In the 30 years after the commencement of China's reform and opening up,Economic Law of the country has experienced a process from misunderstanding,to understanding and to universal acceptance.Its history of development has been full of difficulty and joy.Now many achievements have been made and the system of Economic Law has been basically established.However,when reflecting the development of Economic Law,we still have a lot of confusion.


Computer-mediated communication among university students with different cultural backgrounds has become widespread. In this study, we examine how undergraduates N = 130 react to cultural cues when responding to an e-mail request for cooperation sent by a peer. Participants rated the sender's personality and stated their willingness to help. In the inquiry, 2 types of cultural cues were varied, resulting in a 2 × 2 factorial design: ethnicity German vs. Chinese name and communication style Western vs. Asian. Results showed that participants aligned their responses to the communication style; however, the ethnicity cue influenced the wording of their response, their perception of the sender's personality and their willingness to help. Results are discussed regarding communication accommodation and social judgment theories.


In the present paper, we report two studies examining the relationships among renunciation of desires, death anxiety, and mental health. In the first study, we constructed the Desire Questionnaire (DQ), which measures success in renouncing certain desire. The DQ has satisfactory psychometric properties. In the second study, 507 adults from a Chinese society ranging in age from 17 to 84 years (M = 35.58, SD = 14.76) completed the DQ, the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ), which measures mental health and the presence of psychiatric symptoms. As predicted, DQ had significant negative correlations with both DAS (p < .05) and CHQ (p < .01). DAS had a significant positive correlation with CHQ (p < .01). In the linear mediation model, DAS was found to partially mediate the relationship between DQ and CHQ (\(\beta\) = .21, p < .001). These results suggest that the negative effect of poor control of desires on mental health can be partially accounted for by death anxiety. These findings imply that training in eliminating desires can be a successful strategy to improve mental health. These results also support the Nonself Theory as a theory of death anxiety and show its relevance to the relationship between nonself and mental health.


The heat transfer accompanying turbulent flow in tubes has been treated by a new theory of wall turbulence, and a formula for smooth tubes has been derived which is asymptotic at Re approaches infinity. It agrees very well with the data available to date. The formula also holds for the flow along a flat plate if lambda is based on the velocity far away. For rough tubes, the unit conductance is shown to be a function of kv*/upsilon; the two empirical constants (delta(r), n) which appear in equation (52) cannot yet be determined because of lack of experimental data.


Abstract TheSilkRoadhasatwenty-fivecenturylonghistoryasanetworkofcommunicationandtraderoutesfromAsiatoEurope.Thisstudyaimstoinvestigatewhethertherearesignificantdifferences between pre- and post-travel images of Central Asia and whether the incongruencebetween pre- and post-travel image constructs influences tourists' satisfaction with the tripand their behavioural intentions. The pre- and post-travel surveys were administered to first-time Korean visitors to Central Asia. Factor analyses were conducted on pre- and post-travelimage and benefits differences. Regression analyses examined relationships among image andbenefits incongruence, trip satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Some pre- and post-travelaffective and cognitive images of Central Asia were significantly different, whereas all benefitswere perceived more positively after the trip. Also, tourists who reported positive changes inaffectiveandcognitiveimagesweremoresatisfiedwiththetripandtheirsatisfactioninfluencedtheir intentions to revisit the region.


article as follows: "Mesulam has said that 'the neu-ropathological diagnosis of AD in a patient with the clinicalpicture of PPA…should be met with skepticism; such a di-agnosis would have failed to establish a credible clinicopath-ological correlation.'" The missing phrase, replaced by an el-lipsis, had advised skepticism only if there was AD pathology"and a distribution of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloidplaques typical of AD."


Development and cultivation of undergraduate party members concern the general situation of socialist construction with Chinese characteristics, and great party construction project. Through the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of college student party members development in our country, putting forward the corresponding improvement, in order to enhance the effectiveness of development and cultivate the university student party members. Development and Cultivation Status of Chinese Undergraduate Party Members Advantages Development and Cultivation Mode of Chinese Undergraduate Party Members Active Implementation of Ideological and Political Education for Party Members. In the new period of reform and opening up, Chinese Communist Party proposed a series of new views and new measures to enhance ideological and political education. These lay theoretical foundation for quality assurance of undergraduate party members and for development of undergraduate party members. Meanwhile, they make development of undergraduate party members thrive. Ideological education work is beneficial for undergraduate party members to establish communist lofty ideals inwardly and offers powerful spiritual strength for quality assurance mechanism of undergraduate party members. In 1990, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued Notice on Enhancing Party Building in Institutions of Higher Education. Since then, annual nationwide university party building conference has been held as scheduled to discuss current situation and prospect of university student party building, in the hope of keeping improving the quality of undergraduate party members. Effective Construction of Party Member Quality Assurance Mechanism. Quality assurance mechanism construction for undergraduate party members has achieved significant progress. "It is necessary to carry out ideological and political education for undergraduates, well develop undergraduate party members and gather excellent undergraduates in party member team". This is the guiding ideology of development of undergraduate party members. The quality of undergraduate party members decides the success or failure of socialist construction. In order to guarantee the quality of undergraduate party members, Chinese Communist Party continuously formulates measures and issues documents. Chinese Communist Party hopes to guarantee the quality of undergraduate party members through system construction. As undergraduate party building work goes deep, the researches on quality assurance mechanism of undergraduate party members increase gradually. Aiming at the International Conference on Humanities and Social Science (HSS 2016) © 2016. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 779 problems existing in development of undergraduate party members, university party building workers keep on studying and exploring quality assurance mechanism and have obtained preliminary achievements. Shortcomings of Development and Cultivation Mode of Chinese Undergraduate Party Members Working Procedure Lacks Norms. During development of undergraduate party members, some party workers often fail to work according to rules and regulations in order to save time, fail to arrange trainers for activists of party membership application and fail to cultivate and fill in training investigation registration sheet one year in advance as required. Instead, they let the activists of party membership application self-develop, self-cultivate and self-grow. Only when they consider the activists of party membership application basically comply with the conditions of a probationary party member will they hurry to supplement relevant teaching materials, and arrange training time. In short, they cannot carefully execute relevant policy regulations. Since working system and working procedure lack norms, many potential applicants are lost in this process, or probationary party members who scrape in party member team fail to reach the due effect, because they are not well trained. Some student party members fail to fully cultivate party spirit. In recent years, the vast majority of undergraduate party members can consciously maintain the image of the party, stick to and publicize path and policy of the party, actively boycott impacts of various bad phenomena and consciousness and show brisk vitality and vigor. However, some student party members fail to fully cultivate party spirit, pay no attention to maintaining the image of the party, relax and even give up political study after joining the party, and weaken party member awareness and the concept of party spirit. Meanwhile, their goal pursuit weakens, and they lose their enterprise and sense of responsibility. Suggestions on Improving Development and Cultivation of Chinese Undergraduate Party members Cultivation of undergraduate party members is based on certain political goal and aims to reach the purpose of party spirit culture and political accomplishment under effective system guarantee through selection, recommendation, party school training, brand training. In such way, they can own the awareness of serving the people wholeheartedly and firm communistic belief. Thus, scientific guarantee mechanism should be established to ensure cultivation quality of student party members. To Perfect Party Member Selection Mechanism and Grasp the Quality of "entry" Selection and recommendation are the preconditions of cultivation quality of student party members, and also the key to "selecting good seeds". Party workers must control the "entry" for party member development, and adhere to comprehensive quality in political accomplishment, organizational discipline, learning ability and mass base as assessment criterion. In terms of development procedure, the procedure of each link should be controlled strictly, including recommendation, cultivation and education of activists of party membership application; political review and publicity of development objects; acceptance, education, investigation, publicity and regularization of probationary party members. The principle of "developing the party member whenever he (she) becomes mature" should be adhered to. In the aspect of development


Social media advertising has revolutionised the advertising world by providing data-driven targeting methods. One area where social media advertising is just gaining a foothold is in the recruitment of clinical study participants. Here, as everywhere, social media advertising promises more yield per money spent because the technology can better reach highly specialised groups. In this article, we point out severe societal risks posed by advertising for clinical studies on social media. We show that social media advertising for clinical studies in many cases violates the privacy of individual users (R1), creates collective privacy risks by helping platform companies train predictive models of medical information that can be applied to all their users (R2), exploits the weaknesses of existing guidelines in (biomedical) research ethics (R3) and is detrimental to the quality of (biomedical) research (R4). We argue that the well-intentioned promises, which are often associated with the use of social media advertising for clinical studies, are untenable from a balanced point of view. Consequently, we call for updates of research ethics guidelines and better regulation of Big Data and inferential analytics. We conclude that social media advertising – especially with vulnerable patient populations – is not suitable as a recruitment tool for clinical studies as long as the processing of (even anonymised) social media usage data and the training of predictive models by data analytics and artificial intelligence companies is not sufficiently regulated.


EMBOLISM to an arterial bifurcation is at best a clinical impression. Positive diagnosis depends on removal of the embolus. For this reason most papers on the subject have been limited to surgical cases. During the four-year period 1950–1953 I saw and treated conservatively a number of probable brachial and popliteal or tibial emboli without loss of life or limb. In the same period 15 embolectomies among 13 subjects were performed at the aortic, iliac and femoral bifurcations. Except for collective reviews individual series have been small. Warren and Linton,1 in 1948, reported 18 aortic, iliac and femoral embolectomies by several . . .


read :—ip£> TO Xt^rrov iXTrio" eiprjo~ei /JLOVOV. Schmidt's treatment of this verse is remarkable. In EAIIIA he finds XAPIN: in EYPH2EIN, EKTISEIN: in MONON, 2TOAON: in TOAfil, HOAEI: in 2TON, nOTE : and so evolves a verse which has not a word, except the first, in common with the text; viz. epels iroXei TTOTC X^P eKTuxew OTOXOV. (ii. 170). He anticipates the criticism that, in a textual sense, he has ' not left one stone standing on another'; but expects an admission that ' in detail the changes are not improbable, and the restored sense leaves nothing to be desired.' We know on good authority—that of Dionysus himself—that the equanimity of Sophocles in the shades was what it had been on earth; but verily there are some things here that might try it a little, if there is any consciousness of emendations in the house of Hades. Consider, for example, O.T. 1084 : TOioVSe 8' iK<t>vs OVK av iitXOoip'


Abstract The paper presents the results of experimental investigations performed by the authors on the casting position factor. It was proved that at the height of reinforced concrete elements there are different bond conditions. Moreover, the bond depends on concrete mechanical properties, element height as well as concrete mix composition and consistency. The experiments also showed the advisability of determining the casting position factor separately for bars from normal concrete and those from high–performance concrete (HPC). The analysis of investigation results has shown that "good" bond conditions are a relative concept and depend on, among other things, element height. The higher the element the better the concrete to lower bars bond. Consequently, elements of considerable height (higher than 600 mm) demonstrate a bigger difference between concrete to upper bars bond and concrete to lower bars bond.


This paper expounds the lining thinkness and seam as well as slope ratio required in canal lining with concrete against seepage, according to large engineering practical experiences, and puts forward some problems which should be noticed in designs .


A non-dragraked bed of Chondrus crispus Stackhouse (Rustico) showed a greater year-round carposporangial reproductive capacity than a dragraked bed (Miminegash). The former had a lower frond density but larger fronds which were the major sources of reproduction. Although carposporangial sori had a greater area and were more frequently full in Miminegash, reproductive capacity was higher in Rustico due to higher sorus densities per frond and sample unit. All the studied parameters did not show significant (P = 0.05) differences between the study sites for tetrasporophytes, resulting in similar overall tetrasporangial reproductive capacities. Reproductive capacity peaked in Miminegash prior to the harvesting season. Class 4 and 5 fronds (largest fronds) have the greatest reproductive capacity. To protect this source of spores and thus improve bed reproductive potential, a 1-mo delay in the present season opening date is suggested. The much higher tetrasporophyte reproductive capacity over that of carposporo...


The aim of the present study is to evaluate the status of salivary nitric oxide in patients with dental caries. The study consisted of 80 individuals. According to DFMT index, the subjects were divided into control group (DMFT=0) and study group (DMFT>5).Saliva sample was collected from each subject. Nitric oxide concentration was measured as total nitrates and nitrites by the Griess reaction method. The results of this study show that the presence of NO and its metabolites in saliva of adults with natural healthy teeth is significantly higher compared to high risk group, suggesting the protective role of NO in relation to caries. From the study it can be concluded that highly significant increase of nitrates and nitrites in stimulated saliva of high caries risk group could be the host defense response opposing bacterial growth. The obtained results support the role of NO as modulator of bacterial proliferation and suggest that increased NO production might contribute to lower caries incidence in adults.


In this study, the amount of collagen tissue and protein digestibility were determined in some meat products. While the content of total protein was determined between 11.44-19.47 Per cent in salamis, 7.64-14.83 Per cent in sausages and 19.06-28.30 Per cent in soudjouks, the amount of collagen tissue protein in total protein was determined between 6.57-18.53 Per cent in salamis, 6.16-23.56 Per cent in sausages and 3.60-15.74 Per cent in soudjouks. The protein digestibility with pepsin+tripsin digestion was found 69.93-80.23% in salamis, 67.0-80.12% in sausages and 69.20-82.70% in soudjoucks. It was found that, when the amount of collagen tissue increases in samples, the protein digestibility decreases. In addition, the amount of water, fat and ash in samples were determined.


ISSN: 0963-9489 (Print) 1469-9869 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cmcf20 Twilight of the elites: prosperity, periphery and the future of France Emile Chabal To cite this article: Emile Chabal (2019) Twilight of the elites: prosperity, periphery and the future of France, Modern & Contemporary France, 27:4, 525-526, DOI: 10.1080/09639489.2019.1642313 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2019.1642313


It is a fundamental problem in quantum information whether a particular quantum state of a composite system is entangled. It has enormous potential in quantum error correction, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation applications. This problem can be transferred in the form of a mathematical conjecture called the distillation conjecture. In the first section of this paper, relevant physical and mathematical information is presented, including basic linear algebra knowledge, the statement, and concrete applications of multiple mathematical knowledge like conjugate, eigenvalue, and singular value. Then, we introduce the distillation conjecture in a mathematical version for a more precise mathematical analysis. In an effort to make more significant headway in proving the conjecture, we selected some theories and findings relating to the Kronecker product, Kronecker sum, eigenvalue, and singular value, then evaluated and grouped them. In addition, we provided multiple proofs of the conjecture under varying conditions and made numerous attempts and hypotheses regarding how to establish the conjecture.


An inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry(ICP-AES)for the determination of low content silicon dioxide in fluorite was studied.The sample was liquated with a mixed flux of unhydrous sodium carbonat and bonic acid,soaked out with hydrochloric acid(1+5),and then the sample solution was measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission in system of nebulizer and torch resistant to hydrofluoric acid.Conditions of sample processing,instrument measurement,interferences of coexisting elements and matrix were tested.The optimum analytical wavelength of 212.412 nm was selected for silicon dioxide in accordance with comparative result of the sensitivities,interferences and correlation coefficients of all analytical wavelengths.The method has been applied to the determination of silicon dioxide(0.70%-5.00%)in fluorite reference materials with relative standard deviations of 0.51%-1.46%.The determination results are consistent with the certified values or those of national standard method.


A facile method was developed to synthesize porous polyimide (PI) films with enhanced adhesion to Cu foil. Various amounts (0.1-4 wt %) of polystyrene (PS) spheres with the diameter of 250 nm were mixed with the PI precursor synthesized from pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and 4,4 0 -oxydianiline in N,N 0 -dimethylacetamide. PS was decomposed during thermal imidization process to create the porous PI structure. The increase in surface area and surface roughness was observed from the obtained po- rous PI films and was a function of the PS content up to 4 wt %. A significant improvement in the adhesion strength between porous PI film and Cu foil, which was determined by 90 � peel test, was achieved. The adhesion strength of PI containing 4 wt % PS to Cu was 1.53 kgf/cm compared with pure PI of 1.08 kgf/cm. Meanwhile, the synthesized porous PI films exhibit sufficient mechanical strength and thermal stability for practical applications. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 126: E365-E370, 2012


Solid oxide fuel cell(SOFC) technology and its status and problems were briefly described.Several topics for furtherresearch and development were proposed.


We have designed and built a re-imaging device for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), which converts the full 10.4m telescope into a small (<1m) off-axis telescope with a 3' beam. The device operates at both 230 GHz and 490 GHz and has allowed us to map large portions of molecular clouds in the 3P1 -> 3P0 transition of neutral carbon (v~225 GHz). The combination of the instrument and the CSO makes available a small telescope with a good surface and minimum blockage and spillover at a high quality site. Because the design avoids having sunlight strike the CSO's primary, we can observe during the day when the full, 10.4 meter telescope is not otherwise usable. Two, two-month seasons with teh instrument have greatly increased our understanding of the large-scale distribution of [C I] emission in the Galaxy.


Let Fq[t] be the polynomial ring over the finite field Fq, and let GN be the subset of Fq[t] containing all polynomials of degree strictly less than N . Define D(N) to be the maximal cardinality of a set A ⊆ GN for which A − A contains no squares of polynomials. By combining the polynomial Hardy-Littlewood circle method with the density increment technology developed by Pintz, Steiger and Szemeredi, we prove that D(N) q (logN)/N .


The Zeeman-effect experiment is designed to quantify the amount of mercury resonance radiation production at lambda2537 at elevated (i.e., >42/sup 0/C) cold-spot temperatures in a mercury discharge tube in the presence of an external magnetic field. A 24% enhancement is observed at a field value of approximately 700 gauss where the Zeeman splitting is comparable to the Doppler width. The value of the magnetic field of the maximum is in agreement with the Richardson-Berman theory.


Synopsis Newly hatched hybrid and Brown Leghorn chicks were fed on diets in either pellet or mash form and growth and feeding behaviour were studied. The mash was made by re‐grinding the pellets. All chicks fed on pellets were heavier after 40 d, but had eaten no more than those fed on mash. The apparent digestibilities of pellets and mash were about the same in the hybrid chicks but was greater for mash than pellets with the Leghorn birds. All chicks fed on mash spent more time feeding than those fed on pellets, but the times spent on drinking and resting were similar with both food forms. Chicks which were given a choice of food form consistently preferred mash to pellets. It is concluded that pelleted food was converted more efficiently than mash mainly because chicks spent less time feeding on pellets and so expended less energy, and in the case of the Leghorns there may have been improved digestibility when the food was pelleted.


Remote sensing technology can be used to obtain information bathymetry. Bathymetric information plays an important role for fisheries, hydrographic and navigation safety. Bathymetric information derived from remote sensing data is highly dependent on the quality of satellite data use and processing. One of the processing to be done is the atmospheric correction process. The data used in this study is Landsat 8 image obtained on June 19, 2013. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different atmospheric correction on bathymetric information extraction from Landsat satellite image data 8. The atmospheric correction methods applied were the minimum radiant, Dark Pixels and ATCOR. Bathymetry extraction result of Landsat 8 uses a third method of atmospheric correction is difficult to distinguish which one is best. The calculation of the difference extraction results was determined from regression models and correlation coefficient value calculation error is generated.


The charter of the project was to review alcohol production processes and feedstock, study their application to floating plant technology and perform case studies that would show the near term potential for these types of plants. The four case studies dealt with production of methanol from natural gas in Cook Inlet, Alaska; methanol from natural gas in Baltimore Canyon, Atlantic Ocean; ethanol and methanol from codisposed refuse and sludge--long range plan for New York City; ethanol from agricultural feedstocks and MSW, State of Louisiana. Two plants were used in design and economic studies--1000 TPD methanol plant and 250 TPD ethanol plant.


SUMMARY The cytoplasm of the male germ-cells of Porrocaecum. angusticolle contains (1) phospholipid granules, (2) 'refringent bodies' consisting of ribonucleoproteins at first, but some masked lipids as well in the late spermatid, (3) mitochondria of the usual lipoprotein nature. The refringent bodies arise in the spermatocytes in close association with the phospholipid granules ('Golgi bodies') by the aggregation of cytoplasmic basiphil material. In the spermatids the refringent bodies gradually fuse to form a single cone-like structure which occupies the narrow posterior region of the spermatozoon. This cone-like structure, judging from its origin in close association with the 'Golgi bodies' (acroblasts), is the homologue of the acrosome of a normal flagellate sperm; but it is completely devoid of polysaccharides and seems unable to function as an acrosome, since it occupies a position posterior to the nucleus in the spermatozoon. On the contrary, some polysaccharides have been demonstrated by the authors in the broad anterior region of the spermatozoon, which may be functioning as an acrosome.


The development of the computer network technology has made great contributions to the civilization and improvement of human being. However, it is, at the same time, a double-edged sword, and it has provided the crime much breeding ground, and turned a new cause of the crime mentality. The technology bring more types of the crime body, make the crime motive and aim diversified, and give the traditional crime a new feature of network. Meanwhile, the development of the technology brings deep revolution in the field of research method of crime mentality, mental calculation, including privation technology of crime.


tian, and Near-Eastern parts of Herodotus' history are omitted from consideration. The opening section will serve as an example of Gottlieb's method. It deals with the Pisistratids. He accepts the views of Heidbuchel for the chronology of the period and for the nature of our information. Thus he supposes that Herodotus did not draw on any literary tradition, and a fortiori that Herodotus' successors had no literary evidence before that of Herodotus. The passages which name Aristion as the proposer of the motion, give the places where Pisistratus stayed in exile, describe the arrival of Phye, and give details about Timonassa, are all assigned to a 'gut verburgte Tradition und lebendige Erinnerung'. The passages which come under consideration are in Aristotle, Ath. Pol. 13-17, Thucydides vi. 54-59, fragments of Theopompus, Philochorus, and Cleidemus, stratagems of Polyaenus, references in Aeneas Tacticus, Justin, Frontinus, Plutarch, and so on. Each passage is summarized or translated; some references are given in footnotes; and then we pass on to the next topic. The few pages of summary at the end of the book, pp. 130-6, return to the Pisistratids and conclude that Herodotus knew most of the incidents which not he but later writers related about the Pisistratids and that these incidents were genuine, being preserved in an oral tradition.


A shock absorber comprises a cylinder containing the oil seal, and a piston connected to a piston rod, and is introduced into the cylinder. Using a damping force generating mechanism, the shock absorber generates a damping force by controlling an oil flow, which is generated in accordance with movement of the piston. A separation tube is arranged externally around the cylinder. The oil is passed over a Abzweigungsrohre which is integrally formed on a cylindrical side wall of the separator tube in the damping force generating mechanism. The Abzweigungsrohre is formed on the cylindrical side wall of the partition tube by drawing work. Both sides of a proximal portion of the Abzweigungsrohre are pressed in a circumferential direction of the side wall of the partition tube from an interior such that an inner peripheral surface is radially bulged outwardly, whereby recesses are formed. As a result, it is possible to reduce a residual elongation stress at the proximal portion of the Abzweigungsrohre or eliminate in order to increase a pressure resistance and durability.


The question of humanity is the basic problem of the eastern and western philosophy,especially the moral philosophy.From the ethical perspective of the East-West traditional cognition about humanity,this paper describes the differences of the various awareness of humanity,proposing the limitations of the traditional theory of Humanity,and on this basis,pointing out that the social biology is the possible path of human cognition.


The effect of trisomy-G/normal mosaicism is not quite clear. Some mosaic individuals are similar to a mongoloid patient and others are quite normal; the latter has been the case with a few mothers of mongoloid children (5). In view of this variability we thought it of interest to report a case which differs from most of the earlier cases. Our case seemed also to accord with the experiences of Kohn et a]. ( 3 ) that mental prognosis is not much better for mosaic dysplastic cases than for pure trisomy G mongoloids.


Development Credit Agreement (Rural Environment Project) between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the International Development Association (with schedules and General Conditions Applicable to Development Credit Agreements dated 1 January 1985, as amended through 1 May 2004). Baku, 17 January 2006


Knowledge management is a necessary way for the colleges and universities to bring up better postgraduates. This paper proposes a construction mode of postgraduate tutor teams based on knowledge management and discusses the operation system of such tutor teams that focus on innovation capability of the postgraduates so as to realize good and high efficient interaction between the tutor teams and the postgraduates.


Human must have the ability to understand, because understanding can prevent people from misunderstandings and conflicts. Similarly, public junior high school (PJHS) students need to have mathematical understanding ability (MUA) for a reason, that is, MUA is an important part in problem solving. In fact, MUA of PJHS students was still low. This research was conducted to contribute in improving students' MUA. There were 158 students engaged in the experiment classroom as well as in the conventional one taken from PJHS 1, 2, and 4 from district of Deli Serdang, PJHS 17 and 22 from Medan City, Indonesia. Joyful problem based learning (JPBL) approach was applied to attain the purpose of the research. The study used essay-test to measure students' MUA. The score obtained was then analyzed by t-independent test, while student performance in solving MUA problems was described descriptively. Results of the research: (1) Students MUA' score was higher in the experiment classroom than in the conventional one. (2) The improvement of students MUA in the experiment classroom belongs to medium category. (3) The students' performance in MUA was better in the JPBL classroom than it was in the conventional one. Some students faced difficulties both in explaining the solution and in giving example of a mathematical concept. Overall, the students' performance was best at the aspect of presenting problem in mathematics equation. Based on the findings, the study suggests teachers to give reinforcement in both aspect where students lacked of by, for example, encouraging them to solve a variety of problems which eliciting the aspect of explaining and giving examples.


A difference spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of 2.5–5 mg ml–1 amounts of oestrogens (esters of oestrone and oestradiol) in oily injections in the presence of a large excess of 4-ene-3-ketosteroids. The method is based on a bathochromic shift of the ultraviolet spectrum of the extracts of the samples in methanol in alkaline media. Any interference caused by co-extracted oil or by unsaturated ketosteroids is eliminated by careful choice of pH settings (9.2 for the reference solution by using borate buffer and the test solution 0.2 N in sodium hydroxide) and reduction with sodium borohydride, respectively. The difference between the results found and the label claims for four formulations was less than 2% and the relative standard deviations ranged between 1.1 and 1.7%.


A hysteresis regulator with double synchronization (hereafter, HDS-regulator) realizes one of the promising ways to satisfy efficiency, simplicity and stability of pulse energy conversion. Here we focus on research of peculiar bifurcation-like effects in dynamics of HDS-regulators. Usually, bifurcations and states about bifurcation points mean either beginning or development of abnormal tendencies in pulse system dynamics towards technological risk. However, the bifurcation-like effects systematized and discussed in the paper seem to be rather useful than dangerous ones. We attract the technology of computer-based bifurcation analysis specialized for dynamical systems with variable structures in order to make clear this issue. A practical conclusion on the revealed peculiarities of HDS-regulators dynamics is formulated. We believe that the results could be interesting for researches and engineers in the field of pulse system control.


Global competition, the changing needs of the client and various problems of modern society predict new challenges for the economy of the 21st century. Knowledge and »being one step ahead of others« will be the crucial factors of success. Innovativeness and creation of innovation-friendly athosphere will become increasingly important. The main goal of the thesis is to present possibilities of using innovation management in construction sector, which, as a traditional sector, is slow to implement modern concepts. The fundamentals of innovation management, i.e. definitions, methods for creation and evaluation of ideas, methods to be used to select the best ideas, and possibilities for idea protection are presented. Special features of construction industry in this field are presented. Innovation process stakeholders both in the European Union as well as in Slovenia are described, with particular emphasis to Slovenian Construction Cluster as the institution carrying out both technological transfer and competition co-operation. Further, the current state of innovativeness in Slovenian construction companies is presented. Selected cases of technical and non-technical innovations in construction are described along with cost evaluation of selected product evaluation by using the whole life costing method. The results show that there are several cases of innovation management good practice in the Slovenian construction industry.


This study was carried out to investigate whether asian yellow sand dust (AS) has promoting effects of allergen-related airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness, because the number of patient with allergic asthma and atopy, and with chronic bronchial inflammation and pneumonia have increased steadily in the cities of Korea. The appearance of AS collected was all round and nat, and the diameter was mostly below about 5 ㎛. When mice were treated with AS suspension by intratracheal instillation combined with ovalalbumin (OVA) sensitization chronically, the level of serum L-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), IgE and histamine, and respiratory resistance was increased. Intratracheal instillation of AS and OVA also enhanced infiltration of eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), IgE and eotaxin expression, and T helper type 2 cell derived cyrokines of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13 and IL-5 as major contributors to allergy and asthma. These results indicate that AS elevates allergen-related airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in mice and may play an important role in the aggravation of respiratory diseases in Korea.


PURPOSE: A device and a method for the DRM(Digital Rights Management) to share contents of a home server are provided to share the contents by offering a common use rule when the contents in the home server are used through each personal terminal. CONSTITUTION: A shopping mall server(100) provides the contents including the DRM by a contents request. The first to the 'n'th user(200-1¯200-n) of a user group(200) used as the home server installing the contents by downloading the contents from the shopping mall server directly play the contents in case that license information for the installed contents are valid. The '1-1'th to the 'n-n'th(200-1-1¯200-n-n) user used as a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant) receiving the contents from the home server directly play the contents if the use rule is valid through the use rule verification. A transaction certification server(300) provides the license information by a license information request from the contents user group.


Focus white light laser into liquids, and "coherent rainbows" show up, namely, colorful interference rings with different shapes. The formation mechanism of such coherent rainbows is the following. The laser heating changes the local temperature distribution of the liquid, which affects the refractive index locally and thus the optical path difference, i.e., thermal lens effect which may cause the laser to go off at large angles. The curvature of the laser wavefront and the convection and bubbles in the liquid also play some roles, as reported here. The wave front curvature results in the asymmetry of the coherent rainbows near the focal point because the wave front curvature in front of the focal point is negative and the wave front curvature at behind of the focal point is positive. The coherent rainbow has an oval shape with up-down asymmetry because convection in the locally heated liquid leads to an asymmetric temperature distribution. We construct a function including wave front curvature and thermal lens effect and obtain the relationship between the size of the coherent rainbows and the position of the sample. As a result of the liquid instability induced by the laser heating, the temperature distribution in the liquid is no longer axisymmetric, thus, the focal lengths of the transverse and longitudinal thermal concave lens are no longer the same. The fitting results agree well with the experimental observations that the coherent rainbows change faster (slower) in front of (behind) the focal point and the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the coherent rainbows are different. Many tiny bubbles are generated in water at the center of the laser beam, forming a local "black barrier" which explains the observation that there are diffraction rings and Poisson-type bright spot in the dark area of the coherent rainbows. The coherent rainbows have been observed in many liquids where the shape and number of rings of coherent rainbows depend on liquid properties such as density, viscosity and thermal conductivity.


In the present study the reaction-diffusion manifolds (REDIM) method for model reduction is applied to detect extinction strain rates of highly diluted hydrogen/nitrogen and air counter-flow diffusion non-premixed flames at different ambient pressures. The considered problem inhibits miscellaneous challenges for modeling of reactive flows and is therefore well suited for testing the REDIM reduction method. First of all, by assigning critical strain rates the model's ability to capture transient system behavior is investigated. Moreover, critical system regimes of extinction are strongly influenced by the pressure dependence of chain branching and termination mechanisms. This leads to a nonmonotonic dependence between system pressure and extinction limits. The aim of the present work is to find out to what extent the REDIM method is capable to reproduce these complex chemical chain branching and termination channels. Furthermore, in highly diluted hydrogen counter-flow diffusion flames the fast molecular transport of radicals into the reaction zone is strongly affecting the flame stability. Consequently, detailed transport models must be considered in this critical case, which represents an additional task for the reduced model. In the present work, results of reduced simulations based on the REDIM method are compared with detailed calculations and experimental data to show the ability of the REDIM model reduction method to account for such critical regimes of nonstationary combustion processes and to reproduce the nonmonotonic function of critical strain rate dependent on the system pressure in the case of a detailed transport model.


EfFECTIVE control of recurrent acute suppurative otitis media is a continuing problem, especially for certain high-risk patients. Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy have proved to be of questionable benefit as long-term treatments. Tympanostomy tube replacement for prevention of acute suppurative otitis media has yet to be studied adequately. Chemoprophylaxis with ampicillin or sulfa drugs appears to be a reasonable alternative for control of acute otitis media.


This study has four objectives: first, it aims to describe the evaluation context, input, process, and product of DSE program with implementing ISO 9001:2008 standard quality management system. Second, describes DSE implementation that contains about DSE implementation effectiveness. Third, find out the level of customer satisfaction, namely students also DU/DI . Fourth, describes performance improvement of Pokja Prakerin . Type of this research is quantitative descriptive. Data collection methods used questionnaires, documentation, interviews and triangulation. Data analysis method used is descriptive quantitative with a percentage. Based on the research results, it is known that: first, implementation of  CIPP evaluation i.e. context, input, process, and product by implementing ISO 9001:2008 is quite good. Second, implementation of all DSE components in General in accordance with the DSE provisions organizing, effectiveness of DSE implementation reviewed from all of its components is effective category with the percentage of 76,2%. Third, the level of customer satisfaction at SMK Negeri 1 Bawang was in the satisfied category at 75.1% (students) also 69.4% ( DU/DI ). Fourth, implementation of ISO 9001:2008 on DSE program at SMK Negeri 1 Bawang have running well. Keywords : Evaluation, Quality Management System, ISO Standards, DSE, Customer Satisfaction


In this study, three up‐flow fixed‐bed bioreactors, named as A, B, and C, packed with polycaprolactone (PCL) under different filling ratios (31%, 62%, and 93%, respectively), were investigated over a long period (96 days). During the stable period, the mean effluent NO3‐- N concentrations in reactors A, B, and C were 1.35 ± 0.50, 1.07 ± 0.41, and 1.03 ± 0.27 mg/L, respectively, which showed the removal of NO3‐- N was not closely related to filling ratio (p > 0.05, one‐way ANOVA). However, it was found that biomass in reactor A was 2.13 and 5.55 times in B and C, respectively. Excessively thick biofilm refrained the enzymatic hydrolysis of PCL and biofilm's specific denitrification rate (SDNR). Backwash stimulated organic matter release and enabled biofilm to restore its denitrification activity. The maximum cycle of backwash was 6 days for the lowest filling ratio reactor. Additionally, the utilization rates for denitrification were 83.3%, 86.4%, and 60.5% in reactors A, B, and C, respectively, which was higher after backwash than before backwash.


In this paper, a fully differential injection locked frequency divider (ILFD) is presented. The coupled inductive peaking is proposed in the ILFD for millimeter-wave applications requiring wide locking range with low injection power levels and low power consumption. Implemented in 0.18μm SiGe BiCMOS process, the proposed ILFD achieves an operational locking range of 3.5 GHz with an input power of -8 dBm and an average single-ended output power of -5 dBm. The ILFD core uses a silicon area of only 190μm × 290 μm. The power consumption is 6.5mW with a supply voltage of 1.8V.


This paper addresses two questions regarding models of service quality: single- vs. two-predictor models and items vs dimensions. This paper derives six alternative models specified by a two-way factorial design: 3 types of models (SERVQUAL vs. SERVPERF vs. two-predictor model) 2 abstraction levels (5 dimensions vs. 22 items). It compares the alternative models with the criteria of predictability, interpretability, and usefulness. It analytically examines the alternative models with the linkages between a theoretical three-predictor model and the alternative models, and empirically compares the alternative models based on data sets collected in five service industries with a convenient sampling technique. The analyses show that the two-predictor model is superior to SERVQUAL and SERVPERF in view of the three criteria. The two-predictor model allows one to examine the effects of expectation and performance on customer satisfaction. This property is important because the management of expectation is as important as the management of performance in managing customer satisfaction. It is possible to recover the two-predictor model as well as SERVPERF from a data set required for SERVQUAL. Thus, it is reasonable to use the two-predictor model as well as SERVQUAL and SERVPERF for gaining more meaningful insights on service quality.


Along with the increasing rising of wind power penetration level, the growing problem of wind power curtailment occurs in partial power grids in China. The evaluation on wind power accommodation capability(WPAC)of power grid from the perspective to day-ahead time is favorable for the optimization of scheduling and operation of power grid to improve the utilization rate of wind power. A multi-objective model to evaluate the day-ahead WPAC, in which the maximized wind power accommodation and optimized economic power generation are taken as objectives,is constructed. To coordinate the two contradictory optimization objectives, by means of defining two objective membership functions the deterministic problems are fuzzified and the maximized satisfaction index method is utilized to turn the constructed multi-objective optimization problem into single-objective optimization problem. Taking IEEE 118-bus54-machine testing system as the case, the constructed model is solved by General Algebraic Modeling System(GAMS) based simulation platform, and the solution shows that above-mentioned model can consider both the optimization of WPAC and the economy of power grid generation simultaneously, and the computation results are available for reference to the dispatchers in the drafting of the day-ahead scheduling plan, and it is favorable to improve wind power utilization rate and reduce generation cost.


We present our recent results on mm-wave CO observations of proto-planetary nebulae. These include high-resolution interferometric maps of various CO lines in three well known bipolar PPNe: M1-92, M2-56 and OH231.8+4.2. The global properties of the high velocity molecular emission in post-AGB sources have been also studied, by means of high-sensitivity single dish observations of the J=1-0 and 2-1 lines of 12CO and 13CO. We discuss the implications of these results to constrain the origin of the post-AGB molecular high-velocity winds and the shaping of bipolar PPNe and PNe. In addition, we also present the results of an interferometric map of the molecular envelope around the luminous high-latitude star 89 Her, a low mass post-AGB source which is also a close binary system.


Nitrated lignosulfonates were used to synthesize a water-based magnetic fluid. Lignosulfonates were nitrated by nitric acid under mild conditions and without further purification were used to synthesize a magnetic fluid. Part of the iron(II) were oxidized with an excess of nitric acid, so that the magnetoactive phase under the condensation by action of sodium hydroxide was formed. Optimum conditions for nitration of lignosulfonates and synthesis of a magnetic fluid were experimentally established. The optimum consumption of iron(II) was 1.3–1.5[Formula: see text]g per 1[Formula: see text]g of sodium lignosulfonate. Unlike the initial lignosulfonates, nitrated lignosulfonates have peptizing properties, due to which the precipitate formed during condensation was dispersed to nanoparticles (15–30[Formula: see text]nm). The resulting magnetic fluid had a high magnetic activity and was stable for a long time.


I would like to begin by thanking the College and the Organising Committee for giving me this great honour and the opportunity to present this Oration on the topic of preterm birth prevention. The Oration is named after Dr Ian A. McDonald who published in 1957 from the Footscray and District Hospital in Victoria his description of the cervical cerclage procedure that has been used worldwide to reduce the risk of midpregnancy loss. I hope that he, and perhaps his family, would approve of the progress now being made in this field and the role that Australian research is making in this vital field of obstetric science.


There is close relationship among the healthy real estate markets and stable national economies as well as individual interests.Recently,the price rising of houses has already become the focus all over the country.Since 2010,there are a series of policies stipulated by government to control the price rising of houses.The paper discussed the current status of housing prices in China at first,and then analyzed the main reasons of price rising from the perspective of supply and demand in the real estate market.Finally,possible suggestions were provided.


There were utilised 10 fetuses of jumentos, males and females, to macroscopic study of the thymus vascularization. After the arteries injection, throught the aorta, with Neoprene Latx "450" solution, it was proceded the fixation, in a 10% formalin solution. It was observed that the thymus is reached by direct or indirect arterial branches coming from the right and left internal thoracic, left subclavian arterie, right superficial cervical, left extern thoracic and direct and indirect branches of left and right carotidas arteries. Thymus; vascularization; Equus asinus


This review focuses on the world's first process succeeded in development and industrialization by Asahi Kasei Corp. for producing an aromatic polycarbonate (PC) using CO2 as starting material.1 The carbonate group of PC links directly to the residual aromatic groups of the bisphenol. Until Asahi Kasei's new process is revealed, all of carbonate groups of PC in the world were derived from CO as starting material. Furthermore, more than about 90% of PC has been produced by so-called "phosgene process", and the PC contains Cl-impurities. It needs to use not only highly toxic and corrosive phosgene made from CO and Cl2 as a monomer, but also very large amounts of CH2Cl2 and water, and needs to clean a large amount of waste water. The new process enables high-yield production of the two products, Cl-free and high-quality PC and high-purity monoethylene glycol (MEG), starting from ethylene oxide (EO), by-produced CO2 and bisphenol-A. PC produced by the new process has many excellent properties compared with conventional PCs. The new process not only overcomes drawbacks in the conventional processes, but also achieves resource and energy conservation. The reduction of CO2 emissions (0.173 t/PC 1 t) is also achieved in the new process, because all CO2 is utilized as the component consisting main chains of the products. The newly constructed commercial plant of Chimei-Asahi Corp. (Taiwan), a joint venture between Asahi Kasei Corp. and Chi Mei Corp., has been successfully operating at full-production since June 2002. The initial capacity (PC:50,000 t/y) is now increased to 150,000 t/y. A typical example of the Green and Sustainable Chemistry (GSC) contributing to society and mankind has been realized.


Using survey data from 102 industrial enterprises, this study empirically examines the extent to which quality initiatives are implemented and the effects of quality initiatives on financial performance amongst top Turkish 500 industrial enterprises. The findings of the study are: (1) majority of Turkey's top 500 industrial enterprises implement at least one quality initiative; (2) there are significant associations between implementing quality initiatives and top 500 ranking; (3) and qualityinitiative implementing companies outperform in financial performance compared to non-quality-initiative implementing companies.


A structural damage detection technique based on dynamic model intelligent updating is presented. The basic strategy is to detect directly structural damaged location and extent from dynamic model updating results that are completed by BP neural networks. This technique can bypass some difficulties encountered in traditional detection methods and simplify greatly structural detection procedure. For implementing this technique, some related problems on BP networks and model updating are also discussed in detail and solved satisfactorily. Numerical and experimental examples are performed on a fixed supported beam, the detecting results are promising.


Interfacial area or interphase exerts a critical effect on the behaviour of composites and blends. In the particulate filled multifunctional materials the controlled treatment of filler surface change the adhesion parameters at the interphase.Throughout the presentation we will demonstrate the examples of blend and composites filled with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) filler particles of nanosized dimensions (< 100nm), previously pre-treated with sodium stearate. The organic coating of sodium sterate on the surface of CaCO3 could act as a coupling agent between filler and matrix and change the interactions in the interfacial area 1. The goal was to investigate how the structural changes and the changes of the filler surface energy after the controlled pre-treatment will influence on the interfacial free energy and other adhesion parameters in immiscible blends of styrene-co-acrylonitrile/ethylene propylene diene (SAN/EPDM) and in poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) composites filled with the CaCO3 nanofillers.The various experimental tools were used for the filler surface characterization (FTIR and XPS) ; for the analysis of blend and composite morphology (SEM with X-ray analyser), along with the mechanical testing.


Measurement techniques and experimental evaluation of characteristics for radiophysical complex on "ocean" oceanographic series satellite are discussed. The estimate for minimum effective scatter area generated with side-looking radar is given as well as its spatial resolution. 8-millimeter UHF-radiometer characteristics are analysed: radio brightness temperature scale non-stability, spatial resolution. Absolute accuracy for radio brightness temperature measurements is assessed.


The Scientific Committee of the French National Studs works in partnership with the main
 research organisms to adapt equine research to the needs of the industry. Three main objectives
 have been defined:
 - strengthen research in areas such as doping, molecular genetics, or disease prevention, and redefine
 the needs in other fields, such as reproduction, while using existing facilities;
 - establish multidisciplinary networks to tackle particularly complex subjects, such as genetic improvement
 associating geneticists, ethologists and biomechanics specialists, or prevention of juvenile osteochondrosis
 associating locomotion specialists, nutritionists, osteogenesis specialists, epidemiologists
 and geneticists;
 - create new teams and facilities to investigate new areas of research, i.e. behaviour and social
 sciences still in their early days, or economic sciences not yet tackled.


Objective:To observe the effect of Huayutongluo Moxibustion in improving clinical symptoms,the quantifying points table and the regulation of vasoactive material of vascular dementia(VaD).Methods:86 cases of VaD patients were randomly divided into the group of moxibustion and the western medicine.After 2 period of treatment,the examination integration(HDS),intelligent scale change(MMSE),and scale of daily living(ADL) score changes were recorded before and after treatment,and the learning and memory-related vasoactive substances in plasma nitric oxide(NO),endothelin(ET)levels were also recorded.Results:The moxibustion group was more effective than western medicine group.The two groups HDS,MMSE and ADL scale score were significantly different after treatment.The moxibustion group MMSE scale score was better than improvement of western medicine group.The plasma level of NO was increased,and ET was decreased significantly in moxibustion group,also had obvious difference compared with western medicine group.Conclusion:Huayutongluo Moxibustion in improving the clinical symptoms and regulating vasoactive substances have distinctive advantages.


Plant reproductive biology was a science;it studied on characteristics and process about plant reproduction.Summarized the main research contents and surveyed its researching field and focus in plant reproductive biology,including plant breeding system and pollination biology.Summed up endangered,invasive,clonal plant reproductive biology research advance.Primarily revealed plant reproductive biology research significance.


In this paper, we study the singular limit c → ∞ of the family of Euler–Nordstrom systems indexed by the parameters κ2 and c, where κ2 > 0 is the cosmological constant and c is the speed of light. Using Christodoulou's techniques to generate energy currents, we develop Sobolev estimates that show initial data belonging to an appropriate Sobolev space launch unique solutions to the system that converge to corresponding unique solutions of the Euler–Poisson system with the cosmological constant κ2 as c tends to infinity.


AIM:To study the affinity with tumor cells through series of N-octyl-N′-succinyl chitosan synthesized by using different moleeular weight of chitosan.METHODS:A series of N-octyl-N′-succinyl chitosan labeled with fluoreseein(FITC),were incubated with HepG2 liver cancer cells,K562 leukemia cells, A549 human lung cancer cells,and BGC cancer cells respectively and followed by using flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to assess the affinity and inhibition of N-oetyl-N′-succinyl ehitosan for the four kinds of tumor cells already mentioned.RESULTS:N-octyl-N′-sueeinyl ehitosan possessed stronger affinity than control cell lines and growth inhibition with the four kinds of tumor cells.CONCLUSION:N-octyl-N′- succinyl chitosan may possibly be a tumor-targeting carrier.


A system and method enable the enrichment of sentences according to a specified style. The enrichment is based on the analysis of documents having the specified style and the sentence is then revised accordingly.


71%, p = 0.049), and lower percentage of CD38+ CD8+ TEM cells (med 75% vs 96%; p = 0.049). Responders had a decrease in TF CD14+ monos from BL to C1 and C4 (p = 0.049 and 0.049) and decrease in PD‐L1 CD14 monos from BL to C1 (p = 0.049) compared to non‐responders. PD‐L1 expression on monos and neutrophils was strongly correlated (r = 0.74), and TF and PD‐L1 expression on monos was correlated (r = 0.45) when analyzing EOT and YR1 changes from BL. KSHV ORF reactivity was variable across pts with no differences in breadth or intensity between response groups. KSHV‐specific responses strongly correlated with EOT and YR1 changes from BL in CD8 counts (r = 0.86) and negatively correlated with EOT and YR1 changes from BL in PD‐L1 expression on monos and neutrophils (r = ‐0.57 and ‐0.69). Conclusions: TF+ and PD‐L1+ expression on monos and PD‐1+ expression on CD4 TEM cells may predict treatment outcomes in pts with PEL receiving EPOCH‐R. More data are needed to understand how virus‐specific responses affect outcomes. Immune responses will be further evaluated in an ongoing phase 2. The research was funded by: the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute and by US federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No.HHSN261200800001E.


Enhanced surface diffusion at the growth temperature of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can cause coarsening of metal catalysts. By balancing the nominal thickness and surface diffusion length of metals, metal nanoparticles of desirable size are expected to form spontaneously under the SWNTs growth conditions. Our combinatorial method, using a library of nominally 0.001 to 1 nm thick sputter-deposited cobalt patterns, identified in a single experimental run that cobalt nanoparticles from submonolayers can catalyze the growth of high-quality SWNTs.


Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a more powerful predictor of health services use and mortality than many objective measures of health. However, in older adults the association between main alcohol drinking patterns and HRQOL is uncertain. Methods: A prospective cohort with 2163 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥60 years was recruited in Spain in 2008-2010 and followed-up through 2012. At baseline, participants reported alcohol consumption. HRQOL was measured with the SF-12 questionnaire, at baseline and in 2012. Results: In cross-sectional analyses at baseline, compared to non-drinkers, better scores on the physical component summary (PCS) of the SF-12 were reported in moderate (ˇ = 1.59 [95% confidence interval 0.61–2.58]) and heavy drinkers (ˇ = 2.18 [0.57–3.79]). Better scores on the PCS were also reported by drinkers who adhered to the Mediterranean drinking pattern (MDP) (ˇ = 1.43 [0.30–2.56]) as well as those who did not (ˇ = 1.89 [0.79 –2.99]). However, no association was observed between average alcohol consumption or the MDP and the mental component summary (MCS) of the SF-12; or between beverage preference or drinking with meals and either the PCS or MCS scores. In prospective analyses, women who reportedly drank exclusively with meals showed better scores on the PCS than women who drank only outside of meals (ˇ = 3.64 [0.79–6.50]). Conclusions: The small association between alcohol consumption and better physical HRQOL found at baseline was not apparent after a few years of follow-up. Medical advice on alcohol consumption cannot be grounded on its effects on HRQOL. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.


This invention relates to a process for making an image recording element, for example a dye-receiving element for thermal dye transfer, that includes a Support having on one Side thereofa image-receiving layer and, between the image receiving layer and the Support, a tie layer comprising a thermoplastic antistat polymer. In one embodiment, the process comprises (a) forming a first melt of a polymer for the Surface layer and a Second melt comprising a thermo plastic antistat polymer in a polymeric binder; (b) coextrud ing the two melts onto a polyolefin Support; (c) stretching the coextruded layers to reduce the thickness; and (d) applying the coextruded melts to a Support while Simultaneously reducing the temperature below the Tg of the composition of the Surface layer.


The present study investigates the potential of using fecal ash as an adsorbent and demonstrates a self-sustaining, optimized approach for urea recovery from wastewater streams. Fecal ash was prepared by heating synthetic feces to 500 °C and then processing it as an adsorbent for urea adsorption from synthetic urine. Since this adsorption approach based on fecal ash is a promising alternative for wastewater treatment, it increases the process' self- sustainability. Adsorption experiments with varying fecal ash loadings, initial urine concentrations, and adsorption temperatures were conducted, and the acquired data were applied to determine the adsorption kinetics. These three process parameters and their interactions served as the input vectors for the artificial neural network model, with the percentage urea adsorption onto fecal ash serving as the output. The Levenberg–Marquardt (TRAINLM) and Bayesian regularization (TRAINBR) techniques with mean square error (MSE) were trained and tested for predicting percentage adsorption. TRAINBR was demonstrated in our study to be an ideal match for improving urea adsorption, with an accuracy of R = 0.9982 and a convergence time of seven seconds. The ideal conditions for maximum urea adsorption were determined to be a high starting concentration of 13.5 g.L−1; a low temperature of 30 °C, and a loading of 1.0 g of adsorbent. For urea, the improved settings resulted in maximum adsorption of 92.8%.


This study examined the wearing conditions of working clothes of shipbuilding industry workers according to the working environmental factors and working process features. It was also investigated the relationship between the wearing sense of working clothes and the overall comfort according to work processes. In the working process of shipbuilding industry, the process of fitting, welding, grinding and painting were chosen by considering work environmental factors, disaster types, hazardous materials, work process features, working clothes and safety equipments of each work categorized. The workers of fitting process usually wore the standard working clothes, while more than 60% of the workers of welding, grinding and painting wore the specialized protective clothes. The hazardous work environmental factors such as noise, heavy dust, high temperature and noxious fumes affected to the workers of fitting, welding and grinding. However, the workers of painting were greatly damaged by organic solvent. The dissatisfaction with the wearing performance of working clothes was highly shown in the sweat absorbency, moisture permeability and body protection. In respect of the correlation between the overall comfort and the wearing sense of working clothes, the satisfaction was decreased in orders of movement comfort> sensual comfort> physiological comfort.


The livestock industries utilize numerous means to alter the performance of meat animals and composition of their resulting carcasses. Inclusion of metabolic modifiers in production systems reflects a continuation of processes that began decades ago with genetic selection and progress in understanding of nutrition, health, and management. Any drug or management practice that affects efficiency of food animal production exerts its influence through at least one of three general mechanisms: • increased energy consumption above maintenance, • altered composition through reduced energy content of the empty body, or • improved efficiency of the processes that result in growth. This paper will focus on the effects of metabolic modifiers currently being used in the livestock industry, the mechanisms by which they exert their effects, and discussion of some practical considerations for their use. The primary example will be steroid growth implants in beef cattle. Other modifiers will be discussed as their effects differ from steroids.


Knowledge graph-based question answering not only requires deep understanding of the given natural language questions, but it also needs effective reasoning to find the correct answers on a large knowledge graph. In this paper, we propose a deep neural network model for effective reasoning on a knowledge graph, which can find correct answers to complex questions requiring multi-hop inference. The proposed model makes use of highly expressive bilinear graph neural network (BGNN), which can utilize context information between a pair of neighboring nodes, as well as allows bidirectional feature propagation between each entity node and one of its neighboring nodes on a knowledge graph. Performing experiments with an open-domain knowledge base (Freebase) and two natural-language question answering benchmark datasets(WebQuestionsSP and MetaQA), we demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed model.


It has been found that in the initial stage, single doses of detergents have distinctly stimulated the vegetative development of plants when humates are available. When detergents were applied every four weeks in the hydroponic culture in which the seedbed does not contain active humates, the crop decreases by 50%. This negative effect does not appear when the seedbed is a mixture of brown coal with peat.


A single gene with the capacity to generate more 20,000 different proteins on the surface ing neuron reveals a cell-recognition m that regulates the wiring of the brain in a unexpected fashion.


approved: Vrushali A. Bokil and Nathan L. Gibson In this thesis we construct compatible discretizations of Maxwell's equations. We use the term compatible to describe numerical methods for Maxwell's equations which obey many properties of vector Calculus in a discrete setting. Compatible discretizations preserve the exterior Calculus ensuring that the divergence of the curl and the curl of a gradient are zero in a discrete setting. This compatibility of discretizations with the continuum Maxwell's equations guarantees that the numerical solutions are physically meaningful. We focus on the construction of a class of discretizations called Mimetic Finite Differences (MFD). The MFD method is a generalization of both staggered finite differences and mixed finite elements. We construct a parameterized family of MFD methods with equivalent formal order of accuracy. For time-dependent problems, we exploit this nonuniqueness by finding parameters which are optimal with respect to a certain criteria, for example, minimizing dispersion error. Dispersion error is a numerical artifact in which individual frequencies in a wave propagate at incorrect speeds; dominating the error in wave problems over long time propagation. The novelty of this work is the construction of an MFD discretization for Maxwell's equations which reduces dispersion error for transient wave propagation in materials that are modeled by a general class of linear constitutive laws. We provide theoretical analysis of these new discretizations including an analysis of stability and discrete divergence. We also provide numerical demonstrations to illustrate the theory. In addition to applications in the time domain we consider equilibrium Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generators. MHD generators extract power directly from a plasma by passing it through a strong magnetic field. Used as a topping cycle for traditional steam turbine generator, MHD offers a theoretical thermal efficiency of 60% compared to 40% of traditional systems. However, this technology has high life cycle costs due to equipment failure. One source of failure is arcing: the formation of high density currents which damage the generator. In this work we develop, analyze, and simulate a model of these generators. We use these simulations to show the viability of detecting electrical arcs by measurements of their magnetic fields outside of the generator. c ©Copyright by D. A. McGregor May 26, 2016 All Rights Reserved Compatible Discretizations for Maxwell's Equations with General Constitutive Laws by D. A. McGregor A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented May 26, 2016 Commencement June 2016 Doctor of Philosophy thesis of D. A. McGregor presented on May 26, 2016


transformation of Asia's developmental states under the uneven processes of neo-liberalisation as they unfold on, through and around the state. The chapters are well connected, while each is still a self-contained study that offers original and detailed insights into the case presented. Together they draw a vivid picture of the deepening neo-liberal agendas in the region; their ideational evolution; transformation of the reach, forms and functions of a developmental state operating in this changing environment; and the implications for social and political relations in the region. The book could have benefited from a theoretical chapter tying these contributions together. In the first chapter, the editors briefly touch upon the way key historical junctures have been conceptualised by new institutional (neo-)liberalism, developmental statism and neo-Marxist critical political economy. Yet an overall theoretical roadmap – placing the contributions in a more nuanced framework – would have substantially enhanced the contribution of the book in its fields of study. In addition, albeit rhetorically paying tribute to the role of institutions, the contributions to this volume do not always seem to treat institutions seriously. Perhaps a more engaged treatment of the new institutionalist literature would have been useful in this regard. Overall, the book is a useful and substantial contribution to the debate on the subject matter and is recommended for those with interests in political economy, human geography, politics of development and public policy, or for those with an area-specific interest, or perhaps a more specific interest in the debates on the role, form and function of states in economic development under late capitalism.


Objective To study the conditions of hospital infection in ICU for favorably controlling the occurrence of nosocomial infection.Methods Accrording to the methods introduced in the book Administration of Nosocomial Infection,the formats were self-established and all ICU patients were investigated every day.Results Among all the infected cases,the cases with lung infection consisted of 80%,the ones with G-were 54.69%,and the incidence of pulmonary infection related to the use of respirator was higher.Conclusion The strict idea of sterilization,the maintenance of air cleanness,the intensified administration of the wards and the sterilization of respirator,and the shortened time of invasive operations should be emphasized.


Medical malpractice recently becomes a hot issue in the society, news which cover these rumors made us think about the condition of the health services in our country. Such malpractice is linked to the rules governing hospital services and doctors on their patients. A clear and definite legal rule is required to resolve the malpractice cases. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to determine the accountability of hospitals and doctors from the perspectives of civil law, criminal law and administrative law. The research method used is normative law and doctrinal research by collecting primary, secondary and tertiary legal literature. The results showed that civil law due to the legal relationship of mutual binding between the hospital with a doctor or medical personnel, are criminal law referring to constitution No. 8 of 1999, and the administrative law due to the violation of medical ethics are decided by the Honorary Council of Medical Ethics.


Absorption performances in High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and polycarbonate (PC) polymer matrices containing various loads of carbon nanotubes were analysed. It depends on electrical conductivity, dielectric constant and thickness of the polymer composites. These parameters can be easily controlled. Significant absorption, which can reach between 60 and 90%, hence occurs at particular combinations of these last parameters (in a frequency range from 1Hz to GHz). These new results are really useful in various applications, and are considered in low scale systems as a major technological solution against electromagnetic interferences.


The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the potential contribution of the Clean Development Mechanism to the Belgian climate policy. For this purpose we develop a partial equilibrium model of the carbon market in which the key features of the CDM inherent in its project-based nature are explicitly considered (transaction costs, accessibility rate…). We discuss the conditions under which the CDM could significantly contribute to the Belgian climate strategy and we show that this contribution should remain rather limited due to low expected carbon prices under the first Kyoto commitment period.


A porous, clean, resistant to caustic solutions comprising a microporous membrane substrate and a thermosetting surface biomolecule resistant formed separately and having a binding capacity of less than 30 micrograms per square centimeter biomolecules, as membrane binding assay of IgG, wherein said heat stable biomolecule resistant surface is a surface coating formed separately comprising: a first coating comprising a first crosslinked terpolymer, said comprising terpolymer at least two monofunctional monomers selected from the group It is consisting of acrylamides, methacrylamides and N-vinyl pyrrolidones, and at least one polyfunctional monomer selected from the group consisting of polyfunctional acrylamides, polyfunctional methacrylamides and diacroylpiperazines and a second coating comprising a second crosslinked terpolymer or copolymer modified with groups functional selected from the group consisting of hydrophilic functional groups and hydrophobic functional groups.


Polaris, [N, N-bis (phosphonomethyl) glycine], was evaluated as a chemical ripener of sugarcane in small, replicated field plots and commercial-scale trials to determine optimal rates and time of application. When used early in the harvest season (December-January) in a field-plot experiment, Polaris at 2.24, 4.48, and 6.72 kg/ha at 6 weeks after application gave significant increases in sucrose-percent-cane over the untreated control. In addition, 6.72 kg/ha produced significant increases in sucrose over 2.24 kg/ha. At 8 weeks after application, the 6.72 kg/ha rate showed significant increases in sucrose over the control. For late harvest season application (May-June), Polaris at 6.72 kg/ha significantly prevented decreases in sucrose at 2 and 4 weeks, but not at 6 or 8 weeks after application. With 6.72 kg/ha of Polaris, the early-harvest application averaged a 12.9% increase in sucrose over control (10.74 vs 9.51) as compared to 7.3% for the late-harvest application (10.44 VS 9.73). Commercial-scale trials used 3.36 kg/ha of Polaris by airplane on test sites on the humid north coast and irrigated southern coast. A significant response was found for the combined north coast trials at 4 weeks after application, with sucrose increases ranging from 9 to 15% over the controls.


Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques have been increasingly used in the analysis of industrial materials during the last 10 IS years. General methods of Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) for determination of specific elements are given elsewhere in these proceedings (see P.Missailides et. al.). In this contribution, we are restricted to the use of Rutherford Scattering in the determination of composition and profile of thin films. The Rutherford Back Scattering " method provides a relatively simple technique for analysis over a wide range of elements. The method is based on the simultaneous measurement of yield and energy loss of particles scattered at large angles (150°-170°) after a Rutherford collision. Usually, low energy He particles are used for thin samples, although in some cases higher energies are required ·'. In the Institute of Nuclear Physics at "Demokritos" we used alternative heavier ion beams of T,i and C for characterization of thin films, either home made or of interest on Materials Science.


In June 2002, the Republic of Rwanda embarked on an extraordinary experiment in transitional justice, inaugurating the pilot phase of a new participatory justice system called Inkiko-Gacaca. This article-the result of 8 weeks of research involving interviews with government and nongovernmental organization officials, local judges, and prisoners, and extensive observations of the Inkiko-Gacaca process in several different rural communities-explores the system's potential for healing inter-group conflict through a collaborative process of establishing common social and moral norms. The historical and theoretical background of Inkiko-Gacaca is followed by an in-depth case study of 3 communities. Relating intergroup contact theory to the actual experiences of Rwandans participating in this transitional justice system, we emphasize the need to revise the theory's often-implied assumption of homogeneity in participant perspectives. This analysis illustrates 4 very different levels of trust at which Rwandans par...


Background: Safety climate is the behavior and perception of health care providers in maintaining a safe environment. The study of safety climate in primary health care was limited. In Bahrain the concept of assessing safety climate were understudied, which drew attention to this important aspect in health care quality to be studied. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the perception of safety climate practice in primary health care in Bahrain. Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study. A Safety-Tool "Primary Care-Safe Quest" questionnaire was distributed among 28 health centers in Bahrain, to 279 doctors. The questionnaire consists of 30 items that are grouped into five subscales: Workload, Communication, Leadership, Teamwork and Safety system & Learning. Results: There was no significant difference in perception of safety climate in primary care doctors according to region (p=0.753), and work experience (p=0.301). Male doctors had higher perception of workload compared to the female doctors(p=0.039). There was no significant difference in perception in communication, leadership, teamwork, safety system and learning. Workload aspect showed low level of safety perception, while the other domains showed moderate level of safety perception. Conclusion: Overall the perception of safety climate among primary doctors in Bahrain was found to be moderate. Workload was an important area to be improved as it would lead to a better safety climate. Although the other domains were considered moderate there is still room for improvement. Keywords: Communication, Leadership, Perception, Primary Health Care, Workload


The transformation of China's small-scale peasant economy represented by household economies in the regions south of the Yangtze River towards agricultural involutions in the mid of 19th century is the one of the symbolic features of China's entry into the modern era. Since the 1850s, the tribute trade system was more and more dominated by the imperial financial international trade system of the West and thus marked another feature in China's economic history. The Taiping rebellion is the direct response to the former change while the second Opium War accelerated the progress of the latter. Therefore, these two events can be regarded as the beginning of China's modern history. Meanwhile, the meaning of the modern times should also be examined from the even greater historical laws of periodical laws of the rise and fall of China's dynasties.


This paper describes an action research project conducted in 2013 that questioned 262 students from years 5 to 10 about their use of eBooks and audio books for pleasure reading. The students' responses demonstrated a strong preference for paper over digital versions of texts, a range of interesting feedback about their experiences with digital formats and their preferences for different formats in light of different types of reading needs. The responses also included a range of advantages and disadvantages, as perceived by the respondents, of the different formats. The survey responses, in line with current research, indicate value in exploring how readers respond to format types – the importance of format should not go unacknowledged, as it is clear that the interaction of the reader with format is complex. This paper considers the important areas of comprehension, concentration, eye strain the impact of format on our senses and the need for adequate support.


Mineral dust is the dominant natural ice nucleating aerosol. Its ice nucleation efficiency depends on the mineralogical composition. We show the first sensitivity studies with a global climate model and a three-dimensional dust mineralogy. Results show that, depending on the dust mineralogical composition, coating with soluble material from anthropogenic sources can lead to quasi-deactivation of natural dust ice nuclei. This effect counteracts the increased cloud glaciation by anthropogenic black carbon particles. The resulting aerosol indirect effect through the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds by black carbon particles is small (+0.1 W m−2 in the shortwave top-of-the-atmosphere radiation in the northern hemisphere).


In this paper, reference model output following control method is proposed for a direct current servo system. In details, the properties of the direct current servo system are described, which shows that a fast-acting tracking performance is required in the system. As a result, right coprime factorization technique is used to guarantee the stability of the control system and command generator tracker based model output following control method is presented to realize the tracking control. Finally, simulation results are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.


To the Editor: Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare form of hematolymphoid malignancy composed of immature or precursors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC), which usually occurs in older adults with a mean/median age at diagnosis of 57.5/66.0 years but rarely occurs in young children [1,2]. We herein report a novel case of congenital blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm in a 3-day-old infant. A 3-day-old fullterm male infant was admitted due to the presence of multiple dark red to violaceous plaques and nodules over the scalp, face, trunk and four limbs after birth (Fig. 1A). Physical examination showed no lymphadenopathy. Laboratory data were within the normal range except for leukocytosis (white blood count: 34,800/ml) and elevated lactate dehydrogenase


NON-SPECIFIC urethritis is one of the most perplexing conditions ·encountered in the venereal diseases clinic today. In Britain it was thrown into sharp relief during World War 11 as ,those affected in the military hospitals were daily examined for the gonococcus which was found wanting. Altliough non-specific 'urethritis had been recognized as an entity for many years, many venereologists still considered it to be a manifestation of gonorrhrea. Its full recognition in the United States came even later and, when it appeared in force amongst the American troops in the Pacific theatre, it was at first believed to be penicillinresistant gonorrhrea. In 1953, in the clinics of England and Wales, 13,157 cases were treated as compared with 15,242 male cases of gonorrhrea. ' The causes of non-gonococcal urethritis are legion. They fall into four main groups: 1. Secondary to external and internal irritants. 2. Secondary to intra-urethral sores and tumours. 3. Secondary to other urethral, bladder and kidney disease. 4. Primary urethritis. The commonest is a primary urethritis of unknown retiology. Before considering these groups in detail it should be recorded that certain conditions may simulate urethritis. , Thus in phimotic persons a subpreputial discharge, due to balanitis, primary syphilis, chancroid or condylomata acuminata may lead the patient (and sometimes the doctor)' erroneously to believe that a urethritis exists. Similarly, excessive physiological secretions due to prostatorrhrea or spermatorrhrea may bring the patient to the clinic in the belief that he has a urethritis. In the latter condition, usually seen in unmarried young men, the "discharge" comes from the prostate and seminal vesicles. In prostatorrhrea there is a clear sticky glycerine-like discharge, which is most noticeable .after defrecation due to pressure of the freces on the prostate.


We point out that an expression derived recently by Gupta and Lawande for the growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in spherical geometry is identical to the result of Binnie derived some time ago, a result that was subsequently shown to be in error by Plesset. We also comment on some of the differences between the results of Binnie and Gupta-Lawande and of Plesset.


Microstrip patch antenna used to send onboard parameters of article to the ground while under operating conditions. The aim of the paper is to design as tacked nearly square microstrip patch antenna design for S band 2 GHz to 4 GHz and study the effect of antenna dimensions Length (L), and substrate parameters relative Dielectric constant (e r ), substrate thickness (h) on the radiation parameters of Bandwidth and Beam-width. A stacked patch configuration is proposed to increase the narrow bandwidth, radiation efficiency and directivity. The proposed antenna is probe fed on a FR-4 substrate with dielectric constant of 4.4. At resonant frequency 2.42 GHz, antenna parameters like Return Loss, VSWR, Axial Ratio and Radiation pattern are verify and simulated on CST Microwave Studio by CST student edition.


It is very important to reduce the construction duration of the Reactor Containment Building (RCB) when considering the more than 50 months on average from concrete placement to completion. Through a case study, this study performs a pre-study for the reduction of construction duration in nuclear power plant project based on construction process of the RCB. The actual data of the case study have been collected and analyze the process and the external wall drawings of the RCB with construction practitioners. As a result of that, it is necessary to modularize the external wall form for equipment hatch and to extend the height of one layer of the external wall form to reduce the construction duration of RCB. The results of this study will be utilized to reduce construction duration of the nuclear power plant.


When discussing Britishness and cohesion it is important to distinguish between two different types of social cohesion, institutional and associational, that often get conflated in public discourse, writes Ben Richards. This can prevent conceptual ambiguities from being used to shift without justification from a discussion of liberal principles to one of English cultural assimilation.


The impact of illumination on the connection part of the tandem organic light-emitting diodes was studied by using a special organic multilayer sample consisted of two organic active layers coupled with different transition metal oxide (TMO)-based intermediate connectors (ICs). Through measuring the current density-voltage characteristic, interfacial electronic structures, and capacitance-voltage characteristic, we observe an unsymmetrical phenomenon in current density-voltage and capacitance-voltage curves of Mg:Alq3/MoO3 and MoO3 composed devices, which was induced by the charge spouting zone near the ICs region and the recombination state in the MoO3 layer. Moreover, Mg:Alq3/MoO3 composed device displays a photovoltaic effect and the Voc shifts to forward bias under illumination. Our results demonstrate that the TMO-based IC structure coupled with photovoltaic effect can be a good approach for the study of photodetector, light sensor, and so on.


Based on the bi-modulation mechanism in body, we present reinforcement and suppress intelligent controller (RSIC), and design its control algorithm in this paper. Corresponding to the relative physiological system, we design the structure of RSIC, which includes super management unit (SMU), reinforcement control unit (RCU), suppress control unit (SCU), and assistant control unit (ACU). When set point changes or great error appears, the RCU first takes an effect. And the RCU will output a high or low limit value with a bionic filter, which can accelerate the rise time of control system. After a set time, the SCU will be enabled and output a reverse output compare to output of RCU with another bionic filter, which may reduce or avoid the overshoot or vibration. The final comprehensive effect of RCU and SCU is the coming control stable output. When the control system gets a stable status, the ACU will work with the conventional PI law to improve the control accuracy. SMU can make RCU, SCU, and ACU cooperate with each other. The simulation results indicate that RSIC has better control performance than conventional PID control algorithm.


the textual sources on which such catalogues are based remain frustratingly vague. Even where the texts do consent to identify discrete tsunamis, they rarely allow any assessment of the magnitude of these events in anything but the vaguest of qualitative terms. If a more complete record of historical tsunamis is to be achieved, alternative sources of empirical data must be developed to provide a physical corollary to the textual accounts.


ABSTRACT Mexican American immigrant women have faced many adversities historically, resulting in significant injuries to their physical and psychological selves. In attempts to heal from such injuries, these women have long engaged in self-healing through maintenance of their own cultural values, identities, and beliefs and also through working with, or even becoming, traditional healers. Such healing processes can be seen as a form of adjustment to a new culture, as well as a maintenance of native culture (Espin, 1996) and may take the form of a blending of cultures representing a "new indigeneity." This article highlights such healing practices, including the role of cultural values and beliefs for healing, as well as current efforts to blend cultural healing practices within a framework of equality and respect.


The development of a three-dimensional model of the near-field of a geological repository for spent nuclear fuel is described. The near-field comprises a canister where the spent fuel is enclosed, a layer of bentonite clay around the canister, a backfilled tunnel over the canister's deposition hole and finally, the fractured rock adjacent to the bentonite and the tunnel. The main transport processes are diffusion, sorption, radioactive decay and groundwater flow. A mathematical model attempts to couple the water flow to the mass transport. This model has been simplified to reduce its computational complexity. Our results are compared with the results of a compartment model obtained from the literature. It is concluded from the agreement between our 3D model and the compartment model, that the resistance approach used in one-dimensional compartment models is robust enough for use in models for probabilistic risk analysis of long-term performance of a geological repository. The development of a three-dimensional model of the near-field of ageological repository for spent nuclear fuel is described. The near-fieldcomprises a canister where the spent fuel is enclosed, a layer of bentoniteclay around the canister, a backfilled tunnel over the canister's depositionhole and finally, the fractured rock adjacent to the bentonite and the tunnel.The main transport processes are diffusion, sorption, radioactive decayand groundwater flow. A mathematical model attempts to couple thewater flow to the mass transport. This model has been simplified to reduceits computational complexity. Our results are compared with the results ofa compartment model obtained from the literature. It is concluded from theagreement between our 3D model and the compartment model, that theresistance approach used in one-dimensional compartment models isrobust enough for use in models for probabilistic risk analysis of long-termperformance of a geological repository.


It is important for the teacher to choose effective software for students. It is also important for designers to know what features of educational software make it effective. But the results of studies dealing with the effectiveness of educational software are contradictory. One reason for such results might be the fact that meta-analysis covers different kinds of educational software, simulations and drills for example, but it is hard to compare them. Another reason might be that the conditions (instruments, subjects, etc.) of the various studies were different. A third possibility might be that a particular type of educational software could consist of both good and bad characteristics. Therefore, research is needed on the characteristics of educational software. This type of study focuses on a particular kind of educational software, and this article is about the findings of one such study, exploring the characteristics and the effectiveness of drills in Estonian elementary schools. Sixteen characteristics of drills that had statistically significant correlation with student learning, and the influence of these characteristics are discussed as the results of this study. The results indicated that characteristics related to feedback, presentation of information and questions are the most critical evaluating quality of drills and in designing such educational software.


This article deals with the decreasing population of the Indian communities of Valle de Tlaltenango, Zacatecas, during the second half of the sixteenth century. It considers the establishment of the forced labor system or "repartimiento" for the annual harvest of salt in the Santa Maria lagoons as one of the main causes of the disintegration of the corn economy and the community life.