The paper describes the aspects concerning the effects of the manufacturing process on the mechanical characteristics of some E-glass / epoxy composites. In this paper, the specimens were manufactured by reinforcing an epoxy resin with woven fabric EWR300 made of E-glass fibres. Some characteristics of this kind of woven fabric, are known: weight, thickness, minimum tensile strength. The hand lay-up technology is used to prepare the specimens with different pressures in the molding step: low and high pressure. Then, the composite specimens were subjected to the flexural test (three points method). Herein, the mechanical characteristics of the specimens were analysed taking into account the different manufacture methods used. A comparison concerning the results obtained in cases of the two kinds of reinforcements used, will be also shown.


The theorem of Fraenkel and Simpson states that the maximum number of distinct squares that a word w of length n can contain is less than 2n. This is based on the fact that no more than two squares can have their last occurrences starting at the same position. In this paper we show that the maximum number of the last occurrences of squares per position in a partial word containing one hole is 2k, where k is the size of the alphabet. Moreover, we prove that the number of distinct squares in a partial word with one hole and of length n is less than 4n, regardless of the size of the alphabet. For binary partial words, this upper bound can be reduced to 3n. Mathematics Subject Classification. 68R15.


Lossy image compression provides an efficient solution to the exchange and storage of large volumes of image data for various applications. The main design principle of a lossy compression algorithm is to discard visually insignificant information as much as possible while keeping the resulted visible artifacts at a minimum. However, these unperceivable defects significantly degrade the performance of a trained deep learning (DL) model. Therefore, to improve the classification performance of the models on noisy images, we propose a noise-based data augmentation technique called noise-cuts-noise approach. The simulation analysis have shown that the proposed method efficiently mitigates the performance gap on highly compressed images for example, the accuracy difference is reduced from 11% to 2% for classification of natural images. For uncompressed images, the model performance is either preserved or improved. In addition, to validate the usefulness of the proposed method, we considered a case study of multi-label classification task in chest X-ray (CXR) images. The model accuracy on highly compressed images with the proposed augmentation method increased 2% on higher resolution images while the accuracy difference reduced from 6% to 1% on smaller resolution images.


The importance of the degree of purity of a solvent used as amechum for voltammetric studies cannot be overemphasized Solvents commonly used m nonaqueous voltammctry such as acc4onitrile, diilletliylformaniid~~, chmethylsulfoxlde and pyredine are received from the manufacturer with questionable degrees of purity with respect both to thclr water content and to other cuntammants specific to the pnrttcular solvent Some of these contaminan\s may have adverse effects on the clectrolytlc hcliavlour of the compounds studied in them, e.g , intermediates, such as free radicals, may be destroyed without detcctlon, extra waves may appcIu-, wave patterns may be distorted, and control of proton concentration, 5o important in the study of orgdmC compounds, may be Imposslblc Various more or less effective means of purification lidve been reported for specific solvents, c g , ref I In some cases, lmpurltles have been detected, their voltammetrlc cllaracterlstlcs descrlbcd, and, because of lack of an adecluatc merLns of punflcatlon, the solvcsnts have been prudently used, pyridme 15 an example"-c. A small prewave to the pyrldmlum ton reduction m pyrldmc has been related to a predischarge wave present in the absence of protons, the bum of the two waveheights is constant 2 The magnitude of the prewave varies with the brand of pyrldmc and even with different lots of the same br<mcl Contrary to what one mtght assume, presumably better quality spectral-grade samples of pyrldme show, m some cases, a hlghcr prewave than ordmary reagent-grade solvents Since the detection of the prewavc and the postulation of its origin m lmpurlties, the authors laboratory has embarked on a concerted effort to remove and, If possible, to identify the nnpul ities Many meam of purlflcat ion, such as that mcntloneda for the purlflcatlon of pyndme for nonaqueous titrations, have been tried, these methods, although quite effective in removal of water and active pioton-containing compounds, leave the prcwavc material untouched However, a successful means of purlflcatlon has been developed, although the mlpurltles have not yet been satlsfactorlly ldcntlfled owmg to their very low conccntratlon 111 pyndme, e g., o z mM The method of purlflc&lon, which can be described as zone fractional crystalhzatlon, IS capable of rcducmg the concentration of prewave-producmg material below the detection limits of polarography, z.e , o OI mM Water and other lmpurlties are also removed Comparison of the electrocaplllary curves observed m the presence and absence of oxygen m pyrldme in various stages of purification contammg two different background electrolytes has revealed important effects due to the


A 0.065-mm2 single-channel calibration-free 12-b analog-to-digital converter (ADC) sampling at 600 MS/s in 28-nm ultrathin body bias fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) is presented. The selected hybrid architecture, incorporating pipelined and asynchronous successive approximation register ADC, demonstrates advantages and suitability of different design techniques utilizing forward body bias (FBB) capability of FD-SOI. Using an FBB voltage range of 0–1.8 V has enabled an signal-to-noise plus distortion ratio (SNDR) improvement of more than 9 dB. An integrated body bias generator ensures the required voltages for FBB. This paper demonstrates 61.5-dB and 60.7-dB SNDR at low and Nyquist input frequency, respectively, at 600-MS/s sampling frequency. The Walden FoM of 37.2 fJ/conv-step and Schreier FoM of 162.5 dB at 600 MS/s are achieved in Nyquist conditions. Speed robustness of the architecture has been demonstrated by achieving 57-dB SNDR at 800MS/s, >50-dB SNDR up to 950 MS/s, and 58.5-dB SNDR till 500-MHz input frequency at 600 MS/s.


ABSTRACT. Computer analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data provides a simple method for determining the semiquantitative mineralogical composition of naturally occurring mixtures of saline minerals. The method herein described was adapted from a computer program for the study of mixtures of naturally occurring clay minerals. The program evaluates the relative intensities of selected diagnostic peaks for the minerals in a given mixture, and then calculates the relative concentrations of these minerals. The method requires precise calibration of XRD data for the minerals to be studied and selection of diffraction peaks that minimize inter-compound interferences. The calculated relative abundances are sufficiently accurate for direct comparison with bulk chemical analyses of naturally occurring saline mineral assemblages. RESUMEN. Metodo para el analisis mineralogico semicuantitativo de nitratos chilenos por difraccion de rayos X. El analisis por difraccion de rayos X (XRD) es un metodo simple que se puede utilizar para determinar la composicion mineralogica semicuantitativa de mezclas de minerales salinos que ocurren en forma natural. El metodo descrito en el presente estudio fue adaptado de un programa computacional para el estudio de mezclas de minerales de arcilla. El programa evalua las intensidades relativas de picos de diagnostico seleccionados para minerales de una mezcla determinada y, enseguida, calcula las concentraciones relativas de estos minerales. El metodo requiere una calibracion precisa de los datos XRD para los minerales que seran estudiados, seleccionandose los picos de difraccion que minimizan las interferencias interminerales. Las abundancias relativas calculadas son suficientemente precisas para la comparacion directa con analisis quimicos de diversas asociaciones de minerales salinos.


An image display system includes: a plurality of image supply devices each having an image display section, and an image transmission section adapted to generate a supply image and to externally transmit the supply image; and an image display device capable of dividing a common screen area into one or more screen areas, and of displaying the supply image supplied from each of the image supply devices in the one or more screen areas, wherein each of the image supply devices displays a common screen area operating image to operate a display state of the common screen area in the image display section, and supplies a display image of the image display section to the image display device as the supply image, and the image display device changes the display state of the common screen area in accordance with an operation in each of the image supply devices.


Web automated scanners can help web application administrators to find the vulnerabilities without any cybersecurity knowledge. Because of convenience and efficiency, cyber attackers also use such tools to launch massive attacks. This paper demonstrated a framework that can be used to classify different fingerprints of automated tools, called DarkHunter. In this paper, one of the purposes is to analyze the payload features from different tools and use a deep learning algorithm to identify them. In addition, this paper designed a distributed scanner data collection architecture based on docker. Meanwhile, a state window method was proposed to split the huge raw sequence data. Finally, we evaluated the framework with the real data. The experiment showed DarkHunter could simplify the extracted feature by using Convolutional Neural Network and accurately identify scanners based on scanning state rather than banners. DarkHunter can provide an accuracy rate of 94.6% and a recall rate of 95.0%.


Although resonant infrared (RIR) pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was discovered in 2001 [1] and has since been applied to produce technologically interesting thin films and rudimentary opto-electronic devices [2], the mechanism governing RIR-PLD has been primarily a matter of conjecture. Understanding these mechanisms at the microscopic level has significant implications for process control in thin-film deposition, by linking laser parameters to film characteristics such as surface roughness. In this paper, we describe new experiments and calculations on the model material polystyrene that facilitate quantitative conclusions about these issues.


1. One of the fundamental problems in theoret ical nomography i s that of reducing functions of n var iables to a canonical form. In the case of n = 3 th i s problem has been thoroughly discussed by M. Warmus [5] and E. Otto [4]. In [4] ( c f . § 31 pp.293-301) an old idea of E.Duporcq [3] was successf u l l y developed. In another paper [2J Mj Czyzykowski adapted the methods used in [4] to the problem of reduction of a function of n = 4 var iables to Soreau form. In this paper an extension of the r e s u l t s of [4] and [2] to arbitrary n > 3 i s presented.


The crystal and magnetic structures of Fe1.141Te have been studied by neutron powder diffraction in the temperature range from 5 to 106 K and pressures in the range from ambient to ≈2.7 GPa. The p,T‐phase diagram contains three phases with monoclinic, orthorhombic, and tetragonal symmetry. The monoclinic phase was found to be stable for T ≲ 57 K and p < 0.4 GPa while the orthorhombic phase is stable for T ≲ 63 K and 0.4 ≲ p ≲ 2.16 GPa. The tetragonal phase is stable at high temperatures and becomes stable down to the lowest measured temperatures for p > 2.16 GPa. The monoclinic phase shows commensurate bicollinear antiferromagnetic order with propagation vector k = (½ 0 ½), while the orthorhombic phase is incommensurately antiferromagnetically ordered with propagation vector k = (½‐δ 0 ½). The δ−parameter increases linearly with the pressure for 0.4 ≲ p ≲ 2.16 GPa. Pressure‐induced ferromagnetic order was observed in the tetragonal phase for p ≳ 2.1 GPa and temperatures less than ∼68 K, depending on the pressure.


A novel photo-induced substitution in some charge-transfer complexes of toluene probably proceeds via a proton-transfer step in the excited state of the complexes.


Few would be so rash as to suggest an optimum world population. Most demographers would content themselves with the mere hope that human fecundity will keep within bounds. What bounds? Whose bounds? The bases for choice are many. In the individual they are highly subjective. At higher levels, they are nationalistic, ethnological, cultural or blatantly political. It would perhaps be a great step forward if these problems could be resolved in one particular territory where the economy has for many years been under close scrutiny, where agricultural productivity and land use are fairly accurately recorded and where the relationship between population density, on the one hand, and industrial production, education and the welfare services on the other have at least been studied in some detail if not completely elucidated. Such a country is Britain. In September 1969 the Institute of Biology organised in London a symposium on the 'Optimum Population of Britain'*. It was designed primarily as a platform for the expression of views rather than as a deliberate attempt to formulate a demographic policy. A diversity of views was expected-in fact sought and obtained. According to Miss]. H. Thompson, Great Britain was probably colonised in the wake of the last Ice Age. Population increase by invasion was a characteristic of the Stone and Iron Ages. The Dark Ages probably saw the end of immigration as a significant demographic factor although still important in a cultural, technologicalor political sense. In AD 1000 the population is believed to have been between I and 2 million rising to just under 4 million about the middle of the 14th century. The Black Death, in the course of a few years, cut the population by about a third. After some years delay, growth was resumed and in the middle of the t Sth century a major explosion began. It lasted for a century and a half. By 1900 the population of Great Britain stood at 37 million. By 1959 it was estimated at 54 million. One projection for 2000 put it at 70 million, revised in 1969 to 66 million (more recently 64 million). By some incredible coincidence, the excess of births over deaths is about equal to the number of illegitimate and unwanted legitimate children. The solution seems deceptively simple. But is it so simple? Even in a country where family planning and abortion for medical and medico-social reasons have official support, there are many socio-economic factors operating to maintain a marginally excessive birth rate. Is the food supply likely to be a limiting factor? The answer must ultimately be 'yes', if the population growth outstrips agricultural productivity. G. W. Cooke, in a detailed analysis of productivity trends, considers the possibility of feeding 54 million people (the estimated 1968 population) in the year 2000. He discusses confidently the likelihood of a considerably increased production of cereals and of livestock, envisages the possibility of growing most of the requirements in temperate fruit and vegetables but sees no hope for trebling the home production of sugar. However, in addition to declining to argue on the basis of a population of 66 million, he also reflects the misgivings of the economist Colin Clark about FAO dietary standards, which appear to place too much weight on Western-European diets. Clark has in


e21034 Background: Pembrolizumab (Pembro) demonstrated marked prolongation of 5-year overall survival (OS) in 1st-line advanced/metastatic (a/m)-non-small lung cancer (nsLC). Adjuvant Durvalumab (Durv), Atezolizumab/Bevacizumab (Atezo/Bev), Ipilimumab/Nivolumab (Ipi/Nivo) and Pembro-combination have since improved the outcome. Progress, however, came at high costs of the immune check point inhibitors (ICI). There is unmet need for cost-constraining policies. We purposed 1- Weigh costs of ICI vs outcome 2- Propose cost bundling at negotiable $450,000 - $550,000 thresholds, depending on the number of companies and drugs involved. Methods: OS, hazard ratio (HR) and survival ratio (SR), defined as (1.0-HR) were used. Chemo-drugs excluded, costs of ICI doses were calculated in US$. Results: Durv one-year costs in unresectable stage III were $130,956, OS gain 363 days and SR 0.47. Pembro one-year costs were $134,778, OS 474 and SR 0.37 in PD-L1 > 50%. At 5 years, costs were $673,890. Bundling negotiated at $450,000-$550,000 would save $123,112-$223,890. Costs of 35 cycles of Pembro-combination were $336,945, OS 339 and SR 0.51. Costs of Atezo/Biosimilar-Bev-comnination supplied by > one company, were $429,744, OS 135 and SR 0.22. Ipi/Nivo costs were $544,696, OS 141 and SR 0.34. Costs of Atezo/Bev and Nivo/Ipi used beyond 2 years exceeded $550,000 and multiplied by one more of use. Costs of Pembro-combination were 0.78 lower than Atezo/Bev and 0.62 than Ipi/Nivo. Pembro SR were 2.32 higher than Atezo/Bev and 1.65 than Ipi/Nivo. Lack of direct comparison undermined Pembro SR advantage. Conclusions: Costs of one-year adjuvant Durv, 3-year Pembro and 35-cycle Pembro-combination seemed equitable with their corresponding SR and below the $450,000 threshold. Pembro-combination costs were cheaper than Atezo/Bev and Nivo/Ipi. ICI costs of extended use tend to support the bundling proposal.


This chapter focuses on the challenges and possibilities of teacher education reforms, setting these against the backdrop of current developments in processes of teacher governance and accountability, and curriculum reform of basic education as well as broader political economy dynamics. A particular strength of the analysis is its rootedness in the views and perspectives of a range of stakeholders in Yangon and Mon State including teachers, teacher educators and state officials as well as concrete case studies of interventions and initiatives that highlight key issues. These include the challenges of teacher education reform; the diversity of approaches by local and international agencies; the different positioning of teachers within the formal and ethnic systems of education provision; the constraints and possibilities of addressing issues related to peacebuilding; and the dangers of an uncritical and decontextualized deployment of international models of teacher accountability and pedagogy. Introduction While focusing primarily on teacher education and reform initiatives affecting teachers, this chapter firstly locates these within the context of wider issues related to teacher governance and accountability. It highlights the legacy of centralised and authoritarian control over teachers' work and discusses recent initiatives towards decentralising teacher governance to townships. It also spotlights continuing inequalities in the distribution of resources to schools in remote and marginalised areas, as well as between schools in the formal and parallel education systems – including the monastic sector and ethnic education systems; and the resulting challenges experienced by teachers deployed to these contexts. Secondly, it reflects on recent initiatives to enhance teacher accountability again highlighting context-specific challenges and possibilities. The third section starts out by looking at macro level systemic issues related to teacher education. It clarifies the current avenues for training and professional development available to diverse constituencies of teachers in a complex and fractured landscape of provision. It then reviews current teacher education curricula, pinpoints areas requiring reform, while also highlighting the challenging cultural political economy context that shapes and constrains the possibilities for change. Indeed, since the writing of this paper, elections in November 2015 have given the National League for Democracy a majority of seats in Parliament. The findings 1 Corresponding author: Sean Higgins, University of Amsterdam, email@example.com reported in this chapter, like those of other contributions to this book, are based on data gathered prior to this change during the rule of the USDP government which is referenced throughout the text. Attention to the curricula of teacher education is followed by more micro level analysis drawing from four case studies of teacher education initiatives developed by international and local actors. These highlight a diversity of entry points and approaches and provide insights for further reflections on how such interventions address the peacebuilding agency of teachers, as well as their strengths and weaknesses in relation to achieving coherence, sustainability and context-responsiveness. The fourth section discusses an ambitious project for curricula reform at primary level with important implications for reforming teaching practices. The chapter draws on the voices and viewpoints of a range of actors including teachers, teacher trainers, head teachers, international actors, education officials and community based stakeholders – in the Mon and Yangon areas of Myanmar. It also spotlights various dimensions of teacher education and its wider context including issues of governance and accountability, curricula content, as well as the cultural political economy factors (as introduced as an analytical framing in Chapter 2) conditioning and constraining reform. Bringing these various lenses and perspectives together, along with concrete references to current and ongoing interventions that illuminate key issues, it reveals the complexity, challenges and possibilities of teacher education reform in contemporary Myanmar. A Note on Methodology: Talking to Teachers in Myanmar The research consortium spoke to 115 teacher related respondents including head teachers, teachers and teacher trainers between January and April 2015. Local researchers conducted all interviews in Burmese and, where necessary, in Mon language. They were aware of the reticence of teachers to discuss their work and feelings and the consequent challenge of engaging teachers in a dialogue. This may be may be understood as a product of teachers' experience of a centralised and authoritarian management structure, discussed below, which does not encourage teachers to express individual viewpoints. Teacher Governance and the Legacy of Centralisation In Myanmar, the historical legacy of a strongly centralised and authoritarian system of governance and control has and to a great extent still impacts on the way teachers and teacher educators are managed. This is especially true of the country's formal education system of teacher recruitment, deployment, and training (detailed below), while in contrast the parallel education systems including the Monastic sector and the ethnic education systems seem to be more responsive to locally defined demands of communities. Some of the teacher educator interviewees expressed how the centrally controlled system by the national government undermines the ability to effectively meet the needs of a wide diversity of local communities, while at the same time paying little attention to the needs and priorities of its teacher educator force. One informant pointed out that teacher educators were moved around the country in militaristic fashion "like an army" (int. 102). With current (still minimal) shifts to more decentralised forms of governance, data from Mon state suggests that township education officers felt somewhat more ownership over the monitoring aspects of teacher's work, feeding in to slowly changing forms of accountability. UNICEFs Township Education Improvement Plan is directly intending to support this shift, through building the capacity of township education officials in Mon state. As mentioned by one township education official, "now we are supporting the facilities for the children to have equality in education for all the children including the ethnic people and the Mon national schools" (int. 39). Nevertheless, some officers mentioned feeling rather constrained within existing centrally controlled forms of decision-making on other aspects of teacher governance (recruitment, deployment and remuneration), as it is yet unclear what authorities they can exercise with regards to teacher accountability. Furthermore, our data suggests there may be a possibility of the misuse of newly gained decision-making power by township education officers to be driven by personal whim, rather than strategic decisionmaking that supports inclusive collective needs. The Deployment of Resources and Teachers: Challenges and Inequities A related issue with regard to teacher governance, which is the perceived imbalance in the distribution of educational resources between teachers working in the state and ethnic and/or monastic systems. As further illustrated in the case studies in Chapter 8, our data shows how those educators in remote areas or otherwise marginalised positions (being part of a non-government school system) felt undermined by a lack of resources (textbooks, classroom furniture), as well as human resource matters (training, enough teacher staff etc.) (ints. 15 and 110). One informant from the monastic sector highlighted the inability of principals to meet the needs of large numbers of rural children who wish to pursue their education beyond primary level. Because of the lack of investment in middle level schools these students tend to drop out (int.15). A recent report (WCRP & HURFOM, 2015) on education provision in Mon rural communities confirms the low resource constraints, teacher shortages, and poor school infrastructure in village schools. Reinforcing the findings outlined in Chapter 6, our data also confirmed a gendered impact in terms of deployment. As many teachers are single women those interviewed attributed this position to their not wanting to take up teaching posts in conflict-affected or remote areas where they felt isolated, far removed from their families and without structures of social support (ints. 122 and 123). Others also identified this as a cause of the lack of promotion for female teachers to positions of administrative authority as they were disadvantaged compared to male colleagues who received benefits from having spent time in 'difficult' schools, in conflict-affected and remote areas (int. 123). In relation to the deployment mechanisms, teachers and teacher educators interviewed largely felt unprepared and unsupported to meet the challenges of being deployed by central level government in any place around the country. Firstly, it was expressed how in remote areas teachers may be expected to teach various subjects and at different levels; something for which they often are not trained. A teacher trainer pointed out that: There are some challenges for some new teachers. In some cases, if it is remote areas or faraway places, there aren't enough teachers, so they have to teach 3-4 subjects. So, if you are specializing here in biology, maybe you might have to teach history or geography if there is lack of teachers. So that is challenge. And also, you are preparing as a senior assistant teacher but there [are] no teachers at the junior secondary school classes, so you have to teach the subjects that you are not familiar with. That is another challenge. Sometimes as a new teacher, you have to listen and follow [what] the princ


The southern Jiangyin region is tectonically divided into two upheavals and one depression.The southern and northern margins of the region are buildup zones,and the central part is a plain underlain by Quaternary sediments.Difference is found in the thickness and lithology of the layered sediments,and the structure and hydrogeology of the region,which are controlled by the basement relief and the ancient river course.Due to long-term groundwater over-exploitation from the second confined aquifer,regional depression cones of groundwater piezometric heads have occurred with maximum groundwater piezometric drawdown of 75 m below the land surface,and the land subsidence center was formed to reach the maximum land subsidence value of 1 300mm.The Hetang earth fissures,Changjing earth fissures and Zhutang earth fissures were originally small local ground cracks in concrete pavements and started in 1995.Their continuous active time has been over 12 years and now the earth fissures are slow down.There are some earth fissures zones consisting of main fissures and their northwestern associated depressions are 20 to 60m wide.Their linear extension length ranges from 300 m to 500m,and the strike direction is 20 to 45 degree in the northeast.Due to differential subsidence,the main fissure shaped as a 10~30cm high scarp,and there are a lot of small fissures in the depression zone.It is verified by shallow seismic prospecting and drilling that a bedrock ridge underlies the Quaternary sediments directly below the main earth fissure.It is the dominant factor for the formation of earth fissures that long-term groundwater over-exploitation results in compaction of the deep confined sandy aquifer and consolidation of its underlying and overlying clayey aquitards.It is the controlling/background factor that the underlying bedrock ridge and the depth and structure of the sediments control the spatial and temporal characteristics of the earth fissure zone because of its leading to differential land subsidence.The depth of the earth fissure may reach the bedrock ridge,and a small fault is actually developed from the main fissure.


The objective of my work was to construct the historical gastronomic identity of Venice, by analyzing its history and glorious past.


Using a semiparametric approach based on the fourth-order Edgeworth expansion for the unknown signal distribution, we derive an explicit expression for the likelihood detection statistic in the presence of a non-normally distributed gravitational wave stochastic background. Numerical likelihood maximization exercises based on Monte Carlo simulations for a set of large tail symmetric non-Gaussian distributions suggest that the fourth cumulant of the signal distribution can be estimated with reasonable precision when the ratio between the signal and the noise variances is larger than 0.01. The estimation of higher-order cumulants of the observed gravitational wave signal distribution is expected to provide additional constraints on astrophysical and cosmological models.


Objective To observe the freezing resistance of different Trichinella isolates.Methods Seventy-five male Kunming mice were randomly divided into 3 groups(25 mice per group).Each group was infected with Henan and Yunnan isolates of Trichinella spiralis(T1)as well as T.nativa(T2)stored at-18℃ for different time,respectively.Each mouse was orally inoculated with 300 muscle larvae.All infected mice were slaughtered at 42 days post-infection.The muscle larvae were collected after all the skeletal muscles were digested,and reproductive capacity index(RCI) were determined.Results The RCI of Henan isolate of T.spiralis stored at-18℃ for 0,6,12 h was 91.4,0.03 and 0,respectively(χ2= 26.453,P0.05).The RCI of Yunnan isolate placed at-18℃ for 0,6,12,24 h was 235.6,0.04,0.01 and 0,respectively(χ2= 21.115,P0.05).The RCI of T.nativa freezed at-18℃ for 0,6,12,24,48 h was 34.6,26.8,21.9,10.8 and 7.4,respectively(F=8.505,P0.05).Conclusions The resistance to freezing of Henan and Yunnan isolates of T.spiralis was lower,their infectivity has completely lost following storage at-18℃ for 12 and 24 h;resistance to freezing of T.nativa was higher,it remains infective after storing at-18℃ for 48 h.


. Abstract ! Although anterior cruciate ligament rupture is a very common injury there is little agreement about which of the different treatment modalities attains the best long-term results. Many hypotheses and arguments recommend the one or the other method. This literature review examined the fundamental question whether reconstructive or conservative treatment attains better long-term re-sults. Some outcomes indicate better results of surgically treated patients when assessed using different knee questionnaires as well as passive/ structural knee stability and lower risk of future meniscus injury. However, functional results and the risk of subsequent damage such as ar-throsis were mostly even between the treat-ment groups, with slight tendency for a lower arthrosis risk after conservative treatment.


This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different UV exposure time on the germination and early seedling growth of cowpea in order to ascertain the exposure time that affects these developmental stages of plant. The study was laid out in a randomized complete block design of six exposure times including control as treatments with five replicates. Growth parameters of cowpea such as plant height stem girth and number of leaves was determined daily after germination has taken place. All the cowpea seeds in all the treatments exhibited 100% germination at the end of the 9 th day. It was observed that the UV irradiation never had any significant negative effect on any of the growth parameters compared with control. This could be due to the short period of exposure or the resistance of the cowpea plant to UV irradiation.


The uplink bandwidth of OFDM-PON is restricted by RSOA. Equalization by optical band-pass filter with EDFA and SOA are used to extend the bandwidth (about 0.15-0.3GHz) and increase the power budget (12-17dB).


Background and purpose Investigating inter-vertebral biomechanics in vivo using end-of-range imaging is difficult due to high intra subject variation, measurement errors and insufficient data. Quantitative fluoroscopy (QF) can reliably measure continuous motion but may suffer from contamination from uncontrolled loading and muscle contraction which compromises comparisons between studies and limits interpretation of results. This study presents the methods used to overcome these limitations. Methods and results Forty chronic, non-specific low back pain (CNSLPB) patients and 40 matched controls underwent QF using a passive recumbent protocol which standardised the rate and range of trunk rotation, thus reducing intra-subject variation and excluding loading and muscle contraction factors. Left, right, flexion and extension were recorded from L2-5 and vertebral motion registered using image processing algorithms, Resultant continuous inter-vertebral rotation data were normalised to produce proportional contributions of each segment throughout the trunk bend The expected continuous proportional contributions at each level and direction were determined by calculating reference intervals (mean +/− 2SD) from controls. Prevalence of patients exceeding these ranges was determined and the association with CNSLBP calculated using Chi-squared analysis. Additionally the variance of the normalised data throughout the continuous motion for each direction was determined and summed to produce an combined number. This was used to measure the difference between patients and controls and entered into ROC curve analysis to investigate discrimination between patients and controls. Conclusion A methodology for assessment of the differences between the continuous in vivo spine kinematics of CNSLBP patients and healthy controls has been developed and will be presented.


Robots are deployed to perform repeatable as well as hazardous tasks because of their inherent safety, reliability, consistency and accuracy. Recently robots are manipulated remotely using the binocular stereo vision. In this paper, we propose and implement a real-time stereoscopic viewer for telerobotics using open source software. We manipulate the KUKA KR-6 robot remotely using the Phantom haptic device. We assemble our stereo camera using a pair of IP cameras. We make use of the GStreamer multimedia framework for capturing and processing image streams coming from these IP cameras. We utilize the OpenCV library for camera calibration, stereo calibration and real-time stereo rectification. We extend predefined widgets from the Qt framework with our own widgets for the OpenGL based Quad buffering. We apply the software engineering design patterns for development of our in-house stereoscopic viewer. We also discuss the stereo vision using the DLP Link, the NVIDIA 3D Vision and the NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro with their pros and cons.


The influence of an intermediate pressing process on the superconducting properties of Agsheathed Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O Superconducting tapes has been investigated. The critical Current density (Jc) was improved by the effect of a uniaxial pressing and sintering after the initial sintering. The maximum transport Jc at 77K under zero magnetic field was indicated as 2.9×104A/cm2, and that at 4.2K under zero magnetic field was indicated as 1.5×105A/cm2. The Jc at 4.2K and 12T has been shown to be 5×104A/cm2 when the magnetic field was applied parallel to the width of the tape, and 3×104A/cm2 under the condition of a perpendicular applied magnetic field. The reasons for these improvements are the formation of the high Tc (110K) single phase, a highly oriented texture with strong (00l) reflections and a compacted microstructure.


This study was conducted to investigate whether mat exercise and field exercise have effectiveness on the balance and gait in older adults. Thirty subjects were participated in this study. And they were all randomly divided into mat exercise and field exercise group. To evaluate the effects of mat and field exercise, subjects were evaluated by using One Leg Stand test which was static balance test, and Berg Balance test which was dynamic balance test. Finally Gait pattern was assessed by using 3-dimensional gait analysis system. The assessment parameters were evaluated before, after 3 weeks, and after 6 weeks treatments. And we received a consent form from all subjects. The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that One Leg Stand, Berg Balance, Stride length, Cadence, Velocity were significantly increased after than before exercise in both groups. So we conclude that therapeutic exercise that is mat and field exercise has effectiveness on the balance and gait in older adults.


The research reported in this paper is related to the depth-sensor technology when applied in care services for the elderly and disabled persons. It is focused on a system for non-intrusive fall detection, in which the trajectory of the mass center of a monitored person is estimated on the basis of depth-sensor data and differentiated numerically in order to estimate the velocity of that person. The applicability of regularized methods for differentiation of measurement data in that system is assessed using both synthetic and real-world data. The central-difference method is used as a comparative reference. The results indicate that the regularized methods for numerical differentiation allow for reducing both the number of falls undetected by the addressed system for fall detection and the number of false alarms generated by that system. The best results are obtained by means of a regularized version of the central-difference method. Furthermore, those results indicate that estimates of the standard deviation of errors corrupting the depth-data-based position estimates should be used for the adjustment of the regularization parameters.


The topic of "Competitive Injury under the Robinson-Patman Act" is a thorny subject of the utmost importance to most businesses and, at the same time, is one of the most difficult issues posed by a statute replete with difficult issues. I feel, therefore, that I should approach my task of offering advice only with the greatest caution. I must admit that my spirits were temporarily buoyed, however, when I noticed that Congressman Patman's recent book, modestly entitled the "Complete Guide to the Robinson-Patman Act", treats the subject of competitive injury in only eighteen pages.1 But thereafter the coals of my concern were fanned anew when I noted that Fred Rowe, whose treatise title suggests that he has not purported to exhaust the ramifications of this all-embracing statute, very nearly devotes one hundred pages of much smaller type to this same subject.2 If Fred is the better prophet, I must obviously get promptly to my assigned task.


This paper deals with double-looped reliability-based design optimization (RBDO), in which the system reliability is assessed within the inner loop and a designing process is performed in the outer loop. A common approach expressed as single-objective optimization is transformed into a multi-objective case providing results as an approximation of the Pareto front composed of the compromising solutions between cost and reliability. The double-loop formulation of RBDO provides the most accurate approximation of the Pareto front but is computationally demanding even if advanced simulation techniques are used for rare failure events. Nowadays, a Subset simulation is a popular method to obtain an estimate of small failure probabilities. Despite the reduction in evaluation time using a Subset simulation when compared to a crude Monte Carlo method, the computational effort is still high with a complex model as a performance function, e.g. a finite element model. The computational model can be replaced by its surrogate in order to reduce the computational costs. This meta-model fits the responses evaluated by the original model for the predetermined data, so called a Design of Experiment (DoE). Since the design variables change with every iteration and a meta-model is utilized for a reliability assessment, the meta-model is trained only in the vicinity of the relevant design variable which makes the meta-model computationally faster and more precise. The DoE is updated by selected points from subset simulation samples with respect to two criteria: first, beneficial samples are located in the vicinity of the limit state, which divides the space into a safe region and a failure domain, and second, these samples should also be placed in the sparsest position of the DoE. The described method is illustrated on a classical RBDO benchmark with two objective functions; the first objective is a cost function to be minimized, the second objective is a structural reliability expressed by a reliability index to be maximized. The quality is assessed by comparison to an asymptotic sampling and a Monte Carlo simulation all with responses obtained by an original model and local meta-models.


Liquid phase sintering of particle agglomerates is simulated as the viscous deformation due to particle-particle contact, whereby the single driving force is the surface tension on the particle/pore interface. Particles are modeled as purely viscous fluids (with no elasticity). Computational homogenization is adopted for the RVE with Dirichlet boundary conditions. A surface motion algorithm was developed that requires complete remeshing of the FE-mesh based on a maximum deformation criterion. Since the particles are intrinsically incompressible, the macroscopic compressibility is determined from shrinking porosity in the substructure. The numerical examples include free sintering of an RVE and a fully coupled FE2-simulation of a specimen with inhomogeneous initial distribution of porosity.


This paper discusses the use of raw machine translations in an IT research and development environment. Researchers use machine translation as a drafting tool for scientific papers. The language pairs are German→ English and English→ German. The raw machine translations are produced on an experimental basis by means of the MT systems LOGOS, METAL and Globalink Power Translator Professional. The experiments are to show whether the systems are suitable for this purpose or not. Since the use of raw machine translations is considered to be crucial to the future of MT, the paper discusses success or failure of the technology against this background.


. Information security as a subject of administrative and legal regulation is considered. The basic method of the research is a comprehensive system approach, on the basis of which a general and structural study of information security issues faced by the individual, society and the state is conducted. A comprehensive systematic approach is used by the basic method of the research, on the basis of which a general and structural study of information security issues faced by the individual, society and the state. The multifaceted nature of information and security determines the complexity, importance and relevance of the research on the problem from the point of view of the science of administrative and information law. The interrelation of national and information security, sources of threats to information security and ways of counteraction are revealed. It is established that as a subject of activity aimed at ensuring information security, it is necessary to consider a set of social relations regulated by legal support, the administrative and legal regulation of which depends on possible external influences. The subject area of administrative and legal regulation of information security has the following features: the inseparability of information relations or their conditionality; interconnectedness and interdependence of information relations with objects of national interests in the information sphere; the relationship of administrative and legal regulation of information security, taking into account the emergence, detection and prevention of threats to national interests in the information sphere in order to develop and apply mechanisms to effectively combat threats. Information security activities are expressed in administrative and legal regulation, the subject orientation of which is determined by a set of public relations in the information sphere, aimed at strengthening equal strategic partnership in the field of information security with NATO and the EU, protection of Ukraine's sovereignty in the information space.


The imido complex (dtbpe)Ni(N(2,6-(CHMe2)2C6H3)) reacts with CO and CNCH2Ph with addition at the Ni-N bond to give (dtbpe)Ni(C,N:eta 2-C(O)N(2,6-(CHMe2)2C6H3)) and (dtbpe)Ni(C,N:eta 2-C(NCH2Ph)N(2,6-(CHMe2)2C6H3)); both complexes react further with CO to liberate the isocyanate and carbodiimide ligands with formation of (dtbpe)Ni(CO)2.


The rapid development of cloud computing with virtualization technology has benefited both academia and industry. For any cloud data center at scale, one of the primary challenges is how to effectively orchestrate a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a performance-aware and cost-effective manner. A key problem here is that the performance interference between VMs can significantly undermine the efficiency of cloud data centers, leading to performance degradation and additional operation cost. To address this issue, extensive studies have been conducted to investigate the problem from different aspects. In this survey, we make a comprehensive investigation into the causes of VM interference and provide an in-depth review of existing research and solutions in the literature. We first categorize existing studies on interference models according to their modeling objectives, metrics used, and modeling methods. Then we revisit interference-aware strategies for scheduling optimization as well as co-optimization-based approaches. Finally, the survey identifies open challenges with respect to VM interference in data centers and discusses possible research directions to provide insights for future research in the area.


North Lombok Regency is the most affected area due to the sequential earthquake that occurred in July 2018 on the island of Lombok. Therefore, the purpose of community service activities is to provide training and business assistance to communities that have an impact on earthquakes. The location is addressed to the Sedayu Putri Fisheries Processing and Marketers Group (POKLAHSAR) on Lokok Rangan Hamlet, Kayangan District, North Lombok Regency. The training provided on entrepreneurship and business management to produce a variety of food products from marine fish, such as shredded meat, fish bone crackers and fish bone sticks from the utilization of fish bone waste. Next to provided training on marketing and finance. The method used by lectures, consultation and assistance. Activities will be carried out from May 2019 to November 2019. The results of the activities of group members are able to produce shredded fish products, fish bone crackers and fish sticks. Expected result is the participants rose again to produce a variety of processed products from the sea acquired knowledge about the importance of packaging, used social media for broad marketing, and made financial report. Participants got back up from adversity and generated income to improve their welfare.


This paper describes what is meant by formal methods for software engineering. It is intended for the non-mathematical reader, and a simple formal specification is presented. The process of formal specification, development and proof is described briefly. Finally the benefits and limitations of formal methods are summarized.


Abstract In the design and management of water treatment structures, floc size and density are important morphological parameters. Floc size‐floc density relationships were determined for a bentonite clay subjected to various solution sodium/calcium ratios. The results demonstrate that both floc density and floc settling characteristics are dependent on the ratio of sodium to calcium in solution. Increasing the proportion of calcium to sodium produces larger, more readily settled flocs. However, the floc density decreases with increasing sodium/calcium ratios. Therefore, optimum settling can be obtained with proper management of the ratio of sodium to calcium in solution.


The concept of a supersonic STOVL that could offer enhanced mission capability, survivability, operational flexibility, and utility over conventional aircraft is presented. Emphasis is currently on design studies, CFD work, small- and large-scale wind tunnel tests, simulation activities, flight experiments, and ground environment experiments. Propulsion system technology centers about the adaptation of existing or off-the-shelf engines. Concepts under study include separate flow in hover, gas-driven lift fan, and shaft-driven lift fan. NASA is examining generic valve and ducting configurations with airflow at ambient temperature and at temperatures up to 1000 F to gather pressure loss and heat transfer data. Advanced civil rotorcraft technologies examined include high-efficiency/dual-mode components such as torque converters; lightweight, quiet transmissions; and variable geometry power turbines; along with dual-function or convertible engines.


This article establishes the existence and the uniqueness of an equilibrium with  heterogenous quasi-hyperbolic discounting agents when they are characterised by linear decision rules.


Autonomous driving vehicles use a variety of means to communicate with pedestrians, e.g. information displays, LED panels and sound. In order to evaluate some of those information displays with regard to their efficiency of understanding, the authors examined a set of external information types, such as images, text and animated LED panels. The use of Virtual Reality to create user studies offers a flexible and cost-effective approach for evaluation and improvement, therefore the authors chose to develop the user study as a VR application. This paper describes the ongoing work in which the study is designed and the application has been implemented but the study has not yet been carried out. The emphasis on this paper lies on the approach of planning a modular VR application that fits the needs of a multifactorial experimental layout that can adapt to changes in the study for further evaluation.


This paper presents the design and analysis of a novel permanent-magnet (PM)-assisted synchronous reluctance machine (PMA-SynRM) with axially integrated magnets for improving machine performance by using a finite-element method (FEM). The proposed PMA-SynRM features a simple structure with high performance by incorporating the advantages of a SynRM and a surface-mounted PM machine (SPMM). In particular, the rotor parts of the SynRM and SPMM are assembled to make the "<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-axis" located 45° (elec.) from the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-axis. Thus, the magnetic torque and reluctance torque of the proposed PMA-SynRM reach the maximum values at the same current phase angle, for efficient production of the total torque. To highlight the advantages of the proposed PMA-SynRM, a conventional PMA-SynRM is adopted for comparison under the same operating conditions. The FEM analysis results finally demonstrate that the proposed PMA-SynRM has a higher total torque and power factor, as well as greatly reduced torque ripple, when compared to the conventional PMA-SynRM with the same magnet amounts. In addition, the Mises stress analysis indicates that the configuration of the proposed PMA-SynRM exhibits the advantage of avoiding stress deterioration in the rotor ribs.


The paper analyses the network model of gas pipe network based on its characteristics and it puts forward an improved algorithm of network tracing.Furthermore,an analyzing model of pipe burst is set up,which implements some advanced functions in a simple way.The information such as suspended boosters,closed valves,users cut off the gas supply and so on,can be exactly searched in time by the model after the gas pipe bursts.So the model provides favorable aid of technology for the pipe repaired exactly and in time on the position of burst and rational scheduling for the whole influential pipe network.


Fetal echocardiography in a 24‐year‐old woman at 24 weeks' gestation: demonstrated a left ventricular aneurysm and pericardial effusion. The patient was treated with oral digoxin followed by intensive antepartum monitoring. Intrauterine fetal demise occurred at 31 weeks. The autopsy confirmed the presence of an apical left ventricular aneurysm. This is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly, which has been reported in only three prior cases. This represents the earliest prenatal diagnosis of this condition. Copyright © 1996 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology


The effect of the pre-maturation with bovine follicular fluid (bFF) on developmental competence of immature bovine oocytes was studied. Cumulus-oocytes complexes (COC) and bFF were obtained from ovaries collected at slaughterhouse. bFF was inactivated prior to use and COCs were distributed in four treatments: (T1) 70% of bFF in Talp hepes, (T2) 100% of bFF, (T3) 100% of Talp Hepes medium, and (T4) control group. In T1, T2, and T3, COCs were incubated during 5h at 37oC before proceeding with in vitro maturation. In T4, maturation was performed soon after follicular aspiration. After in vitro fertilization, the presumptive zygotes were co-cultured with cumulus cells during 10 days. It was evaluated cleavage, blastocyst on seventh and eighth days post-fertilization (PF), overall blastocyst and hatched blastocyst on eighth and ninth days PF. It was also calculated the ratio of blastocyst on seventh and eighth days, and hatched blastocyst in function of overall blastocyst production. Cleavage, overall blastocyst and hatched blastocyst rates were similar (P>0.05) among treatments. However, blastocyst production on seventh day was lower (P<0.05) for bFF and Talp Hepes. These results indicate that bFF and Talp Hepes in pre-maturation for five hours caused a delay on embryonic development, although the overall blastocyst production and viability were not affected.


Recently mass of articles has been issued on the political history of the Chosun Dynasty, of which study began as a department of subject approach in the early 1980s. The characters of the political history writings after the 1990s are as follows. First, the positive research focused on the factional policies was executed and activated with the proper evidences. Second, there appeared issues on the arguments of the government by the literati and the historical periodization relating the former. Third, there has been no dispute over the historical facts and interpretations. Fourth, a sufficient number of scholars makes it possible to have published the articles either as a series or as a complement. Particularly the scope of the historical understanding was enlarged relating to the politics of Chosun Dynasty as a new concept of periods was accepted. It has become possible to separate the Chosun Dynasty into three or four periods by this concept, instead of the old-fashioned dichotomous periodization. Especially the 17th and 18th century can be treated separatedly as the middle period of the history of Chosun. According to the 7th National Curriculum, a new textbook of Korean history was published and shaped on the format of the subject approaches, which has serious problems about the periodization. There are 4 subjects in the textbook. In the politics subject, the new periodization of Chosun is applied. Contrary to it in the other subjects the Chosun Dynasty is separated into the early period and the late. The former is named 'recent age' but the latter is not indicated as a proper age but treated as a transitional times with ambiguous expression. In order to overcome this absurdity, it is recommendable to put the political approach in the center of the textbook construction and to return to the annalistic approach. And we must prevent the textbook from being composed of unrelated subjects. Rather it is desirable to write the cultural, the economical, and the social aspects beforehand and later to colligate the related facts by explaining the political situation. For the political history has in itself the symbol of incubating the whole range of historical researches.


Emilie Davis was an African-American woman living in Philadelphia during the U.S. Civil War. Emile's diaries are a transcription of Emilie's three pocket diaries for the years 1863, 1864, and 1865. In them, she recounts black Philadelphians' celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, nervous excitement during the battle of Gettysburg, and their collective mourning of President Lincoln. The diary allows readers to experience the war in real time, as events unfolded for Civil War Americans.


In view of the eutrophication problem, there is an increasing requirement to upgrade the performance of waste treatment lagoons (WTL) with respect to the removal of dissolved phosphorus (EP) and of nitrogen (EN). Semicontinuous-flow laboratory models of WTLs were operated at different conditions of organic and nutrient load, residence time of the water, temperature (T), and illuminance (I). From these experiments, equations were derived which yield the outflow concentration of dissolved phosphorus and nitrogen compounds, respectively, as a function of these variables. The variations of T and I were considered to be the main variables which controlled the seasonal changes of EP and EN. Data from existing lagoons corresponded to the calculations obtained by means of the equations reasonably well. Under the climatic conditions of the GDR, the seasonal mean of EP and EN attains a level of 50 to 60%. A still higher effect would be possible with a decreased load, the combination with additional treatment steps or the exclusion of hydraulic short-circuiting.


Some ideas about man and society are shared in this article. A brief listing of problems such as "light" relationships, consumerism, technology, and isolation and the desire of having rather than being is shown here. Topics like welfare, meaning of life, the importance of the sense of humor and the thought of a vital project are also considered. Every aspect is analyzed within a look of Humanistic Psychology and Existential Psychotherapy. We hope these notes will generate more remarks and new proposals and stir consciences.


Aesthetic theory has often distinguished the objects of its inquiries according to their pi on the human senses. Our understanding of the work of art, the vocation of the artist, a the response of audiences to art has been shaped in part by the possible relationshi between medium and sensory experience. For example, painting, sculpture and architecti can be understood to constitute visible forms-works given meaning in space. On t other hand, music can be thought to represent a quite different realm, a cultural sphere audible forms existing in time. The "text" of music is revealed not simply in notatioi like literature and poetry, but in sounds associated through temporality. For that reas music has been conceived as radically different from the other arts: its unchalleng uniqueness is bound up with the possibilities of expression and discovery in time, and principle is, quite literally, de-velopment-a temporal unfolding from latent, elemen forms.


Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a frequent sleep disorder, suggested to be associated with cardiovascular diseases. Mechanisms are probably related to the action of intermittent hypoxia on vascular function, however detailed evidences are lacking.

Aim: To assess left ventricular systolic function and arterial stiffness in patients with moderate to severe OSA, before starting CPAP treatment, by comparison with control, normal, subjects (age-matched).

Methods: 60 patients were studied (54±11 years, 11 women): 30 patients with moderate-to-severe OSA (mean apnea-hypopnea index 43±23) without known cardiovascular disease or risk factors, and 30 control, normal, subjects. LV systolic function was assessed using standard (LVEF), tissue Doppler (mean basal systolic velocity, S, averaged for 6 segments and measured offline), and 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (LV global longitudinal strain, GLS); arterial function was assessed using intima-media thickness (IMT), "e-tracking" (Young elastic modulus, Ep; and augmentation index, AIx). We also determined NTproBNP as a biological marker of ventricular dysfunction.

Results: LVEF, tissue Doppler systolic velocities, and GLS were significantly lower in the OSA group (table), although mean values were still in the normal ranges. Similarly, arterial stiffness and NTproBNP values were significantly higher in the OSA group (table).

View this table:

Conclusion: Patients with moderate-to-severe OSA have LV subclinical systolic dysfunction associated with increased arterial stiffness, suggesting that OSA is a disease associated with a high cardiovascular risk and, therefore, intensive preventive measures should be considered.


Niobium–cobalt alloys are stable to corrosion in an open circuit in the presence of oxygen in 25% KOH solution as long as the weight percentage of cobalt exceeds 50%. Below this value, samples subm...


With the progress in nanotechnology and production methods, composite materials are becoming lighter, cheaper, more durable, and more versatile [...]


The kinds and application of bearing steel and the smelting process, pouring process and inclusion on its properties are showed in this paper. On its analysis, the advantages and problems and prospect of bearing steel production at Baotou Steel are discussed.


During the last four years there has appeared from this laboratory a series of studies on cerebral circulation.1 Many of these studies have been made by means of a cranial window which enables the investigator to make direct observations on the caliber of the pial arteries and veins and on the stream of blood flowing through them. Consistent results have been obtained in studying the effect on the pial arteries of sympathetic and vagus stimulation, hypertonic solutions, carbon dioxide and oxygen, histamine, acetylcholine, amyl nitrite and caffeine. These observations have been limited to measurements of the diameter of the pial vessels, and deductions have been drawn from these observations as to the flow of blood through the pial arteries. The experiments presented here deal with an attempt at measuring directly the minute volume cerebral flow of blood by a perfusion method in cats and monkeys during various experimental conditions. The effects of stimulating the cervical sympathetic, the vagus and the femoral nerves and the effects of epinephrine, caffeine, histamine and pitressin on the minute volume flow perfused through the carotid at a definite and constant pressure have been investigated. Perfusion methods have been used by many investigators in studying the behavior of cerebral blood vessels. Wiggers 2 found evidence of


Journal of Fujian Institute of Education-Basic Education is a comprehensive periodical for the provincial basic education.To do a good job in its publication depends on "the mainland" and the relationship with the writers.Be patient and meticulous with ordinary writers;be sfrict and particular with writers of potentiality;and be respectful but unyielding to senior writers.


There is a rapid development of innovative technologies in the financial sector of the Russian economy. Innovative technologies influence both the development of individual segments of the financial sector of the economy, the formation and development of new products and services, and significantly affect the change and transformation of traditional business models of market participants. One of such changes can be called the transformation of the largest Russian commercial banks into digital banking ecosystems. The object of this article is the largest Russian commercial banks. The subject of the study is financial mechanisms, quantitative and qualitative indicators of the activities of the largest Russian commercial banks in the context of the formation of digital ecosystems in Russia. The purpose of the study is to analyze the conditions and methods of transformation of the largest Russian commercial banks into digital banking ecosystems. To achieve this goal, the works of Russian and foreign authors on the formation and development of digital ecosystems, the provision of financial services, and the digitalization of commercial banks were studied. Based on the statistical data of the Bank of Russia and the reports of commercial banks, the analysis of the current state of activity of the banks selected for analysis was carried out. The author's definition of the concept of digital banking ecosystem is given in the article. Four main areas in which a full-fledged digital banking ecosystem should meet the needs of its customers have been identified and studied. The main conclusion of this study is that the largest Russian commercial banks create digital banking ecosystems by buying companies from various sectors of the economy and developing their own structures. The main tasks of digital banking ecosystems are not only meeting the needs of customers in financial services, but also in such areas as entertainment, IT and daily needs. Thus, digital banking ecosystems are maximally aimed at attracting and further retaining customers within their services.


Introduction: As the face of the part of the organism that is most exposed, and undergoes the process of premature aging, it deserves attention and practices that preserve its beauty. Objective: To analyze the benefits of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on the skin of women who smoke (n = 7). Methods: Hydrolyzed collagen powder was supplemented daily for 90 days, which contains 45mg of vitamin C, 17 mcg of selenium, 3.5 mg of zinc and 9 g of hydrolyzed collagen. It was registered, through photos taken by a dermatologist, the face of the women before and at the end of the treatment, so that through this it could be made the skin evaluation by the doctor. Skin texture, hydration, wrinkles, spots and shine were evaluated. Results: Stains and wrinkles showed little or no improvement, hydration and texture varied between improvement and very good improvement, and shine had the best result, with very good improvement in all participants. Conclusion: Supplementation of hydrolyzed collagen is beneficial for some more superficial characteristics of the skin, without reducing the effect of wrinkles and blemishes. However, supplementation is recommended since collagen is a natural substance in the body, which is degraded throughout life, and this degradation is accelerated by smoking.


. In the article, two-wavelength backscattering LIDAR is presented. LIDAR was worked out and constructed at the Institute of Optoelectronics of the Military University of Technology. Th is LIDAR is destined for remote sensing of biological and chemical aerosols, both natural and antropoghenic ones. In the work, one discussed the construction of LIDAR and typical parameters and fi rst results obtained with its application.


The paper analyzes the dependence of the stiffness of the support frames of the cranes with loading-unloading trolley on the change of geometrical parameters of the frames. The calculation model of the frames with transverse stiffness was formed because it additionally stiffens the supporting surface of the frames for connection with the axial-radial bearing. The relations of characteristic geometrical sizes of longitudinal and transverse elements were established, at which the necessary stiffness of the frames of loading-unloading trolley was achieved. Also, the variables and constants of geometric size were introduced, as well as the constant values of appropriate coefficients, the variation of which provides the possibility to form the optimal structure of the frames of loading-unloading trolley.


T h e annual s tudents Y o u n g Men 's Christ ian associat ion dinner for freshmen will be conducted this year in the College house at 134 Cent ra l avenue on T h u r s d a y at 5:30 o'clock, Robert Robinson, '34, chairman, announced today. This is the first t ime that a dinner of this nature has been conducted at the College house. The house can accommoda te about seventy at a dinner, he said. Mr. Kirby Page, who will be guest speaker at the dinner , has travelled extensively and has talked with many prominent leaders in world affairs. Among the interesting persons with whom Mr. I'age has talked are Mahatma ('.audi, Pres ident Hii idenburg of Germany, Ramsay MaeDonald of England, President Chiang Kai-Shek of China, Lord C e i l , Bernard Shaw, Lady Astor, L loyd-George and others . Mr. Page is editor of T h e World T o m o r r o w and au thor of eleven volumes nil internat ional , social and religious quest ions. Several of his works have been t rans la ted into French, German, Greek, Spanish , Chinese, and Japanese . T h e titles of his books a r e : National Defense; A Study of the Origins, Results ami Prevent ion of W a r ; Jesus or Chrisl u m t v Dollars md \ \ old Pi tet Makers of f r e e d o m ; An American Peace Policy; Imperial ism and Nat ional ism; The Abolit ion of W a r ; W a r : I t s Causes, Continences and Cure ; Chris t iani ty and Economic P r o b l e m s ; The Sword or the Cross ; Some th ing More, l i e also edited Recent Gains in American Civilizalon and A New Economic Order . Mr. Page is one of the wor ld ' s lead ing author i t ies on d i sa rmament quest ions .


It is investigated that fanmer breed LY sows in this paper in order to pfovid e the scientific proof for farmers who breed LY sows in a great areas of the co untry.The results show that LY sows can be bred in a great areas of the countr y.Their production performarce are good.The number of litter born is9.9,an d the litter weight taken at60days is25.2kg.It is approximately12the s ame as the parebred Landrace and Yorksire sows number of litter born.It is a little more than the purebred landrace and Yorkshire.The litter average weight of60days is24.7kg which is as much as the results of the boar farm.


Objective: This study was aimed to assess effectiveness of PMTCT programs through determination of the outcome of HIV exposed infants at Asella teaching and referral hospital from February 2012-2015. Method: A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted. Mothers-infant pairs HIV status was obtained from medical records using structured questionnaires and entered into EPI info version 3.5.1 and analyzed by statistical package for social science version 21. Bivariate and Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to see the effect of each independent variable on the outcome variable. Results: The results indicated that 126 (93.1%) mothers and 98 (75.3%) infants received antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxes, however, 32 (24.6%) infants were not receiving ARV prophylaxes. 105 (80.8%) infants were tested after six weeks using deoxyribonucleic acid-polymerase chain reaction (DNA/PCR). Infant HIV infection rate was 3.1%, 3.8%, and 7.7% at six weeks, six months and overall 18 months respectively. Mothers illness during pregnancy [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 20.4], mothers failure to receive antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy/breast feeding (AOR = 17.2), home delivery (AOR = 8), infant birth weight (AOR = 2.7) and mixed infant feeding (AOR = 2) were the factors that affecting HIV free survival in this study. Conclusion: This study showed that 92.3% of the infants were having HIV free survival at 18 months. However, infant HIV infection rate of 7.7% is above that required for elimination of mother to child transmission (eMTCT) of HI V. The PMTCT intervention uptake with specific reference to ARV usage for PMTCT shows higher uptake in mothers than in infants. However, the uptake of ARV in infants falls below targets required for eMTCT of HIV, and the targets set in the Ethiopian national strategic plan for eMTCT of HIV <5% by 2015


A 14 yo male presented with severe abdominal pain associated with nausea and vomiting after sustaining blunt abdominal trauma while playing football. Physical examination revealed generalized abdominal tenderness on deep palpation. Serologic tests noted a lipase of 7774IU/L, amylase of 1307IU/L and WBC of 18,000/uL; a computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen revealed hemoperitoneum and a pancreatic body laceration.


Three‐Dimensional (3‐D) echocardiography is becoming increasingly used to diagnose and describe the spatial location of valvular pathologies and atrial septal defects during transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). The role of 3D‐TEE is not well established in diagnosing other congenital heart diseases like partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (PAPVD) and coronary anomalous. We propose a step by step approach to producing computed tomography‐simulated axial images from 3‐D TEE to simplify TEE interpretation and diagnosis of cardiac abnormalities.


The conversion of CaSO4·2H2O (DH) to CaSO4·1/2H2O (HH) was facilitated by increasing glycerol content from 55% to 85% in glycerol–water mixtures; the average length and diameter of produced α-HH crystals decreased from 60.97 to 7.21 μm and from 15.21 to 5.17 μm, respectively, resulting in a decrease in the average aspect ratio from 4.06 to 1.41. The phase transformation was reduced dramatically from 30 to 3 h. As glycerol content increased in the mixtures, an increase in α-HH maximal relative supersaturation and decrease of ion diffusion rate were hypothesized as explanations for the morphology change in the alpha-hemihydrate (α-HH) produced. The kinematic feasibility of FGD gypsum transition to α-HH in the mixed solutions with the increase of glycerol should also be attributed to the enhancement of maximal relative supersaturation for α-HH precipitation.


AIM:To evaluate the safety and efficacy of gemifloxacin in the treatment of lower respiratory infection.METHODS:A randomized controlled single-blind clinical trial of gemifloxacin vs levofloxacin was conducted among 33 patients with lower respiratory infection.The patients were divided into two groups randomly with 17 in the trial group and 16 in the control group.There were 14 community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients with 7 in each group and 19 acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis (AECB) patients with 10 in the trial group and 9 in control one.The patients in the trial group were treated with gemifloxacin,320 mg,po, qd,for a course of 7-14 d in CAP patients and a course of 5 d for the AECB ones.Other patients in the control group were treated with levofloxacin,200 mg,po,bid,with a course of 7-14 d for the CAP patients and a course of 7 d for those of AECB.RESULTS:At 1 d post treatment,the efficacy rates were 71% and 93 % for the triat group and control group,while both were 100 % at 7 d post treatment.There was no significant difference between two groups in clinical efficacy (P0.05) and adverse reactions (P0.05).CONCLUSION: Gemifloxacin is as effective and safe as levofloxacin in the treatment of lower respiratory infection.


A unidirectional carbon/epoxy composite was taken as the research subject for analysis of its strength with strain-rate effect. The theory can be further adapted and extended to the prediction of failure and progressive damage of unidirectional laminae under static and dynamic loadings. The significance of this theory is that it simplifies the formula of failure theory and may improve the prediction accuracy.


This study evaluated cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) sorption characteristics of three tropical soils. Data obtained conformed to Freundlich sorption model and the S-shaped isot...


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging usually needs to be converted between the time domain and the frequency domain, in which the solution of stationary phase point determines the accuracy of time–frequency conversion and the final image quality. Theoretically, the stationary phase point can be accurately solved by the method of series reversion (MSR) in an arbitrary configuration (e.g., bistatic and/or nonlinear trajectory). However, the existing methods based on MSR are proposed based on the assumption of specific signal form. In other words, it is necessary to reuse MSR to derive the time–frequency conversion for different signal forms, which brings great inconvenience to engineering applications. In this article, we aim to propose a general method based on MSR. Based on this method, the accurate time–frequency conversion can be derived by simply arranging any signal to the standard form specified in this article first and then simply replacing the variables.


The utility model discloses an automatic feeding device for a lathe. The automatic feeding device comprises a guide plate, wherein a feeding groove is arranged under the guide plate, a panel inclined for forming a certain angle from the horizontal plane is arranged at one side of the guide plate, a gap is formed between the guide plate and the panel, a top plate is inserted and arranged in the gap, and the top plate is connected with a driving mechanism. The automatic feeding device realizes the automatic feeding of the lathe, so the defect of high work intensity of workers in the manual feeding process is reduced, in addition, the structure is simple, and the implementation is easy.


The invention discloses an enameled cup billet making process, which comprises the following steps of cutting a steel plate into a circular steel disc, stretching the circular steel disc to form a cylindrical billet steel, and stretching again; digitally necking the re-stretched cylindrical billet steel, and forming a circular truncated cone billet steel; trimming the circular truncated cone billet steel, and flanging; welding the flanged circular truncated cone billet steel with a handle, and forming an enameled cup body; checking out and putting in storage. According to the enameled cup billet making process, all problems caused by annealing are solved, and an expanding process is replaced with a necking process, so that the damage is reduced, meanwhile, the arc-shaped radius of the bottom part of balled iron can be smaller, and the appearance is more attractive.


Grinding offers specific advantages in comparison with other machining processes. The trend in industrial production toward higher productivity with increased part accuracy, using harder-to-machine materials, naturally leads to the increasing use of grinding to solve many material removal challenges. However, current technological advancements and innovation trends require science-based solutions capable to provide accurate models of the chip formation process, enabling optimization and control. The aim of this paper is to develop an adequate chip-formation model resulting in a realistic grinding chip with corresponding influence on the workpiece. The developed fundamental equations in metal plasticity are relevant for each material and their alloys; so that the total chip-flow with discontinuity and corresponding body forces can be solved. In addition, the resulting self-hardening effect, as well as the created temperatures — due to the deformation process — will be discussed and presented. Despite the large number of investigations and simulations, there is still no clarity on these subjects. The newly developed mathematical equations for strain and stress lead to square grid deformation in the chip formation zone, and this grid deformation will not disappear after completing the grinding process, so that the theoretical developments can be compared with practical results. As long as the created theoretical result will fit the practical result, we can be sure that we are on a relevant, realistic path. This will be presented for two different materials AlMg5 and the carbon steel C45. For the material AlMg5 we get a chip with integration of different plastic layers bonding together as a complete spherical grinding chip. The result is characterized by higher grinding forces, rough and thermally influenced workpiece surface. Quite contrary is the chip formation of the carbon steel C45. As a result of self-blockade at the interface between material and cutting edge, a segmented chip will follow with dynamic forces and a chattering process influencing the total machine behavior as well as the workpiece roundness and resulting surface. Finally, a high agreement between the developed theoretical and experimental results could be documented.


Internet has gradually demonstrated more and more superiority in modern education system. The intelligent online drawing platform based on net will provide learners with a studying environment without limitation in time and space. Based on the theory of graphics, this paper developed an intelligent online drawing platform (IODP) with Java through analyzing the teaching character of descriptive geometry. IODP developed not only has a flexible drawing environment with the function of mutual drawing, but also is able to judge the drawing made by students and give feedback at the same time. This platform gives an effective way for Internet education on engineering graphics.


aspirated and the colloid was removed by washing five times in an incubation medium containing 150 mM-NaC1, 5 mMKCI, 15 mM-Mops (pH 7.5 with KOH) and 5 mM-glucose. Cell suspensions for transport assays were confirmed as 1 OO'% reticulocytes as judged by supravital staining with Brilliant Cresyl Blue [ 31. IT-Labelled amino acid influx was measured by the oil-stop methodology described in detail by Young & Ellory [4]. Fig. 1 shows the uptake of ~[U '~C]a lan ine (0.2 mM extracellular concentration, 37°C) by reticulocytes from an anaemic Tr'-type sheep measured in the presence and in the absence o f Na'. The results demonstrate the presence of Na + -dependent L-alanine transport activity in sheep reticulocytcs and show that incubation times of 1 min may bc used to measure initial rates o f i.-alanine uptake. To characterize further L-alaninc transport in sheep reticulocytes (from a Tr--type animal), we measured the initial rate of L[U'JC]alanine uptake ( 1 ) ) as a function of extracellular Lahnine concentration ( s ) over the range 0.05-5.0 mM in NaCl and KCI media at 37°C. Na'-dependent L-alanine transport in shccp reticulocytes was saturablc. Kinetic constants estimated from a plot of s / ~ ) versus s were: V,,,,, = 22.5 mmol/h per litre o f cells; apparent K, , = 0.Y mM. Evidence that Na' -dependent L-alanine transport in shccp rcticulocytcs is mediated by system ASC [S) was procompetition experiments. Effects of 1 0 mML-cysteine, L-serine, [.-leucine, L-valine, glycine, D-alaninc, L-lysine, and L-arginine on Na + -dependent I.-[ U'Tlalaninc uptake ( I mM extracellular concentration, 37°C) (expressed as percentage inhibition) were: 100, 89, 40, 30, 25 , 20, 0 and 0, respectively, for Tr'-type cells (control = 5.48 mmol/h per litre of cells); and 95, 88, 57. 45, 30, 30, 16 and 15% in reticulocytes from a Tr--type animal (control = 1 I . I mmol/h per litre of cells). In contrast t o these results, Na+-independent L-alanine transport was most effectively inhibited by [.-leucine. For Tr + -type reticulocytes in KCI medium, the concentration of L-leucine required to cause half-maximal inhibition of 1 mM[.-(UIJC]alanine uptake as <0.25 mM. We interpret this observation as indicative o f the presence of a high-affinity system L variant in sheep rcticulocytes. Interestingly, a significant proportion o f the Na'-independent L-alanine flux was insensitive to L-leucine at concentrations of 1 0 mM or more. This residual component of transport was approximately 1 mmol/h per litre of cells in Tr+-type reticulocytes and 0.56 mmol/h per litre of cells in Tr--type reticulocytes ( 1 m ~ ~ [ U ~ ~ C ] a l a n i n e d 37°C). These transport rates are of the same order as that found in mature sheep erythrocytes [ 1 , 21. We therefore attribute this Na+-independent Lleucine-insensitive L-alanine uptake route to transport by system asc(C'). In conclusion, the present results suggest that Na+dependent (system ASC) and Na' -independent [system u.sc(C] 1 1.-alanine transport routes co-exist in Tr'-type and Tr ~ -type sheep reticulocytes. Expression of the transport 0.5


An incandescent lamp structure comprises a light source, a housing, an optical film and a lamp cover. The housing serves to accommodate the light source. Since housing has an opening portion. The optical film is disposed at the opening portion and has a curved surface. The lamp cover is detachably attached to the housing. The optical film is disposed between the light source and the light cover.


An in vitro assay has been developed for determining prenyltransferase activity in larval corpora allata homogenates of the lepidopteran Manduca sexta. Optimal activity was obtained by the addition of glycerol and bovine serum albumin. The prenyltransferase required either Mg2+ or Mn2+ for activity and was inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, and higher concentrations of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). Because of the prenyltransferase's low sensitivity to phosphate, the addition of 100 mM phosphate could be used to selectively inhibit IPP isomerase, which otherwise remained active under our standard assay conditions. Efficient coupling of geranyl pyrophosphate with IPP to yield farnesyl pyrophosphate required the presence of a nonionic detergent, such as Triton X-100. Although the addition of up to 3% detergent resulted in significant activity enhancement, the protein is not membrane-bound, as determined by enzyme localization studies. Preliminary studies using homologous substrates suggest that the lepidopteran enzyme has different substrate specificity than other known prenyltransferases. Competition studies using homodimethylallyl pyrophosphate (HDMAPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP) indicated a 1.8:1 preference for the ethyl-substituted substrate. Further examination of DMAPP and HDMAPP coupling patterns showed that this specificity is the result of higher discrimination in the first condensation step. These results suggest that lepidopteran prenyltransferase may regulate the proportions of the various juvenile hormone homologues that are biosynthesized within the corpora allata. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


The ischemic cascade starts when atherosclerotic plaques decrease the supply of oxygen and substrates to cells and finalizes with myocardial infarction. These states have been here studied at metabolite level by optimization of a metabolomics profiling approach based on high‐accuracy MS. For this purpose, serum samples from patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease and affected by stable angina or myocardial infarction (acute myocardial infarction or non‐ST elevation myocardial infarction) were analyzed by LC‐QTOF/MS after deproteinization to compare the profile of serum metabolites. The data set, composed by tentative molecular features detected in MS analyses, was filtered with statistical algorithms to remove entities resulting in redundant information. Tentative molecules were identified finding mainly lipids as statistically significant metabolites in the discrimination study due to their change in concentration. Lipids such as bile acid derivatives, phospholipids, and triglycerides were identified as relevant compounds for discrimination of individuals who suffered acute or non‐ST elevation myocardial infarction from those suffering stable angina. The results achieved by this research could support the capability of metabolomics to go inside the study of artery diseases, and in addition to other omics disciplines could help to detect the occurrence of these disorders at initial stages or even to prognosticate their appearance.


In the context of customer care, a digital ecosystem may get activated to address a customer's issue or situation. The digital ecosystem may consist of various computerized systems that provide assisted support, relevant mandatory services, opportunistic pro-active offers, reviews and ratings, and insights from the social web. While addressing a customer's situation the customer and/or the digital ecosystem has to choose the appropriate systems/services with suitable options to be activated in order to deliver effective customer care. This aspect can get quite complicated and some customers tend to get lost in the process and are unable to get their situation addressed to their satisfaction. We propose an intermediary chatbot between a customer and digital ecosystem that can act as a catalyst to diagnose a customer's situation and provision the appropriate services in the ecosystem. The intermediary chatbot engages in a dialog with a customer for identifying his/her situation and extract the set of latent beliefs that the customer holds. It then helps contextualize the systems in the digital ecosystem to offer suitable services, leading to a richer user experience.


This invention relates to scalable encoding and decoding methods still image and apparatus therefor, wherein the shape information is encoded and decoded in a scalable manner by frame scan line methods interlaced (ISL) and frame scanning line (RSL), to be used for encoding the texture information, shape information of a chrominance component (UV) being encoded to compensate for the component chrominance (UV) in the coding phase, a large input image being divided into blocks of uniform size, the form of encoding is applied independently to the component of shape and texture of each divided block. It is thus possible to efficiently encode the pixels by reducing the number of pixels to be encoded by using the characteristics between ISL pixels in a form of the layer to be encoded, or using pixels located between two layers in the encoding of 'shape information between the respective layers, thereby sequentially restore the shape information and texture of the still image, by performing scalable coding with resolution of an image. The invention applies particularly to the high-speed search of an image in a high-capacity database. In addition, the encoder using the mosaic of the invention process can be effectively applied to a large image that is difficult to fully restore at once, restoring independent parts of the desired image.


In this paper, we present some new denitions of S-metric spaces and prove some random xed point theorem for two random func- tions in complete S-metric spaces. We get some improved versions of several xed point theorems in S-metric spaces.


ABSTRACT In 1983, the Indonesian government established Pos Pelayanan Terpadu (Integrated Health Post) – commonly known as Posyandu, an outreach programme for improving mothers' and children's health, including immunisation. However, child immunisation coverage is still far below national and world targets. There is also wide variation among regions, with low rates found in areas outside Java. This study aimed to explore mothers' experiences in immunising their children through Posyandu in East Nusa Tenggara, and West Sumatera, two provinces located outside Java Island. Fifty-three mothers were involved in six Focus Group Discussion (FGDs). The discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim in the original language. The transcripts were translated into English, coded with Nvivo, and analysed for common themes. This study showed that the success of the immunisation programme through Posyandu relied on the role of community-based health workers. Their ability to integrate with the community increased people's trust. This trust encouraged mothers to immunise their children, despite their limited knowledge about immunisation. The other barrier often encountered by the mothers in immunising their children was that the fathers did not allow them to do so. Therefore, collaborative work with the whole community is needed to improve the performance of an outreach programme.


Ultrathin Nafion overlayers ranging from 0 to 3.3 nm in thickness have been deposited on platinum single crystal electrodes in order to study their voltammetric behavior as a function of both Nafion surface coverage and platinum surface step density. Unusual structural sensitivity of Nafion-induced voltammetric peaks ascribable to Nafion interactions with step sites is observed as a function of average terrace width. For stepped surfaces containing both {111} and {100} terraces, average terrace widths of 2–3 atoms give rise to the most intense Nafion-step electrosorption peaks. Rapid quenching of the Nafion-step voltammetric peaks is observed as the average terrace width is gradually increased until for >5 atom wide terraces all such electrochemical features are completely attenuated. This rapid diminution of the step-Nafion voltammetric peak, within just three atoms of terrace width, is unprecedented, and a parallel with the "splitting" of hydrogen underpotential deposition (HUPD) step peaks in perchloric acid aqueous electrolyte for closely spaced steps is noted. On the basis of these measurements, it is suggested that Nafion is a molecular probe of adsorbed OH species on Pt electrodes.


South Africa has a diverse climate and an equally diverse range of vegetation types, many of which are veld fire-prone. Veld fires form an integral process in many of these ecosystems, and indeed are often necessary for the maintenance of healthy ecosystems and biodiversity. However, in land reform farms headed by land reform beneficiaries veld fires are increasingly viewed and experienced as a destructive force, impacting on crops, livestock, pastures, forestry plantations, human habitation and even on human life. Land reform beneficiaries are part of the state's programme which seeks to provide the poor and the previously disadvantaged population with land to improve their livelihoods, and also use the land for establishing farming enterprises. These beneficiaries are mostly black emerging farmers, farming with crop and livestock and are largely dependent on the government's recapitalisation programme for the support of their agricultural enterprises. These beneficiaries are faced with various trade-offs and constraints as veld fires expose them to greater risk and renders some of their current practices unworkable. Their vulnerability to veld fires, mitigation, adaptation and coping practices towards veld fires has never been researched before. This study therefore is an attempt to fill this gap. The management of veld fires within the South African land reform programme, leaves much to be desired and calls for new institutional arrangements and a coordinated approach. This research paper seeks to facilitate veld fire management in land reform farms, through the introduction of measures to combat veld, forest and mountain fires throughout the land reform farms in South Africa and thereby reducing the damage and losses to natural vegetation, life and property. The unequivocal evidence presented in this paper balanced the social, environmental, and economic aspects of veld fires through a risk management strategy that emphasises hazard mitigation, preparedness, and recovery, as well as efficient veld fire response and suppression.


It is possible to confront increasingly complex federal regulations and the rapidly expanding involvement of state environmental agencies with a reduced environmental staff. A computerized management system allows monitoring and maintaining compliance to a degree unattainable by manual methods. It has become increasingly difficult to determine the compliance status of individual facilities. This is especially true for companies with numerous facilities operating in different states. Federal regulations have become more sophisticated and complex and the involvement with individual states is growing in the areas of hazardous waste disposal, groundwater protection, toxic substances control and hazardous air pollutant identification. These factors combine to significantly increase the environmental information which must be generated, analyzed, reported and filed.