1. Possessing kompartament-specific effect of the combination of Ginkgo biloba extracts or Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo biloba) and ginseng, characterized in that the Ginkgo biloba is present therein as acetone or acetone-water extract and ginseng - in the form of an ethanol or ethanol-water extract and (mass) ratio of the ginkgo extract to the extract of ginseng is from 1.4: 1 to 0.9: 1. ! 2. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that the (weight) ratio of ginkgo extract to the extract of ginseng is from 1.3: 1 to 1.1: 1. ! 3. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes ethanol-water (60:40, v. / V.), Ginseng root extract (Panax ginseng) and acetone-water (60:40 wt. / Wt.) ginkgo biloba leaf extract. ! 4. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes ethanol-water (30:70, v. / V.) Root extract Eleuterococcus senticosus (Eleutherococcus senticosus) and acetone-water (60:40 wt. / Wt. ) leaf extract of ginkgo biloba. ! 5. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that it also contains a certain fraction of the powder hawthorn (Crataegus), selected from the dried powders obtained from hawthorn fruit, leaves, hawthorn, hawthorn flowers or mixtures thereof. ! 6. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that its action unit (tablet, capsule, dragee) corresponds to 10% -30% of Ginkgo, 10% -28% of ginseng (Panax ginseng), and optionally 1.5% -6% hawthorn the daily dosage recommended by the Pan-European Pharmacopoeia monograph. ! 7. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that, along with the usual additives / excipients, it also includes one or more phospholipids. ! 8. A combination according to claim 1, characterized in that it has the form of tablets, dragees, or gelatin capsules. ! 9. A combination according to claim 1, distinguished


In the development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source for EUV lithography systems by laser-produced plasma (LPP), mass-limited targets such as a micro-droplet were considered as promising targets for debris mitigation. In our study, the dynamics of debris from the tin (Sn) droplet target was investigated in order to establish the guideline for the optimum design of the mitigation system. The Sn micro-droplet targets used in the experiment were made with a help of pulsed-laser. The behaviors of the Sn atoms from the droplet target irradiated by the Nd:YAG laser were investigated using the laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging method. Sn atoms were observed even from a small amount target such as several ten µm droplets, indicating the droplet of this size was not ionized completely by the single pulse of Nd:YAG laser. Furthermore, the ablation dynamics of the irradiated droplet was observed by a high-speed time-resolved imaging camera simultaneously with the LIF imaging.


The coronavirus pandemic has induced an increase in remote activity. Prior research shows that a variety of K-12 educational practices, public preferences, policies, and outcomes have changed as a result of the pandemic. This paper extends the literature on the impact of coronavirus on education to solve for the lack of analysis on professional certifications and other unaccredited postsecondary credentials. This paper investigates the results of an original online questionnaire (n = 350) to understand the effects of COVID-19 on support for alternative postsecondary learning. Respondents are U.S. citizens over the age of 18. Cross-sectional analysis using ordinary least squares (OLS) and Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares (IRLS) indicates that individual perception of a large negative impact from coronavirus is significantly correlated with higher favorability to alternative credentials. Analysis indicates that important control factors include industry, ethnicity, and state of residence. Age, gender, income, and level of education are insignificant.


The threat of hurricanes to the security and resiliency of power systems is increasing with climate change and global warming. Due to the complex relationship between the hurricane disaster and power outages, it is difficult for power system operators to predict outages accurately and allocate emergency supplies in advance. Therefore, establishing an efficient and effective approach to forecast power outage distribution is critical for hurricane mitigation and loss reduction. This paper proposes a machine-learning based prediction methodology based on the realistic historical hurricane outage data. The proposed methodology includes two parts: (1) rectifying gust via the power law, and (2) configuring stacked model based on machine learning algorithms and metrics optimization. In particular, the proposed gust rectification algorithm can improve the interpolation precision effectively. By implementing this configuration, the stacked model has a much better performance than the single model in the stacking processing. This model is trained by a comprehensive data set that consists of the information of hurricanes, power systems, and geography. In the case study, the realistic data of two historical hurricanes is applied to verify the developed model. The results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can improve the performance of power outage prediction effectively.


The invention discloses a constant pressure valve and a seepage experimental system. The constant pressure valve comprises a valve body which is internally provided with a valve chest. The valve chest is internally provided with a valve plug. One end of the valve plug is provided with a pressure controlling mouth and the other end of the valve plug is provided with a straight-through transfusion mouth. The side wall of the valve body is provided with a side-through transfusion mouth. The valve plug can slide between the pressure controlling mouth and the straight-through transfusion mouth. One end of the valve plug which is opposite to straight-through transfusion mouth is provided with a core hole. One side which is opposite to side-through transfusion mouth is provided with a wedge groove. The core hole is communicated with the wedge groove. The seepage experimental system can provide the required given pressures by a constant static pressure device and respectively controls the seepage pressure of an inlet and a back mouth of a coal rock sample by an entrance pressure valve and a back-pressure valve, thus achieving that the differential pressures of two end faces of the sample is constant and realizing the seepage experimental research of gas-liquid medium in coal rock in the different pressures and differential pressures.


From the Publisher:
The World Wide Web is loaded with graphics. All of the major browsers support a variety of graphics formats, and millions of images are available for downloading. Getting your hands on these images and viewing them, however, can be a nightmare. This introductory guide explains the most common graphic file formats encountered on the Web and helps you translate them into a format your computer can use. Although this book focuses on the three main graphic file formats - GIFs, JPEGs, and BMPs - you'll find many more covered in detail in the first section of the guide. If you want to re-size, colorize, or otherwise alter your images, you'll find helpful information in the second section, Viewing and Editing Graphics. You'll also find a chapter devoted to Graphic Workshop for Windows, the program that's on the accompanying disk. Bestselling author Judi N. Fernandez addresses uploading and downloading graphics - in a straight-forward and clear style - in the third section of the guide. And when you're ready to show off some of your own stuff, you'll find handy tips for displaying graphics on your own Web page.


The horizontal cells of the cat and rabbit retina have been studied with silver impregnation of whole, flat retinal preparations. In both mammals, the presence of two different types of horizontal cells have been identified: ( a ) a symmetrical star-shaped cell in which all the dendrites are of approximately equal length and ( b ) an asymmetrical horizontal cell. Typical axons were not observed in either cell type. The ratio of these two types of horizontal cells was different in the two species studied. The proportion of symmetrical to asymmetrical cells was 25:1 and 1:1 in the cat and rabbit, respectively. Another difference between these two mammals was the larger diameter of the dendritic field in the rabbit retina for both symmetrical and asymmetrical cells. Otherwise the horizontal cells in these two species shared some similarities. The densities of the horizontal cells in the peripheral, peripapillary, and area centralis zones were comparable. Furthermore, the size of the cell body and dendritic field of the horizontal cells in each species varied depending on the retinal region surveyed.


Education is the most neglected social/service sector in most of the third word countries including Pakistan. Among education sector, the share of special needs education is too pathetic to describe. The educational and rehabilitation services provided to disabled children were not worth mentioning in Pakistan at the time of its creation. After independence, Pakistan had to face some serious challenges, due to which no proper emphasis was given to special education and even education. Among other reasons, lack of resources, financial as well as human, was the major one in this context. The need and importance of special education was felt in different educational policies of Pakistan in different times. At the first time, in its report, the Commission on National Education (1959) highlighted the importance of special education. After that the Education Policy (1972) and the National Policy and Implementation Programme (1979) gave some importance to this sector. The same was also reflected in different medium-term (five-year) plans. This was felt more seriously when the Directorate General of Special Education, Islamabad formulated a draft National Policy for Special Education in 1986 and revised it in 1988 to bring it in line with the emerging needs of special/disabled population. After that a special education policy was launched in 1999. Recently, Government of Pakistan has launched a new National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2002, which is dynamically being implemented. The present study highlights the focus given to special education in the educational as well as special education policies of Pakistan and its reflection in different five-year plans.


The invention will now be described a LED lighting module (1) including an LED element 10, the electromagnetic drive structure 30 and the heat sink 20 for driving the LED elements 10. The heat sink 20 is formed with a casing (casing) for electromagnetic drive structure (30), LED element 10, a large number of first reference elements for coupling in a predetermined direction in the heat sink 20 ( 27) having, it includes a socket (receptacle) on the front (F in the heat sink 20). The heat sink 20 also, and the cavity (28) to enclose at least part of the electromagnetic drive structure 30, a large number for coupling the LED light module 10 to the second optical device (70, 70 ') the first comprises the second reference element (22). The present invention also describes an illumination assembly (80, 80 ') containing such an LED lighting module (1). LED device, an electronic driving structure, a heat sink, LED light module, an optical device, the illumination assembly


We present new randomized algorithms that improve the complexity of the classic $(\Delta+1)$-coloring problem, and its generalization $(\Delta+1)$-list-coloring, in three well-studied models of distributed, parallel, and centralized computation: Distributed Congested Clique: We present an $O(1)$-round randomized algorithm for $(\Delta+1)$-list coloring in the congested clique model of distributed computing. This settles the asymptotic complexity of this problem. It moreover improves upon the $O(\log^\ast \Delta)$-round randomized algorithms of Parter and Su [DISC'18] and $O((\log\log \Delta)\cdot \log^\ast \Delta)$-round randomized algorithm of Parter [ICALP'18]. Massively Parallel Computation: We present a $(\Delta+1)$-list coloring algorithm with round complexity $O(\sqrt{\log\log n})$ in the Massively Parallel Computation (MPC) model with strongly sublinear memory per machine. This algorithm uses a memory of $O(n^{\alpha})$ per machine, for any desirable constant $\alpha>0$, and a total memory of $\widetilde{O}(m)$, where $m$ is the size of the graph. Notably, this is the first coloring algorithm with sublogarithmic round complexity, in the sublinear memory regime of MPC. For the quasilinear memory regime of MPC, an $O(1)$-round algorithm was given very recently by Assadi et al. [SODA'19]. Centralized Local Computation: We show that $(\Delta+1)$-list coloring can be solved with $\Delta^{O(1)} \cdot O(\log n)$ query complexity, in the centralized local computation model. The previous state-of-the-art for $(\Delta+1)$-list coloring in the centralized local computation model are based on simulation of known LOCAL algorithms.


The present invention relates to a system and a process for analyzing a liquid sample. The invention relates to an automatic system which comprises a plurality of analyzers for analyzing the liquid sample. The system comprises the following components: a first analyzer which comprises a first pipettor; a second analyzer which comprises a second pipettor; a sampling unit which is used for receiving at least one primary vessel that comprises the sample and at least one secondary vessel that is used for receiving equal portions of the sample contained in the primary vessel; and a controller which is set for controlling the first analyzer and the second analyzer. The invention further relates to a process for analyzing the liquid sample through using the first analyzer which is related with at least one first analysis method and a second analyzer that is related with at least one second analysis method. The first analysis method is more sensitive than the second analysis method in cross contamination of the sample. The invention also relates to the methods for processing the liquid sample.


Identity in sports forms a key stage in which globalization is both constituted and resisted and where various contentions and nuanced dynamics remain to be unpacked. In this paper, we examined the media's ability, from China and the US separately, to construct and deconstruct the national identity of a naturalized athlete, Eileen Gu (Gu Ailing), an American-born Chinese athlete, during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. By combining frame analysis with critical discourse analysis (CDA), salient differences were found in terms of the media frames and discourses used by China and the US in their adoption and interpretations of "sports role", "ethnic role", "social role", and "entertainment role". Furthermore, we pointed out that the national media from both countries simultaneously attempt to legitimize their stance on Gu's national identity and stress the maximization of each nation's own interest. The findings shed light on our existing understanding of the complex identity of naturalized athletes in the context of globalization and argue that media discourses, as constructed by the two countries, remain deeply rooted in an overdetermined East-West binary.


This paper addresses the event-based leader-following consensus of a class of multi-agent systems with switching networks. Fully distributed event-triggered functions are proposed to select the sampling instants automatically. Detailed algorithms are given to design the feedback gains and coupling strength. The positive lower bound of the sampling intervals is captured to exclude Zeno behaviours. Finally, simulations are also carried out to verify the effectiveness of the event-triggered control scheme.


An important force which has continued to drive HPC has been to focus on frontier milestones which consist in technical goals that symbolize the next stage of progress in the field. In the 1990s, the HPC community sought to achieve computing at a teraflop rate and currently we are able to compute on the first leading architectures at a petaflop rate. Generalist petaflop supercomputers are available and some communities are already in the early stages of thinking about what computing at the exaflop level would be like early 2020. For application codes to sustain a petaflop and more in the next few years, hundreds of thousands of processor cores or more will be needed, regardless of processor technology. Currently, a few HPC simulation codes easily scale to this regime, and major code development efforts are critical to achieve the potential of these new systems. Scaling to a petaflop and more will involve improving physical models, mathematical modelling, super scalable algorithms that will require paying particular attention to acquisition, management and vizualization of huge amounts of scientific data.


In order to monitor the concentration of nitrate in groundwater and evaluate water quality, a specialized sensor has been developed to solve the problems of the passivation effect, short life and poor repeatability of electrodes in conventional electrochemical detection, a novel preparation method of copper-sensitive film was proposed, and the method was combined with a microelectrochemical sensing electrode to detect nitrate in water. Microfabrication technology was used to prepare the micro sensor electrode. A total of 0.05 mol/L CuSO4 was added into the supporting electrolyte, and the dissolution and deposition of copper on the surface of the working electrode and the catalytic reduction reaction of nitrate ions were performed. On-line cleaning of microelectrode, in situ deposition of copper-sensitive film and detection of nitrate concentration in water were realized, respectively. An on-line modified electrode was used to detect the nitrate standard sample, achieving a high detection sensitivity (0.031 μA/[μmol L−1]) in the concentration range of 0–3500 μmol/L. The relative standard deviation of the same nitrate standard sample repeated for 15 times was only 2.48%, which improved the long-term repeatability of nitrate detection, and, at the same time, an on-line system was adopted that included an on-line detection system (DS) and a wireless transmission system (WS).


Coded computation is a framework for providing redundancy in distributed computing systems to make them robust to slower nodes, or stragglers. In a recent work of Lee et al., the authors propose a coded computation scheme for distributedly computing A x x in the presence of stragglers. The proposed algorithm first encodes the data matrix A to obtain an encoded matrix F. It then computes F x x using distributed processors, waits for some subset of the processors to finish their computations, and decodes A x x from the partial computation results. In another recent work, Dutta et al. explore a new tradeoff between the sparsity of the encoded matrix F and the number of processors to wait to compute A x x. They show that one can introduce a large number of zeros into F to reduce the computational overheads while maintaining the number of processors to wait relatively low. Hence, one can potentially further speed up the distributed computation. In this work, motivated by this observation, we study the sparsity of the encoded matrix for coded computation. Our goal is to characterize the fundamental limits on the sparsity level. We first show that the Short-Dot scheme is optimal if an Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) matrix is fixed. Further, by also designing this MDS matrix, we propose a new encoding scheme that can achieve a strictly larger sparsity than the existing schemes. We also provide an information-theoretic upper bound on the sparsity.


Objectives: Management of unfavorable locally advanced oropharyngeal cancer is a common therapeutic dilemma. Large prospective trials have reported poor outcomes after RT or CT-RT, even after an intensive therapeutic approach. We report results of an IRB-approved prospective trial for dose escalation in intermediate and high-risk oropharyngeal cancer. Methods: Patients with stage III and IV HPV-unassociated oropharyngeal cancer or smokers with high nodal stage (i.e., N2b to N3) and unfavorable biomarkers were enrolled in the study. RT dose to gross tumor volumes were escalated using stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) boost 1 week after CT-RT consisting of concurrent 80 mg/m2 Cisplatin / 3 weeks and 60 Gy of IMRT at 2 Gy/fraction with a strategy of protecting swallowing organs at risk (SWOAR-IMRT). Patientreported quality of life (PR-QoL) following re-irradiation was prospectively acquired using the validated MD Anderson Symptom Inventory Head and Neck Cancer Module (MDASI-HN), Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI), and Xerostomia Questionnaire. Acute radiation toxicities (n = 90 days from start of RT) were scored using (CTCAE) Version 4.0 guidelines and late complications by RTOG/EORTC Scheme. Swallowing functional outcomes were monitored using the Performance Status Scale for H&N Cancer Patients (PSS-HN). Overall feeding tube dependence was calculated from the end of RT. Local-regional control and disease-free survival were recorded. Results: 11 patients completed (SRS) boost initial dose level 8 Gy in 1 fraction with a median follow-up of 30 months (range 8-37 months). 16 patients received their (SRS) boost with dose escalation to 10 Gy fraction and a median follow-up of 22 months (range, 6-28 months). 5 patients completed the final dose level (SRS) boost of 10Gy delivered in 5Gy biweekly fractions with a median follow-up of 8 months (range 3-12 months). Acute G 3 pharyngitis was observed in 53% within the last 2 weeks of CT-RT and no G 4 toxicities were reported. 42% of patients who completed treatment without a feeding tube had rapid recovery to baseline functional outcomes in PSS-HN. Patients who required a feeding tube during treatment experienced a delayed and incomplete recovery of their baseline swallowing function. The 6-month, 1 and 2 years rates of feeding tube dependence were 24%, 15%, and 3%, respectively. Local-regional control and disease-free survival were 81%, 100%, 100%, and 81%, 93%, 100%, respectively, for Open Access Abstract


It was summarized the operation parameters of different stages in commissioning test in the paper-making wastewater treatment with aerobic process. Paper-making wastewater is difficult to be biodegraded. Its BOD5/COD is around 23.3%,and the nutriment such as N and P in the wastewater is insufficient. In this commissioning test,to increase the concentration of TN and TP of equalization basin,and meet microbial growth,carbamide and (NH4)2HPO4 were added to the wastewater. At the same time,the COD concentration of influent was decreased to 1 500 mg/L,the dissolved oxygen in the aeration basins was increased to 3.0 mg/L,MLSS was increased to 4 500 mg/L,and the sludge loading was declined from 0.45~0.55 kg/(kg·d) to 0.30~0.35 kg /(kg·d) gradually. After two months,the COD,BOD5 and pH of effluent were 450 mg/L,25 mg/L and 6.8,all the indexes could meet the designed emission standard.


(1 n Culture and Imperialism, Edward Said claims that Camus's fiction "draw[s] on and A in fact revive[s] the history of French domination in Algeria [...] " (181). Furthermore, Camus does so "with a circumspect precision and a remarkable lack of remorse or compassion" (181). As Said and others have argued forcefully, this is particularly evident in Camus's treatment of Arabs in his fiction.1 For example, in L'Etranger it is the murderer who comes across as the victim, rather than the Arab he kills. Likewise, in La Peste the plague takes place in Oran, one of Algeria's largest cities, and yet, all of the characters worthy of a name are European, and the city is virtually indistinguishable from any large, European city. Emily Apter agrees with Said when she writes, "Camus's name triggers not only a deplorable record on the Algerian War that rightly cost him friendships on the left, but also his systematic nullification of Arab characters, particularly evident in L'Etranger, La Peste, and the short stories included in L'Exil et le royaume" (502). In his review of Peter Dunwoodie's book Writing French Algeria, Neil McMaster writes of Camus and the other writers in the Ecole d'Alger,2 "Fundamentally, they remained trapped in the same historic/colonial impasse as the Algerianists and what is perhaps more striking is not the supposed break between the Ecole d'Alger and the older, conservative group, but the underlying similarities or continuities" (153-54). These ideas take on force when seen in light of a number of statements Camus made in writing or in public about the prospect of Algerian independence, in particular, one passage from "Algeria 58", an essay included in Actuelles III, otherwise known as Chroniques Algeriennes, published in 1958 (hence the title) during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). In the following passage, cited by Said, Camus explains his view on the status of Algerians of European origin in Algeria, and on Algerian independence.3 "Les Francais d'Algerie sont, eux aussi, et au sens fort du terme, des indigenes [...] une Algerie purement Arabe ne pourrait acceder a 1' independence economique, sans laquelle 1 'independence politique n'est qu'un leurre" (Essais 1013). Post-colonial critics seem to have created a watertight case against Camus. But the reality is not as clearcut. Camus felt strongly that both the terrorism of the Federation de Liberation Nationale (FLN) as well as the torture practiced by the Organisation de l'Armee Secrete (OAS, the French armed forces), should cease.4 As he saw it, "la justice" of terrorism made a mockery of true justice, since it could lead to the death or injury of


Abstract Water-distilled essential oil from leaves of Arbutus unedo L. of Algerian origin was analysed by GC-MS. Approximately 95 % of the components were identified among which palmitic acid (35.2 %), linoleic acid (18.8 %) and p-cresol, 2,6-di-tert-butyl- (6.2%) were the major constituents.


Two insect growth regulators (IGR), hydroprene and methoprene, when applied to wheat and corn kernels at concentrations ranging from 2 to 10 ppm, prevented the metamorphosis of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), and effectively reduced the F1 populations of the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.), the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin duVal, and the sawtoothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.). However, they were not as effective against the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), since substantial numbers of progeny developed in wheat kernels treated at a rate of 10 ppm with either of the compounds.


Soil nutrient and fertility are two important factors of the recovery of agricu ltural production in remote and impoverished area. The study of small watershed of Yiliang County Dazhai village is carried out by researching on soil fert ility of different land use , and evaluating the soil fert ility by comprehensive index. The results showed that the soil in this area was mainly acid ic and weak acid, organic matter, total nitrogen, total p hosphorus and cation exchange capacity was very high. Total potassium, alkali solution nitrogen, available potassium was in the medium level, while the available phosphorus was in the lower level. The relat ionship of soil fertility coefficient in this watershed was that the dry land area (1.32) > forest land (1.24) > paddy field area (0.96). It means that soil fert ility of dry land was the best, while soil fertility of paddy field was the worst, and soil fertility of forest land was in the middle level. Based on the "soil fertility diagnosis and evaluation of arable land in the South" (NY/T1749-2009), these three different areas were all in the second level. Effective phosphorus was a key limiting factor.


Apogonalia nielsoni, a new cicadelline leafhopper species from Mexico (Nayarit State), is described and illustrated. The color pattern of the new species is similar to that of A. germana (Fowler), whereas the male genital characteristics are similar to those of A. monticola (Fowler). The aedeagal shaft of A. nielsoni has a pair of short, triangular lateral processes that are absent in A. monticola. The paraphyses in both species are formed by a curved, Y-shaped basal plate and by a pair of narrow and very long rami. Apogonalia nielsoni has the arms of the basal plate longer than those of A. monticola. Moreover, the rami of the new species are dorsally or ventrally curved, whereas in the latter species they are approximately straight.


The cross-couplings between one Weyl graviton [described in the free limit by the linearized Weyl actions] and various type of massless spinor-vectors are studied with the help of the deformation theory based on local BRST cohomology. Under the hypotheses of locality, analyticity of the


Visual field defects (VFD) can be caused by a variety of conditions. Checking and tracking the progression of VFD is an important part of an eye assessment. Although the use of standard automatic perimetry (SAP) is very popular for VFD diagnosis, it limits the population because of its high requirement for patients. We used a video-watching task as a replacement modality, which precludes the long period of fixation and uses the on-screen gaze to replace the button response. We developed a simulation system to mimic the different types of VFD in people with a normal pattern.We hypothesize that patients with VFD need more eye movement to compensate for the unseen area. We proposed a metric that indicates the gross eye movements toward a specific direction and found a significant difference between the VFD and normal pattern. Furthermore, we found videos that show the unique eye movement pattern in different eye conditions.


Interactions between 63Sn37Pb solder and PBGA metallization(Au/Ni/Cu)during laser and infrared reflow soldering were studied.During laser refow soldering process,a thin layer of AuSn4 was observed at the interface of the solder bumps,its morphology was strongly dependent on the laser reflow power and heating time.The solder bumps formed by the first laser reflow was refowed again to form the solder joints.The AuSn4 compounds formed in the first laser reflow process dissolved into the bulk solder after the secondary infrared reflow process.The needle-like AuSn4 changed into rodlike,and distributed inside the solder near the solder/pad interface.


Objectives: To study and compare the effectiveness of conventional balance exercise training program and Swiss ball exercise training program on balance function in geriatric population. Methodology: 30 individuals were recruited and randomized into two groups A and B. 14 days intervention was given in which group A received the conventional core strengthening exercise and group B underwent Swiss ball balance training program. Pre-intervention and post intervention scores of Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and Functional Reach Test (FRT) was measured and data were analyzed using t test. Results: The pre and post comparison of TUG and FRT showed significant change in balance in both the groups (p 0.001). Conclusion: Both conventional and Swiss ball exercise program were proved to be equally effective in improving balance in geriatrics.


ABSTRACT Afield study of seven 50,000 bird flocks was conducted to compare; (a) a windowless broiler house with an intermittent light program, and (b) a conventional broiler house with continuous low level light as energy effective technologies. Total annual brooding fuel was 21 percent lower for the windowless unit. In every trial, the birds in the windowless end reached a higher average weight and achieved superior feed conversion.


Demand forecasting has played an important role in inventory management of e-commerce enterprises in the era of big data. In this study, in order to improve the accuracy of forecasting, a combination model based on the Two-step Clustering and Random Forest is proposed. The Two-step Clustering Algorithm is firstly applied to clustering data series into several disjoint clusters. Then, each cluster is set as the input and output sets to construct the corresponding C-RF model. Finally, the testing set is partitioned into the corresponding cluster by the trained Two-step Clustering model, and then the prediction results are calculated based on the corresponding trained C-RF model. By comparison with the single Random Forest model, the C-RF model based on Two-step Clustering is proved to outperform the single Random Forest model.


Equestrian Feats such as this - one rider balanced on three galloping horses - have long been the arena attractions of the Cape Show at Goodwood and its predecessor, the Rosebank Show.


Prepared for Florida State's conference on "Environmental Law without Congress," this is a sometimes tongue-in-cheek history of the Endangered Species Act, suggesting it is an example of "environmental law deism" given Congress's long period of dormancy.


A low-temperature-grown GaAs (LTG-GaAs) terahertz (THz) photoconductive antenna device with layer structure consisting of doped buffer demonstrated enhanced emission intensity and detection sensitivity. As THz emitter, a 116% increase is exhibited by the LTG-GaAs with doped buffer relative to its undoped counterpart at 9 V bias and 0.8 mW pump power with spectral distribution extending to ∼3 THz. As a THz detector, a dynamic range of 55 dB is obtained at 0.5 THz, which is 5 dB higher than its undoped counterpart. The device proved effective as a THz emitter at low operating bias and pump power while its detection characteristics are acceptable even at low incident THz powers.


This study categorized and mapped the value co-creation resources at Lekki Conservation Centre and Omu Resort Lagos, Nigeria, for effective marketing, projection of the spatial distribution of tourism products, successful service delivery and efficient customer satisfaction. Field survey was used to identify the tourism resources and facilities supporting value co-creation among the tourists. Spatial data of value co-creation facilities" locations were collected using hand-held Global Positioning System and their photographs were subsequently captured with a digital camera. These data were uploaded into Quantum GIS software for analysis. The map of co-creation resources was produced using GIS overlay, including geo-tagging each of the facilities location with its photograph to generate the co-creation resource map. A total of 21 and 11 recreational resources were identified at Omu Resort and LCC respectively, out of which 7 were categorized as co-creation facilities in each of the sites. Research concluded that more facilities promoting value co-creation should be added at tourism sites for destinations to have a competitive edge in the tourism market since tourists now enjoy being in control of how values are created for themselves through active participation and interaction with other tourists. Contribution/Originality: This study is one of the very few studies that have investigated and mapped out tourist destination attractions supporting co-creation activities in developing countries. Knowledge generated from mapping these features provides essential information for efficient marketing and enhances the competitiveness of tourist sites in the tourism industry.


This research presents an image retargeting scheme via content-based cropping. After evaluating the visual saliency of imagery content based on color differences in local areas, SLIC (Simple Linear Iterative Clustering) is employed to identify foreground and background regions. Cropping by following some pre-defined rules is then applied to remove insignificant boundaries. The resulting image is scaled directly to the target resolution if necessary. The experiments show that promising results can be achieved by the proposed design, when compared with existing methods, which are usually computationally expensive. This scheme may thus be feasible in video retargeting or applications requiring faster processing.


Abstract We presented arguments in favour of loosening self-imposed restrictions on advertising by psychologists (Shead & Dobson, 2004). Dr. Koocher's commentary on our paper suggested that these practices may, in fact, be viable. We view the implementation of these strategies as part of an evolution in advertising within the field of psychology, rather than a revolution that aims to encourage extreme business practices. A review of the historical changes in advertising practices by psychologists in North America indicates that progress has been slow (Shead & Dobson, 2004). Although regulatory bodies have tended to liberalize their guidelines concerning advertising practices, it appears that individual psychologists continue to favour a more traditional approach to announcing their services. Specifically, three types of advertising strategies that were once subject to disciplinary action are now typically permissible under current regulatory guidelines: 1) claims of unusual, unique, or one-of-a-kind abilities; 2) claims of the comparative desirability of one service over another; and 3) the use of statements appealing to a client's fear and anxiety if services are not obtained. Despite their official acceptability, the majority of advertisements abide by a time-honoured template that consists of very little distinguishing information about services offered. We presented arguments to suggest that each of the above three advertising approaches could be implemented in a manner that is consistent with ethical standards (Shead & Dobson, this issue). It is our contention that the movement towards more assertive advertising would be beneficial for both the psychologist, in terms of recruiting potential clients, and for the public, in terms of providing valuable information about available services. Dr. Koocher's response to our paper suggested that these practices may, in fact, be viable (Koocher, this issue). He also includes an "opt-out clause," however, noting that if these recommendations do not end up benefiting both psychologists and public stakeholders, then the blame can be placed on Canada. His response suggests our recommendations were revolutionary in nature. It was not our intention to revolutionize the way psychologists advertise, however, but to present arguments in favour of practices that seem long overdue. As noted above, the current approach to advertising professional services has changed very little in recent decades. The arguments we present seem in line with practices that might currently be employed had the discipline followed a more natural evolution. We were careful, however, not to suggest the deployment of distasteful and unscrupulous business practices that potentially benefit the professional more than the potential consumer. Other professions have begun to approach, or in some cases may have already crossed, the crooked line between assertive advertising and unscrupulous business. Today's marketplace has many examples of avaricious practices that aim to prey on naive consumers. …


Each year, new and more exotic emollients are introduced to the marketplace. Here, cosmetic correspondent John Woodruff reviews their usefulness in a variety of cosmetic formulations


The concrete-filled composite member has been used as a building column and bridge pier owing to the enhancement of strength, stiffness and ductility due to mutual confinement between the steel skin and the filled-in concrete. A series of compression tests of circular hollow steel sections and concrete-filled circular steel composite sections were conducted. The diameter-thickness ratio of the test specimens ranged from 45-140 to study the effect of local buckling of the circular steel skin, while the test results for the rectangular composite section were referenced for comparison. An ultimate strength formula for the steel skin was developed to account for the post-local-buckling strength reserve. The strength of the filled-in concrete strength was proposed to account for the strength ratio of steel skin to filled-in concrete instead of 0.85 c F or 1.0 c F for the filled-in concrete, and cross section shape, which consequently can consider the increase of filled-in concrete due to the confining effect of steel skin against the outward deformation of the concrete. The ultimate strength of the composite columns was predicted by a kind of direct strength method which was first adopted by the NAS (AISI, 2004) to be applied for the coldformed steel sections. The proposed direct strength method does not need computing the effective area of the steel skin and uses the gross area of the steel skin and the design strength formula based on the various test results. The direct strength method proposed was compared with the test results for verification.


Objective:To investigate the heavy metals contaminated condition of vegetables,meat and seafood in major shopping centers and farm product markets of downtown district in Guangzhou.Methods: After microwave digestion,5 heavy metals in the samples were detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.Results: 121 samples were detected,and unqualified rate was 19.0%.Conclusion: The unqualified rate of food in some farm product market is high,and some food exists safety problems.It is necessary to increase health supervision.


Compared to modern buildings, historical real estate features features that give them a special status: the architectural style of the epoch, the old materials or the built-in building methods, the high rehabilitation costs or the legal restrictions on their intervention. Therefore, in evaluating a historical real estate property, evaluators need to undertake additional, sometimes atypical, steps compared to assessing a modern property. Assessing a historical real estate property by cost has particularities that distinguish it from the assessment of a modern building.


The multiband behavior of the fractal Kaiser-Koch array factor is described in this paper. The fractal arrayfactors presented keep the same shape at several bands because they are constructed from self-similar curves. A Kaiser window as a generating pulse function is proposed for the design of Koch-array factors. Kaiser windows are characterized by having the lowest side lobes of all windows in the transformed domain. The result of applying such a technique mould result in an array current distribution having lower side lobes, with a reduced auto size after setting a threshold beyond which the elements are eliminated. Key Words— Multiband Antennas, Fractals


Composite are materials, which synergically combine properties of the matrix and fillers. An interaction of polymers – resins – with biological kind of fillers can optimize their mechanical properties in the same way as synthetic fillers. Biological fillers have many advantages, which include low price and satisfying mechanical properties. Significant disadvantages are different properties of fibers – for example, fibre diameter and strength – which are caused by the biological essence of this material. The design of new composite materials based on natural renewable resources is essential for an environment and is also attractive from an economic point of view. This paper describes the hardness and resistance to abrasive wear of epoxy resins filled with unordered short sisal fibers (3, 6 and 9 mm). Scanning electron microscopy was used to assess the fibers and interaction between fibers and epoxy resin.


recognized but not acted upon. The exhortation to activism has its own logic in a world, to use Adorno's words, that increasingly resembles a global factory. But returning to my students – one of my colleagues is writing a book on anti-computing – we critically discuss the notion of 24/7 availability – my students look anxious – they grasp their smart phones reassuringly – their digital sherpa to everyday life in the 21st century.


0n January 16, 1947, at his home in Christchurch, New Zealand, Henry Fawsit Skey, a former Director of the Christchurch Magnetic Observatory, died suddenly from a heart attack which overcame him just before noon whilst he was having a cup of tea with his wife.

He was born in April, 1877, at Dunedin, New Zealand, where he attended the Otago Boys' High School, and later the Otago University. There he gained a senior scholarship, and next year graduated with honors in Physics.


A 2-foot chord, 12 percent thick, symmetric strut was towed vertically in the high-speed basin at Naval Ship Research and Development Center (NAVSHIPRANDCEN). The purpose of the experiment was to extend a study of the effect of aspect ratio on surface piercing strut ventilation characteristics and to determine the effect of a strut surface protuberance on these characteristics. Increasing the aspect ratio increased the susceptibility to ventilation. A protuberance which extended a small distance below the free surface on the low-pressure side reduced side force coefficients and increased susceptibility to ventilation. The effect of the protuberance when positioned just aft of the leading edge was more pronounced than at midchord or further aft. (Author)


A functional analysis of the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) was performed using the schema designed by Sattler for analyzing the Stanford-Binet (S-B). The two instruments were then compared. Analysis indicated that, despite the high correlations reported between the two instruments, they evaluate the various mental functions in different proportions, except at the adult level. There were significant correlations among the rank order of the categories evaluated at various age levels of the SIT.


We examine the range of possible energy dependence of the ionization states of ions that are shock‐accelerated from the ambient plasma of the solar corona. If acceleration begins in a region of moderate density, sufficiently low in the corona, ions above ∼0.1 MeV/amu approach an equilibrium charge state that depends primarily upon their speed and only weakly on the plasma temperature. We suggest that the large variations of the charge states with energy for ions such as Si and Fe observed in the 1997 November 6 event are consistent with stripping in moderately dense coronal plasma during shock acceleration. In the large solar‐particle events studied previously, acceleration occurs sufficiently high in the corona that even Fe ions up to 600 MeV/amu are not stripped of electrons.


This study investigated whether or not recent educational reform efforts might be related to the level of academic skills of individuals entering teacher preparation programs. A sample of 1991 beginning teacher candidates (n=377) was compared with a sample of 1985 beginning candidates (n=358) entering the same large midwestern institution using Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and American College Test (ACT) scores as criterion measures. No overall group mean differences were identified between the two groups' ACT scores, but means for two of the 1991 candidates' CTBS language skills scores were statistically lower. The study concludes that educational reform efforts do not appear to have improved the teaching profession's previously limited success in competing with other professions for high aptitude students. Findings suggest that teacher candidates' basic academic skills may have declined over this period of time. (Author/JDD) *********::************************************************************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** Are Selected Educational Reform Efforts Succeeding as Judged by a Comparison of the Academic Skills of Current and Past Teacher Candidates? CO Fred L. Pigge and Ronald N. Marso co Educational Foundations and Inquiry co) Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 111 A Paper Presented at the 74th Annual Meeting Association of Teacher Educators Atlanta, Georgia February 12-16, 1994


This paper proposes an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing passive optical network (OFDM-PON) scheme by using frequency hopping at physical layer to enhance system security. The transmitted signal is concealed with frequency hopping pattern, which is generated by Latin Square. A 10 Gbps FH-OFDM signal transmission system has been realized over 25 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF). Simulation results show our proposed scheme has excellent anti-interference and anti-intercept capability.


At the end of the forties in the 20th century, the Cuban physicists and mathematicians lack of a favorable space to divulgate their scientific and educational work. The Revista de la Sociedad Cubana de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas arose in the year 1942 in response to this necessity.
In this paper we study the main characteristics and the journal evolution over the 18 years of its life. Moreover, we describe the content of the sections which make up the publication: Articles, Notes, Book¹s reviews, Posing and solving problems and Society news or chronicle.
We do this through the analysis of the more meaningful contributions. This analysis allows us to estimate the influence that exerts the Society and the journal on the rise of the physical and mathematical level in the country.


The effects of sub lethal doses of three plant essential oils extracted from Pimpinella anisum (anise), Eugenia aromatic (clove), and Ocimum basilicum (basil) on the physiological and biochemical parameters of the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius adults were investigated. The total carbohydrates, protein and lipid contents as well as enzymatic activities of acetylcholine esterase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase were measured. The LC50 values were estimated to be 0.391, 0.615, and 0.642 ml/kg grain for anise, clove and basil respectively after 7days. The protein contents of clove oil-treated weevils was significantly increased (0.067 ± 0.004 mg/ml), basil (0.81 ± 0.28 mg/ml) and anise (0.51 ± 0.018 mg/ml) treated insects as compared with control. Lipid contents were significantly increased in anise (3.92 ± 0.6 nM/mg) and basil (3.01 ± 0.77 nM/mg) treated weevils whereas they were significantly decreased in clove treated insects (0.22 ± 0.008 nM/mg) as compared to control. Significant increase in the amount of carbohydrates was observed in anise (120.495 ±7.1 nM/mg) and clove (113.77 ± 9.817 nM/mg) -treated weevils, but not in basil (89.33 ± 1.897 nM/mg) -treated weevils. Basil oil increased the activity of GOT 18.04 ± 6.3 U/l. In contrast, anise and clove oils did not cause significant change in GOT activity (5.53 ± 1.47 and 5.24 ± 1.55 U/l), respectively. GPT activity increased in clove and basil oil-treated weevils 95.74 ± 28.6 and 26.48 ± 8.3 U/l, respectively. Anise and basil significantly inhibited the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (0.0022 ± 0.0016 and 0.0047 ± 0.0014 µmole/ mg/ min), respectively. Meanwhile, clove oil did not cause significant changes in AChE activity (0.005 ± 0.0017 µmole/ mg/ min).


Background: Patients with a tracheostomy are a low-volume, high-risk population with long lengths of hospital stay and high health care costs. Problem: Because of the complex nature of caring for patients with a tracheostomy, it is essential to provide a standardized care approach with ongoing monitoring to optimize outcomes. Approach: A pre/postimplementation design was used. A formal tracheostomy care management process using clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) was implemented. Outcomes: Between April 2019 and December 2020, this process resulted in a significant reduction in time between tracheostomy placement and discharge, from 16 to 12.9 days (P = .02). Reductions were also seen in length of stay and incidence of tracheostomy-related pressure injuries. Conclusions: This project shows that a CNS-led care management process can improve patient outcomes. These improvements in patient outcomes resulted in a significant cost savings to the organization.


Awareness is growing that drug target validation should involve systems analysis of cellular networks. There is less appreciation, though, that the composition of networks may change in response to drugs. If the response is homeostatic (e.g. through upregulation of the target protein), this may neutralize the inhibitory effect. In this scenario the effect on cell growth and survival would be less than anticipated based on affinity of the drug for its target. Glycolysis is the sole free‐energy source for the deadly parasite Trypanosoma brucei and is therefore a possible target pathway for anti‐trypanosomal drugs. Plasma‐membrane glucose transport exerts high control over trypanosome glycolysis and hence the transporter is a promising drug target. Here we show that at high inhibitor concentrations, inhibition of trypanosome glucose transport causes cell death. Most interestingly, sublethal concentrations initiate a domino effect in which network adaptations enhance inhibition. This happens via (i) metabolic control exerted by the target protein, (ii) decreases in mRNAs encoding the target protein and other proteins in the same pathway, and (iii) partial differentiation of the cells leading to (low) expression of immunogenic insect‐stage coat proteins. We discuss how these 'anti‐homeostatic' responses together may facilitate killing of parasites at an acceptable drug dosage.


We investigate harmonic generation from H{sub 2}{sup +} molecules driven by intense few-cycle laser pulses whose linearly polarization axis makes an arbitrary angle {chi} with respect to the molecular axis. The H{sub 2}{sup +} molecule is considered initially in various orbitals with nodal planes. It is found that a strong enhancement of high-order harmonics (HOHs) occurs when the laser polarization axis overlaps with major axes of electron distribution in the active orbital, while broad suppression of HOHs occurs when the laser polarization axis is parallel to a nodal plane of the active molecular orbital. We show that this harmonic suppression is enhanced by destructive interferences when the nodal and the laser polarization axes are parallel to the internuclear axis, which leads to a shortening of the harmonic cutoff. It follows that the orientation dependence of HOHs intensities mimics the electronic density in active orbitals through the angular dependence of ionization and recombination processes.


Does the Government have the power to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union? Due to the United Kingdom's uncodified constitution the answer is not entirely clear. There have been several arguments that it is Parliament that has the sole power to "pull the Article 50 trigger". These arguments include the notion that case law tells us it is for Parliament (and not the Government) to withdraw from the EU; the European Communities Act 1972 displaced the Royal Prerogative in this area; and that because the Royal Prerogative cannot be used to abrogate rights it cannot be used to withdraw from the European Union. I argue that, contrary to these points, the Government, under the Royal Prerogative, has legal authority to start the Article 50 process.


In this paper, neural network model representing gain modulating action by human was developed for looper height controller in hot strip mills. The developed neural network model is that of the recurrent type neural network (RNN), which calculates the appropriate PID, gains of looper height controller based on the modification data of human operation as the training data. Further, learning algorithm for RNN model was developed to accelerate convergence of the gain modification process and to stabilize the looper movement. The neural gain tuning model was applied to the inter-stands looper height controller in hot strip mills. The usefulness of the developed model was checked through numerical experiments. From the experimental results, it was verified that the tuning action by human could be realized by the model. The model could also cope with disturbance such as change in roll gap because of its learning mechanism that may lead to the stabilization of threading operation of hot strip mills.


Since its introduction, GSGP has been very successful in optimizing symbolic regression problems. GSGP has shown great convergence ability, as well as generalization ability. Almost without exception, GSGP outperforms GP on real life applications. These results give the impression that almost all symbolic regression problems are easy for GSGP to solve. However, little to no research has been done towards GSGP hardness, while GP hardness has been researched quite extensively already. The lack of real life applications on which GSGP has more difficulty converging than GP creates a paradox: if there are no, or very little, problems that are GSGP hard, no research can be done towards it. In this paper we propose an algorithm that generates and evolves datasets on which GP outperforms GSGP, under the condition that the GP model remains as accurate as possible. The algorithm can also be altered so that it produces datasets in which GSGP outperforms GP. This allows for comparing GP hard datasets with GSGP hard datasets. The algorithm has shown to be able to produce favorable datasets for both GP and GSGP using multiple settings for the number of instances and the number of variables. Therefore, the algorithm proposed in this paper breaks the earlier mentioned paradox by producing GSGP hard datasets, thus allowing GSGP hardness to be effectively researched for the first time. Furthermore, tuning the algorithm led to some early observations about the relation between dataset composition and GP/GSGP performance. GSGP has difficulty converging when using only 1 dependent variable and 1 independent variable, while it is easy to produce datasets on which GP heavily outperforms GSGP with the same settings. GSGP performs better when more independent variables are added. Furthermore, a big range of the dataset has been shown to be beneficial for GP convergence, while a small range is beneficial for GSGP convergence.


Prosthetic heart valves are commonly used in the treatment of valvular heart disease. Choice of heart valve in the developing countries is an unsettled issue due to illiteracy and noncompliance related increase in incidences of stuck valve and anticoagulant related bleeding and as such international guidelines may not be wholly applicable. The aim of our study was to compare outcomes after mitral, aortic or double valve replacements with mechanical versus bioprosthetic valves. The outcomes will include incidence of mortality, reoperations, bleeding, thromboembolism, and endocarditis.


Fetching the Old Southwest: Humorous Writing from Longstreet to Twain. By James H. Justus. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004. Pp. xiii, 578. Acknowledgments, list of abbreviations, introduction, afterword, bibliographic note, index. $54.95.) Fetch n. A contrivance, dodge, stratagem, trick. v. To go in quest of; to steal (Obs.); to succeed in bringing (Now rare); to move to interest. . . . to close in upon, surround; to enclose, take in; to cheat (Obs.). -Oxford English Dictionary This is the source of the title of James H. Justus's study of Old Southwest humor. Justus closes in upon, surrounds, encloses, and takes in this subject in a substantial volume. He shows the ways in which the authors of the humorous sketches of the antebellum Southwest contrived to present the crude, disorderly, fluid life of the region by literary and linguistic stratagems and tricks. The book contains copious footnote references to the humorous sketches and a bibliographic note that includes both standard works and recent critical and bibliographic scholarship. While any reader will benefit from it, for Arkansas readers, in a region that still enjoys a vibrant humorous tradition, this is a particularly informative and useful book. The book has three sections. The first is a convincing argument that the "Myth of the Ruined Homeland" was only that, a postwar creation of southern romantics. European and English visitors wrote home about antebellum America as primitive, unruly, and dirty, remarking little difference between patricians and yeomen. And the Americans' heroes of this period, such as Daniel Boone, David Crockett, J. J. Audubon, or Johnny Appleseed, were famous for their unwillingness to settle down. Typically the antebellum South did not resemble the romanticized film version of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. Indeed, the Irish Catholic Gerald O'Hara, Scarlett's father, was more representative of the Old Southwest than of Old Virginny. In the second section, "The World the Humorists Found," Justus shows that the inhabitants of that world were not settlers so much as passers-through. The really settled townspeople established farms, businesses, churches, and other institutions, but the dominant spirit was a restless pursuit of wealth by speculation, financial chicanery, or any means but plodding, monotonous labor. In the fluid society of the West, men came from elsewhere or nowhere and could create a past to suit their present circumstances. A farmer might also be preacher or a carpenter. A man might claim to be a lawyer, a schoolmaster, a doctor-whatever the main chance dictated, a fact that worked to the advantage of the pranksters and con men in these humorous sketches. The authors themselves often adopted writing as an alternate occupation. Batesville's C. F. M. Noland was a newspaperman and politician, and Thomas Kirkman and Alexander McNutt were planters. George Washington Harris, among other occupations, was a steamboat captain and a railroad conductor. …


We consider some applications of the non-homogeneous second order integral equation of Fox. Some new solutions to Fox's integral equation are discussed in relation to number theory.


Concern about increased withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes Basin led in 1984 to a series of meetings among representatives from each of the United States and Canadian Provinces in the Great Lakes Basin which focused on means by which those jurisdictions could protect the water resources in the Basin and also assure that they would have as much control as possible over the future of Great Lakes waters.' The major result of those discussions was the adoption of the Great Lakes Charter2 which is briefly discussed below and described at length in the paper prepared by Peter MacAvoy.3 Among the various alternatives considered by the jurisdictions were the following:4 federal legislation to be enacted by the respective national governments controlling use of the waters and recognizing the interests and stakes of the Great Lakes States and Provinces; modification of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909;1 and adoption of a new interstate compact. None of these means was rejected, but it was believed that the path most easily accomplished, at least as a first step, was the enactment of parallel legislation by the various jurisdictions to recognize the mutual interests and responsibilities of the states and provinces in protecting the Great Lakes Basin.6 The minimum purposes of such legislation are development of information about new uses of water, agreement to cooperate with other states in permitting uses, and regulation of major


The purpose of this study is to develop the structural health monitoring system by using the bending wave propagation. We investigate the velocity of the bending wave, which is one of the characteristics of the wave propagation. In this paper, the rectangular aluminum thin plate is used in the experiment, which is a basic element of structures. The plate is excited sinusoidal at one point by the exciter, and the vibration data is measured by using two non-contact displacement sensors. The velocities of the bending wave are analyzed by wavelet transform analysis. Then we investigate the possibility of identification of damage by using bending wave propagation. As results, the velocities of the bending wave could be measured exactly by wavelet transform, and the proposal method was able to identify damage.


Introduction Several meetings (COMFIE 1997, SGPAFM 1996, 1998) have addressed the issue of how fish stocks should be utilised in accordance with the precautionary approach, yet in such a fashion as to allow harvests to be taken from the fish stock. The obvious problem with most suggested procedures is their reliance on fishing mortality and stock biomass or removal estimates and such estimates are only available for a fraction of most fish stocks. The following presents a method which may alleviate this and at least attain stability and improved future catches from a continued over exploitation. This paper focuses on two sections, firstly how to bring a collapsing fishery back to sustainable levels and secondly how to extend the scope of limit reference points to non age based analyses. As a minimum we will assume that a series of catches (Y,) and a commercial or survey CPUE relative abundance index (U,) are available. Furthermore, we assume that the stock has been fished quite heavily, has been reduced to well below optimum levels and is on a continued decline. In this case any control rule would at least have to halt the decline. This is the intention of the following design. A simple quote rule would set next year's quote as a function of this year's quota and recent biomass changes. Denote the current present relative change in biomass by • ,, which could for example be estimated with • ,=( (U,.. 1 -U0)/ but smoother estimates may be desirable.


Bamboo charcoal powder-based polyurethane (BC-PU) was firstly applied in biotrickling filter to treat n-hexane and dichloromethane (DCM) simultaneously. Maximum elimination capacity of 12.68 g m-3 h-1 n-hexane was achieved and exceed 30.28 g m-3 h-1DCM could be degraded. BTF respond quickly to the mixed shock loadings, and recovered to 76% and 100% respectively in less than 1 hour. By increasing inlet loading (IL) of DCM from 6.20 g m-3 h-1 to 28.36 g m-3 h-1, the removal efficiency of n-hexane decreased from 73.4% to 55.9% corresponding to the IL of 19.96 g m-3 h-1. N-hexane degradation was inhibited by high IL of DCM due to enzymes competition for active sites. The growth of key microorganisms Mycobacterium sp., Hyphomicrobium sp. was stimulated and colonized. BC-PU is an innovative and applicable bio-based material in the process of biological purification, which could be widely applied to treat hydrophobic pollutants in the pharmaceutical industry.


in improving the quality of an earlier version of the paper. As per the suggestions of reviewers, we have gone through the entire paper giving suitable replies to their queries and revised the whole paper to correct presentation errors, as well as add some figures to the supplementary material. We deleted some of the contents of manuscript which are repetitions following the suggestions given by the reviewers.


In this paper,a model based on data envelopment analysis is used to evaluate the production efficiency of 24 China's listed steel companies.It calculates the total efficiency,technological efficiency;scale efficiency of all DMUs and their scale efficiency return situations.It draws some beneficial references conducive to the sectors involved.


ABSTRACT
 The pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green, is a widespread invasive pest of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in Florida and elsewhere. We evaluated 3 cultivars of H. rosa-sinensis expected to have high ('President'), low ('Double Red'), and intermediate ('Joanne') levels of susceptibility to this pest. We found little evidence that M. hirsutus responded differently among the 3 cultivars in terms of survival, development rate, size, or oviposition period in laboratory tests at a permissive temperature. However, higher average fecundity (377 eggs per female) was observed on "President" compared with the other 2 cultivars (≈ 300 eggs/female). The Fl generation developed on all varieties, with similar cumulative survival rates of 71, 74, and 76% on "Double Red", "Joanne" and "President" cultivars, respectively. In greenhouse tests over 9 wk, feeding symptoms of stunted and deformed plant terminals ("bunchy top") were observed in all cultivars but increased more rapidly in "President", especially after the 4th wk post infestation. Significantly higher mealybug populations were also observed on "President" compared with the other 2 cultivars, reaching an average of ≈ 50 and 1,400 insect per terminal after the first and second generations, 30 and 60 d post infestation, respectively, on this variety. Although none of the hibiscus varieties tested were resistant to M. hirsutus in our studies, selection (or breeding) of additional cultivars tolerant to feeding symptoms may be useful in low management input landscapes for M. hirsutus infested areas, especially in conjunction with biocontrol programs.


The heat transfer process in the circular pipe was investigated and the effect of the gravity,the shearing force at the gas-liquid interface and the Marangoni strength caused by the surface tension gradient on the Nusselt number were analyzed.Both physical model which included the condensation fluid film and mathematical model based on the boundary layer equation were founded and then transformed into a non-dimensional form by applying the similarity theory.The results showed that the effect of the surface tension gradient on the condensed heat process could not be ignored.The greater the gradient was,the thinner the liquid film was.The bigger the Nu number was,the better the effect of the heat transfer was.


This report reviews literature pertaining to testing accommodations for students with disabilities. It draws on such information as empirical studies conducted by the Educational Testing Service and the American College Testing Program as well as policies for state assessment programs. The report addresses policy and legal considerations, technical concerns, minimum competency and certification/licenvtre; testing efforts, existing standards, and accommodations allowed in state assessment systems. A concluding section summarizes various concerns, among them that there has been relatively little empirical research on testing accommodations for students with disabilities and that there currently exists little consistency in assessment policy. Appendixes contain guidelines on inclusion/exclusion criteria from 29 individual states and guidelines on testing accommodations from 21 states. (Contains 49 references.)


Crystallographic, magnetic, and Raman investigations of the mononuclear $[{\text{Fe}}^{\text{II}}(\text{Hpy-DAPP})]{({\text{BF}}_{4})}_{2}$ complex are presented. Its particular feature is a two-step thermal spin conversion in spite of a unique symmetry-independent iron site per unit cell. The plateau around 140 K is associated with a symmetry breaking visible by the appearance of weak $(0k0)$ $k$ odd Bragg peaks. Symmetries of the high-temperature high-spin state and of the low-temperature low-spin state are both monoclinic $P{2}_{1}/c$, so that the symmetry breaking on the plateau is associated with a reentrant phase transition. It is discussed in relation with Ising-type microscopic models. At the plateau level, the two symmetry-independent molecules differ both by their spin state and the conformation (chair versus twist-boat) of one metallocycle. At low-temperature photoinduced phenomena have been investigated: a partial phototransformation [light-induced excited spin-state trapping (LIESST) effect] is observed under visible red irradiation. Raman spectroscopy shows that the molecular photoinduced state is the high-spin one. Nevertheless, as no macroscopic symmetry breaking is observed, the unique average cationic $[{\text{Fe}}^{\text{II}}(\text{Hpy-DAPP})]$ state of the unit cell is intermediate between pure low-spin and high-spin states and presents a conformational disorder for one metallocycle. Reverse-LIESST has also been evidenced using near infrared excitation. Thus, the mononuclear $[\text{Fe}(\text{Hpy-DAPP})]{({\text{BF}}_{4})}_{2}$ compound offers the opportunity to discuss the interplay between spin conversion, molecular conformational change, and ordering processes.


1. Alexander K.C. Leung, MD*
2. Benjamin Barankin, MD†
3. Kin Fon Leong, MD‡

1. *Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

2. †Toronto Dermatology Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

3. ‡Pediatric Institute, Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A 6-week-old girl presents with recurrent generalized bullae and erosions since 1 week of age. The parents relate that the infant has tense bullae form after trivial physical trauma. The infant was born to a 24-year-old gravida 2, para 1 mother at 38 weeks' gestation after an uncomplicated pregnancy and a normal vaginal delivery. Apgar scores were 7 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. Birthweight was 2,800 g, and length was 50.5 cm. Her parents are nonconsanguineous and healthy. There is no family history of atopy or similar skin diseases. The infant is exclusively breastfed. She has a history of intermittent flushing episodes.

Physical examination reveals multiple tense vesicles, bullae, erosions, and crusted lesions at different stages of their evolution over the trunk, extremities, face, and scalp (Figs 1–3). The skin is diffusely thickened, with a leather grain feel and varying degrees of erythroderma. Gentle rubbing or stroking of the skin results in a wheal with a surrounding erythematous flare (Darier sign). The rest of the physical examination findings are normal. In particular, there is no hepatosplenomegaly or palpable lymphadenopathy.

Figure 1.
Multiple bullae and erosions with diffuse thickening and erythema of the skin on the trunk and face.

Figure 2.
Bullous lesions and erosions with diffuse thickening and erythema of the skin on the right groin and …


Candidate backfill materials such as montmorillonite and clinoptilolite with and without the presence of simulated nuclear waste solids such as borosilicate glass, glass ceramic, sintered ceramic and supercalcine ceramic were investigated under repository simulating conditions (=300°C and 30 MPa). Experiments were conducted under semi-wet as well as wet repository conditions. Montmorillonite and clinoptilolite did not seem to alter under both semi-wet and wet repository conditions as determined by XRD. However, the above backfill materials reacted extensively with wastes under both conditions. They altered to feldspar (oligoclase) in the presence of borosilicate glass and to analcime in the presence of particular ceramics under both semi-wet and wet repository conditions. Alteration of montmorillonite could not be detected either in the presence of the glass ceramic or supercalcine ceramic under both repository conditions. However, clinoptilolite altered to analcime in the presence of glass ceramic or supercalcine ceramic under wet repository conditions. Reactions of backfill materials with simulated wastes immobilized waste elements such as Cs, Mo, etc., by forming new phases such as analcime, oligoclase and powellite. In fact, analyses of product solutions from interaction runs indicated that the presence of backfill materials during the alteration of waste solids served to drastically reduce the concentration of some radionuclides in solutions. These results suggest that properly selected backfills can provide the simplest and most effective chemical (or thermodynamic) engineered barrier in an intelligently designed multibarrier system. Moreover, they indicate that the μ, P, and T in the usual leach tests (e.g. Paige, IAEA, etc.) are such that results of such tests cannot have any value in evaluating waste form behavior under repository conditions.


To help understand and provide treatment programs suited to the needs of sex offenders more study is needed with respect to their personality characteristics. Three factors were examined: dissociation, locus of control, and alienation. Three groups of men were compared: 42 sex offenders, 26 nonsex offenders, and 42 men from a community control group. The MMPI subscales for alienation and the K scale, Bernstein and Putnam's dissociation scale, and Ried and Ware's multidimensional locus of control measure were combined and administered to the three groups. The sex offenders were found to be more dissociated than the other two groups, more external on the overall measure of locus of control and more external than the community group on the subscale of self-control. The sex offenders were found to be more alienated than the other two groups. Implications for treatment and further research are discussed.


Program analysis long has been understood as the analysis of source code alone. A modern software product, though, is more than just program code; it contains documentation, interface descriptions, resource data—all of which must be maintained and organized. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to maintain such non-program entities: By learning from the development history of the product, we can determine coupling between entities: "Programmers who changed ComparePreferencePage.java typically also changed plugin.properties". As a first proof of concept, our ROSE plug-in for ECLIPSE automatically guides the programmer along related changes. 2.1 Learning from History Shopping for a book at Amazon.com, you may have come across a section that reads "Customers who bought this book also bought. . . ", listing other books that were typically included in the same purchase. Such information is gathered by data mining— the automated extraction of hidden predictive information from large data sets. We have applied such data mining to the version histories of large open-source software systems. This results in rules like the following: Coupling between entities: "Programmers who changed the fkeys[] field always also changed the initDefaults() function". The initDefaults() function initializes new elements of the fkeys[] field; whenever fkeys[] was extended by a new element, initDefaults() was extended by a statement that initialized the element. Coupling between programs and documentation: "In 8 out of 10 cases, Programmers who changed the embedded SQL statement in line 47 of status.py changed the JPEG image igordb.jpg". The JPEG image is part of the product documentation and is a view of the database schema; whenever the schema changed, the SQL statements were changed, too, and the documentation was updated. Such rules can reveal invariants of the development process (such as updating documentation); they can reveal factual coupling through common changes; and they can be put to use for actual programmers. Figure 2.1 shows our ROSE plug-in for the ECLIPSE programming environment, actually working on the ECLIPSE source code: As soon as the programmer makes a change to fkeys[], ROSE suggests further related changes as listed above.


This paper introduces occurrence characteristics of coal bed methane in China, and analyses the influence of coal seam permeability on coal mine methane extraction. In addition, it presents the mechanism of increasing permeability by pressure relief. Lastly, the methane extraction technologies are discussed, and the applicable conditions of these technologies are analyzed. It is seen that choosing appropriate methane drainage technology, often in combination with several technologies including ground drilling, underground drilling, and pressure relief and permeability improving measures, is crucial for geological complex coal seam, especially low permeability soft coal seam.


A persistent concern in many Asian schools today is the quality of students' thought processes. Critical-thinking skills are important to meet the present global expectations and challenges. Often, students find it difficult to think critically and need a great deal of structured guidance when completing tasks which require higher-order thinking skills, such as argumentative writing.  Though important, argumentative writing is a challenging mode of discourse not only for L2 students, but also for a large majority of L1 students, because they too, think critically and reason logically. This paper presents and discusses an approach that uses the Toulmin's model of logical reasoning, which incorporates questioning techniques to provide scaffolding for students' argumentative writing and critical-thinking ability. This paper illustrates how students with low language ability were able to learn how to think constructively and develop appropriate critical-thinking skills for argumentative writing. Pedagogical considerations for enhancing the teaching and learning of argumentative writing for teachers and ESL practitioners alike are suggested.


When recording video data in a plurality of recording blocks on a recording medium while organizing the video data into navigation units, the present invention records the size of the first picture data in each of the navigation units expressed in terms of the number of transport packets carrying the first picture data. Alternatively, the present invention adds 128-byte header information to each of the recording blocks, in which case if a recording block contains the last data of the first picture in each of the navigation units, position information for indicating the end position is written in the header information. The present invention thereby can specify the data section of the first picture in each navigation unit precisely.


This paper uses panel data from Japan to decompose productivity growth measured by the growth of output per labor unit into three components of efficiency improvement, capital accumulation and technological progress. It then examines their determinants through a dynamic panel model. In particular, this paper focuses on the question of how inequality, trust and humans affect the above components. The main findings derived from empirical estimations are: (1) Inequality impedes not only improvements in efficiency but also capital accumulation. (2) A degree of trust promotes efficiency improvements and capital accumulation at the same time. However, human capital merely enhances improvements in efficiency.


The approach for velocities computation of marker movements on a sequence of satellite images was developed. The first peculiarity of the approach is in the usage of autocorrelation function for analysis of templates with markers to reject the incorrect vectors. The second peculiarity of the approach is in the usage of new criterion of template similarity. The method was verified on computation of velocities for ice drifting, surface currents and cloud movements. The mass calculation of marker movement velocities on satellite images were organized on the principles of parallelizing by MPI.


Develops the impulse control approach to the observation process in the ellipsoidal filtering problem. The ellipsoidal filtering problem can be considered as a deterministic analog of the Kalman filtering one, where a Gaussian noise is replaced by a deterministic uncertain function enclosed in an ellipsoid, and uncertain initial conditions are enclosed in an ellipsoid as well. Except for the filtering problem considered in Bertsekas and Rhodes (1971), where uncertainties satisfy the special integral relations, the examined problem is the only known deterministic one, where uncertainties assume general geometric bounds (belong to ellipsoids) and the obtained system of filtering equations is closed with respect to two variables (the center and matrix of an ellipsoid). Impulsive modeling of the transition matrix in an observation equation generates online computable jumps of the ellipsoid matrix from its current value to zero and, as a result, enables us to obtain the estimate with zero ellipsoid matrix for all post-jump time moments.


The driving support system is most important research areas in intelligent transport system (ITS). Moreover, obstacle detection is one of the key technologies, and we have proposed such system based on stereovision system. Additionally, to assist driving safely, it is necessary to extract dynamic objects and alert driver faster. In our previous report, we proposed dynamic objects extraction method based on Occupancy Grid Maps. However we found that it takes a long time to detect it. So, in this paper, we propose a method to analyze motion of dynamic objects used 6D information comprised of 3D position and motion of objects, and extract the dynamic objects faster.


The number of SMEs has increased from year to year. "Sunday Morning"
UGM is one of market that facilitate SMEs to running their business. However,
50% of small businesses fail at two years of first age. Therefore, it is important to
know the factors that affect small businesses. This study aimed to analyze the
determinants of business success among traders "Sunday Morning" UGM. The
variables used in this study are the characteristics of entrepreneurs, financial
literacy, business ability and business success. This study was performed on 80
samples using a structural equation model in the form of SEM-PLS.
The results showed 1) There is a positif significant relationship between
the characteristics of entrepreneurs to business ability, 2) There is a positif
significant relationship between financial literacy to business ability, 3) There is a
positif significant relationship between the characteristics of entrepreneurs to
business success, 4) There is a positif significant relationship between financial
literacy to business success, and 5) There is a positif significant relationship on
the business ability to business success.


This information brief discusses the benefits of work-based learning experiences for students with disabilities and the need to facilitate work experiences. It begins by examining employer perceptions of hiring and accommodating individuals with disabilities and stresses the need for refocused employment advocacy that is conducted less as a promotion of disability in the workplace, but more in the context of how the employers' enterprises, will be affected positively by particular workers and by those professionals who prepare and assist these individuals for the workplace. Competencies that benefit both youth with disabilities and potential employers are identified and include: (1) identify return on investment for companies who participate in work experience programs and hire youth; (2) identify employer needs and market student skills that complement these needs; (3) help manage any changes that might occur as a result of the implementation of workplace supports and accommodations; (4) identify workplace supports, interventions, and accommodations that also contribute to improvement of companies' overall operational and organizational processes; (5) interact comfortably and productively with employers and speak their language; and (6) make employer participation convenient through wellidentified and easy contact and follow-up procedures. (Contains 14 references.) (CR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U.S. TMENT OF EDUCATION c i fDEEP tional Research and Improvement EDUC. NAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality, Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. C &\10(ei


The relevance of the study lies in the steady growth of antisocial behavior of adolescents in the digital environment. Recently, there has been a tendency to transfer antisocial behavior from real reality to virtual reality. Modern teenagers belong to generation Z (they were born during the times of globalization, postmodernism, characterized by the systematic use of all kinds of gadgets, Internet space, 3-D reality, VR reality). The research is necessary in order to develop effective preventive measures against antisocial manifestations among adolescents in the digital environment. In our study, the concept of "digital environment" was clarified, the types, components, elements, opportunities and risks of the digital environment were considered; the concept of "generation Z" applied to modern adolescents was considered, the distinctive features of the generation were identified; the concept of "antisocial behavior of adolescents in the digital environment" was revealed, external and internal factors of antisocial behavior were considered; a study of the activity of adolescents in the digital environment was conducted (more than 600 older adolescents of Orenburg were interviewed online using a specially developed set of questionnaires). Conclusions: "digital environment" is an integral and unified digital cyberspace, including information technologies; representing an integrated communication environment. The digital environment for generation Z teenagers is a continuation of the physical world, through which priority development tasks are implemented: socialization, communication, self-realization. The behavior of adolescents in the digital environment is divided into prosocial and antisocial, which are based on the degree of acceptance or rejection by the user of certain norms and rules. The conditions for successful prevention of antisocial behavior of adolescents in the digital environment are: monitoring of social networks (conducting surveys among users, studying consumed content, etc.); inclusion of adolescents in socially useful activities; creation of prosocial groups and prosocial sites; dissemination of positive content; formation of a policy of responsibility in the digital environment.


This paper concerns the uniqueness and stability of an inverse problemin PDE. Our problem consists of identifying two parameters b(x)b(x) and c(x)c(x) in the following boundary-value problem
{Lu:=−b(x)u′′(x)+c(x)u′(x)=f(x),u(0)=u(1)=0,{Lu:=−b(x)u″(x)+c(x)u′(x)=f(x),u(0)=u(1)=0,
from distributed observations u1u1 (resp. u2u2) associated with the source f1f1 (resp. f2f2). For one observation, the solution is not unique. However, we prove, under some conditions, the uniqueness of the solution p=(b,c)p=(b,c) in the case of two observations. Furthermore, we derive a H\"older-type stability result. The algorithm of reconstruction uses the least squares method. Finally, we present some numerical examples with exact and noisy data to illustrate our method.


Background: The technique of alternating rotation has been used with NiTi rotary instruments to increase the resistance to fracture compared with conventional continuous rotation. However, it is still not clear what type of instrumentation could provide better results in the preservation of the original canal anatomy. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the influence of the type of rotation on canal transportation and centering ability using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging. Materials and Methods: In total, 50 mesial canals of mandibular molars with curvatures between 30° and 60° were divided into two experimental groups (n = 25 each) according to the type of movement employed with the ProTaper Next (PTN) instruments: Group A (alternating rotation) and Group B (continuous rotation). Canals were scanned before and after instrumentation using a CBCT scanner to evaluate root canal transportation and the centering ratio at 3, 5, and 7 mm from the apex. Data were analyzed statistically using Student's t-test; the significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups in canal transportation or the centering ratio at any of the three studied cross sections (3, 5, and 7 mm). Conclusions: PTN instruments promoted minimal apical transportation and remained relatively centered within the root canal, with no significant difference between alternating and continuous rotation.


This essay argues that computer histories contribute to collective memory and are especially important in nations where knowledge of the past has been erased or suppressed. Computer histories also can enrich national understandings of the past and contribute to ongoing debates over history and its relation to the present.


Abstract : A crisis relocation, as well as other types of civilian evacuation, imposes significant demands upon a community's public safety resources (law enforcement, fire protection, and rescue medical services). In planning for public safety operations, personnel must estimate the types and magnitude of these demands; and, if possible, establish procedures for reducing these demands to manageable levels. This Guide: (a) identifies factors which can lead to increased resource requirements; (b) suggests techniques for reducing these requirements; (c) suggests techniques for increasing the availability of current resources; (d) provides procedures (and a computer program) for estimating public safety resource requirements for an evacuation operation. (Author)


Micro finance units,such as rural bank,small loan company and farmer's cooperative funds,as an effective way of poverty,is the current financial deepening rural financial reform important practice,in rural financial reform at the direction of development.But in practice,there exist some restraining factors for their development,therefore,the author studied how the new rural micro-financial units could act sustainably.


Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of the TomoTherapy Planning Station's heterogeneity correction algorithm using an anthropomorphic lung phantom. Method and Materials: The Radiological Physics Center's anthropomorphic lung phantom was imaged and then planned using the TomoTherapy Planning Station version 126.96.36.199. The water‐filled phantom is comprised of a plastic shell containing two lung‐ equivalent structures, a heart structure and a spinal cord. The dosimeters were TLD located in the target and radiochromic film located in the 3 major planes passing through the center of the target. A median dose of 10 Gy was prescribed to the target with a helical delivery technique employing a field length of 2.5 cm. Results: The average TLD/planning system dose ratio in the center of the target was 0.980 ± 0.008. The dose to the target from the MVCT scan was only 1.05 cGy per scan. The radiochromic film was normalized to the TLDdose in the center of the target. The dose profiles within the target were in agreement with the plan. The preliminary results showed agreement throughout much of the irradiated volume, although the delivered dose was less than the planned dose in the superior and medial directions. Conclusion: The TomoTherapy Planning Station's heterogeneity algorithm calculated dose accurately inside a target centered in lung. Discrepancies were found in the dose calculated to the surrounding lung material resulting in an underdose. Work supported by PHS grant CA10953 awarded by NCI, DHHS.


Pasta is a popular food and its quality can also measured by appearance of flavour and texture. Present study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of pasta supplemented with different quantities of ginger powder. In the present study four samples (C, C1, C2, and C3) of pasta were prepared by using refined wheat flour and different proportion of ginger powder. Sample C was prepared as control containing only refined wheat flour (100%) while sample C1 (refined wheat flour 99% ginger powder 1% ), C2 (refined wheat flour 97% ginger powder 3%) and C3 (refined wheat flour 95% ginger powder 5%) were prepared by changing the concentration of refined wheat flour and ginger powder. All the four samples were evaluated for the physicochemical properties (ash, texture and viscosity analysis), nutritional properties (carbohydrate, protein, fat, and fibre), cooking time and sensory quality. On the basis of results sample C2 (refined wheat flour 97% ginger powder 3%) was found to be best in quality having more nutritional element and higher overall acceptability.


The leading indicators of business performance cannot be found in financial data alone. Quality, customer satisfaction, innovation, market sharemetrics like these often reflect a company's economic condition and growth prospects better than its reported earning do. More and more managers are changing their company's performance measurement systems to track nonfinancial measures and reinforce new competitive strategies. The purpose of the paper is to present the most important performance indicators that can be used by organizations. The paper is designed to provide details on how to measure organizational performance.


Sympathetic laser cooling of a single mode graphene membrane coupled to an atomic cloud interacting via Casimir–Polder forces has been recently proposed. Here, we extend this study to the effect of secondary graphene membrane whose frequency may be far or close to resonance. We show that if the two mechanical modes are close together, it is possible to simultaneously cool both modes. Conversely, if the two frequencies are set far apart, the secondary mode does not affect the cooling of the first one. We also study the entanglement properties of the steady-state using the logarithmic negativity. We show how stationary mechanical entanglement between two graphene sheets can be generated by means of vacuum fluctuations. Moreover, we find that, within feasible experimental parameters, large steady-state acoustomechanical entanglement, i.e. entanglement between the phononic and mechanical mode, E N ≈ 5 , can be generated.