Unpaved roads are subject to rapid deterioration and large deformations under mechanical and environmental stresses that can render them impassable. Prior work has shown that plastic soils can be mixed with a polymeric chemical admixture to create a hydrophobic material and potentially minimize these issues. The purpose of this work is to assess the durability of a low plasticity clay soil treated with a chemical admixture by evaluating changes in physical and mechanical behavior when subjected to alternating cycles of wetting and drying. Volumetric change, water content change, and mass loss were measured at the completion of each one of up to twelve wetting and drying cycles. Unconfined compression tests were performed after select cycles to assess changes in mechanical properties. Tests were also performed on specimens stabilized with Type I/II portland cement for comparison. It was found that the specimens with chemical admixture treatment survived a full twelve cycles of wetting and drying. The volume changes of the specimens were small (±2 %) and there was no apparent reduction in strength. The chemically stabilized soil retained its physical and mechanical properties in a manner comparable to cement stabilization of the same soil. These results suggest that the CAT produces a sufficiently stable material when subjected to alternating wetting and drying conditions and has potential applications in improving long-term performance of unpaved roads.


Introduction: Molecular studies have revealed that some patients with myopathies with rimmed vacuoles have pathogenic mutations in the UDP‐N‐acetylglucosamine‐2‐epimerase/N‐acetylmannosamine kinase (GNE) and Z‐band alternatively spliced PDZ motif‐containing protein (ZASP) genes. Methods: We investigated a patient with distal myopathy with rimmed vacuoles by muscle biopsy and sequenced 6 candidate genes. Results: The patient carried GNE compound heterozygous missense mutations (p.V421A and p.N635K) and a ZASP variant (p.D673N). This patient also presented with distal weakness sparing the quadriceps muscles and had atypical results for Z‐band‐associated protein immunostaining. This finding indicates that the GNE mutations are pathogenic, and the diagnosis is compatible with GNE myopathy. Conclusions: By combining pathological studies and candidate gene screening, we identified a patient with GNE myopathy due to novel GNE compound heterozygous mutations. Muscle Nerve 48: 594–598, 2013


Purpose – To analyze the cases and sanctions FINRA reported in 2014 and prior years to evaluate what issues may be important for broker-dealers and their representatives in the future. Design/methodology/approach – This article discusses the overall statistics for cases reported by FINRA in 2014 and then focuses on the top enforcement issues for FINRA and some of the key cases. All of this analysis includes a comparison to enforcement statistics from prior years to help identify potential trends. Findings – This article concludes that 2014 was a blockbuster year for FINRA as the fines imposed by the regulator increased by 125 per cent. This article also finds that while FINRA is still focusing on many of the same issues as before, including advertising and trade reporting, other issues, such as anti-money laundering, received a significant spike in attention in 2014. Originality/value – This article contains valuable information about recent FINRA enforcement activity and practical guidance from experienc...


The invention relates to an aerosol fire-extinguishing agent and a preparation method thereof, relating to the technical field of chemical materials. The aerosol fire-extinguishing agent disclosed by the invention can be prepared by mixing strontium nitrate, mica, ammonium sulphate, calcium carbonate, white carbon black, sodium chloride, hexamethylenetetramine, silicone oil with solvent oil according to a reasonable mixture ratio, and then, drying and crushing. The aerosol fire-extinguishing agent and the preparation method thereof have the beneficial effects that the preparation method is convenient and easy, environmentally friendly, free from pollution, easily available in raw materials, low in equipment investment and convenient to operate; and the prepared aerosol fire-extinguishing agent is good in use effect, high in fire-extinguishing capability, free from pollution, residue, toxicity and side effect, and safe and reliable to use.


We studied the trustworthiness of Chinese companies by processing court files. Results of SVM and Naı̈ve Bayes are compared. We start with the related work that has been done in the literature. After that, we describe the data collection process for this project in detail. Next we explain the methods we used to classify the instance and their results. Finally we discuss the effect of feature selection.


This paper studies one emerging procurement auction scenario where the market is constructed over the social networks. In a social network composed of many agents, smartphones or computers, one requester releases her requirement for goods or tasks to suppliers, then suppliers who have entered the market are also encouraged to invite some other suppliers to join and all the suppliers in the network could compete for the business. The key problem for this networked auction is about how to incentivize each node who have entered the sell not only to truthfully use her full ability, but also to forward the task to her neighbours. Auctions conducting over social networks have attracted considerable interests in recent years. However, most of the existing works focus on classic forward auctions. Moreover, there is no existing valid networked auction considering multiple goods/tasks. This work is the first to explore procurement auction for both homogeneous and heterogeneous goods or tasks in social networks. From both theoretical proof and experimental simulation, we proved that the proposed mechanisms are proved to be individual-rational and incentive-compatible, also both the cost of the system and the requester could get decreased.


A /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator for portable applications is presented operating within a large window of supply voltages. A third order fully differential non-cascaded modulator structure is designed in switched-opamp (SO) technique with common mode level shift. The circuit is realized in 0.18 /spl mu/m n-well CMOS technology and occupies an area of 0.17 mm/sup 2/. Measurements are performed for supply voltages between 0.61 V and 1.5 V. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) of 72 dB and 64.5 dB and signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratios (SNDR) of 70 dB and 64 dB are obtained at 16 kHz signal bandwidth at supply voltages of 0.9 V and 0.75 V, respectively.


Popularization of improved wheat varieties was proposed based on the objectives of enhancing the adoption behavior and participation of farmers to the newly introduced bread wheat varieties with their full package implementation. Two improved bread wheat varieties, Mekelle-3 and Mekelle-4, were popularized in three districts of the Southern Zone of Tigray Region particularly in E/Alaje, E/Mekhoni and Ofla districts. Mekelle-4 has about ETB 1302 net benefit (MRR=4.83) over the standard check in Ayba kebele, E/Alaje district while this variety had about ETB 1761 net benefit (MRR=5.64) over the standard check in Ofla district, Hashenge kebele. On the other hand, mekelle-3 had about ETB1789 net benefit (MRR=2.71) over the standard check in E/Mekhoni district of Mekhan kebelle which indicates that the variety had better profitability than the standard check. Farmers' perception on the newly introduced varieties also revealed that these varieties were better and preferred by the farmers as shown from their varietal evaluation result. Therefore, the improved bread wheat varieties are economically viable and profitable than the previously introduced varieties (standard checks) in all the three districts. Keywords: popularization, mekelle-3, Mekelle-4, standard check and net benefit


AIM The aim of this study was to examine the effect of using serial simulations with progression through the nursing curriculum. BACKGROUND Simulation provides a way to learn without fear of failure and increase critical thinking and clinical decision‐making skills. Learning in an interdisciplinary simulation provides a greater understanding of teamwork and communication skills. METHOD The NLN/Jeffries Simulation Framework was used in an interactive disaster drill with role‐playing patient actors and manikins. In a debriefing session, nursing and radiology students co‐presented scenarios. RESULTS Students displayed critical thinking and clinical decision‐making skills. They reported an increase in selfconfidence in caring for patients during a disaster, an increase in empathy, and learning by observing others. CONCLUSION This pilot study revealed that an interdisciplinary disaster drill simulation experience was a positive learning experience for both nursing and radiology students.


Previous studies on the prognostic significance of the morning blood pressure surge (MS) produced inconsistent results. Using the International Database on Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Relation to Cardiovascular Outcome, we analyzed 5645 subjects (mean age: 53.0 years; 54.0 % women) randomly recruited in 8 countries. The sleep-through and the preawakening MS were the differences in the morning blood pressure with the lowest nighttime blood pressure and the preawakening blood pressure, re-spectively. We computed multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios comparing the risk in ethnic- and sex-specific de-ciles of the MS relative to the average risk in the whole study population. During follow-up (median: 11.4 years), 785 deaths and 611 fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events occurred. While accounting for covariables and the night:day ratio of systolic pressure, the hazard ratio of all-cause mortality was 1.32 (95 %-CI: 1.09–1.59; P = 0.004) in the top decile of the systolic sleep-through MS ( ≥ 37.0 mmHg). For cardiovascular and noncardiovascular death, these hazard ratios were 1.18 (95 %-CI: 0.87–1.61; P = 0.30) and 1.42 (95 %-CI: 1.11–1.80; P = 0.005). For all cardiovascular, cardiac, coronary, and cerebrovascular events, the hazard ratios in the top decile of the systolic sleep-through MS were 1.30 (95 %-CI: 1.06–1.60; P = 0.01), 1.52 (95 %-CI: 1.15–2.00; Abstract Background: Whether a direct blood pressure-independent reduction in aortic stiffness can occur after several years of antihypertensive treatment has never been unequivocally demonstrated.Method: In this observational study, performed under conditions of routine clinical practice, we included 97 patients (age 63 ± 11 years) with treated essential hypertension who attended the outpatient hypertension clinic of a uni-versity hospital, had a significant blood pressure (BP) low-ering under treatment before the first measurement of aortic stiffness, and had at least one additional measurement of aortic stiffness during follow-up. Aortic stiffness and carotid pulse pressure (PP) were determined through ca-rotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and applanation tonometry, respectively. Results: A linear mixed model showed that the reduction in PWV (from 14.2 ± 4.2 to 11.0 ± 2.4 m/s; P < 0.0001) Abstract To evaluate the long-term prognostic significance of differ-ent ranges of the percentage fall in nighttime blood pressure (BP) of the nondipping pattern, 1200 hypertensive patients (645 women, age 51 ± 12 years) underwent ambulatory BP monitoring under stabilized therapy. The occurrence of cardiovascular (CV) events was followed for 9833 patient-years and analyzed by the Cox hazard model. There were 152 CV fatal/nonfatal events (79 strokes, 51 coronary events, 22 others) during the 15.2 years of follow-up. Ac-cording to nighttime BP fall (%) the authors noted: < 0 % (reverse-dippers [RD], n = 83); 0%–4.9% (nondip-pers 1 [ND1], n = 207); 5%–9.9% (nondippers 2 [ND2], n = 311), 10%–19.9% (dippers [D], n = 523); and e" 20 % (ex-treme dippers [ED], n = 76). After adjustment for con-founding variables, hazard ratios (95 %-confidence inter-val) of CV event and stroke in RD vs D were 2.29 (1.31–3.99) and 2.46 (1.11–5.49); of ND1 vs D were 1.42 (1.12–1.79) and 1.62 (1.17–2.23); and of ND1 vs ND2 were 2.24 (1.33– 3.75) and 2.30 (1.15–4.58). No differences were found in RD vs ND1 and ND2 vs D.


Despite the astounding technological advancements of modern society, failure to receive a timely organ transplant accounts for the death of approximately 18 U.S. citizens each day. As the population continues to expand, so does the shortage of donor-recipient matching organs. In order to alleviate this deficit, medical researchers have addressed the most common barrier that accounts for donor-recipient denial: blood typing. Within recent years, immunological understanding has progressed leading researchers to believe ABO-incompatible organs may be a viable source for transplantation with unparalleled potential to expand donor availability. It is the intent of this review to increase public awareness of organ transplant issues, leading to, perhaps a global reorganization and revision of the organ transplantation system. ABO-I ORGANS A VIABLE SOURCE FOR TRANSPLANTS 4 ABO-incompatible Organs a Viable and Necessary Source for Transplants Ever since the first successful human organ transplant in 1950, worlds of mortal men have dared to hope that even death might be staved off in the face of physical degeneration. In the United States alone, there are currently 120,756 candidates awaiting a life-saving organ transplant. Of this population, a mere 24% will receive a transplant within a year of becoming waitlisted ("Organ Procurement," 2013). Due to the complexity of the process, requirements such as size, proximity, human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), serologies, and blood typing quickly and effectively limit donations to a given recipient. Of these requirements, blood typing has often been regarded as the primary restriction factor as up to 30% of transplants are prevented based solely on ABO incompatibility (ABOi) (Genberg, Kumlien, Wennberg, & Tydén, 2010). In fact, to be considered a legal Organ Procurement Organization in the United States the institution must adhere to strict member policies. Such policies include providing proof of ABO blood typing on two separate occasions prior to adding the candidate to the waitlist ("Organ Procurement," 2013). Despite its required position in the organ donation process, researchers have recognized the removal of this barrier would greatly expand donation availability and to decrease waiting list mortality (Irving, Gennery, & Kirk, 2012). Because of this, a great effort has been dedicated to the development of effective ABOi protocols pertaining to kidney (Takahashi & Saito, 2013), liver (Mendes et al., 2013; Song et al., 2013), and cardiac transplants (Urschel et al., 2013) . Due to significant increases in immunological and pharmacological understanding, ABOi organ transplants may no longer be considered ineffective and instead embraced as practical, efficient, and beneficial to the transplant community. ABO-I ORGANS A VIABLE SOURCE FOR TRANSPLANTS 5 Historical Overview Similar to ABO-compatible (ABOc) organ transplants, ABOi transplant research has been focused on preand post-operative immunosuppression in order to remove, and maintain low levels of potentially reactive antibodies. Ever since the 1901 discovery of ABO blood groups by Karl Landsteiner, it has been assumed that all ABOi transplants would result in immediate hyperacute rejection (defined as rejection within 24 hours) followed by the death of the foreign graft. Studies have shown that the highest risk experienced by recipients occurs in the immediately following organ transplant validating such assumptions and attention to precautionary treatments (Montgomery et al., 2012). It was not until June of 1982 that Guy P.J. Alexandre dared to break from commonly accepted medical practices to propose and conduct the first ABOi kidney transplant (Alexandre et al., 1985). Modern transplant protocols practiced under dire circumstances include significant emphasis on preemptive treatment, consisting of lengthy plasmapheresis, and invasive splenectomies (Lipshutz et al., 2011). Previously utilized treatments involving splenectomies and repeated plasmapheresis are considered high risk as many complications have been observed leading to graft rejection and ultimately death. Newly proposed protocols strive to reduce graft rejection, patient mortality, and immunosuppressive related complications while enhancing the overall functionality, longevity, and assimilation of the ABOi transplanted organ. Immunology may be considered a relatively recent field of study with key elements such as clonal selection being hypothesized just 50 years ago in 1957. This slow progression of development and understanding has allowed for the generation of erroneous ideas pertaining to tissue compatibility. In order to understand the true ABO-I ORGANS A VIABLE SOURCE FOR TRANSPLANTS 6 controversy of ABOi organ transplants, it is first necessary to explore the immunologic concerns scholars now have based on outdated theories and procedures. Immunologists now believe that all cells have surface markers in the form of intermembrane or peripheral carbohydrates and proteins that causes distinctions between cell types. This form of local cell to cell communication requires that direct contact be made between cells in order for recognition to be made. This contact is made between the antigen or ligand of one cell and the antibody or receptor of another cell. When a given antigen is a conformational match to a specific antibody, the two surface proteins will bond together through a variety of non-covalent bonds such as hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals forces. Receptor-ligand binding causes an internal conformational change within the receptor cell resulting in signal transduction and a cellular response. Specific to this incompatibility concept are the blood typing antigens A and B that are known to be found on human erythrocytes. While type O individuals present no blood type surface antigens with which to react, type A and B individuals respectively present A and B antigens. Individuals that produce cells that express type A antigens also produce anti-B antibodies while those that produce type B antigen expressing cells conversely produce anti-A antibodies. Similarly, individuals that produce blood type O cells that express neither type A nor type B antigens also produce both anti-A and anti-B antibodies. Mixing type A antigens and anti-A antibodies will elicit an immunologic response causing the destruction of identified foreign red blood cells. Understandably, this has prevented the advancement of trials as graft assimilation is the primary intention of organ transplants. ABO-I ORGANS A VIABLE SOURCE FOR TRANSPLANTS 7 But perhaps it is this mainstream awareness from which a prominent misunderstanding stems: ABO blood group antigens are not the sole causes of incompatibility. While it is undisputed that any transplanted organ cannot be completely cleansed of donor blood due to the intricate and delicate nature of blood vessel integration, this contamination causes very little post-surgery inflammation and complication. Instead, the proposed primary cause for hyperacute and acute antibodymediated rejection is an interaction between donor organ ABO histo-group antigens and plasma circulating recipient blood type antibodies. Instead of leukocyte mediated inflammation and cellular degradation occurring primarily in the circulatory system due to blood contamination (which at low contaminant levels is unlikely to cause a dangerous systemic reaction), ABO histo-group antigens located on donor endothelial are likely to react and cause severe degradation of the donated organ. If necrosis is not stopped through a combination of immunosuppressive drugs, the organ will be rejected and cease to support the body in normal healthy function. Ultimately, this knowledge leads researchers to only two possible solutions to achieve ABOi transplant success. Solution one involves the targeting of the recipient's antibody producing cells such that a reduced (complete or partial) number of reactive antibodies are produced to react with the foreign tissue. A second and much less explored solution involves altering the expression of ABO histo-group antigens presented on donor organ cells. Modern and Yet Outdated Protocols: A Call for Change In the mid-1980s a group of Belgian medical researchers began to investigate conditioned ABOi renal transplants using a complex and multi-redundant system ABO-I ORGANS A VIABLE SOURCE FOR TRANSPLANTS 8 (Alexandre et al., 1985; Alexandre et al., 1987). This protocol included the removal of the spleen, continual plasmapheresis, A/B trisaccharide intravenous administration, platelet transfusion, antilymphocyte globulin treatment and triple immunosuppression maintenance comprising of corticosteroids, azathioprine, and cyclosporine. This initial protocol yielded a 75% graft survival within the first year as compared to a 4% graft survival in non-conditioned ABOi transplants (Cook, Graver, & Terasaki, 1987). As technology advanced, the system began to simplify with Japanese doctors leading the world in high levels of grafting success (Tanabe et al., 1996). While protocols vary depending on the medical center, the common foundation of each system involves the removal of recipient antibodies (specifically anti-A and/or anti-B antibodies) and limiting the rebound in antibody circulation following the transplant. Modern protocols can be separated into two components: desensitization and immune modulation. Desensitization involves the removal of native antibodies and the reduction of circulating complement proteins that are heavily involved in foreign tissue degradation causing cell lysis. While anti-A/B antibody removal is important in ABOi grafts as a reaction is certain, complement involvement is currently an area of investigation. Previously associated with hyperacute rejection, studies have shown that complement recognition of foreign tissue is heightened in deceased donor grafts as the tissue has undergone stresses involved in death (Wasowska, Lee


This study, from the point of branding, is mainly discussing the relationship between both audience's behavior and me media proprietor on strategic operation. Based on Brand Royalty and Brand Image, something can be respectively discussed from the proprietor and the audience. As far as the audience is concerned, the Brand Loyalty on type channel plays a dominant role. It can be an independent variable whereas Brand Image can be anther dependent variable. Through specific channel one may be observed the relationship between the audience's on loyalty and concept of Brand Image. The MTV channel is taken as a case study using intensive interviews, in-depth interview and questionnaire to be its research method. According to the study, when it comes to specific channel, Brand identity attribute to the proprietor follows the branding strategy from the lead-office only on the "Symbol" item, other strategies such as programming, marketing also brand personality etc. are operated with highly autonomy. From the questionnaire of dimensions related analysis on Brand Loyalty and Brand Image are represented as highly related. Channel program, channel symbol, company image , brand personality of channel and audience's self –image comes in second.


UNIT 10B.1 presents information on laboratory cultivation of Mycobacterium marinum, a pathogen in its own right that has also become an extremely useful model organism for studies of M. tuberculosis. Upcoming releases will include protocols for several animal models using M. marinum, as well as protocols for the study of M. tuberculosis and other mycobacteria. The entire breadth and depth of the phylum Actinobacteria will also be included in coming supplements.


Summary We developed an elastic full waveform inversion method for determining microseismic event location and source focal mechanism simultaneously. With given P- and Svelocity models, the method inverts three component data and iteratively updates event location and source moment tensor solutions. Unlike inverting seismic data from controlled sources, we must infer origin time of microseismic events during inversion in order to match waveform properly. This is solved by calculating cross correlation of the input and synthetic waveform envelopes and extracting time shifts during each inversion iteration. Because the values of location and moment tensor parameters are not in the same order, we apply a scaling factor to adjust the updates so that they both can be resolved. Numerical experiments and real data applications suggest that fitting full waveform data leads to reliable solutions.


The aim of this paper is to present the particulars of new research in the special measurement method modeling of starting process par tial discharge inside of high voltage transformer. The numerical analysis of this effects can help to set up conditions to decrease it and get of information for preparing detection apparatu ses and measurement methods.


Abstract This research focuses on the variable "psychological security" as a mediating influence for religion, and its influence on political tolerance. While the composite variable of "psychological security" (typically measured by dogmatism, self-esteem, and trust) has been part of many studies of political tolerance, insufficient attention has been paid to the influence of these separate indicators. This is problematic because certain religious beliefs, practices, and/or affiliations may contribute differentially to the particular components of psychological security that are linked with greater political intolerance. So, we do not know "if" and "how" religion may influence these separate psychological security components or the mediating influence of these components in the religionpsychological security-political tolerance connection. The objective of this project is to "unpack" the unique influence of the psychological security components in our understanding of political tolerance and to assess the mediating influence of these same components on the relationship between religion and tolerance.


Mechanisms underlying biological effects of statin and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapies differ. Thus, we studied vascular responses to combination therapy in hypercholesterolemic patients. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial was conducted with 50 hypercholesterolemic patients with simvastatin and either placebo or ramipril (study I) and in 45 hypercholesterolemic diabetic patients with simvastatin or ramipril with placebo or simvastatin combined with ramipril (study II) for 2 months with 2 months washout. In study I simvastatin combined with ramipril significantly reduced blood pressure after 2 months. Simvastatin alone or combined with ramipril significantly changed lipoproteins, improved percent flow-mediated dilator response to hyperemia by 30±5% and 53±6%, respectively (P <0.001), and reduced plasma levels of malondialdehyde by 4±7% (P =0.026) and 25±4% (P <0.001), respectively. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 levels decreased by 3±3% and 12±2%, respectively (P =0.049 and P <0.001, respectively), C-reactive protein levels changed by 0% and 18%, respectively (P =0.036 and P <0.001, respectively), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 antigen levels changed by −7±7% and 17±5%, respectively (P =0.828 and P <0.001, respectively). In study II ramipril alone did not significantly change lipoproteins and C-reactive protein levels, however, simvastatin combined with ramipril significantly changed lipoproteins and C-reactive protein levels more than ramipril alone (P <0.001 and P =0.048 by ANOVA, respectively). Ramipril alone or simvastatin combined with ramipril significantly improved the percent flow-mediated dilator response to hyperemia (both P <0.001), however, simvastatin combined with ramipril showed significantly more improvement than ramipril alone (P <0.001 by ANOVA). Simvastatin combined with ramipril significantly improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation and fibrinolysis potential and reduced plasma levels of oxidant stress and inflammation markers in hypercholesterolemic patients.


Liquid chromatography (LC) and laser-enhanced ionization spectrometry (LEI) have been combined to provide a very sensitive method for the measurement of organolead species. Measurement is possible in environmental and biological matrices, which often contain high levels of easily ionized elements that normally interfere with LEI measurements. However, LC is able to resolve the interferents from the analytes, and LEI is sensitive enough to counterbalance the increase in detection limits that results from the use of LC. The method has been applied to the determination of organolead compounds in National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material 1566a, Oyster Tissue. Trace levels of trimethyllead were observed in the Oyster Tissue, but concentrations were variable among the samples tested.


Review(s) of: Library and Information Science Research in the 21st Century: A Guide for Practising Librarians and Students, by Ibironke O. Lawal, Oxford Chandos 2009, 192pp ISBN 9781843343721, pbk 47.00.


In order to manage the version files and maintain the latest version of the computer-aided design (CAD) files in asynchronous collaborative systems, one method of version merging for CAD files is proposed to resolve the problem based on feature extraction. First of all, the feature information is extracted based on the feature attribute of CAD files and stored in a XML feature file. Then, analyse the feature file, and the feature difference set is obtained by the given algorithm. Finally, the merging result of the difference set and the master files with application programming interface (API) interface functions is achieved, and then the version merging of CAD files is also realized. The application in Catia validated that the proposed method is feasible and valuable in engineering.


Objective To evaluate the clinical effects of 64-slice spiral CTCA(Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography) in the diagnosis of the coronary disease.Methods Complete coronary angiograms obtained by 64-slice CT from 120 patients were taken as the reference for comparisons with those of conventional CA(Coronary Angiography).Results Through study of the angiograms of 840 coronary arteries in this paper,results could be obtained as follows:the overall sensitivity.specificity,false positive rate and false negative rate of 64SCTCA(64-slice Spiral CTCA) was 96.7%,94.3%,6.6%and 3.2%respectively.As is tested by 2-related χ~2,P= 0.054. Therefore,statistical significance did not exist between 64SCTCA and CCA(Conventional Coronary Angiography) in the diagnosis of coronary artery diseases.Conclusion 64-slice Spiral CTCA,as a noninvasive and fast imaging technology with high sensitivity and specificity,could be applied in diagnosis of coronary artery diseases.


The relationship between queer indigenous peoples and nonindigenous queers has a complicated history. Scholarship on queer indigenous peoples also has a legacy tied to misrepresentation and objectification. Until now, no scholar has effectively presented an actionable critique incorporating both popular gay cultural appropriation of indigenous queer heritages and a theoretical apparatus with which to deconstruct knowledge produced about queer indigenous peoples. In Scott Lauria Morgensen's Spaces between Us, "queer settler colonialism" is the analytic cornerstone of a new approach for denaturalizing the gender and sexuality legacies of colonialism. Central to this project for Morgensen is identifying as a nonNative scholar and a queer critic of nonNative queers who invoke Native heritage for white settler gay liberation. This positioning is, in and of itself, an ethical act of decolonization explicitly tied to a disjuncturing of queer settler claims to indigenous pasts. Within this positioning lies the inspiration for an innovative approach to queer scholarship and queer intellectual methodology, with implications beyond gender and sexuality studies. The central tenets of Spaces between Us are outlined in part 1, "Genealogies," which is a twochapter archaeology of settlerderived homonormative discourses and a framing of Native resistance to the homosocial uses of primitivism. White sexual minorities, according to Morgensen, are little different than other white settler subjects who have incorporated primitivity into a national identity. This national identity is constructed ideologically and spatially within acts of colonial appropriation of both Native culture and land. For example, in Morgensen's analysis, Harry Hay's appropriation of the "berdache" tradition for homophile


There are no changes in reproductive state of men with hemoblastosis until chemotherapy and X-ray therapy. The final remission induction stage shows the direct connection between this therapy and functional-clinical disturbance development. The far clinical-hematological period reveals testosterone level reduction, resulting in both potential and libido reduction.


Life table parameters of Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Gossypium hirsutum L. were determined at six temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 ± 0.5 °C) in the laboratory. Relationships of life table parameters with temperature were described with mathematical equations. Development was fastest at 30 °C, with a pre‐larviposition period of 4.6 d. Survival to adult was greatest at 25 °C (81%). Fecundity was highest at 25 °C, with a total fecundity of 28.3 nymphs per female and a mean reproductive rate of 3.1 nymphs per female per day. Threshold temperatures for development in the first through fourth instar and the adult were 8.2, 8.0, 7.2, 6.2 and 7.9 °C, respectively. The durations of these stages, expressed as temperature sums above these thresholds, were 24.2, 23.7, 23.0, 25.5 and 168.8 degree‐days (D°), respectively. A. gossypii achieved its maximum net reproductive number (24.4 nymphs per female) and greatest intrinsic rate of increase (0.386 d−1) at 25 °C. The high relative rate of population increase at 25 °C results in a daily population increase of 47% and a doubling time of only 1.8 d, illustrating the tremendous growth capacity of A. gossypii populations under favourable conditions. Compared to literature sources, our source of A. gossypii, fed on cotton, showed a comparatively great heat tolerance.


Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of three different chelating agents(EDTA, citric acid, NTA) that intensify the absorption and accumulation of Cu, Zn in vermicompost for Euchlaena Mexicana Schrad. The results indicated that chelating agents addition could inhibit the growth of Euchlaena Mexicana Schrad, and the inhibition on the roots is greater than the shoots. At the same concentration, EDTA had the greatest inhibition on plant roots, the overarching inhibition on plant shoots fell to citric acid. The addition of EDTA and NTA increased Cu or Zn contents in the roots and shoots of Euchlaena Mexicana Schrad, and also improved the Cu or Zn accumulations in the shoots, although high addition concentration of CA increased Cu or Zn contents in the roots and shoots of Euchlaena Mexicana Schrad, Cu or Zn accumulations in the shoots were conspicuously inhibited after high concentration of CA were added. Hence, EDTA and NTA have the potentials of intensifying the extraction of Cu or Zn by Euchlaena Mexicana Schrad from the vermicompost enriched with high Cu or Zn contents, which opens up a new approach to enhance phytoremediation in terms of solid waste contaminated with heavy metals.


cells, 13,000 per c.mm. He had slight congestive symptoms, and stated that the intervals between the development of these symptoms were longer than they used to be. On February 8th the Wassermann reaction was retested and found negative (he was still continuing antisyphilitic treatment). On the 25th the congestive symptoms were again intense, and a venesection was performed, only 250 c.cm. of blood being removed owing to difficulties due to the high viscosity. The blood count was: red cells, 10,300,000 per c.mm.; haemoglobin, 120 per cent.; white cells, 21,600 per c.mm. The viscosity time for whole blood with the same tube was 23 minutes. The Wassermann reaction was again negative.


Almost all motor patterns in gut organs have as primary function the mixing of content. Although classical peristalsis is equated with propulsion, and this is certainly the case in the esophagus, the predominant effect in all other organs is mixing and exposing the content optimally to the mucosal surface, because the propulsion ends somewhere and the content is moving back; only very rarely does propulsion end with evacuation of content from the body. The segmentation motor pattern is different from peristalsis in that it contains only stationary or very short distance propagating contractions and hence is considered a specialized motor pattern for mixing and absorption. The segmentation motor pattern was described and illustrated by Cannon in 1902 based on X-ray observations and shown to be extremely rhythmic (Cannon, 1902). Alvarez was the first to find that the frequency of rhythmic segmenting contractions occurred at the frequency of a myogenic pacemaker and that in various regions of the intestine the frequency decreased in the same way as the pacemaker frequency decreased (Alvarez, 1914), suggesting a firm relationship between slow waves and segmentation. In 1968, Code and co-workers also recognized the role of slow waves in segmentation (Code et al., 1968); the slow waves were thought to go in and out of excitable regions of smooth muscle fibers. Ehrlein noted in 1987 that there were no electrical or mechanical features known that could distinguish peristaltic and segmental motor patterns (Ehrlein et al., 1987). In 2006, two major reviews on control of motility only very briefly mentioned segmentation: "The most basic small intestinal contractile pattern, segmentation, results from reciprocal inhibition and dis-inhibition of adjacent circular muscle" (Hasler, 2006) and "Oscillation of membrane potential through the slow wave cycle results in periods of high and low open probability for Ca2+ channels, and this naturally organizes the contractile pattern into a series of phasic contractions contributing to motility patterns such as peristalsis and segmentation" (Sanders et al., 2006). Recently, it was shown that spontaneous segmentation or decanoic acid-induced segmentation is associated with a waxing and waning of the slow wave activity that can occur prominently in the presence of nerve conduction block (Huizinga et al., 2014). Evidence was provided that waxing and waning developed when low frequency rhythmic transient depolarizations originating from interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) associated with the deep muscular plexus (ICC-DMP) interacted with the omnipresent slow wave activity originating from ICC associated with the myenteric plexus (ICC-MP) through phase–amplitude coupling. That is, the phase of the low frequency activity modulated the amplitude of the higher frequency slow wave activity. Hence interacting myogenic electrical activities were seen to underlie the segmentation motor pattern. The segmentation motor pattern appeared to be associated with the induction of a low frequency component, causing minute rhythm clusters of contractions and a waxing and waning of the amplitudes of the individual contractions within a cluster (Huizinga et al., 2014). These clusters occurred prominently after decanoic acid in rats (Huizinga et al., 2014) or oleic acid in dogs (Ehrlein et al., 1987). In human small intestine studies, the post-prandial motility pattern can be quite variable but regular "cluster contractions" are often reported and seen to be mainly stationary (Hellstrom, 1995). In a study by Husebye (1999), the clusters were shown to have a minute rhythm, the contraction amplitudes within the clusters had a waxing and waning appearance with a frequency of ~10/min, hence occurring at the slow wave frequency (Husebye, 1999; Gallego et al., 2014). When a nutrient solution was given to healthy volunteers with or without 40 g/l ethanol, it was ethanol in particular that induced a low frequency component, the clustered contractions; the clusters occurred at 1 per 2–3 min and the individual contractions within the clusters at ~12/min with waxing and waning amplitudes (Schmidt et al., 1997). Hence also in the human small intestine, the slow wave frequency, as well as an additional lower frequency component, are reported in the post-prandial intestinal motor activity.


This study aims to show social criticism that, in fact, working as a pedicab driver for Ambonese Christians is not formed because of the calling or "role of religion", but has a uniqueness that is somewhat different from the Protestant community studied by Weber. This is demonstrated through the work ethic of Christian rickshaw pullers who emerged in the aftermath of social unrest in Maluku, were more motivated to pursue work as rickshaw pullers because of the dominant and significant economic factors, rather than religious, social, cultural and political factors which were strengthened through perceptions or views of pedicab drivers about the interesting work of pedicabs as a business opportunity to support the family economy and a source of fulfillment of life needs.


A holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) switchable lens is reported. The diffraction efficiency was analyzed at different phase separation coefficients within the visible band (400—800 nm) with the coupled wave theory for a phase-type H-PDLC switchable lens. In our experiments, the maximum efficency of 70% was achieved. The H-PDLC switchable lens shows excellent imaging performance and fast response.It is potentially useful in many applications, such as optical communications, optical imaging,e.g.,in digital cameras.


Cubic graph can deal with the uncertainly associated with the inconsistent and indeterminate information of any real-world problem, where fuzzy graphs may fail to reveal satisfactory results. Likewise, cubic graphs are very useful tools for the study of different domains of computer science such as networking, capturing the image, clustering, and also other issues like bioscience, medical science, and traffic plan. Operations are conveniently used in many combinatorial applications; therefore, in this paper, three new operations on cubic graphs, namely, maximal product, rejection, residue product were presented, and some results concerning their degrees were introduced. Different examples are provided to evaluate the validity of the new definitions.


Children with sensory processing differences have "reduced participation in recreational and community activities compared to children with both typical development and other developmental disabilities" due to their difficulties with social communication, and strict social settings (Giserman-Kiss et al., 2020). Sensory friendly theatre programs aim to dismantle social participation barriers for individuals with sensory processing differences by creating a relaxed theatre experience that includes preparatory materials, environmental modifications, and specialized training (Umeda, 2017). We implemented a pilot sensory-friendly performance of Willy Wonka, Jr. in collaboration with youth actors at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, CA on February 13th, 2022. Approximately 80 total tickets were sold, half to the sensory friendly community and half to the general public. Our sensory friendly performance offered preparatory materials of a social story, environmental modifications including dimmed house lights, zones (movement, tech, chill out, quiet) within the house, relaxed behavioral expectations, and specialized training for the youth actors including an educational video about sensory friendly performances. Program evaluation data were collected through post-performance surveys for audience members and performers, interviews with audience members, and a debrief with the theatre program director. Audience members indicated that they were likely to attend another sensory friendly show and valued the accommodations, meanwhile suggesting a more thorough explanation of the purpose and possible noise, and relocation of the zones. Our program illustrates occupational therapists' ability to collaborate with theatres and contribute knowledge on sensory processing differences and environmental modification to increase community cultural arts participation for people with disabilities and their families.


In the present work, a dependence analysis of the determination coefficient and the number of regressors was carried out on a set of 65 mycotoxins. The simple and multiple regression techniques were used to identify the linear relationship between retention times and molecular descriptors calculated with HyperChem from the optimized 3D structures. The highest number of regressors to be used in investigating the retention times as function of mycotoxins investigated properties must be equal to 5. As far as the dependence between number of regressors and determination coefficient was concerned, the analysis revealed that the best relationship is linear if the cutoff is set at 4 or 5 regressors while exponential for more than 5 regressors. The results must be verified on other classes of compounds and other dependent or independent variables in order to be extrapolated.


For many of us in the United States, the majority of our students are in descriptive astronomy classes. And since these classes typically satisfy general education or core curriculum requirements that must be completed by all students, the students can range from those genuinely interested in astronomy to those who are taking the class because "it sounded less boring" than other options available. Whichever end of that spectrum the students occupy, many of them approach astronomy with quite a bit of anxiety because it is a science class. In student lore, a science class is a class that is by definition more difficult — perhaps verging on the impossible — than other classes, one that discusses totally foreign things in an arcane language and, above all, is a class that has no connection with anything else in the curriculum, except maybe another science class.


The notion of interconnection is the basis of control in the behavioral approach. In this setting, feedback interconnection of systems is based on the still more fundamental concept of regular interconnection, which has been introduced by J. C. Willems. In this paper, the following problem is addressed: given a plant, under what conditions does there exist a controller such that their interconnection is regular and has finite codimension with respect to a certain desired system. If so, provide a constructive solution to the problem. The second part of the paper treats the related problem of decomposition of systems. First, the autonomous/controllable decomposition is studied, and finally we look at the decomposition of the controllable part.


With the rapid transformation of energy structures, the Integrated Energy System (IES) has developed rapidly. It can meet the complementary needs of various energy sources such as cold, thermal, and electricity in industrial parks; can realize multi-energy complements and centralized energy supplies; and can further improve the use efficiency of energy. However, with the extensive access of renewable energy, the uncertainty and intermittentness of renewable energy power generation will greatly reduce the use efficiency of renewable energy and the supply flexibility of IES so as to increase the operational risk of the system operator. With the goal of minimum sum of the system-operating cost and the carbon-emission penalty cost, this paper analyzes the combined supply of cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) influence on system efficiency, compared with the traditional IES. The flexible modified IES realizes the decoupling of cooling, thermal, and electricity; enhances the flexibility of the IES in a variety of energy supply; at the same time, improves the use efficiency of multi-energy; and reasonably avoids the occurrence of energy loss and resource waste. With the aim of reducing the risk that the access of renewable energy may bring to the IES, this paper introduces the fuzzy c-mean-clustering comprehensive quality (FCM-CCQ) algorithm, which is a novel method superior to the general clustering method and performs cluster analysis on the output scenarios of wind power and photovoltaic. Meanwhile, conditional value at risk (CVaR) theory is added to control the system operation risk, which is rarely applied in the field of IES optimization. The model is simulated in a numerical example, and the results demonstrate that the availability and applicability of the presented model are verified. In addition, the carbon dioxide emission of the traditional operation mode; thermoelectric decoupling operation mode; and cooling, thermal, and electricity decoupling operation mode of the IES decrease successively. The system flexibility is greatly enhanced, and the energy-use rate of the system is improved as a whole. Finally, IES, after its flexible transformation, significantly achieve energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection.


Dynamic positioning (DP) is an operation method whereby the position of a surface vessel is maintained in close proximity to a required position in the horizontal plane through the controlled application of forces and moments generated by purposely installed thrusters. When estimating thrust, this kind of conventional control system often uses many acceleration sensors, velocity sensors, environment sensors, and filters. Usually, these sensors have measured electrical errors. To reduce the number of sensors used and to decrease the measurement errors, this article presents an effective control system for estimating thrust and moment commands, which is based on energy and impulsemomentum principles. Donha and Brinati's example is followed to verify the feasibility of the present control system, which performs semisubmersible platform positioning using an LQG controller, and the results are feasible and economical. A simulated coring vessel marine positioning in southern Taiwan is presented, which can estim...


Abstract : This report provides a framework to guide decisionmakers involved with the weapon systems acquisition process in determining whether to establish dual production sources on a case-by-case basis. The framework consists of three main parts: the identification of alternative approaches for establishing second sources and implementing dual source competition; a methodology for estimating costs associated with such approaches together wtih a review of both relevant microeconomic theories and prior related systems and an analysis of data on competition in the acquisition of weapon systems; and the identification of risks which dual sources might affect and an assessment of their significance.


The invention discloses a preparation method of pitaya noodle. The preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) soaking pitaya pulp in a color fixative for 10-15 min, taking out the pitaya pulp, draining water, pulping the pitaya pulp, drying the pulp and crushing the same to 80-120 meshes to obtain pitaya powder, wherein the color fixative is composed of 3-5 wt% of citric acid, 0.03-0.1wt% of Vc sodium and the balance of water; (2) uniformly mixing wheat gluten, flour and pitaya powder according to a weight ratio of 1: (4-6): (2-4), adding 2 wt% of table salt, 0.1-0.2 wt% of sodium carbonate and 16-20 wt% of water into the mixture, kneading dough, curing, tabletting, slitting, drying and dissecting to prepare the pitaya noodle. The wheat gluten, flour and pitaya powder are used as the main raw materials in the invention to develop a new noodle variety, the noodle is exquisite, good in taste, elastic, good in texture and rich in nutrition, and the noodle has the functions of preventing constipation, increasing the bone density, preventing anemia, resisting against neuritis, preventing angular cheilitis, improving appetite, whitening skin, preventing tache noire, and the like.


Information on how South Lanarkshire Council collect annual levys on behalf of the Hamilton Business Improvement District and the Carluke Business Improvement District


[Objective] To explore the change of local hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation in breast disease,so as to approach its applied value in diagnosis.[Methods] 55 cases were chosen to be studied.The hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation of the suspected region of breast disease were detected and evaluated before operation,and compared to the postoperative pathological diagnosis.[Results] In the 55 cases,36 cases were reported higher hemoglobin concentration and lower oxygen saturation,while 19 cases were reported lower hemoglobin concentration and higher oxygen saturation before operation.While,the postoperative pathological diagnoses were 34 breast carcinoma,1 relay phyllode tumor of the breast,and 20 benign diseases.Diagnosis consistent rate was 90.9%.[Conclusion] There are differences in hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation between incongeneric breast diseases.To detect them will be a new method in no-wound diagnosis with functional imaging of breast tissue.


Gill discusses Greer's sculpture in relation to his notion of the viewer as a participant in the act of art. Biographical notes.


Cocaine use among young adults in Britain is expanding faster than anywhere else in Europe, according to a new report.

The annual report from the Lisbon based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, giving figures for 2000, shows that 5% of people in England and Wales between the ages of 16 and 29 took the drug at some point during the previous 12 months—compared with 1% in 1996.

"Overall, the drug situation in the United Kingdom is very stable, but we have seen a sharp increase in the use of cocaine as it becomes more acceptable on the recreational scene," said Mike Trace, the United Kingdom's former deputy drugs "tsar" who now chairs the …


In forestry, where improvement of labor environment is quite impossible, improved posture would result in direct effects by preventing waste of physical strength, prevention of accidental injury caused by fatigue accumulated on certain body parts, and prevention of human error by inattentiveness due to weakened body. Therefore, this research carried on analysis of working posture in manual forest work(thinning using chain-saw, salvage cutting using chain-saw, clearing using hand saw, clearance of twiner using sickle, pruning using saw with a long handle, and tending of young growth using sickle) using OWAS analysis system. According to the OWAS method, percentage of OWAS action categories Ⅲ and Ⅳ in the tasks using chain-saw and sickle was higher than another tasks. For the compared middle skillful worker group and low skillful worker group at felling work using chain-saw, percentage of OWAS action categories Ⅳ in middle skillful worker group was 5.1%, and low skillful worker group was 14.1%.


Large quantities of Rhizobium leguminosarum by conventional technique are a time-consuming and labor-intensive method of production. The selection of different types of nutrient media for the production of large amounts of rhizobium at low cost, determination of environmental regulators of culture medium and the effect of different levels of air flow into nutrition media have been investigated. Rhizobium cultured in modified air lift bioreactor as improved conventional system using Yeast Extract Mannitol Broth by assessing aeration and agitation in their submerged growth. For selection of suitable nutrient media for Rhizobium before mass production, YMA (Yeast Mannitol Agar), YSA (Yeast Sucrose Agar), YMA + bromthymol blue (BTB), YMA + Congo red (CR) medium was tested. To optimize the growing conditions of different temperatures, pH levels and salt strengths were investigated. Three air flow speeds at the rate of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 VVM for oxygen supply were ensured. A thick off-white bacterial colony was observed on the YMA plate among different culture media. Room temperature (25˚C - 30˚C), neutral pH (7.0), low salinity (1%) was observed to be suitable among the environmental conditions for Rhizobium mass production. The maximum density of Rhizobium was observed using air supply of 0.1 VVM level in bioreactor system. The result seemed that the air supply and agitation was an important growth factor in submerged cultivation. This study provides useful information on large scale production of Rhizobium of interest employing low cost effective modified air lift bioreactor within less time.


Death, an essential part of life, is a mesmerizing topic for a number of reasons. Without a shadow of a doubt, it is a universal phenomenon. nevertheless, the variety of death rites as well as myths and beliefs related to the act of passing, the variety (...) suggests certain differences in its understanding among individuals, communities, and cultures. are such differences manifested in language? and if so, can they be examined in an analysis of translations of highly artistic, poetic texts? In this study I seek to reconstruct the linguistic view of death in 'Clamor' by Federico garcía Lorca and its latest Polish translation (2019) by Jacek Lyszczyna. Having in mind that language constitutes the raw material of literature (Pajdzińska, 2013), I believe that analyzing poetry in light of the linguistic worldview is crucial for its deeper understanding and, as a consequence, delivering a good translation. What is more, I am convinced that applying the analytical tools developed by cultural linguistics, and in particular, the ethnolinguistic School of Lublin, in translation studies may be useful not only in an assessment of translation quality, but also – very telling of the role of translated texts in the target language, culture and literary system. Therefore, I intend to analyse Lyszczyna's translation in view of the linguistic worldview to assess its quality and determine what such an 'infected' view of death may tell us about our own (Polish) take on this concept. Firstly, I will analyse garcía Lorca ́s poem to identify the key linguistic exponents of death and reconstruct its non–standard linguistic view (gicala, 2018) in 'Clamor'. Secondly, I will capture the key linguistic exponents of death in the form of holistic cognitive definitions following the principles established by Bartmiński et al. (1988, 1996, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2018). Furthermore, I will do the same with their Polish equivalents used in Lyszczyna's translation. On the basis of the outcomes of the study, I will reconstruct the 'translated' linguistic view of death and answer the research questions.


Some roaming users need services to manipulate autonomous processes. Trading agents running on agent trade servers are used as a case in point. We present a solution that provides the agent owners with means to upkeeping their desktop environment, and maintaining their agent trade server processes, via a briefcase service.


Suppression of dislocation threading from the substrate into GaAs epitaxial layers is investigated by using AlAs‐GaAs superlattice buffer layers grown by molecular beam epitaxial technique. The efficiency of suppression is compared among several types of AlAs‐GaAs superlattices with different electrically active impurity‐doping distributions. With the use of modulation‐doped AlAs(Si)‐GaAs superlattice, dislocation threading is almost perfectly suppressed, and consequently, a dislocation‐free epilayer can be grown. Dislocation bending at the AlAs/GaAs interface is thought to be due to the interaction between dislocations and electric charges.


In this paper we describe a model independent search for new physics in proton proton collisions at a center of mass energy of 7 TeV using 35± 1pb−1 of inclusive dilepton data recorded with the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We base our search on the variable ST which sums the pT of leptons and jets as well as missing ET and define two signal regions, one rejecting Z → `` like topologies, and one selecting those. We find good agreement between the observed ST distribution and the Standard Model expectation. Thus we derive an upper limit on the cross section times the acceptance σ×A of new physics in the two signal regions of 0.14 pb at the 95% confidence level for ST above 1000 and 1200 GeV respectively. By providing details of the experimental response to ST we present our results in a way that allows their comparison to a wide range of theoretical models.


After this article [1] was published, concerns were raised about similarities between the TCP-1 ε blot shown in Figure 4A and the CCTη blot for the Input samples in Figure 5A. The corresponding author, Dr. Luo, confirmed there was an error in image processing and requested retraction. The original data underlying the figure panels in question and other figures in the published article are no longer available. In light of the concerns about Figures 4A and 5A and the unavailability of the underlying data, the PLOS ONE Editors retract this article. The authors did not comment on the retraction decision.


This chapter will explore the spread of Christianity from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries within the various parts of undivided India and, more briefly, in some other areas of south and south-east Asia. We will begin with India. The history of India goes back some 5,000 years to the Indus Valley civilization with its sophisticated urban culture found in the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The Indo-Aryan civilization probably came to India from central Asia around 1500 BC and formed much of India's living tradition and impressive religious system. Indian culture was always a rich mosaic of new elements and foreign influences merged into its ancient roots. The oldest of its religious traditions was Hinduism. Under the broad rubric of Hinduism, there existed an enormous fluidity of beliefs and practices which in turn evolved by interacting with the other religions of India. Hinduism was a way of life. It had no single book or god or prophet and every village could have its own deity. It was a religion of deep philosophy and metaphysics, existing side by side with rituals and ceremonies that marked the days, seasons and events in life. Gods were either distant or near, and were part of every household and clan. One worshipped them through silent meditation, communal singing, or joyful festivity. Closely linked to this religious system was a social system. Society came to be divided into four castes, the Brahmans (priestly class in charge of the rituals and chants), the Kshatriyas (warriors), the Vaishyas (merchants), and the Shudras (menial workers).


Objective To explore the correlation between histologic appearance or Ki-67.c-erbB-2 expression and superficial non-invasive urothelial tumours of bladder. Methods The histological morphology was reviewed according to the WHO/ISUP Classification (2004). The immunohistochemical staining was used to evaluate the expression of Ki-67 and c-erbB-2 in 70 cases of urothelial tumours of bladder. Follow-ups were obtained in 70 cases and the durations ranged from 3 to 60 months. Results The Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) in urothelial papilloma (UP),papillary urothelial neoplasm of low malignant potential (PUNLMP),papillary urothelial carainoma,low grade (LGPUC) and papillary urothelial carainoma,high grade (HGPUC) were 4.05±2.3,13.8±6.9,30.1±4.4,and 59.5±6.8,respectively. The expression of c-erbB-2 was correlated with grades of the tumors (P0.01,P0.05). In urothelial papillome no recurrence was found. The recurrence rate was 15% (3/20) in PUNLMP,65% (13/20) in LGPUC and 70% (7/10) in HGPUC. Conclusions The results suggest that Ki-67 and c-erbB-2 are sensitive and specific markers and have a great significance in differential diagnosis of urothelial tumours of bladder. Detection of both Ki-67 and c-erbB-2 can improve the accuracy of diagnosis in papillary urothelial tumours.


We describe a new programming language that is based on physical elements and especially developed to test the hypothesis that a physical computer programming language is possible. This imperative language is deliberately limited to a few operators and constructs to simplify the language for the novice programmer. No computer knowledge is required once the programming system has been configured for use. Our evaluations reveal that the concept of variables, and redirecting program execution, are considered the most obscure amongst novice programmers.


The main aim of this study is to analyze reflections of the information and documentation center studies on the library literature in Turkey. Based on this aim, the articles which had been published in "Turk Kutuphaneciligi" and "Bilgi Dunyasi" journals between the years of 2000-2008, was analyzed with content analysis method. The main finding of this study is the easily observable increase of information management center studies in the analyzed years. The most examined subject related to the information and documentation center is planning, the least examined subject related to information and documentation center is controlling. The articles which were analyzed were mostly the theoretical articles.


Few new technologies have affected communication and society more profoundly than motion pictures. A "far more elastic medium" than the stage, movies made ideas previously restricted to comparatively small groups of readers and urban theatergoers accessible to virtually everyone by projecting them on film screens everywhere, from the largest city to the smallest village.' By speaking to mass audiences directly, movies all too easily bypassed traditional agencies of socialization the church, the school, the family. For many they came to symbolize the important changes taking place in the structure of power and influence in the early twentiethcentury United States, and those groups who feared that their own influence in society was diminishing viewed them as a threat. Fierce debates over the content and control of this new medium arose in the early days of silent film and intensified with the advent of sound technology. Out of these controversies emerged efforts to regulate motion picture entertainment, efforts that culminated in the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930, an attempt to bind movies to Judeo-Christian morality.2


Introduction 1. Literacy, reification, and the dynamics of social interaction David Barton and Mary Hamilton 2. Language and power in communities of practice Karin Tusting 3. Mediating allegations of racism in a multiethnic London school: what speech communities and communities of practice can tell us about discourse and power Angela Creese 4. 'I've picked some up from a colleague': language, sharing, and communities of practice in an institutional setting Frances Rock 5. The person in the doing: negotiating the experience of self Maria Clara Keating 6. Communities of practice and learning communities: do bilingual co-workers learn in community? Deirdre Martin 7. Moving beyond communities of practice in adult basic education Steven Robert Harris and Nicola Shelswell 8. Communities of practice in higher education: useful heuristic or educational model? Mary Lea 9. Communities of practice, risk, and Sellafield Greg Myers 10. Semiotic social spaces and affinity spaces: from 'the age of mythology' to today's schools James Paul Gee.


Most computer users have become so accustomed to the standard von Neumann approach to computing that they rarely question the fundamental assumptions implicit in the underlying architecture. Foremost among these is the idea that a computer basically consists of a powerful and sophisticated central processing unit (CPU) with lots of peripheral memory. This model-common to the vast majority of computers to date-has at least two important implications. First, it means that as successive generations of CPUs and memory become progressively faster, the communication between them becomes the major bottleneck. Second, it means that using the computer always comes down to instructing the CPU to perform some particular sequence of operations involving various portions of memory. This latter point, in particular, has attracted much attention from computer scientists because it burdens the computer programmer with a great deal of unnecessary tedium. Instead of merely informing the computer as to what should constitute an acceptable solution to a problem, the programmer must painstakingly tell the computer how to obtain the solution (Balaban and Murray 1986). The continuing evolution of high-level languages (e.g., Lisp, Smalltalk, Prolog) can be seen as an ongoing attempt to transfer this undesirable complexity from the domain of the programmer to that of the computer itself. Thus, constraint languages such as TK!Solver allow the computer to arrive at solutions simply by evaluating user-specified constraints (Levitt 1984). Even here, the programmer must still inform the computer explicitly of each operative constraint.


THE PATH of the hurricane disturbance over New England embraced the entire system of the Boston Edison Company. The wind velocity of the hurricane at the Blue Hill Observatory near Boston situated 500 feet above sea level approximated 186 miles per hour at 6:47 p.m. on the day of the storm and several sustained gusts of 111 miles per hour were recorded over five-minute periods. In general, the maximum wind velocity at the ground throughout our area was estimated to have been in the vicinity of 85 to 100 miles per hour. There was almost no rain in Boston although rain elsewhere resulted in extensive floods.


Suicide is defined as the voluntary, and intentional, act of causing one's own death. As a topic of scientific study, suicide has continuously been the focus of attention for a multitude of disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, psychology and psychiatry, to name a few. The act of suicide has been documented since antiquity. The present study is focused on highlighting suicidal behaviors in Greek mythology as well as on determining the method used and the motive behind each act of suicide. The cases of suicidal behavior presented in this study were drawn from a selection of various Greek myths, and were chosen on the basis of whether or not the mythical figures involved caused their own death either directly or indirectly, according to the main myth or a version of it. The Myth can provide helpful insight into the understanding of suicidal behaviors and of the mechanisms that govern human existence and conscience, inasmuch as mythological cases of suicide constitute important examples, useful to therapeutic practices focusing on suicide, regardless of psychotherapeutic perspective.


Background: Quit addiction self-efficacy is defined as one's ability to avoid drug abuse and improve the quality of life by using different maintenance drug-based treatments. The present study aimed to investigate the association of quit addiction self-efficacy, social support, and perceived stress by using the mediator role of self-control among addicts treated with methadone. Methods: The present descriptive-correlational study was conducted by path analysis. The target population included all the drug addicts who referred to Ahvaz methadone treatment clinics in 2019. 213 of the participants were selected as the sample of the study using convenience sampling. The instruments of the research included the Quit Addiction Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Self-Control Scale. The proposed model was evaluated using path analysis with AMOS software. Results: The results showed that all the direct paths except social support path to selfcontrol were significant (P = 0.001). Indirect paths also became significant through the mediation of self-control with self-efficacy (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Considering the mediator role of self-control, a significant correlation was found between perceived stress and addicts' self-efficacy. Moreover, social support is directly associated with quit addiction self-efficacy.


Cylindrically-symmetric inhomogeneous magnetized string cosmological model is investigated with cosmological term Λ varying with time. To get the deterministic solution, it has been assumed that the expansion (θ) in the model is proportional to the eigenvalue σ1 of the shear tensor σ i j . The value of cosmological constant for the model is found to be small and positive which is supported by the results from recent supernovae Ia observations. The physical and geometric properties of the model are also discussed in the presence and absence of magnetic field.


Generalized Statistical Approaches for the Design for Phase I Trials by Nan Jia Chair: Thomas M. Braun This research examines new design approaches for Phase I clinical trials, which are designed to study doses of the same agent or dose combinations of two agents in a small group of patients to determine the maximum tolerated dose or dose combination. Our first focus is to propose an adaptive accelerated Biased Coin Design (aaBCD) that generalizes the traditional BCD design algorithm by incorporating an adaptive weight function based upon the amount of follow-up of each enrolled patient, so that the dose assignment for each eligible patient can be determined immediately with no delay, leading to a shorter trial overall. We later focus on a generalized version of the Continual Reassessment Method (CRM), denoted gCRM, for identifying the maximum tolerated dose combination of two agents. For each dose of one agent, we apply the traditional CRM to study doses of the other agent; each of these CRM designs assumes the same dose-toxicity model, as well as the value of the parameter used in the model. However, each model includes a second parameter that varies among the models in an effort to


Based on the stochastic process theory,the error model of curves in GIS is established.Two characteritics concerning the error of points on a curve are proposed in terms of the stochastic process.And the total error of the curve is expressed by a mean square integral of a stochastic process.In order to check the efficiency of the model proposed,a scan digitizing test is designed.In the test,a piece of road is digitized for times and 100 sample functions are derived.The result of the test shows that the system error in digitized map isn't negligible.The errors of points are chiefly dependent on the concavity and the curvature of the road curve being tested.


Considering the importance of visual representations for communication between stakeholders in landscape planning and design processes, the authors identify a lack of critical visual research methods supportive of the disciplines involved. As part of such a method, they have developed an analytical framework based on semiotic and iconographic theory that enables a visual content analysis and iconographic interpretation of landscape design representations. Two projects from Rebuild by Design, a participatory transdisciplinary design competition organized in the New York City area after hurricane Sandy, were analysed to demonstrate this framework. The article presents a semiotic vocabulary based on four categories: medium, mode, formulation and knowledge with which to 'read', discuss and potentially create design representations. This enables a syntactic analysis for assessing the semiotic complexity of design representations in terms of validity, readability and interactivity. This assessment enables further qualitative study of the production and interpretation of landscape design representations in practice.


Considering the geopolitical changes in the six Western Balkan countries—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia—over the last three decades, particularly as it concerns the progress and changes in the healthcare systems, we argue that there is a need for a detailed analysis of people's trust in those healthcare systems and healthcare providers.


The article proves the need for elaboration and realization of a new model of social and economic development of Russia. Economy based on knowledge, as the economy type relevant to postindustrial stage of development of society, is viewed as a strategic target. Methodological issues, connected with qualitative characteristic and formation of this economic model, are examined; its essential features are analyzed. Principal conclusion is drawn that strengthening of interrelation between human development in entirety of production and personal attributes and evolution of social and economic systems can be regarded as the most significant factor of the modern social and economic paradigm.


Malaria in pregnancy is a preventable infectious disease, yet it remains the cause of maternal, in-utero morbidity and mortality. Pregnant women adopt different patterns of prevention against malaria occurrences and complications. This study aims to identify patterns of malaria prevention among pregnant women inIlishan Remo, Ogun State. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a purposive sampling technique was used to proportionately select 271 pregnant women attending Ante-natal care (ANC) facilities. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtained information on 56 items. Data were collected on clinic days for eight weeks duration and analyzed with SPSS 23 (for descriptive frequencies and percentages) and hypotheses tested with chi-square at p ≤ 0.005. One-third (35.4%) of the pregnant women aged 31-35years. Predominantly, 80.8% of the women were Christians, almost half (49.1%) had tertiary education. The mean of preventive measures used by pregnant women was 27.16±0.25. Slightly half (52.4%) always net windows and doors, 38.4% always and 53.4% often cleared bushes around house respectively. About 30.3% of pregnant women often used IPT-SP and 19.9% used direct observation therapy (DOT). On the categorized prevention patterns, half (54.2%) used conventional and 6.64% non-conventional. There was a significant relationship between the patterns of prevention and ANC facilities (χ2 =20.291), beliefs (χ2 = 16.540) at p< 0.005. The patterns of conventional and non-conventional prevention were used by pregnant women. However, pregnant women should be advised to use the recommended FMOH/WHO standard malaria prevention for safety.


A water-soluble Co complex with dimethyl-bipyridine ligands reduced CO2 to CO electrochemically with almost 100% selectivity at -0.80 V vs. NHE in an aqueous medium (pH 6.8) without an organic solvent. The reaction overpotential was 270 mV. A possible CO formation mechanism was discussed based on experiments and calculations.


We have examined the effects of three structurally distinct antioxidants (N‐acetylcysteine [NAC], Trolox C [a water‐soluble vitamin E derivative], and nordihydroguaiaretic acid [NGA]) on the expression of the c‐fos gene over a 2‐hour period. Determination of cellular glutathione concentration (the primary determinant of the cellular redox state) over the same time‐course verifies that all the compounds studied cause an increase in cellular reduction potential. The level of c‐fos messenger RNA increased rapidly in response to micromolar concentrations of these compounds, reaching a peak in 30–60 minutes. Induction of c‐fos expression by these antioxidants is at least partly due to an increase in transcription, as determined by nuclear run‐on assay. Down regulation of protein kinase C (PKC) by pretreatment for 24 hours with 500 nm PMA prevents induction by subsequent stimulation with either PMA or NGA. NAC induction of c‐fos is unaffected by PMA pretreatment, while Trolox C superinduced c‐fos following PMA pretreatment. None of these treatments stimulated translocation of PKC‐α from the cytosol to the membrane. These results suggest that increasing the intracellular reducing potential induces c‐fos expression through multiple pathways. J. Cell. Physiol. 176:624–633, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Digit span performance did not correlate significantly with receptivity to subliminal visual stimulation via a tachistoscope for 120 college students. A simple clerical task and a flickering light presented at the same time the digit span test was being administered disrupted digit span performance.


HighlightsEight selected anthropometric landmarks were useful for estimating victim surface area and entrapment depth.Surface area estimates for a partially entrapped male victim ranged from 0.0716 to 2.7296 m2.Partial extraction force estimates for a male victim ranged from 0.29 to 3,693 N.Partial extraction force estimates were 18% greater on average when including the arm surface area than when not including the arms.Abstract. A prediction model for estimating extraction forces on entrapped victims was enhanced and modernized in 2018 from the original 1985 model. The prediction model was divided into two conditions based on the victim's relative position to the grain surface. The first condition was when the victim is completely below the grain surface. The second condition was when the victim's shoulders are above the grain surface; this condition is the focus of this research. A variable in the prediction model that changes with the depth of entrapment is the surface area of the victim. A sample of 60 male models was used to approximate the human surface area at optimal discrete positions selected based on visually identifiable anthropometric landmarks. The surface area estimates for those 60 partially entrapped male models ranged from 0.0716 to 2.7296 m2. Extraction forces for twelve partially entrapped male body types with various combinations of stature and body mass index were calculated. The extraction forces were calculated for conditions when the victim's arms were raised (above the grain) and lowered (in the grain). Results from the prediction model showed that surface area contributed less to the partial extraction force for short underweight bodies than for tall extremely obese bodies. At the lower landmarks, i.e., medial malleolus (MM) and knee crease (KN), surface area did not contribute noticeably to the partial extraction force. The contribution of surface area was not noticeable until the victim was buried up to the crotch (landmark CR). Keywords: Farm safety, Grain entrapment, Prediction model, Rescue, Safety.


±800kV converter transformer is the most difficult and valuable equipment in UHVDC converter station. The total price of converter transformer in a single project is up to RMB 4.9 billion. The converter transformer connects the AC power grid and the converter valve hall, which is the hub of DC transmission. It realizes the electrical isolation, power exchange, voltage matching and on load regulation of AC / DC system through electromagnetic induction. The cost and quality performance of UHV converter transformer also determine the economy and reliability of power system operation. The purpose of this paper is to ± Taking 800 kV converter transformer as the research object, through a large number of investigation and field investigation, the establishment of the ± Procurement cost estimation model of 800 kV converter transformer. In this study, through exploring the cost characteristics and quality characteristics of the main materials and components of the transformer, the concepts of cost sensitivity and quality sensitivity are proposed, and the four quadrant matrix analysis method is used to analyse the cost and quality control of the transformer, and then the differentiated quality control strategy is formulated. It can guide the quality grading control of converter transformer in engineering, and realize the collaborative improvement of power equipment economy and reliability.


The present invention relates to an extruded profile (1) for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced method in which preheating is first (3) at least one band-shaped fibers from the integrated reinforcing fiber matrix is composed of plastic - matrix semifinished product (2 ), and then the fibers - matrix semifinished extruded into (7) to the base plastic matrix (6).


In optical fiber communication the Bandwidth capacity is increased by using Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing. In DWDM based optical communication systems, fiber nonlinearities are limiting factors that limit the data rate and Bandwidth capacity. Besides this the nonlinear optical effects also degrade the system performance. This system has implemented in the presence of Four Wave Mixing with equal channel spacing. In this paper, the Hybrid Modulator technique, Return to Zero (RZ) pulse generator and Dispersion Compensation Fiber (DCF) have proposed to reduce the Four Wave Mixing (FWM) in equal channel spacing. The single and combined effect of various parameters such as input power, effective area, channel spacing and fiber length have been analyzed to determine the effect of FWM power. This result shows that increasing sequentially the effective area, fiber length, channel spacing and decreasing the input power to suppress the effect of FWM. At the receiver, the Q-Factor, BER and FWM power are estimated using Opti-system software.


Natural dietary items in the stomach of Synodontis membranaceus from Ikere Gorge in Oyo State, Nigeria were investigated between the months of October to December 2004 and June to August 2005. Fish species were obtained from fishermen every fortnight using gill net and cast net. Specimens were chilled with iced blocks at the point of collection and transported to the laboratory. 642 fish specimens were examined and their stomach contents analysed. Frequency of occurrence and numerical methods were employed in the study. The result of the analysis showed that the food items found covered a wide spectrum, ranging from various types of planktons to invertebrates and plants. A seasonal variation was also noted in the stomach contents of S. membranaceus over the period of study. The predominant food items found in the stomach were Polycytis spp, Closterium spp, Oedogonium spp., plant tissues, insect parts, paramecium sp., unidentified algae and detritus. This suggests that S. membranaceus is an omnivore.


From the standpoint of the science of management,the writer in this article compares and analyzes the Tan Chun and Bao Chai management modes described in the55th and 56th chapters of the Chinese classic,"Dreams of the Red Chamber".The writer con- cludes that the major difference between the two modes lies in the fact that the former links duty,right and benefit all together while the latter is more loaded with human touch.


This dissertation analyses the organizational and administrative outline of Religious Colleges in Pernambuco State, considering the multidimensional-reflexive model of Alves (2003). It has been analysed the institutional environment, the structural characteristics and the gadgets of coordination, the characteristics of the agents and the internal relations and finally the flux of present activities in these religious institutions. At a later, it has been tested out the differences and similarities among the studied religious colleges. Therefore, some theoretical support has been built on through the weberian sociological approach, the multidimensionalreflexive model, used as an instrument of analysis. Considering it a quantitative research, the theoretical and methodological way used halfstructured interviews and documental analysis, as procedure for collecting data. The documental sources were possible because of our professional experience and the contact with the leaderships of each Religious Colleges. The results show that the organizational and administrative outline in these Educational Institutions embrace in general the multidimensional-reflexive model, as an equationaladapter, varying only on the organizational dynamics, on the acting ways of main agent, on the institutional effort in responding the addressee"s demands; in other words, on the adaptability of the new demands, resulting a hybrid combination.


In the near future, Photovoltaic (PV) will play an main role in power generation. Though, the associated drawback with this system is regular maintenance. PV panels can undergo fault over long days of use checking the panel manually under working condition is not recommended, as it cause danger to operator. Thus, this paper present identification of occurrence short circuit fault in the PV panel which is connected to the grid by using Artificial Neutral Network in MATLAB software, in order to reduce the workmen effort and also to reduce the time consumption to identify the occurrence of fault.


ABSTRACT The relationship between trajectories of forest cover change and fragmentation due to physical and anthropogenic activities in Sariska Tiger Reserve is addressed in the article. The authors conducted a field visit to the reserve to collect groundtruth data and perform a village survey. Thereafter, their main method consisted of using Landsat TM images for three days, one in each of the years 1989, 1994, and 2014, to assess spatial-temporal variation in forest cover. A fragmentation model was used to examine the extent and pattern of forest degradation. The results showed an overall increase in forest cover in Sariska Tiger Reserve from 53% in 1989 to 55% in 2014. However, the fragmentation statistics revealed a deterioration in forest health. There was an increase in the fragmentation categories perforated, edge, and patch in their respective areas, while the core areas decreased at the expense of other fragmentation classes. The existence of villages, roads, and pilgrimage sites had increased the pace of degradation and fragmentation of forest in the reserve. The authors conclude that the fragmentation model was effective for analysing forest degradation and identifying the priority areas for strategic planning of nature conservation.


OBJECTIVES
These were to assess whether ART restorations and sealants could be provided to children in a school environment in China, to assess patient acceptability of the ART approach, and to evaluate on a longitudinal basis the treatments performed.

METHODS
This study was conducted in Deyang, Sichuan Province, in western China. A total of 294 ART restorations were placed in 197 children and 191 fissure sealants were placed in 140 children by five middle-level dentists in four secondary schools. Standard instruments and procedures for ART were used. The restorative material used was a high-strength glass-ionomer (Ketac-Molar, ESPE). The treatments were evaluated annually after placement by the same examiner who had not been involved in the placement of the restorations nor sealants using explorers and mouth-mirrors. At the 3-year examination an independent external examiner evaluated the restorations using USPHS criteria.

RESULTS
Most of the children did not report discomfort during treatment and 92% were willing to receive ART restorations again. The cumulative 1-year and 3-year survival rates of small Class I restorations were 99% and 92% respectively. The corresponding figures for large Class I restorations were 90% and 77%. After 3 years, 72% of the sealants were either partially or completely retained. Only 2% of the sealed teeth developed fissure caries and these involved teeth where the sealants had been lost. Similar success rates were found using USPHS criteria.

CONCLUSIONS
The ART approach for preventing and treating tooth decay in Chinese school children was shown to be appropriate, effective and acceptable. The 3-year survival rates of the restorations were high but were related to the size and type of the restoration.


The pharmacology of cerebral ischemia features 100 molecules and 20 potentially interesting mechanisms for preventing the tissue damage induced by anoxia-ischemia. The intricacy and complexity of the


SUMMARY

Seven Voges-Proskauer-positive yeasts were isolated from 290 cans of frozen concentrated orange juice representative of the 1962 season's pack. Taxonomy studies of 4 isolates showed the presence of 2 strains of Saccharomyces. Each of the identified yeast strains grew and produced diacetyl in 12° Brix orange juice and 42° Brix orange concentrate, then subsequently removed it. Reagent-grade diacetyl added to a 42° Brix sucrose solution inoculated with one of the test organisms was reduced 95% after 7 days at room temperature. The metabolic process involved in removing diacetyl from a product by yeast is not known.


Zeeman spectra of several transitions in the A 1A″–X 1A′ (000)–(000) band of HCF have been studied by the method of laser induced fluorescence. Lamb dip spectra obtained by the technique of intermodulated fluorescence allowed very high resolutions to be obtained, while the use of a circularly polarized laser beam in the Doppler limited spectrum enabled the absolute sense of the Zeeman splittings to be determined. Magnetic properties of the A state are shown to arise mainly from electron orbital interaction with highly excited vibrational levels of the ground state and, in addition, there are several very localized singlet–triplet perturbations.


In this work, we verified how MaexPro model calculations correspond to the observations of aerosol extinction in the near-surface layer of the coastal atmosphere. It is shown that the particle size distribution functions and spectral aerosol extinction coefficients, calculated using the model with the input parameters corresponding most closely to the conditions of experiment, agree well with observations and calculations using MODTRAN code.


Polarized single-crystal electronic absorption spectra have been recorded for [AsPh4][CrOCl4] at 77 and 4.2 K in the energy range 4 000–40 000 cm–1. Three band systems have been identified and have been assigned to the three possible d–d transitions in C4v symmetry. The previously unreported band system originating at ca. 20 000 cm–1 has been assigned to the one-electron promotion dxy→dz2.


Multi-diameter single fiber reflectance (MDSFR) spectroscopy enables quantitative measurement of tissue optical properties, including the reduced scattering coefficient and the phase function parameter γ. However, the accuracy and speed of the procedure are currently limited by the need for co-localized measurements using multiple fiber optic probes with different fiber diameters. We here demonstrate the use of a coherent fiber bundle acting as a single fiber with a variable diameter for the purposes of MDSFR spectroscopy. We have previously shown that the spectral reflectance and effective path lengths measured by the fiber bundles are equivalent to those measured by single solid-core fibers for fiber diameters between 0.4 and 1.0 mm (r ≥ 0.997). Based on these results, the coherent fiber bundle was deemed suitable for use as a variable-diameter fiber in clinical MDSFR quantification of tissue optical properties. In this paper we discuss the details of the setup, the limitations of the current experimental design as well as future improvements of the setup.


The Moringa oleifera ( M. oleifera ) leaves are very nutritious leaves, rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. The leaves are also used for varied applications such as nutritional and medicinal purposes. This potential presents M. oleifera as a leaf with economic cum health prospects especially to agrarian communities. To sustain these potential benefits of M. oleifera , a means of processing them has to be developed and this process must not in any way reduce the nutritional value of the leaves. Drying under room condition is a usual process practice for M. oleifera , this is quite remote and would not encourage large scale production which could determine the economic feasibility. However, several efforts have been reported for processing M. oleifera, yet the balance between drying and retention of nutritional content is yet to be established for mechanized drying process. Therefore, there is the need to develop a mechanized chamber for green-drying M. oleifera . In this work, development of an efficient drying chamber was addressed using indigenous materials. The machine was designed, constructed and tested using fresh M. oleifera leaves. The machine is electrically-controlled via a switch and a thermocouple that will cut off the heater chamber when the required temperature is reached. To test the effectiveness of the dryer, M. oleifera leaves were dried using the designed dryer and the same quality dried using the room method. The method was able to dry M. oleifera leaves about three (3) hours compared to four (4) to seven (7) hours using the room method. The two samples were then sent to a laboratory for analysis. For nutrients like crude fibre of the sample dried using the new design yielded 7.4% crude fibre which is very close to 7.5% nutritional crude fibre content with room drying method. The drying chamber presented in this study showed efficient greendrying performance of M. oleifera with high nutritional content retention. The drying chamber presented in this work has the potential to benefit medium-scale production of M. oleifera with nutritional components. Keywords : Nutritional leaves, drying, processing, chamber, minerals, medium-scale production


Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been broadly developed and studied in the last decades, from different angles, industries, and segments. Nevertheless, most of the literature is focused on the point of view of the managers interested in CSR activities. Surprisingly, the perspective of the consumer regarding CSR has been under-researched in the scholarly field. As one of the key stakeholders and considering the importance of consumer's actions and behavior in the market, various researchers have previously analyzed this matter from specific products or dispersed sectors. Nevertheless, the conclusions of the scholarly literature are scattered and findings of a cross-cutting scope are needed. In order to fill this gap evidenced in the literature, this article summarizes an integrative literature review aimed at shedding light on the cross-sector differences in consumer attitudes towards CSR. The contributions and implications for managers interested in CSR activities, policy makers and other stakeholders are discussed.