Dental caries are reversible dynamic biochemical events, and remain a public health problem due to its characteristics, cost of treatment and effectiveness of quality of life.Dental caries has a highest and longest association with dental profession. Dental caries do not undergo any termination or diminution if untreated and required expertise and professional treatment. But the risk factors should be studied and modified so that dental caries can be prevented. Despite the fact that various successful treatment goals have been developed the disease is still prevalent. In olden days dental caries detection was considered as a boon.To assess the caries risk of 18 to 20 year old patients using cariogram visiting private dental College in Chennai city. A total of 170 patient records taken who visited college from the period of June 2019 to March 2020. Cariogram images taken and analysed individually. Data were tabulated and statistically analysed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were expressed by means of frequency and percentage. Chi-square test was used to find the association of cariogram variables with age and gender. Out of 170 samples 32.4% of them were females, 67.6% males. Based on age group 23.5% of them were 18 years, 19 years 38.8% of age and 37.6% of the population were 20 years of age. The significant association was observed between gender and fluoride, with more usage of fluoride measures by the males when compared to the females.


The traffic load of civil aviation, conjunction with the aircraft density, determines the number of frequency channels and ground radio sites in order to support various levels of future air-to-ground communications services. In the U.S. and Europe, the Very High Frequency (VHF) spectrum is highly congested due to the out of date Double Sideband Amplitude Modulation (DSB-AM) voice communication system. The U.S. and Europe have proceeded to update the DSB-AM voice communication system to confront with the increasing traffic load on the civil aviation system. Currently, DSB-AM voice communication system is still mainly used in Civil Aviation of China for air traffic services and it is still unknown that what the capability of this system is regarding the distribution feature of the traffic in China. Our main contribution of this paper is to establish a mathematical model which is able to allocate the spectrum according to the capability of DSB-AM voice communication system and analyze the spectrum congestion status in China. Based on this model, the spectrum allocation and the timeliness of the need for voice aviation communication system with respect to the impacts of the creation of voice communication can be inferred; the model provides a way to describe the ability of the communication infrastructure to meet the requirements of air traffic services. In this paper, the spectrum congestion status of aerodrome control service for voice communication around Yang Zi Jiang River is analyzed based on the geographic location of the airport sites as well as their traffic movements.


In this paper, it is focused on the method about the distributional database backup system. The system consists of MySQL database backup system in the data gathering station and a client application procedure for MySQL database in monitor center. Under the condition of not increasing the equipment cost, the system can resolve the problem of the lost gathering data in the long time running gathering system, whose data backup always uses the single database system. According to the industrial machine hardware configuration and the sensor data characteristic, the distributional database essential entity model is established. The effective index and the backup strategy are designed by the actual demand and the practice. And the dual cycle buffer and multithread database interface solves the hard disk I/O speed bottleneck. The problem of the network transmission pressure that is caught by the great data capacity is relaxed by the data compression algorithm.


The use of HIMS operationally is useful for improving performance and service, facilitating coordination between units, and increasing HR capabilities. The formation of HIMS not only automates old procedures, but organizes and updates and even creates new and more efficient data flows, this is very important, especially the implementation of HIMS in the field of radiology. The purpose of this Community Services residency is to analyze the factors that cause inadequate implementation of HIMS Electronic Medical Record Outpatient Level II Hospital dr. Soepraoen Malang. Therefore, this residency discusses existing problems using fishbone diagrams, USG (Urgency, Seriousness, Growth), and SWOT Analysis (Strengh, Weakness, Opportunity, Treats). The results of the residency show that after analyzing the problem with fishbone, USG, and SWOT, the implementation of a strategy that can be applied to community service residency activities is to make regulations in the form of SOPs regarding data input for medical, non-medical, radiology requests and conducting training activities for Outpatient Polyclinic operators. Evaluation of the strategy that has been made is by coordinating between management and sections/fields according to their respective duties, principals and functions in an attempt to optimize the implementation of electronic medical record HIMS in outpatient services at polyclinics.


The safety debate has taken a new twist in both the aviation and the rail industries. High-profile aviation disasters and freight train wrecks have prompted demands for another great leap forward in safety. In both industries, new technology is playing a key role. And in the automotive field, public health will be the ultimate beneficiary if electric or hybrid electric vehicles start coming into wider use now that manufacturers have announced significant improvements in range. An enhanced ground proximity warning system for aviation, automatic train control, development of high speed trains, and electric vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells, are discussed.


Platelets play an important role in the activation of coagulation. P2Y12 receptor inhibition may be beneficial in inflammatory states. Prasugrel, a potent irreversible inhibitor of P2Y12 receptor-induced platelet activation may reduce activation of coagulation in a human LPS (lipopolysaccharide) model. A double-blind, randomized, crossover trial with a minimum washout period of 6 weeks was performed. Sixteen subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received prasugrel or placebo 2 h before infusion of a bolus of LPS (2 ng/kg of body weight), whereas four subjects were assigned to a control group receiving prasugrel or placebo without LPS. hcDNA (histone-complexed DNA), coagulation and platelet-specific parameters were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Leucocyte aggregate formation was analysed by flow cytometry, and thromboelastometry was performed. LPS infusion markedly activated coagulation. However, prasugrel did not reduce changes in prothrombin fragments 1 and 2 (F1+2), thrombin-antithrombin complexes, microparticle-associated tissue factor, CD40 ligand, P-selectin, platelet-leucocyte aggregation, hcDNA levels or the coagulation profile measured by thromboelastometry. hcDNA plasma levels increased approximately 6-fold after LPS infusion in both treatment groups, but not in the control groups. Potent irreversible P2Y12 inhibition by prasugrel does not affect LPS-induced coagulation activation. The 6-fold increased hcDNA plasma levels after infusion of LPS indicates the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps during sterile inflammation.


Frontal-eyed primates use both smooth pursuit in frontoparallel planes (frontal pursuit) and pursuit-in-depth (vergence pursuit) to track objects moving slowly in 3-dimensional (3D) space. To understand how 3D-pursuit signals represented in frontal eye fields are processed further by downstream pathways, monkeys were trained to pursue a spot moving in 3D virtual space. We characterized pursuit signals in Purkinje (P) cells in the cerebellar dorsal vermis and their discharge during vergence pursuit. In 41% of pursuit P-cells, 3D-pursuit signals were observed. However, the majority of vermal-pursuit P-cells (59%) discharged either for vergence pursuit (43%) or for frontal pursuit (16%). Moreover, the majority (74%) of vergence-related P-cells carried convergence signals, displaying both vergence eye position and velocity sensitivity during sinusoidal and step vergence eye movements. Preferred frontal-pursuit directions of vergence + frontal-pursuit P-cells were distributed in all directions. Most pursuit P-cells (73%) discharged before the onset of vergence eye movements; the median lead time was 16 ms. Muscimol infusion into the sites where convergence P-cells were recorded resulted in a reduction of peak convergence eye velocity, of initial convergence eye acceleration, and of frontal-pursuit eye velocity. These results suggest involvement of the dorsal vermis in conversion of 3D-pursuit signals and in convergence eye movements.


Cephalosporins are epileptogenic drugs, especially when excessive dosages are used or when the drugs are used in patients with decreased renal clearance. The present case report showed that a chronic kidney patient receiving hemodialysis developed generalized tonic clonic seizures when an inappropriate high dose cefazolin was given. Cefazolin 2 g iv q 8 h was given for 25 days continuously to treat fever of unknown origin in a patient who was a severe renal impairment patient. In a severe renal impairment patient, the maintenance dose of cefazolin should be reduced by half and the interval for administration should be extended to 24 h. Even though hemodialysis could remove cefazolin from the blood circulation, in the presented case the very high dose of cefazolin given was far beyond the ability of hemodialysis to clear the drug. The accumulation ofcefazolin, therefore, induced three episodes of seizures on days 14, 21 and 25. More precaution should be taken when prescribing medication to a patient with predisposing factors.


A multi-stage nitrogen laser was developed in an attempt to enhance the potential of the photochromic tracer technique for complex flow analysis. With this system, either single or multiple low-divergence ultraviolet beams can be produced. The resulting photochromic traces are of comparable length but are substantially finer than either the tracers produced by a commercial nitrogen laser or those produced by an excimer laser. A significant advantage of these finer traces is that they were not smeared by high shear rates, as is seen with the traces produced by the other types of laser, and this will lead to more accurate analysis of complex flows.


A comprehensive review of ongoing and recommended research directions concerning the structure, dynamics, and interfacial activity of synthetic and naturally occurring macromolecules at the solid–liquid interface is presented. Many new developments stem from the ability to target new size regimes of 1–100 nm. These rapid developments are reviewed critically with respect to chemical synthesis, processing, structural characterization, dynamic processes, and theoretical and computational analysis. The common problems shared by flat and particulate surfaces are emphasized. A broad spectrum of material properties are discussed, from the control of interfacial friction between surfaces in moving contact, to the mechanical strength and durability of the interfaces in hybrid materials, to optical and electronic properties. Future research opportunities are identified that involve (1) the emergence of nanoscale material properties, (2) polymer-assisted nanostructures, and (3) the crossroads between interfacial science and biological and bioinspired applications. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2755–2793, 2003


The authors investigate the software tools that are necessary to enable an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) network, based on International Standards Organization (ISO) protocols, to br monitored and managed. To achieve this goal, the network manager system has been developed to allow the communication subsystems associated with all of the nodes connected to an OSI network to be managed in a dynamic way. An overview of network management is followed by a description of the experimental system used to obtain the results reported. The results of using the network management system to monitor, analyze, and manage the interactions between a network agent and the OSI resources that are used by the agent are discussed. The results of the analysis are presented in a suitable format, with accompanying comments to aid the network manager in verifying the results obtained. The system developed does not attempt to implement all the management functions but rather shows how the developed framework can be used to provide these functions.<<ETX>>


Let f:X-*S be a morphism of complex spaces and 3 a coherent analytic sheaf on X. If f is proper, then the higher direct image sheaves Rf#$ are coherent for all z'2^0 by Grauert [8]. Generalizations of this theorem to certain classes of non-proper morphisms have also been obtained by several authors, among which we shall mention the following results, being of particular interest to us here (cf. also [22]). Let q^>Q be an integer. Then: a) If f is (/-concave, then Rf*5 is coherent for /<;codhff -dim 5-(?-l [17]. b) If / is g-convex, then R'ftf is coherent for z<Jcodh S —dim S— q [4], where f\ denotes the direct image with proper supports, c) If f is (1, 1)-convex-concave, then Rfj.S is coherent for l<^/5jcodh 3 —dim S~2 [15]. (Note that here and in what follows the terms '^-convex' and 'g-concave' are used in such a way that when S reduces to a point, they coincide with the notion of 'fortement qpseudoconvexe' and 'fortement #-pseudoconcave' respectively of AndreottiGrauert [1]. Hence they should be called ' (q — 1)-convex and (q — 1)concave" respectively in the terminology of [4], [17], [18] etc.) Though these results are best possible as they stand, we could expect to improve the bounds for i under the additional assumption that 3 is /-flat, and in fact in such a way that the condition is stable under base change. The latter fact would indeed be useful in certain applications (cf. e.g. § 5


Buffer zones are established along the perimeters of reserves for their protection. The literature is replete with examples of development in buffer zones that have been detrimental to the conservation efforts of the reserve. Barangay Puting Lupa in Calamba City, Philippines is adjacent to Zone 3 of the Mount Makiling Forest Reserve (MMFR). Despite industrial and settlement development in the periphery, the forest recovered its northwestern sub-watershed, as evidenced by satellite imagery, showing reduced fragmentation. Although the conservation strategy for MMFR changed from settler antagonism to a participative approach, other factors were involved that brought about the possible unassisted forest regrowth. Low density settlement development with corporate social responsibility committed to wildlife conservation; high demand for skilled labor due to rapid regional industrialization and urbanization; an aging corps of original farmers; the high regard of Filipino families for their children's education for better opportunities in life; and the livelihood preference of family members other than farming in lands with no security of tenure; all combined in an auspicious mix of factors to bring about apparent partial abandonment of farming within Zone 3 of the MMFR and conservation in the buffer zone. The forest recovered, and with decreased fragmentation, indicative of enhanced forest integrity.


ABSTRACT Recent studies show that international financial integration facilitates cross-country consumption risk-sharing. We extend this line of research and demonstrate that breaking financial integration down into good and bad integration is important. We also propose new measures of capital market integration, based on good and bad volatility shocks, as well as country-specific indices of consumption risk-sharing. We document a decoupling of individual consumption growth from global risk-sharing after episodes of bad volatility cross-spillovers, and a recoupling after good spillovers. Our results support current views in the literature that advocate an asymmetric treatment of good and bad volatility shocks, in order to assess the macroeconomic dynamics that follow risk episodes. They also challenge previous views that present capital market integration (without differentiating between good and bad shocks) as a prerequisite for higher international consumption risk-sharing. Overall, our outcomes cast some doubt on the actual scope for consumption risk-sharing across global financial markets.


Nur77/NR4A1 is an "orphan member" of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. Nur77 and its close relatives Nurr1 and NOR-1 bind as monomers to a consensus binding site, the nerve growth factor induced protein I-B (NGFI-B)-binding response element (NBRE). The Nur77/NURR1/NOR1 nuclear receptors are classified as immediate early response genes which are induced through multiple signal transduction pathways. They have been implicated in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. However, the mechanism of coactivation and ligand independent trans-activation remains unclear. Hence we examined the molecular basis of Nur77-mediated cofactor recruitment and activation. We observed that Nur77 trans-activates gene expression in a cell-specific manner, and operates in an activation function-1 (AF-1)-dependent manner. The AB region encodes an uncommonly potent N-terminal AF-1 domain delimited to between amino acids 50 and 160 and is essential for the ligand-independent activation of gene expression. Steroid receptor coactivator-2 (SRC-2) modulates the activity of the N-terminal AF-1 domain. Moreover, SRC-2 dramatically potentiates the retinoid induced RXR-dependent activation of the Nur77 ligand binding domain (LBD). Interestingly, the N-terminal AB region (not the LBD) facilitates coactivator recruitment and directly interacts with SRC, p300, PCAF, and DRIP-205. Consistent with this, homology modeling indicated that the Nur77 LBD coactivator binding cleft was substantially different from that of retinoic acid receptor γ, a closely related AF-2-dependent receptor. In particular, the hydrophobic cleft characteristic of nuclear receptors was replaced with a much more hydrophilic surface with a distinct topology. This observation accounts for the inability of this nuclear receptor LBD to directly mediate cofactor recruitment. Furthermore, the AF-1 domain physically associates with the Nur77 C-terminal LBD and synergizes with the retinoid X receptor LBD. Thus, the AF-1 domain plays a major role in Nur77-mediated transcriptional activation, cofactor recruitment, and intra- and intermolecular interactions.


The interaction of 14 alkyl-substituted phenoxyacetyl chlorides with aluminium chloride in benzene gives the cyclic ketones as the dominant products. In the reactions of the 4-chloro-3-methyl and 3,4-dimethyl compounds the major cyclic product is the 5,6-disubstituted benzofuranone; the reactions with the 3,4-polymethylene derivatives give largely the linear isomer in the case of the tri, penta,- and hexa-methylene compounds and largely the angular isomer in the case of the tetramethylene compound.


Huang's school of acupuncture and moxibustion, whose representative figures are HUANG Hong-fang and HUANG Xian-ming, is one of the schools of acupuncture and moxibustion in Shanghai. The life stories of the representative figures of Huang's school of acupuncture and moxibustion and three academic viewpoints of Huang's school are briefly introduced in this article: (1) syndrome differentiation for seeking the pathogenic roots and developing treatment principle based on the roots; (2) focusing on spleen and stomach and putting stomach first in the treatment; (3) simple point selection with clear structures showing major and assistant points. Their characteristics of the needling techniques are summarized, involving needling manipulations, qi induction, reinforcing and reducing method, etc. so as to lay a foundation for further study and inheritance of the academic thought in Huang's school of acupuncture and moxibustion.


In response to the accounting scandals of the late 1990s, regulators adopted changes to corporate-governance rules in 2003 in an effort to restore investor confidence in the stock market. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the changes to board leadership structure imposed on U.S. companies affected firm performance as measured by operating return on assets. This study was conducted with a sample of 857 publicly traded companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and 11,632 firm-year observations from the period 1997-2012. Using a difference-in-difference estimator and multivariate analysis, we found a positive and significant indication that changes to board leadership structure improved the long-run performance of firms that were previously insider controlled. Our study indicates that some firms were not ideally structured prior to 2003 when the changes in corporate-governance rules took effect for publicly traded companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange.


The quality of machined surface is of vital significance due to its bearing of the in-service functionality of the component. In-service functionality of the machined parts like, tribological performance, fatigue life of the component etc.; are greatly dependent on the surface profile characteristic and the surface roughness generated after machining. However, the quality of surface is reliant on complexities of the numerous process parameters. The mechanics of metal cutting necessarily results into the dynamic instability of the process consequentially ensuing into cutting tool vibrations. Previous research indicates an association between the cutting tool vibrations and surface roughness. In this study the cutting tool vibrations in tangential and axial direction have been integrated with the input parameters; cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, work material hardness and tool edge geometry to develop prediction models for surface roughness from the experimentally obtained data by using Regression Analysis and artificial Neural Network methodologies. The results of the regression models and neural networks model are compared. A good agreement between the experimental and predicted values for both the models is seen, however neural networks approach outclasses regression analysis by a reasonable margin. Further it is also noted that the quality of surface is markedly influenced by the tool edge geometry and feed rate.


Synthetic jet actuators are of interest for potential applications to active flow control and thermal management. Resonant piezoelectric-diaphragm-type configurations are commonly considered. Modeling of such actuators remains a challenge due to complexities associated with both electro-elastic and fluid-structure coupling, as well as potential non-linearities in both. A key metric for synthetic jet performance is the time-averaged jet momentum. Linear lumped-element modeling is an approach that has demonstrated the ability to predict jet momentum in terms of input frequency and voltage; however, it neglects nonlinearity and increasing losses at high amplitude. Full electro-elastic-fluidic finite element modeling makes the most accurate prediction but is computationally expensive for design and optimization purposes. The assumed-modes method provides an energy-based low-order model which captures electro-elastic and acoustic-structure couplings with adequate accuracy. Tri-laminar circular plates under clamped boundary conditions were modeled using the assumed-modes method. Maximization of jet momentum is considered via the maximization of surrogate device metrics: free volume displacement, effective blocking pressure, strain energy, and device coupling coefficient. The driving frequency of the actuator is treated as a constraint in the optimization which nominally matches the fundamental acoustic natural frequency of the cylindrical cavity. Device configurations were obtained for various polycrystalline and single crystal piezoelectric materials, driven at 10% of their coercive fields in the model. The optimal configurations approximate a simply-supported circular plate with complete piezo coverage. The relative merits of individual materials were also discerned from the optimization results. The low mechanical loss factor of PZT8 enables high output at resonance, while high loss factor and low stiffness limit the utility of PVDF in this application. Due to a combination of lower loss factor and higher coupling, single crystal materials modestly outperform PZT5A.


This paper proposes a series of reflections on comparative literature and its relationship with cultural studies, with particular emphasis on literature's place in this relationship. It addresses the importance of interdisciplinarity and multiculturalism to re-evaluate the perspectives or tools used to address both literary analysis and cultural practices in general. It also reflects on socio-historical concern and commitment to achieve a productive approach. Via a general consideration of the aims of contextualising and the relationships and complementation between discourses, it provides a contrasting dialogue between different positions.


Surface ozone (O3) pollution poses significant threats to crop production and food security worldwide, but an assessment of present-day and future crop yield losses due to exposure to O3 still abides with great uncertainties, mostly due: (1) to the large spatiotemporal variability and uncertain future projections of O3 concentration itself; (2) different methodological approaches to quantify O3 exposure and impacts; (3) difficulty in accounting for co-varying factors such as CO2 concentration and climatic conditions. In this paper, we explore these issues using a common framework: a consistent set of simulated present-day O3 fields from one chemical transport model, coupled with a terrestrial ecosystem-crop model to derive various O3 exposure metrics and impacts on relative crop yields worldwide, and examine the potential effects of elevated CO2 on O3-induced crop yield losses. Throughout, we review and explain the differences in formulation and parameterization in the various approaches, including the concentration-based metrics, flux-based metrics, and mechanistic biophysical crop modeling. We find that while the spatial pattern of yield losses for a given crop is generally consistent across metrics, the magnitudes can differ substantially. Pooling the concentration-based and flux-based metrics together, we estimate the present-day globally aggregated yield losses to be: 3.6 ± 1.1% for maize, 2.6 ± 0.8% for rice, 6.7 ± 4.1% for soybean, and 7.2 ± 7.3% for wheat; these estimates are generally consistent with previous studies but on the lower end of the uncertainty range covered. We attribute the large combined uncertainty mostly to the differences among methodological approaches, and secondarily to differences in O3 and meteorological inputs. Based on a biophysical crop model that mechanistically simulates photosynthetic and yield responses of crops to stomatal O3 uptake, we further estimate that increasing CO2 concentration from 390 to 600 ppm reduces the globally aggregated O3-induced yield loss by 21–52% for maize and by 27–38% for soybean, reflecting a CO2-induced reduction in stomatal conductance that in turn alleviates stomatal O3 uptake and thus crop damage. Rising CO2 may therefore render the currently used exposure-yield relationships less applicable in a future atmosphere, and we suggest approaches to address such issues.


Abstract. The roughness of the land surface (z0) is a key property for the amount of turbulent activity above the land surface and through that for the turbulent exchange of energy, water, momentum, and chemical species between the land and the atmosphere. Variations in z0 are substantial across different types of land cover from typically less than 1 mm over fresh snow or sand deserts up to more than 1 m over urban areas or forests. In this study, we revise the parameterizations and parameter choices related to z0 in the Community Land Model 5.1 (CLM), the land component of the Community Earth System Model 2.1.2 (CESM). We propose a number modifications for z0 in CLM, which are guided by observational data. Most importantly, we increase the z0 for all types of forests, while we decrease the momentum z0 for bare soil, snow, glaciers, and crops. We then assess the effect of those modifications in land-only (CLM) and land-atmosphere coupled (CESM) simulations. Diurnal variations of the land surface temperature (LST) are dampened in regions with forests, while they are amplified over warm deserts. These changes mitigate model biases compared to MODIS remote sensing observations, which have been identified in several earlier studies. The alterations in LST are mostly stronger during the day than at night. For example, the LST at 13:30 increases by more than 4.80 K during boreal summer across the entire Sahara. The induced changes in the diurnal variability of air temperatures at the bottom of the atmosphere generally oppose changes in LST in sign and are of smaller magnitude. Further, winds close to the land surface accelerate in areas where the momentum z0 was lowered, such as the Sahara desert, the Middle East, or the Antarctica, and decelerate in regions with forests. Overall, this study highlights that the current representation of z0 in CLM is not in agreement with observational constraints for several types of land cover. The resultant model modifications are shown to considerably alter the simulated climate in terms of temperatures and wind speed at the land surface.


Purpose: To prevent outbreaks of nosocomial adenoviral conjunctivitis, proper management for transmission control must be performed. We collected conjunctival samples from asymptomatic inpatients and an ophthalmologist in an ophthalmology ward and attempted to detect the human adenovirus (HAdV) pathogen for infection control. Methods: One inpatient was diagnosed with adenoviral conjunctivitis on the basis of typical, acute, and severe symptoms and virologic testing by using an immunochromatography (IC) kit. To survey nosocomial infection, conjunctival swabs from 17 other inpatients and 1 ophthalmologist without obvious symptoms of adenoviral conjunctivitis were sampled and analyzed for HAdV pathogens with an IC kit, viral isolation, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and real-time PCR. Results: HAdV antigens and DNA were detected from 1 and 8 of the 18 samples collected for nosocomial survey by IC kit and nested PCR method, respectively. Moreover, infectious HAdV was isolated in the cell culture from only 1 antigen-positive sample. All PCR-positive samples had identical nucleotide sequences of the partial hexon gene and were determined to be HAdV type 37 by phylogenetic analysis. No inpatients tested showed any symptoms of typical adenoviral conjunctivitis, but slight conjunctival infection caused by postoperative reaction and/or mild conjunctivitis that did not resemble HAdV infection was observed. No one developed typical adenoviral conjunctivitis over the 2-month follow-up. Conclusions: The clinical course of adenoviral conjunctivitis varies from inapparent infection to severe conjunctivitis. Mild or inapparent HAdV conjunctival infection could be common during conjunctivitis outbreaks and might play a role in the spread of nosocomial adenoviral conjunctivitis.


During last decade new scenarios are emerging in the energetic context. Photovoltaic systems role has expanded since they are not only employed in residential/industrial plants, but they also appear promising solutions in DC micro-grids and Net Zero Energy Buildings. In fact, Smart Converters can improve photovoltaic generators productivity and they can also contribute to energy and data flows control. The mentioned scenarios require performant Smart Converters able to assure high efficiency and reliability levels. The design of such converters is a challenging task since many and conflicting requirements have to be considered. A dedicated tool can represent a useful design support for optima Smart Converters realization. The proposed software is developed by a modular architecture on the base of the specific energetic scenario considered and the relative specifications and constraints. This paper focuses on the implementation concepts and fundamental phases of the developed tool depicting the applied approach. A Graphical User Interface allows the selection of Smart Converter topologies and input/output operating data depending on the specific applicative context. An evolutionary optimization algorithm identifies feasible electronic device in commercial databases and suitable subroutines run adequate circuital equations to evaluate reliability indices and thermal stresses which the converter devices are subjected in real operating conditions. The optimization process provides a set of nondominated performant solutions able to satisfy all the design requirements. The developed tool is realized by means of MathWorks MATLAB environment able to manage the issue complexity and to generate stand-alone software.


In order to determine dissolution enthalpies of small amounts of easily or slightly soluble solids, a new cell for batch isoperibolic microcalorimetry was developed at the Universities of the Andes and the National of Colombia. An innovative mixing system for avoiding error due to the common effect of the brittle point breakage has been designed for this cell. The cell has a capacity of 40 ml and the sample holder can bear solid samples between 10.0 and 30.0 mg. The high stability of the base line allows solution experiments to be extended over several hours. All measurements reported were conducted at 298.15 K using water as solvent.


Aim: Advances in immunotherapy require a detailed understanding of host immunity. Data from murine models indicate solid tumors of various types can recruit Tregs and/or promote iTreg development, and thereby curtail antitumor responses. However, clinical data have been restricted to either evaluation of Treg numbers in tumors, or studies of PBMC Treg in patients with cancers. Surprisingly, no studies of Treg function have ever been reported using Tregs isolated from tumors themselves. Methods: Using our recently reported technique, we isolated Tregs within 20 mins of resection from 13 lung cancer patients, stages Ia-IIIa, and 2 control non-cancer patients (diaphragmatic hernia and lung granuloma). The mean age of the cancer patients (10 males, 3 females) was 65.4±2.2 years; 7 patients had adenocarcinoma, 3 had squamous cell carcinoma, and the remainder had large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma and high-grade carcinoma. The mean size of their tumors was 4.0±0.8 cm, and 1 of the 13 patients developed metastases during the follow-up period. We compared the suppressive function of Tregs isolated from each patient9s freshly resected tumor, LN and blood, using cryopreserved healthy donor PBMC aliquots as responders, and area-under-curve (AUC) analysis. We controlled for comparable CD4+ and FOXP3+ purity in all isolated Treg samples, and cell viability, excluding from further analysis all data from non-comparable FOXP3+ subsets. Thus, we were able to avoid artifacts arising from different cell conditions (e.g. use of autologous responder cells) or from unequal FOXP3+ content in Treg isolates. Results: Tumor-infiltrating Tregs had significantly enhanced suppressive function when compared with Tregs isolated from other locations in the same patient. Thus, tumor Tregs were significantly more suppressive than lung LN Tregs (p = 0.0003), and significantly more suppressive than blood Tregs (p = 0.03). Tregs isolated from LN in close proximity to tumors had comparable suppressive function to Tregs isolated from distant LN (p>0.05), and blood Tregs had comparable suppressive function to that of LN Tregs (p>0.05). Additional analyses showed that the enhanced suppressive function of tumor Treg was not due to Treg-induced killing/apoptosis of responder cells, cytokine and/or growth factor deprivation, or soluble factors produced by tumor Treg cells. Conclusions: We demonstrate for the first time that tumor-infiltrating human lung cancer Treg have significantly increased suppressive function. This finding is important for the development of effective anti-tumor therapy. While we are continuing to study the basis for such differences, our data suggest that studies of peripheral blood Tregs in cancer patients may be inadequate and inefficient approaches for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of limited host antitumor immune responses. Citation Format: Tatiana Akimova, Evgeniy B. Eruslanov, Pratik S. Bhojnagarwala, Jon G. Quatromoni, Jacqueline Morgen, Sunil Singhal, Steven M. Albelda, Wayne W. Hancock. Tumor-infiltrating FOXP3+ T-regulatory (Treg) cells in early-stage human lung cancer exhibit enhanced suppressive function when compared to blood or lymph node (LN) Treg cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1291. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1291


The calibrated metal is efficient material for manufacture of details on automatic machines and automatic transfer lines, and also for production of smooth lengthy shafts and axes. Such details are not technological as during the machining and operation they change a form in a type of a curvature. Deformation comes at action of centrifugal forces even from sole weight of details. New constructional materials allow to create rather strong details with the reduced transverse section, but a flexural rigidity of such details significantly decreases. It is very difficult to increase flexural rigidity of actual details. In practice, constructive solutions that are associated with material costs are usually used. In this work the possibility of increase in a flexural rigidity of the cylindrical calibrated bars is considered due to the formation of technological residual stresses. The problem of their use is that residual stresses always exist of two types – stretching and squeezing. If external stresses of stretching increase rigidity of details, then pressure loads reduce it. Therefore, the main task of the work was to find such nature of distribution of residual stresses which would provide increase in a flexural rigidity of the details made of calibrated metal. The geometrical model of a bar consisting of thin-walled tubes of 0.2 mm thick was accepted at model operation of residual stresses. Each tube was loaded with the stretching or squeezing tension which corresponded to value of the experimental definition. At model operation and calculation two schemes of loading were used at which in the surface layers either residual stresses of compression or stretching are formed. Experi mental calculation methods established influence of key parameters of calibration on a flexural rigidity of metal. The possibility of increase in a flexural rigidity of the calibrated bars is revealed almost twice when cogging from 5 to 34 %. For 20 % it is possible to increase rigidity at increase in length of the calibrating zone of the tool. The influence of the angle of the working cone of the machine is insignificant (about 10%), and for increasing the rigidity the operating angle of the tool must be reduced..


The importance of the first aid on the hospital in cities isincreasingly.On 5 668 first aids cases,the effect of family members for first aid were analysed.It was suggested that the good profession morality and quality were essential for medical staff.To caring for the family members and facing the family members and their patients and keeping in touch with the family members.The family members were organized and guided to take part in salvaging so that we prevent an accident of the injure because of improper operation.We must abide by the rules and the regulations,and take notes of points for the family members attention as well protective the family members.To guide their supports what were given the patients.


The book entitled Fostering giftedness. Challenges and opportunities provides a useful insight into the current challenges entailed in gifted education for all stakeholders with a vested interest in the development of gifted learners at the cognitive, emotional and physical levels. It consists of two main parts, a theoretical and an applied section, with the aim of enhancing educational practice. The first part, Chapters 1 through 13, offer a comprehensive theoretical framework, and provides an account of operational concepts beginning with the definitions and characteristics of gifted learners, followed by the identification and care of gifted students. Moreover, the authors bring a highly important aspect to our attention, namely that of the socio-emotional development of gifted and talented learners from the two-fold standpoint of the family and the peer environment. Key aspects, such as giftedness and gender are addressed, with particular emphasis on stigma and how to manage it, as well as ways to counteract the adverse impact of gender differences on the development of giftedness. Furthermore, the authors identify effective ways to ensure an optimal learning environment, which needs to be approached from a realistic and thorough perspective. The need for trust is at the core of an effective learning environment, and this can only be achieved through efficient communication and honest, interdependable teacher-student relationships. The authors also discuss the assessment and evaluation of giftedness, and stress that appropriate decisions pertaining to the improvement of the educational process are crucial for the gifted, as this process is actually a sum of their recognition, learning and development, as well as the methodologies at work from a curricular perspective. On-going research and the integration of the results thereof into the didactic process is an essential component of successful teacher development. The authors pay attention to the ways in which teachers can address the undesirable situation of gifted learners' underachievement by focusing on both the emotional and the environmental reasons. The training of educators faced with giftedness is equally important, and the authors provide a competence profile (personal and social characteristics, teaching strategies and approaches, intellectual and cognitive characteristics), as well as elements of professional development. Bećirović and Polz then consider the types of educational programmes for giftedness (that is, enrichment, differentiation and acceleration programmes), which need to be selected carefully according to the students' characteristics and needs in order to sustain and enhance the students' progress. Finally, the authors expound on another essential feature of fostering giftedness, particularly considering the time in which we live, namely modern technologies (online mentoring, electronic teaching and evaluation materials). E-mentoring, unlike t-mentoring, has numerous benefits in terms of mentee and mentor autonomy, as well as their social and emotional welfare. The authors turn their attention to the importance of training teachers to integrate new technologies into their classes, while simultaneously acknowledging the importance of endowing institutions with adequate and up-to-date technological equipment. A useful framework for the use of technology in gifted education is also provided. The second part is devoted to a case study of mathematically gifted students; the authors conducted the study to identify the development of gifted mathematicians in two essential areas: school and family, and from early childhood to tertiary education. The authors first introduce the subjects, the research method and the instruments. The study evaluates several factors pertaining to the family environment, such as the socio-economic and educational status of the parents, the learning conditions, the number of children in the family, the parents' support with school requirements, the parents' answers concerning their children's successes and failures, punishment and rewards, and so forth. The results revealed that the parents who adopted a proactive attitude and employed counselling and communication rather than punishment to improve the work and behaviour of their gifted children had an extremely positive effect on the children's mathematical development. The research then analyses aspects connected to the in-school environment that could have a positive or a negative impact on the development of the mathematical giftedness of learners, such as the identification of mathematically gifted learners, as well as educational approaches to working with them, the teaching atmosphere, encouragement, curricular issues, programmes and methods of working with them, rewards and punishments, and the relationship between teachers and gifted students. In addition to the family and the school environment, Bećirović and Polz address the issue of mathematically gifted students' motivation and interest. The authors consider the relationship between motivation and success, as well as the parents' and teachers' reactions to the respondents' success. The taxonomy of factors conducive to the development of the respondents' mathematical giftedness was established based on the interviews that were conducted with the respondents, whereas their development was benchmarked based on their pedagogical documentation to establish their abilities outside of mathematics, which is an important aspect in the educational trajectory of gifted students. Essential milestones impacting on the mathematicians' achievements are also explained. Finally, a significant contribution of this part takes the form of practical recommendations for both teachers and parents in order to work more efficiently with gifted students. In summary, the book is a valuable instrument for teachers, as it assists them to identify giftedness at an early stage, to create an optimal environment for development, to implement appropriate teaching methodologies, and ways to self-train in order to manage the complexity of such an endeavour. Moreover, it is a helpful tool for parents, who are provided with practical guidelines for coping with the challenges posed by their children's superior abilities.


We investigated the facile production of novel high capacity CO2 sorbents based on a zinc-functionalized ionic liquid (EZT3) impregnated into several morphologically diverse porous supports: microporous alumino-silicate, non-porous nano-silica, and non-ordered mesoporous silica. These supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) hybrid sorbents with EZT3 loadings of 10 and 25 wt% were prepared via a solution intrusion-solvent evaporation method affording the deposition of a thin layer of IL on the surface of the supports. Textural, structural and thermal signatures of strong IL confinement on the surface were observed in 10 wt%-loaded sorbents, and multi-layers mimicking the bulk phase in 25 wt%-loaded sorbents. Adsorption of up to 3.4 mmol g−1 was obtained at 313 K, a remarkable uptake capacity for low IL loading sorbents, significantly surpassing previously published details of similarly loaded materials. These new sorbents exhibit dramatic performance enhancement by factors of 1.6–16.0 (cf. bare support) and 3.6–5.3 (cf. bulk EZT3) highlighting the synergy between the available contact surface and pore network of the support, and the high affinity for CO2 by the IL. Contrary to expectation, the materials based on non-porous nano-silica exhibited the highest uptake, rationalized by their unique core–shell configuration. In addition, the sorption kinetics were promoted by the external surface adsorption and facilitated diffusion into the pore network. The low IL loading and the relatively common support materials in these hybrid sorbents could potentially translate to cheaper and more sustainable CO2 capture media.


This paper investigates the performance of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) based hybrid satellite-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems, where a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communicates with the ground users via a decode and forward (DF) UAV relay. We investigate a two NOMA users system, where a far user (FU) and a near user (NU) are served by the UAV which is located at a certain height above the origin of the coverage circle. The channel between satellite and UAV is assumed to follow a Shadowed-Rician fading and the channels between UAV and users are assumed to follow a Nakagami-m fading. New closed-form expressions of the outage probabilities for the two users and the system are derived. Different from other work in literature, we take into consideration different parameters affecting the total link budget. Additionally, we propose an algorithm for minimizing the system outage probability. The mathematical analysis is verified by extensive representative Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations. Finally, simulations are provided to demonstrate the impact of important parameters on the considered system as well as the superiority of the NOMA scheme the over reference scheme.


The digital photography era is a great development in science and technology in the history of photography after Niepce and Daguerre. Where in the 19th century, their experiments lead to the ability to capture images permanently with the subject of a cityscape in France. This discovery was considered most perfect in photography compared to previous ones. In the digital camera era, society views photography as something easy, inexpensive, and a part of everyday life. This is what is called the digitalization of photography. However so sophisticated the photographic equipment there may be today, there is still the need a photographer that has the knowledge and technical skills with good aesthetic sensibilites as "the man behind the camera." In the era of creative industry like today, photography can be said to be in four aspects, which are sciense, technology, art, and industry, that are intertwined. It is because photography is not as easy as pushing the shutter button, even more so in the world of education. The teaching of photography cannot be seen as merely teaching techniques, adjusting apertures, speed, and lighting, but it involves the eyes, thoughts (knowledge and understanding), and feeling in selecting an object and arranging it in a frame of a photograph. Furthermore, what should be considered is that besides teaching how to produce and create a photo, one should know and understand as to every possibilites of aspects of its distribution after the photo has been successfully produced.


Designing software that supports collaboration among multiple users in mobile ad hoc networks is challenging due to the dynamic network topology and inherent unpredictability of the environment. However, as we increasingly migrate to using mobile computing platforms, there is a pertinent need for software that can support a wide range of collaborative activities anywhere and at any time without relying on any external infrastructure. In this paper, we adopt the workflow model to represent the structure of an activity that involves multiple tasks being performed in a structured, collaborative fashion by multiple users. Using the workflow model as a base, we developed an XML based specification language called CiAN that can be used to build workflows that can be fragmented and distributed across the hosts of participating users so that the collaborative activity is executed in a distributed manner. The tasks specified in the CiAN language are executed by our Java based CiAN middleware, which runs on mobile hosts. Communication of task results between hosts occurs via a novel protocol that uses the workflow structure to make routing decisions on data packets. Complete implementation details and an evaluation of our approach are also presented. Type of Report: Other Department of Computer Science & Engineering Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1045 St. Louis, MO 63130 ph: (314) 935-6160 CiAN: A Language and Middleware for Collaboration in Ad hoc Networks Rohan Sen, Gruia-Catalin Roman, and Andrew Frank Washington University in St. Louis Department of Computer Science and Engineering Campus Box 1045, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, U. S. A. {rohan.sen, roman, firstname.lastname@example.com


Purpose: This study was to understand the level of family support, self-efficacy, and compliance and to examine the relationships of the above three variables in chronic arthritis. Method: The subjects of this study were 116 patients sampled among the limited population of outpatients and inpatients at Rheumatism Center of the H university hospital in S city. The research instruments used in this study were family support, self efficacy and compliance scale. In data analysis, SPSS 8.0 program was used. Result: 1. Family support and self-efficacy level were above the medium. 2. Compliance level was medium. 3. The relation among the family support, self efficacy and compliance was significant. Conclusion: Rheumatism patients will be able to live satisfactorily if they get a good education about efficient training program aimed at compliance.


Cognitive and spectrum agile radios are being con- sidered as future wireless communication systems. These systems will have the capability of sensing their environment for active primary users and adapt their transmit signal such that any harmful interference to primary users is avoided. This paper proposes the use of a wideband Windowed OFDM (WOFDM) system for the physical layer of spectrum agile radios. It is shown that by properly choosing the window the system can create very deep notches in its spectrum and, hence, avoid creating interference for the narrowband primary systems in its band. The performance of such WOFDM systems are also studied.


We develop a Ginzburg-Landau theory for the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model which effectively describes both static and dynamic properties of photons evolving in a cubic lattice of cavities, each filled with a two-level atom. To this end we calculate the effective action to first order in the hopping parameter. Within a Landau description of a spatially and temporally constant order parameter we calculate the finite-temperature mean-field quantum phase boundary between a Mott insulating and a superfluid phase of polaritons. Furthermore, within the Ginzburg-Landau description of a spatiotemporal varying order parameter we determine the excitation spectra in both phases and, in particular, the sound velocity of light in the superfluid phase.


Abstract Context: Sulfur mustard (SM) is a strong alkylating toxicant that targets different organs, particularly human lung tissue. Change in genes expression is one of the molecular mechanisms of SM toxicity in damaged tissue. Objective: The purpose of this investigation is to characterize the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO), inducible nitric oxide synthase 2 (iNOS2), and surfactant protein D (SFTPD) in lungs of patients who exposed to SM. Methods: Lung biopsies were provided from SM-exposed patients (n = 6) and controls (n = 5). Total RNA were extracted from all specimens and then cDNA was synthesized for each sample. Changes in gene expression were measured using RT2 Profiler ™PCR Array. Results: Pulmonary function tests revealed more obstructive and restrictive spirometric patterns among patients compared to the control group. Expression of COX-2 and 12-LO in the lung of patients was increased by 6.2555 (p = 0.004) and 6.2379-folds (p = 0.002), respectively. In contrast, expression of SF-D and iNOS genes was reduced by 8.5869-fold (p = 0.005) and 2.4466-folds (p = 0.011), respectively. Conclusions: Mustard lungs were associated with overexpression of COX-2 and 12-LO, which are responsible for inflammation, overproduction of free radicals and oxidative stress. Downregulation of iNOS2 and SF-D are probably the reason for lung disease and dysfunction among these patients. Therefore, the expression of these genes could be an important, routine part of the management of such patients.


BACKGROUND
 The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing in China, and the effect of mobile phone short message service (SMS) interventions to prevent early childhood obesity needs to be evaluated.

 OBJECTIVE
 The objective of this study was to assess the effect of an SMS intervention on the prevention of obesity in young children.

 METHODS
 A quasi-experimental design SMS intervention was carried out in 4 community health centers (CHCs) in Shanghai, China. A total of 2 CHCs were assigned to the intervention group, and 2 CHCs were assigned to the control group. Mothers in the intervention group received weekly SMS messages on breastfeeding and infant feeding from the third trimester to 12 months postpartum. The primary outcomes were children's body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score, and weight-for-length z-score at 12 and 24 months. Factors associated with higher BMI and weight-for-length z-score at 24 months were also assessed.

 RESULTS
 A total of 582 expectant mothers were recruited at the beginning of the third gestational trimester. 477 (82.0%) and 467 (80.2%) mothers and their children were followed up to 12 and 24 months postpartum, respectively. There were no significant differences in children's BMI, BMI z-score, and weight-for-length z-score at 12 and 24 months between the 2 groups. Factors associated with higher BMI, BMI z-score, and weight-for-length z-score at 24 months included higher birth weight, introduction of solid foods before 4 months, and taking a bottle to bed at 12 months.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The SMS intervention did not show a significant effect on children's BMI, BMI z-score, or weight-for-length z-score at 12 and 24 months. Introduction of solid foods before 4 months and taking a bottle to bed at 12 months were significantly and positively correlated with a higher BMI, BMI z-score, and weight-for-length z-score at 24 months. Further studies with more rigorous design are needed to evaluate the effect of SMS interventions on preventing early childhood obesity.


We investigate control strategies that maximize disagreement in type-based anti-coordination network games. Each node is a player and each edge represents payoff dependence between the neighboring players where, depending on their types, have an incentive to play different strategies. We assume there is a preferred strategy in the absence of network effects. Players follow a distributed learning dynamics based on the process of iterated elimination of dominated strategies. In this setting, we propose a disagreement maximization problem. First, we seek to find the minimum number of players to control while ensuring the dynamics converge to maximum possible disagreement. We characterize the control strategies in line networks that achieve optimal results, and propose an algorithm for general networks that are approximately optimal.


River stage or flow rates are required for the design and evaluation of hydraulic structures and water resources management systems. Accordingly flood routing techniques are used to predict the river stage and flow rates while flood wave propagates along the river. The aim of this paper is to compare the Muskingum–Cunge method with constant and variable parameters with Dynamic flow routing. The results showed that the errors in application of Muskingum-Cunge method in rivers with low slope are high and therefore some concerns should be taken when using Muskingum-Cunge in low slopes rivers. Sensitivity analysis showed that the most dominant parameters on the peak outflow are orderly the peak inflow rate, the roughness coefficient, and the bed slope. Also, the most important parameters on peak timing of outflow are orderly the channel length and the roughness coefficient.


This paper addresses challenges with modelling of segmented power cable conductors using finite element analysis (FEA) for ampacity calculation. Segmented conductors improve current distribution by minimizing skin and proximity effects, thus reducing conductor losses. 2D FEA simulation offers high flexibility and accuracy beyond IEC 60287 for complex laying geometries, but the modelling of losses in segmented constructions using FEA has proven difficult due to the big difference in wire size and twisting pitch, requiring great amounts of computational power. In this paper a hybrid method is proposed, in which the IEC 60287 empirical formulae for segmented conductors are included in a 2D FEA model. The proposed method shows a good correspondence to IEC standard calculations, with deviations in conductor AC resistance of less than 1 %.


This study is aimed at exploring the mental visualization of Biology students when they are given the abstract concept of Osmosis. The objectives of this study are to describe the mental visualization, to identify the different mental visualization and to depict the information processing in generating the mental visualization of these students of the abstract concept of Osmosis. Ten form four students were selected using the purposive stratified sampling method. They were categorized into two groups, the high achievers and the low achievers based on their previous Science and Biology examination results. The instruments used in this study include a task on the concept of Osmosis, semi structured interview and the researcher's audit trail. The data were analyzed quantitatively using percentages and qualitatively by developing categories of information using the constant comparative method. The data will then be interpreted and presented in a descriptive manner. The main finding shows that the high achievers were prone to have an "overview" mental visualization, compared to the low achievers who have the "zooming image" in their mental visualization. Eighty percent of the low achievers are said to be active thinkers during the process of conceptualizing the abstract concept of Osmosis as they were able to deliver color perception in their mental visualization. The students also used filtering, relating, history and dimension as the elements of mental visualization during the processing information to generate their visuals. In conclusion, the study shows that the students used key words in the definition of Osmosis to guide them to generate mental visualization for the abstract concept of Osmosis. It is hope that these findings will assist educators to enhance the low achiever's performance in their learning of an abstract science concept.


Appropriate business models are very important for enterprises. With the advent of the new century, the rapid development and application of technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data have become more and more widely used, which provides great convenience for people's daily life. With the rise and development of the Internet of Things and big data technology, human work and life have become easier and easier, and it has also greatly changed human production and development. Under the fierce market competition, enterprises pay more and more attention to the independent research and development capabilities of their own brand products. With the rapid development of the Internet age, the status of brands in the improvement of business models is also increasing. The brand business model design must not only meet the ever-changing market consumer demand but also conform to the ever-changing fashion trends. The article briefly analyzed the development and application of the Internet of Things and big data technology and optimized the design method of the brand business model by using big data technology in design of the brand business model. On this basis, a decision support method for a brand business model based on a data warehouse was proposed to achieve scientific, efficient, and accurate brand product development. In order to understand consumers' consumption habits and awareness of brands, the article randomly selected 400 people to conduct a survey. It was found that 45% of male respondents preferred commercials with simple and elegant colors; 38% of female respondents preferred commercials with minimalist styles. Modern consumers are mainly pragmatic, and the design of brand business models should be developed in this regard.


We present a case of leiomyoma of the urethra diagnosed during pregnancy. The patient a 40 year old woman, gravida II, who presents a mass that depend of the proximal urethra, it was observed in the vaginal introitus, it's growth was progressive after 8th weeks of pregnancy. We realized local excision at 23rd weeks pregnancy. Histopathological examination reported leiomyoma of the urethra. The pregnancy was resolved through cesarean section by fetal indication. Actually the patient is free of symptoms.


INTRODUCTION
In normal hearing, the brain receives bilateral auditory input from both ears. In individuals with only one functioning ear listening in noisy environments and sound localization may become difficult. Historically, the impact of unilateral hearing loss in children had typically been minimized by clinicians, as it was assumed that one normal hearing ear provided sufficient auditory input for speech development and normal hearing experience. Data supporting the negative effects of unilateral deafness has been accumulating during the last decades. The effects of unilateral deafness extend beyond spatial hearing to language development, slower rates of educational progress, problems in social interaction and in cognitively demanding tasks. Until recently, treatments for single sided deafness were limited to routing signals from the deaf ear to the contralateral hearing ear either through conventional CROS aids or through bone anchored technologies. These technologies simply transfer sounds to the single functioning ear which allow sound awareness from the deaf side and minor improvement in hearing in noisy environments and localization. The cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that contains an array of electrodes which is placed into the cochlea, and stimulates the cochlear nerve. The cochlear implant bypasses the injured parts of the inner ear. Currently it is the only treatment to restore binaural hearing. This review aims to discuss the different aspects, the benefits and disadvantages of cochlear implantation in children with single sided deafness.


An analysis of the impact of outsource and in-house service has been conducted based on the perspective of a facilities manager in Cisco Headquarters (HQ) building located in Berkshire. The research considers a change in the main reception and security services currently delivered to this firm, and then examines the advantages and disadvantages of both facilities management strategies by analysing the demands of both the client and supplier. Following that, it develops a set of appropriate performance measures for the services being considered in the building, which can be used to ensure that quality and performance is equivalent to or better than the existing services thus helps decide the options between outsource and in-house of the services. This research paper demonstrates that the current level of understanding, together with the methods, tools and techniques available to develop a performance measurement in facilities management.


Current composite part development and manufacturing processes still requires a disproportional high effort in order to find optimal process parameters and to meet required qualities and tolerances of high performance light weight structures. Within the ECOMISE project new technologies were developed and integrated into the ECOMISE Manufacturing System in order to maximize process efficiency at reduced costs and production time of thermoset composite manufacturing and post-processing.
The ECOMISE Manufacturing System combines four technology modules. Within the Probabilistic Process Prediction Module new simulation techniques were developed and implemented in order to predict the process behaviour, while taking into account statistical process variations for reliability analysis. The Online Process Monitoring Module contains advanced sensor system hardware and data acquisition/ analysis software for monitoring of fibre deposition, resin infiltration and curing. A common manufacturing database enables to store process relevant data coming from simulation as well as manufacturing – allowing concurrent comparison of as-design vs. as-built. Furthermore, advanced simulation techniques were developed and implemented into the In-Situ Evaluation Module for real-time evaluation of the effect of manufacturing deviations on structural level gathered from online process measurement. By means of the In-Situ Process Adjustment Module new methodologies are provided to determine in-situ process adjustment measures via an automated and real-time decision support.
The presentation will give inside into the integrated work flow as well as the underlying technologies. The resulting economic benefits of the ECOMISE approach are evaluated and demonstrated by pilot implementations for industrial use-cases. Significant increase of process robustness, reduction of process time, reduced rework and less conservative structural requirements were achieved leading to decreased manufacturing costs, as well as consumption of material, energy and emissions.


A 3-year old male presented with a 12-month history of painless scalp swellings associated with cough, fever and night sweats. Physical examination showed tender, fluctuant, pulsatile right frontotemporal and temporoparietal masses. Skull radiographs showed osteolytic skull lesions in the frontal and temporal bones. Microscopy of drained caseous material and histology of biopsies from the affected bone edges confirmed tuberculous osteitis. Though there was an initial response to antituberculous agents, the child died after 5 weeks from hepatic failure. Tuberculosis of the skull bones though rare, may become more common with the recent upsurge of tuberculosis worldwide. A high index of suspicion is necessary for early diagnosis and treatment.


Macroporous poly(N-[3-(dimethylaminopropyl)]methacrylamide-co-acrylamide) [P(DMAPMA-co-AAm)] hydrogels were prepared by free-radical crosslinking copolymerization of corresponding monomers in water using two different pore-forming agents such as hydroxypropyl celluose (HPC) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The effect of these pore-forming agents on the volume phase transition temperature (VPT-T), interior morphology and swelling/deswelling kinetics of the P(DMAPMA-co-AAm) hydrogels was investigated. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the interior network structure of the hydrogel matrix became more porous due to the presence of HPC or PEG pore-forming agents. The more porous matrix provided numerous water channels for water diffusion in or out of the matrix and, therefore, an improved response rate to the external stimuli. Particularly, due to its unique macroporous structure, the PEG-modified hydrogel showed a tremendously faster response to the external temperature changes during deswelling process and the swelling process at 22°C.


At the beginning of 2020, citizens all around the world were streaked by the Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic which caused terror far and near. Millions of people were infected and thousands more died ever since the World Health Organization or WHO has declared the Corona Virus (Covid-19) as a global pandemic. Following up on this, the Indonesian government also stated that the Corona Virus problem had become a non-natural national disaster. The President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Regional Government along with their staffs worked  hand in hand to take several tactical steps as an effort to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus (Covid-19) in the community. In this study, authors use one method to make predictions or forecasting, that is the Cheng Fuzzy Time Series method, to predict the number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia so that the government can take tactical steps after knowing the predicted number of the case. The actual data used is the number of Covid-19 case from July 2020 up until October 2020. From the results of calculations that have been carried out using this method, the conclusion is that the performance is splendid, in the range of MAPE <10, whose error value is 5%. With 95% value of accuracy.


The notion of a synaptic algebra was introduced by David Foulis. Synaptic algebras unite the notions of an order-unit normed space, a special Jordan algebra, a convex effect algebra and an orthomodular lattice. In this note we study quadratic ideals in synaptic algebras which reflect its Jordan algebra structure. We show that projections contained in a quadratic ideal from a p-ideal in the orthomodular lattice of projections in the synaptic algebra and we find a characterization of those quadratic ideals which are generated by their projections.


In this paper we present a Monte Carlo investigation of charge transport-including quantum tunnelling effects in fabricated back-to-back n-type Schottky barriers in the reverse bias regime. The effect of the variation of the temperature over the current density and over different internal magnitudes like carrier density, electric field, etc. together with velocity distribution functions and the density of scattering mechanisms has been analyzed. The study of transport in the space charge region evidences important quasi-ballistic characteristics, thus becoming an important issue to be tackled in the modelling of Schottky-based devices with reverse biased junctions.


Race conditions, races in short, need to be detected for debugging parallel programs, because the races result in unintended non-deterministic executions. To detect the races in an execution of program, previous techniques use a centralized data structure which may incur serious bottleneck in generating concurrency information, or show inefficient time complexity which depends on the degree of nested parallelism in comparing any two of them. We propose a new labeling scheme in this paper, which is scalable in generating the concurrency information without bottleneck by using private data structure, and improves time complexity into constant in checking concurrency. The scalability and time efficiency therfore makes on-the-fly race detection efficient not only for programs with either shared-memory or message-passing, but also for programs with mixed model of the two.


Support groups are the organizations of people Who share a common disorder and problems who meet together to discuss their experiences, share ideas, and provide emotional support for one another. Usually a support group is led by a member who has had some training in facilitating group discussions. Unlike formal group therapy, self-help support groups are usually not led by a professional therapist but nevertheless can be a helpful coping tool to complement formal treatment. For some types of problems, such as bereavement after the death of a loved one, or coping with chronic medical conditions like cancer, chronic kidney disease, HIV, hospitals or community agencies often Provide support groups led by a social worker or other counselor.


This article presents a Bayesian approach to forecast mortality rates. This approach formalizes the Lee-Carter method as a statistical model accounting for all sources of variability. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are used to fit the model and to sample from the posterior predictive distribution. This paper also shows how multiple imputations can be readily incorporated into the model to handle missing data and presents some possible extensions to the model. The methodology is applied to U.S. male mortality data. Mortality rate forecasts are formed for the period 1990-1999 based on data from 1959-1989. These forecasts are compared to the actual observed values. Results from the forecasts show the Bayesian prediction intervals to be appropriately wider than those obtained from the Lee-Carter method, correctly incorporating all known sources of variability. An extension to the model is also presented and the resulting forecast variability appears better suited to the observed data.


Egg white sols diluted with various liquids are easily converted to soft, smooth gels by heating. In this study, the effects of various salts on the properties of diluted egg white gels were investigated. Using univalent NaCl or KCl, the breaking strength of gels was lower than for divalent MgCl2 or CaCl2, though it increased gradually with increased salt concentration. The amount of liquid released by syneresis from gels with divalent salts was significantly larger than those with univalent salts. Moreover, the breaking strength of gels with the same charge showed the same behavior, by adjusting to the same pH value of the sols. Thermal analysis (DSC) showed a peak assigned to ovalbumin, which shifted to a slightly higher temperature with univalent salts added.


Techniques for comparing frequency standards at the 1x10 -15 level are examined, including the impact of displacements in time and space. The additional uncertainties contributing to the comparison process using current technologies in stable frequency references and in longdistance frequency-transfer techniques are quantified. As an example, the results of two frequency comparisons between a pair of cesium-fountain primary frequency standards are given.


In recent years, the need for sophisticated human in vitro models for integrative biology has motivated the development of organ-on-a-chip platforms. Organ-on-a-chip devices are engineered to mimic the mechanical, biochemical and physiological properties of human organs; however, there are many important considerations when selecting or designing an appropriate device for investigating a specific scientific question. Building microfluidic Brain-on-a-Chip (BoC) models from the ground-up will allow for research questions to be answered more thoroughly in the brain research field, but the design of these devices requires several choices to be made throughout the design development phase. These considerations include the cell types, extracellular matrix (ECM) material(s), and perfusion/flow considerations. Choices made early in the design cycle will dictate the limitations of the device and influence the end-point results such as the permeability of the endothelial cell monolayer, and the expression of cell type-specific markers. To better understand why the engineering aspects of a microfluidic BoC need to be influenced by the desired biological environment, recent progress in microfluidic BoC technology is compared. This review focuses on perfusable blood–brain barrier (BBB) and neurovascular unit (NVU) models with discussions about the chip architecture, the ECM used, and how they relate to the in vivo human brain. With increased knowledge on how to make informed choices when selecting or designing BoC models, the scientific community will benefit from shorter development phases and platforms curated for their application.


This dissertation contributes to the environmental, agricultural, and technological history of the modern United States by examining pesticide use and the debates surrounding them in the Great Plains from the 1940s to the 1980s. Specifically, it addresses the relationships among aerial sprayers, farmers, agriculturalists, and grassroots concepts of toxicity that emerged from mid-century technological and environmental changes. It argues that pesticides as well as a variety of weeds and insects actively transformed the tools, attitudes, and regulatory policies of their users. Historians of agricultural chemical use in America have focused on the political debates over DDT, the social activism against pesticides that Rachel Carson inspired with her best-selling book Silent Spring (1962), the growth in federal regulatory policy in the 1970s, and the contentious reactions by the chemical and agricultural industries. This study offers a new, ground-level history of pesticides by showing how aerial sprayers, farmers, and agriculturalists developed custom chemical applications and conceptualized toxicity as each related to the technological and environmental changes in the region. Drawing on multiple sources, including agricultural experiment station reports, scientific studies, government documents, farm journals, landowner and aerial spray pilot correspondence, and oral histories, this study explores how local producers changed with their chemicals, spray planes, and pests to develop an environmental ethos that understood toxicity as a synthetic and natural danger. Although opposition to pesticides became central to modern environmentalism, debates around pesticides' effectiveness and dangers did not come only from activists or government regulators. Beginning just after World War II, landowners and spray pilots in the fields and rural airstrips of the Great Plains took the hazards of agricultural chemicals seriously, critiquing how and why pesticides were used for decades after. By viewing chemicals, spray planes, and pests, as well as landowners, pilots, and agriculturalists as equal forces in the regional transformation of farming landscapes, this dissertation highlights a new history of pesticides, agriculture, and the environment. Farmers and custom applicators did not simply follow the economic goals of agribusiness. Nor did they dismiss the dangers of pesticides. Rather, they constructed their own standards of injury and environmental risk that stressed accuracy, regulation, and a reasonable certainty of safety—a result of the equally transformational influences of chemicals, pests, and the region. This study finally offers new insights into the creation of national chemical policy and the regulatory debates over pesticides during the 1960s and 1970s. GUARDIANS OF ABUNDANCE: AERIAL APPLICATION, AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS, AND TOXICITY IN THE POSTWAR PRAIRIE WEST by


This paper proposes a steered response power (SRP) approach with trade-off prewhitening to acoustic source localization. To obtain effective compromise prefiltering of microphone signals, the sparsity of speech amplitude spectrum is used to establish a convex-constraint linear prediction model, which is solved by a split Bregman method. The presented approach unifies the traditional SRP and steered response power via phase transform prefiltering methods and achieves a good compromise between them from the perspective of localization performance. The superiority of the proposed method is demonstrated in noisy and reverberant environments.


Abstract.
 Santa Cruz Island, California, has been free of nonnative vertebrates since 2007, but nonnative invasive plants remain one of the most significant threats to the recovery of the island's native ecosystems. Just over one-fourth of the island's flora is comprised of nonnative, naturalized plant species. In 2007, an island-wide invasive plant survey indicated that several species were candidates for eradication based on factors such as their distribution, abundance, invasiveness, and known or projected harmful impacts on the native biota. In 2008, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Native Range, Inc., initiated a program to eliminate 15 invasive plant species from TNC's portion (76%) of the 246-km2 island. An additional 9 species were targeted in subsequent years. As of 2012, a total of 882 populations of 24 weed species have been mapped and treated, and 73% of these populations are considered inactive (dead), with no aboveground living biomass. The majority of the remaining active infestations are due to resurgence from the soil seed bank. Continued monitoring and annual follow-up treatments of invasive plants will be required. Utilization of a small helicopter provides surveyors and herbicide applicators with efficient access to remote infestations and a platform from which to treat populations and detect individual plants. Most important in achieving project success is consistent treatment from year to year, which prevents reproduction and recovery of infestations. Long-lived soil seed banks for some species will be a management issue for years to come. Continued commitment to eradicating these weeds and the ability to detect incipient infestations and respond rapidly to eliminate them will be key determinants of success of this program.


Objectives: Sarcopenia is associated with atherosclerosis, vascular dysfunction, and poor in-hospital prognosis in the general COVID-19 population. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is also associated with poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19, however, the influencing factors in this association have not yet been fully documented. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sarcopenia on both in-hospital acute-term and mid-term follow-up clinical results in patients with CAD and COVID-19.
Methods: The study population was selected from the general COVID-19 population. It consisted of 50 patients with CAD (group I) and 80 age- and gender-matched patients without CAD (group II). In-hospital acute term endpoints were determined as intensive care unit (ICU) admission, intubation, mortality, and its combination. Mid-term follow-up was also made for three-month. Sarcopenia was assessed by indexed skeletal muscle mass at T12 vertebrae level (T12-SMI) on initial chest computed tomography. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to detect independently related factors to endpoints.
Results: Group I had more severe COVID-19 disease and a higher rate of hospitalization, ICU admission, intubation as well as mortality compared to group II in acute-term. T12-SMI was lower and sarcopenia was more frequent in group I than in group II. During the three-month mid-term follow-up period, no additional adverse results occurred in both groups. In multivariate regression analysis; sarcopenia was independently related to in-hospital combined endpoint.
Conclusions: Sarcopenia is associated with in-hospital combined endpoint in patients with CAD during acute-term of COVID-19. However, it has no effect on three-month mid-term follow-up.


Police departments are increasingly relying on sophisticated machine learning algorithms to process data about past crimes and "predict" the timing and location of future crimes. This turn towards "digital policing" raises numerous privacy and criminal procedure concerns. While commentators and policymakers have given a large amount of attention to these issues, they have largely ignored digital policing's non-procedural, criminal law implications. This article examines the effects of digital policing on deterrence policy and substantive criminal law. It shows that digital policing helps reduce the complexity of law enforcement and creates economies of scale. The article's main contribution is showing that digital and preventive policing will lead to inefficient over-deterrence, unless lawmakers reduce the gross sanctions for criminal misconduct. This is true for first-time offenders and for repeat offenders. But in the latter case, the problem is magnified by the fact that the digital footprint left behind by an offender who is caught and convicted will make it much easier for the authorities to identify, arrest, and convict repeat offenders. The article also examines digital policing's implications for inchoate crimes, such as criminal attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation, and for plea bargains, the entrapment defense, and police corruption.


Spermatogenic cells isolated from prepubertal and adult mice by unit gravity sedimentation have been used to examine proteins synthesized in a stage-specific manner throughout meiosis and early spermiogenesis. Preleptotene, leptotene/zygotene, and pachytene spermatocytes were isolated from 17-day-old mice. Adult pachytene spermatocytes and round spermatids were isolated from mature animals. These germ cells were then cultured in defined medium with [35S]methionine [( 35S]met) for 4-5 h. For each cell type, relative [35S]met incorporation was determined and labeled proteins were compared by two-dimensional (2D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Levels of [35S]met incorporation by isolated germ cells correlate closely with previous autoradiographic estimates of protein synthesis during spermatogenesis (Monesi, 1967). Pachytene spermatocytes from prepubertal mice incorporate the highest levels of [35S]met, when expressed either as cpm/-10(6) cells or cpm/mg protein. Comparisons of 2D autoradiograms indicated that many proteins, including actin and tubulins, are synthesized at approximately equal levels in all stages examined. Other proteins, including heat-shock proteins and multiple plasma membrane constituents, are synthesized in a stage-specific manner in leptotene/zygotene spermatocytes, pachytene spermatocytes, and round spermatids. These studies define conditions for monitoring protein synthesis in isolated spermatogenic cells prior to the pachytene stage of meiosis, provide a 2D map of proteins synthesized at these earlier meiotic stages, and examine the synthesis of several proteins previously identified on 2D gels with biochemical and immunological methods.


We previously established a method for a directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into classical brown adipocytes (BA) by forming aggregates via massive floating culture in the presence of a specific cytokine cocktail. However, use of recombinant cytokines requires significant cost. Moreover, an enforced differentiation by exogenously added cytokines may amend skewed differentiation propensity of patient's pluripotent stem cells, providing unsatisfactory disease models. Therefore, an exogenous cytokine-free method, where cytokines required for differentiation are provided in an auto/paracrine manner mimicking natural developmental process, is beneficial. Here we show that, if human pluripotent stem cells are cultured as size-controlled spheroids (100–120 µm radius, 2000–2500 cells/spheroid) in a mutually segregated manner with half-change of the medium every other day, they differentiate into classical BA via an authentic MYF5-positive myoblast route in the absence of exogenous cytokines. Differentiated BA exerted thermogenic activity in transplanted mice in response to beta-adrenergic receptor agonist stimuli. The cytokine-free differentiation method has further advantages in exploring BATokines, BA-derived physiologically active substances. Indeed, we have found that BA produces an unknown small (<1000 Da), highly hydrophilic molecule that augments insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells. Our upgraded technique will contribute to an advancement of stem cell study for diverse purposes.


The hydrodynamics of Newtonian fluids has been the subject of a tremendous amount of work over the past eighty years, both in physics and mathematics. Sadly, however, a mutual feeling of incomprehension has often hindered scientific contacts. This article provides a dictionary that allows mathematicians to define and study the spectral properties of Kolmogorov-Obukov turbulence in a simple deterministic manner. In other words, this approach fits turbulence into the mathematical framework of studying the qualitative properties of solutions of PDEs, independently from any a-priori model of the structure of the flow. To check that this new approach is correct, this article proves some of the classical statements that can be found in physics textbooks. This is followed by an investigation of the compatibility between turbulence and the smoothness of solutions of Navier-Stokes in 3D, which was the initial motivation of this study.


The vortex flowmeter works in a poor environment, therefore the stability and accuracy of the online testing system have become the core question for getting high accuracy. The optical probe is the main part of the system which produces and obtains the vortex signal. This paper designs the vortex shedder according to the hydromechanics principle, and it is proposed to be ringlike structures, also gives the test results which prove the effectiveness of the shedder on vortex decomposition. A liquid flow online testing system is designed according to the vortex signal characteristics, and the optical fiber is chosen as the sense organ. Then it designed the probe's parameters and the necessary important circuits of the system to further increase its accuracy. It also assembles the sensor system which is designed to insure the rationality, reliability, stability of the structure. Finally it proposed the methods on the coefficient revision and the liquid condition parameter compensation to get higher accuracy.


Demand-side participation is now widely recognized as being extremely critical for satisfying the growing electricity demand in the U.S. The primary mechanism for demand management in the U.S. is demand response (DR) programs that attempt to reduce or shift demand by giving incentives to participating customers via price discounts or rebate payments. Utilities that offer DR programs rely on automated DR devices (ADRs) to automate the response to DR signals. The ADRs are faulty, but the working state of the ADR is not directly observable; one can, however, attempt to infer it from the power consumption during DR events. The utility loses revenue when a malfunctioning ADR does not respond to a DR signal; however, sending a maintenance crew to check and reset the ADR also incurs costs. In this paper, we show that the problem of maintaining a pool of ADRs using a limited number of maintenance crews can be formulated as a restless bandit problem, and that one can compute a near-optimal policy for this problem using Whittle indices. We show that the Whittle indices can be efficiently computed using a variational Bayes procedure even when the load-shed magnitude is noisy, and when there is a random mismatch between the clocks at the utility and at the meter. The results of our numerical experiments suggest that the Whittle-index-based approximate policy is within 4% of the optimal solution for all reasonably low values of the signal-to-noise ratio in the meter readings.


The insulating ternary oxide YbFe${}_{2}$O${}_{4}$ displays an unusual frustration-driven incommensurate charge-ordering (CO) transition, linked to possible ferroelectricity. Based on high-resolution synchrotron data, we report a detailed structural model showing that the CO phase is an incommensurate charge-density wave and cannot be ferroelectric, since the electrical dipole moments are also incommensurately modulated. The change between continuous and ``spotty'' helices of scattering at the CO transition is attributed to three-dimensional fluctuations of the direction of the ordering wave vector.


Autonomous droop control PV inverters have improved voltage regulation compared to the inverters without grid support functions, but more flexible control techniques will be required as the number of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations increases. This paper studies three inverter future deployment scenarios with droop control inverters, non-exporting inverters, and coordinated inverter control (CIC). The network operation and the interaction between various inverter control methods are studied by simulating inverter operation on two low-voltage networks. Considering 30% PV penetration as the base case, we demonstrate that coordinated inverters can mitigate overvoltages and voltage fluctuations caused by the tripping of passive inverters in 85% of PV location cases when at least as many coordinated as passive inverters are deployed on the 114-node test feeder. However, this rate reduced to 37% with the IEEE 906-node network demonstrating that the deployment of coordinated inverter control may not be able to reverse passive inverter-related voltage disturbances when the build-up of passive inverters has reached a certain threshold. The aggregated PV output from coordinated inverters can be also used to provide grid support services. When the low-voltage networks operate close to the upper voltage limits, the change in the power output from coordinated inverters following a regulation request may be partially offset by passive inverters. Considering an equal number of passive and coordinated inverters, this paper shows that for each unit of the down-regulation request delivered by coordinated inverters, passive inverter output may increase by up to 0.2 units and decrease by up to 0.45 units during coordinated inverter up-regulation.


One of the most important and complicated problems in modern industry is to obtaining materials with the required chemical composition, structure and mechanical and physical properties. Solving this problem involves great deal of time and expense, and the results obtained might be far from the optimal solution. The areas of the prediction and optimization of the composition and properties of materials obtained in different technological processes are especially promising. Some of the results were obtained from the modeling of the process of the formation of a weld pool, from modeling of weld metal transformations. Important results were obtained from the studies of the physical and chemical parameters of high temperature processes, such as welding or casting, and development of kinetic model of alloy transfer. By determining the chemical composition of the weld metal the kinetic model has been developed. Based on this model, we described the transfer of alloying elements between the slag, which is the residue left on a weld from the flux consists mostly of mixed metal oxides, sulfides and nitrides, and the metal during arc welding. The model takes into consideration the practical weld process parameters such as voltage, current, travel speed, and weld preparation geometry, and it was experimentally tested.


Immigration reform is a highly complex and multifaceted task with significant economic, political and religio-cultural repercussions thereby bringing tremendous ethical challenges and implications. This article explores the possible contribution of modern Catholic Social Teaching in addressing the ethical challenges of immigration reform, particularly in the United States, by examining key themes that could address critical issues in the current debate on immigration reform and arguing how an ethic of risk which, the author submits, runs through the key themes of Catholic Social Teaching explored in this paper, could then serve as an approach in articulating how Christian discipleship could foreground citizenship in the context of immigration.