Purpose. The main purpose of the paper was to carry out empirical tests of previously conceptualised model because a conceptualization of entrepreneurship, strategic decision making and personality types was necessary, as the earliest attempt to explore personality types in relation to entrepreneurs was by Schumpeter in 1928 and there was a need to empirically validate conceptual premises made about entrepreneurial personalities and strategic decision making in business organizations. Finally, in this paper distinction is made between the top level managers and other levels of managers which include the middle and low level managers. Methodology. The continued conceptual analysis using the Holland's typology of personalities of entrepreneurs within organization was actualised considering the positions of top and middle level managers in organizations alongside Conceptual classification of decision making styles which ranges from Rational, Cognitive to Intuitive. Primary data was collected by distributing survey instrument to targeted groups of respondents having core managerial functions within business organizations in Lithuania. Responses from 100 random respondents were analysed and graphed and this results discussed further against the backdrop of the premise. Results. The entrepreneurial personality of top and other level organizational managers explains variation in everyday decision-making style, 46% of respondents comprising mostly of top level managers indicated that they are enterprising, 8% artistic and 15% social personality types. While 15% were rational, 8% cognitive and 77% intuitive in their decision making styles with the top and other levels of managers involved in the entrepreneurial function (E) possessing decision making tendencies which tend towards intuitive decision. Finally the analysis reveals that Top level manages are intuitive in their decision making styles while other level managers are more cognitive and rational in making decisions and most top level managers range from artistic personalities to social with a great proportion of this managers been entrepreneurial in personality. The theoretical contribution. The value and implications of the research is mainly the validation of the conceptualisation that cognitive and intuitive decision making styles are predominant in entrepreneurs (E) with such individuals within organizations having a propensity to towards intuitive decision with entrepreneurial types mainly ranging from social(S) to artistic(A) personalities. Practical implication: A better understanding into the individual personality traits of top and other level managers in business organizations have been gained and the beginning of the empirical testing of the model to link decision making styles and personality has been achieved, with the results showing that increasing the number of respondents both from within and outside Lithuania would provide a clearer insight Keywords: Strategic decision making, entrepreneurship, managers, entrepreneurial strategic decision making, personality. Paper type : Research paper


Background: Enbridge Pipelines (Lakehead) was interested in a method to analyze longitudinal butt and fillet welds on pipeline repair sleeves and stopple tee fittings with the goal of finding weld defects such as inadequate root penetration, weld porosity, slag inclusions and other structural defects. Problem: Traditional pipeline x-ray techniques to not generate enough energy to overcome steel thicknesses up to 3.6 inches (91.4 mm) and the density of crude oil in a 34 inch (863.6 mm) diameter pipe. Attempts using cobalt 60 with up to 60 minute exposures did not produce x-rays with distinguishable features. Technology Comparison: Two methods were considered. One utilized an automated array of ultrasonic probes each specifically targeting regions within the longitudinal butt weld. This method was successfully developed for butt welds, however Enbridge chose to pursue using a high power XRay source called a Linear Accelerator (Linac) to look at butt and fillet welds. Linear Accelerator Technical Description: Derived from work done by the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Linac unit has demonstrated that it can produce code quality in service inspections for power plant boilers, nuclear plant piping, pre-stressed concrete bridge sections and other applications. Its design has been adapted from the Los Alamos Science Research Center's work with the atomic bomb program. This is the highest power portable x-ray source in the world with a total power of 6 million volts as compared with the 200,000 equivalent volts produced by a Cobalt 60 radiation source. Field Trial and Results: The test specimen was a 34 inch (863.6 mm) diameter stopple tee which had been removed from the pipeline system and filled with water. Hole type penetrameters were placed directly next to the long seam welds on the stopple tee to verify the image quality, X-Ray images were exposed in 13–15 seconds and consistently produced sensitivities of 2T on 25 & 30, which was well within code requirements for the material. This technology displayed weld defects including lack of root penetration, porosity and slag inclusion that could be interpreted to code standards. Summary: This field trial proved that the Linac could be used in actual conditions. The Linac unit would requires some minor modifications for pipeline application including special mounting brackets and other small adjustments. Public safety is also a concern with this high power source as public evacuation is required within a 250 foot (76.2 m) radius of the source. Enbridge did not undertake a larger program with this technology but demonstrated that it could be used successfully if required.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


After many changes. Buerger's disease stands as an independent clinicopathologic entity, but a better understanding of Buerger's disease has been impeded by the lack of unanimous diagnostic criteria of the disease. Since specificity of Buerger's disease is characterized by peripheral ischemia of an inflammatory nature and with a self-limiting course, diagnostic criteria of Buerger's discase should he discussed from clinical point of view. Our clinical criteria for the diagnosis of Buerger's disease are: (1) smoking history; (2) onset before the age of 50 years: (3) infrapopliteal arterial occlusions; (4) either upper limb involvement or phlebitis migrans; and (5) absence of atherosclerotic risk factors other than smoking. Confident clinical diagnosis of Buerger's disease may be made only when all five requirements have been fulfilled. A set of strict and well-defined clinical diagnostic criteria is essential for any study of Buerger's disease to ensure the homogeneity of the selected patient population for valid comparisons.


ALTHOUGH the radioactive tracer technique has been known for many years, it is only recently that the production of a wide variety of artificially produced radioactive isotopes has opened up this field of research to all industries. Many firms may be prejudiced against adopting this new technique, because of possible dangers to personnel, lack of trained staff or an inadequate knowledge of the subject, but in many cases the advantages over ordinary methods are so great that it is worth while overcoming these prejudices.


In an attempt to improve ambient air quality, retrofit programmes have been encouraged; targeting reductions in PM emissions by means of diesel particulate filters (DPFs). However depending on the DPF design and operating conditions increased nitrogen dioxide (NO;) emissions have been observed, which is causing concern. Previous work showed that retrofitting a DPF system employing a fuel borne catalyst (FBC) to facilitate regeneration, reduced NO 2 emissions. This paper outlines\the investigation of a base metal coated DPF to enhance the reduction of NO 2 . Such a DPF system has been fitted to older technology buses and has demonstrated reliable field performance.


Due to the character of programming languages, reading ability may have more impact on learning to program than on learning in other subjects. This paper describes an exploratory study of the relationship between reading skills, as perceived through eye tracking, and the ability to program. An empirical investigation into this relationship determined that students with inadequate reading skills are at risk of failing at introductory programming. As an explanation for the effect of reading ability on learning to program, we argue that a programming language is a special high-level written language and that using it requires high levels of comprehension, inferencing, selective attention, organising and reflecting. As a result, a student's reading ability will have a considerable effect on learning to program. Lack of reading skills may therefore be a factor that affect students' ability to learn to program. Eye tracking can expose reading skills and, therefore, be used to identify at-risk introductory programming students. The practical contribution of this research is the demonstration of how eye tracking can reveal reading problems among programming students. We relate these reading problems to their programming performance, providing a theoretical account of the connection. The results suggest that efforts to improve reading skills could have a positive impact on learning to program.


PURPOSE
A prototype quality control (QC) phantom and analysis process has been designed specifically to monitor dual-energy CT and address the current lack of quantitative oversight of the spectral capabilities of these scanners.

METHODS
A prototype solid water phantom was designed with multiple material inserts, and to support both head and body protocols. Inserts included tissue equivalent and material rods (iodine, iron, calcium) at various concentrations. The oval body phantom, measuring 30cm×40cm×15cm, was scanned using four dual-energy protocols with CTDIvol ranges of 19.6-62mGy (0.516 pitch) and 10.3-32.5mGy (0.984 pitch), and rotation times ranging from 0.5-1sec. The circular head phantom, measuring 22cm in diameter by 15cm, was scanned using three dual-energy protocols with CTDIvol ranges of 67-132.6mGy (0.531 pitch) and 36.7-72.7mGy (0.969 pitch), and rotation times ranging from 0.5-0.9sec. All images were reconstructed at 50, 70, 110 and 140 keV, and using a water-iodine material basis pair. The images were evaluated for iodine quantification accuracy and stability of monoenergetic reconstructions. The phantom was scanned twice on ten GE 750HD CT scanners to evaluate inter-scanner agreement, as well as ten times on a single scanner over a oneweek period to evaluate intra-scanner repeatability.

RESULTS
Preliminary analysis revealed consistent (inter- and intra-scanner) iodine quantification accuracy within 10% was only achieved for protocols in the upper half of dose levels assessed when grouped by pitch. Although all scanners undergo rigorous daily single-energy QC, iodine quantification accuracy from one scanner unexpectedly deviated from the other nine substantially. In general, inter-scanner agreement and intra-scanner repeatability varied with dose, rotation time and reconstructed keV.

CONCLUSION
Preliminary results indicate the need for a dual-energy QC process to ensure inter-scanner agreement and intra-scanner repeatability. In particular, iodine quantification accuracy within 10% may not be achievable using lower dose techniques. Future plans include longer term dual-energy CT QC data collection. In-kind financial support was provided by GE Healthcare.


Water samples collected from abandoned mining sites in Itogon, Benguet, Philippines were screened for metal resistant microorganisms, in particular yeasts that will be used to remove toxic metals such as Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr and Ni from aqueous media. Among the five yeast strains selected and five heavy metals tested, Nodulisporium sp. exhibited the highest removal efficiency of 80% and biosorption capacity of 56.7 mg g-1 for Pb. This was based on the model equation for each metal that was generated to derive optimum response for removal efficiency. The metal accumulation potential for all selected yeast isolates was generally higher at the lower initial metal concentration of 25 mg L-1, indicating rapid metal absorbing ability of the isolate and that adsorption sites in the biomass are taking up available metal ions more quickly. An increased removal capability was observed when the best isolate was applied in a semi-continuous treatment system thru an Aerobic Cascading Filter Bed Baffled Reactor (ACFBBR). The reactor design including the packing material remarkably enhanced the contact between the yeast biomass and Pb contaminated wastewater resulting in a much greater biosorption capacity of 170.14 mg g-1 as compared to the biosorption of 56.7 mg g-1 achieved during the batch adsorption experiment.


In the context of rapid urbanization in developing countries, the spatial organization of cities has been progressively restructured over the past decades. However, little has been done to understand how the physical expansion affected the reorganization of socioeconomic spaces in cities. This study explores the association between various street network metrics and urban vitality and how it changes across different scales using geographic big data through a case study of Wuhan, China. Urban vitality is characterized by four components: concentration, accessibility, livability, and diversity. The new technique of spatial design network analysis (sDNA) is employed to characterize street network metrics, including connectivity, closeness, betweenness, severance, and efficiency, with 16 localized network variables. Furthermore, the stratified spatial heterogeneity between street network metrics at multiple scales and the four components of urban vitality is investigated using the Geodetector tool. First, concentration, accessibility, and diversity decline with distance from the urban center, whereas livability has a fluctuating upward trend with distance from the urban core. Second, the correlation between street network characteristics and urban vitality is sensitive to different spatial scales. Third, connectivity explains the largest amount of the variance in urban vitality (over 40%), while both betweenness and closeness explain roughly 28% of urban vitality. Efficiency and severance contribute 22 and 10% to the spatial heterogeneity of urban vitality, respectively. The study sheds light on the mechanisms between street configurations and urban vitality from the multi-scalar perspective. Some implications are provided for the improvement of the streets' urban vitality.


Abstract The importance of a commodity, as perceived by animals, can be determined by measuring the amount of work animals are prepared to perform to gain access to that commodity. In the present study, this method is extended to establish how animals perceive the importance of increasing amounts of one commodity, that is, additional space. The behavioural demand functions of caged laboratory mice,Mus musculusfor additional space ranging from 196 cm2to 1600 cm2on fixed-ratio schedules ranging from 5 to 80 switch operations were determined. At all fixed-ratio values, the mice worked economically and gained access to additional space on several occasions within each 1-h observation session. The amount of access gained decreased as the work required increased, but the slope of the function (−0.347) was sufficiently shallow to indicate that additional space was regarded by the mice as a highly important commodity. The frequency of visits and the time spent in the additional space were significantly different between the sizes of additional space offered, but unexpectedly, these differences were small. In addition, the elasticity coefficients were not significantly different between the sizes of additional space. The absence of large differences in response to disparate sizes of additional space may indicate that the mice may have (1) been motivated to escape their home-cage, (2) been motivated to search for unavailable resources, or (3) perceive the different amounts of additional space as nearly equally (non-)rewarding. Time of day had a significant effect on the responses of the mice in that towards the end of the active phase, the additional space was visited less frequently and for shorter periods indicating a temporally based change in motivational status or efficiency of behaviour. It is argued that these results support previous evidence that laboratory mice are highly motivated to explore and subsequently monitor areas made accessible to them, regardless of size and, to some extent, content.


Special Economic Zone refers to certain designated areas in countries that possess special economic regulations which are different from other areas in the same country. The First SEZ Policy in India came out on 1st April 2000. The prime motive was to increase foreign investment and create an internationally competitive environment for exports. Special Economic zones have both their merits and demerits. The merits include contribution to balanced economic growth; increasing foreign direct investment; transmission of technologies from developed to developing countries; fostering trade and economic activity; and generation of employment. However, it has its own limitations such as acquisition of land from the poor at cheap prices; depriving the farmers of their livelihood; tax holidays may adversely affect government revenue and possibility of creation of land bank among traders. A number of incentives and tax benefits are provided to Special Economic Zones.SEZ no doubt can improve India's economic activity, make exports competitive, bring in foreign exchange reserves and provide employment opportunities. But this it must be ensured that it should not be at the cost of agriculture which forms the backbone of our economy.


Despite the introduction of drug-eluting stents restenosis remains an important clinical problem. In this review we examine the role of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in controlling restenosis after balloon angioplasty and stent implantation.


Purpose To evaluate the validity and reproducibility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-based ovarian morphologic measurements for diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescents. Materials and Methods This case-control study included 110 adolescent girls (age range, 13-17 years) who underwent pelvic MR imaging in 2006-2015. The case group included girls with high (n = 40, hyperandrogenism and oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea), intermediate (n = 8, hyperandrogenism), or low (n = 7, oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea) suspicion of PCOS. Control subjects were 55 age-matched (± 2 years) girls with no clinical hyperandrogenism, oligomenorrhea, or amenorrhea. The validity (sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]) of the number of follicles per ovary (FPO) measuring 9 mm or smaller (FPO-9) and FPO measuring 5 mm or smaller (FPO-5), ovarian volume (OV), sphericity index, peripheral distribution of follicles, and absence of a dominant follicle were determined, with girls who were highly suspected of having PCOS compared with control subjects as the reference. Two radiologists independently measured these criteria in 50 girls who were suspected of having PCOS to assess reproducibility (κ and intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs]). Results All criteria except sphericity index and absence of a dominant follicle were significantly associated with the level of suspicion of PCOS (P ≤ .05). The AUCs for FPO-9 (0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68, 0.87), FPO-5 (0.73; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.83), and OV (0.77; 95% CI: 0.68, 0.87) were significantly greater than 0.5; that was not true for sphericity index (AUC, 0.58; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.70). Sensitivity and specificity for peripheral distribution of follicles were 33% (95% CI: 19%, 49%) and 95% (95% CI: 85%, 99%), respectively; for absence of a dominant follicle, they were 90% (95% CI: 76%, 97%) and 27% (95% CI: 16%, 41%), respectively. Reproducibility was almost perfect for OV (ICC, 0.89), substantial for absence of a dominant follicle (κ, 0.74), moderate for FPO-9 (ICC, 0.54) and FPO-5 (ICC, 0.61), and fair for peripheral distribution of follicles (κ, 0.37). Conclusion The most accurate MR imaging-based diagnostic criteria for PCOS were OV, FPO-9, and peripheral distribution of follicles; however, reproducibility of these measures was moderate, except that for OV (ICC, 0.89). © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.


Background Immunotherapy has been shown to improve the overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without driver gene mutations. However, monotherapy with immunotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy in NSCLC patients with untreated brain metastases (BM) is still under debate. Data regarding treatment of BM with immunotherapy and temozolomide (TMZ) in patients with NSCLC is rare. Case Presentation A 60-year-old male due to cough and expectoration presented in our hospital. Chest computed tomography (CT), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and immunohistochemistry of a mediastinal lymph node biopsy were administered, he was diagnosed with stage IIIB lung adenocarcinoma. Without driver gene mutations, he was treated with platinum-based chemotherapy because he refused to accept concurrent radiation therapy (RT). Heavy cough companied with hemoptysis and chest CT scan both revealed progressive disease (PD) after 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Immunotherapy was consequently considered, while two metastatic lesions in the brain were confirmed after combined treatment of pembrolizumab with docetaxel. TMZ was administered in combination with pembrolizumab (200 mg, day 1). A new metastasis in the right occipital lobe was detected on a scan 1 month later, though the other 2 lesions continued to shrink. The treatment was continued, MRI and CT scans suggested complete response (CR) was achieved for both the BM and lung lesions after 3 cycles. Consolidation therapy with TMZ and pembrolizumab (100 mg) per month was considered for another 7 months. Maintenance monotherapy with pembrolizumab (100 mg) was selected because of his stable CR status. At 59 months since diagnosis, the patient remains alive, with CR for both the primary lesions and BM. The patient experienced slight numbness on each side of his feet. There was no occurrence of adverse effects greater than grade 3. Conclusions The data indicates that immunotherapy combined with TMZ for untreated BM in NSCLC patients maybe an efficient and safe decision making therapeutic choice. Despite the encouraging efficacy of the combination, it is an isolated case and the speculation of synergism need to be proved in further pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies even in large randomized controlled trials.


CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2008 Abstracts

Abstract #4119

Background Antiangiogenic therapy targeting VEGF with bevacizumab in combination with taxanes is effective in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Sunitinib (S) is a potent multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor and has activity against VEGFR, PDGFR, c-Kit, and Flt-3. S has demonstrated activity in a variety of tumors and is approved at a dose of 50mg 4 wks on/ 2 wks off. Single agent continuous dosing (CD) at 37.5 mg/d is safe in phase II trials and may avoid a flare in angiogenesis with drug withdrawal. The effects of metronomic chemotherapy in preclinical studies are enhanced in combination with antiangiogenic agents, and cyclophosphamide and methotrexate (CM) have demonstrated limited efficacy in MBC. We combined S with CM in a phase I dose escalation study to evaluate an all oral regimen with CD. Serial measurements of circulating tumor cells (CTC) and endothelial cells (CEC) were performed in patients receiving study therapy. Methods Eligible patients (pts) have measurable or evaluable progressing MBC. Study treatment includes a two week lead-in course of S, followed by CD of S combined with CM. The primary endpoint is to determine the MTD of S + CM, secondary endpoints include toxicity and response. Quantitative analysis for CTC and CEC is performed at baseline, before starting CM then every 3 weeks. 3 patients are enrolled in each cohort starting at 12.5mg/d of S; 6 patients will be enrolled at the MTD followed by a phase II trial. Efficacy is assessed at week 8 then every 6 weeks. Results 15 pts have been treated to date (median age 57 (range 36-86); PS 0-2; median number prior chemo regimens 5 (range 2-9) in three dose cohorts (12.5, 25, 37.5 mg/d). 3 pts discontinued during the "run-in" due to symptomatic PD. 3 of 6 evaluable pts at 25 mg/d had asymptomatic grade 3 neutropenia responding to a dose reduction in CM. 4 pts had grade 2 neutropenia. One pt receiving 37.5 mg/d of S developed grade 4 thrombocytopenia. Other adverse events (all grade 1/2 ) included fatigue (7/12), elevated LFTs (5/12), nausea (5/12), mucositis (5/12) and thrombocytopenia (3/12). One pt had grade 2 fingertip desquamation resolving in two weeks off all study therapy. At week 8, 4/6 evaluable pts at 25 mg/d S with CM had stable disease (SD), 1 pt had a PR at week 14 and one pt had SD for 47 weeks. Enrollment to the third cohort at 37.5 mg S and CM is complete and tumor response is pending. Conclusion The combination of S with CM is well tolerated in heavily pretreated pts with MBC and has shown preliminary evidence of efficacy. Final phase I data, including the third cohort, CTC and CEC data will be presented.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 4119.


Isolated pancreatic islets exposed to 100 mM acetazolamide (AZM) and low glucose concentration exhibited increased insulin release, whereas those subjected to AZM and high glucose concentration exhibited decreased secretion of insulin. A slight transient hyperglycaemia was found 24 h after administration of 1.5 g/kg b.wt. of AZM to fed mice, whereas no such response was seen in starved mice. The serum insulin concentration was increased in the 24 h after AZM injection. Pretreatment with AZM caused decreased glucose tolerance and protection against alloxan toxicity. Inhibited carbonic anhydrase activity and ionic alterations might have played a role in the development of these effects of AZM in mice.


We rigorously derive and discuss in detail the asymptotics of the Toda shock wave in a middle region where the solution is asymptotically finite gap. In particular, we describe the influence of the discrete spectrum in the spectral gap on the shift of the phase in the theta-function representation for this solution. We also study the effect of possible resonances at the endpoints of the gap on this phase. This paper is a continuation of research started in [11].


Grain boundaries are topological defects that often have a disordered character. Disorder implies that understanding general trends is more important than accurate investigations of individual grain boundaries. Here we present trends in the grain boundaries of graphene. We use density-functional tight-binding method to calculate trends in energy, atomic structure (polygon composition), chemical reactivity (dangling bond density), corrugation heights (inflection angles), and dynamical properties (vibrations), as a function of lattice orientation mismatch. The observed trends and their mutual interrelations are plausibly explained by structure, and supported by past experiments.


Currently, reliability of LED luminaires, especially LED system, has become one of the hottest researches of LED industry. However, in existing literature, almost none of them utilized step-stress accelerated degradation test (SSADT) to assess reliability of LED luminaires. While indoor lighting is close correlated to people's life, this paper takes LED bulb which produced by two different Chinese companies as the research objective. And the optic fluxes of all the samples are inspected and considered as the initial value. Because temperature is one of the most important parameters which affect LED's lifetime, So a step-temperature ADT is conducted. This paper chooses L70 as the failure criterion (if a LED luminaires failed, it's SSADT test would be stopped). Then four degradation models are used for fitting the degradation track of luminous flux of the test samples. After that, this paper assumed the pseudo failure lifetime follows normal distribution, Weibull distribution and lognormal distribution and conducted distribution assumption inspection, respectively. Finally, Using Arrhenius model and MATLAB to obtain the mean lifetime and reliability curve of the samples. By Comparing, it can be observed that the mean lifetime of LED samples is not as much as the lifetime that provided by the company.


Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) have brought a keen interest in current scenario for potential applications in automotive industries owing to their superior strength to weight ratio.In the present work a modest attempt has been made to develop aluminium (Al) based E-glass fibre composites with an objective to produce economic method of obtaining high strength MMCs. E-Glass fibers are the most widely used glass fibers as reinforcement in composites. E-glass fibers show proficient bulk properties such as high hardness (6000 MPa), high strength ,dimensional stability, resistance to chemical attack .It has density of 2.58 gm/cc, tensile strength of 3500 MPa and Young's modulus of 85 GPa along with compressive strength of 5000 MPa. The present work investigates the microstructure and hardness of an Al-based MMC reinforced with different (1, 2, 5) vol. % of E-glass fiber developed by powder metallurgy route. The E- glass fiber having different length (2 , 5 and 8 mm) were chosen for each composition. Both unmilled and 20h milled nanostructured Al were used as matrix and mixed with E-glass fiber in different vol. % and compacted under uniaxial load of 222 MPa and sintered at 500oC for 2h in Ar atmosphere. For a period of upto20 h Al was milled in a high energy planetary ball mill in order to develop nanocrystalline Al powder. The milled Al powder was analyzedusing scanning electron microscope (SEM) ,x-ray diffraction (XRD), and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The effect of nanocrystalline Al on densification and sintering was analyzed. The microstructure of the various Al based MMCs were analyzed using SEM and optical microscope. The hardness of the various composites was measured using a Vickers microhardness tester. SEM was used to analyse the fracture surface of the composites. The relative density of sintered samples was calculated from Archimedes' principle


BP Solar started commercial production of amorphous silicon tandem solar cells in Toano, Virginia in 1997. The scale-up process has involved overcoming technology challenges in several areas. It was necessary to develop high speed, multiple-beam laser scribing systems that could pattern photovoltaic modules over an area of 0.8 square meters with close dimensional tolerances. In addition, the deposition rate of amorphous silicon was doubled while production was being ramped up, and the deposition system was modified to meet capacity requirements. The utilization of the germane feedstock gas was increased by about 25% in order to reduce material costs. In addition, the dimensional tolerances of the deposition system geometry were determined and controlled in order to assure uniform deposition of the amorphous silicon alloys. Effects of contaminants (such as pump oils and residual dopants) on device performance were quantified. Sources of debris that could cause shunts and shorts in the devices were identified and minimized. Current research efforts are focused on further increases in the amorphous silicon deposition rate, improvements in device performance and the development of in-situ diagnostic tools to monitor and control the manufacturing process.


ABSTRACT

Nindiariny, Sozya Twidara P. 2017. "Peranan Praurutan dalam Menentukan Strategi Kesantunan Tindak Tutur Direktif pada Drama Jepang Rich Man Poor Woman". Thesis, department of Japanese Studies Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University. The Advisor Maharani Patria Ratna, S.S M.Hum and Reny Wiyatasari, S.S M.Hum.

The purpose of this study is to study the uses of pre sequences on determine the strategy of politeness in direct speech, especially at commanding and requesting which used by the characters in Rich Man Poor Woman drama. The data of this study are the characters speeches which can be categorized as directive speech acts in drama series Rich Man Poor Woman episode 1-12. Method of data analysis used is descriptive analysis. Data were analyzed by using theory from George Yule to analyce about the pre sequences and theory from Brown and Levinson used to analyze about the politeness strategy.

Based from the results of study show that the most dominant presequences and politeness strategy used by the characters in drama series Rich Man Poor Woman episode 1-12 is simple pre sequences and bald on record strategy on commanding directive speeches, and simple pre sequences and negative politeness strategy on requesting directive speeches. This is because the speeches in the drama series Rich Man Poor Woman are mostly take place in office used by the chief executive officer of the company to employees, and the senior to junior.

Keywords : speech act, directive, politeness, strategy, pre sequences


The main objective of research was reengineering agricultural technology education based on constructivism,engineering design and systems thinking in farming systems of Khouzestan province, Iran. The method of research was correlative descriptive and causal relation. A random sample of agricultural extension educators of Khouzestan province, Iran (n=105) were selected for participation in the study. Based on the constructivism the top six ranked items in favorable conditions were: (1) Emphasizing discourse and collaboration; (2) Ability to communicate ideas; (3) Developing self thought and reliance; (4) Discovering  knowledge  through group work; (5) Programs place a high value on field work, and (6) Using problem solving methods. Based on engineering design the top six ranked items in favorable conditions were: (1) Communication and analytical skills; (2) Interpersonal skills: teamwork, group skills, attitude, and work ethic; (3) Problem-solving and creative thinking; (4) Formative evaluation; (5) Contributions from both social and natural science in the educational process, and (6) The ability to negotiate and influence, and self-management. Also based on systems thinking, the top six ranked items in favorable conditions were: (1) Focus on the needs of farmers; (2) Negotiating assessment processes; (3) Considering farm as system; (4) Need for a more holistic understanding; (5) Helping learners confront personal beliefs and create their own theories of learning, and (6) Providing learners with opportunities to examine, analyze, and reflect on their own thinking.

 Key words: Agricultural technology education, constructivism, engineering design, systems thinking.


The paper focuses on implementation of a state-of-the-art solution of a diagnostic system based on AI (artificial intelligence), enabling the continuous assessment of the working condition of a conveyor belt reinforced with steel cords. Data collected from testing done on real facilities in the colliery Marcel and Jankowice have demonstrated the potential applications of IT technologies to reduce the operating costs of installations through improving the reliability and service life of conveyor systems used in mining. Monitoring of the working condition of steel cords is the well-planned activity aimed to improve the belt management, to prevent failures and to prolong their service life. Monitoring proves to be of key importance in control of performance quality of belt conveyors.


The stratigraphy of the Coal Measures of North Staffordshire is, perhaps, better known than that of any other coalfield in this country. This is undoubtedly due to the detailed work carried out by pioneer workers such as Wheelton Hind, John Ward and Mr. J. T. Stobbs, and also to the fact that this coalfield offers remarkable facilities for the study of the various horizons in the Coal Measure sequence. The upper portion of the Middle Coal Measures and the lower part of the Upper Coal Measures, in particular, are (owing to the economic value of the pottery clays and the Black Band Ironstones) admirably exposed in quarries and excavations. These sections give an almost complete succession from the Ash Coal to the Keele Series. The present paper deals with the distribution of plants in the Coal Measures above the horizon of the Ash Coal. Most of the species here recorded were collected in the course of investigations chiefly concerned with the non-marine lamellibranchs in those measures, and undertaken while I was acting as research assistant to Prof. A. E. Trueman. A grant in aid of this work was received from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. I desire to acknowledge the assistance which has been given by all owners and officials of mines and marl pits in North Staffordshire. They not only allowed access to sections, but also gave facilities for collecting both above and below ground. As a result, the original records given in this paper refer to


APLNG 484 FUNCTIONAL DISCOURSE GRAMMAR (3 credits) This course is designed to provide an overview of the structure of the English language through a functional/discourse analytical approach to linguistic analysis. Grammar is viewed as holistic and dynamic in the sense that grammar and grammatical forms are intricately related to speaker stance, cognition, and interaction. That is when speakers use certain forms of grammar (in any language); they are generally making choices over other possible forms. In addition, this course examines what types of motivations might underlie such choices and will investigate how this approach to grammar can be applied in teaching/learning of English (and other languages) as a second or foreign language.


Total System Performance Assessment, TSPA, for radioactive waste disposal is a multi and interdisciplinary task that is characterized by complex interactions between parameters and processes; lack of data; and ignorance regarding natural processes and conditions. The vagueness in the determination of ranges of values of parameters and identification of interacting processes pose further difficulties to the analysts with regard to the establishment of the relations between processes and parameters. More specifically the vagueness makes uncertainty propagation and sensitivity analysis challenging to analyze. To cope with these difficulties experts often use simplifications and linguistic terms to express their state of knowledge about a certain situation. For example, experts use terms such as "low pH", "very unlikely", etc to describe their perception about natural processes or conditions. In this work we propose the use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, FCM, for representation of interrelation between processes and parameters as well as to promote a better understanding of the system performance. Fuzzy cognitive maps are suited for the case where the causal relations are not clearly defined and, therefore, can not be represented by crisp values. In other words, instead of representing the quality of the interactions by crisp values, they are assigned degrees of truth. For example, we can assign values to the effect of one process on another such that (+) 1 corresponds to positive, (−) 1 to negative and 0 to neutral effects respectively. In this case the effect of a process A, on a process, B, can be depicted as function of the membership to the fuzzy set "causal effect" of the cause process to the target one. One of the main advantages of this methodology would be that it allows one to aggregate the linguistic expressions as descriptions of processes. For example, a process can be known to have a "very strong" positive effect on another one, or using fuzzy sets terminology the effect is "around (+) 1" with degree of membership μ = 0.9. As another example, a "moderate" negative effect can be represented as "around (−) 1" with degree of membership μ = 0.6 to the set "(−) 1". Such a methodology can be an important tool for enhancing transparency in the TSPA process by allowing discussions between experts from different fields of research, for example by adding new "what if" analysis, and, therefore, for confidence building.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


This paper proposes a hierarchical method to deal with the multi-pose face recognition problem. The Local Binary Pattern (LBP) feature is used as the uniform feature throughout the two-hierarchy process. Also, a new method, named Multi-expert Intelligent Decision System, is proposed to improve the performance of the pose estimation process. According to the experiments, the method is proved to be efficient and robust.


Natural communities respond to disruption through a series of changes in plant and animal communities that are broadly predictable. The field-to-forest sere of central Long Island follows the pattern set forth earlier for the Piedmont of North Carolina and for New Jersey. The communities of herbs that occur in the years immediately after abandonment are followed by an Andropogon stage which is replaced before the 20th year by pine forest. The pine is replaced in the next 25 years by oak-pine, which in the normal Course is followed by oak-hickory. With repeated burning the oak-pine stage in various combinations of oaks and pine may be maintained indefinitely. Diversity, measured as number of species per unit land area, increased in this sere through the 3-5th years after abandonment to a maximum, dropped, and rose again in the later forest stages. Exotics were a conspicuous part of the communities of the earlier stages but their importance diminished as succession progressed and their contribution to net production was zero beyond the 20th year. The removal of exotics would probably not have changed the pattern of diversity appreciably. Net primary production increased with succession in this sere with major changes occurring as life-forms ofmore » the dominants shifted to woody plants. The peak net production was in the most mature forest, about 1200 g/m{sup 2}/yr. Root/shoot ratios declined from 4-5 in the early stages of succession to 0.3-0.5 with later stages. The standing crop of organic matter including humus throughout the sere was about 15 times the net production, indicating a halftime of residence for all organic matter throughout the sere of about 10 years.« less


Background: Wallerstein's Scales of Psychological Capacities (SPC) is a fairly new measure of psychological change, developed to meet the need for an instrument which can be used by clinicians and researchers from different psychotherapy directions and schools. This study examined whether Blatt's theory of 2 different types of psychopathology can be used to interpret the latent structure of the SPC. Sampling and Methods: Data from 224 individuals with mild to severe psychopathology were factor analyzed. Results: A 2-factor solution was meaningfully interpreted from Blatt's theory, and the factors were used for computing summary scales. The scales had adequate reliabilities and discriminated well between different classifications according to DSM-III-R. Patients with depressive or anxiety disorder had more problems with issues concerning self-definition compared to patients with cluster B personality disorder. Conclusion: The findings supported the assumption that the concept of psychological capacity is based on an integrative model of the mind, and that the SPC can be a useful tool for clinicians and researchers in understanding psychological problems and resources in patients with various psychiatric disorders. A weakness of the study was that reliability data for DSM diagnoses were not gathered. Moreover, the group of patients with depressive or anxiety disorder was small.


The study focuses on the assessment of contribution of small loans in enhancing the economic empowerment to women micro-entrepreneurs obtaining loans from MFI's whereas FINCA in Kinondoni Municipal was used as the case study. The study aimed to assess whether small loans contribute to women economic empowerment in relation to their current socio-economic activities they engage in and also to determine relationship between credits offered by FINCA and the empowerment attained by women entrepreneurs receiving such credits. The sample were collected from women entrepreneurs obtaining loans from FINCA offices in Kinondoni by questionnaire where as about 50 questionnaires were administered and also from management staffs where as data were collected through interview. The study revealed that the loans given by FINCA have impact in women entrepreneur's lives as agreed by 98% respondents as it enables them to grow as business women and also workers in the society. This included improvement in access to financial capital, health, diet, community respect and self esteem as well as education which all together contributes to empowerment as agreed by a total of 64% respondents. The positive Pearson correlation of 0.648 was obtained between credits offered by FINCA and women economic empowerment which indicates large strength between the variables with coefficient of determination of 0.42 (42%). The study recommends that seminars and trainings should be given to women entrepreneurs on how to effectively manage the loan, also the MFI's should establish 50,000 Tsh. as the minimum loan amount that micro entrepreneur can take so as to enable them to access the and use financial opportunity they provide.


Singing voice conversion is a task to convert a song sang by a source singer to the voice of a target singer. In this paper, we propose using a parallel data free, many-to-one voice conversion technique on singing voices. A phonetic posterior feature is first generated by decoding singing voices through a robust Automatic Speech Recognition Engine (ASR). Then, a trained Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) with a Deep Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (DBLSTM) structure is used to model the mapping from person-independent content to the acoustic features of the target person. F0 and aperiodic are obtained through the original singing voice, and used with acoustic features to reconstruct the target singing voice through a vocoder. In the obtained singing voice, the targeted and sourced singers sound similar. To our knowledge, this is the first study that uses non parallel data to train a singing voice conversion system. Subjective evaluations demonstrate that the proposed method effectively converts singing voices.


With the ever-growing concern of water deficit due to global climatic change, the drought and salinity stress
response of plants is a major area of research. However, the effect of these stress on cup-quality of coffee
especially, the accumulation of caffeine biosynthetic metabolites, has not been documented. This work studies
the methylxanthines (7-methylxanthine, theobromine, caffeine and theophylline) contents in young leaves of
coffee in response to PEG-6000 (1.5% and 15% w/v) induced drought and sodium chloride (20mM and 200mM)
induced salinity stress. In general, both the stress reduced the caffeine content except for 20mM NaCl. 1.5% PEG
reduced caffeine by 0.46 fold and 0.57 fold during first 24hr and 48hr of treatment, respectively; PEG at 15%
caused a reduction by 0.36 fold only in the 48hr of treatment compared to untreated plants; and NaCl at 200mM
caused a reduction of 0.26 fold and 0.47 fold in the first 24 and 48hrs of treatment, respectively. However 20mM
NaCl augmented caffeine by 1.93 and 5.1 fold in the first 24 and 48hrs of treatment, respectively. The levels of
caffeine subdued on the withdrawal of the stressor, affirmatively indicating the stress stimuli to be responsible for
the observed changes in caffeine levels. The biochemical profile was supported by transcript expression of the
caffeine biosynthetic NMT genes and the analysis of regulatory motifs of the promoters. The contents of
upstream methylxanthines (7-methylxanthine and theobromine) and the degradation pathway (theophylline)
indicate that salinity and drought might have a negative impact on biosynthesis of caffeine but accelerated the
rate of caffeine degradation.


The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) has recommended cooling to 32° to 34°C in unconscious adult patients with spontaneous circulation, when the initial rhythm was ventricular fibrillation. The advisory statement stressed that numerous factors, which determine therapeutic benefit or risks, still require definition. Prominent among these factors is target temperature, as some human and animal studies have shown either lack of benefit by mild hypothermia or the various adverse effects of profound temperature drops. No recommendations for infants or children have been made by ILCOR. We provide initial target temperature data in neonatal pigs undergoing central cooling by directing cardiac output through an extracorporeal circuit. We determined cardiac function and power using aortic flow probes and pressure-capacitance catheters within the left ventricle. Pigs (n = 5) were cooled from 38°C (esophageal) to 20° and recovered, or underwent 60 minutes aortic cross clamp at 29, 31, 32.5, 34, or 35°C (n= 2–5 per group), while under cardiopulmonary bypass support, and 40 minutes recovery with re-warming. Figure A shows DP/dt max (% baseline) during cooling; B shows ventricular power, and C shows recovery function compared to ischemic temp after cross-clamp. The data define a clear functional and injury threshold occurring just above 31°C. At this temperature, function is maintained, while providing maximal functional recovery after ischemic insult. The 32 to 34°C range does not provide optimal protection to the neonatal heart. This implies that neonatal protection requires different temperature strategies than adults.


Experienced engineers utilize Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) sensors to scan oil and gas pipelines for the purpose of localizing and sizing different defect types. The huge amount of raw data obtained by these sensors, however, makes the inspection task error-prone and timeconsuming. In this paper, we propose a defect depth estimation approach using artificial neural networks of various architectures. Discriminant features, which characterize different defect depth patterns, are first obtained from the raw data. Neural networks are then trained using these features. The Levenberg-Marquardt back-propagation learning algorithm is adopted in the training process, during which the weight and bias parameters of the networks are tuned to optimize their performances. Compared with the performance of pipeline inspection techniques reported by service providers such as GE and ROSEN, the results obtained using the method we proposed are promising. For instance, within ±10% errortolerance range, the obtained estimation accuracy is 86%, compared to only 80% reported by GE; and within ±15% error-tolerance range, the achieved estimation accuracy is 89% compared to 80% reported by ROSEN.


This paper presents the results of the assessment of the potential yield of sago palms in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. Previous studies have characterized the growth parameters of sago palms as influenced by their environmental growth conditions and anthropogenic activities of the local residents in the area, thereby affecting the potential yield of starch. In this study, a total of 60 sago palms were harvested and cut into logs and brought to central facility where each log was manually debarked, stripped, solar dried, milled, and sieved. Samples were obtained from identified 3 environmental growth environments (dry, wet, and submerged soil conditions) and from undisturbed and disturbed areas where the local community utilized the leaves for roofing. The results showed that on average, starch yield was maximum in palms grown in wet environment and without anthropogenic disturbance. Furthermore, the results were consistent with previous works that starch is at the maximum at inflorescent stage (247.5 kg/palm), and in bole formation stage (127.1 kg/palm), and lowest at fruiting stage (63.1 kg/palm). With these results and utilizing the sago density data from a previous study, we conclude that 2,000 tons of starch can be harvested within 1 to 2 years and about 20,000 tons in another 4 to 5 years. Further study is recommended to include cost of production in the sustainability assessment.


This paper examines the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the process of industrial transition in Vietnam under market-oriented reforms. The findings are consistent with the conventional wisdom that concomitant liberalisation of trade and investment regimes, accompanied by creating a congenial environment for market-based decision making by the private agents, is vital for reaping developmental gains from FDI. During the 1990s growth of employment in firms with foreign capital participation lagged behind output growth, reflecting the capital-intensity bias in domestic-market-oriented production in a partially liberalised economy. This pattern has changed notably in recent years as the product mix gradually became export oriented in response to further liberalisation of trade and investment policy regimes.


Reports of success with protease inhibitor-based HAART are appearing at the same time as reports of puzzling metabolic effects. These effects include loss of peripheral subcutaneous fat, truncal obesity, hyperlipidemia, and frank diabetes. There is no consensus on how often these problems manifest themselves. Patients taking protease inhibitors (PIs) also appear to be at higher risk of developing coronary disease, although more study is needed. Another question explored is whether PI-related complications can be reversed.


Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has a great capacity to destroy stored grain worldwide. We report on the sensilla on the antennal funiculus of S. zeamais, using classical anatomical methods and scanning electron microscopy to obtain a detailed database of the antennal sensilla for each sex. The antenna is composed of eight antennomeres. Average antennal length is 781.58±20.64 µm for males and 808.91±11.80 µmfor females. Six types and subtypes of sensilla were identified on the funiculus: squamiform, basiconic (2 subtypes), chaetic (2 subtypes), and coeloconic. Sensilla squamiformia are distributed evenly but in few numbers on male and female antennomeres. Sensilla basiconica can be divided into subtypes, SB1 and SB2, according to the shape of the cone. Both subtypes occur on the last antennomere of the flagellum and there are fewer SB2 than SB1. Sensilla chaetica appear in the same position as sensilla basiconica and have two subtypes, SC1 and SC2. Significant differences were not found in the types of sensilla on the antennae of the two sexes, but a difference was found in the number of sensilla.


Soil organic carbon fractions included microbial biomass carbon (MBC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and labile organic carbon (LOC), which was investigated over a 0–20 cm depth profile in three types of wetland in Hongze Lake of China. Their ecoenvironmental effect and the relationships with soil organic carbon (SOC) were analyzed in present experiment. The results showed that both active and SOC contents were in order reduced by estuarine wetland, flood plain, and out-of-lake wetland. Pearson correlative analysis indicated that MBC and DOC were positively related to SOC. The lowest ratios of MBC and DOC to SOC in the estuarine wetland suggested that the turnover rate of microbial active carbon pool was fairly low in this kind of wetland. Our results showed that estuarine wetland had a strong carbon sink function, which played important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; besides, changes of water condition might affect the accumulation and decomposition of organic carbon in the wetland soils.


We determined the effectiveness of soy milk with calcium for prevention of enamel erosion caused by chlorinated water. Thirty-six bovine teeth without wear or caries, sized 8 x 10 mm, were placed in resin acrylic blocks. All specimens had an initial enamel microhardness of 270-320 VHN and were randomly allocated into 3 groups (n = 12/group): control (not treated), casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) tooth mousse and soy milk with calcium. We applied the CPP-ACP for 5 minutes or soaked the teeth in soy milk with calcium for 20 minutes. Then, all the specimens were soaked in chlorinated water (pH 5.0) at room temperature for 96 hours following by 30 minutes in artificial saliva and then the microhardness of each tooth was re-determined. The data were analyzed statistically using the one-way ANOVA test and the paired t-test. The group with the least reduction in microhardness was the CPP-ACP treated group, followed by the control group and then the soy milk with calcium treated group. The enamel microhardness value after exposure to chlorinated water in the soy milk with calcium group was not significantly different from the control group (p > 0.05). The CPP-ACP treated group was significantly different from the other 2 groups (p < 0.05). Soy milk with calcium gave no protection against dental erosions caused by chlorinated water.


N-type junctionless (JL) planar poly-Si thin-film transistors (TFTs), which contain an in situ heavily phosphorous-doped channel with thickness ranging from 8 to 12 nm, were fabricated and characterized. The devices exhibit superior current drive and good control over performance variability. From C-V characterization, the ionized dopant concentration in the channel is determined to be around 2 × 1019 cm-3 and the fixed charge density to be around -6 × 1012 cm-2. The negative fixed charge density is probably related to the segregation of phosphorous species at the oxide/channel interface. We also observed a reverse short-channel effect from the relationship between the threshold voltage and the channel length. One mechanism considering enhanced phosphorous segregation is proposed to explain this finding.


Recurrent intradialytic hypotension is probably the most severely disabling feature in dialysis patients and the etiology is multifactorial. We assessed the efficacy and safety of midodrine, a selective alpha1-adrenergic pressor agent in 12 patients with recurrent intradialytic hypotension. Symptomatic intradialytic hypotension was defined as hypotensive symptoms occurring with a systolic blood pressure < 100 mm Hg or with 25% decrease in systolic blood pressure in those patients with a basal systolic blood pressure of 100 mm Hg. The patients who suffered from symptomatic intradialytic hypotension and failed to improve after cautious body weight adjustment were included into the study. The lowest intradialytic and postdialysis blood pressures were monitored for 18 consecutive dialysis sessions before and after midodrine treatment. Clinical signs and symptoms were also recorded during both periods. With midodrine, the mean (+/- SE) lowest systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased significantly from 68.7 +/- 3.1 and 42.8 +/- 2.0 mm Hg to 84.7 +/- 3.9 and 52.7 +/- 2.7 mm Hg respectively during the study (p < 0.01). Midodrine treatment also significantly increased postdialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressures from baseline values of 90.8 +/- 3.8 and 58.3 +/- 3.0 mm Hg to 113.3 +/- 7.1 and 70.6 +/- 3.1 mm Hg (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01 respectively). In addition, oral administration of midodrine also significantly decreased the total volume of intravenous fluid administered during symptomatic hypotension. The clinical signs and symptoms during dialysis were improved in all patients. There were no differences in hemoglobin, serum albumin, urea, creatinine, fasting blood sugar or volume removed per dialysis between both periods of the study. In conclusion, our study has demonstrated that midodrine is a safe and effective treatment for the prevention of recurrent intradialytic hypotension if routinely premedicated before each dialysis session.


Proper chromosome segregation relies on the action of the spindle checkpoint. Recent data have shown that the chromosomal passenger proteins survivin and Aurora B play an important auxiliary role in spindle checkpoint surveillance. Knock-down experiments in human cells indicate that the function of the survivin/Aurora B complex is required to correct improper microtubule-kinetochore interactions. Combined data of four different groups show that the survivin/Aurora B complex is not an integral component of the spindle checkpoint, but it enables the cell to communicate lack of tension back to the attached microtubules. Moreover, they show that the affinity of BubR1 for kinetochores is directly influenced by the absence or presence of the survivin/Aurora B complex. These functions of the survivin/Aurora B complex are essential for chromosome biorientation, a prerequisite for proper chromosome segregation. As such, this complex plays an important role in the maintenance of a stable genome.


The bender element testing features its in-plane directivity, which allows using bender elements to measure the shear wave velocities in a wider range of in-plane configurations besides the standard tip-to-tip alignment. This paper proposed a novel bender element testing technique for measuring the horizontal shear wave velocity of soils, where the bender elements are surfacemounted and the axes of the source and receiver elements are parallel to each other. The preliminary tests performed on model ground of silica sand showed that, by properly determining the travel distance and time of the shear waves, the surface-mounted bender elements can perform as accurately as the conventional "tip-to-tip" configuration. Potentially, the present system provides a promising nondestructive tool for characterizing geomaterials and site conditions both in laboratory and in the fields.


The full-scale war unleashed in 2022 by the Russian Federation against Ukraine is accompanied by massive destruction of infrastructure and industrial facilities. Their rapid recovery is impossible without international assistance. However, it is known from history that the use of such aid did not always lead to accelerated post-war recovery of countries whose markets and economies are developing. Knowledge of such facts urged Western scientists to search for a mechanism of aid's impact on economic growth. Researches that began in the 1960s did not shed light on this mechanism. However, they did show that aid speeded up economic growth and recovery in countries that conducted better fiscal, monetary, and trade policies and succeeded in establishing the rule of law. In the article, a slightly different scientific approach is substantiated. It assumes that when the country implements not only a better fiscal, monetary, foreign trade, institutional, but also structural economic policy, the impact of international aid on postwar economic growth can significantly increase. The proposed approach gives grounds for the statement that the limited amount of aid in Ukraine should not be dissipated on the reconstruction of all industrial facilities destroyed and damaged by the war, but it is advisable to concentrate it on the restoration of enterprises that are able to start production and sale of increased technological complexity products on international markets within a short period. The advantages of such use of the aid are shown by calculation. It shows that directing international aid at expanding exports of high technological complexity items would create in Ukraine favorable conditions for increasing the post-war annual growth rates of commodity production to 10% and reduce the period of recovery of this indicator to the 2021 level from 12 to 6 years. At the same time, arguments are given that the proposed use of aid is only a means of shortening the terms of the economy's exit from the crisis and its transition to a state of accelerated growth. It will be possible to turn this state into a long-term economic trend only if an effective mechanism is introduced for encouraging the companies' innovative activities and attracting foreign investments in industries producing items of increased technological complexity. Modeling possible scenarios of the post-war recovery of Ukraine's economy somewhat expands the scientific understanding of the mechanism of aid's effect on a country's economic growth. In particular, it is supplemented by the idea that in the post-war period, international aid plays the role of a driver of high rates of a country's economic growth to the extent that it contributes to economic restructuring of the production from military to civil mode transforming it from technologically simple to more technologically complex.


Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the association between serial serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and spontaneous hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion age in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)–infected children. Patients and Methods: One hundred four HBeAg-positive chronic genotype B or C HBV–infected patients were included in this long-term prospective cohort study (mean initial age 7.20 years). Serial serum ALT levels and HBV serology markers were measured every 6 to 12 months. The 104 subjects made a total of 2525 visits during the study period, and the majority (93.6%) of visits were within a 1-year interval apart from previous visits. Cox proportional hazards model with time-dependent covariates was used in the survival analysis of HBeAg in these subjects. Results: During the chronic course of HBV infection, the median remaining times to spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion were 8.35, 5.14, 4.25, 3.95, and 2.80 years after the ALT levels crossed 20, 30, 40, 60, and 150 IU/L, respectively. The incidence rate of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion within 6 months when a subject entered the phase of ALT between 60 and 150 IU/L was 5.57 times that of the phase with ALT < 60 IU/L. The incidence rate of HBeAg seroconversion once ALT levels were above 150 IU/L was 9.87 times that of the phase of ALT < 60 IU/L. Conclusions: The ALT levels above 30 IU/L served as a cutoff of the inflammatory phase in chronic genotype B and C HBV–infected patients. Serial ALT levels in chronic HBV–infected subjects offer a predicted effect on the occurrence of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion.


Nonlinear complex system modeling has drawn attention from diverse fields and many approaches have been developed. Among those approaches, the advantages of the belief rule base (BRB) expert system have been shown for managing multiple types of information under uncertainty and modeling the nonlinearity present in many theoretical and practical complex systems. However, two challenges still need to be addressed. First, BRB needs to be downsized to conserve modeling and computational effort. For this challenge, a new disjunctive assumption is applied, which can significantly downsize BRB while maintaining its completeness. Second, the structure and parameters of BRB need to be jointly optimized. For this challenge, a new Akaike information criterion (AIC)-based optimization objective is derived to represent both modeling accuracy and modeling complexity. Moreover, a joint bi-level optimization model with an AIC-based objective is constructed for the BRB structure and parameters, and a bi-level optimization algorithm is proposed. Three evolutionary algorithms, namely, the genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm, and differential evolutionary algorithm, are tested in a comparative fashion to determine the best fit for the optimization engine. The results of two practical case studies show that the joint optimization approach can identify an optimal configuration for both its structure and parameters, which is referred to as the best decision structure in this paper.


In the age of globalisation and information technology, corporate strategies are challenged to bring production in line with a complex demand, which requires a substantial shift from production of goods to the provision of knowledge-intensive systemic solutions. Such solutions usually consist product-service systems, i.e. a marketable set of products and services capable of jointly fulfilling a user's need. Given their strategic relevance, such solutions have rightly been widely discussed in management and marketing disciplines. In the Design discipline instead, the methodological implications of the design of PSS, have rarely been discussed even though design components play a critical role in their development. This paper aims at contributing to the debate about a new role for designers in the definition of innovative PSS. The paper illustrates the design process of a service (a urban telecentre), emphasising the main methodological problems arising in the process and introducing the methodological tools used to understand the nature of the service. The findings from the research project reported in this paper are expected to provide element for discussion in the debate about the methodological implications of the expansion of designers' competence: from the design of industrial products to the definition of the technological, cultural, organisational and social aspects of the design of a PSS.


ABSTRACT To investigate drought influences on mixed-severity fire regimes in montane forests of southeastern British Columbia, we developed a Douglas-fir latewood-width chronology and tested its associations with drought records across the fire season. Associations were strong between drought and latewood-widths particularly for June–August. Based on the chronology, we reconstructed the summer Drought Code, an index of moisture content in slow-drying deep compact organics in the soil and coarse woody fuels. Using the summer Drought Code and an existing reconstruction of the summer Palmer Drought Severity Index, representing moisture content in the quick-drying duff layer, we tested fire–drought associations using fire-scar records. Subtle differences in fire–drought associations reflect distinct drying rates and overwintering capacity among forest fuels represented by each summer drought reconstruction. Variable moisture conditions across fuels influence fire occurrence; in particular when the summer Drought Code exceeds 344 and the summer Palmer Drought Severity Index is below 0.08, fire occurrence is more likely. The application of these thresholds with climate change scenarios may provide insights on how mixed-severity fire regimes could be impacted in montane forests of southeastern British Columbia.


ABSTRACT One of the solution utilize to overcome damage of DAS Way Betung hydrology function is apply of Payment for Environmental Service (PES) for forest and land rehabilitation. PES is needs to be studied more in depth, especially the level of value willingness to accept payment by people as environmental service provider. The purposes of this research are knowing value of willingness to accept (WTA) the people regarding PES of upstream Sub DAS Way Betung and factors to influence it with knowing incentive forms who wanted by the people.  Method used in this research are Willingness to Accept analysis, regression analysis and descriptive analysis qualitative. Based on the result, the average of WTA respondent in the location of research is Rp 8.552,63 per tree per year. If the number of trees in the mix community garden is 1.462 trees, then it will be obtained the total value of WTA Talang Mulya village is Rp 12.503.945,06 per year . Factors which significant influenced to WTA value that are level education, age and status of arable land. Incentive forms who wanted by respondent are cash money, rural development, seedlings and fertilizer donations and also farm animal. Keywords: payment for environmental service, WTA, DAS Way Betung


Since deregulation of the airline industry in 1978, the use and control of computerized reservation systems (CRSs) has been heavily scrutinized by government regulators and consumer groups. Subsequent changes to and regulations of CRSs were intended to reduce bias in favor of the CRS owner/airline and are assumed to have affected the way airlines schedule and price their flights. The particular change that will be discussed and estimated in the paper is the change in airlines' use of "elapsed flight time" - the scheduled flight time - in response to two changes in 1987 and 1988. Prior to this time period, airlines would reduce the scheduled flight time with respect to their competitors, in order to be listed higher on the CRS screen. The first change occurred in August 1987, when the Department of Transportation (DOT), finding this an "unfair and deceptive trade practice", came to an agreement with the CRS vendors to not list flights by elapsed flight time. The second change occurred in November 1987, when the DOT began reporting on-time performance to the public. These results were heavily publicized and appeared in such papers as USA Today. It is assumed that after both changes, the airlines began to use more realistic elapsed time when scheduling flights - in other words, elapsed time increased. The purpose of this paper is to confirm these changes. The results show that elapsed time has changed. Elapsed time grew 3% between the 1985-1986 and 1987-1988 period, and increased even further between 1987-1988 and 1989-1990. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to determine whether the government-airline agreement or the publicity of the performance reports had more of an effect on the changes in elapsed time. Because the computer changes were the result of a voluntary agreement and were not mandated to occur on a particular date, each major CRS system implemented the changes at different periods. The first part of this paper discusses CRSs - in particular, the origin of CRSs, the major regulatory changes that have occurred, and the use of elapsed time. Second, the methodology and data will be explained, followed by a section discussing the results.


ABSTRACT Degradation of soil quality caused by conventional tillage practices is a major concern for the sustainability of rice-wheat cropping systems in South Asian region. Therefore, suitable conservation agriculture (CA) practices are required. This study investigates the stratification and storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) as affected by eight years of different CA practices in the North-West Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. There were four treatments: (1) conventionally tilled rice-wheat cropping system, (2) reduced-till CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system, (3) no-till CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system, and (4) no-till CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system. The mean stratification ratio (SR) (i.e. a ratio of the concentrations of SOC and TN in the soil surface to those in a deeper layer) of SOC and TN for 0–5:5–10, 10–15, 15–20, 20–25 and 25–30 cm were found higher (> 2) under CA practices compared to intensive tillage-based conventional agricultural practice (< 2). No-till CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system stored the highest amount of SOC (25.32 Mg ha−1) whereas reduced till CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system stored highest amount of TN (3.21 Mg ha−1) at 0–30 cm soil depth. This study shows that CA stratifies SOC and TN and helps to enhance SOC sequestration and soil quality.


Motivated by applications to goodness of fit U-statistic testing, the jackknife empirical likelihood (JEL) for vector U-statistics is justified with two approaches and the Wilks theorems are proved. This generalizes empirical likelihood (EL) for general estimating equations (GEE's) to U-statistics based GEE's. The results are extended to allow for the use of estimated constraints and for the number of constraints to grow with the sample size. It is demonstrated that the JEL can be used to construct EL tests for moment based distribution characteristics (e.g., skewness, coefficient of variation) with less computational burden and more flexibility than the usual EL. This can be done in the U-statistic representation approach and the vector U-statistic approach which were illustrated with several examples including JEL tests for Pearson's correlation, Goodman–Kruskal's Gamma, overdisperson, U-quantiles, variance components, and the simplicial depth function. The JEL tests are asymptotically distribution free. Simulations were run to exhibit power improvement of the JEL tests with incorporation of side information.


This paper is devoted to the coded MC-CDMA (or OFCDM) uplink radio mobile system study. It highlights that the iterative PIC detector outperforms the MUD-MMSE detector when combining with the proposed channel estimation technique. The channel estimation is based on the delay profile algorithm considering the improved path indexes in the frequency domain and on the enhanced polynomial interpolation in the time domain. The proposed scheme is considered iteratively with the pilot and the decoded feedback data. The simulation results show that an important performance improvement is obtained.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is a signal transduction molecule shared by the interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R)/Toll-like receptor (TLR) family and the TNFR superfamily. TRAF6 has a unique TRAF domain and RING finger domain that mediate intracellular signaling events. In the immune system, TRAF6-mediated signaling has been shown to be critical for the development, homeostasis, and activation of a variety of immune cells, including B cells, T cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages. Although the pathogenesis and etiology of autoimmune diseases and cancer are not fully understood, it is worth noting that existing studies have shown that TRAF6 is involved in the pathogenesis and development of a variety of these diseases. Herein, we reviewed the role of TRAF6 in certain immune cells, as well as the function and potential effect of TRAF6 in autoimmune diseases and cancer. Our review indicates that TRAF6 may be a novel target for autoimmune diseases and cancer.


A computational study was carried out for studying the characteristics of the interaction between azulene and water or hydrogen sulfide. In azulene...water complex the water molecule is located with both hydrogen atoms pointing toward the aromatic cloud but displaced to the five-membered ring. Hydrogen sulfide adopts a similar arrangement but located roughly over the central C-C bond of azulene. Calculations show that hydrogen sulfide interacts with azulene more strongly (-4.19 kcal/mol) than water (-3.76 kcal/mol), although this is only revealed at the highest levels of calculation. The nature of the interaction is electrostatic and dispersive in the same percentage for water cluster, whereas for hydrogen sulfide dispersion is the dominant contribution. Clusters containing two water molecules are controlled by the possibility of establishing an O-H...O hydrogen bond. As a consequence, the most stable structure corresponds to the interaction between a water dimer and azulene, with an interaction energy amounting to -11.77 kcal/mol. Hydrogen sulfide interaction is stronger with azulene than with itself, so structures with S-H...S contact and others, where H(2)S only interacts with azulene, present similar interaction energies (-8.02 kcal/mol for the most stable one).


Objective: To investigate the code blue application at a training and research hospital in Turkey. Methods: The code blue declaration forms and the hospital database with 238 complete records between January 2016 and July 2017 were collected. The form involved individual characteristics, the reason for issuing the code blue call, the unit and block where the code was given, time and location related properties such as working time and arrival duration, properties regarding the intervention process such as its type, duration or result. The 24-hour and 30-day long survival data of the patients to whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation was implemented were obtained from the hospital database, or from their relatives. The influencing factors of arrival duration were analyzed. Results: The median duration of arrival was 2.14 (2.00-3.02) min. Code blue applications were performed more frequently in Departments of General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Orthopaedics, and Cardiology Clinics. Half of the code blue calls were due to cardiac arrest; the other half was due to shortness of breath or respiratory distress, syncope, and respiratory arrest. Three-out- of four code blue calls were treated with orotracheal intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or only orotracheal intubation or only medical treatment; one-fourth of the calls were not intervened. Altogether, 72.36% of the code blue calls patients were intervened; 69.35% of them were made both orotracheal intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and 20.5% of them were made only orotracheal intubation and 10.55% of them made only medical treatment. It was found that giving the code blue day or night had no effect on the time to reach the area where the code was given. Similarly, it was found that giving the code blue within daytime or night shift had no effect on the time to reach the area where the code was given. (P>0.05). The survival rates were 39.1% within the first 24 h and 18.1% within the first 30 d. Conclusions: Applications of code blue should be analyzed at regular intervals as clinical quality indicators. Reasons for wrong calls should be determined. The duration of reaching locations where calls are made should also be decreased.


We study dendritic growth numerically with a phase field model. Tip oscillation and regular side-branching are observed in a parameter region where the anisotropies of the surface tension and the kinetic effect compete. The transition from a needle pattern to a dendritic pattern is conjectured to be a supercritical Hopf bifurcation.


This working paper reports on leadership decision making in the UK Further Education (FE) sector
drawing on the Integrating Diversity in Leadership project funded by the Centre for Excellence in
Leadership (CEL). The project was undertaken by a team from the University of Southampton and
Oxford Brookes University. The Full Report is available at:
http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/leadership/cel/
The focus on leadership decision making arises from a conviction that increasing staff and student
diversity in the sector brings unprecedented challenges and implications for leading and managing
learning, learners and the learning community (Lumby with Coleman, 2007). Among the wide
ranging challenges is that of enabling groups and teams to deliver 'quality decisions' (Hoffberg and
Korver, 2006:2). The paper investigates the extent to which the increasing diversity in colleges
impacts on the decision making capacity of leadership teams and groups within the sector. Our
focus on this aspect of decision making is based on three key assumptions:


In this research, the pH sensor was developed using CNT nanosheet with Nafion coating for the advanced medical sensor such as a blood gas analyzer. The CNT nanosheet was formed by dielectrophoresis and water-meniscus between cantilever-type electrodes. Then, the process of the heat annealing and the Nafion coating was conducted for reducing contact resistance and giving proton selectivity respectively. We measured the response of the pH sensor as the electrolyte-gated CNT-nanosheet field effect transistor. The sensor showed a linear current ratio in a similar range of the normal blood pH. A calibration method for decreasing of the response variation among sensors has also been introduced. Coefficient of variance of the pH sensor was decreased by applying the calibration method. A linear relation between the calibrated response of the sensors and pH variance was also obtained. Finally, the pH sensor with a high resolution was fabricated and we verify the feasibility of the sensor by applying the calibration method.


The dynamical evolution of polarization states in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and ridge-waveguide edge-emitting laser diodes (RWEELD) has been studied, taking into account the interplay between the mode structure and the gain medium. The role of spatial hole burning in determining polarization switching properties of both device geometries is demonstrated.


Anonymous channels or similar techniques that achieve sender's anonymity play important roles in many applications, e.g. electronic voting. However, they will be meaningless if cryptographic primitives containing sender's identity are carelessly used during the transmission. In computationally secure settings, this problem may be easily overcome by using public key encryption and group signatures. However, in an unconditionally secure setting, in which no computational difficulty is assumed, this is not an easy case as such. As the increasing computational power approaches the point where security policy can no longer assume the difficulty of solving factoring or discrete logarithm problems, it must shift its focus to assuring the solvency of unconditionally secure schemes that provide long-term security. The main contribution of this paper is to study the security primitives for the above problem. In this paper, we first define the unconditionally secure asymmetric encryption scheme, which is an encryption scheme with unconditional security and where it is impossible for a receiver to deduce the identity of a sender from the encrypted message. We also investigate tight lower bounds on required memory sizes from an information theoretic viewpoint and show an optimal construction based on polynomials. It is remarkable to see that these bounds are considerably different from those in Shannon's model of the conventional unconditionally secure symmetric encryption. Other than the polynomial-based scheme, we also show a construction based on combinatorial theory, a non-malleable scheme and a multi-receiver scheme. Then, we define and formalize the group authentication code (GA-code), which is an unconditionally secure authentication code with anonymity like group signatures. In this scheme, any authenticated user will be able to generate and send an authenticated message while the receiver can verify the legitimacy of the message—that it has been sent from a legitimate user but at the same time retains his anonymity. However, by cooperating with the group authority, such as in the case of disputes, the receiver is able to obtain information of the user's identity. For GA-code, we show two concrete constructions.


Man is a gregarious animal by nature and where one or two are gathered together, there must be divergent opinions, interests and needs. Man living in a state of nature where everything was free for all and the dominant rule is the survival of the fittest or rather the end justifies the means. There was great deal of insecurity and thus no peace, there could be no nation in such a situation, not to talk of different ethnic groups coming together to form one Nation. It therefore follows that for a nation to come into existence there must be peace, security controlled by a system of conflict management, since they are elements or ingredients for national unity and integration. The paper examines the above topic using doctrinal methodology supported with primary and secondary sources of information and comparative approach. Albeit, in the course of examining the above terms as ingredients for national integration, we were able to discover that lack of prospects for youth, partly as a result of poor foundation led by the British Imperialist, poor leadership, are very fertile grounds for extremists and frustrated youths to explore. Others include corruption, neglect of the welfare of the citizenry, and non adherence to the rule of law are most often the bases for conflict generation within our nation especially among the youths. We therefore suggest that good governance through rule of law will do a great miracle for conflict management, enthronement of peace, youth development and empowerment and security are very important for national integration for a country like Nigeria. The paper further recommends that conformity to international standards set out by the Convention on the Rights of the Child 2003 and other African instruments are also good framework for youth's development and empowerment.


To understand the growth patterns with respect to competition and leaf-mass increase in reproducing trees, growth allocation between height and stem diameter was examined for nonsuppressed reproducing Abies mariesii trees in a subalpine forest in northern Honshu, Japan. The growth allocation was analyzed by dividing the relative growth rate of the stem volume into the relative contributions of height and stem-diameter growth. During a 9-yr period, height growth and seed-cone production showed obvious annual variation, while stem-diameter growth recorded moderate variation. For two of three years of seed-cone production during the 9-yr period, trees with larger seed-cone production were associated with less height growth in the following year of seed-cone production; however, there was no trend of height growth in the year of seed-cone production. In the following year of mast seeding, trees with larger stem-volume growth were associated with less height growth. This trend was also shown for the relationship between the cumulative stem-volume growth during the 9-yr period and growth allocation to height, suggesting that trees with a larger biomass increase depress the allocation of photosynthate to competition with a large expenditure for reproduction. In contrast to this, trees with a smaller biomass increase might allocate photosynthate to competition with surrounding trees. The results of this study suggest that an increase in reproductive organs during life history and annual variation in reproduction are closely associated with the growth patterns of the stem in A. mariesii trees.


Many macroeconomic models involving rational expect at ions give rise to an infinity of solution paths, even when the models are linear in all variables. Some writers have suggested that this non-uniqueness constitutes a serious weakness for the rational expectations hypothesis. One purpose of the present paper is to argue that the non-uniqueness in question is not properly attributable to the rationality hypothesis but, instead, is a general feature of dynamic models involving expectations. It is also argued that there typically exists, in a very wide class of linear rational expectations models, a single solution that excludes "bubble" or "bootstrap" effects -- ones that occur only because they are arbitrarily expected to occur. A systematic procedure for obtaining solutions free from such effects is introduced and discussed. In addition, this procedure is used to interpret and reconsider several prominent examples with solution multiplicities, including ones developed by Fischer Black and John B. Taylor.


Introduction. The processes of sediment suspensions and sols in gravitational and in centrifugal field and the combined action of the electric field on the particle and the field of gravity, and also their advantages and disadvantages are discussed in this work. Materials and performance. The time of sedimentation particles different radius is calculated on the way to an inch as it moves under the influence of gravity, centrifugal and electric fields as the example of the colloidal particles quartz SiO2. Resume. The effectiveness of the methods deposition colloidal particles under the influence of different fields is assessed. The conclusion concerning the alternatives to sedimentation analysis under the influence of the centrifugal field sedimentation analysis using an electric field is given.


11-year-old girl well vaccinated, with the notion of viral contagion in two cousins and a little sister suffering from chickenpox. She had flu-like symptoms 6 days before admission, abdominal pain and fever at 39.5°C before the onset of vesicular lesions, the clear contents of which spread throughout the body. Clinically, several vesicles and bubbles all over the body, including the mucous membranes with umbilicated vesicles in certain places. The presence of lesions of different ages has been noted. On the balance sheet, lymphopenia at 1170/mm3, thrombocytopenia at 42000/mm3 and TP at 76%. A chest x-ray shows the presence of bilateral and diffuse alveolo-interstitial opacities of the two pulmonary fields. The evolution was favorable after treatment with antivirals.

Malignant chickenpox is defined by a contagious febrile rash caused by the shinglespox virus which can involve several potentially fatal visceral attacks. Varicella pneumonia can occur even in the absence of respiratory signs in healthy children, it is the most common complication worrying, rare but severe. This should be taken into account if the persistence of fever after the eruption of the initial lesions. In front of any malignant chickenpox, pulmonary involvement should be sought [Figure 1-3].


Pebbles with sizes of centimeters to decimeters are needed in order to form kilometer-sized planetesimals, which in turn are needed for planet formation to proceed. The well-studied mechanism of coagulation is efficient only up to millimeter-sized dust grains. In this proceeding a numerical model of ice condensation as a complementary growth mechanism in turbulent protoplanetary discs is discussed. Close to an ice line, particles grow efficiently by ice condensation, which, combined with radial mixing, can supply a large extent of the disc with icy pebbles. Growth from millimeter-sized dust grains to at least decimeter-sized pebbles is possible on a time scale of only 10 000 years. The resulting particles are large enough to enable further growth into planetesimals via a variety of particle concentration mechanisms and subsequent gravitational collapse.


In this paper, we propose a new interface to control VR(Virtual reality) contents, games, and animations in real-time using the user's breath and the acceleration sensor of a mobile device. Although interaction techniques are very important in VR and physically-based animations, UI(User interface) methods using different types of devices or controllers have not been covered. Most of the proposed interaction techniques have focused on screen touch and motion recognition. The direction of the breath is calculated using the position and angle between the user and the mobile device, and the control position to handle the contents is determined using the acceleration sensor built into the mobile device. Finally, to remove the noise contained in the input breath, the magnitude of the wind is filtered using a kernel modeling a pattern similar to the actual breath. To demonstrate the superiority of this study, we produced real-time interaction results by applying the breath as an external force of VR contents, games, and animations.


The case of a gestant diagnosed fetal arrhythmia in the 35th week of gestation is presented. A fetal echocardiography indicates an aneurysm of the interauricular septum and a fetal supraventricular tachycardia. Also is obtained an ambulatory 24-hour Holter electrocardiograph of the gestant and fetus rhythm. The register makes evident a gestant supraventricular tachycardia and as well a fetal supraventricular tachycardia, occurring in both without clinical company. Following the birth, the tachycardia in the newborn is identified to be automatic and incessant, requiring digital for its control. In postpartum registers of the mother no significant arrhythmia of any type is observed. We conclude that the ambulatory monitoring with a Holter electrocardiograph could be a good method of diagnosis and follow-up of fetal and gestant arrhythmias.


The study included 63 patients with relapsing metastatic stromal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract (surgery - 34, tyrosinkinase inhibitors - 29). Cytoreductive surgery is indicated in patients showing positive response to target therapy. The highest survival rates were reported in cases of surgical treatment received in conjunction with pre- and postoperative therapy with tyrosinkinase inhibitors.


Pulverized coals produced by a rounding method have a wide range of particle sizes. Even though the coals have the same Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI), some coals are difficult to pulverize by the rounding method. There are many pores in the coal. When pore pressure is rapidly reduced, cracks are generated in the pores by the expansion of air and the coal becomes brittle. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the performance of coal pulverization by an improved rounding method specifically by the embrittlement of coal due to the cracks generated in the pores. The experimental results show that pulverized coals for CWM which have a wide range of particle sizes can be easily produced by the improved rounding method. Furthermore, a discharge pressure at the embrittlement treatment can control the particle size of pulverized coals.


A prototypical, general socio-economic system of human migration is formulated and solved as an electronic circuit. In such systems that possess multiple classes, the equilibrium conditions are equivalent to a variational inequality, rather than to an optimization problem. The circuit was solved using circuit simulation software. The equilibrium utilities and populations of the different classes of migrants at the locations are then recovered directly from the circuit simulation results. The dynamical adjustment processes of the system are obtained from the transient solution.<<ETX>>