The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a tool for the improvement of the profitability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourist sector of Guatemala, on the basis of a diagnosis of the current situation of the use of ICTs and e-commerce for SMEs in 2015, in the main tourist areas of the country. In this research, in the first place, the theoretical factors that led the SMEs to make use of ICTs were determined and discussed; subsequently, the main variables that explain and differentiate tourist sector enterprises on the basis of the degree of implementation of the use of ICTs were identified, in order to then determine their degree of competitiveness within the national tourist sector. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations, that make it possible to verify what the theory exposes with respect to the use of ICTs matches the results obtained with the SMEs evaluated. The research aims to be a reliable source of information for public and private entities of the Guatemalan tourist sector, that will allow them to have a clearer perspective on the use and adoption of new ICTs, in order to help them develop new comparative advantages and differentiating features, as they face an economic landscape in an increasingly globalized and competitive world.


National museums are exemplary sites through which nations tell their story and represent themselves to their citizens and others. The national museum has replaced the colonial museum identified by Anderson in Imagined Communities, as a modern technology and form of communication through which national communities are brought into being. Yet national museums tell other stories as well. In this article, I examine how national museums represent the world beyond the nation. Based on an examination of twelve national or national-type museums in seven Southeast Asian countries, I argue that national museums produce representations of the world beyond the nation and specifically of Southeast Asia that enframe and produce the geo-body of the nation state while simultaneously creating particular imaginaries of the world beyond, including a common use of contemporary Southeast Asia as a regional enframing device. While all national museums frame the nation in reference to the world beyond, they do so in significantly different ways with implications for the international and regional orientations of citizens of Southeast Asia.


Background Huangqi injection (HQI) is the extract of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge, which is widely used in the treatment of a variety of diseases in China. It is supposed to be an important adjuvant therapy for hypertensive nephropathy. Objective To evaluate the efficacy of HQI combined with antihypertensive drugs in the treatment of hypertensive nephropathy. Materials and Methods We systematically searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP), Wanfang Knowledge Service Platform (WanfangData), Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Library from their inception to April 23st, 2021. All studies were independently screened by two auditors according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Randomized controlled trials comparing HQI in combination with antihypertensive drugs vs. antihypertensive drugs alone were extracted. Results The meta-analysis included 15 studies involving 1,483 participants.The effect of HQI combined with antihypertensive drugs is better than that of antihypertensive drugs alone in regulating hypertensive nephropathy for reducing 24-h urinary total protein (24 h UTP) [WMD=-0.29, 95% CI (−0.40, −0.18), P = 0.000], microalbuminuria (mALB) [WMD = −17.04, 95% CI (−23.14, −10.94), P = 0.000], serum creatinine (SCr) [WMD = −40.39, 95% CI (−70.39, −10.39), P = 0.008], systolic blood pressure (SBP) [WMD = −9.50, 95% CI (−14.64, −4.37), P = 0.000], diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [WMD = −4.588, 95% CI (−6.036, −3.140), P = 0.000], cystatin-C (Cys-c) [WMD = −0.854, 95% CI (−0.99, −0.72), P = 0.000], blood urea nitrogen (BUN) [WMD = −4.155, 95% CI (−6.152, −2.157), P = 0.000]. Conclusion The combination of HQI and antihypertensive drugs is more efficient in improving the related indexes of patients with hypertensive nephropathy than using antihypertensive drugs alone, and a moderate dose of HQI (no more than 30 mL) may benefit more. However, the quality of the methodology is low and the number of samples is small, the results need to be confirmed by more stringent randomized controlled trials.


Conducting polymers can be utilized as actuators due to the materials' ability to undergo volumetric change caused by an electrochemical stimulus. Polypyrrole is an attractive electroactive polymer and capable of producing large active stress. Its mechanical performance can be improved by increasing temperature. This work describes a custom built device that is capable of performing dynamic mechanical analyses and electrochemistry simultaneously. In addition, there is a temperature control system that heats (or cools) with Peltier thermoelectric devices controlled by a PID controller. In this study, we characterized the effect of temperature increase on polypyrrole actuation strength and stress rate. For approximately each increment of 10°C from 27–83°C, stiffness measurements and isometric tests in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate were done with sample preloaded to about 4 MPa. Results showed that the stiffness decreased by 21% as the temperature was elevated from 25–80°C. The maximum charge per polymer volume increased by 983% as the temperature was increased from 27–75°C and started to level off past 75°C. The peak stress changed with temperature in a similar trend as maximum charge per volume. Peak stress was 0.2 MPa at 27°C and increased to 7 MPa as temperature was increased to 75°C. Moreover, the stress rate increased until 85°C. The results suggest that peak stress depends upon the ionic mobility as opposed to stiffness since both peak stress and charge start to plateau past 75°C.© 2009 ASME


With further development in the fabrication technologies the density of electronic packages has increased. Ball grid arrays (BGA) and land grid array (LGA) with high density of connecting terminals have given rise to higher miniaturization of the integrated circuits (IC) and advancement in their performance. Fan-Out is one of the main solutions to fill the I/O gaps between the IC and PCB evolution. In this solution the chip is embedded in a mold compound like epoxy and the connecting terminals are fanned out using a redistribution layer (RDL). No PCB type layer is needed. The major challengers of this solution are fan-In solution like wafer level chip scale packaging (WL-CSP) and flip-chip CSP (FCCSP) or flip-chip BGA (FCBGA). Anyway, all surface mounting technologies depend primarily on the high temperature treated processes like soldering, sintering and reflow. Such processes raise the need of using new rare metals or toxic alloys. The environmental pollution caused by such metals and their recycling is a challenge. Furthermore, thermal processes have limited the technologies in terms of bumps and pitch sizes and placement accuracy. Also, the electrical conductivity, shear strength and the life cycle of the pads are affected by high temperature surface mounting processes. Especially Fan-out packaging on panel level (FOPLP) is not adopted yet due to technical challenges in assembly, die placement on large panels and fabrication and mounting connections/spaces below $10 \mu \mathrm{m}/ 10 \mu \mathrm{m}$. With KlettWelding technology, the die placement takes place immediately at room temperature by using standard pick and place machines, needing no inert gas or under fill. KlettWelding technology can enable bonding ultrahigh dense pads with $3 \mu \mathrm{m}$ edge length and $5 \mu \mathrm{m}$ pitches. The KlettWelding interconnections are from pure copper and free of any rare or toxic metals and no multi-layer structure as well. Also, in this technique the mismatch of the thermal expansions between the BGA and substrates by rapid temperature changes [1] vanishes.


The file contains an R script to calculate the basic genetic diversity summary statistics across the landscape for each replicate simulation. This doesn't recreate all the analyses in the paper, but has been included to provide a script to extract the same genetic information that we used for further analysis in the paper.


The commercialization of Li metal anode has been long hindered by uncontrolled dendrite growth, infinite volume expansion and poor Li metal utilization. Herein, we achieve a uniform nano-Pb decoration on...


Objective: To provide experimental evidence for quality control of HaiLong Gejie oral liquid through discussing the content determination method of icariin.Method: High performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) was used for the content determination of icariin,the column was Diamonsil C18(250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm),the mobile phase was acetonitrile-water(25:75),the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min,the detection wavelength was 270nm.Result: Icariin showed the better linear relationship in the range of 0.023 2~0.74 00 μg,and the regression equation was y=74988x+22920,R2=1.0.Based on the test results,the contents of icariin in the tentative preparations were not less than 1.35μg/mL.Conclusion: The method,simple,accurate,sensitive and reproducible,is effective for quality control of HaiLong Gejie oral liquid.


Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at high risk for transition to secondary progressive MS (SPMS). To date, there has not been a sufficiently effective therapy for SPMS. Siponimod is a selective sphingosine-1-phosphate types 1 and 5 receptor modulator that has been shown to be more effective than placebo in slowing the progression of disability in patients with SPMS in the international phase III (EXPAND) clinical trial. This review analyzes data on the pathophysiology of MS progression, the features of the mechanism of action of siponimod, the efficiency and safety of its use, including those by the results of the EXPAND study. The latter studied the efficacy of siponimod by the time to 3-month confirmed disability progression (3M-CDP) and also assessed other clinical and radiological parameters. The analysis included data on 1,651 patients with SPMS from 31 countries. In the patients who received siponimod, the risk of 3M-CDP decreased by an average of 21% compared with those who took placebo. The administration of siponimod positively affected the speed of cognitive processes. Mild adverse events associated with liver failure, hypertension, and upper respiratory tract infections were more common in the siponimod group. Siponimod did not pose a higher risk for developing malignant neoplasms. The drug reduces the risk of disability progression in patients with SPMS and has a favorable safety profile.


At a T-junction in piping system, hot and cold water mixes in a whirl. The vibrating mixing boundary between the hot and cold water causes a temperature fluctuation on the inner surface of the pipe just after the connection point at the T-junction, and this temperature fluctuation yields a cyclic thermal stress near the pipe surface, resulting in crack initiation. In this study, the thermal stress distribution was analyzed for a semi-infinite plate model. The allowable water temperature range for the fatigue crack initiation was determined based on the mechanical fatigue test results. The thermal fatigue crack arrest behavior was analyzed based on the distributions of the stress intensity factor. The arrested crack depth is found to be in proportion to the reciprocal root of the frequency of the temperature fluctuation and is 3.8 mm for the frequency of 1 Hz.


: Environmental citizenship has become an integral element of civic and citizenship education curricula, both globally and at the European level. Previous analysis provided important evidence that environmental-citizenship education practice in Nordic schools has a significant positive association with heightened attitudes and magnified behaviours among students toward environmental actions now and in the future. This paper starts with critiques on the strengths and limitations of ICCS 2016 data measures of youth environmental citizenship, and then it provides an overview of measures applied in a few other large-scale international studies such as PISA 2015 and PISA 2018. At the end, we present a measurement proposal on environmental citizenship through combining the measures from these studies.


Campus football is an important part of football reform in China, which undertakes the arduous task of promoting the all-round development of students and training football reserve talents. However, at present, there are few studies on the evaluation methods of the implementation effect of campus football in China, and the construction of a complete and scientific evaluation system of the implementation effect of campus football is not perfect, which seriously restricts the sustainable and healthy development of campus football. Therefore, this paper analyses the problems existing in the development of campus football, and discusses the possibility of applying the computer simulation model to the evaluation method of the implementation effect of campus football. On this basis, this paper puts forward the basic principles and key evaluation indexes of the implementation effect evaluation method of campus football, and constructs the structural equation model of the evaluation method, which provides a solid theoretical support for the evaluation of the implementation effect of campus football and the high-quality development of campus football.


Many bioinspired methods are based on using several simple entities which search for a reasonable solution (somehow) independently. This is the case of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), where many simple particles search for the optimum solution by using both their local information and the information of the best solution found so far by any of the other particles. Particles are partially independent, and we can take advantage of this fact to parallelize PSO programs. Unfortunately, providing good parallel implementations for each specific PSO program can be tricky and time-consuming for the programmer. In this paper we introduce several parallel functional skeletons which, given a sequential PSO implementation, automatically provide the corresponding parallel implementations of it. We use these skeletons and report some experimental results. We observe that, despite the low effort required by programmers to use these skeletons, empirical results show that skeletons reach reasonable speedups.


N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a potential carcinogen, has been reported as a disinfection byproduct associated with the use of chloramines and under certain conditions with chlorine in the drinking water and wastewater treatment plants. As chloramines become used as a primary and post disinfectant instead of chlorine by more water utilities to reduce total trihalomethanes (TTHM) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) formation, the public may be increasing exposed to NDMA. The state of California established action level, a health-based advisory level, of 10 ng/L for NDMA in drinking water. An analytical method for the measurement of NDMA in waters at the trace level was developed using gas chromatography/mass spectrum with chemical ionization in the mode of selected ion storage coupled with solid phase extraction and liquid-liquid extraction method. NDMA levels in 10 drinking water treatment plants in Missouri were investigated and it was found that NDMA in water samples from four utilities using monochloramine as disinfectant were higher than 10 ng/L.


Bases on the characteristics of EIH-ⅢB hydrogen gauge.t his essay analys es the function-setting of ELH-ⅢB hydrogen gauge.It also briefly introduces th e in strument's working principles and structural installation.And it briefs on the instrument's technical exponents at last. The mainly introduces the differences between the instruments of Model ⅢB and Model TELEGAS-I from the perspective of designo,so as to let readers t o und erstand and use the instrument better.


The Swedish state and educational system are secular, so to say they do not depend on the former protestant state church anymore. Many people in Sweden are also secular. Even so, in school teachers ...


. Understanding the mechanisms that control seasonal groundwater recharge at local and intermediate scales is critical for understanding contaminant transport. Preferential flow accompanied with intensive and seasonal recharge allows contaminants to migrate rapidly through the unsaturated zones to underlying aquifers. In this study, we investigated the recharge mechanism from multiple water sources to the upper shallow groundwater of river alluvium aquifers at the Tanghe Wastewater Reservoir (TWR) with a length of 17.5 km in the Xiong'an New Area, North China Plain. To do so, we sampled 25 30 m deep soil porewater profiles and groundwater boreholes perpendicular to the TWR. We traced the recharge processes and related pollutants transport pathways based on stable water isotopes ( 2 H and 18 O). The stable isotopes in porewater of the soil profiles revealed vertical recharge rates ranging from 63 to 109 cm/year for the layered unsaturated zone with silt and silty clay loams. However, fast flow (i.e., preferential flow or lateral flow) occurred in sand layers of river alluvium aquifers with the mixing of slow translatory flow with multiple recharge sources (i.e., precipitation, irrigation water, and wastewater 30 remaining in porewater). The distribution of δ 2 H and δ 18 O relationship of the upper shallow groundwater showed two hysteresis loops which reflected the impact of fast flow with seasonal variation and translatory flow with legacy water in soil: 1) groundwater in regions affected by the TWR wastewater leakage shows a narrow loop and a nearly straight line with end-members of precipitation, which recharged to groundwater by fast flow, and evaporated porewater crossing with the TWR evaporation line; and 2) groundwater in irrigated farmlands with low and high irrigation amounts and strong evaporation shows


Background: Stunting is a major public-health problem in low and middle-income countries, and it increases risk of morbidity and mortality during childhood. In Ethiopia, it is a major public health problem. Objective: To assess prevalence and associated factors for stunting among school children at Debre Markos town and Gozamen woreda, East Gojjam Zone, Amhara regional state, Ethiopia. Methods and materials: Cross-sectional quantitative study design was employed. The study area and study sites were selected by random sampling method and the study subjects were taken by systematic random sampling technique. The study was conducted at eight selected schools. The study was carried out from March 2013 up to June 2013. Statically analysis: Data were entered into Epi-info (version 3.5.1) satirical software then exported in to SPSS version 16.0 statistical programs and anthroplus software was used to determine HAZ score of individual values. Result: The overall prevalence of stunting was 48.1%, out of which, 5% were severely stunted, 14.3% moderately stunted and 28.8% mildly stunted, and the mean was 1.72 with standard division of 0 .887. 3.1% boys and 1.9% girls were severely stunted. As the age increased stunting was significant. Rural school children were highly stunted as compared to urban children. Conclusion: This study showed that stunted rate was alarming magnitude. Total prevalence of stunting in this study was 48.1%; 5% were severely stunted (<-3SD), 14.3% moderately stunted (<-2SD) and 28.8% mildly stunted (<-1SD). As this study showed all age groups of schoolchildren were affected. However, age groups 13-15 years were significantly associated. Living in rural area was independently associated with increasing rate of stunting. Sex difference was no significant.


The Wheat Genetic Resources Department of VIR treats Triticum durum Desf. as a separate species. It contains 2 subspecies: subsp. durum and subsp. horanicum. Subsp. horanicum Vav. shows the highest spike density. Subsp. durum – the durum wheat proper – is characterized by a major variation of spike density, grain size and form. The subspecies also has liguleless forms and those with strongly pubescent leaves. The subsp. durum is represented by 6 groups of botanical varieties (convarieties): durum, durocompactum, aglossicon, villosum, falcatum, and caucasicum. Convar. durum has three subconvarieties: durum, muticum and duroramosum. At the time of the development of the classification 121 botanical varieties were described within T. durum. They were identified by a combination of characteristics such as the presence or absence of pubescent straw under the spike, pubescent or glabrous glumes, the roughness of awns (smooth or rough), glume color (white, red, gray, smoked-grayish or black on white or red background), awn color (same color as that of glumes or black), kernel color (white, red or purple). The principle of selection of botanical varieties is based on the combination of a large number of signs, giving a large number of possible options. It is very likely that most of them are not found in nature, but the probability of finding a new botanical variety or the presence of various forms can be increased as the research of polymorphism in accessions of the durum wheat collection in different ecological and geographical conditions. The objects of research were about 6000 accessions from the VIR durum wheat genetic collection, which had been grown in different ecological and geographical conditions during for 15 years. Identification of the accessions was carried out in accordance with the classification used by the Wheat GR department in its work with the collection. As a result of their own field research in ICARDA (Syria, Tel Hadya) and identification of accessions obtained after reproduction on the VIR experimental station, we have identified 10 new botanical varieties and 12 forms of T. durum to supplement the classification. For each of them the diagnosis is given, the type is defined, a herbarium (autotype) and photos are provided.


Problem-solving behaviours of students have been compreshensively considered in much research. Students' differences in their thinking processes influence their mathematical processsing. In this study, we focused on whether mathematical thinking types affect what representations they use for integrals. The paricipants of the study were 37 undergraduate students who were enrolled for a calculus course and were selected through a purposeful sampling technique in case study design. Data collection techniques were test, observation and interview. Tests were used to identify learners' preferred representations according to their type of thinking. Participants' views on preferences for representations are evaluated by interviews. The data gained in the study were analysed and interpreted through a classification method and descriptive statistics. Results show that, although participants' mathematical thinking types have some effect on their representation preferences, the participants generally preferred algebraic representation. It seems that participants' problem-solving behaviours are more affected by teaching environment than by preferred thinking types. Other findings from the study are discussed based on the literature.


The mandate relationship widely existing in the modern organizations may induce economic crimes,while system of internal control may supervise and bind the acts of agents owing to its own characteristics,thus to restrain the occurrences of economic crimes.According to the target factors and operative standards of the system of internal control,and the analysis from the angle of the information economics,there're causal relations between the system of internal control and economic crimes and it's of vital importance to find solutions by perfecting the system of internal control.


This paper describes how Semantic Grid technologies can be used to generate enhanced tools for data collection that provide enabling technologies for interdisciplinary work, thereby enhancing the capacity to address substantive social science research. A feasibility study is presented in which semantic annotation (i.e. machine-processable annotation using Semantic Web technologies) is used to capture and work with the digital record, in support of subsequent qualitative and quantitative analysis. This case study provides a proof of concept, helping to develop the agenda for future work in this area.


We present a cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of a nanogap electrode fabricated by atomic force microscope (AFM) local oxidation. We successfully visualized a nanogap structure composed of Al | Al-oxide | Al with an Al-oxide width of less than 100 nm. We measured the composition of aluminum and oxygen by in situ energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and showed that Al is fully oxidized by AFM local oxidation. Our findings demonstrate that the depth of the Al-oxide can be precisely controlled to create a nanogap electrode without damaging the underlying substrate layer.


Children who commit aggressive and violent acts are seen more frequently in public school and general education classrooms. Despite the increasing numbers of these students in schools, educators report that they do not have the necessary skills to work with them. In this article we provide teachers with basic information needed to prevent and manage aggressive children and youth. Specifically, we provide information regarding stages of crises, effective strategies for each stage, and prevention strategies designed specifically for public school classrooms. In addition, policies and procedures to address the needs of students who are aggressive and violent are delineated. Language: en


By maintaining the H-factor constant, the addition of a small fraction of AQ during cooking of bagasse reduced the Kappa number of pulp by almost 40% of that of soda pulp. Under specified process conditions, the oxygen pre-bleaching of soda and soda-AQ pulps also reduced the Kappa number by 45 and 49% of the original values for both pulps. However, the loss in yield and strength properties during oxygen pre-bleaching was very marginal for both soda and soda-AQ pulps. Thus, the reduced Kappa number of pulps decreased not only the demand of chemicals during bleaching, but also the formation of chlorinated organics. ECF bleaching of oxygen-delignified pulps gave higher brightness as compared to the DED bleaching of soda and soda-AQ pulps. The effluent properties, COD, color and AOX were significantly reduced by the increased substitution of chlorine with chlorine dioxide in the first and later stages of bleaching. A combination of oxygen pre-bleaching and DED bleaching would reduce the environmental load by 90% of that of CEH bleaching. So a pulp of higher brightness and comparable strength properties could be produced from bagasse by employing an environmentally friendly process of soda-AQ pulping, followed by oxygen pre-bleaching and DED bleaching.


This article looks at the history of Portugal's first Republic in the first decade of the 20th century. Macau was a very conservative society where the orientations of the colonial authorities in Lisbon were not welcome if they appeared to change the local balance of power that favoured the resident group of Portuguese descendants named "Macanese". Although the Chinese ethnic group was the largest group of the population it did not have any political representation, namely in the traditional centre of local powers, the Leal Senado (Loyal Senate). The author goes through the short mandate of Alvaro Melo Machado, first Republican Governor of the Portuguese Asian Territory, and explains why his impetus for reform was blocked by the local lobbies using their party connection in Lisbon to prevent the reforms. Machado looked to restructure the organs of government, extinguishing the Leal Senado and creating a new legislative and executive structure that would professionalize Macau's administration and assure larger representation to every community living in the colony. That reform for a new status for the colony was prepared by Machado and discussed in a Committee representative of the Portuguese groups of Macau society. Blocked in Lisbon, it took several decades before Machado's initiative became reality. The vision of Melo Machado, a transitional governor between the monarchy and the Republic, was quite emblematic of the revolutionary spirit that animated that 1910 decade both in Macau and China. Machado may be acknowledged today as someone much ahead of his time and contemporaries who had a pragmatic way of changing things to improve the livelihood of local communities.


A SMALL NUMBER of the one and one-half million disabled workers who receive monthly cash benefits under the Social Security Act have also been awarded periodic disability benefits or lump-sum payments under a State or Federal workmen's compensation program. To meet the definition of disability in the social security program, the persons involved in this benefit overlap must have a severe disability of extended duration, and in order to have qualified for workmen's compensation their disability must involve a medical condition arising from their employment. The 1966 Social Security Survey of the Noninstitutionalized Disabled Adults found that 3 percent of the disabled-worker beneficiaries aged 18-64 were also receiving workmen's compensation benefits.' Through the overlapping of benefits from these two social insurance programs it would be possible for the combined benefits of some workers to exceed the amount of the wages they earned before becoming disabled. To prevent excessive wage replacement, the 1965 amendments to the Social Security Act provided for reduction of the social security benefits when workmen's compensation periodic benefits are also payable. A history of the offset provision is presented in the next column. The offset is' applied when combined benefits exceed 80 percent of predisability earnings. When the amount of the social security benefits (to the worker and any dependents) exceeds 80 percent of his earnings, that amount becomes the offset limit. In effect, the disabled person never receives


This work presents a new integral formulation to solve the EEG forward problem for potentially inhomogeneous and anisotropic head conductivity profiles. The formulation has been obtained from a surface/volume variational expression derived from Green's third identity and then solved in terms of both surface and volume unknowns. These unknowns are expanded with suitably chosen basis functions which systematically enforce transmission conditions. Finally, by leveraging on a mixed discretization, the equation is tested within the framework of a Petrov-Galerkin's scheme. Numerical results show the high level of accuracy of the proposed method, which compares very favourably with those obtained with existing, finite element, schemes.


Phase transition and mobility of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) chains with three different types of end groups (hydroxyl, carbon-carbon double bond, and camphoric sulfonic groups) have been studied by measurements of the normal H-1 NMR spectrum, spin-spin relaxation time, and 2D NOESY spectrum. It is found that at room temperature not only the end group parts but also the part of the PNIPA chain with hydroxyl end group have higher mobility than corresponding parts of PNIPA with double bond and camphoric sulfonic end groups. The lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) of PNIPAs modified with hydrophilic hydroxyl and hydrophobic double bond end groups are inversely dependent and directly dependent on the molecular weight of polymer respectively, whereas the LCST of PNIPA with the camphoric sulfonic end group bearing both hydrophobic and hydrophilic structures is independent of the molecular weight. The double bond end groups collapse simultaneously with inner segments of the PNIPA chain, whereas the hydroxyl and camphoric sulfonic end groups still exhibit higher mobility and do not shrink tightly after heating-induced collapsing of inner segments. It is suggested that the hydroxyl and camphoric sulfonic end groups locate on the surface of globules, but the double bond end groups are probably buried inside the globules. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 49: 749-755, 2011


Highway construction,as one of the creative activities of mankind,not only should provide transport facilities,safety and comfort for the people,but also should meet their needs of vision.Whether a highway can attract visions of people,it all depends on its layout,design and maintenance in the surrounding environment.Harmonious,consistence and stability are the concepts often used in highway landscape assessment and design.The affect of highway on landscape is inevitable,but the minimizing measure in conformity with aesthetic principles is effective for the landscape recovering.A meticulously designed highway should be in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment and fully use the existing relief feature and scenery,including the local best and typical plants,to make it integrate smoothly into nature as well as a scenic spot with its unique design and super quality.


ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to quantify the error associated with input data, including various resolutions of elevation datasets and Manning's roughness for travel time computation and floodplain mapping. This was accomplished on the test bed, the Grand River (Ohio, USA) using the HEC-RAS model. LiDAR data integrated with survey data provided conservative predictions, whereas coarser elevation datasets provided a positive difference in the travel time (11.03–15.01%) and inundation area (32.56–44.52%). The minimum differences in travel time and inundation area were 0.50–4.33% and 3.55–7.16%, respectively, when the result from LiDAR integrated with survey data was compared with a 10-m DEM integrated with survey data. The results suggest that a 10-m DEM in the channel and LiDAR data in the floodplain combined with survey data would be appropriate for a flood warning system. Additionally, Manning's roughness of the channel section was found to be more sensitive than that of the floodplain. The decrease in inundation area was highest (8.97%) for the lower value of Manning's roughness.


The interaction between a probe body and argon plasma flow is investigated to examine to what extent the probe head temperature and the bow shock distance can be influenced by applying a strong magnetic field. The experiments are performed using a strong permanent magnet installed inside a probe body with a spherical, coated probe head. Former investigations showed strong influence on the bow shock geometry but also on the inflow plasma jet. Several boundary conditions have been varied to evaluate their influence toward the experiment. For an uncoated probe head the measured MHD impact was found to be of the same order of magnitude as for the coated case. Electrical isolation of the probe toward the vacuum chamber yielded only slight influence. The variation of the field strength was realized by changing the amount of magnet segments installed. Pictures were analyzed to minute the MHD interaction for each test case. It was found that the bow shock distance increased and the temperature of the probe head decreased while increasing the magnetic field density. This analysis precedes a thorough characterization of the plasma condition.


What is romance without marriage in view? Jane Austen would say it is nothing at all, and yet for young adults around the world confronted with another Valentine's Day, marriage is disappearing over the horizon.


The main source for this article are 283 Hebrew epitaphs from the old Jewish cemetery in Lublin from the years 1541-1830 (since the oldest known inscription till the closing of the cemetery), collected by the author from preserved tombstones. Moreover, the author also studied those epigraphs that did not survive till our times but could be reconstructed from photographs and copies made by different scholars since mid-nineteenth century. In the introductory part the author briefly discusses eschatological concepts, developed in Judaism over the millennia, and presents relevant terminology used in epitaphs. In the main body of the article he conducts an analysis of eschatological contents from the collected epitaphs distinguishing such categories as: 1) demise; 2) posthumous fate of the body; 3) fate of the soul after the death of the body; 4) intercession; 5) end times; 6) commemorating the dead; 7) consolation; 8) understanding of eternity; 9) expressions for heaven, God and His messengers. While analysing particular concepts within the categories mentioned above, the author focuses on their origin, frequency of usage within the discussed group of epitaphs, and literal or contextual meaning, and illustrates the selected examples with expressions from epitaphs. In the conclusion he states that authors of the epitaphs drew motifs that contain eschatological contents from various sources, including the Hebrew Scriptures, rabbinical literature (especially the Talmud), prayers, and, finally, cabbalistic works. References to the latter dominate in the epitaphs, particularly in the versions popular among common people.


Objective To survey the usage of prophylactic antimicrobial agents in patients with type I incision operation in a hospital.Methods Case history of 903 patients with type I incision operation(operation of mammary gland and thyroid gland) who discharged from hospital from January to December 2005 were investigated and analysed.Results The prophylactic antimicrobial usage rate was 100% in 903 patients.The most frequently used antimicrobial agents was penicillins(455 cases),followed by the third and fourth generation cephalosporins(232 cases),fluoroquinolone(132 cases),the first and second generation cephalosporins(77 cases) and clindamycin(19 cases).The major prophylactic antimicrobial agents were used 2~24 hours before operation and an average of 5.8 days after operation.Conclusion There are problems in prophylactic antimicrobial usage in patients with type I incision operation in this hospital,the indications are not stringent,category of the antimicrobial agents is not chosen properly;the using occasion is not appropriate,antimicrobial agents is excessively used.It is urgent to strengthen the management of standard antimicrobial usage.


In this work a dilute fluorine plasma pumped by the ion‐ion recombination of H+2 and F− has been operated as a pulsed amplifier. Two synchronously excited plasmas were produced by preionized discharges in an atmospheric electrical avalanche device switched by hydrogen thyratrons. Two principal outputs having wavelengths of 745 and 635 nm were obtained from the tube serving as an oscillator. These were dispersed so that they could be individually threaded through the second discharge. Calibrated attenuation of the beam from the oscillator subsequently injected into the amplifier provided data on the overall amplification ratio. From these data effective saturation intensities of 1.2 and 4.5 kW/cm2 were found for the transitions at 745 and 635 nm, originating on the 3p4P05/2 and 3p4S03/2 states of F*, respectively. Corresponding small signal gains were found to be extremely high, reaching 0.44 and 0.31 cm−1, for the two transitions, respectively.


Compiler optimization can be functionally correct but not secure. Register allocation (RA) is an essential optimization performed by a compiler. This paper analyzes the security threat of RA concerning information flow. We define the relative security between two programs with respect to information flow. According to our definition of relative security, we show that RA is secure when there is no splitting and spilling into memory. We also show that register allocation with splitting is also secure based on our attack model. Then, we show that RA can lead to information leaks during spilling as it introduces new leaks through memory. Further, our experimental results on various benchmarks show that RA in LLVM is actually leaky. To address this vulnerability, we propose a secure RA approach in LLVM that mitigates the risk of new leaks during spilling. Our experimental evaluation on various benchmarks shows the effectiveness of our proposed approach.


By surveying 1500 undergraduates,graduates from Northeastern University,Liaoning University and other 6 institutions of higher education in Shenyang,analyzes their self-awareness and self-evaluation for life situation and status after school,knows the undergraduate understanding for importance to learn knowledge,the relativity between attitude to learning knowledge and life status after school.


We examine the secular variations of global geomagnetic field on long temporal scales using the IGRF model given in Gauss coefficients for 1900 - 2020. We apply the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis to the geomagnetic field truncated at degree 6 and downward continue it to the core-mantle boundary (CMB) under the assumption of an insulating mantle. The first three EOF modes show the periods around 120, 75 and 60 years with corresponding spatial structures. These oscillational modes potentially support the manifestation of magnetic, Archimedes and Coriolis (MAC) waves in the stably stratified layer near CMB (Buffett, 2016). We also model and decompose the geomagnetic field to standing and drifting components according to trajectories of the Gauss coefficients similarly to Yukutake (2015). We then use the Complex EOF (CEOF) analysis on the drifting field. The results indicate the presence of the westward drift phenomenon but only weakly given the fact that the westward drift has only completed a fraction of a cycle during this time.


The current status and problems of communication in home network are analyzed, and characteristics and disadvantages of current home network are studied. Then a design of the communication platform in home network is proposed, and the system structure, frame and function of it are described and the performance of a key part in communication platform, a processing unit for communication, is given. Aiming at the universality of applications, diversity of media and contradiction between the reliability of control communication and the high-speed transmission of data, the platform provides a variety of communication services and application interfaces helping to develop a new home network, which is low price, widely used and easy to expand.


The invention between processors that are on the same system communication that is, that for carrying out the IPC (Inter Processor Communication), using the PCI DMA (Peripheral Component Interconnection Direct Memory Access) to add the load of the data received by the processor If the server provides data transfer between processor devices and methods that can be used as an Ethernet interface, a PCI bus.


The activities designed by 91 teams of primary teacher education students as part of their teaching proposals in a course on science teaching are analysed together with the subsequent reformulation...


The invention discloses a synchronous rectification circuit. The circuit comprises a switch module, a LLC resonance module, a transformer, a secondary synchronous rectification module and a reverse current suppression module, wherein the LLC resonance module is used for generating a first resonance pulse voltage signal; the transformer comprises a primary side winding and a secondary side winding; the transformer is used for converting the first resonance pulse voltage signal into a second resonance pulse voltage signal; the secondary synchronous rectification module, the reverse current suppression module and the secondary side winding are mutually connected so as to form a reverse current suppression loop; the secondary synchronous rectification module generates a reverse recovery current signal during a process of carrying out synchronous rectification on the second resonance pulse voltage signal; and the reverse current suppression loop carries out suppression on the reverse recovery current signal so that the secondary side winding of the transformer is prevented from being in a short circuit state. The synchronous rectification circuit can solve a problem existing in a mode that integration control IC controls synchronous rectification and reliability is high. The invention also discloses a LLC resonance converter possessing the synchronous rectification circuit.


Twenty two tests were performed in 16 children in remission: 3 of I.V.tolbutamide (I.V.T.T.),11 of I.V.glucose(I.V.G.T.) and 8 of post-tolbutamide glucose (P.T.G.T.) and in 10 normal children: 3 I.V.T.T.,3 I.V.G.T. and 4 P.T.G.T.. Glucose, insulin, glucagon and growth hormone were measured. The glycemic fall(K,Amatuzio) was normal in average (2.24) with a range of 1.47 and 3.3. The insulinemia in the remission group was 9.6±5.4 uU/ml, not different from the normal group: 11.4±7.3 uU/ml, but, there were no secretion peaks with any of the used stimuli. The basal glucagonemia in the remission group was similar to normal (143±42 pg/ml and 129±51 pg/ml) and no modifications were noted after tolbutamide or glucose administration. The growth hormone responses to glucose were normal in the remission group.The studies performed show that the disappearance fo the clinical symptoms during remission is not due to an increase in the insulin response to stimuli.


Objective
To explore the application effects of plan-do-check-action (PDCA) circle in home care for cerebral stroke patients.

Methods
We divided the stroke patients of Neurology Department into experimental group and control group with 80 cases in each group randomly. Patients in experimental group were cared by PDCA circle home care, while those in control group received conventional outpatient care which included telephone follow-up and outpatient care. Patients in two groups were compared from daily life ability, compliance, pressure ulcers incidence, and rehospitalization rates in 6 and 12 months after discharged.

Results
12 months after discharged, daily life ability score in experimental group was higher than that of control group[(46.60±10.98) vs(42.88±9.80)] (t=2.26, P<0.05). Patient′s compliance in experimental group was better than that of control group(P<0.05). Pressure ulcers incidence in experimental group was obvious lower than that of control group (3.75% vs 16.25%) (χ2=6.94, P<0.05). Rates of readmission in experimental group was lower than that of control group (5.00% vs 16.25%) (χ2=5.33, P<0.05).

Conclusions
PDCA circle home care is considered to be an advanced service model with continuing care which can improve the patient′s quality of life, improve patient′s compliance, reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers and readmission rates, reduce the family financial burden and save medical resources.

Key words:
Cerebral stroke; Plan-do-check-action; Continuing nursing; Home care


The authors briefly discuss general congestion control design approaches in the context of integrated, packetized transport for a public, broadband ISDN (integrated services digital network) environment. A framework is developed for the congestion control design that is applicable to asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and related performance issues and standardization requirements are identified. The proposed congestion control approach is simple, fair, and non-service-optimized, and it allows an explicit tradeoff to be made between transport performance and bandwidth efficiency. Through this framework, the authors envision future integrated multimedia networks where terminals could efficiently shape their traffic flow characteristics to match those required by transport controls.<<ETX>>


In recent years, the improvement of city image has become an important topic of concern, at the same time, the hosting of mega-events has become an indispensable part of building city image. Therefore, the impact of mega-events on city image has attracted widespread attention in the academic community. However, the current analysis of the impact of mega-events on city image improvement from the perspective of visual rhetoric has not received much attention. Thus, against this background, this study focuses on the visual turn of shaping city image in the Internet era, using the opening and closing ceremonies of the Xi'an National Games as an example. The author has coded the Shaanxi elements in the opening and closing ceremonies of the National Games and created a chart using the visual grammar framework. The study shows that Shaanxi elements can be classified into four types: signs, buildings, natural landscape and distinctive cultures. Based on the interactive meaning in visual grammar analysis, the author analyzes the presentation, function, and meaning of Shaanxi elements from two aspects: the "social distance" represented by lens language and the "attitude" represented by viewing angle. These Shaanxi elements ultimately built an image of Shaanxi with strong economic and cultural strength, distinctive characteristics, inheritance, and innovation. The image of Shaanxi spread by the National Games has become a vivid memory of a generation, and the construction of the image has also become a manifestation of the enhancement of Shaanxi's international communication ability.


A new genus and species, Patagosmilus goini, of the family Thylacosmilidae (Mammalia, Metatheria, Sparassodonta) is described here. The new taxon is based on a single specimen collected from the west margin of the Rio Chico, in Rio Negro Province, Argentina, from the middle Miocene Colloncuran SALMA. Until now, two formally recognized species were encompassed in the family Thylacosmilidae: Thylacosmilus atrox, from the late Miocene-late Pliocene Huayquerian to Chapadmalalan SALMAof Argentina and probably Uruguay; and Anachlysictis gracilis, from the middle Miocene Laventan SALMA of Colombia. Recognition of the Patagonian taxon, Patagosmilus, provides new anatomical data, likely to be included in future phylogenetic analyses. The overall morphology of Patagosmilus suggests that it has a more generalized anatomy than Thylacosmilus. The dental morphology suggests the new Patagonian taxon was probably closer to Thylacosmilus than Anachlysictis. Saber-tooth thylacosmilids have several autapomorphic features in the skull that differentiate them from other sparassodonts, including the delayed replacement or non-replacement of the deciduous last premolar.


16526 Background: The over expression of EGFR in HNSCC stimulates tumor cell proliferation, inhibits apoptosis, and increases resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. We examined the toxicity and maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and the downstream signaling and cellular effects in tumor biopsies in locally advanced HNSCC patients (Pts.) treated with GEF+PAC and RT. Methods: Pilot phase I dose escalation study initiated at GEF 250 mg/d + PAC 45 mg/m2 weekly x 6 with concurrent RT to 72 Gy. Eligibility: Stage III-IVB HNSCC, age=18 years, no prior RT or chemotherapy, ECOG =2, adequate organ function and informed consent. Endpoints: MTD determination, analysis of tumor biopsies for treatment effect on phospho-EGFR, Akt, Erk1/2, STAT3, NF-κB p65, Ki67 expression, TUNEL assay, serial measurement of serum IL-6, IL-8, VEGF, HGF and GROa. Results: 10 Pts., median age 60.7 yrs. (range, 41–83), 7 men and 3 women were treated. The MTD was GEF 250 mg/d + PAC 36 mg/m2 weekly x 6 with concurrent RT. Grade 3/4 toxicities i...


DINGU, as a relatively insensitive high explosive (HE), may have interesting applications. We have been working on better methods for preparation and characterization. We have achieved a particle size suitable for formulating this compound into a PBX and have tested DINGU/binder by plate dent. We have compared the sensitivity of DINGU with that of TATB in small-scale tests. 14 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.


The efficiency of plant resources depends on the correct use of plant names. Ukrainian names of plants belonging to the botanical and agrobiological classification are widely used in the scientific agricultural literature, but both of them are not definitively organized. The crop names have long been used in agricultural practice, in particular during the systematization of regionalized plant varieties. During the registration of a variety, the taxon to which it belongs is indicated and the taxon is indicated by this name in the State Register of Plant Varieties suitable for dissemination in Ukraine. The names of plants adopted in the State Register are a mixture of correct and incorrect names, which arose as a result of an unconscious adaptation of the names of agrobiological nomenclature by likening them to the names of botanical taxa. The list of registered varieties belonging to certain taxa, which are grouped by economic use there is in the State Register. Sometimes varieties and taxa are placed in inappropriate groups. Varieties belonging to the same taxon are sometimes denoted by different species names. Obsolete Latin names or their spelling has a deviation from the accepted given for some taxa of woody plants. Some of the botanical taxa are named by crop names. Russified crop names instead of specifically Ukrainian ones occur and the rules of normative transliteration of varietal names are violated. The plant names constructed in the State Register have negative impact on professional literature. They destroy the system of agrobiological nomenclature and contradict the norms of the scientific style of the literary Ukrainian language. The recommendations of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants should be followed and the «Rules of Plant Nomenclature, Taxonomy, and Cultonomy», designed to regulate Ukrainian plant names to correct these shortcomings, should be applied.


Natural mutations in prolificacy genes in some species especially sheep has been shown transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) super family ligands such as growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9), bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) and their type I receptor (bone morphogenetic protein receptor, BMPR1B) crucial for ovulation and as well as for increasing litter size. Mutations in any of these genes increased prolificacy in carrier. The present investigation was carried out for identification of fecundity genes in cattle, with comparison of DNA fragment between dams bearing twin and singleton and to see inheritance pattern of these fragments in their twin progenies. The animals belonged to six breeds viz. pure (Sahiwal and Hariana) and three crossbreeds (Karan Swiss, Karan Fires, Holstein Friesian) besides other cross breeds of unknown lineage selected from field. The study involved analysis of genome related to twinning using molecular markers (PCR) on BMP-15 (FecXR) gene and A competitive technique called tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system-PCR was adapted to type G1 locus mutation GDF-9 fecundity gene. PCR analysis of the FecXR allele of the BMP-15 gene detected the presence of wild-type allele in the dams and their progenies. An allele specific primer used for detection of GDF-9 gene mutation, identified only wild-type and control fragment which revealed the absence of the mutant fragment for this gene locus. The study revealed monomorphic pattern of the two fecundity genes BMP-15 and GDF-9 genes, which has no effect on twinning in cattle.


The measurement of charge mobility is of great importance to optimize the performance of organic semiconductor materials and understand the charge transport behaviors. In this Article, we present a new and in situ method to measure the carrier mobilities in organic semiconductor materials by testing the frequency characteristics of organic optoelectronic coupler (OOC) devices. In this method, a square-wave voltage was applied as the input signal and the mobilities of the related organic semiconductors in the device can be obtained from the falling-edge transient of the output current signal. On the basis of our sample OOC devices of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/C60/(NPB or m-MTDATA)/LiF/Al)/OLED, we successfully achieved the hole mobilities of N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine (NPB) and 4,4′,4″-tris{N,-(3-methylphenyl)-N-phenylamino}triphenylamine (m-MTDATA) to be (1.21 to 2.38) × 10–4 and 4.55 × 10–5 cm2 V–1 s–1, respectively. These results verified the reliability of this new method. Compared with the...


The plant plasma membrane is a very complex structure, mainly composed of lipids and proteins, that determines cell boundaries and controls the entry and exit of molecules. In plants, the plasma membrane is involved in the perception of elicitors, such as surfactin. This molecule is able to induce the plant defense response which makes it a potential alternative to conventional pesticides. The molecular mechanism behind this perception process is little-known. To investigate this process, biomimetic models, including lipid monolayers, supported bilayers and liposomes, and biological models, including protoplasts are required. A protoplast is a cell which is delimited by the biological plasma membrane but that does no longer have its cell wall, it is a reliable model because it has a composition similar to the biological membrane. This master's thesis aimed to develop and optimize the isolation of tomato root protoplasts and to optimize isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) parameters for measuring the thermodynamics of binding events with protoplasts. After these optimization steps, interaction of protoplasts with surfactin was thermodynamically characterized with ITC and their reactivity in terms of defense response in presence of surfactin was analyzed by reactive oxygen species measurement. First, to optimize the isolation of tomato root protoplasts, the effect of four factors, including time and speed of centrifugation, the age of roots, the time of incubation with enzymes and the agitation speed during the incubation with enzymes, on protoplast production yield and percentage of viability was investigated. It was shown that all parameters had an influence on protoplast production yield and the protoplast suspension with the highest yield was obtained from 7-day-old roots that were incubated for 17 hours without agitation and that were purified with a centrifugation at 600 rcf for 6 minutes. It was also shown that flow cytometry on tomato root protoplasts is complicated due to the high number of debris in protoplast suspension. Its use would require an improvement of the purification steps of the protoplast suspension. Secondly, it was determined that the best configuration for the ITC measurements is to put the protoplasts in the measuring cell with a low agitation. In this case there was no decrease of the protoplast concentration and of their percentage of viability during a measurement. In presence of surfactin, a binding event was observed. However, optimization of the concentration of protoplasts is still required in order to obtain an optimal profile of heat flow for the determination of the thermodynamic parameters. Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was also observed in presence of surfactin confirming the good reactivity of protoplasts in terms of defense response. In conclusion, this thesis paves the way to produce and use root protoplasts in biophysical experiments such as ITC to better understand the perception of elicitors in plants.


Background : Non‐ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) accounts for the majority of dyspeptic patients and studies on the epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in NUD depend on a non‐invasive and rapid diagnostic test. This study was performed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a 15‐min simplified protocol of the [13C]‐urea breath test ([13C]‐UBT) for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in patients with NUD.


A quadratic model (p<0.0001) was developed by using a central composite design of 50 experimental runs (42 non-center + 8 center points) to assess the efficiency of background chlorine residuals in combating accidental microbial episodes in a scaled-up distribution network (DN) (rig). A known amount of background chlorine residuals were maintained in the DN and a required number of bacteria, Escherichia coli K-12 strain, was introduced by an injection port in the pipe-loop system. Samples were taken at various time intervals at different pipe lengths. A spread-plate count was performed to count the bacterial number. Microbial concentration and time (p<0.0001), pipe length (p<0.022), background chlorine residuals (p<0.07) and time 2 (p<0.09) were observed as significant factors. The model that was developed was significant. The ramp function of variables shows that, at the microbial count of 10^6, at 0.76 L/min, with a pipe length of 133 meters, a back ground residual chlorine of 0.16mg/L was enough for the complete inactivation of a microbial episode in approximately 18 minutes.


Until recently the 'meso' level, located somehow between the 'micro' and 'macro' layers, has been neglected as a theoretical level in economic theory. There has been a long tradition of institutional economics though, which implicitly operates at this level, focusing on informal institutions that emerge as 'aggregate' structures from direct interdependence and interaction of individual micro-level agents solving social coordination or dilemma problems. But it was not before the rise of more formal evolutionary modeling and simulation in the last three decades that the discussion of emergent structure at 'meso'-levels has gained momentum. In the current paper, we discuss the emergence of cooperation as a social institution on a 'meso'-sized platform. Departing from a commonly known situation of noncooperative game theory, i.e., the repeated prisoners' dilemma, cooperating agents learn to coordinate and cooperate while (and by) forming a 'meso'-sized platform--the institution's carrier group--giving rise to a process of co-evolution of (1) the institution of cooperation solving the dilemma, (2) a network of cooperating groups above minimum size but below maximum size, and (3) a better performance of the cooperating part of the whole population. An agent-based computer-simulation is used to analyze the factors contributing to this process (neighborhood structure, memory, monitoring, partner selection, incentive structure). The effects of these factors are confirmed and partially quantified. Starting with a review of the recent literature on the economics of 'meso' (Section 1), we proceed to analyze the coevolution of institutional cooperation (Section 2) and the 'meso'-sized carrier structures in a supergame of repeated games (Section 3). In Section 4 and 5, we add stochastic analysis, and Section 6 considers an agent-based computer simulation, followed by Section 7 which reviews some empirical example of small and well-structured vs. large and ill-structured countries ('varieties of capitalism'). In the final Section 8, we summarize and conclude.


The crucial role of c-Myc as an oncoprotein and as a key regulator of cell growth makes it essential to understand the molecular basis of c-Myc function. The transactivation domain of c-Myc coordin ...


FCEL-08 The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of channel width/depth (W/D) ratio on cell performance and species transport associated with back pressure for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cell. In line with this purpose, firstly, to analyze the effect of back pressure on fuel cell performance, the back pressure is increased gradually from 1.25 atm to 2 atm. Secondly, channel width/depth ratio is increased from 1 to 2.5 (step by 0.5) to bring out the effect of channel width/depth ratio on cell performance and mass transport at the constant value of backpressure (2 atm). Consequently, the increments back pressure and channel Width/Depth ratio positively affects to fuel cell performance.


SUBTITLE: WITH ITS RIVALS GAINING GROUND IN A TROUBLED MARKET, SOLECTRON HOOKS UP MAJOR SUPPLIERS TO NEW GLOBAL FREIGHT AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.


Summary

Modern medicine has made many advances in the capability to sustain life. The dental profession needs to keep up to date with these changes and be creative in caring for these individuals who are medically compromised and who require special care.11 This sometimes requires the purchase of new equipment; other times it means modifying that which exists. In all instances, the level of care for these individuals requires a team approach and mandates education of all team members. In the case presented, the medical problems necessitated such a team effort to achieve optimal care.


Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigate the performances of three inhibitors in controlling corrosion of local mild steel products in distilled water and a simulated salt solution. Design/methodology/approach – Corrosion inhibition of mild steel was investigated using electrochemical techniques. Untreated and inhibitor treated specimens were fully immersed in two test solutions, distilled water and the simulated solution of 2.0 wt.% NaCl and 1.0 wt.% Na2SO4. Findings – During full immersion in the simulated salt solution, sodium dihydrogen orthophosphate was not effective at all, resulting in even higher corrosion rates than that of the untreated specimens. Sodium benzoate was effective for three days only. Dicyclohexylamine nitrite was the most effective of them all, keeping its effectiveness for as much as 20 days. When the specimens were immersed in distilled water, all three inhibitors were effective during the 60 days of immersion while dicyclohexylamine nitrite and sodium benzoate tre...


Fossil fuels on earth are depleting at an alarming rate and hence we are switching towards renewables sources of energy such as solar, wind, etc. The need for renewable sources of energy is an absolute necessity, especially in the automotive industry. Electric vehicles are a promising venture to provide transportation in the future. Electric vehicles currently are being powered by either a battery or a fuel cell, and later seems to be more efficient. But for a fuel cell vehicle, a major drawback is to provide a viable solution for storing hydrogen fuel, which powers the fuel cell. In this paper, the authors aim to provide a feasible solution for storing hydrogen fuel. The authors have coupled the hydrogen storage system with a fuel cell to observe the power developed when hydrogen is released from the storage. From our experiment, we have obtained hydrogen uptake of 1.1428 wt. % at 50 MPa pressure and 283 K for Ge-doped CNT (7, 8). The same CNT structure when coupled with a fuel cell, provided a constant flow rate of hydrogen and developed 10.057 kW of power from the fuel cell.


The thesis analyzes density of secondary municipal grids in selected neighborhoods of either individual or multi-apartment construction in the four major Slovenian cities. The analysis identifies the influence of individual factors on lengths and densities of secondary municipal grids: surface of cared area, number of objects, number of apartments, and the number inhabitants.
The intensity of the impact of each individual factor was determined by regression analysis on the basis of which we quantified each parameter.


This paper discusses the tenability of John Greco's solution to the problems of the nature and value of knowledge in his book, Achieving knowledge (2010). Divided into two parts, the discussion (1) specifies how both problems have developed until the current period and (2) determines whether Greco, with his virtue reliabilism, supplies an adequate solution to both problems. I take the view that regardless of Greco's adoption of a contextualist semantics, his epistemic theory remains inadequate so long as it is unable to specify the extent to which a person's abilities can be appropriately involved in the attainment of knowledge or any success from ability.


Problem: Fork Head Box Protein 3 (FOXP3) is an X‐linked gene, codes for a master transcription regulatory protein that controls the development and function of immunosuppressive T regulatory (Treg) cells. They are crucial mediators of maternal foetal tolerance and successful pregnancy outcome. The aim of the study is to evaluate the association of FOXP3 rs3761548 functional polymorphism and to assess the serum concentrations of full‐length FOXP3 protein in Unexplained Recurrent Spontaneous Abortions (URSA) patients of Southern India.


Discourse and representation has the power to influence how we understand reality through the creation of cultural norms. Furthermore, the way dominant discourses frame the Ainu reality within Japan can have a profound effect because the majority of ethnic Japanese lack meaningful contact with Ainu people to make their own informed decisions. One controversial issue through which this can be examined is Ainu ancestral remains repatriation. As there is extensive discourse relating to this issue from both the dominant government perspective and the Ainu perspective this study aims to uncover the conflicting discourses present in modern-day Japan and how these affect power relations between the Ainu and ethnic Japanese populations. Additionally an analysis of how the Ainu are using documentary as a form of self-representation is included. This research intends to fill current gaps in academic literature relating to Ainu use of media and representation issues.


Abstract Background: Children from developed and developing countries have different anthropometric characteristics which may affect their motor performance (MP). Aim: To use the allometric approach to model the relationship between body size and MP in youth from two countries differing in socio-economic status—Portugal and Mozambique. Subjects and methods: A total of 2946 subjects, 1280 Mozambicans (688 girls) and 1666 Portuguese (826 girls), aged 10–15 years were sampled. Height and weight were measured and the reciprocal ponderal index (RPI) was computed. MP included handgrip strength, 1-mile run/walk, curl-ups and standing long jump tests. A multiplicative allometric model was adopted to adjust for body size differences across countries. Results: Differences in MP between Mozambican and Portuguese children exist, invariably favouring the latter. The allometric models used to adjust MP for differences in body size identified the optimal body shape to be either the RPI or even more linear, i.e. approximately (height/mass0.25). Having adjusted the MP variables for differences in body size, the differences between Mozambican and Portuguese children were invariably reduced and, in the case of grip strength, reversed. Conclusion: These results reinforce the notion that significant differences exist in MP across countries, even after adjusting for differences in body size.


The "effective" teaching goal of the course "An Introduction to the Basic Principles of Marxism" is determined by the following reasons: the teaching goal doesn't comply with the acceptance goal effectively;the values and healthy emotions are not emphasized enough;the "craming" teaching method makes communication insufficient between teachers and students.In the course reform,priority should be given to the "effectiveness",and to the focus on achieving the goals for life,world,values and methods instead of knowledge.It is essential to teach with thought-provoking "questions" and "dialogues" to realize the values of its teaching goal so as to balance the educational acceptance purpose before promoting the teaching effectiveness.


The uniform droplet spray (UDS) forming process has been developed to enable precise control of droplet thermal states and the resultant material microstructure of the deposit. By having a uniform droplet size throughout the spray, all the droplets deposited onto a substrate will have the same thermal state upon impact, allowing for precise control of the solidification process within both the droplets and the deposit. In this study, a one-dimensional, finite difference model was created to predict the temperature and liquid fraction of the deposit during the UDS process. The model employs an explicit temperature-enthalpy method to incorporate a variety of solidification assumptions. Experiments were conducted using Sn-15wt.%Pb binary alloy to validate the model. Temperatures were measured in the deposit and acceptable agreement with the simulation was obtained. Modeling has shown that the deposit thermal state is highly dependent on variations in spray conditions, which are predicted using droplet trajectory and droplet thermal models. Further modeling of the individual droplet splats immediately after impact revealed that three phases of solidification exist: droplet solidification; droplet splat solidification; and consolidated deposit solidification, each with significantly different cooling rates. By manipulating process parameters, the percentage of solidification within each of these three stages can be shifted, resulting in changes in final microstructure. By using the deposit thermal model, the relationship between process parameters and solidification behavior can be understood to obtain the desired microstructure and material properties. Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jung-Hoon Chun Title: Edgerton Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering


Background: Certain stem-loop-forming sequences self-catalyze site-specific DNA depurination of G residues. Results: The catalytic intermediate is highly sequence-specific. Conclusion: Like other catalytic mechanisms inherent in macromolecules, self-catalyzed DNA-depurination involves critical sequence and structural elements. Significance: Because the resultant apurinic sites are subject to highly error-prone repair, knowledge of the sequence requirements enables location of potential spontaneous mutagenic sites within genes and other genomic elements. The sequence variation tolerated within the stem-loop-forming genomic consensus sequence for self-catalyzed site-specific depurination of G residues is explored. The variation in self-depurination kinetics with sequence changes in the loop residues and stem base pairs, as well as with pH, provides insights into the self-catalytic mechanism. The observations suggest that self-catalyzed depurination of the 5′ G residue of the loop consensus sequence 5′-G(T/A)GG-3′ probably involves formation of some intraloop hydrogen-bonded base pair with the 3′-terminal G residue; although the electronic structure of both these G residues is retained, their 2-amino substituents are not critical for that interaction. The strong dependence of the self-depurination kinetics on stem stability suggests that the lifetime of some strained form of the loop is controlled by the integrity of the stem. In addition to the effects of length and base pair sequence on stem stability, there is a base pair requirement at the base of the loop: self-depurination is suppressed by 5′-C·G-3′, 5′-A·T-3′, or a mismatch but is most favored by 5′T·A3′ and less so by 5′-G·C-3′. The occurrence in T and G of a similarly located carbonyl capable of hydrogen-bonding to the water molecule required for glycosyl bond hydrolysis may explain this sequence requirement. In toto, the more complete definition of the consensus sequence provided by this investigation enables a more accurate estimation of their number in the human genome and their distribution among different genes.


Chromatics is the study of color, or in modern times what is called the color spectrum. Achromatics is the study of black and white as isolated or independent colors and of their own mixture which produces shades of black and white: grey. Historically, chromatics has received the major attention, and has been of concern to both scientific researchers and those in the arts. Achromatics, in contrast, was virtually ignored until the beginning of the 20th century, and most of this theorizing has focused on pictorial art and on what are thought to be the symbolic or universal properties of black, white and grey. Indeed, much of the critical discussion concerning achromatics has focused on a traditional exegesis in regard to the canvases of relative late-comers such as Barnett Newman, Ad Reinhardt, and Franz Kline. Drawing from the thought of the contemporary French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze, this essay attempts to open a new epistemological space that allows alliances between achromatic painting and achromatic literature to form. In particular, I want to explore the way that achromatic art and literature afford the means to depicting what Deleuze calls "the image of pure thought" - i.e., images that attempt to escape reference and symbolization. Similarly, I wish to invoke Deleuze's use of the idea of strata; a stratum is a particular way of seeing and saying that has become a historical formation, a positivity or fact. Deleuze wishes to cut through established strata: make articulable the visible and make visible the inarticulable. My working examples for this exploration will be the achromatic works of the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe and the Irish writer Samuel Beckett. Before turning specifically to their works, however, I will first begin with an overview of chromatic theory in the history of ideas, and discuss the theoretical implications of the concept of "the image of thought" and its interdisciplinary possibilities for a reading of art and literature. The role of color theory in the history of ideas and in art in the West since the Renaissance is so intertwined with ideology that the two - color and epistemology - cannot be disjoined. The dominant thought in philosophy and art in the West has been based on the Platonic notion of universal ideas or the Ideal. All periods, in fact, up to the Modern era have privileged the Ideal in beauty and form as the ultimate in artistic expression and esthetic appreciation. Chromatics, too, has been a handmaiden to the Ideal, and has been mainly concerned with how color serves to express the symbolic or universal. At the same time, however, theories of color emerging from the realm of "science" have had a great impact on the art world, and indeed research in chromatics began with Newton's Opticks (1704) which relied on physics. In 1666 Newton observed refractions of light through a prism; this observation led him to formulate that white light was not simple, but rather a mixture of rays which the prism separated into seven hues: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (he also aligned them to seven planets and the seven diatonic scales). Building on J. H. Lambert's pyramid model, J. C. Le Blon used colorimetry (a technique for measuring and grading the color spectrum) to examine the elementary trichromatic base, and he eventually advanced a theory of primary colors (c. 1730). Ten years after Le Blon published his work in 1756, the English engraver, Morris Harris, produced the first color chart with the primaries in full color. Yet another scientific approach came from the realm of physiology; in 1892 the American physiologist, Christina Ladd-Franklin, expounded her "developmental" theory, arguing that color vision has emerged out of an evolutionary process. In the arts, a major contributor to color theory was the German Romantic painter, Philipp Otto Runge; his Die Farbenkugel (1810) advanced a decidedly systematic chromatic theory through its development of a "color sphere. …


Norfloxacin and levofloxacin, two fluoroquinolones of different bulk, rigidity and hydrophobicity taken as model ligands, were docked to one apo and two holo crystallographic structures of bovine β‐lactoglobulin (BLG) using different computational approaches. BLG is a member of the lipocalin superfamily. Lipocalins show a typical b‐barrel structure encompassing an internal cavity where small hydrophobic molecules are usually bound. Our studies allowed the identification of two putative binding sites in addition to the calyx. The rigid docking approximation resulted in strong repulsive forces when the ligands were docked into the calyx of the apo form. On the contrary, hindrance was not experienced in flexible docking protocols whether on the apo or on the holo BLG forms, due to allowance for side chain rearrangement. Ki between 10−7 and 10−6 M were estimated for norfloxacin at pH 7.4, smaller than 10−5 M for levofloxacin. Spectroscopic and electrophoretic techniques experimentally validated the occurrence of an interaction between norfloxacin and BLG. Changes in chemical shift and dynamic parameters were observed between the 19F NMR spectra of the complex and of the ligand. A Ki (ca 10−7 M) comparable with the docking results was estimated through a NMR relaxation titration. Stabilization against unfolding was demonstrated by denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis on the complex versus apo BLG. NMR experimental evidence points to a very loose interaction for ofloxacin, the racemic mixture containing levofloxacin. Furthermore, we were able to calculate in silico Ki's comparable to the published experimental values for the complexes of palmitic and retinoic acid with BLG. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


An unstable shock-induced combustion (SIC) case around a hemispherical projectile has been numerically studied which experimentally produced a regular oscillation. Comparison of detailed H2/O2 reaction mechanisms is made for the numerical simulation of SIC with higher-order numerical schemes intended for the use of the code for the hypersonic propulsion and supersonic combustion applications. The simulations show that specific reaction mechanisms are grid-sensitive and produce spurious reactions in the high-temperature region, which trigger artificial instability in the oscillating flow field. The simulations also show that specific reaction mechanisms develop such spurious oscillations only at very fine grid resolutions. The instability mechanism is investigated using the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) technique and the spatial structure of the decomposed modes are further analyzed. It is found that the instability triggered by the high-temperature reactions strengthens the reflecting compression wave and pushes the shock wave further and disrupts the regularly oscillating mechanism. The spatial coherent structure from the DMD analysis shows the effect of this instability in different regions in the regularly oscillating flow field.


This study aimed to analyse how the trend towards internationalisation for higher education has been constituted considering the perspectives of solidarity. Internationalisation is understood as integration among worldwide higher education institutions in the current scenario. Thus, the term does not conform to the definitions of globalisation as a phenomenon. The work discusses the process of the UK universities internationalisation and analyses how this process has occurred, where the internationalisation was the result of a formal policy of the institution or if, in reality, internationalisation was the result of actions predominantly determined by individuals. The paper explores internationalisation and Brexit with higher education in the United Kingdom. It focuses on the impacts of globalisation on universities caused by Brexit. It also emphasises the concepts such as internationalisation and mobility, globalisation and higher education and research, collaboration, and EU funding. The research results reduce the literature on the internationalisation of higher education, particularly the dynamics of the internationalisation of universities located in developing countries. The research also reveals and emphasises the internationalisation actions, that is, the importance of teachers, researchers and administrators as catalysts of this process. Therefore, universities should find new strategies for attracting more international students, effective digital media marketing, strongly branded marketing campaigns, and worldwide satellite campuses, resulting in significant changes.


We explore a 'pedagogical' approach to education policy formulation in developing counties. This constitutes a process that shows promise in promoting the 'ownership' necessary for sustainable policies and programs, especially when they rely on external financing. Based on case studies from 26 countries focused on 'what works', we hypothesise that working from policy assets is the most effective basis for sustainable policy formulation. Twelve trends that emerge from the case studies are presented and discussed.


International direct marketing has been around a long time in both the USA and western Europe. Yet both industries have evolved under different sets of circumstances. This 140‐company examination of US‐European international direct marketing strategies shows that US strategies seem to be affected by their relative geographic isolation, and tend towards standardization of foreign marketing mixes. European companies are generally more experienced international direct marketers and tend to be frequent adapters of non‐product elements of the marketing mix.


The history of ideas is a relatively new concept, which has not only the theoretical inherent in it but also in the spirit of modernity is able to reveal its own applied potential. The article shows the role of the history of ideas in the search for answers to the crises of the modern world, which makes it possible to establish some regularities in the functioning of intellectual constructs and their social embodiment. The author examines the basic provisions of the research concepts of the adherents of the history of ideas A. Lovejoy and I. Berlin. Using the conceptual foundations of their theories, the author applies them to a deeper understanding of the specifics of such megatrends as the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts and information wars. It was revealed that the specificity of the global world transforms the content of events that traditionally affect one sphere and now spread to various spheres of the nonlinear and fragile world. In conclusion, the author sums up the research results and notes the methodological possibilities of the history of ideas for further study of the logic of social processes. © 2021 Khachatur Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University. All rights reserved.


Carbon nanotubes(CNT) were synthesized by arc-discharge method. To fabricate CNT sensor, CNT powder was dispersed in -Terpinol( OH) solution. The CNT films were fabricated by screen printing on the interdigitated Pt/Pd alloy electrode. The microstructure of CNT film were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In order to investigate the gas sensing characteristics of the film, the CNT film was experimented to measure NH response and recovery time. And this sensor shows better reproductibility and faster recovery time than another CNT sensors. We suggest the possibility to utilize a CNT as new sensing materials for environmental monitoring.


There is a great need for a cost-effective and accurate method to assess the parameters for estimating above-ground biomass (AGB)/carbon stock, both in complex multi-layered tropical rain-forest and in temperate forests. The tree height and Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) are important forest parameters required as inputs for biomass estimation equation and can be obtained through various methods such as direct field measurement. However, measuring tree height and DBH by field surveying is time-consuming, limited to inaccessible areas and rather expensive. With the advancement of remote sensing technology, various datasets have been used to assess AGB including airborne LiDAR or sometimes called Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) but this data is not always available and expensive to acquire for regular monitoring. The emergent of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) technologies, which operate from air and ground respectively, can provide accurate information of upper and lower canopy layers at a reasonable cost for regular monitoring of carbon stock. However, both are associated with the limitation of foliage coverage in the complex multi-layer tropical forest which can underestimate AGB when used separately. This study aimed at establishing a cost-effective method that ensures reasonable accuracy for regular assessment of tree parameters in tropical rain-forest and temperate forests for AGB/carbon estimation for REDD+ and its MRV system by complementing UAV imagery and TLS data. Furthermore, a comparison between the techniques and modeling approach in both the tropical and temperate forest are discussed. Moreover, a comparison is made of the effect of the structure and the condition of both tropical rain and temperate forests on the results extracted from UAV and TLS.


Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India Abstract: In this paper, we shall be concerned with the existence and uniqueness of solution to threepoint boundary value problems associated with a system of first order matrix difference system. Shortest and Closest Lattice vector methods are used as a tool to obtain the best least square solution of the three-point boundary value problems when the characteristic matrix D is rectangular.


A parallel sequence stream analysis algorithm named FTPSA (proactive fault-tolerant parallel sequence stream analysis algorithm) is proposed in order to deal with sequence stream's adaptive analysis in noisy environment, which is based on proactive fault-tolerant knowledge learning. The algorithm utilizes learning network to describe sequence stream and stores those in 0-1 matrix, delaminates the low-proportion and the high-proportion noisy data and utilizes fault-tolerant and structure-optimize learning methods, utilizes global filtration to depress memory cost and communication cost. The experimental results on real stream show that FTPSA algorithm is more fault-tolerant, scaleable, accurate, and less memory.


Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho Marx's Capital, 5th edition, Pluto Press: London, 2010, 208 pp: 9780745330167 11.50 [pounds sterling] (pbk) The works of Karl Marx have been presented and popularised in different ways since the end of the 19th century. This book, Marx's Capital, in its fifth edition from Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho, is part of that effort, which has entered the new millennium with the goal of bringing Marx's economic thought closer to the general public. The special task of this new edition is to integrate topics that have gained worldwide attention since the 1970s, when the original text came out. Its aim is still to make a succinct but profound presentation of Marx's political economy in order to comprehend concrete issues that are rooted in the functioning of the capitalist system. It is a great endeavour for so few pages. Still, the book achieves its goal if one considers that the reader willing to make a more detailed analysis must proceed to further studies. The book deals with ali topics of the critique of political economy in fifteen chapters introduced by a preface. Besides contextualising this fifth edition, this presentation is very encouraging because it makes clear that the reader is not alone in his difficulties in the beginning of the studies of Capital. By pointing out various introductory references to the works of Karl Marx, Fine and Saad-Filho manage to create a positive atmosphere for debating different interpretations. One of the book's strongest points is, by the way, the indication of further references related to the topics presented in every section. All reading suggestions are put in the context of their controversies, and the book may also function as a compact organiser of the debates within Marxist economics. The structure of presentation follows the three volumes of Das Kapital. So the fundamental concepts are developed from the notion of the commodity, the labour theory of value and fetishism, up to the more complex and concrete levels about the interest rate and agricultural rent. In this fifth edition, Chapters 11, 12 and 14 have been revised, the list of recommended readings has been completely updated, and a whole new Chapter 15 has been written. The main concern in Chapters 11 and 12 is the distinction between the production and circulation spheres. This has theoretical implications for the notion of interest-bearing capital, because in practice, it is hard to establish with precision the transformation of capital from one form into another (industrial into merchant's capital and vice versa), as well as the transformation of money into capital. This difficulty is not well explored by Marxist economists, so we have an interesting attempt here to encourage research in this promising field. In Chapter 14, Fine and Saad-Filho react to some critiques against Marx's framework that are common in academia. Usually, the defense of Marxism can easily lead to dogmatism, but here it is remarkable how the arguments are well balanced. The authors manage to seriously tackle the attacks against Marxism and, at the same time, to explain how they do not invalidate Marx's method of analysis. For example, the idea that classes in contemporary capitalism are much more complex than the simple division of society in capitalists and wage workers is adequately rejected by the emphasis that this simplification is limited to a high level of abstraction. Other conflicting topics, such as the state, globalisation, the environment and socialism, are also analysed. …


The dielectric spectra of LaF3 crystals activated by rare-earth ions Eu2+, Sm2+, and Yb2+, gradually cooled from 300 to 240 K, were investigated. Obtained experimental data were compared with experimental data obtained previously by other authors. The reorientation activation energies for RE2+ dipoles in LaF3 are 0.49, 0.55, 0.56, and 0.58 eV for Ba2+, Sm2+, Eu2+, and Yb2+, respectively. A reorientation of fluorine vacancy is observed, across the F1 positions.


INTRODUCTION The translabyrinthine approach for the removal of acoustic neuromas provides the widest and most direct access to the cerebellopontine angle. This is achieved by virtue of the removal of bone over the cranial fossae and sigmoid sinus. The jugular bulb is one of the more challenging areas to skeletonize. The wall of the bulb is thinner and less forgiving than that of the sigmoid sinus. Management of the high jugular bulb is an essential skill for the neurotologic surgeon performing the translabyrinthine approach. Saleh et al. noted that the jugular bulb compromises exposure of the internal auditory canal (IAC) in the translabyrinthine approach in 24% of cases. Failure to control the bulb not only compromises access to the IAC, but also may lead to the life-threatening complications of air embolism and primary hemorrhage. In the retrosigmoid approach, a high jugular bulb represents a limitation to the lateral exposure of the tumor. However, this does not represent a contraindication in the translabyrinthine approach. A safe technique to inferiorly displace a high jugular bulb in the translabyrinthine approach is detailed and illustrated. TECHNIQUE


For over 30 years, there have been reports in the published literature that point to the relatively greater burden of morbidity and mortality of diabetes in indigenous Australian populations. Local and international data that show the epidemic of diabetes in indigenous communities are generally interpreted in the context of rapid lifestyle transition following colonization, despite some interest in the role of birthweight and prenatal factors. The most immediate, drastic and discernible changes have been observed in contexts where 'hunter-gatherer' modes of living have been relatively recently replaced by sedentary lifestyles in centralized settlements. This focus on the effect of diabetes on the health of indigenous people who live in thoseareas ofAustralia that areusually classified as remote is not without justification, given the effect of this disease on the physical and social well-being of such communities. However, there has been a lack of attention paid to those relatively more urbanized indigenous Australians who have a longer history of colonization and live in less discrete and easily discernable communities. This bias may reflect an assumption that the health disadvantage of indigenous peoples in urban areas is lessened by better access to primary, secondary and tertiary health services. It also possibly reflects some of the challenges of undertaking research in these contexts. We note with interest the report in this issue of Internal Medicine Journal regarding health outcomes for Aboriginal people with diabetes participating in the Fremantle Diabetes Study. Despite similar pharmaceutical prescription regimens to non-indigenous patients, apparently good control of blood pressure and cholesterol and a low risk of peripheral vascular disease (a common complication of diabetes), mortality was substantially higher than for non-indigenous people with diabetes. Assuming that cardiovascular disease accounts at least in part for differential mortality, then poorer glycaemic control, high smoking rates andpossibly kidney impairmentwere likely contributors to this excess risk. However, Aboriginal people had a higher rate of mortality even after accounting for these and other clinical risk factors. Clinically, the implications include the possibility that management of vascular risk requires more subtle measures of blood vessel health than are provided by bloodpressure and cholesterol. For example, blood vessel stiffening and hypertrophy may precede overt hypertension and necessitate earlier intervention. The predominant dyslipidaemia for many Aboriginal populations is very low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high triglycerides, with increased levels of total cholesterol being less commonthanamongnon-indigenousAustralians, for example, although this phenomenonwas less apparent Referees