1f~ctj()!1 \V~~ _gl.tantifiedhy asSigning a mycorrhizal index (MI) value of 0-3 to stained root samples, where 0 indicates no VAM infection, 1 = up to 25% of root length infected (i.e., containing any


It might be difficult for non-major countries to find a theoretical rule for an optimal currency composition in usable reserves. For taking advantage of a suitable currency allocation, this paper suggests an appropriate tool to combat the currency share risk in reserves as based upon international payment and tradable, reserves, assets and liabilities, and other fundamentals. Selection of a weight portfolio of major reserve currencies is determined by the combination of six categories and forty-two fundamentals of an individual country. Empirical result supports that our method can be more effective in reducing the risk from holding five major reserve currencies than the rule using the IMF average for twelve out of fourteen countries.


Hold timing closure and scan power are major concerns for any design. Hold closure for scan shift operation generally causes addition of buffers in the data path between flip-flops. This results in increased gate count that will toggle during the functional mode of operation thereby resulting in an increase in functional power. Scan operation also causes higher switching activity due to high toggling in a given test cycle. There are two components of power i.e. peak power and average power. Peak power increases IR-drop in the design, thereby reducing the voltage across the transistor and can lead to failure. In this paper we will present a modified flip-flop architecture that will serve two purposes i.e. enabling hold timing closure across process, voltage, temperature and reducing peak power during scan shift operation with minimal impact to functional timing and area. The modified flip-flop will introduce a half cycle delay in the data path invariant of process, voltage, temperature thereby easing hold closure. Test time and coverage are not impacted by the same. Existing ATPG tool generated pattern can be applied with this scheme. This approach reduces peak power close to 50% and reduces hold buffer area close to 40% in a given design.


This article provides a report of a qualitative research programme which was conducted with learners in the senior phase at a primary school. The aim of the research was to determine how task-based activities may contribute to the communicative abilities in the teaching of Afrikaans as an additional language. The focus of the research is specifically on the learning of Afrikaans as an additional language in the classroom context, and the acquisition process by way of spontaneous communication and interaction with target language speakers is not taken into account. The researcher discusses the task-based approach to additional language teaching by giving a literature review in this regard and specific attention is given to aspects of form versus function language teaching. Criteria used in the design of the teaching material as well as the teaching programme are described. Eventually the communicative potential of the task-based activities in the teaching programme is evaluated and the researcher proposes some ideas for the possibility of similar teaching and research programmes.


In the wake of on-going and upcomingdigital revolution, there is enormous advancement in the scale of data routinely generated and gathered through variety of sources including mobile devices, social media , Internet of things (IOT)additionally companies are collecting data from their customers. By 2020, about 1.7 megabytes of data will be generated for every second by every human being. This article provides an overview of Big DataAnalytics, tools available till 2020 implemented by various organizations and industries, its important features and challenges.


Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is one of the most established techniques for the observation and local modification of ferroelectric domain structures on the submicron level. Both electrostatic and electromechanical interactions contribute at the tip-surface junction in a complex manner, which has resulted in multiple controversies in the interpretation of PFM. Here we analyze the influence of experimental conditions such as tip radius of curvature, indentation force, and cantilever stiffness on PFM image contrast. These results are used to construct contrast mechanism maps, which correlate the imaging conditions with the dominant contrast mechanisms. Conditions under which materials properties can be determined quantitatively are elucidated.


The central theme of this article is the growing investment in combating crime by the current democratic governments in Brazil, which contributes to consolidate also among us, the figure of "punitive state." The current capitalist arrangement generalizes almost instantaneously across the globe, tying the success of the new economic businesses considering criminal policy. Accordingly, the punitive state characterizes an ambiguity that is symbolically the portrait of the contemporary political moment. Put another way, around this control, thoroughly contradictory concepts are mixed as democracy and authoritarianism. Present in recent sociological reflections of Loic Wacquant, David Garland, Nils Christie, Zygmunt Bauman and Giorgio Agamben, among others, this theme also begins to be discussed by the national academic community. The paper therefore aims to address what has been called "punitive state," political figure who portrays the economic, social and cultural changes already underway in the last thirty years and that rises in Brazil as an increasingly hegemonic control.


where p + 1 is the number of rotations in S . A simple example of such a set is S = { A , B , C, A-' , B-', C ' } , where A , B, C are rotations of arccos( $) about the X , Y, Z-axes, respectively. In Section 2 of the present paper we give a proof of the inequality (1.2) for a large class of Hecke operators which includes the above example. In Section 3 we describe a more general scheme for producing very evenly distributed sequences of rotations and analyze the resulting discrepancies. In this case we consider a group I' diagonally embedded in G , X SU(2), where G , = PGL(2, Q,) or PSL(2, R), and for which the projection of r on G , is discrete and co-compact. One may then order the elements of r by a "lattice type" ordering in G,. The corresponding projections on SU(2) give the desired sequences. The estimates on the discrepancies are similar to those that were obtained for the sequences in Part I. These estimates are based on certain inequalities which are proved in Section 4. The case treated in Section 2 is a special case of this lattice method. In fact, when X is the tree PGL(2, Q,)/PGL(2, B , ) and the discrete group r is free with Ir\Xl = 1, then, by takmg the generators of r to be the


The High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS) is designed to measure horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (50--115 km) and in the stratosphere (10--40 km), as part of a coordinated mission which is aimed at an improved understanding of global atmospheric change. Horizontal winds are obtained by observing the Doppler shifts of emission lines in the O{sub 2} Atmospheric band. The validity of the measurements depends on an accurate knowledge of the positions on the detector of the observed lines in the absence of a wind induced Doppler shift. These positions have been determined to an accuracy of better than 5 ms{sup {minus}1} from the comparison of winds measured by HRDI with those obtained by MF radars and rockets. In addition, the degrees of horizontal and vertical smoothing of the recovered wind profiles have been optimized by examining the effect both on the amplitude of the HRDI derived diurnal tidal amplitude and the variance of the wind differences with correlative data.


Diabetic retinopathy could be a leading reason behind sightlessness among working-age adults. Early detection of this condition is crucial for a decent prognosis. During this paper, we tend to demonstrate the utilization of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on color structure pictures for the popularity task of diabetic retinopathy staging. Our network models achieved check metric performance cherish baseline literature results, with a validation sensitivity of ninety fifth. Transfer learning on pre-trained GoogLeNet and AlexNet models from ImageNet improved peak check set accuracies to seventy four.5%, 68.8%, and 57.2% on 2-ary, 3-ary, and 4-ary classification models, severally.


Tofu industry dominates by small-scale business with traditional production methods. On the other hand, demand for tofu products is quite high, and it is needed to increase tofu production. This study discusses the making of hygiene tofu maker tools able to simplify the production process. Based on the results of interviews with three tofu home industries in Cikarang, Bekasi, 17 request attributes of making an assistive tool obtain. Based on this, four technical responses were collected and will be developed become four concept designs. After conducting concept selection, it is determined to plan for making a tool which can simplify the process of making tofu. That is, starting from the manufacturing process, which starts from the pulp to the process of making tofu, can be put together into one manufacture of the tool. Thus, designing this tool can integrate the six stages of the tofu production process.


The purpose of this study is to critically examine how North Korean defectors adapt to South Korean society and how the South Korean government institutes policies to support their settlement in the perspective of social integration. In particular, economic and psychological support by the South Korean government will be analyzed among the current resettlement support policies. The aim of this study is also to suggest proper remedial actions for North Korean defectors based on empirical research on the actual conditions of North Korean defectors in South Korea.


Without considering ingrowth and dead trees,using the retest plots data of Pinus massoniana and Chinese Fir of the mountainous area of Guangxi,by calculating the maximum difference of relative diameter of trees in different periods,variance of the relative diameter of trees in different periods and the two correlation factors of years and relative diameter were analyzed.The paired data T test of relative diameter of trees at different times were conducted.Pure forest stands of individual tree relative diameter changes over time were studied.The results showed that in one stand,most relative diameter of the individual tree was not vary or vary little over time,and the diameter ratios of each individual tree in two periods were equal to the diameter ratios of other trees in the corresponding two periods.


Taked the brand competitiveness as theoretical basis, this article points out the independent intellectual property famous brand growth contains three meanings: Firstly, the " quantitative change " process, that is the enhancement of popularity, reputation and loyalty, Secondly, the" qualitative change " process of optimized disposition of growth resource, namely the continually promotion process of management, R&D and marketing competence, thirdly, the" transformation between quantity and quality" process, referring to the potential competitive competence transforms into high added value new product, and thus raises the popularity, reputation and loyalty. So the three processes continually support the effectively growth of independent intellectual property famous brand. Based on this, this article points out that the independent intellectual property famous brand growth phase includes Product manufacture phase, Brand establishment phase, Region famous brand phase and IFB operation phase.


The philosophical-political thought of Jacques Maritain had a significant influence in Italy during the second half of the XX century, especially among the political leaders of the ruling Christian democracy. In a strictly theoretical field it was Augusto Del Noce who introduced Maritain's ideas into the Italian philosophical world. In the present study the different stages of Del Noce's interpretation of Maritain s thought will be analyzed. The underlying continuity and coincidence between both authors approach to Christianity and modern culture will be stressed.


A new rapid fixation and embedding technique using microwave energy was evaluated for immunolabelling and examination of ultrastructure of plant and insect cells. Tissues in gluteraldehyde‐paraformaldehyde were fixed for fifteen seconds in a microwave at 100% power, and dehydrated. Microwave energy was then used to polymerize the London Resin White (LR White) acrylic resin during the embedding process. Embedded specimens were then thin sectioned (90 nm) and treated with anti‐tomato spotted wilt tospovirus (TSWV) antiserum followed by protein A‐gold label, or antisera against a TSWV encoded nonstructural protein followed by goat anti‐rabbit gold label. Using this technique, structural and nonstructural proteins of TSWV were readily detected and specifically labelled in cells of the insect vector, the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), and in infected cells of the plant species, Emilia sonchifolia L. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Using the standard k-ξ turbulence model of the computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT to make the three dimensional numerical simulation of the flow field of the new generation Midea Soymilk Maker,we obtain the velocity vector diagram with the interaction of the machine's zigzag blade and turbulent-rib,analyze the mechanism of the material cycling and crushing.In addition,we place the blade eccentrically,gain the velocity vector diagram and analyze and compare the condition of the flow field with the centrical blade The results show that for the eccentrical blade,the extent of the flow's turbulence is much higher than that of the centrical blade,which gives rise to a higher shear rate and a stronger turbulence intensity.This results in an obvious effect of the mixture of materials and the crushing of the droplets.


Over the last 30 years, the hard rock mining industry in Canada has seen a continual decline in advance rates for access development in bulk, base-metal mines. The decline has been accompanied by the introduction of large and powerful equipment units that operate in sequence and require significant maintenance support. As Canadian mines progress in excess of 2.5 km below surface, the ventilation demand of this type of equipment becomes onerous and the combination of travel times to and from the face, and exclusively sequential activities, will continue to slow advance rates and help kill deep projects. Prior to 1975, the high advance rates achieved depended on work practices that can no longer be tolerated, but the way these operations were managed has a great deal to offer. We must re-examine these projects and re-learn the lessons these operations provide – in particular the focus on face utilisation – while ensuring the safety of the workforce at all times. We present a new approach to drift development for large face (5 m) drifts plus the simulation results that show how advance rates in excess of 10 m/day can be achieved.


Poly(acrylamidoxime) fibers are the current state of the art adsorbent for mining uranium from seawater. While the acid dissociation constants, pKa, of characteristic amidoxime and carboxylate ligands have been reported in the literature, the proton affinity distribution of the poly(acrylamidoxime) fiber is yet to be established. Herein, we report the poly(acrylamidoxime) proton affinity distribution between pH 2 and pH 10 via the stable numerical solution of the adsorption integral equation using splines (SAIUS) algorithm. Two peaks in the proton affinity distribution of poly(acrylamidoxime) were observed: the neutral to anionic dissociation of the carboxylate monomer between pH 3.2 and pH 4.4 (pKa ≈ 4.0) and the protonated to neutral dissociation of the acyclic amidoxime monomer between pH 5.6 and pH 6.8 (pKa ≈ 6.1). The acidity constants obtained for the carboxylate and amidoximate monomers vary from the acidity constants of acetic acid and acetamidoxime, respectively. These variations in acidity can b...


AbstractChanges to mean and extreme wet season precipitation over California on interannual time scales are analyzed using twenty-first-century precipitation data from 34 global climate models. Models disagree on the sign of projected changes in mean precipitation, although in most models the change is very small compared to historical and simulated levels of interannual variability. For the 2020/21–2059/60 period, there is no projected increase in the frequency of extremely dry wet seasons in the ensemble mean. Wet extremes are found to increase to around 2 times the historical frequency, which is statistically significant at the 95% level. Stronger signals emerge in the 2060/61–2099/2100 period. Across all models, extremely dry wet seasons are roughly 1.5 to 2 times more common, and wet extremes generally triple in their historical frequency (statistically significant). Large increases in precipitation variability in most models account for the modest increases to dry extremes. Increases in the frequenc...


Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. One way to prevent them is by implementing new healthy lifestyle habits such as the Mediterranean diet, notable for its cardioprotective properties, attributed to extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Objectives: To evaluate the beneficial effect of extra virgin olive oil on cardiovascular disease. To assess the importance of the polyphenols contained in extra virgin olive oil in the beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease. Methodology: An exhaustive search of the recent bibliography was carried out in the main available databases, the studies chosen are RCTs, Systematic Reviews, Meta-analysis and Clinical Practice Guidelines. Results: The results are distributed towards the large number of positive functions that EVOO has together with its polyphenolic components, which are an improvement in the lipid profile, blood pressure, reduction of the Body Mass Index and prevention of atherosclerosis and of cardiovascular events. Discussion: After the bibliographic review, the consumption of EVOO is recommended given its cardioprotective properties, highlighting the action of its minority components, polyphenols. Conclusions: EVOO, and within it, polyphenols, added in moderate amounts to the diet, have proven to be an element of primary prevention against CVD.


The archives of the vicars choral of York Minster includes the largest collection of original medieval charters for the city. This edition gives the text for 581 charters dating from the later twelfth century to 1546, illustrating the city's economy by revealing the occupations of residents and the parts of the city where they operated, and, in the introductions, revealing significant changes in the vicars' policy on acquisitions during the middle ages.


The utility model discloses an operating train real time monitoring system. It includes train sensor monitoring unit, bus unit, synthesizing process unit, message routing unit, wind power generation and power feed unit, location, information receiving, display and alarming unit. Train sensor monitoring unit, synthesizing process unit, message routing unit, wind power generation and power feed unit, location, information receiving, display and alarming unit are connected with the bus unit; The information receiving display and alarming unit is connected with the wind power generation & power feed unit and message routing unit. The system overcomes the disadvantage of single in railway monitoring device function and can realize self power feed, and is energy conservation, environment protection and diversification in device function. Continuous adjoining real time monitor of ''train to train'' and ''train to ground'' as well as advanced analysis mode are adopted to realize the real time monitor and warming function.


An integrated automatic frequency control circuit, a control method thereof, and an integrated frequency synthesizer having the same are provided to reduce a chip size by integrating an automatic frequency control of a transmission mode with an automatic frequency control of a receiving mode. A temperature compensated crystal oscillator(110) generates a reference frequency oscillation signal. A receiving oscillator(130) selects one of a plurality of gain curves according to a receiving control code, and generates a receiving frequency oscillation signal according to a receiving control voltage. A transmission oscillator(135) selects one of a plurality of gain curves according to a transmission control code, and generates a transmission frequency oscillation signal according to a transmission control voltage. An AFC(Automatic Frequency Controller)(50) generates the receiving control code in a receiving mode, and the transmission control code in a transmission mode. A receiving PLL(Phase-Locked Loop)(120) compares a frequency of the reference frequency oscillation signal with a frequency of the receiving frequency oscillation signal, and generates the receiving control voltage based on the comparison result. A transmission PLL(125) compares the frequency of the reference frequency oscillation signal with the frequency of the transmission frequency oscillation signal, and generates the transmission control voltage based on the comparison result. The AFC(50) includes a frequency comparator and a data code block. The frequency comparator receives and compares the reference frequency oscillation signal and the receiving frequency oscillation signal in the receiving mode. The AFC(50) receives and compares the reference frequency oscillation signal and the transmission frequency oscillation signal in the transmission mode. The data code block determines one of the transmission control code and the receiving control code based on the frequency comparison result. The transmission control code and the receiving control code are digital codes respectively.


In order to understand and evaluate materials for use in Li ion rechargeable battery electrodes, we have modeled the crystal structures of various Mn oxide and Li Mn oxide compounds. We have modeled the MnO{sub 2} polymorphs and several spinels with intermediate compositions based on the amount of Li inserted into the tetrahedral site. 3-D representations of the structures provide a basis for identifying site occupancies, coordinations, Mn valence, order-disorder, and potentially new dopants for enhanced cathode behavior. XRD simulations of the crystal structures provide good agreement with observed patterns for synthesized samples. Ionic modeling of these materials consists of an energy minimization approach using Coulombic, repulsive, and van der Waals interactions. Modeling using electronic polarizabilities (shell model) allows a systematic analysis of changes in lattice energy, cell volume, and the relative stability of doped structures using ions such as Al, Ti, Ni, and Co.


Over the last twenty years the author has developed several finite‐element codes for modeling acoustic scattering from complicated elastic structures. All the codes have employed 3‐D continuum mechanics throughout the computational domain. Thin structural components, such as plates and shells, are modeled with 3‐D elasticity rather than plate or shell theories. The codes are therefore fully 3‐D, i.e., in both physics and geometry. The talk will first explain the rationale for this approach and touch briefly on essential aspects of previous codes. It will then focus in more detail on the current code under development, which employs relatively inexpensive commercial software well‐suited for this fully 3‐D approach.


In this paper, the principle of noise reduction for air-conditioner installed on window is analyzed. According to its noise source, adaptive active noise control is achieved by different ways. As a result, the method for noise active control has been found.


Let ⊖ n p+ 1 denote the subgroup of the Kervaire-Milnor group θn consisting of those n-spheres which imbed with trivial normal bundle in Euclidean (n + p + 1)-space, n < 2p. It is known that such imbeddings always exist [6], and that the normal bundle is independent of the imbedding [10]. Following [2], we write Ω n,p for the quotient θ n /⊖ n p+ 1. The order of Ω n,p after identifying each element with its inverse, is equal to the number of diffeomorphically distinct (orientation preserved) Σ n × Sp [2; 5]. Indeed, Ωn,p is closely linked to the problem of determining the number of smooth structures α(n, p) on Sn × Sp. For instance, if Ωn,p = 0 then α(n, p) equals the order of θn+p [5]. Specific results are easily read off Table I and Theorem 2.1.


Based on the author's fieldwork as a tour guide in the Sumidero Canyon of the Grijalva River in Chiapas, Mexico, this article examines the conceptual limits and possibilities of the term Anthropocene. It shows how the concept helps to highlight issues concerned with a conceptual division made between nature and culture, but also how the breadth of the term and the reference to an epoch can lead to difficulties for anyone wishing to take local histories into account. The article concludes that the Anthropo-cene should be understood above all as a political concept, that corresponds to a broad change in the discourse that has occurred during the last decades, from the idea of progress to an emphasis on nature, and not as a descriptive term.


The pyrrolizidine alkaloid integerrimine, obtained from Senecio brasiliensis, was tested by acute dosing at two concentrations (18.75 and 37.5 mg/kg), and at different times, to establish its ability to induce micronuclei in mouse erythrocytes. This alkaloid was able to increase the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in both, bone marrow and peripheral blood erythrocytes


In this paper, beginning with the importance of listening and speaking skills as well as the survey of students' ability to listen to and speak English, the author suggests a way of teaching English songs in CET Listening and Speaking Course, analyzing the roles it plays in teaching process.


Abstract In order to investigate the non-linear vibration behaviour of a real steam turbine blade coupled by shrouded dampers, a new three-dimensional friction contact model is proposed to solve the non-linear friction force imposed on the contact interfaces. The proposed model is an extension of the work of Sanliturk and Ewins, in which the motion along the normal direction of the contact interfaces is considered. To consider microslip effect, an array of spring-slider contact pairs is distributed on the contact interfaces. Additionally, by altering the number of contact pairs, the effect of the area of contact interfaces on the forced response of the shrouded blade can be studied. Furthermore, the difference between static friction coefficient and dynamic friction coefficient is considered in this model. The adaptability of this model to any complicated relative motion is very well; hence it can be used to optimize real blade dampers in turbine machine applications. By using the multi-harmonic balance method, the governing non-linear differential equations of the shrouded blade are transformed into a set of non-linear algebraic equations that can be solved iteratively to yield the forced response of the shrouded blade.


In this paper. a simple way of topology optimization is studied. The optimization problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming and solved by using design sensitivity analysis. The adjoint variable method is used efficiently for the sensitivity calculation. Material properties in terms of density distribution are taken as design variables. A simplified explicit relation between density and material properties is used without introducing microstructures as done in the literature. This approach is general and easily implementable suing existing codes.