Detailed orebody delineation on a mine scale is usually carried out predominantly by the interpretation of information from drillhole core and cuttings. Inaccurate interpolations between drillholes can result in dilution and ore loss. This paper presents examples of the use of borehole radar to provide more continuous maps of nickel sulphide orebody outlines in Western Australia. These examples show that these maps can substantially reduce the uncertainty of orebody models resulting in improved mine plans, reduced dilution and improved ore recovery. The data presented were collected with the GeoMole borehole radar system. This system is not directional. However, by combining information from other sources, the 3D locations of the reflectors that are imaged can often be accurately estimated and the potential errors quantified. Difficulties have been encountered when the system has been operated in salt water filled holes but good results have been obtained in these holes after they have been flushed with fresh water. The system has also been used in updipping holes up to 120 m long. The results obtained to date indicate that substantial cost benefits can be obtained at some mine sites by incorporating borehole radar surveys into the ore delineation process.


Introduction PJK is a well-described post-operative complication associated with long instrumented fusion constructs. The surgical creation of a stiff upper segment along with patient osteoporosis has been suggested as etiologies. Materials and Methods Fifteen fresh-frozen ligamentous T6 - pelvis specimens were divided equally into three Groups: Group 1 - Bilateral pedicle screw and rod instrumentation from T10 to S1, no cement; Group 2 - Instrumentation + 4cc of cement injected into T10 (UIV) and 4cc into T9 (UIV + 1), 2cc of cement injected through each pedicle; & Group 3 - Instrumentation + 4cc of cement in T10 (UIV), 3cc total in T9 (UIV + 1), and 2cc total in T8 (UIV + 2). The pelvis and T6 vertebra were potted. Eccentric axial compression was applied 10mm anterior to the center of T6 using an MTS actuator. Maximum load to failure was measured in newtons (N). The spines were evaluated using fluoroscopy and CT. Results There was a significant reduction in the number of fractures in Group 3 versus Groups 2 and 1 (p = 0.0019). There was only one fracture in Group 3, which occurred at T8 (UIV + 2); all five specimens suffered a fracture in Group 2; and five in Group 1. Posterior ligamentous rupture occurred in four specimens in Group 3; three in Group 2; and only one in Group 1. The mean peak load-to-failure values showed an increasing trend from Groups 1 to 3 (p = 0.38). There was no difference in specimen DEXA values (p = 0.71). There was no hardware failure in any Group. FEA mirrored the cadaveric data and the maximum load to failure increased from Group 1 to 3. Endplate stresses were reduced in Group 3 versus Groups 1 and 2. Conclusions In both cadaveric and FEA models, this novel technique of tapering the dose of prophylactic vertebroplasty cement in the UIV, UIV + 1, UIV + 2 decreased the endplate stresses, increased the load required for failure, and significantly reduced the incidence of VCFs above long-segment instrumented constructs. Clinically, this technique may reduce the risk of PJK, PJF, and revision surgery.


With these questions in mind, this paper will discuss the differences in aluminum machining performance obtained at high versus low cutting speeds, as well as the influence of the metalworking fluid and its composition in enhancing machining performance. Thus, this paper will provide useful insight into how important highly engineered aluminum machining fluids are, and will be, as high speed cutting operations continue to be used in industry.


Abstract During the summer of 1965, stomach contents of three species of gars from brackish water of the Mississippi Coast were examined. An attempt was made to correlate the types and amounts of food items eaten with ecological conditions which prevailed at the time of the capture. The alligator gar, Lepisosteus spatula, fed heavily on Galeichthys felis and other fishes which were periodically discarded around docks and piers as refuse. The longnose gar, L. osseus, which fed primarily on Brevoortia patronus at night, was a more active predator. In contrast, L. oculatus, the spotted gar, was found to prey extensively on Uca pugnax and Callinectes sapidus in the shallows during rising and high tides.


In July 1814Wordsworth embarked on a six-week tour of Scotland accompanied by his wife and sister-in-law. In all, the holiday inspired the writing of five poems, the best known of which, "YarrowVisited, September, 1814," provides something of a touchstone for readings of the later poetry that seek to address the relations between vision, revision, and the restoration of creative power. Of these five poems, only "YarrowVisited" and the sonnet "To—('From the dark chambers of dejection freed')" would appear in the following year's collected Poems. Publication of "Suggested by a Beautiful Ruin uponOne of the Islands of Loch Lomond, a Place Chosen for the Retreat of a Solitary Individual, from Whom This Habitation Acquired the Name of the Brownie's Cell" and "Composed at Cora Linn in Sight of Wallace's Tower"was delayed untilThe RiverDuddon volume of 1820, while "Effusion, in the Pleasure-Ground on the Banks of the Bran, Near Dunfield," a verse most likely begun in August 1814, but perhaps not completed until after 1820, would not appear until the 1827 PoeticalWorks. My interest here is in "Composed at Cora Linn" and "The Brownie's Cell": poems forming a tributary to The River Duddon that disclose some of the literary, historical, and personal preoccupations informing this important volume. Inspired by a visit to the Clyde Falls, and colored by the region's association with the rebel leader William Wallace, "Composed at Cora Linn" looks back to an earlier stage in the poet's life and to recollections of the friendship with Coleridge that, following the quarrel of 1812, appeared decisively to have fallen apart. Signs of the tensions that were to inform this quarrel were present in the autumn of 1803 when William and Dorothy,


Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films were deposited on platinized silicon substrates by spin coating using PZT sols containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as an additive. PZT films with a 60/40 composition and a thickness of up to 8 μm were fabricated by repeating the deposition process 15 times on highly oriented (100) and (111) seed layers with the same composition. The films grew well in the direction of the seed layers and had a uniform and smooth surface without any cracks. As the thickness of the films increased, the grain size remained almost the same, but the effective d33 value increased steadily. The thickness dependence of the piezoelectric properties was attributed to the residual stress of the films.


This paper reports on the reaction of a non-utility power organization to the emission trading provisions of the Clean Air Act. The proposed amendments now being considered by both houses of Congress would place an absolute cap on the total SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x} emissions that can be released from fossil-fired electric generating plants nationwide. Under the proposal, emissions of SO{sub 2} from fossil-fired plants must be reduced by 9 million tons/year below those of 1980. This would be accomplished in two phases: plants over 100 MW must reduce emissions down to 2.5 lb/MMBtu after 1995; and by 2001 plants larger than 75 MW must not exceed emissions of 1.2 lb/MMBtu of SO{sub 2}.


To assess microbiological indoor air quality in kindergartens, concentrations of viable airborne microorganisms were seasonally determined at three kindergartens in Ulsan from April, 2002 to January, 2003. Sampling was performed with an impaction-type air sampler and three different media. The numbers of bacteria grown on Staphylococcus medium were between 84 and 4,150 MPN/m3 with an average of 827 MPN/m3, and those on standard method agar ranged from 50 to 2,636 MPN/m3 with an average of 580 MPN/m3. The bacterial concentrations were highest in summer, followed by fall, spring, and winter, and were significantly correlated with indoor temperature. Among the colonies, 45.6~61.0% were observed as Gram-positive cocci and 8.5~20.6% were Gramnegative rods. Micrococcus species were the dominant organisms. The numbers of fungi ranged from 0 to 1,888 MPN/m3(661 MPN/m3 average) based on colony counts with dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol agar. On average, the fungal concentrations were highest in summer and lowest in winter. Penicillium species and Aspergillus species were identified from the colonies. The obtained data can be utilized as a step to set a guideline for bioaerosols in indoor environment of schools.


National Culture, in the sense of the shared traditions and representations of a society, has a profound effect on the design, adoption and the use of Information Technologies in each society. E-Adoption refers to the adoption of Information Technology and internet. Using Hofstede theory as the primary theoretical framework, through a review of existing studies, the current study attempted to explore the potential impact of differences in national culture on IT implementation and adoption. Based on these studies, national culture has a major effect on e-adoption; it could be as a restraining or driving force. Given the fact that the concept of culture is not static and will change over the time, this study illustrated that by renewing Hofstede's cultural dimensions, a newer attitude towards Iranian culture and its relevance with e-adoption could be achieved. In addition, the findings show that Iranian society is clustered in sense of some cultural indexes and concerning merely the average of every index, is not sufficient. Rather, it is necessary for an IT planner to provide a thorough plan which could cover each cluster of the society. To achieve this fact, we provide some propositions for e-adoption based on previous studies in other countries, to cover all of various clusters in each cultural index.


The solidsolid phase transition of pentaglycerine (PG),tris(hydroxymethyl)amin-omethane(TAM) and their binary systems was studied by infrared spectra at various temperatures.At the temperature range corresponding to the solidsolid phase transition,the change of -OH stretching and out-of-plane-deformation vibration indicates that the mechanism of solidsolid phase transition of polyalcohols is related to the intermolecular hydrogen honds.


Solvent extraction using hexane of oil from Jatropha curcas nuts yielded 32.17% crude oil. The acid value of 107mgKOH/g sample indicates a high free fatty acid content which explains high yield of saponification products via the homogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification. Heterogeneous hybrid inorganic-organic base catalysts for transesterification were then designed and developed to facilitate a more efficient conversion of Jatropha curcas oils to bio-based fuels. Three types of solid catalysts were developed; amino-functionalized Zeolite Y, aminofunctionalized MCM-41 and TBD-functionalized MCM-41. Transesterification using 10% by weight of the developed catalysts and a methanol-oil molar ratio of 15:1 at 80oC for two hours resulted in a biodiesel yield of 86.60%, 74.94%, and 81.86%, respectively. Gas chromatogram showed the transesterified triglyceride components of Jatropha oil consisting of 14.35% methyl palmitate, 1.14% methyl palmitoleate, 6.89% methyl stearate, 43.67% cis-9-oleic methyl ester, 30.88% methyl linoleate. Density and refractive index of the transesterified Jatropha oil were found to be 900 kg m -3 and 1.45 respectively and with a 38,589 kJ kg -1 heat of combustion.


We present a model describing the rebound of a drop impinging on a rigid plane wall immersed in water. This model is based on the resolution of the drop equation of motion in an unbounded fluid in which an additional pressure force is introduced accounting for the wall effect on the drop motion. This force is computed from a film drainage simulation model during the approach of the deformable particle to the wall. Results of the model have been compared with experimental trajectories of drops impinging vertically at terminal rise velocity against a horizontal wall immersed in water at rest. These trajectories have been obtained with the help of an image processing technique. A wide range of experimental conditions has been studied (drop diameter, interfacial tension, drop viscosity, and density). In most of the cases, the model predicts the experimental trajectories within a very good accuracy (height of bouncing, deformation, number of rebounds) even in the case of a significant deformation. The numerica...


This paper extends the dominant paradigm of IS innovation research by analyzing the extent to which organizations adopt electronic networking technologies (ENT) sub-optimally and measuring the implications on organizational performance. We advance the concept of innovation misfit by drawing on extant economic and organizational theories to develop a set of propositions linking the degree of misfit to productivity. Principal propositions are tested using a proprietary dataset of over 25,000 U.S. manufacturing plants. Empirical analysis supports the basic idea of innovation misfit, while raising new and interesting questions for future research.


The machine learning community has mainly relied on real data to benchmark algorithms as it provides compelling evidence of model applicability. Evaluation on synthetic datasets can be a powerful tool to provide a better understanding of a model's strengths, weaknesses and overall capabilities. Gaining these insights can be particularly important for generative modeling as the target quantity is completely unknown. Multiple issues related to the evaluation of generative models have been reported in the literature. We argue those problems can be avoided by an evaluation based on ground truth. General criticisms of synthetic experiments are that they are too simplified and not representative of practical scenarios. As such, our experimental setting is tailored to a realistic generative task. We focus on categorical data and introduce an appropriately scalable evaluation method. Our method involves tasking a generative model to learn a distribution in a high-dimensional setting. We then successively bin the large space to obtain smaller probability spaces where meaningful statistical tests can be applied. We consider increasingly large probability spaces, which correspond to increasingly difficult modeling tasks, and compare the generative models based on the highest task difficulty they can reach before being detected as being too far from the ground truth. We validate our evaluation procedure with synthetic experiments on both synthetic generative models and current state-of-the-art categorical generative models.


The just over a decade of a democratic Poland has been a time of restoration— sometimes feverish—of those dimensions of its most recent history which the com munist system had tried to hide, distort, or totally erase from collective memory. This process deals not solely, but to a great degree with World War II. The decades-long falsified description of the military defense of the country in September 1939, or the complete silence on the Polish Kresy, the eastern borderlands of the Second Republic and its war history1 constituted, until recently, biateplamy, the "white stains" or blank spots which are currently being filled in from all sides: factual, social, and cultural. The collective memory is undergoing transformation, and the collective image of the past events appears to be more complete. Moreover, in my opinion, the process is rather intensified by the support of institutionalized activities (e.g., through the Institute of National Memory, the Karta center, veteran organizations, new history textbooks, etc.), as well as individual ones (e.g., numerous publications of a memoir nature). This change can also be understood through personal experiences of his tory. Now it is likely that the Katyri Forest Massacre of Polish military officers and intelligentsia by the NKVD is, for today's secondary school pupil, one of the obvious historical facts which comprise the portrait of the Second World War. For previous generations, memory of this part of the war biography of Poles was very meaning fully entangled with the course of contemporary history. There were those among us who discovered the truth about Katyri, and there were those who always knew but this knowledge was always contained within the experience of captivity under communism.


Objective To study the effect of an intraarteri al bolus of recombinant human angiogenin (rhANG) on stimulating revascularization in a rabbit hindlimb ischemic model. Methods The limb ischemic model was developed by ligation and excision of every branches of the femoral artery in 28 rabbits. On the 11th day after operation, various doses of rhANG (0, 5, 20 and 40 μg) as a single bolus were injected intraarterialy via the catheters into the bifurcation of the iliac artery. Revascularization and perfusion of the ischemic limbs were compared in each animal postoperatively using the calf blood pressure ratio, 99 Tc MAA perfusion scan, serial angiography and thigh muscle biopsy. Results The rabbits in the 20?μg group and the 40 had significantly better revascularization and blood perfusion than in the control group and the 5?μg group (P0.01). The changes in revascularization and blood perfusion in the 40?μg group were the most obvious.Conclusion rhANG could effectively promote revascularization and recovery of blood purfusion in this experimental ischemic hindlimb model by a single intraarterial bolus injection with a dose dependent manner.


In week 5 we studied data from the National Supported Work (NSW) experiment. Men were randomized to either receive job training (the treatment) or not (control). We found the average treatment effect was $1,794.34: treated men could expect to earn this much more than controls after the training. What if we didn't have a randomized experiment? Could we still estimate this causal effect from observational data? Answering these questions is the goal of this problem.


Some morphological traits of the crown (length and dry weight of needles, length of shoots) and chemical composition of the needles (content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium) of a tree remaining in the middle of a Fomes annosus-rot gap in a 55-year-old pine stand, were compared to the same traits from trees at the edges of the gap. The central tree (C) was intermediate in morphological traits. The lowest concentrations of N, P, and K were found in needles of the central (C) tree and, respectively, the highest ones in needles of the tree classified as weakened (I) and standing at the edge of the gap.


It is significant for saving energy to manufacture superb‐property batteries. Carbon is one of the most competitive anode materials in batteries, but it is hard for commercial graphite anodes to meet the increasingly higher energy‐storage requirements. Moreover, the price of other better‐performing carbon materials (such as graphene) is much higher than graphite, which is not conducive to massive production. Pitch, the cheap by‐product in the petroleum and coal industries, has high carbon content and yield, making it possible for commercialization. Developing pitch‐based anodes can not only lower raw material costs but also realize the pitch′s high value‐added utilization. We comprehensively reviewed the latest synthesis strategies of pitch‐derived materials and then introduced their application and research progress in lithium, sodium, and potassium ion batteries (LIBs, SIBs, and PIBs). Finally, we summarize and suggest the pitch′s development trend for anodes and in other fields.


Abstract We prove that commutator subgroups of topological full groups arising from minimal subshifts have exponential growth. We also prove that the measurable full group associated to the countable, measure-preserving, ergodic and hyperfinite equivalence relation is topologically generated by two elements.


Cloud computing is growing enormously in public and private sector organization. With the increase in number of users of cloud, there are so many concerns that need to be look out. One such major concern is about security and privacy of data being stored in cloud database. When the user is accessing his data from the cloud he should be assured about security, the data should not be accessible to unauthorized users. Unauthorized user performs number of attempts for accessing the data till he gets some information of use, which results into denial-of-service attack, brute-force attack and etc. Honey Encryption algorithm is used for protecting data by providing the bogus information to the user whenever unauthorized access is performed by the user. Thus unauthorized user will not be able to distinguish between original data and fake data; he will consider fake or bogus data as the original one. On every unauthorized attempt, it will provide different key. If the attacker has found the data then also he is not able to identify the correct one. He will work on that data and will get fake results. In this way the original data will only be accessed by authorized user only. We are proposing algorithm for secured access to cloud database using AES Encryption and Honey Encryption algorithm that will prevent unauthorized users from accessing any real sensitive information.


If you are still planning and need some inspiration for your honeymoon, birthday or anniversary, we may have the right itinerary for you.


Live donor liver transplant (LDLT) continues to be an important tool to mitigate the substantial organ shortage worldwide, and in many Eastern countries it remains the only viable option for liver transplantation (1). As donor safety remains an important pillar of LDLT, many potential donors are excluded due to inadequate remnant liver size or anatomical variations. As interest in minimally invasive donor hepatectomy grows this emphasis on patient safety must remain in the forefront.


The Balkan sub-endemic species Dactylorhiza kalopissii E. Nelson is distributed in Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia. It has a local distribution and inhabits alkaline fens, wet meadows, and mountain rivulet banks. This orchid is a globally endangered species, included in Annex IIb of the Council Directive 92/43 EEC. It was first reported for Bulgaria in 1991 and until 2008 it was known only from this single locality in the country. Here we summarize the recent data on the distribution of the species in Bulgaria, the population numbers and their fluctuation in time. During the period 2008 - 2019 the species was found in more than ten localities of six floristic regions. Populations usually number less than 250 individuals. For some of the populations, data from recurrent observations are provided. We discuss the habitats and their management. The negative changes of the habitat quality during the last years for some of the localities are described as well. The species was evaluated as CR B1ab (iii) + 2ab (iii) according to the Red List of Bulgarian vascular plants. We reevaluate the status based on the improved knowledge. The species is still Critically Endangered in Bulgaria, but В2ab (iii, v) status better corresponds with recent data. Five of the known localities fall within the boundaries of Natura 2000 SCIs.


An experiment was carried out to study the seed production potential of the parental lines of two sorghum hybrids in the central Rift-valley of Ethiopia. The two important seed production attributes considered for the study were synchronization of flowering and row ratio of the parental lines and their interaction with the test environments. A total of 12 treatment combinations related to these attributes were organized. The ANOVA revealed significant differences among the treatments and among the environments for outcrossing percentage and seed yield. Although a 4:4 row ratio showed maximum outcrossing, a 2:6 row ratio gave maximum hybrid seed per hectare and thus is more profitable. Sowing date brought about variation in outcrossing percentage and yield in the parental lines of the two hybrids studied. In ICSA 15 × 3443-2-OP, regardless of the row ratio, yield decreased by 36.1% when the pollinator parent was sown 10 days later than the seed parent. The row orientation against the prevailing wind direction could have also contributed to variation in seed production of the parental lines. Therefore, when hybrid sorghum seed production is planned, synchronization of flowering and row ratio of the parental lines and the row orientation should be considered.


ABSTRACT Freshwater policy is driven by interrelated challenges such as declining water quality, urban expansion, and agricultural intensification. But recent research indicates that implementation of policy is less successful than its development. Given recent innovations in New Zealand's freshwater management and policy, this paper asks, What are the barriers to freshwater policy implementation in New Zealand? Data for this research were gathered through semi-structured interviews with key regional council and unitary authority employees. The research discovered several implementation barriers, such as low government and community capacity and difficulty aligning local policy with national policy. The paper argues that a closed loop between problem identification and responding to problems through planning slows the implementation of freshwater policy. In response, the paper offers a set of recommendations, designed for the New Zealand context, to enable more effective implementation of freshwater policy.


We have investigated the tunneling processes between two systems of independently contacted quantized states. Shifting the two systems energetically with respect to each other, we were able to observe transitions between different subbands on both sides of the barrier as a series of peaks in the derivative of the tunneling current dI/dV. If a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the sample, additional peaks are resolved in dI/dV. These peaks are unambiguously identified as tunneling processes between different Landau levels on both sides of the barrier.


Mast cells are hematopoietic cells localized in extramedullary sites where they engage themselves in the process of allergic response and in the immune reaction against parasites. Mast cells derive from multilineage c-KitlowCD34lowSca-1pos progenitor cells present in the marrow. These cells give rise to Linnegc-KitposSca-1neg T1/ST2pos mast cell restricted progenitor cells (MCP) whose futher maturation in the marrow remains limited under steady state conditions. MCP migrate through the blood in extramedullary sites were they mature into tissue-retricted c-KitposFceRIpos mast cells characterized by a specific mast cell protease (MMCP) profiling (dermal, mucosal and serosal mast cells in skin, gut and peritoneal cavity, respectively). The molecular mechanism that, in normal mice, restricts the mastocytopoietic potential of progenitor cells to the extramedullary sites, as well as the factors that guide the tissue-restricted differentiation of these cells, are unknown. Thrombopoietin (TPO)-Mpl interactions play an important role in the regulation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation in the marrow. Here we report that mast cells, and their precursors, express Mpl (both as mRNA and cell surface protein) (see Table). Furthermore, targeted deletion of this gene (Mplnull mutation) decrease the number of MCP (by 1-log) and increases that of mast cells in dermis (by 3-fold), peritoneal cavity (by 3-fold), bone marrow (2-log) and spleen (2-log). Furthermore, because of their higher (by 2-log) MMCP-7 expression, serosal Mplnull mast cells resemble more wild-type dermal rather than serosal mast cells. On the other hand, either treatment of mice with TPO or addition of TPO to bone marrow-derived mast cell cultures induces mast cell apoptosis (by Tunel and Annexin staining) and severely hampers mast cell differentiation (by expression profiling). These data are consistent with a regulatory mechanism for murine mastocytopoiesis according to which TPO favours the transition from multilineage progenitors to CMP but blocks differentiation of MCP to mature mast cells. We propose TPO as the growth factor that restrict mast cell differentiation to extramedullaty sites and that control the switch between serosal vs dermal mast cell differentiation.

| | mRNA 2-ΔCt | Protein (AFU) Cy7-A | Protein (AFU) Cy7-AMM2 |
|:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------:| --------------- | ------------------- | ---------------------- |
| AFU= arbitrary fluorescence intensity. p< 0.01 with respect to Cy7-A (irrilevant antibody) |
| Wild type Marrow B cells (B220pos) | b.d. | 120±4 | 205±4 |
| Wild type Marrow Megakaryocytes (CD61pos/CD41pos) | 5.0±0.1 × 10-2 | 178±3 | 978±74* |
| Wild type Marrow MCP (cKitpos/T1ST2pos) | 1.3±0.01 × 10-2 | 139±16 | 1658±73* |
| Wild-type Marrow Mast Cells (cKitpos/Fce RIpos) | 1.9±0.1 × 10-2 | 110±1 | 868±71* |
| Serosal Mast Cells (cKitpos/FceRIpos) | 7.2±2.1 × 10-4 | 393±1 | 1374±25* |
| Mplnull Marrow Megakaryocytes (CD61pos/CD41pos) | b.d. | 365±28 | 469±50 |
| Mplnull Marrow Mast Cells (cKitpos/FceRIpos) | b.d | 107±1 | 109±3 |

Mpl expression


A liquid crystal (LC) cell with multiple twisted nematic domains is fabricated by rubbing alignment films along different directions and is applied to an LC four-level blazed grating. It is theoretically derived that the four-level stepwise phase profile is achieved under optimum LC molecular orientation conditions. The LC four-level blazed grating is obtained by microrubbing using a tiny stylus with a curvature radius of 25 µm. The electrically controllable diffraction efficiency and unique polarization-splitting properties are revealed; namely, the diffraction efficiency can reach approximately 0.8 and the polarization directions of ±1st-order diffractions are orthogonal to each other.


Water is the main pillar of human life, which experiencing widespread pollutions that turn clean waters to a non consumption form gradually. Contaminating resources of the clean waters are the human and industries have been made by the human. Because the available water resources for humans and organisms are limited, we must seek recovery of contaminated waters. Some novel oxime and azo dye-based compounds from spiro dihydrofurans were synthesized. All structures were characterized by IR, 1H, and 13C NMR spectroscopy techniques. Some pollutant metal cations of Ni2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ in water and industrial wastewater were examined in the presence of novel ligands. The UV-visible spectral data indicated that 4a selectively absorbed Ni2+ at room temperature and natural pH conditions. Instead, 4b absorbed all cations with exception of Ni2+ under the same condition.


The classic three-terminal electronic transistors and the emerging two-terminal ion-based memristors are complementary to each other in various nonconventional information processing systems in a heterogeneous integration approach, such as DRAM/storage-class memory hierarchy, hybrid CMOS/memristive neuromorphic crossbar arrays, and so on. Recent attempts to introduce transitive functions into memristors have given rise to gate-tunable memristive functions, hetero-plasticity and mixed-plasticity functions. However, it remains elusive under what application scenarios and in what ways transistors can benefit from the incorporation of ion-based memristive effects. Here, we introduce a new type of transistor named 'mempolar transistor' to the transistor family that has included the well-known unipolar and ambipolar transistors. As its name suggests, mempolar transistor has polarity with memory, reminiscent of memristor having resistance with memory. Specifically, its polarity can be converted reversibly


Dislocation damping in deformed single‐crystal silicon has been measured in the frequency range from 400 cps to 70 kc/sec and at temperatures between 500° and 1200°C. At low temperatures the logarithmic decrement shows a thermally activated rise with temperature, of activation energy 1.6 eV, varying approximately inversely with frequency. Deviation from this behavior is seen at the lower frequencies, where a peak appears near 800°C, followed by a second rise with temperature which is significantly faster than the initial rise. The results are interpreted in terms of an extensible string model, in which it is assumed that the dislocation is pinned by point defects which may diffuse with the dislocation. Agreement is obtained between theory and experiment for very reasonable values of mean dislocation length, and values of dislocation damping constant consistent with a geometrical kink diffusion model. The activation energy of motion for the pinning points is about 3.1 eV. Measurements on indium antimonide ...


in position, and unaltered in shape. A thoracoscope was inserted in the fourth space, in the mid-axillary line, and a bluish-purple tumour could be seen, with fine veins on its surface arising in the posterior mediastinum from behind the great vessels and extending almost up to the arch of the subclavian artery and completely independent of the lung. A painting was made by Mr. Shiells (Plate, Fig. 2). Four days later the patient was operated on by Mr. Holmes Sellors, and so far as was possible the tumour was removed. It was filled with a chocolate-coloured thick creamy substance. This was sucked out and finally mopped dry with gauze. The portion of the wall of the tumour under the great vessels had to be left behind; it was wined clean and swabbed with formalin. The patient made an uninterrupted recovery. The report on the tumour was as follows: "The cyst wall consists in great part of vascular fibrous tissue with a striking amount of lymphoid tissue disposed mainly around the vessels. In some parts large thin-walled blood spaces are seen and haemorrhage has occurred. Other components of the cyst wall are fat, bundles of muscle fibres, ciliated columnar epithelium, and acinous glands. No ectodermal elements have been recognized, and no cartilage or bone." The blow from the tennis ball had possibly caused a haemorrhage into the teratoma.


This paper gives an overview over corporate governance and banking regulation in Germany. Particular attention is put on legal and regulatory changes that were made in response to the financial market crisis. The paper shows that the changes mainly focus on the remuneration of managers and on further professionalizing the supervisory board. Problematic is that several laws that were enacted in the past years to improve corporate governance focus on listed firms. Furthermore, some of the recommendations and suggestions made to improve corporate governance in Germany are not legally binding even for stock corporations. Recent empirical evidence, moreover, suggests that bank shareholders pushed for greater risk-taking and not managers. This contrast with public view that the bank managers are pushed by aggressive remunerations schemes to increase risk-taking and indicates that the recent legal and regulatory changes fail to remove all weaknesses of the German corporate governance system.


A central limit theorem is obtained for stationary linear process Xt = ajt-j, where {t} a strictly stationary associated sequence with Et


A group of patients with myasthenia gravis operated at the Third Surgical Clinic, Faculty Hospital had in 20.5% a thymoma. Before operation CT did not detect the thymoma in 13.8% of the thymomas detected during operation and verified by histological examination. This fact must be taken into account when indicating conservative treatment in a myasthenic patient.


1. A system for locating a radiating source comprising a plurality of mutually spaced radiation detectors, first means for correlating the output of one of said detectors with the output of a second of said detectors, second means for correlating the output of the second of said detectors with the output of a third detector, means coupled to said first and second correlating means for separately integrating the outputs thereof to produce a pair of integrated signals, and means for delaying one of said integrated signals with respect to the other of said integrated signals, whereby the delay is indicative of the range of the source from the detectors when the maximum amplitude of the delayed integrated signal coincides with the maximum amplitude of the other integrated signal.


In this paper, we demonstrate a phosphorescent organic light emitting device (PHOLED) with low turn-on voltage by using a n-type organic material as the host of the emitting layer (EML) doped with green emitting complex, fac tris(2-phenylpyridine) iridium Ir(ppy)3. This material exhibits high glass transition temperature (over 200 °C) that may help to elongate the operation lifetime. We compare our devices to the classical 4,4'-N,N'-dicarbazole-biphenyl (CBP) based green device. Driving voltage of the CBP and the new-host based OLED is 16 and 11 V with the current density of 100mA/cm2, respectively. The lower driving voltage of the new-host based device comes from the lower HOMO value, i.e. 5.7 eV, which is nearly the same as that of NPB. The current efficiency at 10000 cd/m2 is slightly decreased from 24 to 21 cd/A. However, the power efficiency is increased from 5 to 6 lm/W.


We Investigated the potential Impacts that free-ranging lions (Panthere leo) have within a small (220 km2), enclosed, protected area, and the subsequent challenges to conservation managers. Challenges Include: over-population; In-breeding depression; decline of prey and other predator species; conflict with neighbouring communities and, In some cases, spreadIng disease. Lions are prolific breeders and reserves exceed their local carrying capacity within a relatively short period. Within the Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve we assessed a range of management Interventions that can potentially achieve short and/or long-term reserve objectives, namely relocation, contraception, hunting, and artificial takeovers. None of the Intervention methods resulted In long-term behavioural or social consequences. Constraints on lion management were more from societal values than biological or technological Influences. If applied In the correct manner, at the correct time, all of these Interventions, or a combination of them, can assist In achieving management objectives.


An evaluation was made of the effects of heating with a coal/oil mixture (COM) on forgings and furnace construction materials. The forgings produced with COM in a slot forge furnace were subjected to an extensive series of metallurgical tests to determine what effect, if any, use of COM as a fuel had upon the parts forged. Fifty wt % bituminous coal crushed to 80% minus 325 mesh was mixed with 50 wt % number 6 fuel oil. Emulsifiers were added to keep the coal in suspension. It was demonstrated that the 50 wt % coal/oil mixture can be successfully used to produce steel forgings. Burning COM presented no problems in respect to the ease of heating the steel or in respect to the metallurgy of the forgings. The main findings of the investigation were that: COM can be used to forge steel successfully; use of COM requires that ceramic materials of furnace construction be selected with care; and the modifications required to burn COM are minor. There were no significant differences between steel forgings produced with number 2 fuel oil and steel forgings produced with COM.


According to the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) "Our Common Future", also known as the Brundtland Report (1987): "Sustainable development is development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet own needs. "Although initially sustainable development has emerged to be a solution to the ecological crisis caused by intense industrial exploitation of resources and the continuous degradation of the environment and seek so primarily preservation of environmental quality, now the concept has spread to the quality of life in its complexity and under economically and socially. The concept of sustainable development - the overriding principle - was reinforced at the World Conference in Rio de Janeiro (1992), but the original concept of "sustainable development" was enshrined in the World Conference on Environment Protection (1972) in Stockholm. The analysis of international acts aimed at the subject, emerged the view that natural resources has exhaustible nature, which reveals imminent need to implement the principle of sustainable development.Failure longstanding rules, terms and methods of conditioning hunted game species extinction, both in our country and the territory of other countries, on all continents. The article in question is aimed at identifying rules, methods and deadlines for hunting, determine the causes and conditions infringement of these rules of law ferenda proposals on the subject of the research.


Clear-cutting is the most common silvicultural system. Sometimes, if the new crop is not established successfully, clearcut is left unreforested. This study focused on a site where early successional species such as silver birch (Bi) and rowan (Ro) were accompanied with Norway spruce (Sp) in 13-year-old stand from natural regeneration at 550 m of altitude at an acidic site with eastern aspect and 25% slope. We found five types of stand composition: treeless gaps, Ro-Bi, Ro-Bi-Sp, Bi-Sp and monospecific Sp. Besides these juvenile ones, adjacent 100-year-old spruce (Sp old) stand representing pre-harvesting conditions was studied. In addition to the performance of trees, organic layer (Hum), topsoil (Ah) and upper subsoil (B) horizons were sampled to study an expected shift of chemical properties after clear-cutting and secondary succession at the site of interest. Birch dominated the natural regeneration; rowan and spruce were present mostly in understorey. Old spruce was more acidic and nutrient-poorer compared to the juvenile treatments. The treeless treatment showed also slightly higher pH and comparable nutrients compared to the young mixtures. Young spruce was higher in nitrogen compared to Ro-Bi-Sp mixture.


of the remaining 16 six had no symptoms at all, and in the other 10 there was only minor disability. When studied in retrospect there seemed to be no way of telling which cases would have the good and which the bad prognosis. Wissler and Holtz,"5 in Switzerland, have followed up 38 children with bronchiectasis for 6 to 15 years: nine (24%) were dead, five (13%) had severe symptoms, and the other 24 (63%) were working and had minor symptoms or none at all. Six of the 12 children who originally had severe symptoms had greatly improved during the follow-up period. Strieder,'6 in a review of the literature on surgery in bronchiectasis, states that the mortality of lobectomy is 1-8%, but that where the disease is bilateral it rises to 15-30%. Only about 50% of cases are suitable for surgery. Of Perry and King's'8 400 cases, 68% of those operated on were well and working, compared with 37% of those treated medically. These comparisons are, of course, vitiated by the selection of cases for surgery; patients with severe bilateral disease will not be operated on, nor, usually, will those with only minor lesions. Probably operation should be advised in children with unilateral bronchiectasis which has been shown to be irreversible, and in young adults with severe and uncontrolled secondary infection or troublesome recurrent haemoptysis. In other cases medical treatment will be the first choice, and surgery will be a matter for careful individual consideration.


Fertility and Family Planning Among Navajo Indian Recipients of Public Welfare Assistance in Southeastern Utah by Gary Morris Shaffer, Master of Science Utah State University, 1969 Major Professor: Dr . Yun Kim Department: Sociology vi A f e rtility and family planning survey was conducted among the recipients of pub lie welfare ass i stance in San Juan County, Utah. Two hundred twenty-five recipient families out of some 536 families on the list were inte rviewed during May and June of 1968 by nine graduate and undergraduate students in Sociology and Social Work with the help of Social Welfare workers and Navajo interpreters. The study was primarily concerned with the following objectives: (1) to study the level and age patterns of fertility of a group of selected Navajo Indians, (2) to investigate the factors which might affect the fertility, desired fami.ly size, and ideal family size, (3) to study the knowledge of and the extent of the use of birth control methods among the selected group, (4) to compare the findings of previous fertility studies dealing with other groups to those found among the selected group of Navajos. The data indicate that the fertility of Navajo women was very high, reaching the comp l eted fertility rate of 9. 2 children for


The monograph is devoted to the application of methods of functional analysis to the problems of qualitative theory of differential equations. Describes an algorithm to bring the differential boundary value problem to an operator equation. The research of solutions to operator equations of special kind in the spaces polutoratonny with a cone, where the limitations of the elements of these spaces is understood as the comparability them with a fixed scale element of exponential type. Found representations of the solutions of operator equations in the form of contour integrals, theorems of existence and uniqueness of such solutions. The spectral criteria for boundedness of solutions of operator equations and, as a consequence, sufficient spectral features boundedness of solutions of differential and differential-difference equations in Banach space. The results obtained for operator equations with operators and work of Volterra operators, allowed to extend to some systems of partial differential equations known spectral stability criteria for solutions of A. M. Lyapunov and also to generalize theorems on the exponential characteristic.
The results of the monograph may be useful in the study of linear mechanical and electrical systems, in problems of diffraction of electromagnetic waves, theory of automatic control, etc.
It is intended for researchers, graduate students functional analysis and its applications to operator and differential equations.


Analyze and designing of a multistoried framed structure for G+4 floors. The analysisof multistoried residential apartment is designed by limited state method. The analysis of frame would be done by kani's method then it is proposed to design the structural elements according to IS 456-2000. The analysis and design id done for one single block and hold for the rest. The height of the room is taken as 3mts and walls are provided with 230mm thickness and inner partition walls are constructed with bricks masonry of 70mm thick. The multistoried consists of 4 floors and each floor is having 2 blocks having total area of 105sq.mts each. The analysis and design is done for one single block which is identical for the rest.


Wang Fanzhi's poetry is understandable,and well-known in non-governmental circles.It's a good opportunity for us to study on the secular life in early Tang Dynasty.So the situation of diet and entertainment of Tang Dynasty can be explored,from food and gambling these two aspects reflected from Wang's Poetry.And it will be another new perspective for the secular life in early Tang Dynasty.


The present study experimentally investigates the effect of various ceramic particles and different particle weight fractions on the bearing strength and failure modes of pinned joints in woven glass/epoxy composite plates. The composite plates are filled with Silicon Carbide (SiC), Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) and Boron Carbide (B4C) ceramic particles at 5%, 10% and 15% weight fractions. Tensile tests were carried out on single pinned joints in woven glass/epoxy composite specimens. Accordingly, the effects of ceramic particles, particle weight fractions and pin joint geometry were evaluated on the bearing strength and the failure modes. The damaged specimens were examined with load–pin displacement curves, visual and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the bearing strength and failure mode were considerably affected by the ceramic particles, the particle weight fractions and the geometric dimensions. It was found that the addition of the ceramic particles into composites improved the bearing strengths of pinned joints in the composites for all weight fractions compared to the unfilled composite. The highest bearing strengths were obtained for composites filled with 10 wt.% particles. As a result, the increase in the bearing strength is almost 43% for composites filled with SiC, 53% filled with Al2O3 and 47% filled with B4C compared to the unfilled composite, for ratio e/d = 3.


OBJECTIVE
To report on the use of automated image analysis in the interpretation of transrectal ultrasonographic images of the prostate.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
During transrectal ultrasonography, images were recorded from biopsies performed in 127 patients. Subsequently in the image, the puncture place was marked and analysed. Analysis of the images was performed with the Automated Urologic Diagnostic Expert (AUDEX) system, consisting of a personal computer connected to the ultrasound machine. From the images collected, parameters can be calculated for image classification. The parameters obtained with this procedure were correlated with the histological result.

RESULTS
Evaluation showed a sensitivity of 84.8% and specificity of 87.5%. The positive and negative predictive values, to predict prostate carcinoma, were 84.8% and 87.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Automated image analysis can help in the diagnosis of prostate carcinoma. In patients with non-palpable lesions or with poorly visualized tumours, image analysis is superior to the standard current diagnostic techniques.


In the first of two experiments, no significant differences were found among trucks, automobiles, and motorcycles in the subjective evaluation of their approaching speeds. Generally, higher approaching speeds were underestimated and lower ones overestimated, with the critical speed around 40 kph (25 mph). The tendency for subjects to overestimate low speeds was greater at night than during the daytime. The second experiment investigated differences among the vehicle types in terms of gap acceptance. Critical gap size was smaller for motorcycles than for cars and trucks. This cannot be explained by the perception of approaching speed, but rather by such nonperceptual factors as expectancy and/or decision criterion. Critical gap time decreased with increased approaching speed and was larger at night than in the daytime. Future research is recommended on visual recognition of motorcyclists, their conspicuity, communication between motorcyclists and automobile drivers, motorcyclists' safety attitudes, and the emotional aspects of motorcycle riding.


Ma Yin- chu is famous for a patriot, economist, larithmist and educator, who experienced chinese several important historical stages: the 1911 Revolution, the May fourth Movement, Civil Revolutionary War, Anti- Japanese War, War of Liberation and Socialist New China, and he is worth praising and respecting figure with dense romantic charateristic.


The turnover conditions of sorbitol and its influence on the glucose and lactate levels and on the acid-base state have been studied after intravenous intake of 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg body weight in the for


We have previously reported a now 23-year-old patient with a long history of bleeding due to dominantly inherited Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV ("vascular" type) whose fibroblasts produced a structurally abnormal type III collagen with shortened triple-helical structure (Superti-Furga et al., Pediat Res 20:1043, 1986). Immunoblot analysis of protoalpha1(III) chains in his fibroblasts identified a normal-sized species and an additional species of lower molecular weight. Similarly, Northern blots probed with cDNAs for type III collagen showed equal quantities of a normal and a mutant mRNA for type III collagen, the mutant mRNA being 600 bp shorter than the normal one. Southern blots probed with genomic clones for type III collagen showed an abnormal pattern, best explained by a multi-exon deletion of approx. 3 kb in the middle of the gene, within the triple-helical coding region. This is the first description of a mutation in the human alpha1(III) collagen gene.(Genomic clones courtesy of Dr.F.Ramirez, SUNY Medical School, New York, USA)


We propose a robust, quantitative method to compare the synthetic light curves of a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosion model with a large set of observed SNe Ia, and derive a figure of merit for the explosion model's agreement with observations. The synthetic light curves are fit with the data-driven model SALT2 which returns values for stretch, color, and magnitude at peak brightness, as well as a goodness-of-fit parameter. Each fit is performed multiple times with different choices of filter bands and epoch range in order to quantify the systematic uncertainty on the fitted parameters. We use a parametric population model for the distribution of observed SN Ia parameters from large surveys, and extend it to represent red, dim, and bright outliers found in a low-redshift SN Ia data set. We discuss the potential uncertainties of this population model and find it to be reliable given the current uncertainties on cosmological parameters. Using our population model, we assign each set of fitted parameters a likelihood of being observed in nature, and a figure of merit based on this likelihood. We define a second figure of merit based on the quality of the light curve fit, and combine the two measures into an overall figure of merit for each explosion model. We compute figures of merit for a variety of one-, two-, and three-dimensional explosion models and show that our evaluation method allows meaningful inferences across a wide range of light curve quality and fitted parameters.


The John Petropoulos Memorial Fund campaigns to improve the safety of first responders with the support of Work Safe Alberta.


A method was introduced with Pro/E for the 3D modeling and automatic design of honer by making use of the powerful parameterization driver.Employing the Mechanism Design Extension of Pro/E,the kinematic simulation of honing mechanism is analysed.


An article of manufacture comprising an object having a shape profile core (100). The shape of profile core (100) has a nominal profile (400) substantially in accordance with Cartesian coordinate values of X, Y and Z set forth in TABLE 1, X and Y are distances in inches (1 inch = 2.54 cm), which, when connected by smooth continuing arcs, define profile sections at each distance Z in inches. The profile sections at distances Z are smoothly joined to each other so as to form a shaped profile core (100) complete.


FIELD: electrical engineering. SUBSTANCE: device (1) contains a database (10) containing multiple class positions, the first class referring to corona discharge phase, and a unit (5) containing a device for measurement of electric current and electric voltage on an electric cable (2), means for filtration of measurement values and means for conversion of filtered measurement values into a digital form and formation of two segments of digital data as well as an information processing unit (8) containing means for processing each of the two segments with functions for formation of a final vector using the database (10) and means for output of a conclusion on electric arc presence or absence. EFFECT: possibility to determine electric arc occurrence. 15 cl, 3 dwg


ABSTRACT Reflecting the wider belief that international tourism offers the opportunity to encourage peace and understanding amongst peoples and nations, one objective of Japan's recent tourism development policy is the enhancement of mutual understanding and the promotion of international peace. The purpose of this paper is to consider the extent to which this objective is achievable, particularly in the context of continuing controversy surrounding the country's confrontation of its twentieth century military heritage in general and its role in the Pacific War in particular. Based on research at two 'difficult' heritage sites, Chiran Peace Museum in Kagoshima Prefecture and Yūshūkan War Museum in Tokyo, it explores specifically how the kamikaze phenomenon is commemorated and interpreted for international visitors, in so doing revealing a significant degree of dissonance at both sites. Not only is a selective narrative of heroic sacrifice presented within a wider revisionist history of the Pacific War but also no attempt is made to acknowledge the prevailing cultural context that might underpin a more nuanced understanding of the kamikaze. Hence, the paper concludes that a meaningful opportunity to enhance international understanding has been missed.


This research aims to analyze the education evaluation of the Tahfizul Quran program's planning, implementation, and evaluation using the Stake model perspective in MBS Al-Hidayah Wonopringgo Pekalongan. This study also aims to analyze the obstacles in implementing the program. This research will provide academic contributions to evaluating the Tahfizul Quran program, especially in the MBS Al-Hidayah Wonopringgo Pekalongan. This qualitative study used a field research approach. The data were collected using observation, interview, and documentation techniques. They were analyzed using the Stake model, including contingency and congruence. The results of this research were (1) the planning evaluation of the program was well prepared; (2) The implementation of program evaluation according to the stage of the Stake model: inputs (antecedent), form asatiż/asatiżah met the criteria of the Tahfiẓul Quran graduate school and boarding school. In contrast, the criteria of a graduate's Bachelor had not been fulfilled. The santri have not fully fulfilled the criteria to read the Qur'an. Aspects of the curriculum already meet the criteria of the Tahfiẓul Quran program but lack the allocation of study time. The process of learning (transaction) was implemented according to the plan. The result of learning outcomes reached the target of each class. (3) Evaluation of the program was conducted routinely at the end of the semester.


THIS CLINICAL TRIAL 1 compared the effectiveness of weekly vs daily administration of iron plus folic acid for the treatment of anemia in adolescent Nepalese girls, a population with an extremely high prevalence of anemia. The study was conducted in a single governmentrun school in Dharan, an urban foothill town in Nepal. Girls from the 8th to 12th grades aged 11 to 18 years were enrolled. Baseline characteristics measured included sociodemographic variables, diet (vegetarian vs nonvegetarian), history of parasites, menarcheal status, anthropometrics, and presence of specific physical abnormalities. The baseline prevalence of anemia in this population was 69%. Subjects were randomized to 1 of 3 groups: group A (n=70) received supplementation with tablets containing 350 mg of ferrous sulfate and 1.5 mg of folic acid once a day for 90 to 100 days; group B (n=67) received the same combination on a fixed day once a week for 14 weeks, supervised by 1 of the investigators; and group C (n=72) received no treatment during the study period. Of the 225 girls enrolled, 209 met inclusion criteria, and 181 completed the trial. The primary outcomes included prevalence of anemia (defined as hematocrit36%), mean hematocrit, and net change in hematocrit for each group from baseline to 15 days after completion of therapy. The prevalence of anemia declined from 68.6% and 70.1% in groups A and B to 20.0% and 13.4%, respectively (P .001). In group C, the control group, the prevalence went from 68.1% to 65.3% (P=.81). Mean hematocrit and net changes in mean hematocrit also increased significantly in both treatment groups compared with the control group. Increases in all outcomes between the daily and weekly observed treatment regimens were statistically equivalent. We evaluated this study using standards of design, analysis, and results for therapeutic trials described in the "Users' Guide" series published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 2,3 The focus is on the quality of the study, the validity of its results, and the generalizability of the outcomes.


Still morals in the soul of the child by giving the correct instructions and useful advice so that the teaching they receive, seeped into his soul. When it ignites, it will form a personality in him that always carry the main deeds, kindness, indulgence work for the beneft of the country, state, and nation. Efforts to develop the personality of students serves as a guide to be able to select and determine an action and then specify which ones are good and which are bad. Fostering personality dimasud here is coaching includes habits, attitudes, and the nature or essential nature which is reflected in the attitude of someone who distinguish with others.Forms of Implementation of moral education in an effort to foster muslim personality for students MAN 2 Parepare there are two, the frst is coaching in the feld of sharia and the second development in the feld of morals. In the feld of sharia that perform the obligatory prayers in congregation, praying Duha before starting learning and fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, while in the feld of morals prepared Trening proselytizing activities to prepare materials such as doing good fellow, mutual respect and mutual trust, honesty, courtesy, behave good, using islamic dress. Impact of moral education in an effort to build a muslim personality in MAN 2 Parepare, had a great impact on students' attitudes change and influence the behavior of religious and moral and religious knowledge of students.


The drug industry's "onslaught of advertising to promote prescription drugs… does not promote public health" and "increases costs and unnecessary prescriptions," more than 200 US medical school professors said last week. In the United States the industry spends $4bn (£2.3bn; €3.3bn) a year on direct to consumer advertising.

The professors signed a petition organised by Commercial Alert, an Oregon based nonprofit organisation that seeks to "protect communities from commercialism." The …


Examining Diodorus' wording reveals that he assigns to the historian a greater importance, like the gods and culture-heroes, whose journeys he describes at length in his first five books. One may find in the introductory chapters of his Bibliotheke several criteria which reveal his definition of universal history. First, an author composing a universal history must begin with the events of earliest times. Second, historian must record the affairs of the universe all together, as though they were of a certain single city. Third, author should refer to very many and most varied circumstances. Fourth, historian should attach to each event its proper time. Finally, Diodorus defines the best historical work as "the systematic treatise which contains a connected account of affairs in a single line of narrative". Hence the best historical work is that in which the author creates a sequence by connecting the events to one another.Keywords: Bibliotheke; circumstances; composing; culture-heroes; Diodorus; events; historian; historical work; universal history


he main goal of this paper is the investigation of the generalized Hyers-Ulam stability theorem of thefollowing Euler-Lagrange type quadratic functional equation\begin{eqnarray*}f(ax+by) + a f(x-by)=(a+1)b^2 f(y)+a(a+1)f(x)\end{eqnarray*}in random normed spaces under arbitrary t-norms, where $a,b$ are fixed integer numbers such that $a\neq -1,0,1$ and  $b\neq$0.


outside resources they bring to the domestic sphere; thus, a woman who earns a good salary has a greater part in household decison-making. Traditionally, descent and inheritance are figured matrilineally, and obligations are due first to matri-kin. The 'modern' trend is towards the Euro-American pattern of primary allegiance to spouse and children. Oppong investigates the potential for conflict between the two in the domestic sphere. Financial management is less likely to be joint if the man has heavy commitments to his kin, particularly the education of his siblings' children. This is generally correlated with the extent of the support he had received from kin. Matrilineal inheritance is the key factor affecting wives' financial activities; and those couples experiencing the most tension are those caught in the transitional open/joint position. The wife may protest at the husband's allocation of time as well as money to competing beneficiaries, and may behave antagonistically towards his female kin. Few couples share responsibility for housework and child-care, and openness is evident in the perpetuation of kin-exchange for domestic help. Urban, educated Akan women lack total involvement in the home; few consider housewifery a satisfactory replacement for outside work. Most delegate their domestic duties, though the ultimate responsibility is theirs. The wives' loss of customary independence is apparent in three ways: few have access to an occupational status equivalent to that of their husbands; greater status accrues to them as wives of elite men than as members of a matrilineage; and divorce is problematic, since re-marriage to a man of the same social and economic status as the first is unlikely. These women are more willing to stick out a marriage, and are more vulnerable than their hometown sisters,' because of their frequent dependence upon their graduate husbands to maintain the standard of goods and services which they at present enjoy, and because of the relative dimunition of their other sources of power outside marriage' (pp. 118-19). Oppong concludes that couples with accumulated experience from educated parents are less likely to suffer tension than those high-salaried newcomers whose models are foreign and inappropriate to their own situation. Change is towards closure and jointness. Although some of the author's data are scanty, and perhaps the illustrative material is too often drawn-out, her study is rigorously defined, with well-operationalised concepts. Qualitative and quantitative techniques for data collection are nicely combined. And Oppong presents new material, in an interesting framework, on the evolution of urban family units, and raises questions about the benefits enjoyed by women living in African cities. DEBORAH FELLOW


In this article, we propose first‐order and second‐order linear, unconditionally energy stable, splitting schemes for solving the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) system. These schemes are based on the projection method for Navier–Stokes equations and implicit–explicit treatments for nonlinear coupling terms. We transform a double saddle points problem into a set of elliptic type problems to solve the MHD system. Our schemes are efficient, easy to implement, and stable. We further prove that time semidiscrete schemes and fully discrete schemes are unconditionally energy stable. Various numerical experiments, including Hartmann flow and lid‐driven cavity problems, are implemented to demonstrate the stability and the accuracy of our schemes.


Abstract: We review the recent developments in the bunching literature, both when bunching is presented in the outcome variable and when it is presented in the treatment variable. We discuss issues related to identification, estimation, practical considerations, and suggest directions for future work


With more than 24,000 car parks located throughout the United States, there is no denying the important role they play in society. However, as some of the structures begin to age, experience an increase in loads and suffer the effects of chemical and de-icing salt usage, they are often left in need of repair and refurbishment. This has led many owners to seek cost-effective and efficient repair and strengthening solutions while continuing to provide an adequate temporary solution for users.


Multi-view image compression plays a critical role in 3D-related applications. Existing methods adopt a predictive coding architecture, which requires joint encoding to compress the corresponding disparity as well as residual information. This demands collaboration among cameras and enforces the epipolar geometric constraint between different views, which makes it challenging to deploy these methods in distributed camera systems with randomly overlapping fields of view. Meanwhile, distributed source coding theory indicates that efficient data compression of correlated sources can be achieved by independent encoding and joint decoding, which motivates us to design a learning-based distributed multi-view image coding (LDMIC) framework. With independent encoders, LDMIC introduces a simple yet effective joint context transfer module based on the cross-attention mechanism at the decoder to effectively capture the global inter-view correlations, which is insensitive to the geometric relationships between images. Experimental results show that LDMIC significantly outperforms both traditional and learning-based MIC methods while enjoying fast encoding speed. Code will be released at https://github.com/Xinjie-Q/LDMIC.


Based on Singular Value Decomposition an incremental and iterative Matrix Factorization method for very sparse matrices is presented. Such matrices arise in Collaborative Filtering (CF) systems, like the Netflix system. This paper shows how such an incremental Matrix Factorization can be used to predict ratings in a CF system and therefore how to fill the empty fields of a rating matrix of a CF system. Also the here presented method is easy to implement and offers, if implemented in the right way, a good and reliable performance.


A dark image enhancement algorithm based on the pairwise target contrast and the multi-scale detail boosting is proposed in this work. We first compute the pairwise target contrast between a pair of pixels, which represents the desired gray level difference of the two pixels in the output image. By aggregating the pairwise target contrasts for all pairs of pixels in an image, we formulate a cost function for the enhancement. By minimizing the cost function, we obtain the optimal transformation function and enhance the image. In addition, we propose a multi-scale approach to boost details in the globally enhanced image. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm enhances the contrast and visibility of dark images more effectively than conventional algorithms.


Dongsheng U-deposit in Ordos Basin is an important large scale sandstone type U-deposit in China.Coffinite,as the main U-bearing mineral in the U-deposit,occurs as a micro-grain.The SEM and EPMA study indicates that the formation of coffinite is closely related to biotite,pyrite and clay minerals in the ore and that w(UO2)in the coffinite varies from 50% to 70%.The biotite has strongly altered and changed into hydrobiotite,hydromuscovite and chlorite when the biotite altered and K+ is separated from the biotite.Compared with the original biotite,w(K2O)and w(FeO) reduced 6.54% and 7.40% respectively in the hydrobiotite,reduced 7.87% and 19.22% separately in the hydromuscovite,while w(Al2O3) increased from 16.64% to 32.72%.The article probes into the formation mechanisms of U4+,which uranyl(UO2+2) was deoxidized into,and the formation mechanisms of coffinite(U(SiO4)1-x(OH)4x).The occurrence of coffinite,pyrite and clay minerals reflects that the formation of coffinite was closely related to the decomposition of biotite and the formation of pyrite in ancient interlayer oxidizing zone.


ABSTRACT This paper is dedicated to the parameter identification of the Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model from horizontal displacements of a sheet pile wall. An optimization method based on a genetic algorithm is proposed. This robust optimization method localizes quickly a set of solutions around the optimum value. Then, the set identified is described by a principal component analysis. This new inverse analysis method based on a genetic algorithm and a principle component analysis permits to define an ellipsoid set of solutions which is characteristic of the soil properties for geotechnical studies.


Historians, commentators and political scientists have divided over whether New Labour marks a definitive break with the pre-1994 Labour Party, or instead represents 'traditional values in a modern setting'. Steven Fielding has recently offered a systematic and apparently persuasive exposition of the latter argument. In his view, the Labour Party, under Tony Blair's leadership, has been faithful to its past. This article challenges this interpretation of Labour's history, and by extension Blair's own 'core values' argument, to which (it is argued here) Fielding's claims bear a marked resemblance. It is suggested that such interpretations create the risk of a Whig interpretation of the party's history. Moreover, not only are some of the specific historical judgements used to back them up open to doubt, but also Fielding's focus on the party's parliamentary leadership inevitably brings about a misleading conclusion. Blair's accession marked a shift in the balance of forces within the party, and a focus on t...


'We may properly enough date the Rise of the Spanish Power from the year 1503 . . . And perhaps we may as properly fix the year 1588 for the Era of their Declension . . . [when they] lost all Hopes of attaining to Universal Monarchy', wrote Charles Davenant in 1701, and his words became flesh. In Davenant's narrative, Spain played the role of the universal empire opposed to his ideal of balance of power among states. He is seen by some historians as a mere pamphleteer, by others as an analyst of trade. Even recognizing he played the latter role, Davenant, son of a supporter of Cromwell's Western Design against Spain, was not describing a reality but helping create a new one: British imperial ideology, a legitimization for a British universal empire under the pretence of international balance of power.


FIELD: radio engineering, communication. SUBSTANCE: invention discloses a method for communication between a primary station and at least one secondary station and comprises steps of configuring the secondary station, which is in a first state, to search in at least one of a plurality of search spaces having a first structure, wherein the first structure consists of at least a first number of sets of resources having a first size, where at least one set of resources can be used to transmit a message to the secondary station under investigation, changing the structure of the search space to a second structure different from the first structure when the secondary station enters a second state. EFFECT: invention relates to a mobile communication system such as a cellular telecommunication network, and enables to adapt search space to a situation without further signal transmission. 17 cl, 3 dwg


A THESIS TO BE SUBMITTED TO SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES OF ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES, SCHOOL OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF NURSING AND MIDWIFERY FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN ADULT HEALTH NURSING


(Note: With the exception of the correction of typographical or spelling errors that could be a source of ambiguity, letters and reports are not edited. The original formatting of letters and referee reports may not be reflected in this compilation.) Thank you for sending me your response to the referees' comments. I have now had a chance to take a look at it and I appreciate the added work that you can do to address the raised concerns and in particular to address the issue of CtBP1intEGFP targeting. I would therefore like to invite you to submit a suitably revised version along the lines as indicated in your response. I should point out that it is EMBO Journal policy to allow one major revision only and that it is therefore important to address the concerns raised at this stage. When preparing your letter of response to the referees' comments, please bear in mind that this will form part of the Review Process File, and will therefore be available online to the community. For more details on our Transparent Editorial Process, please visit our website: Thank you for the opportunity to consider your work for publication. I look forward to your revision. REFEREE REPORTS Referee #1: The manuscript by Ivanova et al describes the role of the transcriptional co-repressor CtBP1 in activity-dependent regulation of gene expression in neurons. The authors show that CtBP1 is present


This paper presents information on pedogenic processes, weathering status and geochemical evolution of ultramafic soils at three areas in southwestern British Columbia characterized by climatic conditions ranging from relatively wet–cool to relatively dry–cool. The soils of the Coquihalla serpentine belt have Podzolic profiles that resulted from intense weathering in a moist environment. The Tulameen area has a moderately dry climate, and Brunisolic soils have developed in serpentinized peridotite and dunite. Brunisolic soils with composite profiles of tephra overlying serpenite developed in a dry environment at the Shulaps area. We investigated the weathering status of five soils using a variety of chemical and mineralogical techniques. Chlorite and mica weathering was indicated by XRD analysis of clay fractions for the Podzolic soils at the Coquihalla area. Serpentine dissolution was also indicated by geochemical analysis of these upland soil profiles. Weathering and leaching depleted Mg from B horizons...


Long-acting injectable (i) progesterone (P4) supplementation at the onset of diestrus increases conception rate in beef cattle. However, earlier onset of functional and structural regression of the corpus luteum (CL) has been observed, resulting in pregnancy loss in 30 to 50% of animals subjected to this treatment. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that iP4-induced premature luteolysis is associated with earlier decrease in the abundance of endometrial P4 receptor (PGR) and an earlier rise in the abundance of oxytocin receptors (OXTR). Cycling, multiparous, nonlactating Nelore cows (n = 24) were selected after detection a CL in at least one of two consecutive exams, conducted 12 days apart. Cows received a P4-releasing device (Sincrogest®, OuroFino Saude Animal), 2 mg of estradiol benzoate i.m. (Sincrodiol®, Ouro Fino Saude Animal) and PGF2α treatment (500 µg sodium cloprostenol; Sincrocio®, Ouro Fino Saude Animal). After 8 days an additional PGF2α treatment was performed. The day of ovulation was defined as Day 0. According to pre-ovulatory follicle size, cows that ovulated were assigned to receive no treatment (Control group; n = 12) or 300 mg of iP4 on Day 3 post-ovulation (Sincrogest®, Ouro Fino Saude Animal, Brazil; iP4 group; n = 12). Endometrial tissue was collected transcervically from every cow using a cytological brush on days 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 16, immediately submerged in 1 mL Trizol reagent and stored at - 80°C. Color Doppler ovarian ultrasonography was conducted every 12 h from device removal to verify ovulation and daily from Day 3 to 25 for evaluation of development and regression of the CL. The day of structural luteolysis was defined as the day when CL area (cm2 ) decreased by 25% of the average CL area measured on Days 7 and 8. Data were examined for normality using Shapiro-Wilk test. Data that were not normally distributed were transformed to natural logarithms, square or ranks. The SAS PROC MIXED procedure (version 9.2; SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA) was used for analysis. Fisher`s exact test distribution was used for comparisons of frequency data. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM, unless otherwise indicated. Structural luteolysis occurred earlier (P = 0.03) in the iP4 group (16.4 ± 0.9 d) compared to the control group (18.8 ± 0.7 d). The frequency of cows that began functional luteolysis before Day 17 was greater (P = 0.03) in the iP4 group (50.0%) than in the control group (8.3%). There was a group by time interaction (P < 0.05) for abundance of the OXTR gene. Cows in the iP4 group that presented earlier onset of luteolysis had a greater abundance of OXTR on Day 16 then the previous days while cows of P4 group that did not have early luteolysis showed similar abundance of OXTR across the experiment. There was a group by time interaction (P < 0.10) for abundance of the PGR transcript. Cows in the iP4 group that presented earlier onset of luteolysis had greater abundance of PGR on Day 16 compared to Day 13, while cows of iP4 group that did not have early luteolysis showed greatest abundance of PGR on Day 5 that decreased on Day 7 and then remained low across time. In conclusion, iP4-induced early luteolysis is associated with an early rise in the abundance of endometrial OXTR and PGR. We speculate that this molecular event is associated with earlier release of endometrial PGF2α pulses, involved in CL regression.


Road safety is a huge concern due to the large number of fatalities and injuries caused by road accidents. Research has shown that fatigue can adversely affect driving performance and increase risk of road accidents. It has been shown that driving performance is enhanced by stress-relieving music which thereby promotes safer driving. Context-aware music delivery systems promote safer driving through intelligent music recommendations based on contextual knowledge. Two key aspects of situation-aware music delivery are effectiveness and efficiency of music recommendation. Efficiency is a critical aspect in real-time context based music recommendation as the music delivery system should quickly sense any change in the situation and deliver suitable music before the sensed context-data becomes obsolete. We focus on the efficiency of situation-aware music delivery systems in this paper. Music mood-mapping is a process which helps in understanding the mood of a song and is hence used in situation-aware music recommendation systems. This process requires a large processing time due to the complex calculations and large sizes of music files involved. Hence, optimizing this process is the key to improving the efficiency of context-aware music delivery systems. Here, we propose a novel cloud and crowd-sensing based approach to considerably optimize the efficiency of situation-aware music delivery systems.


At present there is a rather extensive number of the geophysical facts difficulty explainable from conventional positions. Indeed, geoid in the third approximation has form of cardioidal elli psoid with the depression at the South pole and the prominence at the North one. Coefficient of asymmetry η ≈ 10 (King-Hele et al. 1959). Scarcely it might be explained accidental concentration of mass in the northern hemisphere, since analogical asymmetry have been found in figures of the other planets (Kozyrev 1950). Obviously, it is caused by some low-governed asymmetrical forces directed along the axis of rotation. It have been found that coefficient of asymmetry is directly connected with velocity of planetary rotation. However in conventional mechanics any asymmetrical forces connected with rotation are absent. Zonal distribution of the land and sea is also asymmetrical (Shubaev 1958) and describes by cardioid opposite to geodesical one. There are some evidences (Dragunov 1960) that such distribution conserves as whole by averaging over time order to 10 years in spite of the processes of continental drift and movement of the pole. In the atmosphere there is heat asymmetry of the hemispheres (Khromov et al. 1971) (northern hemisphere is 3° higher than southern one), asymmetry of the intertropic convergence zone and other indications of asymmetry. One can mention law-governed asymmetry of the Earth's magnetic field noted for a long time (Bauer 1923, Pushkov et al. 1975). This section is dedicated to evaluation of theoretical distribution of force of causality on the Earth and analysis of its geophysical effects.


Engineering noble metal‐based electrocatalysts (NMEs) with high activity is of vital importance to accelerate the hydrogen production from proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs). However, the poor stability and high price of NMEs greatly restrict the practical application. In this review, a series of strategies are summarized to boost the activity and reduce the cost of NMEs under acidic condition from the perspective of composition and structure optimization. The composition regulation through doping of metals or nonmetals can effectively inspire alloy effect or cocktail effect of NMEs, which provides an essential guidance to reduce the cost and enhance the stability of NMEs. Meanwhile, the structure optimization also directly improves the intrinsic activity of NMEs, which is comprehensively elaborated based on size, defect, and geometric effects. In addition, to extend the industrial application of PEMWEs, critical scientific issues behind the formulating of electrocatalyst slurry and coating method–PEMWEs performance relationships are fully clarified. Finally, the challenges for survivability of active center, catalytic mechanism research, and construction of membrane electrode are concluded. This review offers comprehensive and targeted guidelines for the rational design of NMEs for PEMWEs application.


The concept of human resources became inescapable (major) both within the world of the academic search (research) and in the business world. Following the works of Becker ( 1975), the theme of the human resources benefited from a craze mattering in particular at the economist's and the administrators. The aim of this article is to find out how to achieve sustainable team performance within the SME. To do this, we have chosen to be part of the "managed positivism", and we have adopted the hypothetical deductive approach as part of a theoretical and practical study. The first part of this article has for objective, after a work of definition, to clear up how the evaluation of the human resources within the Moroccan SME, he can represent a real level of his development. The second part will be dedicated to the performance of the teams within the SME (Small and Medium-sized enterprise), and especially how to arrive thanks to the evaluation of this capital-he team, to maintain its performance, in the optics of sustainable development of the company. Our article will present the partial results of our research works, face to face, interview, that we led this day within 120 SME. Our ambition is to manage to exceed 200 SME, and the result will be the object of a future article. Keys words : Human resources; the evaluation; the SME; performance , teams. Revue Internationale des Sciences de Gestion


A 77-year-old Hispanic female presented to the emergency department status-post 15 minutes of respiratory arrest in a house fire. Chest X-rays revealed bilateral patchy alveolar airspace opacities in the upper lungs consistent with smoke inhalation injury. The blood bank received a sample for a type and screen. Separation of the plasma revealed an intense red-pink hue (see figure, A). Additional information was obtained from the ordering physician. The patient had been given a 5-gram injection of hydroxocobalamin (see figure, B) for treatment of suspected cyanide poisoning associated with smoke inhalation. The plasma color is secondary to treatment with a large dose of hydroxocobalamin. Cyanide, a toxic by-product of smoke from house fires, is rapidly absorbed through the lungs. The inhalation of carbon monoxide together with cyanide results in serious tissue hypoxia from the dissociation of oxygen from heme along with inhibition of cytochrome oxidases. Anoxic damage rapidly ensues, with serious dysfunction particularly to the brain. Hydroxocobalamin, an analog of vitamin B12, is an effective antidote to smoke inhalation–associated cyanide poisoning. The drug is known for an intense red color. Hydroxocobalamin binds to cyanide molecules and converts them to


ObjectivesTo screen out the short peptide molecule capable of combining with tumor necrosis factor α(TNF α) from phage displayed random dodecapeptide library.MethodsUsing TNF α as ligand, a phage displayed random peptide library consisting of 12 amino acid residues was immunoscreened . This library expressed as a fusion protein inside the coat protein Ⅲ of filamentous phage M13 .According to the process of "absorption elution amplification", the positive clones were obtained by three rounds of biopanning. The specificity of each clone binding to anti TNF α was detected by ELISA and dot ELISA.ResultsThe eluted phages were enriched nearly 100 fold through three rounds of biopanning, seven positive phage clones from the third round biopanning were randomly selected and 5 clones of them could specifically bind to the anti TNF α.ConclusionThe phage display technique can be applied to study the anti TNF α antigenic peptides, and these epitopes can provide the potential for developing immunodiagnostic reagents on a level of subunit expression and preparing of anti TNF α short peptide vaccines. [


Metallic materials dissipate thermal energy when subjected to fatigue. Some of them, due a favorable combination of thermo-physical material properties, exhibit a significant temperature rise, which can be easily measured in-situ by means of thermocouples or infrared cameras. The heat energy dissipated in a unit volume of material per cycle (the Q parameter) has proven to be effective as a fatigue damage index in case of AISI 304L plain and notched specimens. Originally conceived and applied as a point-related quantity, recently Q has been averaged at the tip of propagating fatigue cracks (the Q* parameter) in order to correlate crack growth data gathered from fracture mechanics tests. The use of Q* seems interesting because (i) it can be evaluated in-situ from infrared temperature maps and (ii) crack acceleration due to excessive plasticity is likely to be accounted for.


The coordination behavior of the α-donor-atom-substituted (trimethylsilyl)alkynes OC4H8N–C≡C–SiMe3 (2), EtO–C≡C–SiMe3 (3), and Me2P–C≡C–SiMe3 (4) towards group 4 metallocene generators [Cp2Ti(η2-btmsa)] (1a), [Cp2Zr(py)(η2-btmsa)] (1b), and [Cp*2Ti(η2-btmsa)] (1c) [Cp = η5-cyclopentadienyl; btmsa = bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene; py = pyridine; Cp* = η5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl] was investigated. By using 1a and 1b, metallacyclopropenes were obtained for alkyne 2, a titanacyclopentadiene for alkyne 3, and dimeric-stabilized metallacyclopropenes for alkyne 4. Employing the sterically demanding metallocene 1c resulted in monomeric metallacyclopropenes for alkynes 3 and 4. The reactivity of the obtained complexes towards CO2 and acetone was explored as well, thus leading to regioselective formation of metallafuranones and metalladihydrofurans.


Ho Chi Minh is one of the revolutionary leaders who discussed ethics the most, being himself a great example of practising revolutionary ethics. Especially, He paid great attention to medical ethics. The job of physicians is special and noble, and directly related to the health and lives of people, so it requires each cadre and staff of the health sector to improve their expertise, raising their sense of responsibility, being committed to their service and having the ethics of the job. Ho Chi Minh's thought on medical ethics bears profound scientific content and great practical significance. Vietnamese physicians today need to study and follow the thought, and need to practice and improve themselves more and more to be deserving examples of what He taught "Physicians shall be like caring and gentle mothers".


The study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the effect of egg size (small, medium and large) and lines on egg and hatch weight, fertility, hatchability, embryonic mortality and infertile eggs of broiler breeders under selection. A total of 120 broiler chicks were hatched from three different egg sizes (40 chicks per egg size as indicated) from breeder parents at 40 weeks of age. The broiler breeders were mated in a ratio of 1:6. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a complete randomized design. The result showed that significant (p<0.05) egg weight loss in incubator were recorded with the large egg size group having the minimum loss of 10.85%. The hatch weight was significant (p<0.05) and increased from the small to the large (36.24, 36.73 and 40.22g) egg size group. Line had significant effect (p<0.05) only on the medium egg size: egg weight (sire = 57.50g; dam = 55.00g) and hatch weights (sire = 39.71g; dam = 36.10g). The fertility (94.02, 93.01 and 78.01%), hatchability (87.42, 88.20 and 62.41%) and embryonic mortality (6.58, 9.80 and 15.6%) had significant (p<0.05) differences with the small egg size group performing better excluding the average egg weight, which was then followed closely by medium egg size group. It can be concluded that for higher hatch weight target, the large egg size should be selected but for the purpose of better fertility and hatchability, the medium and small egg sizes should be selected.


IntroductionDecentralisation is a type of governance reform that has been undertaken all over the world. African countries are also following this trend. The decentralisation process started in the 1990s as aid conditionality, that is, donor countries required it several years after the commencement of the democratisation process in African countries. Decentralisation is not only an administrative governance reform; it also brought political change and turbulence in African countries. The political impact of decentralisation in Africa has extended from the local level to the national and eventually to its international relations.Many African countries ended the one-party system or the military regimes, and adopted a multi-party system in the 1990s. Elections were carried out under the new democratic system. Some African countries had their very first experience of a legal and peaceful regime turnover through elections. We cannot undervalue the African actors' efforts to develop democratisation even if a sceptical evaluation of the democratisation process in Africa is dominant among political scientists.In African political studies, election were never considered a focal issue especially during the period of military and one-party regimes. However, some African countries continued their democratic process despite difficult conditions. As such, election became a crucial issue. If democratisation advances, decentralisation should have a more direct and greater impact on the political situation in Africa.This article tries to understand the political impact of decentralisation in Africa through case studies on Benin. Since the 1990s, donor countries as well as the Benin Government have considered Benin a model of democratisation in Africa. Hence, it would be meaningful to analyse Benin's case and relate it to the decentralisation process in Africa. Here we study the presidential, the legislative and the local elections held in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively, focussing on the first impact of decentralisation on the elections in Benin.Political Influence of Decentralisation in African CountriesBy the beginning of the 1990s, African countries were required to start a political reform process-democratisation by the international community, particularly the donor countries. Several years after, the international community required the African countries to decentralise for the purpose of administration reform. According to the donors, the over-centralisation of executive power and financial resources led to inefficient governance and corruption. These long time failed experiences of development assistance were examined by the donor countries and international organisations which resolved for the need to empower the local government through devolution so as to enable them to achieve social and economic development in the local communities. Decentralisation was therefore recognised as a panacea for governance reform. Eventually however, decentralisation began to expose its dysfunction in Africa (Nack Mback, 2003, 8, 40-41).There are numerous studies on decentralisation in Africa; researchers have analysed decentralisation within the framework of international co-operation and administration studies. They have focused on administrative institutions, but not on political and economic dynamism. Saito mentioned that decentralisation is a process to redefine the roles and responsibilities of the central and the local governments. In addition, decentralisation is essentially a political process (Saito, 2008, 284).As mentioned above, decentralisation is a major political challenge; it increased resources and changed the power balance in local politics. Election monitoring teams were sent by the international community to watch over the local elections in African countries, but not many researchers are interested in the impact of decentralisation on the elections in Africa. In fact, neither did many African countries initiate repeated peaceful elections after the start of decentralisation reforms. …


In recent years some available algorithms of the noise reduction(NR),such as phase space reconstruction,wavelet transform technology,generalized iterative algorithm etc.,have been put forward.This paper summarizes the main current methods for NR of contaminated chaotic signals.The physical explanations and limitations of the various algorithms are illustrated.Lastly the further research direction is indicated for the high-dimension chaotic signals.