Maurice Jacob passed away on 2 May 2007. With his death, we have lost one of the founding fathers of the ultra-relativistic heavy ion programme. His interest in high-energy nuclear physics started in 1981 when alpha–alpha collisions could first be studied in the CERN ISR. An enthusiastic supporter of ion beam experiments at CERN, Maurice was at the origin of the 1982 Quark Matter meeting in Bielefeld [1] which brought together more than 100 participants from both sides of the Atlantic, showing a good enthusiastic constituency for such research. There were twice as many the following year at Brookhaven. Finally in the mid-eighties, a heavy ion programme was approved both at CERN and at Brookhaven involving as many nuclear as particle physicists. It was the start of a fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration which is nowadays continuing both at RHIC and at LHC. Maurice followed actively the development of this field, reporting at a number of conferences and meetings (Les Arcs, Bielefeld, Beijing, Brookhaven, Lenox, Singapore, Taormina,...). This activity culminated in 2000, when Maurice, together with Ulrich Heinz, summarized the main results of the CERN SPS heavy-ion experiments and the evidence was obtained for a new state of matter [2]. Maurice was a brilliant theoretical physicist. His many contributions have been summarized in a recent article in the CERN Courier by two leading CERN theorists, John Ellis and Andre Martin [3]. The following is an excerpt from their article: `He began his research career at Saclay and, while still a PhD student, he continued brilliantly during a stay at Brookhaven. It was there in 1959 that Maurice, together with Giancarlo Wick, developed the helicity amplitude formalism that is the basis of many modern theoretical calculations. Maurice obtained his PhD in 1961 and, after a stay at Caltech, returned to Saclay. A second American foray was to SLAC, where he and Sam Berman made the crucial observation that the point-like structures (partons) seen in deep-inelastic scattering implied the existence of high-transverse-momentum processes in proton–proton collisions, as the ISR at CERN subsequently discovered. In 1967 Maurice joined CERN, where he remained, apart from influential visits to Yale, Fermilab and elsewhere, until his retirement in 1998. He became one of the most respected international experts on the phenomenology of strong interactions, including diffraction, scaling, high-transverse-momentum processes and the formation of quark–gluon plasma. In particular, he pioneered the studies of inclusive hadron-production processes, including scaling and its violations. Also, working with Ron Horgan, he made detailed predictions for the production of jets at CERN's proton–antiproton collider. The UA2 and UA1 experiments subsequently discovered these. He was also interested in electron–positron colliders, making pioneering calculations, together with Tai Wu, of radiation in high-energy collisions. Maurice was one of the scientific pillars of CERN, working closely with experimental colleagues in predicting and interpreting results from successive CERN colliders. He was indefatigable in organizing regular meetings on ISR physics, bringing together theorists and experimentalists to debate the meaning of new results and propose new measurements. He was one of the strongest advocates of Carlo Rubbia's proposal for a proton–antiproton collider at CERN, and was influential in preparing and advertising its physics. In 1978 he organized the Les Houches workshop that brought the LEP project to the attention of the wider European particle physics community. He also organized the ECFA workshop at Lausanne in 1984 that made the first exploration of the possible physics of the LHC. It is a tragedy that Maurice has not lived to enjoy data from the LHC.' References [1] Maurice Jacob and Helmut Satz (eds) 1982 Proc. Workshop on Quark Matter Formation and Heavy Ion Collisions, Bielefeld, 10–14 May 1982 (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing) [2] Heinz Ulrich W and Jacob Maurice 2000 Evidence for a new state of matter: An assessment of the results from the CERN lead beam program. Preprint nucl-th/0002042 [3] Ellis J and Martin A 2007 CERN Courier 47 issue 6


The fault symptoms are regarded as a sort of tempor al patterns hidden in a time series. A novel method based on time series data mining is proposed for the predict ion of fan bearing fault. The time series, which is formed by large numbers of fan bearing vibration data, is embedded into a reconstructed phase space with time-delay. Iphase space, Genetic Algorithms are used to search for th e optimal temporal pattern clusters which are the cto identify temporal patterns. The optimal collection of temporal pattern clusters is then used to test tbearing vibration data of fan. Once the symptoms are detect ed, the fault is forecasted. The simulation results show the method is efficient.


In this paper the structural characteristics of vitrain in anthracite from a certain mining area was investigated by XRD.Through XRD analysis there were some results: with the increasing of coal rank,the corresponding diffraction angles from γ-line,002 and 100 peaks gradually increased,the aromatic degree(fa)、effective stacking layers of aromatic ring(Me)、average diameter of aromatic ring stacking(La) and effective stacking height of aromatic ring stacking alongst aromatic nuclear vertical direction(Lc) also increased,whereas the interlayer spacing and the interchain spacing between aromatic rings layers decreased.


Mural nodules of the ovary are described as solid masses or nodules which are histologically different from the background cystic tumour. These nodules can be associated with both serous and mucinous ovarian tumours but more commonly with mucinous subtypes. These mural nodules could be benign or malignant. The subtypes include sarcoma-like, sarcomatoid, anaplastic and mixed. We describe a case of a borderline mucinous ovarian tumour with intraepithelial carcinoma with a mural nodule of anaplastic carcinoma.


Form factors computed from extremely accurate wave functions are tabulated for H−, He, Li+ and Be2+ together with fits to Gaussian expansions of the standard form.


The trends of development of modern enterprises lead to building network-connected territorially dispersed structures, which determine the enhanced requirements to control systems. Therefore, the control systems are compelled to use general technological resource — cyber-domain, which is the reason for transition of competitive confrontation to technological sphere and leads to the emergence of premeditated direct or indirect destructive program actions as one of the most efficient facilities for getting competitive advantage. The enterprise functioning quality control under new conditions requires provision of a subsystem of taking decisions with timely, authentic and complete information on the state of cyber-domain. The task of getting such information can be realized using modeling methods. The analysis of the existing modeling methods of communication networks has demonstrated availability of an essential deficiency — absence of keeping record of destructive program actions with simultaneous functioning of two conflicting enterprise control systems at the unified technological resource. The article describes a new method of simulating communication networks rectifying the revealed deficiency. The presented method can make a basis of the model, which is capable to enhance information awareness of the subsystem of taking decisions on the state of a simulated network, enhancing by the same the quality of enterprise control and, accordingly, the quality of functioning of the enterprise proper. The article is the development of the method of simulating of premeditated damages of elements of communication network patented by the authors.


The aim of the present study is to study the parental and teachers' opinion on resource room service at regular school, to compare the parental and teacher's opinion on resource room provision with respect to Services, Training, Parent's expectation, home and community. To study the factor influencing to students with underachiever or backbenchers pay less attention in the class room. A survey was conducted with a sample of Sixty Six parents and Sixty Two teachers (total 128); the sample drowns from integrated and inclusive school in National Capital Delhi. Questionnaire and Interviews was developed to measure the opinions. The total numbers of items in the questionnaire are 50. In a descriptive study the researcher does not manipulate the variables, subjects or the sample to any experimental treatment of arrange for events to happen, but the events are purely observed, described and analyzed. Result indicated that in general overall parental and teachers' have positive opinion on resource room service. However, parents and teachers' shown negative opinion towards training and government consideration aspects. Further more positive opinion was seen by the teacher likewise a). Appropriate service at resource room, b) Responsibility to understand CWSN, c) Management of behavior problem by resource room service, d) Adaptation of curriculum, and beside negative opinion were also seen in term of a) Extra work load, b) type of teacher, c) admission of student with difficulties on CWSN and d) Financial Support. Further it is observed that there is not much of difference between the scores of male and female with regard to resource room service. Hence, it is concluded that gender is not a factor to determine the level of opinion with respect to various aspects of resource room service. The item analysis and suggestion from both the group indicates that there is a need for improvement in the areas of transport, special furniture, equipment and training material, medical and therapeutic services, training and guidance to parents, and use of technology.


In a two-part interview with AIDS Treatment News (ATN), Margaret Poscher, M.D., discusses treatment strategies, including her use of combination antiretrovirals and managed care. When asked what to do for individuals who have never been on treatment but have had a sudden dramatic drop in CD4, Dr. Poscher suggests trying the triple combination AZT plus 3TC plus ddI, as long as the viral load is very high. Unfortunately, 3TC is difficult to obtain for individuals with a CD4 count that is not below 100. Dr. Poscher shares the concerns of many others that patients under managed care are less likely to receive the care they need. If insurance does not cover certain tests or therapies, the patient is forced to pay out-of-pocket, which is often not possible. Dr. Poscher is also concerned that many patients are not receiving the aggressive combination treatments now available. Many patients are either on AZT monotherapy or ddc monotherapy, which she considers useless. She sites paperwork and time as major obstacles for physicians who are not getting involved in the 3TC expanded-access program and combination therapies. Dr. Poscher foresees an increase in treatment options, which will hopefully increase survival.


When multiple forecasts are available for a probability distribution, forecast combining enables a pragmatic synthesis of the available information to extract the wisdom of the crowd. A linear opinion pool has been widely used, whereby the combining is applied to the probability predictions of the distributional forecasts. However, it has been argued that this will tend to deliver overdispersed distributional forecasts, prompting the combination to be applied, instead, to the quantile predictions of the distributional forecasts. Results from different applications are mixed, leaving it as an empirical question whether to combine probabilities or quantiles. In this paper, we present an alternative approach. Looking at the distributional forecasts, combining the probability forecasts can be viewed as vertical combining, with quantile forecast combining seen as horizontal combining. Our alternative approach is to allow combining to take place on an angle between the extreme cases of vertical and horizontal combining. We term this angular combining. The angle is a parameter that can be optimized using a proper scoring rule. We show that, as with vertical and horizontal averaging, angular averaging results in a distribution with mean equal to the average of the means of the distributions that are being combined. We also show that angular averaging produces a distribution with lower variance than vertical averaging, and, under certain assumptions, greater variance than horizontal averaging. We provide empirical support for angular combining using weekly distributional forecasts of COVID-19 mortality at the national and state level in the U.S.


To allow healing of the anastomotic site, nil-by-mouth is widely practiced for several days after resection and anastomosis of gastrointestinal. This study determines the feasibility and safety of early oral feeding following gastrointestinal resections and anastomoses.     This prospective study included consecutive patients who underwent gastrointestinal resection from June 2016 to June 2021. These patients divided into two groups, according to their postoperative feeding protocol. The early oral feeding group received oral diet on the first postoperative day, while the late oral feeding group were started on oral feeding after the passage of flatus.     No significant differences were found in tolerance to oral feeding (p = 0.230) and the postoperative complications (p = 0.253) between the two groups. Compared with the late oral feeding group, time to first flatus, bowel movement and length of postoperative hospital stay were significantly shorter in the early oral feeding group (for all p = 0.002).   Early oral feeding after gastrointestinal anastomosis is feasible and safe.


In this paper, the piezoelectric properties of Mg and Zr co-doped AlN (MgZr doped AlN) thin films are reported. MgZr doped AlN thin films were prepared on Si (100) substrates with a radio frequency magnetron reactive cosputtering system. The crystal structures and piezoelectric constants d33 of the films were investigated as a function of their concentrations, which was measured by X-ray diffraction and with a piezometer. The d33 of the MgZr doped AlN at total Mg and Zr concentrations of 35 atomic % was about three times larger than that of pure AlN. The experimental results of the crystal structure and d33 as a function of total Mg and Zr concentrations were in very close agreement with first-principle calculations. Finally, thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) that used MgZr doped AlN as a piezoelectric thin film were fabricated and compared with the AlN based FBAR. As a result, the electromechanical coupling coefficient improved from 7.1 to 8.5% with the Mg and Zr concentration at 13atomic % doped into AlN. The results from this study suggest that the MgZr doped AlN films have potential as a piezoelectric thin film for wide band and high frequency RF applications.


Experiments on the use of concentrated sprays applied by the Hardie Mist Sprayer and the Speed Sprayer were reported for the iirst time by Griffiths, et al? in 1950. These machines were used to compare the effective ness of concentrate sprays with that of dilute sprays applied both by hand pressure ma chines and Speed Sprayers. In general, satis factory results were obtained with lime-sul fur, wettable sulfur, DN, zinc sulfate and lime, neutral copper, oil and parathion applied as concentrated sprays. This method of spraying produced as good quality fruit as that pro duced by dilute sprays. Twenty-five to 30 per cent more spray material was deposited on foliage by concentrated sprays than by dilute sprays indicating that less spray material may be used per tree than with dilute sprays. During the 1950-51 spray season, concen trated sprays were again compared with dilute sprays. In addition to previously tested ma terials, concentrated sprays of lead arsenate, borax and lime-sulfur were compared with di lute spray applications. The purpose of this paper is to present further results on the use of concentrated sprays on citrus. The work reported here deals with experi ments conducted during the latter part of 1950 and through October 1951 using the Speed Sprayer as a concentrate machine. In all cases the sprays were applied at one-eighth of the normal gallonage and at six to eight times the concentration normally used.


On a compact space K endowed with a normalized, non negative Radon measure ~ we study fields which are gen erated by regular closed ~-continuity sets. Especially , stability properties with respect to dense subsets and in variance results with respect to K are deduced. The Riemann- resp. Darboux integration on K is based in a na tural way on these fields. We show that the Darboux inte grable functions are a Banach algebra with respect to a special sup. norm. This Banach algebra has stability and invariance properties with respect to K. These properties are similar to those which characterize the uniformly con tinuous functions on K. A possible use of Darboux inte grable functions in probability theory is explained.


BACKGROUND : Stroke is the leading cause of death and disability in the world. The occurrence of ischemic stroke is indicated by genetic factors, environmental factors and the interaction between it. Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) genetic variant is associated with various characteristics of risk factors for ischemic stroke.
OBJECTIVE : Identifying genetic variants of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) with the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method and to find it's correlation beetwen risk factor in patients with Ischemic Stroke at Dr. Kariadi Semarang
METHOD : The subjects of the study were 72 patients with ishcemic stroke who were treated at the polyclinic of the Neurology Department Dr. Kariadi Semarang in January - December 2013. DNA extraction of research subjects was carried out at the Laboratory of the Center of Biomedical Research (CEBIOR), Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University from January to March 2020. Amplification using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method was carried out using an Eppendorf thermocycler. Data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows Version 25
RESULT : 72 samples analyzed obtained genetic variants of ACE II 39 (54.2%) samples, genetic variants of ACE DI 30 samples (41.7%), and genetic variants of ACE DD 3 (4.2%) samples. Meanwhile, there was no significant relationship ( p>0,05 ) between genetic variants of ACE and the characteristics of risk factors for ischemic stroke, namely age, gender, Body Mass Index, smoking history, triglyceride levels, HDL levels, LDL levels, obesity and hypertension.
CONCLUSION : There are three types of ACE genetic variants, including the ACE II genetic variant, the ACE DI genetic variant, and the ACE DD genetic variant. Among the three genetic variants, ACE II genetic variant is the most common variant and there is no significant relationship to the various risk factor characteristics found in ischemic stroke patients at Dr. Kariadi Gneeral Hospital Semarang.


MH-Ni battery is a complex nonlinear and discrete system whose mathematic model is much more complex and inaccurate.Existing charge technology of MH-Ni battery is faultiness,which affects gravely charging speed and quality.The neural network and fuzzy control are combined to design fuzzy neural network controller to charge the MH-Ni battery intelligently.The Matlab stimulation results show that the voltage changes placidly and this method can shorten the charge time and realize intelligent charge of MH-Ni battery.


The article highlights the participation of the schools Bryansk region at the Russian show of staging musical and aesthetic education of students and the impact of the show on the process of musical education in the region


Fig. 1. OmniPhotos are 360° VR photographs that are casually captured with a single 360° video sweep. Capturing only takes 3–10 seconds and, once processed into an image-based scene representation with optical flow and scene-adaptive proxy geometry, OmniPhotos can be viewed freely in VR headsets. Please note that this figure and others in this paper are animated; should they not be playing automatically, please consider viewing this paper with Adobe Reader.


Seismic exploration is a effective methods to ascertain underground structure and looking for oil. As the data collected in the wild are often subjected to the interference of noise, is not conducive to the analysis and interpretation of seismic data, therefore removing noise is the premise of data interpretation. To use the Fourier transform and wavelet analysis denoising a synthetic seismogram in this paper, by comparing denoising results, wavelet soft threshold denoising waveform is smooth, and it can better reconstruction original waveform.


Statistics teacher and stats education ambassador Christine Franklin tells Brian Tarran that "giant leaps" are still needed to make statistical literacy a priority in education


Under ideal evaporation conditions the separation factor for potassium isotopes is alpha = 1.024(4) cores consistin 0.0010. Within the limits of error, this is close to the calculated separation coefficient: alpha /sub max= 1.0258. The coincidence of alpha magnitudes indicates the liquid potassium phase does not form molecules. The separation factor depends on the rate of evaporation, therefore, insufficient mixing of the melt reduces the isotopic effect. (R.V.J.) centrates at the front edge. (T.R.H.)


In this paper, the ecological impacts of the use phase of passenger aircrafts are assessed. The three modules aircraft operation, aircraft maintenance and infrastructure operation are analysed through an LCA. Based on the data collection, an inventory model was created using the GaBi software. The functional unit of this study is the transport of one passenger over the entire flight distance, here for the case study of a medium haul flight over a distance of 2,500 km. It was found that aircraft operation is responsible for the greatest share of impacts, causing more than 90 % of total impacts in each of the analysed impact categories. Impacts of infrastructure operation and aircraft maintenance are each responsible for 1 to 4 % of all impacts in the respective impact categories.


This study was carried out to determine the antioxidative and antigenotoxic effects of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) sprout using 1,1?diphenyl?2?picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical donating method and micronucleus test. Buckwheat sprout were extracted with 70% ethanol and then further fractionated to n?hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), butanol and water. Among the five fractions, the EtOAc fraction showed the highest electron donating activity (RC?? 26.1 ㎍/mL). The effects of buckwheat sprout extracts on the frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCEs) induced by MNNG (N?methyl?N'?nitro?N?nitrosoguanidine) were investigated in the bone marrow. 10, 20, 40 and 80 ㎎/㎏ of each extract were administered to animals immediately after injection of MNNG and the exposure time was 36 hrs. Inhibition effects of buckwheat sprout ethanol extract were 23.4%, 40.6%, 56.3% and 73.4%, respectively. When the fraction of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and water from 70% ethanol extract were treated with concentration of 80 ㎎/㎏, the suppression rates of the MNPCE were 64.1, 67.9, 75.8, 74.2 and 63.3%, spectively.


According to the study and implementation of the regulating management,the paper sums up the gap between the supervision work now and the supervision regulating requirements,and points out some ideas for the regulating management with the supervision data by combining with some working practice,so as to improve the supervision service quality and ensure the smooth complete of the projects.


By installing a Gamma Tracer (Genitron make) outside of a mobile vehicle, gamma radiation levels around KAPS up to 30 km distance were measured for a period of one year. The hourly averaged gamma radiation levels in all the routes of mobile vehicle in many occasions varied from 56 to 112 nGyh -1 , with an average of 77 nGyh -1 . The hourly averaged gamma radiation levels in all TLD stations were also found to be within this range. Since this data is comparable to preoperational data, the impact of operation of KAPS on the environment is negligible.


Two incidents last week brought elder abuse into the public eye: a community trust in London reported that three staff had been sacked (and others disciplined) for physically abusing the elderly people in one of their homes, Beech House, and Lucille McLauchlan, the nurse imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for murder, was convicted of stealing money from a 79 year old patient when she was a nurse in Dundee. The mistreatment at Beech House included slapping, cold baths, verbal threats, intimidation, withholding drinks, and tying patients up. No one doubts that elderly people can be abused by their carers, but despite a series of high profile cases over the past 30 years, 1 2 elder abuse is not widely accepted as a social or medical problem.

The Beech House inquiry exposed ignorance, denial, poor management, low morale, and inadequate training—a litany that defines any poor quality enterprise. These failures still occur because the messages from repeated institutional …


The present invention provides a polyethylene film and a preparation method, wherein the film comprises a core layer and a polyethylene layer adhered to the smooth surface of the polyethylene core layer at least one surface of said slip surface layer dispersed polyethylene particles self-lubricating layers; surface smoothness of the core layer and the polyethylene layer is polyethylene 190 ℃, 2.16kg melt index of greater than 5g / 10min and less than or equal to 20g / 10min; the self-lubricating particles melt temperature greater than or equal to 250 ℃, the static friction coefficient and dynamic friction coefficient is less than or equal to 0.6 of the polymer fine particles. Polyethylene film of the present invention has excellent slip properties, optical properties and mechanical properties.


Smuggling is an important problem in many Indonesian maritime areas, including in Batam City. Illegal goods smuggling is one of the problems that until now has a high intensity in several Batam ports. The prevention and handling measures taken by the government have been very strict and almost every day Beacukai Batam takes action, but smuggling violations still occur every year. This may be influenced by the behavior of the people living in the area around the port, not only as smugglers but also as users and consumers so the demand for illegal goods continues to increase. This study aims to find out whether the joint patrols that have just been implemented in 2022 can minimize illegal goods smuggling activities in Batam City. The method used is a qualitative approach with interviews and literature studies. At the fisrt, it was feared that the joint patrols carried out by several agencies related to maritime security would cause overlapping interests or the possibility of sectoral egos, but in reality the patrols ran smoothly and according to the expected plan. Joint patrols are considered by several agencies related to maritime security to have an influence in reducing the number of smuggling of illegal goods and the number of violations in the standard of transporting goods by ship.


Abstract Improved control of agency is likely to be a prior and more important function of episodic memory than the epistemic-communicative role pinpointed by Mahr & Csibra (M&C). Taking the memory trace upon which scenario construction is based to be a stored internal model produced in past perceptual processing promises to provide a better account of autonoetic character than metarepresentational embedding.


This paper investigates the incentive structure that encourages the appointment of retired bureaucrats in the boardrooms of the Japanese private corporations. For the sample of 4590 firm-years from 25 industries we find that such appointments are more likely to occur (i) if private corporations have business with the government. (ii) We find such incentive is more emphasized for larger sized corporations. (iii) However, for firms with smaller market shares facing more competition, we find that incentives to hire retired bureaucrats increase. (iv) We also find firms that belong to corporate groups (keiretsu) are less likely to hire retired bureaucrats. The evidence suggests existence of tacit collusion between the government and the private corporation as also lent support to 'equalizing process' theory.


Report issued by the Bureau of Mines on the coastal sands and their potential for being used as glass sand. Samples were tested, and properties of the sands are presented. This report includes tables, maps, and photographs.


A COMPARISON OF SUPEROMEDIAL VERSUS INFERIOR PEDICLE REDUCTION MAMMOPLASTY USING THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. Victor Z. Zhu, Ajul Shah, Rachel Lentz, Tracy Sturrock, Alexander F. Au, Stephanie L. Kwei. Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Reduction mammoplasty using the inferior pedicle (IP) technique continues to be more commonly performed than the superomedial pedicle (SMP). This study uses three-dimensional (3D) imaging to compare postoperative linear and volumetric changes in SMP and IP breast reductions. Reduction mammoplasty was performed using either a SMP or IP, with a Wise-pattern skin incision. Patients in each cohort were matched based on total postoperative breast size, BMI, and age. Postoperative 3D photographs were taken at 1-3 months and 6-12 months. Measurements included: sternal notch to nipple distance, areola surface area, total breast volume, breast projection, proportion superior pole volume, proportion medial pole volume, and tissue shifting over time. There were 13 SMP patients (26 breasts) and 14 IP patients (28 breasts). There were significant differences at 1-3 months between the cohorts in sternal notch to nipple distance (21.6+0.4cm SMP vs. 24.1+0.3cm IP, p<0.01), and proportion superior pole volume (53.9+1.2% SMP vs. 57.3+1.1% IP, p=0.04). The sternal notch to nipple distance (21.6+0.4cm SMP vs. 24.6+0.4cm IP, p<0.01) remained different between the two cohorts at 6-12 months; however, there was no difference in superior pole fullness at this time point. There was a significant difference in proportion medial pole volume (38.1+2.0% SMP vs. 45.8+1.4% IP, p<0.01). There were changes in volumetric distribution over time in both cohorts, with decreased proportion medial pole volume in the SMP cohort, and increased proportion medial pole volume in the IP cohort (p<0.01) over time. Areola surface area increased significantly more over time in the IP cohort than the SMP cohort (2.87+0.77cm IP vs. 0.01+0.57cm SMP, p<0.01). There is no difference between the SMP and IP technique in proportion superior pole volume or breast projection within the 12-month postoperative period; however, the IP technique demonstrated greater proportion medial pole volume and increased areolar surface area over time.


The effects of heart failure on the contractile characteristics of human myocardium from the left and right ventricles were investigated in this study.


Based on the basic equations of rheology, the simulations were run with code MAGMASOFT *RVersion3.1. The results of simulations and experiments were got respectively and the temperature and pressure difference between simulations and measured were compared.


Abstract : The object of this research was to compare the lethality of VX injected intravenously and applied percutaneously at low, normal, and high environmental temperatures. The conclusions reached are as follows: 1. Acute exposure of rats at 2 or 34 deg increased the toxicity of VX administered intravenously or percutaneously when compared with exposure at 26 deg C. The effect of temperature on lethality of VX is more marked with percutaneous application than with intravenous injection.


The article discusses the features of the development of sports tourism. It is proved that the beginning of the new millennium was marked by the rise of the world tourist movement. Under the influence of rapid development of infocommunication technologies and international economic relations tourism has become one of the most representative branches of the world economy. The article proves that the development of the recreational and tourist complex of Ukraine should become a priority direction of the national economy and culture, an important factor in increasing the international prestige of the country, a source of socio-economic development of the regions, an important condition for preserving the historical and cultural heritage.


The article analyses first the disciplinary and epistemological contexts of SNA; after, it com- pares the different theoretical approaches referable to SNA: the structural, the formalist, and the interactionist one. Then, two main methodological approaches are being compared: the «hard SNA» and the «soft SNA», the first one - typical of the micro-analysis -- which considers the re- lational structure as the goal of research; the second one, which uses relational data as a tool for the theory building at the meso and macro levels. Further, SNA is proposed as an interdisciplinary and multi-purpose way-out from the theoretical dualism holism vs. individualism, particularly according to the structural interactionist approach. Finally, the four different explicative theories integrated in SNA (the theory of weak ties, the theory of the structural holes, the theory of cluster- ness, and the theory of relational coordination) are discussed as middle-range theories.


Kelvin's circulation theorems are shown to be applicable to the generalized momentum vector in the relativistic flow of electricity. Vortex filaments become 'vortex ribbons' in space-time and Dirac's variables ξ and ɳ are identified as the parameters which characterize the family of vortex ribbons. The physical reality of discrete ribbons of strength ħ is suggested, speculatively.


Objective To further explore the significance of serum antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies(ANCA) in renal diseases. Methods ANCA fluorescent patterns and its target antigens in sera of 205 patients with renal diseases were determined by indirect immunofluorescence(IIF) and ELISA. Results The positive percentage of ANCA is 19.5%(40/205),in which 18.5%(38/205) pANCA and 1%(2/205) cANCA. Conclusion The different fluorescent patterns are correlated closely with kinds and prognosis of diseases.Differentiating fluorescent patterns between pANCA and ANA helps to the diagnosis between vasculitis and other autoimmune diseases.Detecting ANCA by IIF and ELISA simultaneously can increase the reliability of the results of ANCA.


For 20 V planar active-gap lateral double-diffused MOSFET(LDMOS),the sectional channel is utilized to decrease the electric field in the n-drift region below the poly gate edge in the off-state,compared with the conventional single channel.Then the n-drift concentration can be increased to decrease the Kirk effect,while keeping off-state breakdown voltage Vbd unchanged.Meanwhile the influence of the n-drift concentration and the n-drift length Ldrift(the drain n+ diffusion to gate spacing) which are related to the Kirk effect is discussed.The trade-offs between Rdson-Area,breakdown voltage Vbd and the electrical safe operating area(e-SOA) performance of LDMOS are considered also.Finally the proposed planar active-gap LDMOS devices with varied values of Ldrift are experimentally demonstrated.The experimental results show that the Kirk effect can be greatly suppressed with slight increase in the Rdson·Area parameter.


The article presents materials about relations and scientific activity of physiologist I.P. Pavlov and pharmacologist N.P. Kravcov, two famous scientists and inhabitants of Ryazan.


To the Editor. —Ethylene glycol, as an inexpensive, easily obtainable, sweet-tasting liquid with inebriating effects, can be an attractive agent to the adolescent or younger adult, either for the purpose of its intoxicating effect or as a suicidal agent. In addition, the combination of its potency (lethal dose of about 1.5 mL/kg)1along with delayed metabolic effects may make this substance a difficult toxin to diagnose and treat. We describe a cluster of intentional ethylene glycol ingestions occurring over a 3-month period during the summer in the northeastern Illinois area. Twenty-two consecutive patients with intentional ethylene glycol ingestions that were reported to the Illinois Poison Center from May through August 1996 were analyzed. Epidemiologic data consisting of age, sex, serum chemistry values, ethylene glycol levels, and outcome were collected. Follow-up was obtained in all cases within 48 hours of the initial report of the ingestion. Statistical analysis was performed


This paper argues that the notion of a defective state, including those designated as 'weak', 'failed' or 'collapsed', has a number of obvious advantages for the West. First and most obviously, it offers an explanation for the faults of the state in question that does not implicate outside forces. Second, it justifies external action to intervene in the internal affairs of domestic regimes and, finally, it implies that such action can only reliably remove the inherent threat posed by defective states if intervention produces a project of political transformation. This suggests three questions (which make up the focus of the paper as a whole). First, if outside forces are not to blame, what is there within defective states that explains their failings? Second, what form should an external response to these problems take and, third, what sort of political transformation should that external response seek to enact within the target state?


Background: It is accepted that the gold price impacts on the value of gold mining companies. Previous studies have shown that, in financial crises, gold is considered a 'safe haven' investment in developed markets. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate whether an investment in gold mining stocks do provide gold price-linked safe haven benefits to investors in an emerging economy. An understanding of the possible safe haven benefits of their companies' stocks and the variables that influence these benefits would be valuable to managers of gold companies when endeavouring to maximise shareholders' wealth through hedging and investment decisions. Methods: Regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship between gold mining returns, the gold price and the rand–dollar exchange rate within a multifactor model motivated by the arbitrage pricing theory. Results: The results indicate that there is a strong, yet changing, relationship between the gold price, the rand–dollar exchange rate and gold mining returns. Conclusion: This study extends the understanding of the changing South African gold mining industry in a world that is still recovering from the global financial crisis.


A simple and effective approach to the aqueous‐phase synthesis of crystalline silver nanorods and nanowires is demonstrated, using which their diameters and aspect ratios can be effectively controlled. The synthesis involves a template‐less and non‐seed process to high‐quality nanoparticles, which is low‐cost and proceeds at moderate temperatures. The nanorods and nanowires were synthesized by the reduction of silver nitrate with tri‐sodium citrate in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfonate. The concentration of tri‐sodium citrate plays a critical role while sodium dodecylsulfonate, as a capping agent, only plays an assistant role in controlling the diameters and aspect ratios of the products. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected‐area electron diffraction (SAED) investigations show that the silver nanocrystals are generated with a twinned crystalline structure. We also put forward a primary experimental model to shed light on their growth mechanisms.


At the initial designing optimum variant of engines is determined of its operation process. In the research there is substantiation of a parameters choice power of pressure up and power of temperature up, which determine the operation process of aircraft piston engines. the approach to thermal calculation of aircraft piston engines technique is specified and there the software realizing automated initial designing of piston engines is described.


Augmented Reality (AR) technology is applied to medicine packaging boxes, and an application that runs on smartphones is developed. With image feature extraction, matching and tracking technology, the identification of various types of medicine packaging boxes is realized. In the combination of virtual objects and real objects, various rich media such as video, audio, animation, and text, etc. are superimposed on the realscene packaging boxes. Finally, through the UI control operation, human-computer interaction is realized, breaking the user experience of traditional packaging that can only read a single text. Some experiments show that compared with the traditional method of just reading the instructions on the package, the AR-based application has richer expressions and interactive experiences, and can help users understand medication knowledge faster and more directly, and help them to take the medicine as prescribed.


Global Technologies Racing chooses Hermle for metals and carbon fibre; Kadel Engineering opts for Baty to get the better measure of parts; Autosport International in brief


Studied the ecosystem of pond in territory of Samara as possible center of recreational zone. For 2 years 63 kinds of rotifers, 33 kinds of crustacea and 30 kinds of insects are revealed. Almost half of found out kinds meets in suburban, instead of in city reservoirs is more often. It is offered to consider a pond as the center of preservation of species diversity and as a recreational resource.


The invention provides a pick-and-place operation oriented parallel robot mechanism with four degrees of freedom and a large working space. The parallel robot mechanism comprises a driving spindle, at least three planar parallelogram branched chains, a lifting connecting rod branched chain and an end executor, the end executor is a bent lever and comprises an execution portion, a first rotating shaft, a first beam and a second rotating shaft, the execution portion is positioned at the bottom end of the end executor, two ends of the first beam are respectively connected with the top end of the first rotating shaft and the bottom end of the second rotating shaft, the bottom end of the first rotating shaft is connected with the execution portion, and one end of each planar parallelogram branched chain is fixedly connected with the driving spindle. The parallel robot mechanism has the advantages that complete cycle rotation of the whole mechanism and the end executor can be realized, position working space and the rotation capacity of the end executor are greatly enlarged, the end executor has four degrees of freedom including three translational motion degrees of freedom and one rotation degree of freedom, requirements of general pick-and-place operations are met, and the planar posture of an operated object can be optionally adjusted.


Question Answering (QA) is a natural language processing task that aims at obtaining relevant answers to user questions. While some progress has been made in this area, biomedical questions are still a challenge to most QA approaches, due to the complexity of the domain and limited availability of training sets. We present a method to automatically extract question-article pairs from Q&A web forums, which can be used for document retrieval, a crucial step of most QA systems. The proposed framework extracts from selected forums the questions and the respective answers that contain citations. This way, QA systems based on document retrieval can be developed and evaluated using the question-article pairs annotated by users of these forums. We generated the BiQA corpus by applying our framework to three forums, obtaining 7,453 questions and 14,239 question-article pairs. We evaluated how the number of articles associated with each question and the number of votes on each answer affects the performance of baseline document retrieval approaches. Also, we demonstrated that the articles given as answers are significantly similar to the questions and trained a state-of-the-art deep learning model that obtained similar performance to using a dataset manually annotated by experts. The proposed framework can be used to update the BiQA corpus from the same forums as new posts are made, and from other forums that support their answers with documents. The BiQA corpus and the framework used to generate it are available at https://github.com/lasigeBioTM/BiQA.


The meta-universe notion is regularly introduced in the digital era, and meta-universe virtual apparel has become a new trend with the growth of Internet technology. With highly tailored, technological, and intelligent properties, virtual clothing can imitate the digital environment in digital form. Based on self-presentation theory, this research investigates these elements and provides a conceptual model, followed by an empirical test utilizing samples from a questionnaire survey. The findings show that cool and interactivity have a substantial influence on purchase intention for virtual apparel. And online self-presentation desire plays a mediating role. On this ground, it is proposed that the virtual world creates an environment of new and trendy social interaction.


The remolding of a city's brand directly shows the managing art of the city's leaders and the degree of the city's sustainable development.And it is the manifestation of the comprehensive competitive force as well as the managing philosophy of a city.The remolding of "sweet city" brand of Neijiang should make full use of its hinge position in the abundance land and between Chengdu and Chongqing and drive the economic development.Moreover,it should also show Neijiang's both humanistic and natural scenaries and aim to construct a new harmonious life.


This paper discusses how to utilize both magnitude and phase information obtained from the complex directional filter bank (CDFB) for the purpose of texture image retrieval. The relative phase, which is the difference of phases between adjacent CDFB coefficients, has a linear relationship with the angle of dominant orientation within a subband. This information is incorporated to form a new feature vector called CDFB-RP. Texture retrieval performance of the proposed CDFB-RP is compared to those of the conventional transforms including the Gabor wavelet, the contourlet transform, the steerable pyramid and the CDFB. With the same number of features, the CDFB-RP method outperforms all other transforms in texture image retrieval, while keeping lower complexity and computational time.


The aim of this transversal, descriptive, and exploratory study was to describe the social and demographic profile, the burden perception and the health related quality of life perception of grandparents, caregivers of children with neuromuscular-skeletal disabilities. Participants included 58 volunteer grandparents, to answered a primary caregiver questionnaire for social and demographic data, the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, and the Quality of Life Profile in the Chronically Ill. Results show a profile characterized by "young" grandparents, most of them women, housekeepers, married, with medium education level (from basic to technical level). They perceived their health as good, as well as a medium level of burden as caregivers, and also perceived high efficacy in their caregiving role. Participants also perceived themselves as having a good quality of life related to their own health


The process of determining the concentration of expertise carried out at the YPC Tasikmalaya Vocational School has shortcomings such as making decisions based on the wishes of students without paying attention to academic grades at the previous level of education. So that there are some students who feel it is not right in choosing the concentration of expertise, resulting in a lack of competence possessed by students with the concentration of expertise selected. The choice of concentration of expertise is the right of every student, but if it is wrong it can cause a decrease in learning motivation and low learning achievement. This problem can be solved by using clustering method with K-Means algorithm. This study aims to classify students' interests in choosing a concentration of expertise at YPC Tasikmalaya Vocational School based on the Merdeka Curriculum. The results showed that the grouping of students' interests in choosing the concentration of expertise was formed into 4 clusters. The cluster with the most members is cluster 0, namely students who have an average score of 79 Mathematics, then Indonesian and English 83. Furthermore, the cluster with the least number of members is cluster 2, namely students who have an average score of 78 Mathematics and English, then Indonesian 79.


We treated 100 Chinese patients age 16 to 83 years by CAPD, using three 2-litre exchanges per day. The treatment was self-financed in 69 patients, by charitable organisations in 25 patients, and by government funds in 6 patients. Satisfactory biochemistry was maintained and there was no gross hyperlipidaemia, renal osteodystrophy, or loss of ultrafiltration capacity of the peritoneum. Rehabilitation was good and 62% of patients returned to full-time employment. The average duration of hospitalization was 11.3 days per patient year. Peritonitis usually due to Staphylococcus pyogenes occurred at a frequency of one episode per 12.3 patient-months. Sixteen patients were transplanted and had a 2-year graft survival of 78.5%. The cumulative patient survival was 97% at 1 year and 84% at 2 years. The corresponding technique survival rates were 87% and 76% respectively.


show how land-use change and other stressors had affected the Mid-Atlantic region's forests. The large size of the region sometimes prohibited structuring any one complete data set that describes forest characteristics for the region as a whole. Therefore, we sometimes used different data sets to compile various landscape-scale indicators of forest health and sustainability. Our purpose was to quantify the impacts of land use change on critical forest ecosystem components and processes, and highlight where future risk to ecological stability may be the greatest.


Suspicion is an understudied factor in police discretionary decision-making. This study presents an analysis of traffic stop data from Louisville, KY that focuses upon factors that led police officers to note that they had 'pre-existing knowledge' about certain persons who were stopped. Factors related to this designation with specific emphasis upon race are considered.


Millimeter observations with the IRAM 30 m telescope were conducted in comet P/Brorsen-Metcalf (1989o) on September 1989 and Austin (1989c1) on April and May 1990. The HCN J(1-0) and J(3-2) lines were detected in both comets. The HCN production rate relative to water in P/Brorsen-Metcalf is comparable to that previously measured in comet P/Halley, while that inferred in comet Austin might be smaller by a factor of two. The H2CO(3 sub 12 - 2 sub 11) transition, marginally observed in comet P/Brorsen-Metcalf, was firmly detected in May 1990 in comet Austin. Observations performed at offset positions suggest that the source of H2CO might be distributed. The H2CO abundance is on the order of 0.5 percent that of water for both comets, assuming a scalelength of 10(exp 4) km at 1 AU from the Sun for the distributed source. During the May observing period of comet Austin, two new species were detected for the first time in a comet: hydrogen sulfide (H2S) through its 1(sub 10) - 1(sub 01) ortho line at 169 GHz, and methanol (CH3OH) through J(3-2) delta K = 0 transitions at 145 GHz. Preliminary estimates of their abundances are 1.5 x 10(exp -3) for H2S and 8 x 10(exp -3) for CH3OH.


Chest radiography (CXR) and computerized tomography (CT) scan are the preferred methods for lung imaging in diagnosing pneumonia in the intensive care unit, in spite of their limitations. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of bedside lung ultrasound examination by a critical care physician, compared with CXR and chest CT, in the diagnosis of acute pneumonia in the ICU.


Medical Management of Eating Disorders Birmingham CL, Beumont PJ, eds. 275 pages. New York: Cambridge Univ Pr; 2004. $55.00. ISBN: 0521546621. Order at www.cambridge.org. Field of medicine: Internal medicine. Format: Softcover book. Audience: General practitioners, psychiatrists, internists, pediatricians, health care professionals, nursing staff, dietitians, family caregivers, and patients. Purpose: To provide a general clinical overview of eating disorders. Content: The book has 5 sections (medical perspective, treatment, patients with specific diseases, psychiatric and psychological perspectives, and areas of special interest) divided into 95 chapters. Each section includes a comprehensive clinical outline and information for patients. In addition, the text contains many useful tables summarizing relevant issues and diagnostic color photographs of important physical manifestations related to eating disorders. Highlights: The book gives a comprehensive and original approach to eating disorders whose prevalence and incidence are dramatically increasing over the world. The short chapters, covering a wide range of topics, outline the current state of knowledge on the subject, including issues such as integrated medical and psychiatric intervention, the role of the dietitian, and important information for the family. All chapters are clearly and professionally written. Furthermore, many case reports and clinical examples have been included with pertinent discussion. The book is easy to read, progressing logically through clinical presentation, therapy, and psychiatric and psychological examination. The text will be useful for clinicians (such as nurses and primary care physicians) who are faced with patients with eating disorders and need initial guidance. Limitations: As with many medical handbooks, most of the contents are concise and limited by the need for access to up-to-date information. Although the book provides an approach to differential diagnosis of common symptoms, it lacks sufficient detail to provide the insight needed to resolve the diagnostic dilemmas. The well-chosen references are listed according to topic at the end of the book, but they are not cited in the text. Related reading: Another book on eating disorders is Brewerton's Clinical Handbook of Eating Disorders: An Integrated Approach (Marcel Dekker, 2004). Reviewer: Gerardo Nardone, MD, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.


The widespread use of learning technologies in different educational settings has generated the growing need for students to self-regulate their learning activities (Bannert & Reimann, 2012). Many studies have identified a significant positive correlation between academic achievement and self-regulated learning ability (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2005; Schunk & Zimmerman, 1994). However, students rarely demonstrate adequate skills of self-regulation which in turn may prevent them from achieving satisfactory academic results (Kiewra, 2002; Lee et al., 2010). Similar deficit of self-regulated learning skills has been reported in the studies of language learning (Benson, 2011). Self-regulated learning skills are of crucial importance to be academically successful, at the same time they seem to be one of the most complicated learning skills to acquire. As there is no single understanding of an efficient way of scaffolding self-regulation, the focus of the current study is on the introduction and assessment of the model of developing effective language learning strategies (LLSs) and self-regulative strategies in the context of language learning. We based the developing of the model on the theoretical framework of Oxford's LLSs (1990) and the theory of selfregulation by Pintrich (2000). According to Oxford and Crookall (1989), LLSs have the features of contributing to the main goal, allowing learners to become more selfdirected, being problem-oriented, including specific actions taken by the learner, involving many aspects of the learner, not just cognitive, supporting learning both directly and indirectly, being not always observable, being conscious, possible to be taught, flexible, and influenced by a variety of factors. Oxford (1990) considered both cognitive and metacognitive


For the observational modeling of horizontal abundance distributions and of magnetic geometries in chemically peculiar (CP) stars, Zeeman Doppler mapping (ZDM) has become the method of choice. Comparisons between abundance maps obtained for CP stars and predictions from numerical simulations of atomic diffusion have always proved unsatisfactory, with the blame routinely put on theory. Expanding a previous study aimed at clarifying the question of the uniqueness of ZDM maps, this paper inverts the roles between observational modeling and time-dependent diffusion results, casting a cold eye on essential assumptions and algorithms underlying ZDM, in particular the Tikhonov-style regularization functionals, from 1D to 3D. We show that these have been established solely for mathematical convenience, but that they in no way reflect the physical reality in the atmospheres of magnetic CP stars. Recognizing that the observed strong magnetic fields in most wellmapped stars require the field geometry to be force-free, we demonstrate that many published maps do not meet this condition. There follows a discussion of the frequent changes in magnetic and abundance maps of well observed stars and a caveat concerning the use of least squares deconvolution in ZDM analyses. It emerges that because of the complexity and non-linearity of the field-dependent chemical stratifications, Tikhonov based ZDM inversions cannot recover the true abundance and magnetic geometries. As our findings additionally show, there is no way to define a physically meaningful 3D regularization functional instead. ZDM remains dysfunctional and does not provide any observational constraints for the modeling of atomic diffusion.


Part 1 Chapter 1. General Overview of Fraud in Marine Insurance Chapter 2. Fraud Committed by the Assured at the Outset Chapter 3. Fraud Committed by the Assured at the Post-Contractual Stage Chapter 4. Fraud Committed by the Insurer Chapter 5. Fraud Committed by Independent Agents of the Parties Chapter 6. Potential Impact of Law Reform Part 2 Chapter 7. Impact of Fraud and Other Dishonest Activity on Insurance Coverage


Plant Parasitic nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica, Tylenchorhynchus vulgaris, Rotylenchulus reniformis) are great menace in successful raising of bidi tobacco nursey. An experiment was conducted to determine the most appropriate time of nematicidal application for protecting the germinating seeds as well as early growth of bidi tobacco seedlings from nematode attack. Pooled results revealed that between phenamiphos @ 5 kglha and carbofuran @ 3 kglha, phenamiphos was effective in the management of nematodes. Its application ten days prior to seeding (10DPS), at seeding, ten days after seeding (10DAS), 10DPS+10DAS, at seeding+10DAS has identical effect with regard to root-knot disease and bidi tobacco transplants. Phenamiphos was at par with soil solarization, which was the most effective treatment. Carbofuran was ineffective.


The present study investigates teacher's attitudes about rewards in the classroom. A sample of elementary teachers was surveyed to examine how rewards were used with their students. Teacher's attitudes about rewards were also measured. Results indicated that all teachers in the sample use some kind of reward in their classroom. The majority of teachers thought that rewards can help increase participation and academic achievement. Overall teachers did not feel that student's intrinsic motivation decreased when extrinsic rewards were given.


Objective To investigate the metabolic derivatives of the glyceryl trinitrate (GTN). Methods Rabbits were used in this work. Blood pressures were measured by dynamic analyzer, methemoglobin (MetHb) by blood gas analyzer and alanine transferase (ALT) by auto-biochemist analyzer. Nitrate, nitrite and reduced glutathione (GSH) were measured with colorimetry. Results Blood pressures and GSHs in red blood cells showed significant decrease, nitrite showed significant increase, MetHb and ALT showed no remarkable difference before and after GTN administration. Conclusion Metabolic GTN exhausts thiols and yields nitrite, and it has no effects on hemoglobin and liver.


As the economic situation bites and talk turns to a recession, all school funding becomes more diffi cult, even in the public sector. While we can be confi dent that state or territory and Commonwealth governments still see education as a priority, we all know there are many calls on the public purse, which is why it's critically important that schools manage their resources effi ciently and effectively. Alternative or supplementary sources of school funding are also becoming scarcer. Many parents have less to spend. Organisations that previously may have offered support to schools and students are fi nding it diffi cult to be as generous as in the past. The well-resourced 'education revolution,' based upon today's schooling model, looks like it could be a fast fading dream. Of course we all want the best for our young people, but we also want the best in hospital care, a reliable power supply, suffi cient water, effi cient public transport, effective police and security services – the list goes on. Our wants have always exceeded our ability to provide and in the immediate future it's going to be even harder to provide all that the community desires. Competition for scarce funds is likely to become fi ercer. In education, one cash-saving solution is to reduce schooling from fi ve days to four, as is happening in some parts of the United States. In south-eastern Arizona, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald in February, the Bisbee Unifi ed School District board voted to close schools every Friday for the next two school years, to save $US500,000 a year. The diffi culty is that President Barack Obama, in his fi rst major speech on education in March, called for students to spend more not less time in schools to improve achievement. Another cash-saving solution is to channel resources into teaching rather than infrastructure, on the Swedish model, where sought-after schools in often spartan accommodation have as Fraser Nelson described them in the Spectator, an Ikea-style simplicity. In Nelson's example, Enskede School in the south of Stockholm, 'There are no trophy buildings, interactive whiteboards or other gizmos.... The classrooms have tables and chairs, but not much else. Playgrounds are converted car parks, but no one seems to mind.... Success is achieved not in the architecture or landscaping, but in the pedagogy. For example, the speciality of Kunskapsskolan School is personalised education, where each child starts the day with a tutor, and is set an individual timetable.' Another cash-saving solution closer to home is the Victorian government's partnership approach with businesses to build and maintain new schools. The problem with such solutions, however, is that they don't address the basic schooling model. Now is the time to be looking for different ways of delivering a good education to our young people. Learning has always been built around the technology of the time, but our schools are built around old technology, set in a structure that is based on an industrial model of batch processing. The system as we know it has been good for some of us, giving us status and well-paid jobs, but it has failed others badly, leaving them struggling socially and fi nancially. Given that we no longer live in an industrial society, what is the most appropriate education system for our contemporary knowledge society? Why would we want to build new schools, maintain old schools and staff them, based on old assumptions, particularly when we can't afford to do it properly? How equitable, effective and sustainable is our present system of schooling? Today, governments are struggling; tomorrow, they will fi nd it even harder to fi nd the funds for a process to induct young people into society and to equip them with the necessary skills for long term success. Instead of wringing our hands over the competition for scarce resources, we need to be looking for inventive alternatives that will be more equitable and effective, as well as affordable and sustainable. Instead of looking for additional money to do more of the same, we need to be actively looking for new models of delivering good education to all Australians. T


The superstring galaxy associative memory model with anticipant fault-tolerant field on m-value information space are proposed by making the sphere mapping, and giving the algorithm of galaxy covering and the orderly working algorithm of neurons. The sample fault-tolerant field of the superstring galaxy associative memory model memory has the hoped situation. The design method of the superstring galaxy associative memory model with anticipant fault-tolerant field on m-value information space better solves the difficult synthesis problems of associative memory models.


Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly increasing technology because today's world is internet world. IoT is combination of communication system and embedded system which is used to connect hardware devices to the network or internet. IoT is used for transmission and reception of data. These systems are used to monitor industrial applications by implementing industry standard protocols using IoT. In this system small scale industrial applications like liquid level control, energy monitoring etc. can monitor wirelessly through wireless devices, mobiles and laptops. The main aim of this paper is to summarize importance of IoT which will monitor small scale industrial applications.


An approach to learning user interests is presented that borrows from findings in the area of human-computer interaction, user modeling and information retrieval. It relies on positive evidences only, in consideration of the fact that users rarely supply the ratings needed by traditional learning algorithms, specifically not negative examples. Learning results are explicitly represented to account for the fact that in the area of user modeling explicit representations are known to be considerably more useful than purely implicit representations. A content-based recommendation approach is complemented by recommendation based on community membership, thus avoiding getting trapped in possible "local optima" of the content-based approaches. Finally, gradual forgetting of older observations has been introduced to better account for drifting user interests. The described framework has been extensively tested in a web-based information system for research funding opportunities.


A distribution estimation method that estimates a distribution of signal for each of a plurality of components, includes, in estimating a distribution of a target component, approximating distribution data indicating a distribution of signal of other component by a function regarding the component, and calculating distribution data for the target component by the function based on the approximated process.


Preface. Acknowledgments. PART 1 Knowing the Cat within the Companion. Chapter 1. Felis sylvestris to Felis catus: Domestication. Chapter 2. Selective Breeding: Breeds from the Everyday to the Unusual. Chapter 3.The Cat's Perception of the World: Structure, Movement, and Special Senses. Chapter 4. Reproduction and Breeding Management. Chapter 5. Genetics: Why All Cats Are Tabbies. Chapter 6. The Human-Cat Relationship: Benefits and Responsibilities. PART 2 Behavior: Understanding the Domestic Cat. Chapter 7. Developmental Behavior: From Kitten to Adult. Chapter 8. Social Life: Communication Patterns, Social Relationships, and Territoriality. Chapter 9. How Cats Learn (or Learning to Train a Cat!). Chapter 10. The Misbehaving Cat: Behavior Problems and Solutions. PART 3 Health and Disease: Keeping Cats Healthy and Happy. Chapter 11. Viral Diseases. Chapter 12. Bacterial, Fungal, and Protozoan Diseases. Chapter 13. Vaccination Guidelines. Chapter14. Internal Parasites. Chapter 15. External Parasites. Chapter 16. First-Aid Procedures. PART 4 Nutrition: Feeding for Health and Longevity. Chapter 17. The Cat as an Obligate Carnivore: Nutrient Requirements. Chapter 18. Providing a Healthy Diet: Cat Food Selection and Evaluation. Chapter 19. Feeding Management Throughout the Life Cycle. Chapter 20. Nutritionally Responsive Diseases. Glossary. Index.


We analyze the validity of the adiabatic approximation, and in particular the reliability of what has been called the ``standard criterion'' for validity of this approximation. Recently, this criterion has been found to be insufficient. We will argue that the criterion is sufficient only when it agrees with the intuitive notion of slowness of evolution of the Hamiltonian. However, it can be insufficient in cases where the Hamiltonian varies rapidly but only by a small amount. We also emphasize the distinction between the adiabatic theorem and the adiabatic approximation, two quite different, although closely related, ideas.


It is critical to predict the rack motions subject to the seismic load in the seismic assessment of the spent fuel pool (SFP), because the collisions among racks or between racks and spent fuel pool might cause damages on the SFP, racks, and spent fuel assemblies. To predict the rack motions subject to the external excitation such like seismic force, several method, including analytical method, multibody-dynamic simulation, and finite element analysis could be used. The motions of the rack in the SFP is the resultant motion of the complex physics of the external load including seismic force, convection of the fluid filled in the SFP, and friction between racks and liner of the SFP. Thus, to estimate the rack motion subject to seismic load, the fluid structure interaction is necessary. Commercial finite element analysis software such as Ansys Mechanical (Ansys Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA) and Abaqus (Simulia, Providence, RI, USA) could be used for estimating the rack motions, because they support fluid structure interaction. However, it has not been reported how the commercial software predicts the rack motion subject to the external excitation, and different software might estimate different rack motions. In this study, as a first study to estimate rack motion in the SFP, the rack motions subject to several periodic external excitations were predicted with neglecting fluid effects using two commercial software Ansys Mechanical and Abaqus, and the results were compared with each other and with analytical results.


Patients with the metabolic syndrome have poor prognosis after coronary stenting. Mechanisms underlying this pathology have been elusive because of the lack of a large animal model of the metabolic syndrome.


Based on principle and methods of surmounted laser_beam guided instrument, the component parts such as target sighting device, laser and unit of guided beam forming etc., as well as the functions were studied detailed. Some simple computations were carried out. Besides, the guided process of missile for the guided instrument were also discussed.


Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate a flooded-rice yield forecasting method for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, using the SimulArroz model. Version 1.1 of this model and historical meteorological data were used, with six different scenarios composed of the following levels of field information: number of sowing dates (1 to 4) and number of cultivars and/or development cycles (1 to 3) during four growing seasons (2014/2015 to 2017/2018). The root mean square error (RMSE) for comparing the actual yield with the simulated yield for Rio Grande do Sul was of 618.3 and 1,024.8 kg ha−1, i.e., of 8 and 13%, respectively. The forecast of rice yield by applying the SimulArroz model and historic meteorological data for Rio Grande do Sul shows a good predictability, and the recommended scenario is complex 1, using three sowing dates per site and the three most representative rice cultivars per region.


In order to study the effects of temperature on the diffusion properties of TMETN in PEG/N-100, the diffusion coefficients were calculated and the diffusion mechanisms were analyzed at different temperatures by molecular dynamics and mesoscopic dynamics simulation. The results show that the diffusion coefficient of TMETN increases slowly at first and then sharply with the rising of temperature, which is consistent with the rule of high temperature accelerated aging test. The influence of temperature on diffusion mechanism mainly includes the three aspects: compatibility, fractional free volume and molecular kinetic energy. Firstly, with the temperature rising, the difference of solubility parameters between TMETN and binder increases, the difference of polarity increases, the peak value of hydrogen bond decreases and the position moves backward, which show system's compatibility become poor. Secondly, the rising temperature leads to the increasing fractional free volume of systems and the kinetic energy of molecules. These factors weaken the binding degree between PEG/N-100 and TMETN, expand the mobility space and strengthen the mobility of TMETN respectively, which result in the increasing diffusion coefficient. What's more, the higher the temperature, the greater the degree of compatibility deterioration, the more dramatically the diffusion coefficient increases.In order to study the effects of temperature on the diffusion properties of TMETN in PEG/N-100, the diffusion coefficients were calculated and the diffusion mechanisms were analyzed at different temperatures by molecular dynamics and mesoscopic dynamics simulation. The results show that the diffusion coefficient of TMETN increases slowly at first and then sharply with the rising of temperature, which is consistent with the rule of high temperature accelerated aging test. The influence of temperature on diffusion mechanism mainly includes the three aspects: compatibility, fractional free volume and molecular kinetic energy. Firstly, with the temperature rising, the difference of solubility parameters between TMETN and binder increases, the difference of polarity increases, the peak value of hydrogen bond decreases and the position moves backward, which show system's compatibility become poor. Secondly, the rising temperature leads to the increasing fractional free volume of systems and the kinetic energy o...


Guided by their DPPH radical-scavenging activity, nine compounds were isolated from soybean miso. Of these, 8-hydroxydaidzein, 8-hydroxygenistein and syringic acid had as high DPPH radical-scavenging activity as that of α-tocopherol. The antiproliferative activity of four of the isolated isoflavones toward three cancer cell lines was examined. 8-Hydroxygenistein showed the highest activity (IC50=5.2 μM) toward human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60).


Visceral leishmaniasis is a renowned neglected tropical disease responsible for affecting poor people in developing countries like India. However, the treatment options are very few due to resistance to first line drugs like sodium stibogluconate, toxicity and high cost of other available drugs. Hence, this is of utmost importance to develop safe, effective and inexpensive drugs especially from plant resources. Therefore, the present study is an effort to discover plants whose extracts can be used as antileishmanial agents in future. Three plants have been examined for their phytochemical constituents, antileishmanial activity and cytotoxicity. These plants significantly inhibited promastigote growth at concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 µg/ml against sensitive and resistant strains of Leishmania donovani and showed negligible cytotoxicity against HeLa cells. Therefore, it can be suggested from present study that these plants extracts and their active components can be isolated and further exploited to check their efficacy against murine visceral leishmaniasis.


International policies for mitigation of climate change provide a global public good and thus suffer from "free riding," i.e., inaction of governments. In 25 years of negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the regime has changed its character from a top-down approach based on mandatory emissions commitments to a bottom-up system of voluntary government pledges. At the same time, various initiatives by governments at all levels and private companies have been established, but most are limited to emissions reporting and exchange of knowledge on mitigation technologies. None of the alternatives has shown a higher mitigation effectiveness than the Kyoto Protocol. Generally, the transition toward a bottom-up regime risks a reduction of transparency and increases in the transaction costs of mitigation. Although it could give rise to a club of countries engaging in strong mitigation that could expand over time, it is unlikely to be ambitious enough to achieve the target of lim...


Tilt Brush, the Virtual Reality (VR) painting application developed by Google, is an impressive tool for creating digital 3D imagery, offering great new possibilities for art making and the creative industries. At the moment, Tilt Brush is still far from ubiquitous due to constraints such as the high cost of purchasing a VR system and the physical space required to run it. This means, on the one hand, that only a small number of creatives have the opportunity to work with this application and, on the other hand, that their artworks are inaccessible to most people, unless reduced to a 2D experience. However, if images created in VR were to be turned into holograms, the three-dimensionality of these productions could be preserved and experienced without the use of a VR headset, which would make them accessible to a wider public. This paper describes the process of transferring a project produced in Tilt Brush onto holographic format in order to obtain a double parallax hologram, and the difficulties encountered along the way.


Deep neural networks of training require a large quantity of effectively labeled datasets, and models trained with insufficient samples will cause a variety of problems, such as overfitting and poor generalization ability. Few-shot learning has been proposed to settle the problem, and the methods introduced in some papers have achieved impressive results. However, most of the methods have poor robustness due to the under-utilization of the global information and local information of the image. For solving the above problems, an improved classification network is proposed in this paper, which introduces two modifications. On the one hand, Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) is embedded in the network for extracting global features, thus the model can quickly suit various tasks. On the other hand, the image is randomly divided into tiles and represented as a set of local features, the Earth Mover's Distance (EMD) is employed to calculate the distance between embedded sets of two images. Finally, the weighted sum of these two parts' classification errors, is computed as the total classification error of the proposed model. Experiments are conducted on two benchmark datasets: mini-ImageNet and tiered-ImageNet, and the results demonstrate that our proposed method achieves state-of-theart(SOTA) results in the field of few-shot image classification.


The objective of this workshop is to share source code and tutorials that we developed for a multi robot testbed in order to enable participants to advance computer science education and research at their respective institutions. The testbed is built using commercially-available off the shelf components and using open source software packages. The workshop will provide participants an overview of multi robot systems and technical details underpinning the development of the testbed, including: technical specifications of the m3pi mobile robot and its capabilities, programming the LPC 1768 microcontroller, the grid navigation libraries, and the XBee-based communication libraries. We demonstrate how the testbed is being used to develop and test multi robot path planning in a grid world. We also present our initial development of a robot tracking algorithm using OpenCV.


This study utilizes a new nonlinear 3D-mapping technique and gives the first direct experimental demonstration of spontaneous X-pulse generation in a Kerr medium with NGVD. This work also shows how an ultrashort laser pulse collapses and then relaxes to a state characterized by a definite X-shaped spatiotemporal profile. This claim is supported by numerical simulations that show a good agreement with experimental data and outline the main dynamical features of X-wave formation.


The Transaction Processing performance Council introduced the TPC BenchmarkTM C in August 1992. At the time the TPC had two other OLTP benchmarks, TPC-A and TPC-B. The TPC continued to support and publish results on TPC-A, its first OLTP benchmark until December 1995. TPC-A simulates all the major functions of a simple OLTP system and was, until its retirement by the TPC, accepted by the industry as the leading tool for comparing systems. Since then, TPC-C has replaced it in that role and gained even greater recognition.


In the minimum planarization} problem, given some n-vertex graph, the goal is to find a set of vertices of minimum cardinality whose removal leaves a planar graph. This is a fundamental problem in topological graph theory. We present a \log^{O(1)} n-approximation algorithm for this problem on general graphs with running time n^{O(\log n/\log\log n)}. We also obtain a O(n^≥)-approximation with running time n^{O(1/≥)} for any arbitrarily small constant ≥ 0. Prior to our work, no non-trivial algorithm was known for this problem on general graphs, and the best known result even on graphs of bounded degree was a n^{Ω(1)}-approximation \cite{chekuri2013approximation}.As an immediate corollary, we also obtain improved approximation algorithms for the crossing number problem on graphs of bounded degree. Specifically, we obtain O(n^{1/2+≥})-approximation and n^{1/2} \log^{O(1)} n-approximation algorithms in time n^{O(1/≥)} and n^{O(\log n/\log\log n)} respectively. The previously best-known result was a polynomial-time n^{9/10}\log^{O(1)} n-approximation algorithm \cite{DBLP:conf/stoc/Chuzhoy11}.Our algorithm introduces several new tools including an efficient grid-minor construction for apex graphs, and a new method for computing irrelevant vertices. Analogues of these tools were previously available only for exact algorithms. Our work gives efficient implementations of these ideas in the setting of approximation algorithms, which could be of independent interest.


This paper illustrates the situation and challenge facing college Communist Youth League,put forward the basic ideas of the college Communist Youth League under the new situation and makes a discussion on the ideological education,services on students' success,innovation and venture education,social practice and campus culture activities.


The composition of a forest seed bank was estimated using two methods: (i) seed extraction, i.e., the physical separation of the seeds from the soil via flotation in a salt solution, and (ii) seedling emergence, i.e., the germination of seedlings from soil samples incubated under greenhouse conditions for 5 months. The extraction method predicted a density of 12 500 seeds∙m−2, while the emergence method detected 3800 emergents∙m−2. There was considerable disparity in species composition derived from the two methods. The extraction method identified 102 different taxa, with 22 species making up 99% of the seeds and 5.6 + 0.2 species per sample. In contrast, the emergence technique identified fewer species (60) but had more species per sample (7.6 + 0.2). Eleven species made up 99% of the emergents. Verbascum thapsus represented 34% of the seedlings in the emergence study but only 1 % of the extracted seeds. Members of the Polygonaceae represented 19% of the extracted seeds but less than 1 % of the seedling...


The best candidate materials for the novel solar absorber should possess a combination of properties including appropriate absorbance, good electrical conductivity and resistance to oxidation in air. Porous SiC and dense SiC were rejected for several reasons. Porous SiC has a proper absorbance but no electrical conductivity and poor mechanical strength. Dense SiC has modest absorbance and poor electrical conductivity. The multiphase composites, SiC-MoSi 2 , AlN-SiC-MoSi 2 have a better combination of properties, that can be tailored through compositional rearrangement of the constituent phases. Moreover, they have a superior oxidation resistance thanks to the development of a silica-based protective layer. HfC-MoSi 2 have a good absorbance, but too high reflectance and poor resistance to oxidation.


the main objective of this paper is to highlight the link between the quality of care and hospital logistics activities.Patient satisfaction is one of the major objectives of the quality of care, but also the satisfaction of healthcare professionals is required to ensure a good quality care. To improve patient satisfaction on the one hand, and the satisfaction of healthcare professionals on the other hand, hospital logistics could play a crucial role. Indeed, after identifying the elements that contribute to satisfaction, it turned out that numerous factors affecting patient satisfaction (waiting time, hotel services, etc.) and job satisfaction of healthcare professionals (work environment, availability of resources, proper planning, etc.),fall within hospital logistics scope. This relationship between satisfaction and hospital logisticsis clarified by the elaboration of an association matrix that establishes the dependency link between satisfaction factors in healthcare facilities and hospital logistics activities. Consequently, the improvement of the efficiency of such logistics is a great tool to increase the level of satisfaction for both patients and healthcare professionals.This paper was developed based on a concise analysis and synthesis of research studies that dealt with the following topics: patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, healthcare professionals and hospital logistics.


Special effect coatings have been increasingly used in many industries (e.g. automotive, plastics industry) over the past two decades. The measurement of perceived color differences on such coatings cannot be done by means of traditional color-difference formulas (e.g. CMC(l:c), CIEDE2000, AUDI2000) as they lack to consider distinct optical properties such as coarseness, glint and goniochromatism. However, there is a need to ensure quality and colorimetric accuracy when designing and processing special effect coatings. In this paper, we present a psychophysical experiment intended to serve as a basis for future work on a new generation of color-difference formula(s) for multiple viewing geometries (viewing and illumination angle). We are especially interested in assessing whether judging under a single geometry can lead to different results as judging under several (two) geometries, i.e. whether the sum is more than its part.


ROIHAN ADIYAT. Classification of Apis cerana and Apis koschevnikovi wings of bees using the Conditional Inference Tree algorithm. Supervised by HARI AGUNG ADRIANTO and BERRY JULIANDI. The wing of a bee is one of its biometric features. The structure of the wing venation pattern is a unique identifier that distinguishes types of bees. Venation structure looks similar so that it is difficult to distinguish by human eyes. The purpose of this study is to determine the key features on the venation pattern of bees and the accuracy of the Conditional Inference Tree method in classifying Apis cerana and Apis koschevnikovi species. In this study 19 branching points on the structure of the wing venation of bees are used as objects of observation. The data contain 89 wings of A. cerana and 239 wings of A. koschevnikovi. Each point on each species has been aligned sequentially by positions. Feature extraction was done by calculating and normalizing the distance between a pair of venation branching points. The feature extraction process produces 171 features. Then the classifier is trained and tested with Conditional Inference Tree method. Key features on the wings of bees are p77 (a pair of points 5 and 16) and p27 (a pair of points 2 and 11). Feature p76 (a pair of points 5 and 15) is an important feature used in the feature extraction stage. This method achieves accuracy of 97.78%.


We explore whether an investment in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is value creating for a firm's shareholders. We start by establishing a relationship between CSR, corporate reputation and shareholder value. Assuming that membership in a recognized sustainability index signals a commitment to CSR to shareholders and potential investors, we explore both the short-term and intermediary impact on equity value for European firms that were added to, or deleted from, the FTSE4Good Europe Index between 2006 and 2011. Based on a sample of 92 additions and 67 deletions, we perform an event study with three event windows, including a pre-announcement period, an announcement period, and an effective period. Our results provide no statistical evidence that being added to the FTSE4Good Europe Index leads to a sustained increase in a firm's equity value. Although we find a statistically significant decrease in equity value during the announcement period, the results provide no statistical evidence of a sustained decrease in the equity value for firms that were deleted from the FTSE4Good Europe Index firms. Based on our findings, we conclude that an investment in CSR to seek inclusion on a sustainability index, which requires corporate actions to comply with ambitious CSR standards, is barely creating nor destroying shareholder value.


Introduction Electronic learning (e-learning) has become widely accepted in both entirely online learning environments and in blended learning contexts (Mayadas, Bourne & Bacsich, 2009). In a broad sense, e-learning is used to describe the way people use an electronic device (usually a computer) with learning technology (LT; Rushby & Seabrook, 2008) to develop new knowledge and skills individually or collaboratively. Mobile devices with LT, such as PDAs, smart phones and portable computers, constitute various forms of wireless environments that foster two-way, real-time communications among users, as well as between the user and their context, and can have many functions to promote mobile learning (m-learning; Rushby, 2005). Since the early 2000s, new forms of mobile technology containing additional sensor devices have been providing new directions for technology-assisted learning, and this has led to context-aware ubiquitous learning (u-learning; Hwang, Wu & Chen, 2007; Yang, 2006), which enables users to interact and learn with sensors and radio frequency identification (RFID) embedded objects in their surroundings (Curtin, Kauffman & Riggins, 2007). Context-aware ubiquitous technology is continuing to develop and spread, and its applications have begun to influence learning in various fields and disciplines (de Jong, Specht & Koper, 2008).


There is a gap in understanding the sources of systematic risk exposure for East Asia airline industry. This study aims to fill in this gap using a panel regression of seven long established listed airline companies in the region. We find that only size and operating efficiency are positive and significant related to systematic risk, while airline safety is negative and significant and negative associated with the systematic risk. We also documented that East Asia airline's systematic risk are significantly higher during the 2000 Dot-Com crisis, but not significantly affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis or the 2008 subprime crisis.


The celebrated stable reduction theorem of Deligne-Mumford [DM, 2.7] states that, for any smooth projective curve C over the fraction field K of a discrete valuation ring R, there exists a finite separable extension L of K such that C⊗K L can be extended to a stable curve over the integral closure of R in L. This theorem plays a key role in the proof of properness of the moduli spaces of stable n-pointed curves of genus g. In its turn, the latter implies the following generalization of the Deligne-Mumford theorem (stable extension theorem): for any proper stable curve C over an open dense subscheme of a quasi-compact integral scheme S, there exists an alteration S → S such that C ×S S can be extended to a proper stable curve over S (see [Del, 1.6]). In [dJ], de Jong proved a stronger result (semi-stable modification theorem): for any proper curve C over an integral excellent scheme S, there exist an alteration S → S and a modification C → C ×S S, where C is a proper semi-stable curve over S. His proof is also based on existence and properness of the moduli spaces. Notice that de Jong's result naturally leads to the following two questions. Is it true that this result takes place for not necessarily proper curves C over S? (Of course, in that case C is not required to be proper over S.) And, is it true that there is some kind of a minimal semi-stable modification? The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions affirmatively, and, in fact, to give a new proof of the above results (including the Deligne-Mumford theorem) and of the new ones. First of all, we are going to formulate the latter. Let S be an integral quasi-compact and quasi-separated scheme with generic point η. An S-multipointed curve (C,D) consists of flat finitely presented morphisms C → S and D → S of dimension one and zero, respectively, and of a closed immersion D → C over S (the subscheme D may be empty). A morphism f : (C, D) → (C,D) is a compatible pair of S-morphisms fC : C → C and fD : D ′ → D. A modification of (C,D) is a morphism f in which both fC and fD are modifications. If, in addition, (C η, D ′ η)→̃(Cη , Dη), it is called an η-modification. Furthermore, an S-multipointed curve (C,D) is said to be semi-stable if C → S is semi-stable, D → S is étale, and D is disjoint from the non-smoothness locus of C → S. A semi-stable modification of (C,D) is a modification f : (C, D) → (C,D) in which (C, D) is semi-stable. Finally, such a semi-stable modification is said to be stable, if the fiber C s of any geometric point s → S has no exceptional components, i.e., irreducible components Z which are isomorphic to the projective line,


Summary The teratogenic effects of lithium on CD1 mice were studied. A dose of 15.5 mg of lithium chloride monohydrate in sterile water (Injection U.S.P.) was given each day for 2 or 3 days on days 11 through 13 of pregnancy. The mice were sacrificed on day 17 of pregnancy. The uteri were examined for resorption sites and the fetuses for malformations. The incidence of cleft palate in the offspring of mice injected on days 11, 12, and 13 was 15.1%; on days 12 and 13, 7.2%; and on days 11 and 12, 3.4%. Since the incidence of spontaneous cleft palate is very low in these mice, a teratogenic effect of lithium salts has been demonstrated. There was also an increase in resorption sites. The pregnant mothers did not show any evident ill effects from the lithium salt at the dosage given. The able technical assistance of Mrs. M. A. Wade and Messrs. G. Businaro and W. A. Stammer is gratefully acknowledged.


The invention relates to a microbiological process for preparing chiral Arylalkanols by enantioselective hydroxylation of arylalkanes in the presence of a microorganism host cells expressing the genes of oxygenases.


CHICAGO—Plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) in late middle age are independently associated with MRI evidence of silent stroke, according to an analysis of data from the Framingham Offspring study and presented at the AAN meeting here. If confirmed by other studies, ADMA may prove to be a useful new biomarker for the risk of subclinical vascular brain injury, said Aleksandra Pikula, MD, a vascular neurology fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University Medical Center, who described the findings.


Measurements are reported for air drag on fine filaments whose axes are oriented at oblique and normal angles to the air velocity. In terms of the drag coefficient C DN the data are fit well by the following relation: C DN =6.96(Re DN ) -0.440 (d/d 0 ) 0.404 , where Re DN is the Reynolds number based on flow normal to the fiber axis, and d/d 0 is a dimensionless fiber diameter. A wide range of conditions were tested: filament diameters ranged from 13 to 390 microns, gas velocities ranged from 22 to 83 m/s, and fiber Reynolds numbers ranged from 29 to 2120